The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-04-21
GREAT PINK
PEARL AGAIN

The famous pink pearl has come tC
light again and once more the stories
Of this peerless and mysterious gem
which set the town by the ears some
nine years ago are going the rounds.
The pearl. which is fully half an
inch in length and perfectly oval. was
brought TO Honolulu by a soldier re-
turning from the Philippines in 1899
and sold by him TO a Chinese jeweler
on Pauahi ST yet for price unknown
but believed to be small.
The first that, was known of the
presence of the pearl in Honolulu was
CLEANED from an article in a Manila
paper, which related the loss or rob-
berry of a red pearl from a temple
near Manila, the value of the pearl
being then stated to be in the neigh
borhood of $4,000.
The article was copied in all the pa
pers Of the Orient and in time crept
into the mainland press. Presently an
item appeared in a San Francisco pa
per that the pearl had been sold by a
soldier to a Chinaman in Honolulu
for $40
The whole town went pearl-hunting
for a while-that is. in a quiet way.
Every jewelry store in Honolulu was
visited, but the gem could not be
traced. Mysterious strangers arrived
from san Francisco and the Far East
and went over the town with fine
tooth combs, but nothing could they
find.
In 1900 the great Chinatown fire
swept Pauahi street out of being, and
the pearl was forgotten, many people
thinking that it had been destroyed by
the flames as it lay in its resting
place in a Chinese trunk.
A year or so later a garrulous China
man. probably having more samshu in
him than he could carry and at the
same time maintain the proverbial
discreetness of his race. told a coun-
tryman that the pearl had indeed been
sold to a friend of his, but that a few
months after. the man who had sold
il had bought it back for double what
he had let it go for. The Chinaman
told the story as a great joke on the
soldier and a tribute to the business
acUmen of his countryman. 1t APP
pears that neither he nor the jeweler
had read of the hue and cry which
had been raised about the gems dis
appearance and that they thought that
the pearl. because of its size, must
have something wrong about it and
was perhaps an imitation, cleverly
colored.
Tho story of the repurchase of the
pearl became common property. was
discussed for a while and then for
fotten.
Last week sailor from one OF the
transports. believed to be the Dix.
called at carlos jewelry establishment
on Nuuanu avenue, and producing a
lark, pink pearl. requested the loan of
S1o0 on the gem. which the man said
would be redeemed when the transport
passed through again. He said that
he had gone up against a gambling
game and had been cleaned out, and
stated that he did not want 70 land
in san Francisco pennilese.
carlo thought that the pearl was a
fake. and told the man SO. He said
thar a pearl Of such size. and pink
at that. was an impossibility. He Of
fered the man a couple Of dollars for
IL. 10 retain rs a keepsake,
The sailor left the store and Carlo
did not see him again.
What became of the great pearl is
a matter Of conjecture. 10 may have
been disposed OF here, or Il may have
been taken 10 san Francisco by its
owner.
The chances are that the man who
visited Carlo laSt week is the man who
sold the pearl Is the Chinaman in 1899
and ubat he has been carrying IL ever
since. afraid 10 dispose Of il lest the
secret OF how il came into his pos
session became known and punishment
followed,
\ reward OF $4,000 Mex was Of
fered In Manila for the return OF the
pearl or the apprehension OF the thief,
II appears that the pearl had sacred
value as a temple furnishing, apart
iron, its great intrinsic worth.
There has been talk, from time TO
time. that band Of religious fanatics
have pledged themselves to recover
The sem and to slay the desecrator Of
the temple.
To avoid a fate as unpleasant as
his. IL Is far from improbable that
ne r,urloiner of the pearl has kept /
II sea as much as possible ever since |
md has carried his treasure with him, /
Waiting for the time when he would /
,e able 70 dispose Of Il at something I
Ike its real value or TO return il and /
laiu the reward with fun assur-
,nce Of personal safety.
ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN IN
THE BEST REGULATED FAMILIES