The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-07-13
WODERFUL LIFE
HISTORY FINISHED
CONTINUED from page AveI

the courts This position he occupied
for many years.
OF the seven children Of Abner Will
cox. all sons, four now survive. The
eldest. Charles died in California about
five years ago Henry II. Wilcox, the
youngest, at one time manager Of Ha-
uamaulu plantation died bout three
years ago. The survivors are Edward,
who lives at Winsted. Conn, George n.
Albert 5. and Senator Samuel w
In addition to being interpreter for
the courts w. l.. Wilcox early in his
career became interpreter for the le-
! gislature, and continued as such for
many sessions, even after he went on
! the bench. His last service in this ca
! pacity was as interpreter for the
| House in the session of 1898. OF his
experience as interpreter for the le-
! gslature, growing out of the peculiar
! tiles of Hawaiian manners, customs,
| frankness Of speech and figurative and
| symbolic language, many stories have
been told, both by Wilcox and by
others. He was also interpreter for
the constitutional convention that
framed and adopted the constitution of
the Republic of Hawaii.
In 1897 Mr.. Wilcox was appointed
! First District Magistrate for the Dis
| trict of Honolulu. in succession to
Judge Perry having been deputy dis
trict magistrate for some time pre-
vious. 1t was then he began that
series of shrewd but homely homilies,
bursts of wit, picturesque descriptions,
and pathetic appeals, as human nature
in it's weaknesses and vanities appear
ed before him, that have made him the
best known man in the islands, and ex-
tended his reputation in some degree
to the mainland. 1t was the Star that
first began to give printed publicity to
| these epigrams and witty sayings, and
attracted scores of people to the police
court who had no other business there,
than interest in his personality, and his
shrewd and kindly administration of
his court.
Probably no man had an equal lido
| matte and colloquial command of the
Hawaiian language, or was so stepped
in its legends. its proverbs, and it's folk
| lore. He has said that he neither
| learned English nor Hawaiian first but
/ that each was equally his mother tom
que. For his grasp of the language
and his unerring recognition of the dis
J tinctiOn between what was proper and
what was common in the Hawaiian
! language, he gave credit to an Ha-
waiian woman of good family who in
| his childhood was his companion and
a sort of gOverness. For his through
mastery of technical terms in the Ian
guage, especially legal terms he gave
credit to the first judge under whom
| he served as an interpreter. an Ha-
waiian of chiefly blood. who took much
rains with him in this particular. But
! assimilat ting all these advantages, was
his own kindly, but rigorous common
snse.
He never studied law in the sense of
becoming an acknowledged law student
yet his long service in the courts to-
gether with much study from a liking
for the subject, gave him a GROUNDING
and facility in the principles and prac-
tie of the law that many we'll establish
ed lawyers have not.
! A keen observer, with a fine sense of
humor. his recollections of early days
and early characters. when he chose
to relate them, were most interesting.
His memories went back to the days
|
tenn which preceded the civilization of
the islands had not yet vanshed-when
chiefs still had their feudatories. and
when Paki, as Wilcox has often said,
could muster a thousand armed retain
ers.
The late judge was an intimate of
several of the mOnarchs of Hawaii and
his "reminiscences, had he taken the
trouble to set them down would have
been highly interesting and valuable
additions to Hawaiian history He
knew Kalakaua well up to the time of
the monarchs last departure for the
mainland and could relate many an in
teresting story of that monarch S
troubles.
"Kalakaua felt when he left on his
last voyage" said the late judge on one
occasion, that he was not to return
alive. He called his gloomy prediction
to me outside the harbor, as the steam
er started for Diamond Head. l was
cruising in my yacht while the bands
played a grand farewell, and just out
side the harbor | went near enough to
the big steamer to say a last aloha
The King called TO me a message in
which he expressed the prediction that
instead of joy there would be mourning
and a different kind of music when he
returned" AS the event proved Ka-
| lakaua died in San Francisco and there
was indeed mourning when his dead
body was brought back.
1t was to Judge Wilcox also that the
King on one occasion made a predic
ton that after his death would come
the end of the Hawaiian monarchy
? Frequent We're the troubles of Kala
5 kaua's reign and sometimes the monar
) chy seemed to be in danger. on suci
: occasions there was more or less dis
sension between Kalakaua and Others
of the royal household who wanted ;
more aggressive policy and Judge WI
}. cox was present at more than one dis
I CEssiOn over such matters "TheY wan