Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-06-19
Mills and PunaLOu Students Awarded
Prizes BY Yale Alumni Association

SATURDAY -. -. 1885 IL 1886,
THE INFLUENCE or YALE MEl
ON THE HISTORY or HAWAII.
BY Mabel Wilcox, Glass Of 1915, Pun
ahou Aosdemy, winner Of First Prize
The history OF the whole world il
the story OF men-adventurers. explor
crs. soldiers, commercial men, mobiles
Imcnarchs, ministers OF the gospel
and their deeds. TO this latter clas.
must be attributed q greater part oil
the carly history OF Hawaii immedi
ately after the death Of Kemehamehs
l. the Napoleon OF the Pacific, AMI
i among these makers Of Hawaiian his
tory Yale men hold prominent, enyi
able positions.
/ ing on the steps of Yale in 1919. be
cause the youth Of his own land had
no such advantage and were consc-
quently STEPPED In ignorance, vice and
heathenlsm, the first impetus was
given towards sending company OF
missionaries to Hawaii. And when he
was befriended by kindly disposed col.
lege men and was given a chance to
learn the English language, he realiz.
ed so keenly the need OF his people
that his constant prayers and importu-
mites In their behalf finally culminat-
ed In the embarking of band of IL
missionaries and three partially edu-
Gated Hawaiian youths" for Hawaii.
In this earnest society which sailed
on the Thaddeus from Boston In Octo-
Der, 1919, was the Rey.Asa Thurston,
Yale, 1916, who was stationed for his
life work at Kaliua. on the western
side of Hawaii There, as elsewhere
all over the same grouD, Tie natives
were cropping for light in debauchery.
vice, crime and disorder, for Kameha.
meha ! had died but recently and at
his death the belief In the tabu, that
dreaded custom. was destroyed; idol
airy was oyerthrown, heiaus. the hea-
thenish temples for native worship
and sacrifice, were burned and licen-
tiousness prevailed everywhere. Thus
the people were In such a condition
as to be ready for the order. peace
and civilization which the missionar
les we're bringing to them.
Among the Hawaiians existed a de-
grading social state. The men and
women lounged about their own tiny
grass huts or those OF their friends
In filth, hardly troubling to do any.
thing useful. They were most scant-
lily ,attired: the women wearing short
skirts Of woven leaves reaching to
their knees, with the rest OF their
bodies nude. the men with merely. the
maio. and the greater part OF their
bodies bare. Contented to while
away the time in gambling, hula dane
ing and drunken carousals, they gave
no thought 10 the future
Z The old, the blind. the sick and the
MANNED had no place among them.
The aged were burden to be nut
out OF the way as soon as possible
The sick and all other helpless folk
were regarded In similar light.
These were isolated from the healthy
and were either cruelty stoned or
starved to death. No feeling Of pity
or sympathy was exhibited at all, and
IL there was any 1t was carefully con-
cealed and suppressed.
The laws of maFriageswere also IN
known to them, the men having as
many wives as they chose and the
women vice versa. Men took to wife
their sisters, their closest relations,
their fathers wives and sometimes
their daughters. Infanticide was a
common practise for mothers, who
had no desire to be hindered in their
pleasures by children. and quietly
strangled. drowned or buried them
alive.
The natives had no sense of moral
wrong, either 80 whatever property OF
their neighbors they coveted they
took as soon as chance offered THEY
ing was 50 common that they took It
as q matter Of fact that their posses
sions should be stolen and that they
should take what pleased them.
But all these heathenish vices were
gradually seen In their true light
after the missionaries landed and be-
gan to teach them. Mr.. Thurston at
Kailua looked deeply into the condi-
tons Of the people and by his jealous
efforts, at first through the interpre-
tation OF one OF the Hawaiian youths
who had sailed from Boston. after
through his own efforts when he had
learned the Hawaiian language. grad
ually won the people Of his mission
away from their vile customs. BY 4
means Of the first school. which he es-
tablished In grass hut soon after he
landed. he began to teach the people !
how wrong their manner of life was.
Through his big-hearted interest and
sympathy he quickly master
ed the native language and contribut-
ed his little to the formation Of the
Hawaiian alphabet and subsequently
the writing Of the native tongue. This
was reduced to q written form at the
close Of the first year Of the mission
aries residence In Hawaii, in 1921.
After textbooks could be printed
more and more schools grew up. the
pupils learning reading. writing and
ciphering. To Mr.. Thurston's first
school the proflfgate successor OF Ka-
/, Liholiho, went short
while, taking his little brother. Kani |
keaouli. but the ways OF civilization
49,, v,.s.rh g.. n g. a.