The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-15
SAM PARKER TELLS WEIRD
TALES To A CHICAGO
PAPER.

4 ~
| ~ him Samuei). the man who once
| played poker with king. was in
Chicago yesterday. Parker was at the
| Palmer house, where he stopped a while
on his way to Washington to work for
| legislation in the interest of the Hawaii
| an sugar planters. 1t is said the sugar
| men want the law against the importa-
| ton OF contract labor repealed in so far
as 1t relates to the Sandwich Islands, bu,
Parker will mot discuss the assertion.
| More than feet tall and described as
| one of the "handsomest men who ever
came out of the west" although his
complexion is almost the shade of coffee
colored with rich cream, Parker attract
| ed much attention as he stood in the no.
| tel lobby yesterday. At the republican
national convention in 1900 he and Col
onel Richard c. Kearns of Missouri were
said to be the two best looking delegates
present
native Kanaka, once a nobleman of
Hawaii and prime minister to Queen liz
liuokalani, but now an American citizen,
Parker's life is pointed to as an Illus
trae:on of the possibilities of new worl /
civilization. When the republican party
was born, forty-five years ago, Parker
was boy of 10, living the Island of
Hawaii speaking tongue then unknown
to the ears of all save a handful of
Americans and knowing nothing of the
great country In the citizenship OF which
he was destined to share.
SITS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
Parker's father was a member of the
nobility and sat in the house of lords at
Honolulu. His estate covered nearly one
half of the largest island OF the group
Hawaii-and from his cattle ranch the
| markets of the capital city were sup
piled. The estates and title descended
to Samuel, who, when he became of age,
sat in turn in the house of lords and was
known as the wealthiest young man in
the Islands This was before the days
of Spreckels. with whom Parker later
became allied.
Parker held an important Office under
King Kalakaua and was the adviser OF
that monarchs successor, Queen LiltCo-
kalani. even before he was made her
prime minister. He told yesterday of the
times when he used to "sit in the poker
games at Honolulu during Kalakaua's
reign. The former prime minister has as
souvenirs of those days several slips of
paper bearing inscriptions like this: Il
o. u. S100-Ka1akaua, Rex
They are reminders of the monarchs
numerous obligations for it is said that
when he died he was indebted to nearly
every man, woman and child III the ISL
ands.
King Kalakaua was inveterate
poker player" said Parker. He would
command his ministers to play with him
and send invitations to officers of any
foreign vessel that CHANGED to be in port
During the last two years of his reign
Kalakaua had no money and it was then
that his famous 1. o. US were. issued
In way they became a sort of paper
money, stores accepting them at a con-
siderable discount, believing the king
would redeem his promissory notes some
day. But he never did.
WINS HALF MILLION FROM KING.
"TIis majesty regarded 1t as an insult
when anyone presented the bits of paper
for payment. Those who played In the
games, though, were supposed to put up
cash against the promises to pay. One
day 1 had a streak of luck and won half
a million dollars from kalakaua- Every
| time he thought 1 was 'bluffing he would
| raise me $4,000 Or So and the naval offi-
GERS would drop out. When / got through
I had all my pockets full of I. o. US
The king took the matter to heart,
though as much as If I had won real
money from him, and 1 wasn't invited to
the ropal palace for months afterwards.
After the new government came into
power, laws against gambling, which had
been dead letters, were rigidly enforced
Even private houses were subjected to
police surveillance. A crowd of us kept
ON playing. nevertheless, meeting in one
of the cottages of the Royal Hawaiian
Hotel or at one another's house. Once
a police detail surrounded a building In
which q game was going on, and the af-
fair broke up in much confusion. Among
those who ran from the building down
an alley was myself-Sam Parker, former
prime minister-a fugitive from justice
1 got away too and went to my estate
in Hawaii for several months. Those
We're great days out there."-Chicago
Chronicle.