The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-08-08
ON GOSSIP.


his own throat. 1t is evident that gos-
sip. was the root of the disagreement
which ended in the crime. Pueo says
''If each person look to his own house
and attend to his own business there
would be no trouble in families"
Pueo was only a common dock labor
er but he wrote words of wisdom then,
even though he was contemplating a
hideous crime. Truly if each person
minded his and her own business, it
would prevent a great deal of trouble
in families. Gossip may be regarded
as the root of a vast amount of evil
and may lead, as in this instance, to
crime.
Honolulu like all isolated places,is a
hot bed of gossip, and every other little
center upon the various Islands reeks
with gossip. One used to think that
gossip was confined to only certain cir
cles, but it is widespread. 1t is as com
mon among the native Hawaiians as it
is among the Portuguese, other Euro
peans and Americans. Sometimes it
has CHASTITY results sometimes it leads
to the breaking up of friendships of
long standing, sometimes 1t separates
husband and wife, and sometimes it
sways the opinion of those who have
power to give advancement, and pre-
vents the progress of a young man or
a young woman in life.
Everyone knows and acknowledges
the evils of gossip, yet how few restrain
themselves from passing on the mali
cious story about their friends and ac-
quaintances, story which they only
half believe themselves and which they
have absolutely no foundation for. The
more exalted and responsible the posi-
ton the more will gossip with more
tongues than rumor chatter and glib
Der over foibles, and invent and dream
i'll sayings and set them whring
through the community, covering the
pure surface of truth with a filthy scum
of innuendo and falsehood.
But we must not think that gossip
is the popularity of our own time. 1t
was rife among the Romans of the days
of the Empire, as is shown by the
Twelve Caesars" of Suetonius, which
is the rankest gossip but which from
its age has been allowed to take rank
as history, and that supposedly pure
minded Muse has gone on repeating the
miserable twaddle from age to age. 1t
was rife in medieval Europe, especial
ly in Italy, and there led to many a
tragedy. 1t was the very breath of
life of the decaying French nobility
before the revolution, as any one who
-
times may know. 1t has swept down
through the present century and has
slandered and vilifed some of the
greatest and nobest of our own time
There is no purer or more domestic
lady than Queen Victoria, yet some
years ago her name was the victim of
gossip in the purlieus of every capital
in Europe There was not a more. de-
voted husband than the Prince Consort
yet England used to ring with vulgar
stories of his intrigues and of domestic
broils in the royal family.
The Cleveland Blaine campaign was
one carried on on a foundation of Cos
sip which was a disgrace to those who
manipulated it, and neither of the great
parties could claim immunity from the
charge. Washington is full of gossip.
1t was only the other day that a young
lady of high position was practically
bounded out of the city, the victim of
malicious story without foundation.
and she probably found bloody death
with the little band of Europeans in
Picking.
Gossip is and has been factor from
as the Frenchman put it, the time of
that little affair of Potiphar's wife" to
the time when Pueo shot his wife be-
cause of the yarns" and which made
him write IF all women who carry
tales would be killed it would be
warning" Mr.. Pueo had a primitive
mind, prone to a quick solution. His
plan is undoubtedly too drastic, and it
is doubtful if even his remedy would be
successful.
But though Pueo's method is not to
be applauded, and though it can be
shown that gossip has been the curse
of untold generations, penetrating to
the highest and the lowest there is no
reason why it should not be held up
to reprobation. We may see the mote
in other peoples eyes, but let us set to
work to get out the beam in our own
AS was said at the outset there are
no such hot beds of gossip as the vari-
Gus social centers of these Islands.
There is not a stranger that comes here
who has not his ears filled with evil
gossip about every person of promi-
nence here, male or female. The gos-
sip frequently commences upon the
steamers, and any one who has Travelled
back and forth from here to the main
land knows this to be a fact. If bet
ter example We're set in higher social
circles, it might have an effect upon the
lower. There is nothing like the force
of example. II it is not respectable to