The morning news., 1894-08-19


. a Wesleyan and a consistent follower OF
the .three worthless of EpWOr,h Susan
I nah Charles and John. Though his every
. drop of inherited blood is warlike this
I king IS a mau-of peace. One Of his anCes-
tors fought back an enemy from Samoa,
. and did 10 so well that the defeated troops
as they got back into their boats Chcered
the Samoan king, shouting,
"wELL DONE, FIGHTING COCK"
/ But the present king might be better
/ symbOlized by a dove rather than a chan
ticleer. AS in America. we never had but
one man who declined being President Of
the United States when he knew that he
could get the office, so MahetOa is the
only man that I know of who declined TO
/ be king when the honor fell to him.
I Again and again he preferred another for
/ the throne and accepted royalty only
when circumstances compelled him 20 do
so. There have been deeds of blood since
he took the scepter, put war is 6arbaTism,
whether under Samoan or American or
English flag. Nearly all the great gen
erals of our American wars have been
good members OF Presbyterian, or Epis.o-
palian, or Methodist. or Baptist, or Con
gregatiOnal or Catholic churches.
do not. therefore sneer when / write
that halietOa is q Wesleyan. The flag
that floats over his house is a One-staTred
flag contrived by a missionary. Indeed,
the good work Of the missionaries is found
wherever we 20 on this island. The
Bible IS the chief book There are
churches and schools. One of the group
of Islands has a college of fifty-tive stu
dents in preparation for the ministry
Nearly all the inha bitants can read and
write. There are no doubt enough bad
people Three ships of war lying for the
most time in the harbor keep the natives
familiar with the vices Of more civilized
nations.
1.-THE BEACH-COMBEBs,"
as they are called at Samoa, that is the
men who combine the work of wreCker,
pirate, thief, desperate, and agent for
the siums, are found here, butevery city
that / know of has its beach-Combers. and
the poor swindled immigrants find them
more numerous at Boston, New York and
Liverpool, than the voyagers of the Pa
citic find them at Samoa. These islands
are more thorough Sabbath keepers than
you viii find in almost any land of all the
earth. From early morning until late at
night on Sabbath the whole town with
few exceptions, is given up to devotion.
At half past six on Sabbath morning,
the church bells ring and the people put
on their best attire and assemble for
worship. Again in mid-afternOOn the
church bells ring and the people gather.
Far on into the Sunday night the Chris
tAol oDlibS may JC ItdINs tduRuU up ana
sounded back from home to home, and
from mountain to beach There is far
more.
SABBATH KEPT IN SAMOA
than in any town or city in America of
the same size. But this was not always
so. From what cruelty Christian civil
ization has lifted it! In olden time when
they conquered an enemy they broke his
spine To add to the humiliation of the
defeated some of theH We're roasted and
eaten. When a woman was a candidate
for marriage to some chief sne was seated
IN the marketplace for the public to de-
eide whether she were fit for such mar
riage. If they decided in the negative
she was dubbed to death
They wOrshipped the dog, or the eel or
the turtle, or the lizard or the shark
Back !" cried the Christian religion to
such mOnstrosities of behavior and all
things changed
The Samoans have not much use for
clothes. l saw no fashion-plates in the
windows. A tailor would starve to death
in Samoa. Lack of complete physical in
Yestiture comes not from undue economy,
not from pauperism, not from immoral
ity, but originally from the fact that on
these islands the climate is so mild the
year round that necessity does not make
inexorable demand upon weavers and
clOthiers.
But gradually calicoes and nankeens
and alpacas are coming into demand The
Samoan somewhat substitutes tattOOing,
which IN some cases appears quite like a
suit of clothes. In the boat crossing from
wharf TO steamer | put my hand on the
knee of a Samoan and said, "You are tat
tooed.' He replied, "Yes, that me
clothes said, When do you have
that tattoOing dOne}n He answered,
stI Wputv Vaarc n ape - I aaiG .,nD,. -
hurtt' He replied, "Oh, yes! Hurt!
Swell upl' ! asked, How long does il
take to have that tattoOing done?" He
answered, Two months" Indeed all
the men l noticed had been tattooed. It.
is a badge of manhood. A man is
NOT RESPECTABLE UNLESS TATTooED.
He would be thrust out of society or
not admitted. The most profitable bust
ness is that of tattooing. The artist re-
tires to the bush with a few candidates
for two or three months Every day, as
| the patient can endure it, the pricking in
of the paint by needles and sharp tooth
| combs, the process goes on.
The suffering is more or less great, but
one must be in the fashion, vet / suppose
in this there is no more pain than that
which men and women suffer in the mar
! tytdom OF fashion through which some
people 20 in the higher civilized life.
W Aldb gARA bOOIS WIN agony OF tOrDS
What pereeing of the ear lobes for dla-
mond ringsl What crucihxion of stout
waists to make them Of more modern
size! The tattooiug is only another form
Of worship at the altar of fashion-no
finching on the part of the tattooed, no
/ backing out. The work done, he who
went into the bush a boy comes out a
man.
AS we passed along the main street Of
/ the island we had crowd after US with
/ something to sell. TO buy flower or a
| shell was grea ly TO reinforce the number
/ OF the escortiug party. The men are mus
/ cular and well formed. The children
/ are beautiful. AS to the women, every
/ nation has its type of female beauty, and
| no one of another nation is competent to
/ Judge concerning IL.
But there goes the whistle of the "Ala-
media. 1t haste sound three times and
/ then
OFF FOR NEW ZEALAND.
We wait for the second whistle and then
start over the rolling pillows to the
ladder of the steamer, and up to our old
place ON the eood snip to which we AGAIN
trustoHr lives What mystery il must
be 10 all the inuumerable creatures of the
deep. We discuss some flying fish or
see once IN voyage spOutinp
| whale, but we never reaI e thnt
we are being discussed by the
inhabitants o. an element filed with so
! much life that pI, ,apFafp s.,,- ,.l....