The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-22
KAMEHAMEHA
SCHOOL BOYS
Prof. Townsend Writes About
the Careers of All the
Graduates.

Editor Advertiser-So much has been
said recently on the occupations or the
graduates of Kamehameha School that
1 have taken the pains to investigate
the whole subject, and think the results
may be of interest to your readers
But before giving those results allow
me to say that the occupations of
hack driver and policeman seem to me
in no way disgraceful. Our republi-
can hack driver now sits in the House
of Representatives, and in gaining his
seat he defeated an Independent hack
driver. And having served my own
time as policeman, | am not willing to
acknowledge that / was thus engaged
in a disgraceful occupation. The Idea
that Kamehameha School prepares
young men for special occupations is
entirely erroneous. From the first or
ganization of the school it has been
the constant effort of those in charge
to make it understood that they were
not trying to teach the trades, but only
to give their pupils such training as
will prepare them for the duties of
good citizenship. Incidentally, they
have given them much that will be
useful to them in whatever occupation
they may engage in, and which may
form the basis of a trade, any one of
a number of trades, in fact
Since the opening of the school in
1887, one hundred and thirteen young
men, all of Hawaiian blood, have be-
come its graduates. OF these, seven
teen are now engaged in mechanical
occupations, thirteen are doing eleri-
cal work for private employers, eleven
are school teachers, nine are doing
| clerical work for the government, nine
are ranchmen, seven are employed In
| mercantile businesses, eight are labor
! ers seven are students, six are over
! of Ia horrors nrintprS two
are policemen, one each is district
| judge, a deputy sheriff, tax collector,
a hack driver, a parSon, a musician
and a bartender. Two are believed to
be dead, and eight are not at present
| employed, two are physically unable
! to work and several have recently had
employment, which for various reasons
| they have left.
One of the policemen enumerated is
| doing special work and the same time
| studying law The hackdriver is run
ming an automobile, and the training
| he received in school ought to make
! him especially valuable to his employ
ers Several of the ranchmen are car
| rying on the business for themselves;
the same is true of those engaged in
mercantile pursuits. Several of those
engaged in mechanical work are con-
tractors, employing mechanics. The
! term laborer has been used in rather
wide sense here, in some cases COW
ering work which cannot be regarded
as unskilled, though it is not strictly
mechanical.
1t will be observed that the above &C
counts for every young man who ever
carried away a diploma from Kane
hameha School Full details are in my
possession, and are available to any
interested party.
Hereafter, If anyone wishes to take
a fling at the education of young Ha-
waiians l would suggest that he try
Lahainaluna Seminary. Although the
graduates of that school may be serY-
ing their country and their race just
as honorably as those of Kamehameha
School, there are so many or them
and they have been scattered so faI
and for so long time that nobody
will be able to trace them as I have
traced the graduates Of Kamehameha
1t is safer! 1t has been tried mum
Der of times, and experience proves
this HENRY S. TOWNSEND.
! Honolulu, March q, 1901.