The San Francisco call. [volume], August 13, 1898, Page 3, Image 3

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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REAR ADMIRAL MILLER ARRIVES
AT HAWAII TO HOIST THE FLAG
SAD THE RETURN
OF LILIUOKALONI
TO HER PEOPLE
With Tears ar>d Wailing tfys Gentle
Hawaiiaos Greet Their
former Sovereign.
EX-QUEEN LILIUOKALANI of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
BY ALICE RIX.
HONOLULU, Aug. 2. via Victoria,
B <'„ Aug. 12.— A little after
midnight the Gaelic was sighted
off Koko Head and Honolulu
awakened slowly to wbb
hone bells and messenger calls
cal- ■vv h'-'-ls and t'.u- h'lnru' coming of
:-. liliuokalani. A little party of royal
ist? with heart? faithful to a lost cause
made all the stir. The rest of Hono-
lulu turned on its pillows and slept
•again the sleep of r*'^-c c and satisfied
ties, undisturbed by melancholy
.dreams of a Queen's home coming to
. the land no longer hers.
All this is for royalists and natives
to lie awake and to rise between small
: hours' to sadly celebrate.
,"■':' v was believed the natives would
: .rnak spine demonstration on the ar
rival of the ex-Queen. Annexatlonists
: are fond of saying that the hatchet is
buried, that there are no more royal-
.Jsts; that the easy Hawaiian nature
has accepted the inevitable and in good
. tljne will" cheer the alien flag and join
..in the singing of "America" out of
sheer, joy of cheering over anything.
But in truth the native heart is full of
bjtterness and grief; there are royalists
unnumbered and unsoothftd by the
pteasure of defeat; the hatchet is mere
ly fallen !nt'> powerless hands and
Whatever Time, good Time, may do for
the Hawaiian*, these little weeks have
tx.rne no obvious fruit.
A large class of natives— those living
r.n th*- other islands, th- more < hildish
and ig-norant of these at Oahu— have
•ted the fact of annexa
. tior.. 7ears Of convulsive politics have
ated them gradually to an idea of
i ■ • nt as a series of shifting con
•' .fill-ions in whose final happy adjust
their chiefs would necessarily
'ha;ve part and power. A forlorn hope
..•VStaJlMd them that the home coming
of' Liliuokalani might turn destiny
With the instinct of allegiance
chief deep-rooted in the race it
rd for this people to realize the
• urtimportance of a queen. From the
: h. formed of her people the cer
.' ta|nty and the sadness of her new fall
from dignity have brought her a
'boundl'-ss pympcthy, in which her
..faulti ■ n :>r<- almost f< rgotton.
Lllluokalani ruled her people neither
>•• nor w-ij. Acording to the tra
ditions of a race accustomed to yield
: crice, to recognize the divine right
of kings to rule, a Queen whose obstin
.. Rt-e policy gained a republic for Ha-
YaH and lost Kaiulanl a throne could
. not be called a rood Queen. Friend
and foe and the cold record of their
hot disputes attribute to the mistakes
.of .her reign the hastening of the end.
Hut in the hour of their common
grief her people do not remind her of
her responsibility in the common loss.
There Is no party feeling. There are
ho political interests to divide the sen
tlm.-nts of Hawaiians. It is the heart
of Hawaiians that bleeds. Queen and
commoner mourn the fall of the Ha
waiian flag, and in touching tribute to
..a' chief, in this day when chiefs must
yield, the people set h.-r Morrow before
their own. Stripped of crown, throne,
dignities, title, prospects, she has the
a-loha of their hearts. Her name is
t<j.ok'-n everywhere in love and pity and
respect. Her sa.fe return was asked of
heaven In two tongues and out of a
great anxiety.
The little red fish which herald mis
fortune to royalty have come in schools
Into Honolulu harbor since t"ae sailing
of the Gaelic from San Francisco.
Word has been Rent from the other
islands that the red fish have been seen
about the harbora there. News came
by an earlier steamer that the Queen
had been ill at Washington and again
at Sati Francisco. The native imagina
tion was stirred to its depths of super
stition and the home-coming of Kala
kaua was remembered; but although
Liliuokalani is in ill health and has put
herself at once under the care of phy
sicians, she greeted the faithful who
gathered to welcome her in the flesh
and held a reception to intimate friends
and old retainers immediately on her
arrival at her home in Washington
Place.
