The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-04-25
WOMAN
EXCHANGE
Enters Eighth Year
ON a Paying
Basis.

The woman's Exchanre of Honolulu
has just passed its seventh aHuitritAiy
and enters now uuon iis eighth y"ur
self -xuppottinr and flttor iu the
business development of the city. To Dr.
less than quarter ul century til''
the schem, uf Comhiuiug business WIN
DeneNolence Tor woman henthi 'rpe-
cially, and known as the VI uuaus tA-
change. was inuururatrd, hut few have
had such "a prosperous career as lhe
one here The Mumans Exchange ln
Honolulu was established % provide
some means Of self-help, even though
more money be spent IN the machinery
than can be worked out of II Tor us
ben. ficihries. and also To enable those
who sch their products through the
Exchange to maintain their self-re-
spect and feel that they are returning
something Tor the help received.
In March. 1895. the work was inau-
gurated under the auspices of the W:
C. T. L. of this city, the president oi
that organization becoming the presld-
ing office Of the Exchange. IL was
known that in Honolulu, as elsewhere,
there were capable women VINO, be-
cause Of home ties and obligations
could not go out as wage-earheis or
shrinking from business publicity
needed encouragement in the utiliza-
ton OF the abilities they possessed 10
aid in tine enlargement of the family
income. The Exchange was not under
taken with the expectation of It's be-
Ing paying venture, for Of all those
reported at the time on the mainland,
only two or three claimed TO be able
to meet actual outlay so far as dollars
ard cents were regarded. The follow
ing statistics show the development Of
the local Exchange during its seven
years existence:
On April 3. 1895, rooms on King
street opposite the Arlington Hotel
gate, Were formally opened TO this new
enterprise and the business capable
ties of Miss Oliver freely given To the
launching Of the undertaking. one of
the newspapers of that date said: at
is hoped that those who are Interested
win assist the enterprise financially
without further solicitation" That il
was originally designed to aid the Ha-
waiian especially the following quota
don viii indicate: homemade poi
from responsible parties viii be "A spe-
cialty." Hawaiian curios. either man
ufartured or held as relics; plants.
grow ing ferns. etc, were suggested as
desirable with the hope such would
prove a stimulus to native ingenuity.
So 'ully did the undertaking meet a
Wa"t u the community that by No
E,Irr.r of the same year, a lunch room
W.> opened IN connection with the
sal, s.uum. the one assisting the other.
Bu-.uuHs grew steadily, and by the
Tine the WOman's Exchange had
""u"d.d oct its first year the puseibil-
ties before II were such as to call for
stl further enlargement.
From the nrst annual report the fol-
loving sentences are Culod: THE
Woman's Exchange started with absu-
lutely nothing. but through the kind
ness of the Honolulu public, the year
closes free from debt" Grateful ac-
acknowledgement is made i'm it to the
services of the manager. who had Ia
bored faithfully and untiringly, without
remuneration for the good work 5
sake. This she also volunteered to do
for the opening months of the second
year. In order to see the work enlarged
and I'm more commolious quarters That
this might be accomplished the public
generously responded to "A call to the
amount of over twelve hundred dollars.
Through w. q. Twins helpfulness,
the rooms on Merchant street, which
had been previously occupied by the
Gazette Company, were secured, which
mad been known as the old advertiser
quarters" We're swept and Earnshed.
md made the rendezvous FOR the busy
brain worker at the noon hour. To par
take Of a honeymoon meal at the UNI
pretanuous price of twenty-five cents.
This proved not only an income, hut II.
requirements made it possible to assist
large number of depositCrs as well az
others
BY the close of the second year. the
institution was happy in feeling it need
no longer tax or draw upon the public
but by careful management could re-
gard itself as self-supporting.
In the latter part of the year 1897. the
business venture was made of issuing
an Hawaiian souvenir in the form of
calendar. This idea so far as Homo
lulu was concerned, was original with
the Woman's Exchange. Had wOman's
y ciol
by II placed limit on mans future
powers OF adaptation, not only the self
supporting period might have been at
tanned but the uphill road to compe-
tency started upon, but falling short of
this, no charge can he truthfully made
that the Woman's Exchange of Homo
iulu has ever been a money making
institution, except as ii has aided its
beneficiaries
BY July, 1899, il was deemed best to
become an independent organization.
and also to become Incorporated. with
all the privileges and restrictions of an
incorporated body according to the
laws of Hawaii
The Woman's Exchange has. through
the seven years now past felt in COM
mon with business houses generally
the rise and fall Of monetary condi-
tons on the Islands, but these have
been tided through and over by the
cafeful management and judiCious out
lays Of the one who has stood at the
helin through the years since its begin
ming To the present time
one OF the pleasant features in run
ming through the records as kent is
the reference from time to time Of one
and another of Honolulu's well known
business men, who have as occasion
seemed to call for II, rendered timely
ana eratutous aid In the way of kIldly
advice, monetary assistance legal
knowledge, and in various ways mani
rested an ever ready sympathy in the
work the Exchange was aiming to ac-
eomplish in Honolulu.
The store on Merchant street was
moved up to Hotel street, thence over
nral H., hnnl IL