The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1904-04-20

The Garden Island, published at Lii
hue, Kauai has the following report Of
the addresses delivered at tie unveil-
ing of the monument to the late Paul
Isenberg, which occurred last Friday
at Lihue A full account of the cere-
monies aside from the addresses, was
published in The Star of Monday
April is.
Mr.. A. s Wilcox was the first speak
err and said
Ladies and Gentlemen: We have
come here today to pay tribute and
to do honor to the name and memory of
the late Hon. Paul Isenberg. I have
been revolving in my mind whether it
would not be proper to make a few pre-
Hminary remarks. The other day a
friend of mine came to me and asked
me to speak on this occasion. My first
impulse was to try to evade it because
it was something that was not in my
line and because 1 would not do justice
to the subject. But when l gave it d
second thought, when 1 considered that
it would be the only opportunity 1
would have of speaking of Paul Isen-
berg, 1 was Mortified at the idea of let
ting it slip, for Paul Isenberg has been
my friend, and 1 have learned that he
was a good friend, nay, that he was
the best friend l ever had Naturally
in talking of him have to drag myself
in. l would prefer to drag others in,
but as what l have to say partakes Of
"Reminiscences l am forced to bring my
self in.
We are come here today to do honor
to his memory. Mr.. Paul Isenberg was
good man, and was a Christian man.
say he was a good man because he
possessed all those traits of character
which God expects every one to deve.-
OPP and exercise; he was in my opinion
great and noble man because he pos
sessed all those noble traits of manhood
that we love to see in a man. Those
developed that he was a noble speci-
men of fully developed manhood.
1 have been asked to tell of some Of
my experiences with him. To begin
with, have known of him for over
forty years. 1 think for forty-five
years 1 have been more or less init
mate with him and associated with him
in business. have always remarked
how honest and just man he was. 7
remember when he left, there was
gloom over the plantation for everyone
called him "makua" or father. On the
plantation he was honored, respected,
and loved. He was often appealed to
when the people were in trouble to set
tie difficulties which frequently arose.
In my own personal difficulties that
could not be settled otherwise l appeal
ed to him for settlement He was al
ways just, and when he gave me not all
1 asked, he gave me a good reason for
his decision.
He was a man of remarkably good
judgment and that judgment was back
ed up by honesty. He often had to per-
form duties for others; he had duties to
perform for the country and he did it
faithfully. His name stood for honesty
and was a guarantee for justice.
He was a man of strong sympathies,
and they were backed up by love. Here
is a little story known only to Paul
Isenberg and myself On yonder corner
1 remember it well, he made me cry.
He did not do it by abuse or by hard
words, but by his sympathy 1 had
been going through trying time and
one day we met and had a friendly talk.
AS he left he called me by name;
turned, he was holding out his hand to
me; he said: Albert, q did not sup
pose he knew about my trOuble) know
about your trouble; you have done your
duty like a man and honor you for it,
and you have my sympathy"
His sympathy was not Of the kind
you get by going out and asking for 1t;
his came from his heart, and by the
pressure of his hand 1 knew it was
genuine, and the result was that it
broke me down. went home stronger
and felt l could meet ten times the
trouble 1 had been having because 1
knew had his sympathy.
We have come here today to unveil
his monument. It's history 1 need not
tell you, but it tells how the people low
ed and respected him. One feature
about it 1 appreciate more than any
thing else is that the poor people have
to it. If you look at the
list of contributors, you will see there
many people of moderate means and
many of those who gave their quarters
and half-dollars who could not well af-
ford to be without them. That can tell
in what earnest they were. 1t was sim
ply re-enacting the old Bible story of
the widow and her mite. The impress
sions he made on the hearts of those
who knew him are true monuments, but
this will tell to our successors the
story we knew so well today Now
that he is gone and that we cannot
have him with US, we have to bow in
to the great father; we
should continue II love him for his
many noble and Christian traits and
in his memory we shall ever be ready
to pay a tribute to his noble record Of