The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-17
A FAST DIMINISHING RACE.

"A + ADJ DlMINlShlNd hAVE.
| The civilization of the white man II not
always boon to the savage; II means
sooner or later. his doom The red men
are nearly gone. the aborigines OF Aus
tralia are passing. and The Hawaiian race
Is rapidly melting away before the sun
| light of civilized enterprise.
| In 1853 there were 7l.Ul9 Hawaiians in
! the islands still. even though foreigners
had already begun introducing civiiiza-
| ton. In 1872 the native population had
dwindled to 1904. to which must be added
l.4si part Hawdiians-chiIdren of a Ha-
waiian mother and foreign husband
The next twelve years saw = further
| drop to f0144, and an Increase of part
Hawaiians to 4,21S, while in 1890 there
| were only 81. 436 Hawaiians and 6.IS6 part
Hawaiians. Six years later the Hawaii
ans numbered 81, 0l9. and the mixed popu-
laJion Sass. The latest census brings to
light the fact that not only has the pure
native population continued to diminish,
but the part Hawaiian numbers have de-
| creased from Sass to 7.s35. The Hawaiian
population Is now actually only one-third
the number of the Japanese immigrants;
there have been 90 a4 natives to over g.
600 Japanese. In fifty years there will be
Hawaiian Islands.
The old customs and habits of the Ha-
! waiians are dying out faster even than
the race itself. 1t is very unusual to lind
a real Hawaiian grass house on the island
of Kahulawi. though there are a fair
number on the larger islands yet The
grass houses are being replaced by
wooden frame houses of orthodox shape
and construction. The change Is certainly
not artistic nor is 1t very much more
comfortable or suitable to the climate.
However, the grass hut has passed 80
completely that there Is to be speci-
men erected in the Bishop Museum in
Honolulu to enable people to learn what
the old houses looked like.
Two features OF old Hawaii will prob
ably remain until the end. One is the
native generosity to absolute strangers
a generosity which has been consist
entity abused by foreigners since the
earliest times. A Hawaiian gives away
land, food. or any possession most read
lily, and on many occasions where 1t has
been found impossible to induce an old
chief to sell land he has turned round
and given the land in question to some
friend Of his absolutely. The two lead
ing rich NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. David and
away endless amounts of valuable pos
sessions almost indiscriminately. An
other distinctive feature of Hawaii is
the dress of the women, introduced by
the missionaries as a tribute to Western
IDEAS. This dress is simply Mother
Hubbard" flowing freely from shoulder
to feet and unconfined at the waist.
Those long Mother Hubbards'' are to
be seen in all colors and are worn even
by the rich Hawaiian women. The cos
tune Is undoubtedly suitable to the eli
women go bathing in them, allowing
their wet garments to dry in the suns
rays after the bath The Japanese
women Of Hawaii often adopt the
ungainiy and weird objects-their fig
ures not being built for long, flowing
gowns.
In olden times luans or native feasts
were held whenever an occasion of hon.
or or rejoicing occurred. and they were
distinguished by the quantity of food con-
sumed and the absence of i'll effects upon
the diners. This latter was principally
because of the vegetable food in the feast
The luan was held in the open air or
il boathouse. then the principal house
In the place. The food was laid upon
leaves spread on the ground. The guests.
crowned and hung with lels, sat on the
ground on the same level as the food. and
ate for hours at time. There was al
calabashes and dishes. while sucking pig,
roasted whole in the ground, and poi made
from the root of the taro plant were
prominent among the edi5les. Now how
ever. the Iuan feasts take place upon low
tables several inches from the ground,
and the beautiful old hand made Gala
bashes or bowls have given place to ma
chine turned, highly vanished bowls of
modern manufacture. The old calabashes
had a beautiful soft polish. caused by
soaking In oil and the rubbing necessary
In constant cleansing after use.
Thus. one by one. old customs have
passed from their old state and are now
rapidly descending the path to disappear
ance. The old native dance-the hula
hula-was condemned as not decent. al
though the old dances were perfect mar
wells of the dancers art, and the unde-
sirable clements of the dance were largely
introduced by the imagination of the civ
ilized moralists. So the dance was made
an offence and only takes place when a
party Is made up. to bear the expenses OF
a special performance, which expenses In
clude the fine necessary for the infringe
ment of the laws.
The dance as now danced, doubtless. is
far worse than in the olden days, when
the hula girls kept time so wonderfully
that, viewed from one end, whole row
seemed but as one figure going through
the dance. 1t is very curious how cfvili-
zation degrades the habits of savage
races by contact and then demands their
-. vol g