The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-08
SOME SAMOAN CUSTOMS.
Observed ~ FORMER CHIEF Jus
rICE or TIE ISLANDS.
Their Excessive PoIitencss-So Need
for Women To- Garry "a White Flag
in War Tines-Thrir Language
IaasN 20 Ienrrr.

From the ST. Louis Globe-Democrat.
! II any Of he 1890 natives with whom
| chief Justice Chambers became acquaint-
cd while he was the court Of las appeal
ON the Samoan Islands could have seen
! him recently, they would have been great
/ ~ pleased at the transformation he ac-
] comphshed BY trimming his whiskers II
| there is one thing above another that the
native Samoan abhors, it is hair on the
| human face. They consider it unclean
! and ungodly. and the chief Justice viii
admit THAI he lost prestige until the ma
! tives became accustomed to him with hrl-
suite appendases on his face. But late.y
! his brother John b. Chambers. piloted
| him to barber shop, aud what had been
a healthy appearing Vandyze beard ana
the adherence Of the natives became
! closely cropped and barely dlscernible
stubbe
Many friends Of the chief justice met
b m during the dav aud listened to his
| stories Of the odd customs on the islands
| In tn@ evening there was a family gather
! ing at the home of his brother on Nor
gan street He was asked TO tell somo-
thing OF The Characteristics of the is.anl
people.
u found the language an easy one TO
| learn" he said. There are but fourteen
/ letters In the alphabet and of the ma,
| uyes a majority have learned to read and
1 write In their own language You see.
you can hardly look upon the natives as
| saNages or uncultured people. because the
| missionaries have been az work among
them for the last fifty or sixty years, ana
! nave made excellent progress in teaching
| them Christianity and the social customs
ana usages of civilized nations. When I
| hTst Went to the islands. I found them
! improved by the influences OF the missions
! aries TO an extent which had removed
many of the vagaries and peculiarities
which are usually to be expected among
! unciNilized Islanders There is one thing
| though that no amount of civilization viii
destroy in the islanders. and that is an
excess Of politeness. They are the most
! polite people in all the world They are
| oppressiYeiy pol te One of the novelties
| mad 10 become accustomed to as the
ehief Justice of the islands, was that OF
having a prisoner give a most elaborate
salaam after I hal sentenced him 10 five
or ten years at hard labor and have him
say IN his oxn tongue, ! thank you. sir
'Ihe Eeop,e ere not only polite but
tAey are most aflectionate and once you
! attach one of them 10 your love, he or
| she IS forever your friend. This was most
iorclby eXemplihed after hostl,ties broke
out and the fighting was going on in The
! island We had three native girls and
| three native boys in our household who
| were very much attached to our family
/ This was particularly true of one of the
! girls, who was passiona ely fond Of Mrs
! Chambers, Every night there We're skirm-
ishes on the island and very frequently
/ hr'ng was heard near our home. The girl
In question would not leave our apart
! ments, but would rest on a rug at the
foot of our bed. When the stirmishing
1re approached our home the girl would
| go out and recOnnONer The natives never
| hre on their women, no matter what their
connections are and often women walked
down between the firing lines from one
! side 10 the other, carrying water or caring
for the injured. Our young girl took us
under her protection aud seemed confident
that she could ward off hatm from US.
| When we got ready to leave The islands,
| all of the chiefs began to bring presents
| to our home. AT first I fen very much
| comp,imented, and some of the old clubs
and war Implements and decorated mats
| and other brio -a-hrac made by the natives
| was really quite interesting and of value
! However. | soon had 10 refuse to receive
! anything more, because | had no way of
! carrying the stuff away from the island.
1 At the rate things were coming from all
parts Of the Island | would soon have had
a shipoad. As II is, I have several large
cases of the most valuable presents | re-
1 ceived with me.
Il know of no people in the world who
are as ccremonious as are these people,
| and who have more rigid ideas of the ad-
vantases which rank conferred upon one
of their number gives Fortunately, | had
my rank all fixed up before l realized the
Importance it would prove to me after
ward. The chief justiceship was new
thing to them and their more intelligent
classes who were sufficiently versed in
u. -. a..
treaty under which my appointment was
| made, explained as best they could what
We're my duties. One thing that worried
the natives was the fact that they had
no name to apply to my position. They
had chiefs of their own and leaders of va
rous kinds, but nothing that came exact
7 " IN my line. Finally they thought the
matter all over end named me 'Faamasino
/ silly = mis- WAS = combination Of words.
/ which meant i'm the native tongue, man
of one word, which was their way of ex-
! pressing he fact that decisions made by
the chief Justice were final.
II do not think that the people of Sa-
moa are greater eaters than the people of
| other nations, in spite of the reputation
which they have established because of
their extensive feasts. Perhaps they do
eat more a the feasts than the people do
who attend banquets in civilized countries,
| but at the same time there is always an
| abundance left Il was decreed when the
| chief justice first came to the island that
he should be second in rank to the King
| AIRS Chambers was honored as the first
lady of the island in consequence. l was
given many fetes by the great chiefs In
| consequence of my position, upon my ar
rival. 1t was a bit embarrassing TO me,
| too, when l wished to return the excessive
! ly polite attentions that We're shown me.
The people are most jealous of their rank,
and ! made some blunders that kept the
interpreters busy for hours explaining to
the satisfaction of the natives. The first
bit Of meat at the feast was given to the
King, If he were present; the next came
! to me, and then on down the line until
the person Of least rank was fed. 1t was
the same way when Il came to serving the
! drinks and the cigarettes People arose
and sat in the order of their rank
People walked along the highway in the
same way. Unless man was of superior
| rank he WAS not allowed to pass another
man going in the same direction on the
] highway That Ia he reagOn that I IVA =