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December 13, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Billy Weaver

December 13, 1958 – 8-months before Hawaiʻi became a state … it was described as a typical trade wind, Windward Oʻahu day; the sky was clear; the water was a little rough with whitecaps and there were good-sized waves.

Six friends, ages 9 to 15, were doing what kids do, then and now; they had paddled and rowed out to the Mokulua Islands to surf and play in the water.

Along with an 8-foot boat, they had three surfboards and three air mattresses.  The boys kept together; never was one more than 75 – 100-feet from the others.

Then, disaster struck.

Billy, 15-year old son of Spencecliff restaurants partner Clifton Weaver, was on an air mattress and missed catching a wave.  Then, the rest of the boys noticed he was clinging to the mat, apparently in difficulty.

They heard a cry for help.

Seeing blood in the water, they swam over and tried to rescue Billy – they saw he had lost a leg.

Then, one of the boys cried out ‘Shark,’ seeing it surface 30-feet away.

Fearing their small boat would swamp in the surf, they rowed to shore to get help.

About an hour-and-a-half after the attack, the Fire rescue squad was on the scene.  Other boats joined in the search.  Finally a helicopter crew from the Marine Base spotted the body on the reef.

A local resident dove down and recovered the body.  Efforts to revive him failed; Billy died from loss of blood, drowning, shock or a combination of the three.

The shark was estimated to be over 15-feet long; they believe it was a tiger shark.  It was seen still cruising in the area.

The next day, the Territory and local residents set out to capture the shark.  Bounties were offered.  Lines of hooks were set in the water where the attack occurred.  Overhead pilots spotted two schools of sharks in nearby Kailua Bay.

Over the next couple of days, more hooks were set and three tiger sharks and two sand sharks were caught.

In response to the fatal attack, the Billy Weaver Shark Research and Control Program was initiated.  Starting April 1, 1959, 595-sharks were caught off Oʻahu during the remainder of the year; 71 were tiger sharks.

Kenny Young, my father, was the fund drive chairman for the Billy Weaver Shark Control Fund (Hawaiʻi’s first shark control program.)  They accepted donations, and to raise additional money teeth from the hunted sharks were put on chains and sold as necklaces.

In the old days, folks used to catch and kill sharks.  The accepted attitude was, “the only good shark is a dead shark.”

In an attempt to relieve public fears and to reduce the risk of shark attack, the state government of Hawaiʻi spent over $300,000 on shark control programs between 1959 and 1976. Six control programs of various intensity resulted in the killing of 4,668-sharks.

Subsequent evaluation of the 1959-1976 efforts noted, “Shark control programs do not appear to have had measurable effects on the rate of shark attacks in Hawaiian waters.  Implementation of large-scale control programs in the future in Hawaiʻi may not be appropriate.”  (Wetherbee, 1994)

At the turn of the century, my grandfather and his brothers (Young Brothers) used to have various jobs in Honolulu Harbor; one was taking paying customers out to harpoon sharks off-shore.  My great-uncle, William, wrote books about his adventures shark hunting.

I remember Kohala shark “hunts” on the Big Island where a donated steer carcass was tied between points in a cove and “hunters,” on surrounding cliffs using high-powered rifles, shot at sharks feeding off the carcass.

Times have changed.

We have learned that tiger sharks (the ones most implicated in attacks on humans) don’t simply dwell in small coastal territories, but are instead extremely wide-ranging.

They are opportunistic predators and typically move on soon after arriving in an area, because the element of surprise is quickly lost and potential prey become wary and difficult to catch.

We know more now and recognize that sharks are an important part of the marine ecosystem.  Sharks are often the “apex” or top of the food chain predators in their ecosystems because they have few natural predators.

As top predators, sharks help to manage healthy ocean ecosystems.  Sharks feed on the animals below them in the food chain, helping to regulate and maintain the balance of marine ecosystems; limiting the populations of their prey, in turn affects the prey species of those animals, and so on.

