The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-09-17
NAHLERS WAS FRIGHTENED
HAD THE SCARE OF HIS LIFE AT
LAYSAN.
Old Joe Spencer Wasn't Alarmed and
Stood Eighteen Feet Ahead of the
other White Men.

The case against Captain Spencer is
nearly ended now This morning the
! prosecution put on it's last witness TO
| tell about the fight at Laysan isuand.
The witness was Louis Wahlers, the old
| carpenter, who gave some decidedly
new details about the trouble.
Wahlers was so frightened, ne declar-
ed, that he couldn't see. I'm 65 years
DID," he said "and l never was so
! frightened before, as when the Japs
were approaching the platform.
! thought they would kill us all"
| 1t appears that old Joe Spencer didn't
! seemed to have much of a scare. Wah-
lers hid behind an overturned car to
watch the proceedings. Spillner, he
testified, hau a berth at the other end
of the same car.
Eighteen feet in front of all the other
white men stood hite-haired Captain
Spencer, pistol i'm hand, and he shouted
to the Japs that he was ready to shoot
the first man, except four authorized to
come and discuss the situation, who
stepped on the platform.
Jap barred his breast and said GO
Ahead Go Ahead" and another Jap
stopped as If to pick up rock, while
several on the platform advanced on
either side of Captain Spencer, as If to
surround him. Wahlers, peeping round
his car, saw Captain Spencer steN back
little as the Japs advanced.
! At this point the old carpenter lost
track of events. He was so frightened
at the turn of affairs that tears filled
his eyes and he couldn't see what oc-
CURED next In all his 65 years he had
never been in a fight like that before,
and he had about reached the conclu
| sion that all the white men would be
murdered very soon.
"If they once get on this platform
they will kill all of u.s." the old car
L
mis- own testimony, and when he watch
! ed four or five Japs get on the platform
| and advance on either side of the old
| captain, while the latter stood and
! calmly made speeches. he naturally
| thought that the final tragedy was
about to be enacted. and that the Japs
| would transfer their flag from the Jap
building on Laysan to float it over all
! the buildings, otter they had stained
the islands marvellously fertile soil
with the blood of all the whites in
| sight.
Wahlers didn't know just what hap
pened at the moment of the shooting.
! He saw Jap stoop to nick up rock
that was of the same sort as one Kinney
introduced in evidence, which was a
lump of coral which the best shot-put-
ter on earth couldn't throw more than
a few feet. Then there were shots, all
at once, as it seemed. o-d the witness
! COulun tell dIlylnlnB dDOuI the TIME
that elapsed between them. He saw
a Jap try to rise and then fall back, and
concluded that he must be hurt.
Wahlers testified that he had been
told that the Japs were coming, by the
cook. He went to his house and put on
some SLIPPERS and then went to the plat
| form, where he found Captain Spencer
and the rest, with the terrifying guns.
For three quarters of an hour all waited
in utter silence, the witness said, or If
anything was said or done he did not
remember 1t.
Then the Japs appeared. They came
from their quarters and began to form
like soldiers. 1t took then five or ten
minutes to form properly. After they
were satisfactorily lined up they began
the march to the platform, and it was
then that Wahler got behind one end
of the car and Spillner behind the other
while young Spencer and the engineer
stood out on one side and old Spencer
walked ahead to meet the army of Japs
Spencer shouted his threat to fire, the
jap yelled his "Go Ahead" and Spencer
answered with the order "Shoot" and
then amid a vollev of shots Wahlers
terror reached n climax and he lost the
thread of events.
The case for the prosecution will end
this afternoon. High Sheriff Brown viii
put on the stand the Japanese fisher
man. who will have n chance to eXplaiT
why he didn't catch fish to relieve tn,
starving Japs who couldn't get rice or
August II, and then the defense will
put on its case