The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-08-22
THE FAIEFUL FIDDLE LOST
SERGEANT sCOTTS VIOLIN STILL
MISSING.
Intimacy of the Three owners of the
Instrument Two of Whom are DC ad
and One Has Completely Disappeared

Sergeant SCOTS suicide has not Yet
reached the limit of a nine days wor-
| der at Camp Mckinley, no little impol t.
ance being attached 70 the mysterious
violin. Just where the inst 'umcnt is
buried is entirely matter of conjecture
but the statement that Scott stated
that he had buried it is corcOburated
and given general crede.ce. 1t would
seem that Scott had not played on the
instrument for some days previous to
his death although the violin had
hitherto been a favorite instrument
with him. Scott while a popular man,
had no particular bunkie in the COM
pany, his closest friend seeming to be
Hornet who came out to the camp quite
frequently to visit and talk over mat
ters with him. e. c. Kaufman the
first of the trio around whose lives the
violin buried by Scott is suggested to
have thrown a baneful influence, first
brought the violin to Honolulu and
with him the history of the fiddle and
its origin died. Kaufman, while his
fellow members of the band were play
ing at Waikiki obtained the key of the
drill shed and there blew out his brains.
In the meantime the violin had been
transferred from Kaufman to Hornet
whether by sale or purchase is not now
determined and the onus of it's owner
ship lay with the jeweler. The suicide
of the late bandmaster of Deweys flag
ship Olympia, took place on January
"a of this year, on the same date that
Scott enlisted in Philadelphia two years
before. Ernest c. Hornet dropped out
OF sight on Thursday July 20, and in
spite of vigorous search urged by his
friends and the German consul, no de-
finite traces have yet been discovered
that can clear up the mystery. His
clothes and Valuables were all found in
nd
one containing carbolic acid the other
with the label carefully scratched off
were accounted missing.
Sergeant Scott committed suicide Au-
gust 49,
Hornet had declared to his friends
that if he ever found himself involved
in trouble out of which there seemed no
escape he would blow his brains out. A
long series of misfortunes seem to have
set in to blight Hornets life shortly af-
ter he received the violin from the un-
fortunate Kaufman. His investments
in sugar stock proved highly unfor-
tunate, his tiiancee found cause for
breaking off the engagement anu 49,. @.s
house at Kaimuki burnt to the ground.
If as is probable ne sought some solace
in music. being an amateur of that art,
it seems to have failed to soothe the
despairing thought that his friends be-
lieve preyed upon his mind and as they
fear led to suicide.
The disappearance was conducted
with no tragic pomp or circumstance.
Merely remarking to the fellow watch
maker with whom he lived that he
was going for a stroll nowhere in par
ticular" Hornet dropped as completely
out of sight as if the earth had swallow
ed him.
The violin before this had passed to
the skillful hands of Sergeant Scott a
particular friend of Hornet and now,
having wrought it's power for woe
around three lives the fateful violin has
disappeared as thoroughly as it's for
mer owner. Where Scott buried his
fateful fiddle cannot be discovered if
indeed he did not destroy the in
strument. There is another theory
afloat with regard to Hornets disap-
pearance which seems to have source IN
some remarks of SCOTS shortly be-
fore his death Scott, it is claimed,
stated that the ieweler had been finan-
cially persuaded by certain persons in
town to go to the coast in lieu of es-
tablishing a business here, they fear
ing successful competition on the part
of the missing matchmaker. 1t is fur
Their claimed that Hornet has been seen
alive and well in San Francisco with
in the last two weeks.