To some, sharks are ʻaumakua (ancestral spirits that take possession of living creatures) that make appearances to express parental concern for the living, bringing warnings of impending danger, comfort in times of stress or sorrow or in other ways being helpful.  (Kane)

Sad and Tragic, yes – we continue to have shark attacks.  However, many believe it is typically mistaken identity – the sharks mistake surfers and floaters as turtles or seals.   (Remember, we are visitors to their realm in the ocean.)

I still vividly recall Halloween morning, 2003, when DLNR’s shark expert came to my office to brief me on the shark attack on Bethany Hamilton on Kaua‘i.  It was a somber day at DLNR.  Unlike the old days, there was no “hunt” called for.   Other incidents and attacks continue to occur.

“The number of shark attacks has nothing to do with how many sharks are in the water and everything to do with how many people are in the water,” said Kim Holland, University of Hawaiʻi shark researcher and Shark Task Force member. (Honolulu Advertiser, following the Hamilton attack)

John Naughton, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, said previous efforts to remove large predatory sharks saw the proliferation of smaller ones, which harassed fishermen and their catches.

“It’s an archaic way to manage the resource.  It’s like the turn of the century, when they shot wolves. It doesn’t make sense anymore.”  (Honolulu Advertiser, November, 2003)  (Lots of information here is from Tester and Wetherbee.)

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Mokulua_Islands-SOEST
Mokulua_Islands-SOEST
Tiger Shark
Tiger Shark
Billy_Weaver_SharkFund-Mokuleia_Cub_Scouts-KMY
Billy_Weaver_SharkFund-Mokuleia_Cub_Scouts-KMY
TigerShark
TigerShark
Sharks hanging at Young Brothers
Sharks hanging at Young Brothers
MokuluaIslands-Lanikai-Kailua
MokuluaIslands-Lanikai-Kailua
Shark_Hedge-Whittle-Waimea
Shark_Hedge-Whittle-Waimea
Map of Kailua-Lanikai where sharks were spotted (Tester)
Map of Kailua-Lanikai where sharks were spotted (Tester)

Filed Under: General, Prominent People Tagged With: Billy Weaver, Cliff Weaver, Hawaii, Kailua, Kenny Young, Lanikai, Mokulua, Mokulua Islands, Oahu, Shark, Spencecliff, Young Brothers

December 11, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Spencecliff

Their father, Spencer Fullerton Weaver Sr, was one of the nation’s leading architects in the 1920s. Known as Major Weaver; among many other projects, his firm designed the Waldorf-Astoria, the Hotel Pierre in New York City, the Biltmore Hotels in Los Angeles and Florida, and the Breakers in Palm Beach.  He designed and owned the Park Land and Lexington Hotels in New York.

Their mother, Emily Maloney Stokes Weaver, was a noted tennis player; she won two national indoor tennis doubles championships in 1914 (with Clare Cassel) and 1918 (with Eleanor Goss Lanning.)

The family lived in an apartment on Park Avenue, New York and had a country estate known as ‘Spencecliff,’ in East Hampton, Long Island, NY.  (washington-edu)

But that ‘Spencecliff’ is not the basis for this story – this story is about the partnership of brothers Spence and Cliff and the Hawaiʻi business they founded, Spencecliff Restaurants.

Queen’s Surf (with its Barefoot Bar,) Tahitian Lanai, Coco’s, Tiki Tops, Fisherman’s Wharf, Senor Popo’s, Trader Vic’s, Kelly’s, South Seas, Ranch House … the list goes on and on.

It was a family operation, run by brothers Spencer (Spence) Fullerton Weaver Jr (May 18, 1911 – Aug 30, 1996) and Clifton (Cliff) Stokes Weaver (Jan 7, 1917 – Jan 23, 1992.)

After a couple visits to the Islands, the boys moved and later, intrigued by the fleet of hot dog trucks in Long Island, they got into the food service business with a half-dozen ‘Swanky Franky’ hot dog carts in 1939; then, later set up a stand at Ena Road and Ala Moana in Waikīkī.

Then came the Patio Restaurant downtown and the Snowflake Bakery; the Weavers also had a catering contract to feed five-thousand at Hickam.

