StarBulletin.com

Sept. 6, 1924


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POSTED: Sunday, September 06, 2009

Civic club backs fight on gangs

“;Back in the Day,”; appearing every Sunday, takes a look at articles that ran on this date in history in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Hawaii's oldest continuously published daily newspaper. The items appear verbatim, so don't blame us today for yesteryear's bad grammar.

Backing up the campaign to eliminate gangs and gangsterism in Honolulu, members of the Hawaiian Civic club at their luncheon meeting held in Cooke Hall, Central Y.M.C.A Friday decided to send a “;communication of congratulations”; to Chief of Detectives John R. Kellett, praising him for his work in the recent gangster cases and for “;rounding up”; Preston Mumford, convicted white slaver.

The secretary of the club was instructed to write a letter to Kellett to this effect after a motion praising Kellett had been introduced and passed by the members. It was the consensus of the opinion of the speakers at the club meeting that Hawaiians should back up the authorities in the fight against hoodlumism and gangs.

Eben Low spoke briefly to the members of the club on the plan to send 250 Hawaiian musical “;missionaries”; to Los Angeles next spring. He said that the plan was meeting with favor in Honolulu and that definite action could be expected in the matter following the arrival of the excursion of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in the near future.

A.E. Weller, motion picture technical director of Los Angeles, also addressed the club. He spoke on the need for the filming of the legends of Hawaii so that people of the mainland would understand that Hawaii is not merely the land of the hula dance.

Miss Eunice Pettijohn, talented whistler and pianist, rendered two musical numbers, which were well received by the members of organization. She was obliged to respond to an encore.