The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1894-04-12
TRAGEDY AT THE FAIR.
The Shark Hunter Assaults a Hilo
Woman With a Ratchet.

Woman With a Ratchet.
The San Francisco Call Of the 81
inst: has the following account Of ;
frightful quarrel between natives al
the Midwinter Fair:
An object lesson in Hawaiian super
stition, which has been presented a,
the Midwinter Fair for the past few
weeks, culmina'ed yesterday in .
murderous attack, in which severa
drunken kanakas, a Ratchet. AN in
luriated shark-hunter aud a badly
chopped-up woman were the princi
pal exhibits.
Opu is the champion diver, swim,
mer aud shark sharp Of the Hawai-
ian village. He Is also the star idiot
Of the kanaka aggregation. and !.
absolutely clothed with barbarou.
prejudiccs. As a metaphysician h.
is a rank failure. Although he avow.
his Willingness to tackle a healthy
shark on It's native heath, he break.
into cold perspiration every time
he sees his own shadow, aud after
dark his terror IL abj"ct. His wife j.
a South Sea Island combination OF
wife and mot her, aud when the sun
goes down he runs To his bctter.h half
yelpiug like a frightened pup.
Pau is a dusky matron from Hilo
She has been educated more liber,
ally than most natives and has been
the special prolegc Of the mission.
ary class. At the same time she is
qui; a. "'iliar with the Hawaiian
superstitious aud does not hesitate,
to utilizn this kbo.ylcd,.c 10 her ow
advantage. Her thrift, was peculiar,
ly noticeable n for, night ago. Paau
has been sort Of 6eldhand around
the village, cooking for the hula
girls and chap"runing them when
such service was desired, which was
infrequcntly. Incidentally she has
been exhibiting IDIOT Of Hawaiian
curiOs IN u remote corner.
The day that Opu accidentally
knocked over calabash and broke
the gourd into minute fragment :,
Pau raised howl over the drst rue.
ton al her property. Its value was
about Sl.2O, but paau claimed that
because II had once been handled by
an ancient member Of the Kameha,
moha dynasty IL was really worth
500, aud she demand d this sum in
compensation. Opu could no, paw,
and would not pay II he could.
Paau vowed vengeance aud publicly
announced her intention Of praying
him To death. II was big blulr on
her part. but she affected her belief
in the efficacy Of her punishment.
Every night Paau diligently and
audibly Offered supp'ications for
Opus death. Tho victim writhe,i
at every syllable, and howlrd aud
moaned rs genuinely as il he had
been in the jaws of Que OF the sharks
which he fights. His dismal cries
disturbed the entire village and
made slumber impossible. With the
dawn Opu was invariably restored
To health. but every night he was
very sick.
As he grew worse he conceived
the idea Of retaliation. With uu-
limited faith he invoked the aid Of
his particular shark god, 10 whom
he was dedicated at his birth, and
besought this piscatorial deity To
bring pains and ailments To the body
Of his enemy, Pau. But Paau was
enlightened enough to know that to
be prayed To death required un.
limited credence on the part Of the
victim. She was above the super
Stition which prcyed upon what
Opu termed his mind. Consequently
Paau's health continued as good as
that ol the ignorant savage was bad.
This gave Opu ground for new
grievance. la addition to plotting
against his health, Paau openly ex-
pressed her contempt for the pot
ency Of his shark god. After spend
ing several days in continuous
thought aud stimulating his NINA,
tnre brain by mach bad whisky.
Opu determined To- seek civilized
methods To help him out.
Accordingly he procured "A Ratchet
with rather quicker wits than his
own, and when Pau was hard al
work praying him To death about 3
o'clock yesterday morning Opu went
into her hut and tried To introduce
some logic into her brain. To ac-
cUmplsh this h" first made several
holes in her scalp. Her shrek, at
first sounded like prayer sickness,
bat finally TIA" kauakas realized hat
something serious was wrong. and
Dpu was prevented from accomplish
ing hi, complete plan Of reformation.
\ physician was summoned and tho
wounds dressed, but Pau lies IN a
very prccarious condition.
The greatest attempt at secrecy
was made at the Hawaiian village,
regarding the ALTAR Kanakas aud
white attendants alike sworo posi-.
lively that the woman stumbled aud
foil, inJuring her wrist, The Ratchet
story was at first denied, but So