After service in World War II, they formed the Spencecliff Corporation; it grew, and over the next few decades dominated the restaurant scene.

They opened the Sky Room (1948) at the airport terminal at John Rogers Field (now Honolulu International Airport.)   In addition to the pre-flight airport presence, Spencecliff catered the food to airline passengers on ten major airlines, including American, JAL, Canadian Pacific, Qantas and Air New Zealand.

At one time, the Spencecliff operation included 50-restaurants, cabarets, coffee shops and snack bars in Hawaiʻi, almost exclusively on the island of Oʻahu. It also operated two hotels, three bakeries and a catering service in Hawaiʻi and two hotels in Tahiti.  There were more than 1,500 employees.

Spence Weaver would later be inducted into the Hawaii Restaurant Association’s First Annual Hall of Fame in 2007.

One of the most famous of their operations was the Queen’s Surf (acquired in 1949.)  They converted the former home of heir to Fleischmann’s Yeast fortune, Christian Holmes (Holmes also owned Coconut Island,) and turned it into Queen’s Surf; the home was originally build in 1914 by WK Seering of International Harvester Co.

Later (1971,) the property was condemned and Queen’s Surf and the neighboring Kodak Hula Show were evicted and the Waikīkī beachfront area was turned into a public park.

In addition, to the nightclub, there were coffee shops – lots of them – as well as other family-favorites.

Spencecliff was renowned for taking care of its employees, many of whom served for decades.  Reportedly, each employee would receive personalized card and a birthday cake from the company bakery the day before their birthday, then were given the day off on their birthday.

All was not happy for the family; in 1958, Cliff’s 15-year-old son, Billy was killed in a tiger shark attack off the Mokulua Islands, on the Windward side.

Then their ownership in the restaurant operations came to an end.  In the mid-1980s, increased rents and high interest rates affected Spencecliff’s bottom line; on July 14, 1986, they sold the operation to the Japanese firm, Nittaku Enterprises Co, for $6-million.

Unfortunately, the new owners didn’t have the same understanding/appreciation for the operations and it slowly disappeared.

Gone are the familiar favorites we used to enjoy.  On the windward side, Tiki Tops was a family regular; and the ride over the Pali often took us to Fisherman’s Wharf (and its treasure chest for the kids.)

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TikiTops
Tiki_Tops
Tiki Tops
My mother, Helen Lind, with the Swanky Franky, one of the hot dog stands that began the Spencecliff restaurant empire.
My mother, Helen Lind, with the Swanky Franky, one of the hot dog stands that began the Spencecliff restaurant empire.
That's my dad on the right. And I'm guessing he's sitting with Cliff and Spence Weaver, Spencecliff founders.
That’s my dad on the right. And I’m guessing he’s sitting with Cliff and Spence Weaver, Spencecliff founders.
Spencecliff-Ad
Cocos
Cocos-
FishermansWharf
FishermansWharf-Kids_Menu
FishermansWharf-Kids-Menu-front-(mask)
Popos
Queen's Surf-Barefoot Bar
Queens_Surf
Queens-Beach-Queens_Surf
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Swanky_Franky-(Allen)
Tahitian Lanai
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Filed Under: Buildings, Economy, Prominent People Tagged With: Billy Weaver, Cliff Weaver, Hawaii, Kodak Hula Show, Oahu, Queen's Surf, Spencecliff, Spense Weaver

September 19, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hula Cop

In the heyday of the Queen’s Surf (flagship property for the Spencecliff Corporation,) the Barefoot Bar was ground zero for local comedy and entertainment. Sterling Edwin Kilohana Mossman was the ringleader.

Mossman sang and did comedy and included a lot of others in the evening’s entertainment.  The footprints of many of these Island and internationally known entertainers lined the stairway up to the second floor bar.

A detective with the Honolulu Police Department during the day, after dark he was one of Hawaiʻi’s most popular entertainers. His diversified careers earned him the nickname “Hula Cop”. (TerritorialAirwaves)

But this story is not about that Hula Cop, this is about Pedro Jose, another ‘entertainer’ who earned that local moniker.  Due to his looks and 6-foot, six-inch frame, he was also known as the “Tall and Handsome One.”

