The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-09-02
Unearthed by Laborer in Trench
for Nuuanu Stream Wall.
APPEAR TO BE NATIVES BONES
Grave Only About Two Feet Deep.
Appearance of Hurry in Burial.
May Have Been Done During Epi-
demIc-Supt. Fogarty Kept Busy.

A
pIoyed in digging the trench for the
wall of the new bed of Nuuanu stream,
opposite st. Louis College, was sinking
his pick into the hard dirt he suddenly
struck what seemed to be a soft bed of
leaves, and at the next stroke felt the
steel strike a hard substance, which
broke through with hollow sound
This was about $3.50 a. N. yesterday.
He did not think much of the matter
at the time, but it struck him as being
rather peculiar that he should so sud
denly come upon soft spot when all
the rest of the digging had been into
very hard soil.
1t was about two feet from the sur
face that he struck the soft bed, and
upon digging away lot OF leaves,
broken bottles and pebbles, he came
upon two complete skeletons, one on
top of the other, with the heads to the
east. From the appearance of the bones
they must have been under ground for
something like twenty years.
Their appearance would make them
out to be those of natives, the larger a
man and the smaller a woman. The
former was directly below the latter,
and was nearly a foot taller, or some
thing like feet inches in height.
The bones of the mans skeleton were
extremely large. The skulls of both
showed the backs f1attened abnormally,
being a thing common among natives,
due to the fact that Hawaiian parents
accomplish this on their children, deem
ing it a point of beauty.
The teeth, although of the most per-
feet description were very much worn
in both cases, indicating elderly per-
sons.
There were some very peculiar points
noticed about the place of burial. The
very shallow depth of the grave would
seem to indicate hurry on the part of
those who did the work, and the fact
of their having been covered with
leaves, bottles and pebbles, coupled
with the fact that not the least rem
nant of even the toughest kind of a
coffin could be found, would seem to
indicate the same thing.
The particular spot where the skele-
tons were found is just opposite the
mauka corner of st. Louis College, and
is in the yard where old Captain Nc
Gregor's frame building stands. At one
time there may have been thicket near
kinds of leaves found in the grave. By
far the greatest quantity were from
mango trees. Some of these were in an
excellent state of preservation.
What the story of the burial of the
two bodies in this place is can only be
guessed at. In olden times this was
great battle ground for the chiefs and
their armies of naked natives; but the
whole appearance of the find would not
go to indicate such remote period.
1t may have been that the bodies
were buried during an epidemic of some
kind in Honolulu, which require the
burial people in the most convenient
place.
At all events the whole appearance
of the mode of burial would seem to in
dictate haste to get rid of the bodies.
After the bones had been viewed in
their resting place, superintendent Fo-
garty had them removed. AS this was
being done the bones fell apart and
the teeth dropped from the jaws, as if
10th to be disturbed.
During the afternoon many people
interested in the matter called on Mr.
Fogarty to look at the bones Among
them was an Advertiser reporter, to
whom he furnished many points en-
bodied in this article.
Brother Philip, who superintends the
culinary department at st. Louis Col
lege, was called upon after the skeletons
had been viewed, and furnished Mr..
Fogarty and the reporter with a glass
of the finest home made root beer that
has ever been made in the city, to wash
away any uncanny effects the bones
may have had.