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Senator Frye. The Wilcox you reter to was C. P. Wilcox?
Mr. Young. He was a young man who was sent by Kalakaua to Italy to be educated in the military school there. The Queen asked him to take charge of these pieces in the palace, and he declined to do it, and they were then placed under the command of Nowlein, who was in charge of the Household Guards, and he took charge. He told me he had men stationed there all the time.
Senator Butler. Where did you go?
Mr. Young. I went aboard ship and reported to Capt. Wiltse what was going on, and he ordered me to go on shore in citizen's clothes and learn all I could and keep him posted. I went on shore and I found what I had heard before had become general throughout the town.
Senator Butler. What about the promulgation of the new constitution?
Mr. Young. Yes; and also that a large meeting was in progress at W. O. Smith's office, on Fort street. I went in there and I made some inquiries, and I was told that two of the ministers had appealed for protection, and that the Queen had threatened to shoot them.
Senator Frye. They were the Queen's present ministers?
Mr. Young. Yes; Mr. Peterson and Mr. Colburn. Mr. Peterson and Mr. Colburn told me afterwards that they believed the Queen would have had them shot if they had not gone out.
Senator Butler. Out of the palace?
Mr. Young. Yes.
Senator Butler. Where were the troops located?
Mr. Young. In the palace grounds, inside of this reservation, and the police were down at the police station. And there was quite a number of people in W. O. Smith's office, most of them white, a good many Kanakas; I should say there were three rooms packed and jammed with people. I could not get into the inner rooms from the crowd, and they appointed a committee of safety.
The Chairman. How far was this office from the police station?
Mr. Young. Not more than 800 to 1,000 yards.
The Chairman. How far from the Government buildings?
Mr. Young. About three-quarters of a mile.
Senator Butler. Is that this place, put down on the maps as the barracks?
Mr. Young. No; different place. [Indicating on the diagram.] I passed on down King street and went into the palace grounds after leaving Smith's office. I met several gentlemen, and asked them for information. When I went into the palace grounds there were two natives on the balcony of the palace haranguing the Kanakas, the overseer standing near them; and a man there, who interpreted what was said, stated that the Kanakas were stating to the crowd that the ministry, under the influence of the whites, had prevented the Queen giving them a new constitution, and they were appealing to the crowd and asking them to rise and shoot the crowd, whites and all.
The Chairman. That was afterwards interpreted to you?
Mr. Young. Interpreted to me at the time.
The Chairman. By those Kanakas?
Mr. Young. Yes, at the time.
The Chairman. As the statements were being made were these two men standing by the Queen?
Mr. Young. Yes.
The Chairman. Were they on the balcony?
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Mr. Young. Standing on the balcony.
Senator Butler. This meeting at Smith's office was in sympathy with the Queen.
Mr. Young. No; in sympathy with the old ministers. Coleburn and Peterson came down town and appealed to these people to protect them, stating that the Queen had threatened to shoot them, and it was threatened that they were to be locked up. A great many people, more people, came on in this place. The rooms were crowded; there were 250 to 300 persons there.
Senator Butler. In Smith's office?
Mr. Young. Yes, and gathered around the door. I stayed in there a short time and then passed on down to the palace, and after I got a cab and drove around town, came back to the business portion of the town, and I sent three or four messages over to Capt. Wiltse, telling him what was going on. I stayed on shore until 12 o'clock that evening.
The Chairman. Or night?
Mr. Young. At night. At night quiet crowds gathered arouud town and also in the club, and in the conversation all who had been the Queen's supporters were bitterly denouncing her acts, and there was nothing indicating anything but an effort to stop the Queen from promulgating her constitution. I met Chief Justice Judd, who stopped me and told me he had been in the palace some three or four hours, somewhere in that neighborhood, and he said that they had finally persuaded her not to promulgate the constitution that afternoon, but she insisted that she would do it in two or three days. But Chief Justice Judd said: "The trouble is over, and I think we may be able to stop it yet."
Senator Butler. You were in citizen's dress?
Mr. Young. Yes.
The Chairman. Is Mr. Judd the chief justice of the supreme court of Hawaii?
Mr. Young. Yes.
The Chairman. He was not disturbed in his office?
Mr. Young. No. The only officials removed were four of the cabinet and also the marshal, and also of the guards.
The Chairman. When you speak of having gone from Smith's office to the palace grounds where you heard translated what these Kanakas said, did you see any artillery or other arms?
Mr. Young. The Household Guards were all under arms.
The Chairman. How many were there of them? Mr. Young. About 60 of them.
The Chairman. Where were they?
Mr. Young. In front of the palace, drawn up in lines near the approach to the palace, and some of them were on sentry duty back in the yard.
Senator Butler. Do you know of your own knowledge whether they were supplied with ammunition or not?
Mr. Young. Yes.
The Chairman. Did you find any other persons on that occasion?
Mr. Young. No.
The Chairman. Did you find any society or body of men in array?
Mr. Young. None at all.
The Chairman. Were there many citizens, and if so, how many, around the palace building at that time?
Mr. Young. One part of the palace grounds was crowded.
The Chairman. With whom?