Liliu’s Gold Necklaces are Auctioned Off.

In accordance with the wishes of the deceased Queen Liliuokalani, the board of trustees of the estate of the the deceased announced the auctioning off of the gold adornments of the deceased queen. In one of the rooms on the bottom of the Young Hotel in Honolulu, on this Tuesday, March 25, the auction began of the adornments: the diamond rings, the diamond bracelets, the diamond necklaces, the earrings, the stickpins, and many other items. Colonel C. Piehu Iaukea made known the wishes of Liliuokalani to build a house to care for orphaned girls of all ethnicities, in Honolulu, and the Hawaiian girls were the first in her heart.

On the first day, this Tuesday, $11,360.50 was made. The auction was continued on another day. It is not known what the total is at this time.

The houses intended for these orphaned children probably cannot be built with just the funds from these jewels, because these valuables were sold in Honolulu at a place where it was believed that they would go for cheap, and the gold craftsmen of Honolulu said that the prices bid on these treasures of Hawaii nei were just like throwing them away. If it was held in a town of ten million people or more, like London, New York, or Paris, where millionaires reside, then proper prices might have been gotten, however, here in Hawaii, where there are no millionaires, high prices are not attained.

Perhaps if it is included with the rest of Liliuokalani’s estate, then it will be enough to build this type of facility, for it will need over a hundred thousand more dollars for that kind of place. On top of that is the expenses for the care taking and for the executives, which would be some hundreds of thousands of dollars more, and where would this all come from? The treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamen, Pharaoh of Egypt, who died over 3,000 years ago, is estimated at over a billion dollars today.

(Kuokoa, 3/27/1924, p. 2)

Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Buke XVII, Helu 44, Aoao 2. Maraki 27, 1924.