Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-07
BY JAMES w. BENNETT.

sage the OpuIenG curves VI 1iId-
turity. In the distance the
Kcolau Mountains are indis-
tinct purple masses. On the persistent
obbligato of the wind comes the thump.
fhunp. thump of great gourd, pounded
alternately by the heel and the fingers
of a supple hand. The sound shtvers the
air with a queerly penetrating beat. IL
is profoundly disturbing; it frets the
blood Suddenly the eerie, quaVerlng
voice of a Hawaiian rises in chant that
is centuries old A troop of Girl
Scouts comes prancing upon the wooden
platform and-so help me they dance
the hula
AS performed by these youngsters. the
hula is highly styled bit of choreg-
raphy It is done with precision, with
a certain amount of beauty, but without
the least hint of the passion and fire
which have made the dance world ia
nous. There is no suggestion that the
hula was a sacred dance, ritual en-
AGED By initiates at the time Of plant
ing to give pleasure to the high gods-so
that these same gods IN their benefi.
cence would make fertile the fields OF
taro. The dance, which was intended to
evoke the forces of nature, to bring into
being a rhythmic sympathy between
man and the unknown potentialities OF
the universe-that is the dance which
new is performed in Honolulu as civic
duty.
Retain Old Customs.
1t Is an attempt of the Hawaiians
partly ludicrous and partly pathetic, to
keep alive old customs and memories.
Even this travesty of a hula can con-
jure up recollections. And the occasion
Of this performance-Kameh day
seems largely an attempt at reminis-
cence. This is no festival foiSted upon
the islanders by chambers of commerce
and the publicity departments OF steam
ship lines interested in decorative pos
ter effects-as are some of the holidays
the native Polynesians have come to ac-
cept with a quiet competency.
This celebration, which is held on
June II each year, Is to honor Kane
hameha. the great King, by song and
dance, as chiefs have always been pla-
Gated and pleased 1t is. moreover, the
last effort of the HaWaiians to indulge
in retrospect, to think lingeringly of the
monarchy which Kamehameha founded,
to recall the glamorous days, the spa
ciouS. free days under their own SOW
ereigns. It is a pageantry Of kings, pro-
jected in the mutations of music.
Bustle Surrounds Statue.
Across the square, where the statue Of
Kamehameha stands, comes the rattle
of a tramcar. the squeak OF brakes, the
all the usual noises appertalning to city
life. The dark king. clad in loin cloth
and wearing about his shoulders gild-
ed cloak, is an incongruous figure in
modern Honolulu. Yet this metropolis
Of broad thorougntaIes OF pristine, sub
stantial buildings, Americanized, up to
the moment, only a little more than 100
years ago was the hamlet of grass huts
which kamehameh1 made his capital.
Between Kamehameha's conquest and
tonight'S celebration lies a century of
American energy.
So to commemorate a conquest and
the founding of a dynasty the young
girls prance. the choral societies vie with
each other in singing old chants, stout
man blows at a flute. Yet It is not in
their Efforts at entertainment that the
essence Of the festival is to be found.
but in the audience-that remnant of
Hawaii that laughs and croons and
sways its shoulders unconsciously to old
rhythns.
Dress Remains.
There are ancient women, tall and
proud CT carriage, wearing the costumes
with which they graced the last court
the holokus in black satin, cut after the
Mother Hubbard pattern that the mis-
slonarieS imposed on the natives. For a
hundred-odd years ago the grim mis-
sionary ladies who descended from the
brig Thaddeus bent on the conversion
OF the islanders averted their eyes
hastily from the naked brown bodies of
the natives garlanded with flower leis
With feverish energy they worked
shipping at their bolts of calico. cut
ting and sewing. fastening garments
to hide the sound flesh that was so abb
horrent to their sight. They hurriedly
evolved the moumou from their ruff1ed
flno 1,AI- 1AI
back and dipping train from the design
OF their dressing gowns
The Hawaiian women docily donned
these clothes, wore them at work in
the taro patches and swimming along
the reef. The sun could not reach their
drenched bodies quickly enough as they
lay on the beach, and the sharp wind
that blows perpetually over the noun
tains chilled them. The result was
pneumonia, tuberculosis - the sudden
defamation of a race. The auto-da-fe
was no more deadly . But those
who survived the missionaries unhy-
genie attempt at civilization retained
costume which was peculiarly fitted to
their languorous grace.
Figure Out of Past.
So tonight these old women in creak-
Ing satin are figures out of an opulent
past. About their heads some have
bound the coronet Of feathers which
was formerly an insignia of rank. 9th
e1o wear nigh Spanish combs of carved
tortoise she'll Some have thrown across
their shoulders embroidered China
shawls brought from Canton by sea-
faring men.
And these relics. the comb intended
Cor a beauty in Lima, the shawl des-
Eined for a sweetheart in Boston. are
indicative of the position that Hawaii
formerly held. 1t was hating place
after weeks of monotonous sea wastes;
a peaceful spot in which the mariners
could refill their water casks and re-
plenish their stores. A haven in which
to rest after the bliStering calm of
southern seas and the savage, wrecking
storms of the north. The land was
hospitable, the women enchanting.
Many a sailor, rather than put to sea
again to face the Roaring FortieS and
the merciless cold of the Horn, stayed
in the islands. Why should he gamble
on his chances of the next world when
paradise was to be found here? So
the sandalwood boxes of the Hawaiian
women became the repository of Asian
treasures. and their hearts held the
memories of many conqueSts.
Now, even in age, there is suave
poetry in the furtive motions OF these
Hawaiians. The voices on the platform
weave in weird minors. BY subtle
allusion, by exaggerated metaphor, the
liquid vowel sounds convey an innu-
, endo guessed by the natives alone. The
old women laugh and slap their knees;
the old men chortle There Is that sense
of nostalgia which Hawaiian harmonies
inevitably arouse.
Remember Hula Of Past.
The cadence of the music Is the same
as in the past. 1t is easy to forget the
hoydenish presence of the young girls
on the platform. These old women re-
member the hula of the feathered
gourd, danced before a high chief in