The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-10-20
COHEN is DEAD B00kG
Continued from page /.

| of the last Legislature of Hawaii, re
| turned home yesterday on the Ala
media, some time ahead of the bant
itself, which he announces will sal
| from San Francisco on the steamship
Sierra, about October 80. Mr.. Aylet,
states that the members of the band
are in good health and enjoying the
trip, although he confesses that the
salaries have not all been paid up. His
optimism, however, is not corroborated
by the following letter which Mr.. Ay-
lett presented to Chairman George w.
Smith of the County Board of super
visors, yesterday afternoon:
COHEN DEAD BROKE.
Hastings, Nebraska, Sept. 80, 1906.
Mr.. G. w. Smith, Chairman of Board
of Supervisors.
Dear Sir: Mr.. r. w Aylett is go
ing home and will present this letteA
to you.
You have misunderstood my tele-
gram and done the Hawaiian band an
injustice by ordering US to Stay with
Cohen
Mr.. Cohen is dead broke; he can't
take the band home; he has no reserve
fund. We live merely from hand to
mouth. We are travelling around the
country aimlessly to make board and
lodging S''+
1--WE want to go home, as our con-
tract has expired today. You have or
dered US four months to be with Cohen.
The time is up.
Cohen hasn't paid salaries for the
last two months, and somebody not
even for four months, except a little
spending money.
The boys are hard up and they're
very anxious about their families in
Honolulu, as they have not received
any money for two months
Cohen owes me personally about
$1,000, including the advances I have
paid to the boys.
Il haven't received any salary
''Now, Mr.. Smith, you're connected
with the Supervisors, the Chamber of
Commerce. the Merchants Association
and the Promotion Committee, and
most respected citizen of Honolulu, and
you know the band. 1t would not take
long to collect the money for our home
trip, and, mind you, we have taken the
trip for the benefit of the whole COM
munity to promote Hawaii, and espe>
cially Honolulu. We have worked hard
for four months and now we are
stranded through mismanagement, no
fault of ours, and we want to go home
and play again for Hawaii nei.
Now. we need about $500 to go from
here to the coast, and then You have
to get steamer passage from San Fran
cisco to Honolulu. You're more able to
arrange steamer passage than We are
here
Il trust that the whole of Honolulu
will treat us fair. We have done our
best and worked for your benefit and
for all.
'.All the boys send Aloha.
Address Omaha; we will get it.
Yours, with thousand thanks
(Signed) CAPTAIN H. BERGER"
Billy Aylett landed in Honolulu in
the white band uniform adopted for the
A merican tour, on the collar of which
are the brass letters, "R. H. B." Ask
ed more in particular as, to the finan-
cial condition of the band, Billy said:
well, Cohen hasn't paid the boys in
full, and some did not get all that was
to them. but he will get them
home all right. He paid my way from
Omaha, where I left the band, to Ho-
nolulu.
I'VE had big houses at some places,
but Cohen lacked experience in making
business arrangements, and so we
didn't get what we should. We played
before audiences of $4,000 people in st
Louis. but instead of getting twenty
five per cent. of the receipts, Cohen
got about five cents on dollar. That's
been the way all along
''I wanted to come down here and
do politics. I intended sailing on the
Sonoma, but our train was two days
late, and so I got left. I can't even
register. so I'm worse off than some of
the Cinnamon here. oh. yes. I'll prob
ably get out and make some speeches -
The wife of one of the bandsmen
yesterday received a letter from her
husband in which he stated that the
bandsmen We're in bad way ffnan-
cially. and had been paid but a 1.-THE
of what was owing them. Cohen ap-
peared to have no money at all.
This wife in question is said to be
one of many who have not received
any money from their husbands. Sew
eral have been compelled to go out
and work for their living.