Honolulu star-bulletin., 1917-11-03

In reading up my Hawaiian history
/ came across the following:
"When the council had considered
the question Of redistribution o.
lands, it gave the best property on the
! islands to Keawe This made keons
very angry. He swore in kanaka. He
worked himself up into such a fury
that he took dozen men straight tc
a coeonut grove and cut it down; cut
every tree tree close to the ground,
This meant that he was displeased
If there is any one thing that man
| (or woman either), is original about
| it is in his manner of showing temper
IL the average poet manifested half as
much originality and potential energy
in his writing as he does in his anger
his poems would oftener be accepted
Up to certain stage of indignation
every one does about the same; bears
more or less insult, and saves his dig
nifty. -
But let him get really. angry tmad
as the true makers of our language
have it,, and you will see brilliant
display of the coruscations of indivi
duality. 1t is an electrical manifesto
ton, generally with more thunder than
anything else, but imposing neverthe
less.
Some grow white, others red; many
turn crimson, while not a few shed
tears. A few Williams smile as they
vow eternal vengeance upon you and
yours, and some men fly into a thou,
sand pieces like an exploding bomb.
shell, damaging whatever is nearest.
Among angry women you will find
some that talk and talk; some that
spit like a cat; some that have hys.
terics; some that faint, and some that
pull hair ..s
There is strange, subtle sense of
pleasure in getting angry, paradoxi-
cal as it may seem; a sense allied to
that of taste, sight, smell and touch.
1t resembles being tickled, in which is
mingled somewhat of annoyance and
distress. The, owner of an itching
skin, while he is annoyed by the neces-
sity of scratching, yet derives SEN
sCal pleasure from the rude friction
he causes. .s....ss..
The after results are generally pain
full, and so with an exhibition of tenn
per. Very often the reaction leaves
the exhibitor more hurt than the OBJ
ject Of his wrath. For the pleasure
of the intoxication, i believe, many
persons indulge in temper, just as a
drunkard seeks not so much the wine,
as its stimulant; but, after the de-
bauch, both regret their anamalism,
and promise never to do it again. !"
Like other possessions, the more
temper a man has the less he keeps
it; and the more he shows it, the hard
er it is for him to retain it within
proper bounds.
Temper is a good thing if it is we'll
seasoned; and brains are the only sea-
soning. l am sorry to have to say a
harsh thing land make some liable to
a burst Of anger), but it is quite true
that no well balanced person, no man
or woman of available sense, no self
respecting individual, allows himself
to fall into uncomfortable fury.
The clouds may gather, faint rumb-
lings may be heard as the result of
distant flash, but the bolts are held
in check. They are not loosened all
at once, and made as liable to hit the
innocent as the guilty. Keona cut
down coconut trees, because he was
angry at the council, showing a very
decided lack of sterling sense.
If the council deserved blame, as
it probably did in thisF case, Keona
should have made his complaints
there. He was human, though, and
feeling out of sorts, failed to discrimi-
mate between cause and effect.
You have seen men beat a dog be-
cause they stumbled over him as he
lay innocently sleeping; whip a horse
because they had the tooth-ache, and
scold their wives when they. reached
home at night angry over the days
bad luck"
This is the same, unreasonable
spirit that actuated Keona when he
cut down the trees. He liked the
trees, too. Many a time they had
supplied him with delicious milk and
meat.
Unfortunately, the blessed children
are often made the victims of an un-
and unreasonable temper
How many spankings the active, in
nocent boy or girl has received be-
cause its mother felt angry about some
thing to which the child had not con.
tributed in the least. Women with
several children and much work have
D great deal to annoy them, and they
are, perhaps, most liable to this form
Of irritation. l pray them never to do
as Keona did to the coconut trees. 1t 4
nattered not so much about the trees,
but, it is a great wrong to turn upon
OUR most precious charges the pent
Ip anger that we must be rid of in
order to make ourselves comfortable.
A strange thing about anger is, that
ordinary education has little to do with
the control of it. Unless it be philoso-
ply, no study appears to have any
specific effect upon it. The country
editor fills his inkstand with rattle
snake poison. and lets loose an army
Of stymological devils "driyelling
IDIOT, simpering simian, faItering
,ool, contemporaneaus COON" and
even the teacher of religion comes
down to the use of fists instead of
can't. ...E.& .s...~
| knew a man, who when he lost
his temper (Which he did easily), |
,hrew himself upon his back on the !