| Show BO F davi V annals of kauai the garden island mother rice HONOLULU tare TODAY ODAY the hawaiian islands arc among our richest possessions one of the worlds finest playgrounds the most prolific semitropical semi tropical spot under the flag a center of culture educational facilities industry and natural beauty the halting spot for lux I 1 ury ships touring the globe in search of earthly splendors a pacific ocean oasis between the far east and the west and a fruit and floral kingdom second to none on the two hemispheres midst this archipelago of riches kauai in which pineapple and sugar reign as twin monarchs is known as the garden island upon which industrious and prosperous people live contented lives it was on kauai that captain cook first landed 1778 to meet death the following year it was 40 years before this group of islands began to attract world attention missionaries arrived 1820 recognition by the united states 1842 provisional cession to great britain 1843 protectorate ate offered united states 1851 reign of kings and queens up to 1893 republic established 1894 american annexation secured 1898 territorial government began 1900 the first english newspaper was established years ago rice family distinguished lacking space in which to do justice to even the smallest percentage of those countless noble and outstanding figures identified with the development of kauai what remains of this column I 1 dedicate to that benign character mary waterhouse born in tasmania in july 1847 died in june 1933 beloved of every man woman and child native and otherwise living on kauai to all of these she was known affectionately tiona tely as mother rice she was the granddaughter of a superintendent of the wesleyan missions in the south seas from which she came with her father in 1851 to honolulu where in the course of events mary waterhouse in her twenty fifth year met and married william hyde rice two years her senior the son of william har erivn rice teacher of the american protestant mission to the then sandwich islands not in all the history of ha hagai hawai wai lans ians since the arrival of peoples from the outer world had there been a more profound student of polynesian life manners and characteristics acte or one more highly esteemed among them than william hyde rice he died in 1924 his wife survived him nine years william and mary brought up eight children five sons and three daughters all save one daughter living there are twenty grandchildren and twenty three great grand children with three or four exceptions all residing in the hawaiian group the adult progeny adorn the professions while the younger generation ene ration prove the adage that blood will tell blessed is the union responsible for the rice posterity kauai to its eternal credit has at least a dozen families equally distinctive believed in work satan finds work for idle hands to do was the text upon which she fashioned the course of her life and those about her she kept everybody busy with the true instinct of a pioneer woman she recognized the worth of labor in her opinion honet honest toil self sacrifice and the doctrine summed up in the golden rule was the road to attainment she was mother to all to her cs me the lame the halt and the blind the rich and poor when in extremes certain that mother rice would not turn a deaf ear nor withhold counsel when the telephone came to kauai she turned it into a voice and an ear to widen the scope of her action possessing a napoleonic passion for detail an insatiate yearning for particulars minor and major always with the single idea of serving others she became an impelling force among the people her purse her heart and her mind always open to the needs of others seemed never to be drained to emptiness she founded schools libraries hospitals playgrounds kindergartens when and where needed she discovered before it was too late every weak link in the moral and economic fabric of the island coming to the rescue without waiting to be called in her later years stricken by blindness mother rice accorded the franking privilege over all lines of communication throughout the islands telephone telegraph radio with every inhabitant a willing messenger subject to her beck becic and call directed the movements of an army trained and anxious to take orders for the common good A birth or death occurring on kauai at any hour of the day or night was first recorded in the ear of mother rice who at once related the news good or bad over the grapevine grape vine virle system where she sat in control copyright service |
