SOME MIRRORS REMOVED FROM THE PALACE.

Flagrant was the actions of some vandals who went and removed some mirrors from the wall of the palace the other night of this past Wednesday; however, [as the saying goes,] “Learn to be a warrior; learn also to run away.” And perhaps it was as if due to their being full of fear, that the ones who went to take the mirrors, left them on the lanai without them succeeding in taking them.

When Roland Green, the palace guard, arrived the next Thursday morning, the mirrors were left on the Ewa-side lanai, and he immediately surmised that the people who carried out the vandalism were people who sought out antiquities to sell them.  These mirrors were hung on the wall of the palace and they were there for many years. They were taken by Mr. Green to his place to fix, and to reapply the mercury behind the mirrors.

In many years past, there were numerous mirrors removed from the walls and taken. The statue of Kamehameha standing on the grounds of the court house was also vandalized. One of the heads of a brass image below Kamehameha was severed.

According to what is said, the cost of one of the mirrors and related expenses is $250 each; and there are many of those mirrors that are hung around the first floor walls of the lanai surrounding the palace. The idea for the hanging of these mirrors on the walls was devised by King Kalakaua himself; the intent it is said was to brighten the grounds of the palace.

(Kuokoa, 1/17/1913, p. 6)

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XLIX, Helu 3, Aoao 6. Ianuari 17, 1913.