Pedro (Peter – Pete) Jose (Hose) was born in Honolulu on September 29, 1881. His father came from the Cape Verde isthmus off the coast of Africa.  Cape Verdeans were of African Portuguese ancestry.

While directing traffic, Pete danced the hula on Downtown Honolulu streets. (Guttman)

“As he motions with his original comical gestures to the drivers of vehicles when to come ahead, Peter wears that everlasting smile.  No traffic is dense enough, no weather is too hot nor is any driver too grouchy to spoil that smile.  And the result is that everybody else smiles, too, and there is no pessimism at Merchant and Fort street.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, August 11, 1917)

“Like William Shakespeare, Peter Hose believes that when you smile the world smiles with you, and when you weep you weep alone. Hence it has become Peter’s business to keep the populace of Honolulu smiling when it happens down around, the corner of Merchant and Fort streets during the morning and late in the afternoon.”

“Peter Hose is the great tall six foot, six inch traffic cop whom everybody who ever passed along Merchant or Fort street when he was on duty remembers. Aside from his broad and everlasting smile, one discovers; upon closer examination, that Peter wears about the broadest brimmed hat made and the largest shoes obtainable in the city about twelves it was said the other day.”  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, August 11, 1917)

“The sidewalk on Merchant street; from a point in front of the entrance to the savings department of Bishop & Co bankers, to the entrance of the Henry Waterhouse Trust Co on Fort street, opposite C Brewer & Co office, is considered the financial curb of Honolulu for there at almost any time of the day, except during the Exchange session, will be found the brokers, tipsters and stock traders swapping yarns, swapping tips, making bets, and winning the war.”

“But even these pursuits are apt to grow dull at times and in those dull moments Traffic Policeman Peter Hose, better known as “The Tall and Handsome One,” who holds sway at the corner of Merchant and Fort street, supplies the comedy element and keeps the broker throng amused with his Chaplin stunts.”  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 17, 1917)

“Pete Hose, the ‘hula cop,’ … was a traffic cop who could make motorists laugh. To make motorists laugh in a traffic crush is no small accomplishment. …. Pete made the drivers laugh with just a suggestion of ‘the immortal Hawaiian hula dance when he beckoned to traffic.”

“’Hula cop’ was the nickname he went by. Besides being courteous he was efficient. He did favors for people, but never forgot that he was an officer. The people liked and respected him. That little touch of the clown in his makeup won their hearts.”

“A modern electric traffic device was installed recently at one of the busy corners in Honolulu, and the people dedicated it to Pete Hose. At a short ceremony, city officials spoke, and members of the traffic department and friends of Pete Hose praised his work.”

“(T)he courtesy that Hose expressed in his whole life perhaps could be copied with benefit by some of them.  A little touch of humor makes the whole world kin – and often brings humanity’s homage, as in Pete Hose’s case.”  (Manitowoc Herald Times, December 13, 1926)

“Honolulu’s “hula cop,” who has caused thousands of tourists to laugh at his downy antics as he directed traffic through the downtown thoroughfares, has been ‘promoted’ from the ‘stop and go’ job to a position as waterfront policeman.”

“Peter will now direct the tourists as they set foot on Hawaiian soil, and there is little doubt that a few weeks of acquaintance with the new surroundings will set him ‘hula-ing.’”

“Indeed, when the white-suited Hawaiian band strikes up the strains of ‘Honolulu Tomboy’ or ‘Hula Blues’ as the boats come in or sail away, no one who knows Peter Hose would rightfully expect him to make those arms and legs behave. (New Castle News, PA, April 23, 1924)

“He is philosophically inclined, Peter is, and he believes in the plain, honest smile. He first went on the police force about 10 years ago and he has discovered in his long experience that there is one thing that does more to prevent collisions, hard words and ill feeling one thing that keeps the traffic moving smoothly and that as a real smile.”   (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, August 11, 1917)

 “Peter Hose, Honolulu’s ‘Hula Cop,’ big, smiling, hearty, known by nearly every man, woman and child in Honolulu and easily remembered by tens of thousands of world tourists who have passed through Honolulu the last 18 years, is no more.”

