Evening star., 1941-12-14
Girl Marman Protege Father Wins Virginia Rifle Championship
Just
Between
Ourselves
BY Philip Fl. Love-
Junior Star Editor.

Four days before the japanese
began their treacherous attack on
Pearl Harbor, a young stenographer |
at the United States naval base
wrote to her friends back home in !
Washington:
"Mele Kalikamaka merry Christ
mas and much aloha from
an Isle of Paradise"
Sent by Clipper mail, the letter
was delivered here last Monday
morning, little more than "a hours
after the Nipponese bombs had be-
gun to rain on Oahu. BY that time,
of course, the island was anything
but a paradise"
It was a long letter-nearly two
pages of single-spaced typewrlting-
and its author, Mary Margaret Os-
terloh, had illustrated 1t with several
little pen-and-ink sketches. She
had mimeographed it because she
wanted all her Washington friends
to receive a copy before Christmas.
Miss Osterloh's first-hand account
of life in Hawaii just before the out
break of the war ought to be OF in
terest to every reader Of The Junior
Star who has never had an oppor-
tunity to visit the Pacific islands.
What could be more interesting to
the average American boy or girl,
for instance, than watching group
of Hawaiian spear-fishermen carry
ing on their dangerous work in the
open sea off Oahu?
The daring fishermen described
by Miss Osterloh speared 40 fish
In about four hours. Included in
their catch, she wrote, was "a striped
razor fish with a fin under his tail
sharp enough for a man to shave
with"
The fish were strung on line"
the letter continued, land towed
through the surf by a beautiful
Hawaiian girl-her long black hair
floating a yard behind her She
laughed and said she was the fisher
mems shark decoy.'"
Even more thrilling, perhaps, were
Miss Osterloh's attempts to ride q
surfboard along the famous Waikiki
Beach. II could write you about the
graceful Hawaiian surfboard-riders,"
her letter said, "and how hard I'm
trying to initiate them-standing
up on my board and catching
wave just right and balancing on it
for a quarter-mile in to shore. But
surf riding isn't something you
write about. It's something you
frantically endeavor to accomplish. "
Over the Thanksgiving week end,
Miss Osterloh visited Hawaii, which
residents of Oahu refer to as "the
big island" There she rode horse
back through the fern forest. hiked
up volcanoes, down into craters and
through lava tube" She also
drove around the island and photo
graphed the japanese children going
barefooted to school, each carrying
his standard equipment, Japanese
parasol and a school satchel."
Another interesting experience was
attending the wedding of an Amer
ican sailor and a Hawaiian girl. The
colorful ceremony was followed by
feast at which the guests ate raw
fish, liver and seaweed. and eggs
that were said to be 1000 years old.
Miss Osterloh went to Pearl Harbor
last June, after spending about five
years in Washington While here.
she worked for the Department Of
Justice, the ONCE of Education of
the Civilian Conservation Corps and
the Consumer Research Division of
the National Defense Advisory Com
mission. She asked for a transfer
to the Navy Department because she
wanted to live in Hawaii. A Navy
transport gave her "a grand trip"
across the Pacific.
An interesting job" awaited Miss
Osterloh at Pearl Harbor, and she
was impressed by ''the very efficient,
commendable way" the naval base
was operated.
IT love it out here" her letter con-
cluded, land wish you could be here
enjoying it with me-"