The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-03-16


eye The tear of sympathy" may not
flow as freely in recent literature as
was its custom in the age of more
reverent readers and writer's; but
there is something in the forlorn
beauty of the wilderness over against
the Legation that centuries the Obso-
lete globule above referred to, and l
shed it fearlessly and not without rea-
son.
Upon the diagonal corner of the
street stands the new hall of the
Young Mems Christian Association,
smelling of bricks and mortar; over
the way is a tenement where plain
board and lodging entice the stranger
under a disguise of fresh paint
no doubt, to the requirements of a
progressive age; but the occasion Of
my present solicitude is a vacant
corner lot, trinity fenced, wherein two
rows of once stately palms now strug-
gle with decay and the parasites that
fatten on them.
1t is a weird garden, where Flora
and Thespis once held friendly rivalry.
What a tumble of botanical debris and
histrionic rubbish now filters the area
flanked by forlorn palms! Out of it
all doubt if the sentimental scaveng-
er would be able to pick any relic
more substantial than the airy dagger
of Macbeth; but upon points so slight
as this hang imperishable memories;
hence follow these "reminiscences of
the late Royal Hawaiian Theater.
Well nigh two score of years ago l
was lounging at Whitneys bookstore
7 in Honolulu; it was at that time a
kind of Hawaiian Forum, with post
office on one side of the room and a
semaphore on the roof. 1t was duh
work in those days, waiting for the
quaint arms of the semaphore to swing
about, uttering its cabalistical prop
hecies. No steamers then to stain the
brilliant sky with trailing smoke; the
maildays depended entirely upon the
state of the wind and the tide.
l was weary of fumbling the shop
worn books, of listening or trying not
to listen to the roar Of the rollers
on the reef; woefully weary of the
tepid monotony that offered not even
an excuse for irritation.
Upon this mood entered a slender
but well-proportioned gentleman, clad
in white duck raiment, spotless and
we'll starched; there was something
about him which would have caused
the casual observer to give him sec
ond glance-a mannerism and an air
that distinguished him. A profession
al, probably, thought l; an eccentric,
undoubtedly. / was not surprised
when, upon the entrance of common
@friend a few moments later, 1 was
made acquainted with Mr.. Proteus,
proprietor and manager of the Royal
Hawaiian Theater; likewise govern
ment botanist and professor of many
branches of art both sacred and pro-
fame. Mr.. Proteus bowed somewhat
in the manner of a French dancing
master, and shuddered slightly upon
being shaken by the hand; at later
date he requested me never to repeat
a formality which he could not but
consider quite unnecessary in general
and in particular cases highly objec-
tionable.
After having cautiously exchanged
a few languid commonplace, Mr..
Proteus invited me to visit his Temple
of the Muses.. Nothing could have
pleased me better. regarded him as
a godsend, and we at once repaired to
the theater, threading the blazing
streets together under a huge green
lined umbrella of dazzling Wilderness,
held jauntily by my new-found friend.
I like theaters; l dote on dingy tin
sci and stucco which in a flash OF
light in transformed into brilliant
beauty; and the odor, the unmistak-
able odor, of stale foot lights and thick
coats of distemper; the suggestive
confusion of flats and wings and flies;
the picturesque bric-a-brac of the
property-room; the trap-doors, the
slides, the grooves, the stuffy dress
ing-rooms, and the stray play-bills
pasted here and there In momery OF
gala nights in the past. OF all the
theaters that l have known, this was
the most theatrical, because the most
unreal; it was like a make-believe
theater, wherein everything was done
for the fun of it; kind of child's toy
theater grown up, and full of grown-up
players, who, by an enchantment
which was the sole right of this house.
became like children the moment they
set foot upon that stage; and there
people and players were as happy and
careless as children should be so long