The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-03-14
TOWN TALK
BY THE MAN ABOUT TOWN.

IL is Whispered tnat my trlend Au-
miral Beckley is actually in danger OF
his Job. The report seems impossible,
how imagine anyone but Beckley
as purser of the Hilo tourist packet?
However, the admiral has offended the
powers that be and everyone is wait
ing to see whether or not he can square
himself. The cause of the trouble Is
a splendid gift to the admiral, dis
played (for a short time) on the new
steamer Mauna Kea. Some time last
year, when it became known that Beck
ley was to go to San Francisco to help
Captain Freeman bring back the fine
new boat, the idea was conceived that
he ought to have a present of some
sort, to show the appreciation of the
travelling public for his services. -
list of subscription was circulated,-l
am not saying by whom,-a it very
quickly acquired the names of a dozen
or so big sugar men who travel be-
tween here and Hilo, and opposite each
name was a noise like a hundred dol
lars. Such men as Watt, Moir, c. c.
Kennedy, "Billy" Campbell, Webster,
Horner, J. A. Scott and others soon
made the noise an actually, and a
thousand or so passed into the hands
of the popular admiral,-a slight token
of the esteem in which he is held. In
San Francisco it was applied to the
purchase of proper testimonial,-
again 1 am not saying by whom,-and
the testimonial is not to be described
simply as a peach,-it is whole or
chard. 1t bears an inscription telling
how and why it was given to the adj
miral and the names of the generous
men who made the aforementioned
noise like money. 1t came to Homo
lulu on the Mauna Kea, carefully stow
ed so that it would not cause a list, and
it is of such dazzling beauty and value
that the first visitors to gaze upon it
were awed and staggered, like Hag-
CARDS heroes when they stumbled upon
the wealth of King Solomon's mines.
One there was, however, who frowned.
He is j. A. Kennedy, who happens to
| be the president of the steamship COM
pany that owns the new vessel. Per-
haps the noise he made sounded some
thing like the use of the word graft,
but anyhow he ordered the gorgeous
exhibit taken ashore, and since then
there have been rumors of displeasure
or the part of Kennedy and the other
directors of the company, which may
retire the admiral from the star inter-
island route. But the gift is safe, and
it will remain throughout the ages the
grandest among the many resplepdent
family treasures added to the tradi-
lions of the Mooheau family as a result
of the public career of Admiral Beck
ley.
The hero of this little tale is a
newspaperman once in Montreal and
long we'll known among the writer's
!. of Hawaii. He was overheard in a
Kirau stateroom this morning as the
vessel was steaming past DIAMOND
Head on the return to Honolulu. He
had been with Governor Frear and
party and had ridden over much of
Maui. Somebody asked him how he
felt. THE motion-of the boat
makes it hard to fix these bandages
properly" spoke a somewhat plaintiff
voice. "They-don't seem to be pro-
perly adjusted-but 1 guess I'll have
to stand it till l get home"
The name of the winner in a guess
ing contest as to the identity of the
man with the bandages will appear in
next Saturdays Star. The contest Is
open to anyone in Honolulu except
Dan Logan
l see that young Ernest N. Smith
editor of The Sequoia, Stanford Uni
versity, son of Walter G. Smith, editor
of the Advertiser here, has had his first
editorial battle and has won out, hav-
ing discussed in an editorial the drink
= ing problem at Stanford in a very
fearless manner and having been call
ed to the carpet" for putting the
blame where it belonged. His case
was dropped A chip of the old block
is Ernest.
To all who have read Dickens and
remember Squeers, the peculiar peda,
cog who fed his school boarders or
birthstone and treacle from a wooden
spoon, think it was, the weird story
from Kona of the orphanage and the
half clothed and underfed orphans
must read like a study in reincarna'
ton.
Spell window" commands Squeers
Window" says a whimpering
child.
Right" says Squeers, now go anC
clean it."
1 don't know whether or not thii
spelling method was in use at the