The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-07-07
KATE FIELDS
IRREGULARITIES.
Friend Writes Of Her WAYS in
Examiner.
MADE SLAVES OF ALL MEN.
some Roma9cine by an Admirer-An
Oft Told Tale-Visit to the Ben
nington-Her Presence was Always
Enjoyed by Men OF Intellect.

and for several months thereafter.
had known her previously, and when it
was announced that she was to visit the
Hawaiian Islands, partly in the interest
of a Chicago newspaper, but chiefly for
the rehabilitation of her rapidly declin-
ing health, looked forward to capti-
waiting study of the effect she would
produce upon community that was en-
tirely new to her. | mean captivating
in this sense, that while Miss Field
was in some respects the most splen-
didly unconventional of women that the
North American continent has produc-
ed, the dominating note Of the social
symphony in Honolulu, and, indeed, in
ali the Hawaiian Islands, is convention
atty. This could hardly be otherwise in
a country in which the missionary
element" having a social as we'll as
political and business majority, pre-
serve in great part the ironclad ira
ditions and the neatly stitched social
rules of their forefathers and foremoth-
ers.
Into a social field of this character
stepped the American woman writer
from the deck of the Mariposa. A re-
porter for the Pacific Commercial Adj
vertiser, one of Honolulu's daily papers,
interviewed her as she was going over
the steamers gangway.
Quoth she to the newspaper man:
81 suppose you recall those verses
about a wet sheet and a flowing sea-
Don't they make capital reading
one is in country house on rainy af-
ternoon? But, do you know, l greatly
doubt if the gentleman who wrote 'em
Il forget who he was-ever got beyond
the canal boat stage in his nautical ca
reer. Otherwise how could he. be SO i'm
beetle as to apostrophize the sea? Oh,
yes, 1 am passionately fond of a life on
the ocean Wave-when it is well sung;
and the melody of 'Larboard Watch,
Ahoy!' quite unnerves me; but nobody
can convince. me that the composers of
either of those songs ever sailed on any
craft larger than fat-bottOmed skif
on the Ohio river-else had they for
ever held their peace on the joys of
seafaring life
How very unusual!" exclaimed Ho-
nolulu society when this came out the
next morning. An aquatic people, born
within sound of the clamorous sea, and
practically living on and in the salt
water, could not understand Miss
Fields declaration of dislike for their
favorite element.
Miss Field was driving in Nuuanu
street in an open carriage, one day,
shortly after her arrival. in Honolulu.
She noticed a beautiful, bare-legged
young Kanaka girl clad in the short
white Mother Hubbard affected by Ka-
naka women. Miss Field had the coach
man stop the carriage and beckoned to
the girl. will you ride with me, my
dear?'' she asked the bewildered Ka
naka maiden, who, after standing for
moment with downcast eyes, stepped
into the carriage. Miss Field drove the
pretty, grateful young girl, who in all
her poor, squalid life had never before
been seated behind horse, out to the
Waikiki beach, and then set her down
at the hut OF her people in IWilei, on
the outskirts Of Honolulu.
Well painted Honolulu society.
Another time, while Miss Field was
driving on the water front, she stopped
TO watch the operations of crew of
Kanaka and Portuguese laborers who
were shoyeling coal into carts for the
coaling of one Of the big China steam
ers just in port. While she was watcn-
ing the men at their work the noon
hour came. Now, the Kanaka labOring
man regales himself at luncheon with
pint or quart bottle of that villaiEOus
decoction of Japanese rice fields called
sake. He is used to it, likes it, and II
he handles it moderately it apparently
does him no harm. One of the kanaka
men produced his bottle of sake on this
occasion, and was about TO take a pull
at it, when the bottle was violently
seized by fellow laborer, a burly Por-
tuguese, who ran OFF to an adjoining
coal yard. The Kanaka-it is truly
mild, gentle race of men-gaZed after
the retreating figure of the thief, utter
ing never word. Miss Field had seen
the whole performance.
Here, she said, handing the victim
some silver, "go get some more, and
drove off.
We'll. we'll, well!' gasped Honolulu
society once more.
All this happened during the first few
days of Miss Fields stay in Honolulu.
Two weeks after her arrival in the
Islands she was the idol of all the
women in the city; the men were her
slaves.
The American woman not only COM
pletely overturned many of the little
trivalities, such as primness made ri
diculous and prudery made silly, which
generations of ironbound custom had
caused the Hawaiian women to bow 10
as the ancient Kanakas bow to their
goddess Pele. but she became the OBJ