Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-12-02

are characterized by lofty mountains
with gentle slopes. which are cut up
by many gorges OF great depth and
great beauty, and the valleys are. no
doubt, the grandest and most fertile
In the world, practically all of the
soil being formed from the disintegra-
ton Of lava rock. The windward or
northeast sides of the islands termi-
nate in abrupt cliffs which are sew
eral thousand feet high in places. and
on the Island Of Molakai there ex-
tends out into the sea from the base
Of these high cliffs a beautiful PENN
sula of 5000 acres, where the 300
hapless lepers of the country live and
from which there is but one means of
escape. a narrow defle up the noun
tain, which is securely guarded by>a
single man.
Situated, as they are, at the cross
roads Of the steamer routes across
the Pacific Ocean. the Hawaiian
Islands occupy a position of great
commercial value and their strategic
Importance, coupled with the security
Afforded by Pearl Harbor, a beautiful
landlocked haven, where all the ma
vies of the world could ride, make
them truly THE Key of the Pacific"
History.
The Hawaiians are Polynesians
who came from the southeastern
Asian archipelago, gradually spreading
throughout the islands of the South
Pacific, including Samoa, Tahiti and
the Society Islands, from which the
first ~migrations to Hawaii we're prob
ably made about the sixteenth GEN.
fury. These people were bold, skill.
full seamen with a sufficient knowl-
edge of astronomy to set their sailing
courses by the stars. They built large
timber anoes capable of carrying pro-
visions for a long voyage, and voy-
ages were frequently made between
Hawaii and Samoa, and between Ha-
wall and Tahiti, and when we reflect
that these voyages were made in frail
canoes for a distance of 5000 miles
and more, the exemplary feat of Co
lumbus loses much of our veneration.
After a time, however, communica-
ton with the south ceased and then
for several centuries the group was
cut off from the rest Of the world.
Captain Cook made a second visit
to the islands in 1779, when he was
killed in a quarrel with the natives,
and it was my privilege, on a sail be-
tween the islands, to see in a far-off,
desolate place on a rugged coast, the
marble shaft which the British gov
eminent has erected to the memory
Of the great circumnavigator.
At the time of Cooks discovery of
the islands, most Of them had a sepa-
rate government, presided over by a
chief, who was assisted in his gov
ernmentai functions by lesser chiefs.
In the museums and In the homes of
the present hereditary chiefs are still
to be seen the ancient ahuulas which
distinguished their rank. They are
marvellous works Of art, these ahuulas,
being great feather cloaks or capes.
That Of the Moi, or Great Chief, Is
made Of yellow feathers only, and it's
value may be appreciated when 1t is
known that only two tiny feathers
could be taken from a single bird, be-
cause they were all the yellow feath-
ers that 1t possessed. The mamo
birds which produced these feathers
were caught by smearing sticky pu-
pala gum on tree limbs and branches,
which were baited with the honey
sucking, mamo's favorite flower. After
being robbed Of the two tiny yellow
feathers that grew beneath his wings,
Mr.. Mamo was not killed, but liber-
ated, because the following year he
would produce two more yellow feath-
ers. These choice feathers were re-
served for royalty alone. With a
hundred natives gathering feathers
every day, it is said that the ahuula
Of Kamehameha the Great took fifty
years to make. This great ahuula,
when completed, hung from the kings
shoulders to the ground, after the
fashion Of the nantes of the Euro
pean kings, and was worn for orna-
mentation purely. The lesser chief
had a shorter cloak and 1t was dis
tinguished from that of the Moi by
the occurrence of red and ~varicolored
feathers interviewer with the yellow.
The lesser the chief was in impor-
lance, the shorter his garment was,
until the petty chief could disport
only a feather necklace, or lei about
his neck and feather ringlets around
his ankles.
After the visit Of Captain Cook, who,
no doubt, told to the chiefs the tales
Of European %conquests, K~amehameha
came to the throne Of the Island of
Hawaii, the greatest of all the group,
and sought to conquer the whole Of
the archipelago and unite the islands
under n head. Up to that time there
had been constant rivalry and con-
slant fighting between the various
tribes of the Islands, but Kamehame-
ha, who was the local Alexander the
Great, by the year 1895 had conquered
the whole group and brought under
one head the government Of all the
islands. The Island Of Oahu, on which
is situated the City Of Honolulu, was