The Hawaiian gazette., 1896-10-27

trained on the suspicious excavation. !
But at last the house was finished and |
the families all moved in. All, tor /
there was no other place for them; and /
for many years it was the home OF the I
mission. AS the rooms on the first and +
second floors were all occupied by the |
various families, there being only one /
room in common, which was used for I
general prayers, it was necessary &c |
use the cellar for living purposes, and |
the main room there was for long |
time the only living or dining room. |
Much of the time it was spread three /
times a day for about fifty people. /
Sometimes they had salt pork, hard |
bread, flour and potatoes, but they did |
not often get them at the same time, !
and were often without any of them, |
having then to subsist on poi, fish,
kalo or anything else that came 10
hand. A large number of persons at
one time and another were born in
the house, among them several Bing-
hams, Judds, Chamberlains, Cookies,
Halls and others. An Armstrong and
Bingham were born the same day.
Many OF the high chiefs, the royal
family, as well as throngs of the COM
mon people, were frequent visitors at
| the house. Sometimes the visits were
not friendly. On one occasion a man
who had connected himself with the
church, but who was thoroughly bad,
and whose wicked conduct had been
| denounced came, and sitting in the
parlor or common room, beside Mr.
Bingham, said he had come to kill him,
and he looked willing and able to carry
out his threat. Mr.. Bingham said: Il
do not fear; the Lord is my shield
And soon the man left. On another oc-
casion some enraged sailors from war
vessel in port came to the house to
kill the occupants. The doors were
closed, and While beating on the back
door one of the drunken fellows struck
the other stunning blow, which
knocked him senseless. In the ensuing
confusion and delay an officer arrived
and ordered the men off.
As the children were not permitted
to play with the native children, on
account of the vileness then common
among them, little Hiram was often
very lonely and as his sisters had some
dolls to play with, the father took pity
on the youngster AID made him one
out of a piece OF wood Suiting the act
ion to the word, Mr. Bingham, in the
presence of the amused assembly, pull
ed the ancient but well preserved doll
from his pocket. Some one in the
States sent him box of toy tools, of
which naturally he became very fond.
But one day the young Liholiho, after
wards Kamehameha III, saw it, and
expressing strong desire to own it,
Father Bingham suggested giving it
to him. 1t was hard for the little fell
low, but taking out a little hammer
and chisel the rest of the box and con-
tents were given to the young chief,
who said many years after, upon the
occasion1of the presentation of a Bible
to him, in 1857 or '5S, that he remem-
bered the affair perfectly.
Rev. S. E. Bishop read an interesting
paper, giving some other and further
facts connected with the old house.
Chief Justice Judd, Mr.. Hail. Mr.. Gu
lick, Messrs. c. M. and A. F. Cooke and
w. R. Castle gave other facts and rec
objections about the place. Judge Judd
had very lively remembrance of the
old white goat which survived the COM
bined attacks of many boys. Mr.. Hall
called attention to their house on Nj
uanu avenue, which, he says, is the old
est frame building in the valley. Mr.
Castle referred to the work among the
natives, which produced such noble
men as Paki, Kekuanaoa and others of
that cast, whose influence while living
was directed toward the salvation of
the native race in all ways.
Roth Mr. Rim oh q m and Mr. Cooke 70
ferred to the little close garnet, into
which it was possible to crawl through
an outside window, and there in dust
and silence view almost innumerable
idols, relics of the old heather days.
Ut becomes very interesting question
where these now priceless things have
gomez
When the old house was built, and
for many years after, the whole plain,
almost from the harbor to Punahou
. and to the beach, was barren waste.
, Water was obtained by digging sur
! face wells, which produced only brack-
ish water. The source OF supply was
varied from time to time by getting
oil casks of the whalers, which were
; placed at the house corners to catch
the scanty rainfall. Even this became
unfit for use, from heat and accumulate
ing foulness, after a while. But with
chain pumps, as told by Mr.. Cooke
some flowers were made to grow, re-
lieving the dull aridness of the dusty
landscape.
Mrs. L. B. Coan read letter from
her mother, Mrs, Bingham, referring
to the life at the old mission house
The Sunday afternoon Bible readings
and songs by the children were also
referred to.
,, After singing 1.-THE Old House at
Home" and the mission hymn, From
Greenland's Icy Mountains" the meet
! ing adjourned, to come together with
Mrs. ]. NJ Whitney next moon"
:. The question of preserving the old
house was not reached, but it is not a
dead issue, and it is not at all certain
that this most interesting old house
: will be torn down.
The manuscript of Trilby is preserv.