The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-10-24
NOVEL KIND
Of FEASTS
iiappy-so Lucky South Sea island
ers at KaIihi Detention
Camp.

A happy crowd OF people constituting
the South Sea Islanders colony occupy
enc portion of the Kalihi Detention
Camp. and they have recently inaugur-
ated a novel way of getting up what
they can a feast. These feasts are held
once a week and at times as many as
sixty or seventy people, South Sea Is
ianders and native Hawaiians, attend
them. The feast starts in the open air
at about three o'clock every Saturday
afternoon, and keeps up in varying
ways until Monday morning. when the
feasters return to their work of fish
ing and making hats.
Out at the island camp they live in
quite a happy-go-lucky manner They
have good buildings to preserve them
from the elements but the rooms con-
tain little or no furniture Numbers
of people of both sexes live in the same
room, sleep on mats, and in some cases
on bare boards. The men of the camp
spend their time fishing. Basket traps,
three or four feet in length and couple
of feet in diameter, having q small
opening for the fish to enter and ar
ranged in such a way that once in a
fish cannot get out again, are used by
the fishermen. Numbers of these are
placed in the shallow sea water near
| the camp, and allowed to rest there I'M
| til fish are entrapped. Then the island
ers put their catch in smaller baskets
and sell them to Chinese fishermen who
work the fish ponds out that way.
| Through the Chinese the fish reach the
| Honolulu market. The South Sea men
get considerable money in this way.
They buy but little clothing, purchase
| but few provisions, live on fish, and
spend the greater portion of their earn
ings on beer and gin. But each man
| manages. to keep dollar in his pos
session until the end of the week, when
| he throws it into the feast pool to be
| used in buying beer and gin and other
| things for the gathering.
| The women carry out the same sys-
| tenn as the men. They spend all of
their time, when not sleeping, in MAX
ing hats. These hats are sent to Ho-
nolulu on Saturday mornings, and ped
died about from house to house. They
bring anywhere from twenty-five to
| se.venty-five cents each. The agent
usually a native, who sells them must
have little profit and the rest goes to
| the hat-makers, who spend a portion OF
| it, for cheap finery and the remainder
| OF it for booze" The women also have
to have a dollar at the end of the week,
or they Will not be allowed to partici-
| r ate in the feast. AS from fifty to sew
enty-ffve dollars are collected for these
feasts one can easily imagine the large
quantity of wet goods that the party
gets.
Old and young gather around the
feasting resort and there is consider
able fun during the earlier part of the
proceedings. A reporter CHANGED to
come upon one of these parties at the
detention camp. Everyone looked on in
surprise when he approached and seem
ed to be offended at his presence.
| You want buy hat?" queried one old
woman.
mo. 1 want feast" answered the re-
/ porter.
A young girl giggled but was prompt
ly suppressed by an old man who sat
beside her.
You got five dollars?" asked a white
haired old man, who seemed to be the
leader of the party.
No" said the reporter
| We'll, We say you much better go
way"
The reporter did as he was bid, and
| was followed few steps by a number
| of dogs that had been loafing around
the feast waiting for bones that the
| feasters threw away from time to time.
| But despite their feasts and drinking
these natives give but little trouble. AS
| fast as feaster becomes too drunk to
continue at the affair others drag him
away to quiet place where he can
sleep on the results of his carousal.
on the following day he can be seen
drinking huge quantities of water and
slowly moving off in a surly manner to-
| ward the fishing traps.