The Pacific Commercial Advertiser's final edition of 1865 opens with a haunting poem titled 'The Dying Year,' reflecting on the passage of time as 1865 draws to a close. But the real drama unfolds in the news section, where a heated controversy surrounds Mr. Hitchcock, overseer of a plantation, who was recently tried for using a deadly weapon on Chinese laborers ('coolies'), wounding one of them. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to a fine and 24 hours imprisonment. However, a passionate letter to the editor reveals deep divisions over the verdict. Three jurors—Messrs. Cornwell, H.P. Adams, and J.T. Glover—rendered a verdict of 'not guilty,' believing Hitchcock's actions were justified. The correspondent argues that foreign and native witnesses testified to seeing the Chinese workers rush past a designated point in an aggressive manner, wielding knives and throwing missiles at women workers, while only the Chinese interpreter claimed they were peaceful. The writer contends that Hitchcock's defensive shot prevented a 'massacre' and was necessary to maintain order on the plantation.

This incident captures the volatile labor dynamics in post-Civil War Hawaii, where American plantation owners increasingly relied on imported Chinese workers to replace Native Hawaiian laborers. The split jury verdict reflects the racial tensions and competing narratives that would define labor relations in the islands for decades. Meanwhile, on the mainland, 1865 was ending as one of the most transformative years in American history—Lincoln had been assassinated in April, the Civil War had ended, and the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was being ratified by states. Hawaii's plantation economy, dependent on imported contract labor, represented a different but related struggle over work, race, and power in America's expanding sphere of influence.

• H.M. Whitney was selling pocket diaries for 1866 'by the bark WHISTLER' with prices ranging from 50 cents to $5.00 — about $8 to $80 in today's money for a simple calendar book
• You could buy 2,000 old newspapers 'suitable for wrapping paper' at a rate of 'less than 100 or 1000' — newspapers were so common they were being recycled as packaging material
• The paper advertised 'blank forms of agreement between masters and servants' for $1.00 per dozen — suggesting formal contracts were needed to manage the complex labor arrangements
• A piano was being sold 'cheap' at Ladd's hardware store, sitting alongside 'mechanics tools and agricultural implements' — luxury items mixed casually with farming equipment
• Ship chandlers were advertising 'Twenty Gross Perry Davis & Son's' medicine and 'Buckeye Harnesses' — showing how Hawaii served as a crucial supply stop for Pacific maritime trade

• The Hitchcock case involved 'coolies' on a plantation — this was part of a massive migration that brought over 200,000 Chinese workers to global sugar and railroad projects between 1850-1875, fundamentally reshaping labor markets worldwide
• H.M. Whitney, the diary seller, was actually one of Hawaii's most influential publishers — his son would later become Hawaii's Foreign Minister and help negotiate the kingdom's eventual annexation by the United States
• The 'bark WHISTLER' mentioned in the diary ad was likely a three-masted sailing vessel — in 1865, it took roughly 15-20 days to sail from San Francisco to Honolulu, making each cargo delivery a significant event
• The paper's masthead shows it cost 'six dollars per annum' — that's about $100 per year in today's money, making newspapers a luxury item for most residents
• Bishop & Co., advertised as bankers, would become First Hawaiian Bank — still operating today as one of the oldest banks west of the Mississippi River