December 1902 was an unsettled time in Hawaii and the country:
- Pres. Teddy Roosevelt smashed monopolies, as Carrie Nation smashed liquor barrels;
- Hawaii’s Republican dominated legislature discussed repeal of the income tax, while property owners discussed sites for the future Federal Building; and
- in the silly news, a criminal defendant was mistakenly charged under two different names (solution - two sentences).
Prideful Hawaii entered 1903 a thoroughly commercial metropolis. The islands were connected to the world by the Pacific cable. Boosters proclaimed that completion of the “Manila line” ended Hawaii’s isolation. The cable office would be “open day and night . . . the center of a round-the-world system, which will know neither daylight nor darkness.”
BPOE 616 members had plenty to celebrate as future ER Joseph Henry Fisher (1904-05) became the powerful Territorial Auditor.
The press reported formation of Lodge 616’s Elks Baseball Club. After some resistance, they were accepted into an expanded 6-team League, “opposition melting away.” The debate centered on more teams playing less frequently versus fewer teams playing twice a month. The formidable Sonny Cunha was elected team captain and ER Francis M. Brooks (1902-03) as manager.
Early in December Lodge 616 conducted an Elks Memorial. In a public ceremony at the Opera House two departed Elks were eulogized. The hall filled with members and guests, including Prince David Kawananakoa and the Hon. Samuel Parker. 
The program included traditional hymns (Nearer my God to Thee) and recitations (each station was asked to state their duty in “keeping green the memory of the dead”). The Symphony Orchestra did well in “its first appearance in public,” playing Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. Several Elk wives provided solos (Ave Maria) or sang in choral groups. Toward the end of the program, the audience joined in singing the Doxology. The orchestra played Home, Sweet Home as the hall emptied.
Christmas was near and retailers’ dreams naturally danced with sales not sugar plums. With Elks much in the news, advertisements aimed at those purchasing gifts for new Elks were natural. The ad copy lacks today’s punch, but the ‘price is right’ at $1.50 and up. Don’t you want a comfy pair of elk or monkey skin slippers under your tree?
A Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Anita Manning, Lodge Historian
References:
Evening Bulletin 8 & 11 Dec 1902
Hawaiian Star 10 Dec 1902
Pacific Commercial Advertiser 6 & 8 Dec. 1902
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