Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-08-09
SOUTH PARIS. MAINE, TUESDAY, AUGUST

almost exactly rs III ueriii;sn. mere IS
Of course syllable to every vowel, but
In ordinary and rapid pronunciation the
effect is precisely tho same as in German
and Spanish-that is, au or ah-oo, is
practically pronounced ow, rs in now
40 is nearly the slme. but It is rather
more ''tony" to pronounce these two dis
tinctly separate. Al is, similarly, pro
nounced exactly like long in line and
prime; as a in fate, as co in feel, q as
90 in COO and all other letters as in English.
When ii follow O vowel, the first is
sounded with that vowel and the second
alone. Thus Hawaii is Hah-wy-ee, &C.
cented on the second syllable.
II is the consonants which mako the
trouble. To say that the language has
no constant consonants would be scarce
" an exaggeration The vowels are al.
ways pronounced clearly and strongly,
in many cases with real lingering
sweetness, but not so the consonants.
In fact, if a clear voiced talker should
omit tho consonants entirely. native
would generally understand him. One
must listen carefully to distinguish be
tween and |. between and k, and so
OF many other doubles. and in the older
works on the islands one finds the names
thus spelled indifferently. as taro or
kalo, Kilauea or Tirauea, or more com
monty Kirauea, Pele. Tele or kele. etc.
Nv first lessons were in the Book OF
Mormon my local mentor being mis-
sionary Of that persuasion, and this
book, unlike most, loses nothing in trans
Iation The spirit Of the original could
not evaporate, Us Max Muller puts 1t, be
cause in English the book is aptly de
scribed as ''chloroform in print hope
lessly duh Nevertheless the Mormons
have done wonderful work on the is
lands, and this would be one OF their
strongest outpos:s If their converts had
not, Kanaka fashion. died off so rapidly
In Utah is an extensive family OF Nebe-
kers. cousins. believe, Of the present
United States treasurer. One Of these
did so good work in Kauai that his
most talented converts took his name.
After my return to Salt Lake City ]
heard one of these kanaka Nebekers de-
liver an address there in his native
tongue which a returned missionary
translated, and though by no means an
expert in Kanaka | understood enough
10 realize that that interpreter was "A phe-
nomenally brilliant liar.
The American missionaries reached
a. II. l.. -. hu1 hA
tive speech reduced to written Ian
guage. Now every adult kanasa can
read and write. Some 800 books have
been published in the language, and the
Kanaka journals are read by every one
Bearing in mind the rules above given,
the reader will easily see that Oahu is
pronounced O-ah-hoo; Maui, Novice:
Kilauea, Kee-low-a-ah; Liliuokalani.
Lce-lee-oo- oh ka- lance, and so on OF all
other places and persons. The main is
land gives name to the whole group
with the addition Of Nei (Nay eel, aword
signifying union or the whole; hence
the official designation Of the kingdom
is Hawaii-Nel.
Hawaii is nearly twice rs large as all
the other islands together, but Oahu Is
politically the most important, having
the capital and by far the best harbor in
the islands, and Kauai is rather then
advanced in agriculture. did not know
the reason of this till found it out, and
I was quite suddenly put in the way Of
finding it out at Hilo, in Hawaii 1t was
a perfectly lovely day, and was writing
and lounging by turns when there came
strange culver; my inkstand danced
over the table like quicksilvered toy
man, felt sudden nausea, there was a
grinding sensation in the very light
frame walls. and subsequent proceed.
ings interested me no more" in that
room-for | was in the middle Of the
street with several other people II
was over in minute. Then every
body laughed and pointed out that even
IL one OF these houses fell on fellow II
would not hurt him much. for they are
very light in structure, Heavy stone
buildings are all very well for Oahu and
Kauai. and will barely do in Maui and
Molokai, but not in Hawaii
The explanation is, to my mind, very
curious The islands were all built UT
by volcano and earthquake Nature he
gan the Job at the northwest end of the
chain with some small islands, mere
rocky peaks; as she moved southeast
ward she built mp successfully larger IS
lands, and she is still at it-intends 10
keep at it, the rock sharps' say, till she
makes real island continent. While
she is building an island it is Of course
powerful uneasy and mighty uncer-
tain" but when she has finished ii il
settles down to quiet maturity. Hence
the comparative steadiness of Oahu and
Kauai; hence the instability Of Hawaii.
Only FIVE years before my visit there
was Pele to pay in that island. (Pele Is
the native devil Of Hawaii. or deviless
rather, for il is female.) For many
days together the whole island shook
like giant in an ague fit. The propri-
etor of the hotel at the Kilauea crater
said in letter to the Honolulu Adver
tiser that "Pele sent Rodman 20-inch
shot with such precision that it struck
the ground within an inch of my bed.
ran and did not return" Nearly all The
stone buildings in Hilo were shaken
down The missionaries record with a
sort Of grim humor that their bookcases
were upset and the books went tumbling
over the house. Trees swayed and fell,
stone fences went down. and vast noun
tain masses rolled into the sea. One
missionary adds, so gravely that we
must not suspect him Of joke. that
they prayed with unusual fervor and
sung
On Jerdan's stormy banks we stand,
And cast q wishful eye.
THE WORLDS GRANDec1 VOLCANO