The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-10-29
NEW GYMNASIUM
THROWN OPEN
Continued from Page One.>

ing OF 1t ali, pushed his way back to
find out what the cryptic message
meant, but was handed another strip
Of paper on which was written, s'show
me first, F" Concluding that he was the
one who needed to be shown, he gave
it up and allowed himself to be carried
by the pressing throng back into the
center of the room.
In one corner an orchestra could be
seen, bravely but Intellectually trying
to make itself heard above the bedIam
of sound that arose from the crowd.
Everywhere swarmed children, children
of both sexes, all ages and apparently
every nationality under the sun. Every
one appeared to be yelling at the top
of his voice, but the man who could
make out what they were saying would
have had to be endowed with the gift
of many tongues. But it was evident
chat everyone was happy.
Several young ladies seemed to be
trying, with sporadic success, to bring
order out of the human chaos. But
their success did not seem to be long
lived. A herd of restless young ones,
carefully marshaled in one corner,
would suddenly break loose with wild
yells and break for another corner in
which was a table piled high with
doughnuts and apples. The crowd was
about as easy to handle as a bag of
cells.
In the center of the room stood a
tall man with police whistle at his
lips which he appeared always on the
point of blowing. But if he blew it.
no sound seemed to issue from it. Or
if there were any sound, it was lost
in the pandemonium of laughter, yells
and chatter.
Finally the tall man-Superintende
Rath of the Palama Settlement-climb-
ed the stairs to the balcony, where he
could be seen by everybody, and. wav-
ing his arm wildly, succeeded, with the
aid of the police whistle, in bringing
a semblance of order out of the chaos.
"Boys,'' he called, "choose your part
ners for the grand march,
The Parade of the Nations.
The volume of sound swelled again
to an uproar. and there was a great
scurrying aboutthe floor. Superintendent
Rath waved his hand to the orchestra
leader, and the musicians could be seen
vigorously lingering their instruments.
Presumably they were playing.
Someone took the lead; the babel
died down to moderate proportions;
the music of the orchestra could be
heard at frequent intervals, and the
grand march began.
It was the triumphal parade of the
nations. There were Chinese marching
arm III arm with their haole teachers:
Hawaiians keeping step with japanese;
Koreans marching side by side with
Portuguese. There were Hindus and
Porto Ricans, Spaniards and Germans.
White. black, brown and yellow, with
all the intermediate shades of color,
they marched around the room to the
rhythmic beat of a juggling two-step.
Another Milestone.
And the superintendent of the Pa
lama Settlement looked down upon it
ALL and it was good in his eyes.
Surely it ought to be. for the scene
represented one more milestone in the
progress of the settlement. The milk
depot, the children S playground, the
dispensary, day and night schools,
lodginghouses, cottages, ali have come,
one step at time, and now there is
the gymnasium.
And a cracking good gymnasium it
is. too, by long odds the biggest and
the finest in the city. 1t cost about
$4,000 to build and equip it, the money
being contributed by people who have
realized the value of the work that is
being done so quietly down in Palama
On the ground floor are the bowling
alleys, regulation length, well finished
and the swimming pool, twenty-five by
fifty feet; also iron lockers, a rowing
machine and other athletic apparatus
The Gymnasium.
The second floor is taken up with
the gymnasium proper-a big, high cell
ing room, the floor marked off fol
basketball, the rafters hung with ropes
and rings. There are wrestling and
vaulting mats, vaulting horses horizon
tai and parallel bars, dumb bells an6
wands, and all the other usual equip
ment of gymnasium.
And everywhere were the children Oh
Pa!ama, the children whose welfare
both spiritual and physical, If is the
business of the settlement people Il
look out for. That they are looking
out for it BY modern. up-to-date
methods, the opening of the new build
ing abundantly bears witness.
1t is not a money making scheme
"The people who come here, - said Mr.
Rath, ''cannot afford to pay much: they
cannot even afford TO pay by the month
in many eases. We charge the boys
and girls under twelve fifty cents &
year. Older boys and biris pay little
more. as much, sometimes. as two dol
lars a wear. We have about 200 ren11lal