The expected demonstration did not
take place at the dock. The crowd,
silent and gloomy, waited a full hour
for the Gaelic to come In, her stacks
and rigging etched upon a silver plain,
her lights burning a dull, copperish
yellow against the white splendor of the
ni«ht. The moon was in full — that
great white radiance of the tropics, un
known to northern skies, which casts
its glory over land and sea. All things
reflected its beauty and mystery — the
disorder of the dock, the peace of the
waters, the surf curling on the coral
the great peaks brooding over
Honolulu, tlv clouds that drape them
through the endless summer years. The
ships in the harbor lay like painted
things upon the water, the trade wind
drooped and di»-d, while the tropic night
seemed waiting in breathless peace.
A group of natives, educated to the
Roman faith, but unforgetful of the
little, fateful fish, crossed themselves
piously as i small boat put out toward
th>- ship. It brought back the word that
Liliuokalani was on board and well.
The natives chattered softly among
themselves, obviously relieved by the
news, which was confirmed, before the
Gaelic was well in at the wharf, by the
ex-Queen's p-cretary, a native gentle
man of elaborate manner and resplen
dent clothes. He was recognized at the
rail with a upasm of gaiety from the
shore. It was the only Joyous demon
stration of the night, and short-lived at
that.
The ex-Queen's appearance on the
deck was met with profound silence.
As she came down tho plank, leaning
heavily on Governor Cleghorn's arm,
i you could have heard the proverbial
pin drop on the dock. The stillness was
Infectious. Other passengers landing
at Honolulu, and friends come to meet
them, and persons aboard the steamer
indifferent to the fate of this ex-king
dom and Its ex-Queen, or happily re
joicing in the new American posses
sions and quite on the other side of
things generally, stood mute and mo
tionless, while the little file of the de
feated passed them by; and suddenly
out of the strange stillness in which
even the night joined arose in a long,
low. dreadful cry, gathering strength
and syllables and frightful savage form
until it reached a shuddering chant,
the voice of the waiting, the 011-oli of
the Melee, which is sune. If such
•sounds may be called song, at all the
ceremonies of Hawaiian royalty, to cel
ebrate the joys or sorrows of the royal
house; at births, at marriages, deaths,
feasts, dances, meetings and partings.
The effect of it tearing the stillness
of the night, rising single-voiced from
a silent throng, was one to chill the
blood and conjure visions of lost souls
weeping between the worlds.
The waller was a native woman —
old, black. wrinkled and withered.
With lines of mud-colored seeds
and blossoms held about her
throat and dropping from her bare,
gray head, she dane " as she waited —
or, rather, swayed and shuddered to the
measure of the chant. The moonlight
fell upon her, a weird, barbaric figure,
the white hollku falling emptily about
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, AUGUST 18. 1898.
PROTEST OF HAWAIIANS
AGAINST ANNEXATION
TO THE UNITED STATES
Resolutions to Be Presented to PresideQt Dole ar)d
Minister Sewall Before the Raising of th>e
American Pag-
HONOLULU, Aug. 4 (via Victoria. B. C, Aug. 12).— The following is a copy of the
resolutions of protest to be handed to President Dole and United States Minister Sewall,
prior to the raising of the American Hag. by all the native patriotic and political societies of
Hawaii. It is translated from the Hawaiian:
Whereas, On the 17th day of January, A. D. 1893, our beloved Queen, Liliuokalani,
noted a protest against the acts of the representatives of the United States of America, in
form as follows:
"I, Liliuokalani, by the grace of God and under the constitution of the Hawaiian
kingdom Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself
and the constitutional Government of the Hawaiian kingdom by certain persons claiming to
have established a provisional Government of and for this kingdom. That I yield to the
superior force of the United States of America, whose Minister Plenipotentiary, his Excel
lency John L. Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu and de
clared that he would support the said provisional Government. Now, to avoid another col
lision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do, under this protest and impelled by
said force, yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall,
upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me
in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian kingdom";
and
Whereas. Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, after a careful review of
the facts, stated in a message to Congress, dated the 18th day of December, 1893, as fol
lows: "As I apprehend the situation, we are brought face to face with the following condi
tions: The lawful Government of Hawaii was overthrown without the drawing of a sword or
the firing of a shot, by a process every step of which it may be safely asserted is directly
traceable to and dependent for its success upon the agency of the United States, acting
through its diplomatic and naval representatives"; and
Whereas, The so-called republic of Hawaii, by its executive and its Senate, formed a
treaty to secure the annexation of Hawaii' to the United States, and said treaty having failed
of ratification by the Senate of the United States, by such failure to ratify having become
void and of no effect as to Hawaii because of the terms of Article 42 of the constitution of
the republic of Hawaii, which reads: "The President, with the approval of the Cabinet, is
hereby expressly authorized and empowered to make a treaty of political or commercial
union' between the republic of Hawaii and the United States of America, subject to the rati
fication of the Senate"; and
Whereas, The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States have passed
a joint resolution for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, and such joint resolution has
not been passed upon by the people of Hawaii nor by their representatives in Legislature
assembled; and
Whereas, By memorial the people of Hawaii have protested against the consumma
tion of an invasion of their political rights and have fervently appealed to the President, the
Congress and the people of the United States to refrain from further participating in the
wrongful annexation of Hawaii; and
Whereas, The Declaration of American Independence expresses that Governments de
rive their just powers from the consent of the governed; therefore, be it
Resolved, That as the representatives of a large and influential body of native Ha
waiians, we solemnly protest against annexation in the manner proposed and without refer
ence to obtaining the consent of the people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, with an English translation, be forwarded
to Sanford B. Dole, President of the republic of Hawaii, and to the agents representing Wil
liam McKinley, President of the United States, at Honolulu, Island of Oahu, Hawaiian Isl
ands.
