The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-10-25
"REMINISCENCES OF OLD
STONE ARMSTRONG HOUSE

A letter TO Bishop Restarick from
Mrs weaver. sister of General Arm
strong, printed in the Southern Work
man:
Dear Bishop: In reply to your re-
quest for memories OF dear old Stone
House"-the home Of the Armstrong
family from 1s47 till the sad breaking
up in 1Ss1-they come whirring. swift
winged out Of the past. among them
beautiful, sacred memories of the fami-
Iy altar. where father offered the in
cense Of prayer and read and COM
mented on the Bible. and we Joined in
singing, Guide Ne, o Thou Great
Jehovah" to the grand swing OF Green
vile, known to the unorthodox as
'Rousseau's Dream the voice Of our
brother, s. c. Armstrong, ringing out
with prophetic fervor.
When that noble missionary, Rev.
VIM. Richards, died. our father was
called from the pastorate of Kawaia-
hao church TO take his place as Min
lister Of Public Instruction, and his resi-
dence at the head OF Richards street
was offered with the privilege Of seven
years 10 complete the purchase. Thus
il was made possible for the poor mis-
sionary with a squad OF hungry,
clothes-tearing children. to move from
the parsonage into the big coral house
and 70 become actively interested in
helping on the payment" by personal
economy. Shoes were discarded on ev-
cry pretext Happy IS the economy OF
shoe leather. but happier still were We
in the barefooted freedom OF climbing
trees or fences. and making sand forts
On the shore for the Pacific Ocean to
raze Admiral Thomas who restored
the flag Of Hawaii on Thomas Square
after Lord George Paulet had ruthless
" lowered it. was very fond Of little
people, and was much in our family
circle while in port He named our
home Stone House" after his own an
eestraI home in England
Mother was an indefatigable garden
er, and planted all the tamarind. man
go and aIgeroba trees, and made the
place beautiful with vines and tropical
growth There was no running water
then In Honolulu. The pump was our
source OF supply and we earned our
dimes for the missionary box by
sprfnkIing the plants Three Of us
started q missionary peanut farm on the
premises, with high expectations OF con-
verting the little heather in the South
seas On the proceeds, but we sampled"
the peanuts so continually that the en-
tire crop was consumed and never
the market We always fer
q little sensitive about our South Sea
Bubble
Sunday afternoons we studied CUR
catechisrn under the trees Sam ftnes
GtneraD would stretch at fun length on
the soft n1anianiA grass with his book
before him and Ponto. orr noble mas
tiff seated seuareIy over his book 10
attract attention When the tine came
To say askittychasam~ as the little ones
called it. he always g0t the gist or
things and gave ready answers 70 faith
zr's searching questions. which salts
fed Us that he eouId see through Ponto-
In the corner OF the garden was the
,ernetery fur our cats. dogs birds and
pei chickens an given honorable burial.
when our beloved cat Sarah died. Saua
,onforted our stricken hearts by writ
In~ the epi1aph ReQuies-Cat In pace,
which We thought original and touch
Ingiv appropriate- There was an old
TOMMY that serena5ed rs once too
,ften and sam brought him down from
he fence with good aim, and took the
lead feline BY the tail and buried Kim
= the banana patch Not long after
-ra were amazed TO see the creature rise
Du1 Of its grave and walk on Sam
ala with characteristic generosity
i've got one Of his lives, ne can have
the rest"
II vas a thrilling episode when my
,rathers-Evs N NeTins. named after the
sfvsra and Richard Baxter. named afr
sr Bakers saints Rest. and Sa-ElHea
collusicn with the little
son Of the American consul lowered
IN Stars and Stripes at the consulate
10 half mast because of the passing o1
ne family cat. causing a stir IN Of
sciaI circles and mary inquiries. as
5a9tt1s we're ureoEnrrcn in those days