The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-21
CHIEFS WHo TAKE IN WASHING,
The Lordly Samoan Laundrymen Object to
Being Held to Strict. Accountability.

The Lordly Samoan Laundrymen Object to
Being Held to Strict. Accountability.
A Samoan chief has q ravenous hunger for
testimonials. Promptly on making acquaint-
ance with the hereditary ruler of any one Of
the island communities one meets the request
or the demand for a tusi. q writing. No matter
how slight or how formal the association. the
white man is expected to write a paper setting
forth the conspicuous virtues Of the potentate,
dwelling with especial emphasis on his capacity
for letting horses. getting up Samoan picnics
or dances. and particularly HIS reliability and
~promptness in the very necessary matter Of
washing clothes. To each new arrival on the
beach at Apia are presented by a batch of
chiefs their respective sheafs OF testimonial
tusis, concerning the reliability OF which there
can be no doubt.
Folau. who was the Samoan Chief Justice Of
the native Supreme Court until he settled a
personal dispute by a reversion to a method
Of practice antedatinR the institution Of law
courts. in which he dubbed an important mem
Der OF Parliament. has a pocketbook filed with
his testimonials. a collection Of the autographs
OF officials and globe-trotting visitors. as well
as a proof. Of their willingness to oblige a
friend and depart s2mewhat widely from strict
HIATT man biIe SSelGh RonoTea bi{ tf the ch hme ri ape d Sad a
ment for bravery at the time Of the hurricane.
uses the letters with which he was honored by
uio oiN .aAh ~. bLnO ihhC. -.
Once In a while some tourist ~intrusts him
self for a month to the baroness q, the Apia
read all these testimonials. before making the
momentous decision OF giving out his wash"
q war vessel makes its first visit to the harbor.
Then Folau and bali a dozen other men OF
Always among the first is the great whaleboat.
which the United States gave to S~eumanutafa,
and, as his testimonials glisten with seals and
On equal terms he pays his call upon the COM
handing officer, and lays before him the pre-
the chief OF Apla really is among the great ones
Of the earth. Seumanutafaw will talk by the hour
w wite.sh the es Stranger G Sa thf a ssinFP e aSs q tf isPePs
est tot to me sin local p sttateesmahn p,, But at The end
he got plenty CIR" Fa,atulia being, despite the
masculine pronoun. the chiefs wife. At the
GseGe z Rsii ffo@ z th Sls ehle slS B9in g ' her qS sboard
portunIty to beg a shilling on her own account,
and she gets the contract 1aHs + to toy Ta ash, for the com
wardroom to patronize her as we'll. Few COM
handing officers are quite at their ease in the
role OF soliciting agent for q colored washer
concluded and the chief folds away his testi-
monials in readiness for the next opportunity.
At first it seems a little awkward to spend
one day in discussing with a chief the affairs OF
and then to summon him next day to explain a
discrepancy in the list Of pieces returned from
the wash; In either case. II he finds that he is
being held to a strict accountability. he sud
denly loses all his English and promises to talk
about 1t later when he has an Interpreter. The
Samoans look upon it as the mark Of an inferior
station II white man shows a disposition to
hold them to strict accountability either in
statecraft or laundry work. In politics a thing
said is far better than a thing done. In laundry
accounts. II there is, a shortage In the pieces
returned. or Il the articles are OF varied owner
ship scattered all along the beach, those little
things are supposed to be wiped out by the
enormous, bunch OF flowers which the girl
brings with the clothes.