THE CHIEFS’ CHILDREN’S SCHOOL.
This is the schoolhouse for the children of the alii, in Honolulu, Oahu, upland of the stone house of Kekauluohi. This schoolhouse was built by the alii in the year of our Lord 1839. They are the ones who paid for the costs, not the missionaries. The costs were perhaps two thousand dollars, and the cost was well worth this fine building. The alii paid out the money and the missionaries hired the haole and Hawaiians who did the labor. Above, you will see what this building is like. The length is the same as the width. It is 76 feet long, and so is its width. It is made with adobe, and its walls are about ten feet tall, and its thickness is two feet. The partitions are made of adobe as well and are one foot thick. The thatching of this building is actual pili grass. Look at the illustration above, the entrance is made clear, as are the other doors, and the…
(Nonanona, 7/20/1841, p. 5)
…windows; clear also are the rooms for the teachers and the students.
There is an open space in the middle of the building; it is six feet wide and so too is the length; there is a water pump within it. Maniania [Manienie] grass grows there, so it is a nice place to play as well as to sit. There is a small lanai and a stone wall surrounding this wide area, which is a place to go when it is raining or when the sun is hot. The outside of the entire building is covered with mortar [poho]. Poho is not great; it will just fall off, and it soon loses its integrity. The inside of the building is covered with plaster [puna], and it is very good and sturdy; the children cannot make the plaster fall easily. The rooms are plastered all around and on top, and there is a fine floor below.
The building is appropriate for what we are using it for.
There are perhaps many who have heard of this schoolhouse but who have not seen it. Therefore, the instructors thought to put a description in this paper, as well as what is being done in this schoolhouse in later issues of the newspaper.
By me, Cooke.
[Maybe if the Hawaiian-Language Newspapers like this one are rescanned clearly, the image of the schoolhouse would indeed be clear and we could see the doors, windows, and rooms.
I was not sure if "Rumi kalo" could refer to a "Taro room". And it seems that at the center on the bottom of the diagram is "Puka komo" for "Entrance".]
(Nonanona, 7/20/1841, p. 6)
Filed under: Alii, Education, English, Illustration, Missionary Tagged: Amos Starr Cooke, Chiefs' Childrens' School, Juliette Montague Cooke, Kula Alii, manienie, pili