Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-09-16


able to pray their victims to death;
offerings are cast into the crater of
kilauea to propitiate the goddess Pele,
and visitation OF shoal of small red
fish to harbor forecasts the certain
death oi a chief.
Capt. Cook bore testimony in the
history of his third voyage to the
health, happiness and contentment Of
these islanders, then numbering, ac-
cording to his estimate, more than
300 600 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 numbers, a
century afterward, had fallen below
$4,000 and are still diminishing.
The half caste element is large
and influential one in the islands, and
numbers many individuals of large
wealth and excellent position. Of
these the children of Americans and
Europeans take first place, but there
is a generous admixture of many other
races, in which the Chinese is conspic-
uous. There have been graduated
from American universities children
whose father was an American and
whose mother was the daughter of
Chinaman and Il half.castc native wo-
man. 1t is notorious that African
blood has flowed in the veins of occu-
pants OF the throne. Some OF the
most respected and esteemed ladies of
the Honolulu circle are women with
native blood in their veins, and the
daughters of such households preside
over hOnOred homes in some OF the
cities OF the United States. At the
same time it would be an exaggeration
to say that race prejudice is unknown.
1t is the case, however, that individual
qualities cause this prejudice to be ig-
nored or dissipated.
The extremely polyglot character OF
, the population is due in no small part
to the elaborate experiments with as
sisted or invited immigration which
have been made from time to time by
the government. Azores islanders,
Norwegians, Chinese, Japanese and
South Sea islanders of various groups
have been introduced under govern
ment auspices in the efforts to solve
the labor problem, which is still more
or less OF puzzle.
The physical development OF the
white races in the island is a surprising
evidence of the salnbrity of their
climate and the benefits OF the free,
outdoor life which is the rule for all
the well-to-dO inhabitants. 1t is the
result of careful observation and not
of random remark that the sons of
American, English, Irish and Scotch
parents in the islands generally exceed
their parents in stature and girth.
The native-born sons OF foreign parents
are big. brawny race. There are, or
have been, abundant examples of the
physical prowess OF the white Ha-
waiians scattered all through the great
American universities and colleges,
East and West. One might enumerate
score of names whose owners have
held high places in 'versity rowing
crews, football teams, baseball clubs
and other athletic fields. These Ha-
waiians themselves are inclined to
attribute their girth and their Drawn
to the diet OF "poi." This sour fer
ment, which is the staple diet of the
natives, is in high favor also with the
adopted sons, and more than one
youthful sojourner at school or college
in the East has welcomed a consign.
ment of the pasty mess from home in
Hawaii nei.
American standards and ideals are
easily predominant in the islands.
Even the children of Europeans are
easily assimilated to this standard.
You will find many cases where
children of English. Irish and Scotch
parents, born in the islands, come to a
university in the United States or seek
business opportunities in the cities of
the Pacific coast. A white child born
in Hawaii, of whatever nationality
his parents, is not likely to pick up
the favorite phrase among the Ameri-
can islanders, Home to the States"
You will find evidences, also, of the
overflow here of something of that
adventurous element which sought our
Western frontier in the early days, as
though the United States had already
advanced its outpost after the Star of
Empire had encountered the Pacific
ocean. A happy bOyhood memory is
that of the lonely home in a secluded
valley of a certain veteran major, who
had once held q commission from
Uncle Sam and who had been the pilot
and commander OF more than one
emigrant train of " forty-niners" across
the plains. "Did l know Jess FIRE.
mont?" he answered to query. "Oh,
yes, we all knew Jess" This veteran,
with the vision of one eye impaired by
shotgun wound, has pushed his way
to this American outpost after land
began to be too much taken up with
houses and stone roads in the States,
and lived and died in the serene con-