her shrunken body, her thin arms toss
ing, her gTeat eyes turned toward the
skies.
It is customary for other voices to
take up the melee began by one, but
this woman chanted on alone In honor
of Liliuokalani's return. She stood close
by the rope as the ex-Queen came down
the plank, arid I looked— rather hoped—
to see her loyalty rewarded by a
glance, although I did not love her
song. But such are not, perhaps, the
ways of Queens. Llliuckalani went on
to her carriage and the wild chant
ceased.
Some one cried, "Three cheers for the
Queen," and they were given loudly, sin
cerely, unbrokenly, many of the native
women falling to wild weeping as the
carriage rolled away. At the doors of
Washington Place two torch-bearers in
the funereal black capes and silk hats,
which gave Liliuokalani's suite the
melancholy personnel of undertakers,
and wearing otherwise white satin
badges lettered with her name in blue
and gold, guarded th lowest step. Be
hind these were ranged others in like
attire and without torches. Others still
patrolled the porches and watched all
windows and doors against the en
trance of strangers to the rooms where
the ex-Queen sat at table with her
most intimate personal friends.
But the wide gates of the grounds
were open to the people and all night
a sorrowful throng came through the
moonlight, oleander-scented streets to
gather under the tremulous spiked
shadows of the royal palms in Liliuo
kalani's gardens and listen to the .oll
oli of the melees chanted by wallers
with an accompaniment of strange
huala movements, beneath the ex-
Queen's windows, recounting the deeds
of her ancestors, the glories of their
reigns, the joys of their people, the
peace of their passing, the line of their
succession.
Liliuokalanl could be seen through the
great windows, seated at the head of
her table, fanned with kahilis of white
feathers by girls dressed in white holi
kus, served by men in the gloomy liv
ery of her suite, attended by a little
audience of men and women. When
she turned from the table all her old
servants and followers were admitted
to her presence, entering the room at
their proper height, prostrating them
selves before her, crawling on their
hands and knees or sliding along the
floor to her feet to lie there with their
eyes cast down until she touched their
heads with her hands. The circle
waited until the floor was half covered
with these crouching shapes.
One woman, grotesque in her flapping
holiku and a little sailor hat wreathed
with a lei of carnations, remained
standing in the royal presence for some
seconds and with uplifted arms began
the monotonous chanting of a melee,
but the guttural accents of the 011-oli
were interrupted by sobs, and presently
she sank to the floor, weeping bitterly,
to be patted and comforted by her
Queen.
Outside, the crowd seemed satisfied to
look. It passed close to the porches,
standing on tiptoe to peer over big
flowering shrubs or parting the thick
leaves of. climbers for a better view of
Liliuokalani.
It was a still gathering. The Hawaii
ana are not a noisy people. Their voices
are low pitched, their laugh is a soft
ripple, their grief is expressed by si
lent tears. When some one wept within
or Liliuokalani seemed to speak in sad
ness those without wiped their eyes
and exchanged mournful looks. The
children, who were there in numbers,
stood decorously by their elders and
did as they did, and the village inno
cent, an old soldier of the guard, who
passes his harmless days In choosing
new uniforms which are given him in
charity and roaring military orders
through the streets, quenched his bat
tle tonos and whispered his commands
among the palms. A few old servants
retired to the Cottage of the Cala
bashes, where some twelve dozen of the
royal poi cups of beautifully polished
wood are kept behind glass doors, and
gossiped mournfully of other days,
when the homecoming of a Queen would
have meant a luau for the people.
