The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-02-04
SHE HAD TWO
LIVE HUSBANDS

4
Marrying and giving in marriage.
lawful and unlawful. and the disrupt
ing Of marriages. for all sorts OF
causes. make up one Of the most kalei-
doscopic features OF life in Hawaii
Every now and Snen case bobS,ep In
the divorce courts with enough COM
piications in it to make the most In
geniously constructed romance Of fic-
ton look commonplace by comparison
F. F. Calasopa's suit. which ended
successfully yesterday. for annulment
Of his marriage to Nancy Calasopa-
sometimes known as Lewaina and. as
Nicholas. exemplified two notorious
facts in the experience OF Hawaiian
women. One is that. as the child
wives Of Chinese. they in many cases
soon become tired OF the bonds OF ma
trirsOny, and the other that the Lusi-
tanian and the Hawaiian have about
the same affinity for each other as OH
and water.
There was evidence that Akana. n
cabbage planter. procured license to
marry Lewaina on January 9. 1895. and
that they were married the same day
az Wailuku by Rev. :. Kapu. Akana
brought his marriage certificate with
him 10 prove the union. Registrar Cen
eral Lawrence OF the Board Of Health
had the record book OF vital statistics
there for confederation. Akana teSti-
fed that Lewaina lived with him for
a year and half. when she deserted
him and for ten years had not glad
dened his home. He said he was told
when he married the girl. that she was
seventeen or eighteen years old
That was over twelve years ago. but
the woman in court did not look twen-
ty-nine years old or near II. More like
nineteen. after the manner OF Hawai-
ian womanhood. did she appear. She
was 1.-THE Of form and graceful as n
fswn and her eyes. Illuminating fresh
and winsome features. had the Won
dering timidity ofAa ch;ld's as they
furtively surveyed the interior Of the
courtroom Yet here she was. on her
defense 70 a suit for separation from
one man. with another man present 70
prove his long prior marrying OF her
An old native woman testified that
Lewaina was her niece and was mar
ried in her presence at Wailuku. First
she said Maui. and when asked where
Maui was. said. IN the district of Wal
luku-- other witnesses had mentioned
ne church as the place where the
marriage was s0lsmnized, bu, this ones
said il was ''at the jail' and stuck 10
that This might have been OF signii-
canoe. II the woman had tried 10 prove
that her marriage 70 Akana was Illegal
and void for the facts might have
gone 70 the question Of her age al the
time Sometimes in Hawaii a court
Of justice takes acton that obviates
the use OF courting as a preliminary
II marriage However. the aunt or
Lewaina did not k-ow why her niece
was married 70 Aksna al the jail.
Calasopa testified that he married
T.ewaina under the name of Nancy
Nicholas in 1875 As his wife she lived
with him until Sentember ; last. when
they separated He had heard that she
was formerly married 70 a Chlnamau
on Maui. and made inquiries that re-
suited in finding that the other hus-
band was still alive Naturally he
proceeded 10 sue for annuIment OF her
marriage TO himself.
Samuel 2. Chillingworth. counsel for
the defendant. did not put on evidence.
He submitted that. as the case involv-
d the possibility Of criminal prOsecu-
ton for bigamy, the evidence should
be strictly interpreted Therefore the
contradictions on the date Of the Aka
IA marriage and other points forged
ground for dismissing the suit. He
asked that II be dismissed.
7 " Harrison for the plaintiff ask
Sd that the defendant be ordered 20
pay a reasonable attorneys Zee. she
might have property and he claimed
that the plaintiff. in the circumstances.
vas entitled TO an attorneys fee az
vel as costs.
Judge Lindsay would not entertain
the motion for a fee The man took
the woman for better OF for worse. II
had turned out FOR worse and hs
should pay the expense Of getting rid
Of her. He would sign a decree for
snnuiment Of the marriage.