The Hawaiian gazette., 1898-11-18
Sensation Created By R0lr Natives
IN Philadelphia.
REPRESENTED tine ISLANDS
A. the Commercial Museums
Names OF the Boys - "How
They We're Caught"
,North American. Philadelphia


Through the cleyerness OF report
or OF The North American, who saw an
opportunity to serve at once his paper.
his city and the Commercial Museums,
the latter institution Is now In posses
sion OF four original native Hawaii
ans, who will be seen on exhibition IN
the great Civic Day procession. which
is to be a feature of the coming Jubi-
lee celebration. The story of how these
dark, straight haired men OF the Sand
wlch Islands were discovered, the
manner in which they were corrafled,
SO to speak. and won over until they
could be inspected by Professor w. w.
Wilson. OF the Museums, and how that
expert on ethnology made thorough
study OF them and pronounced them TO
be perfect specimens OF their race, and
accepted them with profuse thanks, Is
a tale worth telling, andsis narrated
in full below.
The men are all perfect specimens OF
manhood. the youngest being ~ and
the eldest 20, and strange TO say they
had been in New York for week or
more before coming on to this city,
and not one OF the great corps OF as
tute reporters of Gotham ever dreamed
of their existence. They are the only
Hawaiians this side of the Rockies, so
far as known-at least the only abor-
igines OF the Sandwich Islands now In
Philadelphia-and DR.. Wilson regards
the whole as a great piece OF luck, and
has already arranged for the part they
hn AAns xI.ht nh MI
represent the Island OF Hawaii in the
great Civic Day parade.
The names OF the men are respec-
lively:
A-kea-hi, which means Burning
Fire"
Aka, meaning Always Laughing"
we-la-ka-hao, or Hard as Iron"
Alu-kau-wea. SLACK Wire"
Two OF the group. Mr.. Burning Fire
and Hard-as-Iron. can speak English
or as they call 1t, American" toler-
ably well enough to make themselves
understood. both having attended for
time the American school In the city
OF Honolulu. The other two can
speak but little outside their native
tongue. Mr.. Burning-Fire knows Pres
ident Dole. Of the Sandwich Islands.
quite well, and once was employed as
gardener at the Hawaiian Palace.
He also remembers as a boy running
messages for King Kalakaua, the pre-
decessor of Queen Lii" All four
understand the full significance OF the
annexation of Hawaii, and declare in
their native way that they are good
Americans" and don't want to be
called anything else.
HOW THEY WE'RE CAUGHT"
1t is their strange. cultural Ian
guage, however. their queer customs,
their peculiar methods of eating and
the tales they tell of the land In the
far Pacific, which has but lately come
under the folds OF the American flag,
that makes this strange group doubly
interesting at this especial time. and
which won Professor Wilson over at
once and caused him to congratulate
in person tie North American for hav-
ing brought this prize to his notice.
II had secured my Cuban and Porto
Rioan natives easily" said the Doctor
but the matter of real Hawaiians and
FilipinOs was another thing. The
North American has come to my hen
wonderfully with these Hawaiians, and
tender this enterprising newspaper
my sincerest thanks. The men are the
best specimens l have ever seen"
The men were discovered about 8
O'Clock on Friday morning, Just ten
minutes after they had reached the
Reading Terminal, on the way from
New York. They went straight down
Market street and stopped in a res
taurant little above Ninth, and there
the strange shade OF hair and face
caught the attention OF The North Am.
ertcan representative. who was seated
at table eating at the time.
''IT SOUNDED LIKE CHINESE"
The reporter at once sized them
up" as the saying Is, for Cubans or
other West India men, but the strange
language which they began to speak
and which sounded more like the mon
osyllabic Chinese than anything else
caused him to pause and wonder in
his calculations. Just then Robert, the
night man at the cafe, came to the res
cue.
DO you know what those fellows
are?" he asked by way OF beginning.
NO" replied the reporter, but IL
hadn't heard them talk, I'd say they
came from the West Indies"
MOI AT All, Sdlu nODeTt, tney re
Sandwich Islanders. I've travelled q
good bit in my time, and have eaten
poi In Honolulu, and III bet they're
Hawaiians."
As quick as a flash the reporter
thought OF the Civic Day parade, the
floats which the Commercial Museums
were to have In line representing Cuba,
the philippines and Hawaii. and he
recollected also that Professor Wilson
wanted original natives of all these
places. He had a conversation that
very day with the Professor in which
the latter expressed a fear that he
might have trouble in securing Fill
pinos and Hawaiians. As quick az the
thought the reporter few to the table
where the four dark-skinned men sal
gurgling out something which sounded
like mixture OF Choctaw and Mongal.
ian. He asked them II any of them
could speak English.
mr.. 'HARD-AS-IRON' SPEAKS"
Wel-la-Ka-hao, otherwise known al