The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1901-09-17
FIRE CLAIM FRAUDS.
(From Saturdays daily.)

| The court of fire claims accidentally I'M
ear tbrd some quite startling testimony
at yesterdays session, which included
also goods buried in the earth by ma
| tives, but for which claims had been pre-
scented.
Alexander Smith, native, was being
examined and incidentally mentioned the
| fact that he had buried some of his
goods. when he learned tha: the BOARD
| of Health had ordered the buildings
burned. He had not, however, put in a
claim Tor the buried properly, though
some OF II had been damaged by beng
left in the earth for such long time.
Upon iNrther questioning by the court
he sad lac had known Of segc.a! natives
who had buried their property, mention
ing among others The name OF Mrs. La
hapa Manliava The latter had put in
a claim for this property, mostly Gala
bashes, though they had beenrecovered
by her after the fire.
Representative ]. X. Paele, appraiser
for many of the Hawaiian claimants, OBJ
jected to the court questioning the wit
| ness upon any claim other than his own,
but Commissioner Tesla promptly over
| ruled the objection, and continued the
examination. Some evidence was brought
out, which will probably result in throw
| ing out some of the Hawaiian claims, be-
| cause of fraud. Smith was highly COM
plimented by Chairman MacFarlane for
| his honesty.
In the afternoon a daughter of Lahapa
was placed on the stand. and she threw
additional light upon the goods alleged
| to have been buried. A further examina-
| ton will very likely be made as the COM
| mission Is satisfied that there are fraud
ulent claims in n number of cases. All
OF these suspected cases will be thor
| oughiy investigated by the commission.
There were several claims before the
court which showed a rather exorbitant
valuation by the. natives.
]. hankalo was put through rigid
lcross-examination.
II see you have two koa calabas ashes
expensive?" asked Chairman Macfar-
lane
THAT is a mistake. 1t should be two
dozen calabashes," answered the claim
ant.
What is your occupation?'
II am calabash polisher.''
Then these calabashes didn't belong
to your"
yes they did"
What did you do with so many?'
Il used them for holidays, New Years
day, when l give a luau."
How much did you say these Gala
bashes are worth2
They averaged Sc a piece"
How old were they?"
"Twenty-seven years old"
How much would they be worth IL
they had been fifty years old?"
II can't tell: they were only twenty
seven years old"
II see you have a boat and three oars
What were you doing with them?'
Il used the boat for riding and fishing.
1t cost si0.'
Where was this boat when 1t burned?
In the water?"
mo. at my house. being painted"
"A dozen chickens" Did they leave
their happy homes. too?"
Yes, they were burned
And here Is a dozen more calabashes."
Those were cocoanut calabashes."
Gould you sell those calabashes for
IS each?"
"They were not for sale. like Gala
bashes, and did not need the money"
M. kaleihana, the next claimant, had a
well developed taste for fine quilts. She
had three quilts listed at $50, which she
said had never been used. They were
made by herself thirty months before
the fire. for her son in Molokai but she
had changed her mind later about send
Ing then to him. She also hau two
more quilts listed at s25 each, which were
also for the boy at Molokai. The claim
ant said she had placed that valuation
upon them because Mrs. Baldwin had
bought one for $25 from her
Today is the last day on which Hawaii
an claims will be heard