The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-31
Hawaii Paragraphed.

Hawaiians all became Christians"
through the simple process of an edict-
kapOo-of one of the sturdy old Kane
hamehas,. That worthy king, observing
that it Was easier to kill an enemy with
a rifle than with club. and that the
rife was the invention of the Christians.
took a short cut through the theological
maZes of the missionaries who were try
ing to convert his subjects and announced
THAT all Hawailans We're from that moment
Christians. AS he added that he would
knock in the head of any who objected,
the thing was done as fast as his courier
could deliver his message to his loving
subjects.
caste and white. and everywhere but in
Honolulu ride mems saddles. The low
caste ride native ponies in careless.
SloVenly manner but the high-caste and
whites sitting astride an American horse
the possession of which is almost a
mark of rank-ride with a dash and style
that is fine to see. On all the islands but
Oahu. and even on that outside of Homo
lulu. where fashions from the states
prevail, the women all dress in a gown
falling straight from the shoulders, and
in this garment. called a holoku. they ride
man-fashion. the skirts being so very full
they need not be divided.
Poi, the staff of life of the native Ha-
waiians. is made of an esculent root
called tara, much resembling a big sweet
potato. The tara, raw, is pounded into
thick. stiff paste in wooden troughs,
packed in mating and allowed to fer
ment. When it is to be served. this is
thinned to any desired consistency in
calabash and conveyed to the mouth by
the fingers. 1t is pale blue in color and
slightly acid in taste, but foreigners soon
acquire a liking for it, especially when
thinned with milk so that it can be drunk
There are but Y letters in the H2-
waiian alphabet. These, with their pro
20 as in hol. u 900, h (ay), k Ckay),
Qa), m (mo). n moo, pay. and "
(Vay). The missionaries added a thir
teenth. t. but the natives won't have 1t.
and continue to pronounce. for instance.
the name of the root from which POI is
made kara" although the missionaries
call 1t tara Every vowel IN WORD IS
distinctly sounded, except that the VOW
els - al are sounded Il" as in English.
Waikiki. the beach where our soldiers
took an ocean plunge during their stay
''Vikeekee-" There is a great difference
in the speech of the high and low caste
natives. The first call their island group
"Ha-va-ee-ee." and the latter begin IT all
right with ''Ha,' but conclude with a
gutteral grunt and the word heard most,
'Aloha" sounds soft and beautiful on
the lips of the first but is a laizy; good
Aloha is, in their limited vocabulary.
at once a greeting and farewell, for
NAL expression OF regard ana OF ueep
love. In the latter case it is increased in
warmth and depth of meaning by modi-
fyiI-crs adjectives annexed instead OF pre-
fixed. as Aloha nut, Aloha nui loa,
or even aloha nui loa kea and then
it is time to speak to papa.
Our soldiers, so say the reports from
Honolulu, were greeted with "Alohas'
and 'leis" The latter are wreaths of
flowers made either to fit around the hat
of a man or head of a woman, or more
generously to hang over the neck and
Shoulders The native women display
much art in weaving the abundant flow
ers into leis of much beauty. No matter
how many men may leave ranch or
plantation house. nor how early it may
be in the morning, the mistress has been
husv with her maids and every guest is
decked with lei. A popular man depart
ing on one of the little inter-island steam
ers is babe farewell by hundred friends.
who rub noses with him until the gong
sounds. and then load him with leis so
that he can scarcely stagger up the gang
plank.-Denver Republican