Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1904-09-21

us way W permanent d'''p'uhSe
like some families"
= = =
a very few years ago prosperous
New York publishing house sent out
to Hawaii man by the name of John
X. Musick. He was given carte
blanche. instructed to gather all the
reliable information he could In regard
to Hawaii's topography, climate and
social conditions, to make full notes.
and return home for the purpose of
putting his material into book.
lie came. He was a modest, unas.
suming. middle.West man, born in
Missouri" lawyer by profession,
with something of drawl and much
of the Missouri vernacular. But he
had an honest. simple, kindly open
heart; he was frankly proud Of his
dozen or so Of books that he had writ.
ten. though they belonged to the Sub.
order" of literature, and put their au.
thor among the class OF very minor
novelists. He could not line up with
Howells, Crawford or James: With
Mrs. Catherwood, Miss Murere, or.
even with Ople Read, but he wrote his
books. some publishers issued them,
and enough of them sold TO bring the
author a good living. He thought Ha-
wall was like any other place on
earth, and with the boyish sort of van
interest In DIR. Holmes, MIR. Musick
talked about himself and told some
one that he had been professor In
the University of Missouri. His com.
mon" looks and dress, his ungrammat.
ical language, shocked some of our
hypercritical, insulated insulars, and
they turned up their noses at his pre-.
, tensions"
The Professor, forsooth! Shades Of
Harvard, Yale and Princeton! the pre-.
sumption Of an illiterate hack writing
book on Hawaii! So several good,
kind people who live here and enjoy
the milk of human kindness, went TO
the trouble of writing to Mr.. Musick's
publishers, telling them that their rep
resentative was not qualified to write;
that he did not get at the facts; that
he distorted others; that he was loose
and sloyenly In his methods; that, in
truth, book by this man would not
! sell. Julien ID. Hayne and many 9th.
ers wrote complaints, and for two
years Mr.. Musick couldn't get his book
out.
1 In long correspondence the Bulle
tin Bookman told Mr.. Musick's pub.
fishers some truths about the matter,
and, at length, Hawaii Our New
Possessions" came out.
II was not well named for the date
Of its appearance; II contained more
inaccuracies in data and spelling than
II should, but II was well printed, II.
Illustrated and bound; II was really
sumptuous volume.
While the authors style was not
above criticism, and he had lin Tie
unusual honesty and credulity of his
heart recorded as fact stories told
him by some smart" joker-the book
was really interesting, and. on the
whole, a valuable, though unliterary,
contribution to Hawaiis photography.
Unfortunately again, the authors
lack of humor and his nsophisticated,
countriiled goodness of heart; his
newspaperish tendency to say kind
things of persons he mentioned by
name; his failure to perceive that few
he met here were in sympathy with
his object, made him appear as devoid
OF propriety and good taste,-a crime
unforgiveable here.
Owing to haste and perhaps care.
lessness In correcting proofs, a quota.
ton from Mr.. Irvine's pamphlet was
not placed In quotation marks. Being
thus Incorporated in Musick's book Il
was called an infringement of copy
right. At once several-at least three
persons wrote to the publishers
about the dreadful inaccuracies, the
shameful mention of proper names -
about the plagiarism. Mr.. Irvine was