The moon paled before the early
tropic dawn and the crowd about the
windows thinned and went its several
ways, but the sound of the oli-01l never
ceased, and at broad daylight the
torches still flared before the doors and
within Liliuokalani sat in state with
her audience of friends about her and
her servants prostrate at her feet.
At 2 o'clock this afternoon I had an
interview with Liliuokalani. She looks
ill, worn, sad, and is disinclined to say
anythtng concerning her immediate
plans. She received me in the first
drawing room, a large, bare, ceremo
nious apartment, with huge rahili in
each corner. She wore a costume of
black silk, cut in the European fashion,
with a touch of heliotrope and no dec
orations of any description or orna
ment beyond a Jewel or two on her
i hands. She has a good presence and
her manner is very distinguished. She
has lost all the smooth complacency of
| her earlier years; her face is fallen and
! deeply lined, and that expression of de
| fiant obstinacy so noticeable in her pic
j tures has given way to something infl
j nitely softer.
"I am glad to be at home with my
poor people," she said. "They wanted
me; they needed me; they asked me to
come. I was advisd to stay away from
here at this time, but I was glad if my
presence could console others."
I asked her if the subject of politics
was tabooed and she smiled.
"Have you read my book?" she said;
"my political opinions are there and
they have not changed. As for plans,
I have none. My feelings may be
guessed, and I naturally find that sub
ject painful. It was beautiful to me to
receive the welcome I had last night
I from my own people and some of my
I old friends. They expressed in every
way their love and kindness, what we
call the aloha."
"I heard the singing," I said, blush
ing to admit that I h*d spied upon the
rest.
"The singing? Oh, yes, the melees.
That is our custom. What you heard
was the story of my ancestors, espe
cially of my uncles. Their deeds are
put into verses by our people. Music
and poetry come naturally to us. We
love music and song and stories and
sunshine and all beautiful, happy
things."
Poor Lilliiokalani, who has had so
much else to think about!
"Shall you issue any proclamation to
your people ?"I asked.
"I hardly think so," she replied. "I
hardly know what step I shall take. I
am Btill very v»eary, too weary to think
and I am not well. Thursday is my
reception day, my public reception day,
and I shall probably address my peo
ple some time that day, perhaps at
noon. Will you come?"
I would, indeed, with pleasure. The
address, as I was afterward notified,
was for 12 o'clock. The ex-Queen held
a private reception in her drawing
room. She sat on a wide sofa at the
extreme end of the room, facing the
entrance, and wore a holiku of black
brocaded satin with the royal lei of
yellow feathers about her throat and a
crown of yellow flowers and the Order
of the Kamehamehas on her breast.
She was attended by the Princess and
some twenty ladies of the royalist
party, both white and native.
Not being versed in the etiquette of
court receptions I went blithely for
NATIVES TO KEEP
ALOOF FROM THE
FLAG RAISING
Hawaiian Government Will Pay
All Claims of Prisoners
of 1895.
REAR ADMIRAL MILLER, WHO WILL RAISE THE AMERICAN
FLAG AT HONOLULU.
HONOLULU, Aug. 4, via Victoria,
B. C, Aug. 12.— Hawaiians will
officially protest to Dole and Se
wall against annexation. They
will keep aloof from the flag
raising.
The Chinese wll! prepare a memorial
to th .■ Hawaiian commissioners.
The jurisdiction of Circuit Courts in
criminal cases will be attacked before
the Supreme Court to-morrow.
The Japanese will test the labor con
tracts.
The Hawaiians are divided politically
on the advisability of the Queen issu
ing a proclamation recognizing the
hopelessness of a restoration.
At the request of the American Gov
ernment Hawc-ii paid on August 1
$75,000 to Japr.n as a compromise.
It is rumored on fair authority that
the claims c '. foreign prisoners of 1895
will ~>e paid before the flag is raised.
Admiral Miller arrived yesterday.
Damon and Srrth were with him this
morning. No date has been fixed for
the flag-raising, but it probably will
take place ner.t week.
The transport Pennsylvania arrived
on July 2S. The Rio reached here on
July 31 and sailed on August 3. The
Peru and Puebla sailed on August 4.
Twenty-one cases of measles on the
Puebla had improved sufficiently to go
forward. All the transports were
thoroughly cleansed. The troops ex
cept those on the Rio were poorly fed.
They behaved well. Isaac Strickland
of the Third Artillery; R. D. Stewart,
a marlnl of the Mohican, and — Jenks
of South Dakota, died at sea. Corporal
Prather was permanently invalided.
