NOT COURTEOUS

Treatment of Ladies at Bishop Museum.

An Open Protest to the Trustees of the Kamehameha Schools.

MR. EDITOR:—The undersigned with three other ladies, Hawaiians of the highest respectabily, standing and position, with five little children, were sitting this morning in the shade of the Kamehameha Museum enjoying the fine showing made by the naval men drilling on the College campus. Chairs had been offered by a Kamehameha graduate, he placing them on the grass plot adjoining the Museum. After a little while, Mr. Brigham, the curator of the Museum, drove by within a few feet of us. He scowled most savagely at us. In a few minutes a Portuguese workman came to order us away from the place.

As it has invariably been the custom to throw the College grounds open to the public when any sort of a public or semi-public show is taking place within its precincts, we did not pay any attention to his orders, thinking it a piece of officiousness on the part of an ignorant person, and the man went away. After a while the man re-appeared and ordered us off again, saying he was acting by Brigham’s orders, and to use force if necessary. He took hold of the chair of the wife of a prominent official and tipped it partly over. She sprang up to avoid a fall, as did two other ladies. I, being at the very corner of the building and a little in advance of the others did not perceive the man until he had taken hold of my chair and had partly spilled me on my knee. I turned around to protest, when he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my chair, saying “you get out of this, those are my orders from Mr. Brigham. If you don’t go yourself, I make you go. Mr. Brigham don’t allow any one to get on this grass.”

There were quite a number of carriages standing around, occupied by spectators of the drill.

The actions of the Portuguese were so rough and insulting that the attention of quite a number were attracted to our forcible ejectment. Continue reading →