The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-08-20
CHIEF CHARMS OF
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
FURTHER LIGHT UPON OUR NEW
POSSESSION IN THE PACIFIC.
"Hawaii Nei"-The Natives a Fine
Race Physically, - Also Simple,
Happy and HOspitable - HALF
Caste Element and Polyglot Mix
ture of Races-Americans Marry
Half-Breed Women-Ambitiono OF
the States.s - s.. ,.45 49,. -

| spot of earth. That is to say, Hawaii
! here, or Hawaii at home" Even in far
removed chimes the Hawaiian born thus
| toasts the island Of his nativity. These
are the fortunate, isles in their beauty,
their salubrity, their f1nging cocoanut
groves, their cleaning coral reefs. their
m1st-curtained wales, says Guy Stuart
Comfy in the New York Commercial Ad-
vertiser. One may find here the realiza-
| ton of the old dreamy romance of Typee.
Only that to the dusky children of Ha-
wall the white races have proffered the
fruit Of the tree of knowledge Of good
and evil With this knowledge has come
liability where was immunity in their in
nocence, and the sins Of the fathers are
visited heavily upon the children-so
heavily IS to- threaten quick extinction
of the race. But no liability and no re-
sponsibility can affect their carelessness,
and they lie idle about their little grass
matched huts or ride through the coun-
try decked with f1owery leis and scream
Ing with laughter, all unconcerned with
reality.
One of the first questions invariably
asked about the islar DIS and the islanders
concerns leprosy. 1t is probable that the
general idea of this scourge is exagger-
ated. The majority of natives one sees
are smooth of, skin and gracefully pro-
portioned, strong and straight and 1.-THE
llmbed. A Boston anthropologist who
had Travelled the world around taking
physical measurements of the races of
men, claimed { few years ago TO have
found the. individual nearest to the ideal
| type In a native Hawaiian. But it is not
| unusual, nevertheless to perceive traces
| of leprosy and other diseases, believed by
some authorities to be kindred. in the
| ordinary intercourse with the natives
| There are physicians of repute in Homo
| lulu who will aver that the blood Of the
| whole race is tainted. In remote country
districts 1t is not unusual to find a leper,
| in the advanced stages of the disease,
harbored by his friends and jealousy
| hidden away FRI m the eyes of the health
authorities. Both the victims and their
| friends seem strangely callous to the nor
| rors of the disease and utterly careless
| as to any danger of it's transmission.
There are medical authorities who deny
| that the leprosy prevalent IN Hawaii is
/ transmitted by contact. That it is not
! readily Transmitted by ordinary contact
| is abundantly evident from daily expert
| ence. But that it may be transmitted
! from the intimate intercourse of family
| relations is the universal belief of the
laity, founded en- seemingly convincing
| examples. There are cases where the dis
ease seems to remain latent in an indi-
vidual. There have been rare cases of
| leprosy among white men; sufficient to
| prove, however, that they are not i'm
| mune. The most conspicuous case was
the priest of Molokaii, Father Damien.
who gave his life in literal truth to these
afflicted fellow beings. Cinnamon are
| frequently victims of leprosy, and the
natives themselves call it mai puke,"
| or Chinese dises Sc.
| The typical Hawaiian home is the little
| grass hut, made with their own hands by
! the native families. There is one room:
an indefinite number of persons, with no
| fixed proportion of the sexes and of re-
lationship, live together in undisturbed
harmony. There are numberess ours
| about each of these grass huts and pet
| pig or two will probably have common
quarters with the household. The grass
walls are sure to be infested with lizards,
| scorpions, centipedes and more familiar
insect life. The family sit about a GALA
bash of poi placed on rush mat when
| meal time arrives and each dips his or
her fingers into the paste and carries It
thus to the mouth. Hours and days will
| be passed sitting idly and merrly chat
ting on these mats in the shade of trees
1t is necessary to set out the crop of taro
! and it is necessary to pound the ripened
! root into poi. The tidewater natives do
much fishing. The men make good cow
boys from their love of riding. Other
| wise they are entirely untrustworthy as
laborers It happens sometimes that two
| men and one woman dwell together in one
household. In the old native regime there
was a. plurality Of husbands rather than
| of wives. The household to be complete
must have shrivelled old crone to sit in
one corner and perpetuaily and moonto-
| nously chant in rhythm the traditions Of
the race, which are thus perpetuated.
Nearly all natives are in the thraldom
| of a boundless superstition. Native ka-
hunas or doctors are able to pray their
victims to death; offerings are cast into
| the crater of Kilauea to propitiate the
| goddess Pele, and visitation of a shoal
| of small red fish to a harbor forecasts
! the certain death of a chief.
Capt. Cook bore testimony in the his
| tory of his third voyage to the health,
| happiness and contentment of these
| islanders, then numbering, according to
his estimate, more than 300 coo souls. The
| men Of his Ships. the first white men to
set foot on the islands. sowed among
| them the seeds of the diseases that have
ever since ravaged the race, until its num-
bers, century afterward. had fallen be-
| low 10000 and are still diminishing.
The half caste element is a large and in
| fuential one in the islands, and numbers
| many individuals of large wealth and ex-
| cellent position. OF these the children of
Americans and Europeans take first
place, but there is generous admixture
! of many other races in which the Chi
nese is conspicuous. There have been
children whose father was an American
and whose mother was the daughter Of
| Chinaman and half-caste native
woman. It is notorious that African
blood has flowed in the veins of occupants
Of the throne. Some Of the most re-
spected and esteemed ladies Of the Homo
lulu circle are women with native blood
in their veins, and the daughters of such
households preside over honored homes il
some of the cities of the United States
At the same time it would be an ex-
aggeration to say that race prejudice is
unknown. It is the case. however. that
individual qualities cause this prejudice
to be ignored or dissipated.
The extremely polyglot character of t}S
population is due in no small part to thu
elaborate experiments with assisted q
invited immigration wticA have beev
made from time to znas by the govern
ment. Azores islaesAess, NorwegiaEs, Chi.
nese, Japanese and South Sea .slanders
of various groups have been introduced,
under government auspices In the efforts
to solve the labor problem, which is still
more or less of a puzzle
The physical development Of the white
races in the islands is a surprising eyi.
dence Of the salubrity of their climate
ard the benefits of the free outdoor life
which is the rule for all the well-to-do
inhabitants. It is the result of careful
observation and not Of random remark
that the sons of American Engliat Iys.h
continued sn xnA paEe.