The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1910-01-07
1.-THE ROBINS EGG
BLUE HAS GONE
Historic Tint OF Executive Man.
sion vanishes Into the
Dim Past.
Crrom Wednesdays advertiser,


The famous robin 's-egg,blue cham
Der has faded into the past. The cham
Der is still there-but the robin g egg
blue is gone. 1t has been wiped out,
utterly and literally. And the chamber
itself, even, is no longer the Office of
governors. The chief executive of the
Territory Of Hawaii has left it. He
has migrated, moved, sought other,
darker and cooler quarters where there
is no robin s egg blue to remind him
of another and more strenuous admin
istration.
The famous tint disappeared yester.
day, under the vigorous efforts of a
gang of workmen who invaded the
royal chamber and washed the color
from the walls. 1t had to go-for when
the Governor, Immediately upon his re-
turn from his eastern trip, moved into
the quarters heretofore occupied by the
secretary of the Territory, ana took
with him the immense portraits of kings
and queens of by-gone regime, a
hideous fact was made apparent. 1t
was literally hldeous. The removal of
the great portraits disclosed the shock
ing fact that only part of the room
was robin s egg blue. The rest, that
part hidden behind the canvases, was
greenland just imagine the combina-
| ton of grass green and robins egg
bluel 1t actually hurt the eyes of Sec
rotary Mott-Smith when he entered the
chamber to take up his official abode.
Mott-Smith shrieked in agony-and
called for men, workmen to remove the
| hateful contrast. They arrived in
squads-and the colors began to fade.
Now the room is white, the virgin color
of the unlimited plaster.
But it is not to remain white. Mott
Smith is considering what tint shall be
applied. And there appears to be con-
| siderable difference of opinion. The
secretary of the Territory wants the
room tinted purple; the president of
the board of health declares for yellow
the quarantine color; the acting SUI
perintendent of public instruction wants
the walls left white and the ex-Acting-
Governor would like to have pale blue
not of the robin IS egg variety, how
ever, applied
AS if this were not enough-Treas-
urer Conkling came in and advised
old gold, his thoughts since he became
the custodian of the territorial funds
running largely to gold. Superintend-
ent of Public Works Marston Campbell,
running up for friendly chat, advised
that the walls be painted with water
from the Nuuanu dam, which would
make them a sort of sickly brown.
Auditor Fisher stood out for the deep
est, darkest blue. He says he is used
to blue, as everybody who comes to
his Office goes away very blue. A rep.
resentative of an afternoon paper wan.
dered in and insisted that the walls
should be painted red, white and blue
as the only appropriate color for a
| governmental chamber Attorney-Gen-
eral Hemenway, who as a lawyer al
ways carries green bag, was of the
opinion that really, don't you know,
green would be most appropriate.
Mott-Smith is in despair He doesn u
know what to do. 1t is possible that
he will chance a lottery to see what
color shall be applied to the naked
walls. Or he may ask Private Secre-
tary Mcbride to decide.
Meantime, Governor Frear is trans
acting business in the solemn quiet of
a newly but quietly furnished room, the
room that used to belong to the secre-
tary. That fine new rug of retiring
colors that he purchased in San Fran
cisco has been laid ON the floor. The
woodwork has been stained rich
mahogany. The ceiling has been toned
down with quiet but rich colors. The
mellow afternoon sun no longer streams
through the windows of the executive
chamber.
But the main thing is that the his
toric robin s egg blue is no more. II
has vanished into the unquiet and
strenuous past.