Murat Halstead has recovered and
gone forward.
The Queen is holding a large recep
tion to-day.
Thurston has bought out an interest
in a loading daily. This means hot poli
tics.
All rumors in regard to threatened
riots or disturbances are absolutely
false.
Admiral Miller paid an official visit
to President Dole this morning. The
flag-raising will be discussed to-mor
row. HORACE WRIGHT.
CONFERENCES AS TO
THE FLAG RAISING
HONOLULU, Aug. 4, via Victoria,
Aug. 12.— The United States steamship
Philadelphia arrived yesterday, six
days and twenty hours from San Fran
cisco, with Admiral Miller and staff on
board, who came for the purpose of
raising the American flag over the Ha
waiian Islands. The Admiral has or
ders to confer with Minister Sewall.
Until after the conference there will be
nothing definite decided as to the flag
raising programme.
Minister Sewall received instructions
from his Government regarding the
flag-raising, but until after he has had
ward and shook, hands democratically
with everybody who seemed willing;,
and shortly afterward the ex-Queen
arose; a lady-in-waiting crowned with
yellow gathered up the royal train and
led the way to a curtained corner of the
porch. The crowd of natives standing
on the lawn bared their heads at her
approach and the band played "Ha
waii Ponoi."
The address in the native tongue was
a mere matter of soft vowels and as
pirates to me, but the people wept
softly through it all and gave the aloha
a conference with Admiral Miller and
the Hawaiian Government he will make
no announcement regarding it- These
probably will be made some time to
morrow. One conference with the Ha
waiian Government will be held this
afternoon aiv?r the departure of the
Aorangi. iiany people here believe the
flag will not be raised until the com
missioners arrive on the 17th in^t.
Others think the ceremony will take
place on the tth, to allow sufficient
time for preparation of a suitable pro
gramme of exercises.
F. M. Hatch has resigned the position
of Minister to the United States. Mr.
Hatch has the distinction of closing the
volume of Hawaiian diplomacy in
Washington opened by Alexander
Simpson and J. F. B. Marshall in 1843,
when they went to Washington to lay
the case of British occupation before
the United States Government.
The Honolulu Chamber of Commerce
recently held a special meeting for the
purpose of making acknowledgment to
the San Francisco Chamber of Com
merce for the gift of a splendid Ameri
can ting- It was agreed the flag should
be raised over the rooms the same day
and hour set for the flag-raising on the
executive building.
The Ewa plantation, the best paying
sugar estate in Hawaii, has decided to
increase its stock to $2,000,000. The
present capital stock of the plantation
is $1,000,000, with privilege, according to
the charter, to raise to the amount de
cided on.
The Japanese imbroglio o£ 1897 has
been settled by the payment of $75,000
to Japan. In making payment the
Government does not admit the justice
of the claim nor the right of Japan to
indemnity.
Queen Liliuokalani returned by the
Gaelic on the 2d inst., glad, as she said,
to see her friends and be back in her
own country and among her own
people. Early morninsr as it was when
the Gaelic can.c into port, and unusual
as it is for mail steamers to come to
the wharf in the night, a large number
of her frie:. la were there to greet her
while the vessel was still in the chan
nel. By the time it reached the wharf
about 250 people were there, mostly na
tives. Liliuokalani declined to be inter
viewed. To her friends she said her
health was good, but the trip had much
fatigued her.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
OF THE TRANSPORTS
HONOLULU, Aug. 4 (via Victoria,
Aug. 12).— The United States transports
Pennsylvania and Rio de Janeiro joined
the Peru and City of Puebla at this
port. The Pennsylvania arived July 2S,
followed by the Rio two days later.
General Otis decided not to remain in
this port until the flag-raising cere
monies, and gave orders yesterday for
the Pennsylvania and Rio de Janeiro to
sail for Manila. Both vessels left port
last evening. This morning both the
Peru and City of Puebla left port,
bound for the Philippines.
While the transports were in port
measles broke out among the men. The
patients were removed to the quaran
tine station. Previous to the departure
of the Puebla this morning the Bick
men, twenty-six in all, were returned
to the ship.
at its beginning and at its close.
The Philadelphia is here. There wai
no enthusiasm over her coming. The
water front was lined with people, but
only those who went out on the tug
with the band to meet her cheered. Her
men responded to the cheer and when
the Hawaiian band played '•America"
the Philadelphia answered with "Ha
waii Ponoi."
Then her five guns thundered out.
The flag of the Hawaiian Islands re
ceived its last salute. They say our
own will ware over them Monday.
3