St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-10-25
rlaybe The Oldest Woman.
A Native Hawaiian whe 0. believed 30
be 12f VEINS Of Age.

A Native Hawaiian whe I. believed 30 |
be 12f VIEWS Of Age.
The Oldest woman in the world, &C
cording TO official census reports, Ewes IN
Hawaii and is 12i wears Of aye Her |
name is Kepoolele Apau and her claim 60 |
advanced age has been thoroughly iaves-
tigated by the Hon. Alatau I Atkinson,
the general superintendent of the
Hawaiian census. Mr. Atkinson is now
in Washington receiving instructions on
the new census TO be taken in HawaiL
THE Oldest inhabitant 10 Hawaii, pos
sibly of the world. #" said Mr.. Atkinson TO
the reporter, lis Kepoolele Apau ol Hon.
olulu by careful investigation found
in this person curious and most mpor
tant historian. linking the past with the
present Hawaii.
"Amoug the census returns received IN
my Office were many which gave ages OF
natives varying from 100 TO 40 years
and 50 on. These cases / had nvest-
gated by the district superintcudents
bat when ] caue across a venerable
woman 10 Honolulu who claimed D be
ia years Of eye. ! thought It was lime
20 make investigation on my own &C
count
ITO carry out this Investigation ~. /
aaesisd Prof AfHaudef hnd Mrs /
Nakuina to aCcpu.ua1f NJ Prof Slsr
aad<< - enf = --tss< ssnai sr,0u as !.
historian 81 tho islands. - a man OF
exact thought. and ofthf highest culture.
Mrs Nakuina b Hawsnau eCmau ~
hlgh educafion both "a Engiish end her
own language ard faa ais1 YER
thorough knowlsdge Of thr history a.
ths country For mysell. rms training 40
q nr@spapcr editor haa De Hlc rrady
e. catch Boz iTcis aud long ncriud Of
wurk ~ inspcctotf ruefai OF p-houls las
forced ne 90 vaius evidence and wsigh IL
earsiuily give ,he shove statement bc-
canse ] wish ths drductious We have
made 10 bear the stamp 81 ckaciitu ie,
the case bring peCudar aus ami likely
90 BE- doubted
On entering the houss ~ found the
aged woman sitting uron the Aaof She
was attended by two women. one Of
whom was fhs wit ~ q grandson. She
eas very Deaf and. though got bind
could not ~ VERY clearly. However.
vixen ! heid e dollar in my hand s1t saw
BE-. put uut her hand iof i and rlaced u
IN bar pnfkct fh.s uas 81 she close OF
thf tutfrvca hut I mrntinn b beic 20
show whal hrr iaculties Nere
"frof Alexander after some prcimt
tarF rmafss. 10 ORDER nos fo aiarm the
renefahls wemau. suggested nnm. erof
nisfurlrnl 0ursltnns. alich were pat by
Mrs. Nskulns From thsss qlesti0ns We
lsaFnrd that she lruen ilefed thc abol.
tioH g idnlaffy ard that see feculicIttd
the . - in thai connertina. SIR stated
that she <. ~rricd women and an
attendant of Is .. ID. sni = ben the after
descended intn ht gral- enca and
nfuff he tahu aun thar hcr On rc was
thauEed iram krpooifis fo Apsuiur,. 7se
gacnrc ~ che event sht thfu told u.s.
aer fdeas ls-pu- uTfre quickly a. she
CO fa1rcs taking .kat err rr,FIisr,s'
kcona beng killed az keWaihac. fms
occurred 10 79i.
Finally kcpoolcle Apau volunteered
the information that she remembered the
digging OF the we'll IN kau. and that she
was a child at the time. similar to a child
running about the house--a child OF he
tween six ard seven years. This event
occurred in 7si and is described in For.
nander's history. This would make her
122 years old. according 10 exact calcu-
lation; but il is quite permissible 10 allow
her a couple Of wears more, as she claims
II followed up another method of iu.
vestigaiion and inquired how many
children she had, tracing their descend.
ants. This | was enabled TO do 10 the
fifth generation. Allowing the ordinary
thirty years for generation, four gener-
atoms would give 100 years, aud we can
easily allow four years Tor the fifth
bringing out her age at what she claims
by an entirely different method OF inves-
tigation. We were satisfied tina. the
aged woman had spoken the truth.
What curious link she is with the
past She must have been a little TODD.
ling child when Capt Cook went 10 the
Hawaiian Islands She has seen the
monarchy Of Hawaii consolidated. and
she has seen its fall. She remains today
a monument OF the past. but one which
must soon glide away aud pass to the
great unknown.
"Apau took in laundry until very recent
years, when the Cinnamon, having alb.
sorbed all that business. compelled her to
conhue herself 10 doing wor tor her son 5
family. Thre, years ago she slippod in a
bathroom and dislocating bone by the
TALL, she has since been acripple. Apaa is
getting purhl'nd, but her general health
is good aud her appetite fair On one OF
my visits TO get this history | saw her
pick a patch 20 piece pair OF trousers
She handled the goods underttandiugly
aud went about her work skilfuily aud
as though il was her usual occupation.