A MARVELLOUS PRODUCT OF CIVILISATION.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 4, Issue 169, 23 October 1880, Page 3

A MARVELLOUS PRODUCT OF CIVILISATION.

Remembaring that, in the history of the Sandwich Islat.ids, only 100 years ago their bnrl«rinn inhabitants olubbsd Captain Cook to death, the sight of a wellprinted ** Hawaiian Almanac and Annual lor 1860” with many pages of.sinn-rt advertisement*, and a complete court calendar, giv*i riae to very strange feelings. Neither oor Australian colonies nor the United State* afford any parallel to the progress of the Sandwich Island 5 in tha former case* the civilisation is simply «u offshoot and-ccmtinuation of that of feugland; in the latter it is the natives thcmaelve* who in tlie short space of a century have advanced from primitive bar- ' harism to the necessity for an almanac. Tine almanac covers 76 pages, besides advertisements, the Utter affording a pretty fair criterion of the civilisation already attained in these Islands. Here the at-1 tractions of a variety of restaurants, Vo- i freshment, coffee, and billiard saloons 1 are set forth ; the “ Palace ice-cream parlours,” at No. 60 Hotel Street, Houo- j lulu, which U always hot; watches and clocks have already become a necessity, and the latest things in upholstery And household furniture have ‘found their way to Honolulu, which also boasts of nt least one waggon and carriage builder. One confectioner and pastry cook vaunts the richn.se and Savour of his wedding■onkes, while appropriately in the neat page we are told where a plentiful supply ■of drug*, tsedKMOs, and Savannah cigars may be obtained. The cards of attorneys-at-law and stockbrokers give evidence of the complexity of Hawaiian civilisation, and the tourist need be at no loss for hotels and "pleasant fiirmelwni rooms/’ A reading-room gives across to the principal (periodicals of 'the world, upwards of 100 ■of which arc sA down in a newsagents’ bonk as being regularly supplied to liisi ■customers. Indeed, it would be dillhv.ilt | to name any article in demand in civilised society that could not lie supplied at one nr other of the various stores and ware■houses in Ho wid til u-. "When wo look in the almanac -itself we Gnd it contains ! .pretty muoli the smeo kind of information to be found in the almanacs of countries where civilisation began 1,000 or more .years ago. Hawaii has a fair supply i vjf public holidays, including,'oharacteris- j lioally, the Chinese New Tear, and, we tire pleased to see, the birthday of our gracious Queen. A fell list of the Church •days and movable foists is given, a list •of the kings of Hawaii, their birth, iio•cession, Ate., from Ramolianmha f„ who began to reign in 1782. There is a com- j pleto court calendar, as minute as any of the court lists in the “ Gotha Almanac,” with the king, queen, the punces and princesses;. loiiiismis, law dignitaries, governors, A:c. There is moreover-, much "a ful information, ns to population, inter i island and inland dists-noes, heights of [ mountains, imports and exports,shipping J and statistics. The regulations for carI riages mill nates vd fares are quite .as J minute ami as hard on the “ raid-res "as Those of London or Paris. All “Ids with H 1101111! special articles relating to the islands, the Royal family, and Hawaiian folklore, renders the “ Hawaiian Alm.a- ---' innc" of peculiarly suggestive interest, j It is sad to think that people who have [ -shown tliemsinvea capable of si-n-h riwdd | progress should be as rapidly d\itvg out-. I That t his is so the various censuses gi vc | 'unmistakable evidence. At the census | -of 1832 the total pupa Inti or, was 4 30.51 S g I in 1878 it had dwindled down To 5~,985, | and of this nnini-or only 44,088 were ijiaUvo fcnd 3,426 half-caste Tito remainder ■ being foreigners. Of the foreigners, the j ,i Chinese atn by far the most numerous, p| numbering 3,916.