Under Hawaiian skies, a narrative of the romance, adventure and history of the Hawaiian Islands, a complete historical account, by Albert Pierce Taylor.

ONLY THRONE ROOM() IN AMlERICA

487

the second story the beautiful private apartments of the royal
fanily. The throne room was a hall of well-balanced proportions, whose walls were pierced with many window-doors. The
ceiling and walls were plastered white and garnished with mouldings. From the ceilings were suspended beautiful chandeliers
glittering with crystal pendants, replicas of chandeliers seen in
foreign buildings. Above each window was a pair of crossed
Hawaiian spears, symbols of the days when Hawaiians fought
with spears and javelins. Backed against the walls were rows of
high-backed gilt and brocaded clairs, small editions of those upon
the dais.
The etiquette of the Court of St. James, first adopted during
the reign of Kamehameha III and modified to suit modernl needs,
prevailed in the throne room of the Islan(lers, and upon state
occasions when a reception, levee or ball was given, it fairly
blazed with gold-trimmed uniformas and the costly gems worn
by the fashionably gowned women, both Hawaiian and foreign.
The famous Royal Hawaiian Military Band, directe(l by Kappelmeister Berger, the bandmaster sent to Kamehameha V by
Emperor William of Germany, played either in the ornate bandstand in the grounds, or upon one of the lanais adjacent to the
hall. If the admiral of a fleet was being received-and many
foreign warships visited Honolulu in those days-the clank of
swords rose alove all other sounds, for the king and queen had
extensive military staffs and believed in military displays.
But the days of royalty are gone in Hawaii: the empty dais
and the canopy and the heavy window hangings, the oil portraits
of the formler dynasties, and the crossed spears are mute evidences that once upon a time kings and queens were wont to
assert their sovereignty within those silent walls. But above the
canopy the gilded eagle of republican America has replaced the
gilded crown of monarchical Hawaii.
W\here the king and queen formerly presided at state (inners
the senate of Hawaii now holds its bielnial sessions. Where the
king slept, in a big room above, the American governor of the
territory, appointed by the President at \Vashington, now has