The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-12-03
YOUNG WOMAN, ~,
SHIELDED
WHEN AMERE BABE
Helen Cummings
Rudely Shocked
Z BY Record a.
BUT ATTENDS WELL

- = ~ 3, d 2 "
Miss Helen Cummings made start
ling discovery W terday. She LEARNED,
for the first time in her life, aud she
is now little more than nineteen
years old, that she died when lust four
teen months old. The record of her
death is official and she cannot 60 be-
hind il, she as informed for such is
the law. You capnct 20 back of the
record Of your csath even II you are
nlive. g.
Miss Cummings dilemma Is truly a re
culiar one. She is aiive-at least she
thinks she is--but there is the awful
record that she has been dead since
October 3, 1897. Can you beat that
The young woman had occasion to
visit the bureau Of vital statistice Of
the board Of health. The, family Bible
had been lost and win ID had gone the
exact date of her birth. She knew
that she was born in Kealia, Kauai
during the month of August, 1896, and
that her folk had moved over to Kapaa
after that, but size. wanted to learn on
lust what day Of August, that year,
she first had seen the light of day. Be,
ing fair complexi med, light.haired and
hlue-eyed, she was sure she had entered
this wide world in broad day light,
when the sun shined brightly and the
azure skies were chased by aeecy white
elOpdlets. ~, IN -@s5,N
She Sought Information
81 want to know on what day was
bornf, she told Arnold b. NJ. Richard.
son, assistant registrar general. IS
Richardson asked for particulars, an.
proxima'e month, year. and so on. He
searched the records, year after year
long before the young woman could
have been born. up to the present year
He found nothing.
"Sorry, Miss. but you never were
born, according to the records" Rich
ardson said, with decision.
Gwen, now, that's funny" the per
picked Young woman declared. 81
have thought differently all this
while" ..7 w." ...~
Then an inspiration hit Richardson
in the head and Re acted on it without
loss. of time. He turned to the death
records and after some search let out q
whOop of triumph.
"I got you now" he announced, ex
eitedly. "You 'r0 dead, Miss; died il
Kappa, Kauai, OH October 3, 1897, aget
fourteen months. Here s the names Of
your parents. f. Cummings sanC
| Phoebe Miner Cummings"
! t'Now, is that possible" and tn,
young nineteen.year-o woman blanch
ed. "I can't believe that. You see
IN living"
"Can't help that. miss, your e dead, ;
Richardson insisted 1.-THE record say
so and that settles it.
There Sure Was Some Mistake
"But, Arnold, there sur9 some mis-
take" said Miss Lemon, reg;strar-gen
eral, for the first time eomihg into tn,
conversation. at must have beel
some other child who died and they GO
the names twisted -
| The last remark solved the mia-ur
Miss Cummings told them that whel
she was a child a little baby brother
fourteen months cid. had passed away
They were twins. That was how tn
mix-up in names had been brough
about.
Miss Cummings left the office happy
She was not dead, after all.
All of which recalls one of Mar
Twain 3 stories:
Mark Twain was one of twins, bot
boys, he said. His brother was name
Tom and he, of course, Sam. Whe
they were a few months old one of tn
twins was drowned while the nurse wa
bathing the pair.
"And to this day" said the late Nj
Clemens. 81 haven t been able to lear
which one of us died, Tom or Sam"