“‘Pete’ made a gallant, though a losing, fight with tuberculosis. One morning… he left Lēʻahi for home. ‘I know I am going to die,’ he said, ‘and I am going to die at home, among my own kin folks.’”  (Knowlton, Advertiser, Advertiser January 5, 1925)  The image shows Pedro Jose, Honolulu’s Hula Cop.

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Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hula Cop, Oahu, Pedro Jose, Police, Spencecliff

January 24, 2014 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Queen’s Surf

“Hamohamo is justly considered to be the most life-giving and healthy district in the whole extent of the island of Oʻahu; there is something unexplainable and peculiar in the atmosphere of that place, which seldom fails to bring back the glow of health to the patient, no matter from what disease suffering.” (Queen Liliʻuokalani)

The Queen “derived much amusement, as well as pleasure: for as the sun shines on the evil and the good, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust, I have not felt called upon to limit the enjoyment of my beach and shade-trees to any party in politics … While in exile it has ever been a pleasant thought to me that my people, in spite of differences of opinions, are enjoying together the free use of my seashore home.”

Because of her nearby homes, they called the coastal area in this part of Waikīkī Queen’s Surf Beach.

In 1914, Mr & Mrs WK Seering of the International Harvester Co in Illinois built a home there.  A couple decades later, Fleischman’s Yeast heir, Mr CR Holmes, bought the home (he also had other Hawaiʻi property, including Coconut Island in Kāneʻohe Bay.) (ilind)

During WWII, the house was used for military retreats and other military uses.  Admiral Nimitz, General Douglas McArthur and staffs spent time there.

After World War II (and following Holmes’ death,) the City & County of Honolulu bought the property and leased it to the Spencecliff Corporation restaurant chain; it became their flagship property and operated it as the hugely popular Queen’s Surf Restaurant and Nightclub.

Sterling Edwin Kilohana Mossman (February 3, 1920 to February 21, 1986) headlined at its upstairs Barefoot Bar.  A man as versatile as he was talented, literally led a double life. A detective with the Honolulu Police Department during the day, after dark he was one of Hawaiʻi’s most popular entertainers. His diversified careers earned him the nickname “Hula Cop”. (TerritorialAirwaves)

The Barefoot Bar was ground zero for this new brand of local comedy. Mossman was the ringleader, along with the likes of Lucky Luck, a zany radio personality, and Kent Bowman, known as KK Kaumanua.  They told stories, sang songs and, when a celebrity from the Mainland happened to come by (and they did a lot), they became part of the show.  (HonoluluMagazine)

Mossman sang and did comedy and included a lot of others in the evening’s entertainment.  The footprints of many of these Island and internationally known entertainers lined the stairway up to the second floor bar.

For a while, downstairs, at the Surf Lanai, Kuiokalani (Kui) Lee sang for the crowds – inside and out of the restaurant.  During the day, the beach was crowded with sun bathers; at night it was full of Island residents listening in on Kui Lee’s long list of local favorites (he’d turn to the ocean and sing a final song to the folks on the beach.)

Born in Shanghai, China, the third child and only son of Hawaiian entertainers Billy and Ethel Lee, Kui Lee was a prolific songwriter.  Folks like Don Ho, Elvis, Tony Bennett and Andy Williams recorded and performed his songs: “I’ll Remember You,” “One Paddle, Two Paddle”, “She’s Gone Again”, “No Other Song”, “If I Had To Do It All Over Again”, “Yes, It’s You”, “Rain, Rain Go Away”, “Get On Home”, “The Days Of My Youth” and “Lahainaluna.”

“Kui was very brash, very positive about his songs,” said Kimo McVay, owner of Duke Kahanamoku’s nightclub from 1961 to ’71 and manager/promoter of Don Ho from 1963 to ’66. “He gave them to Don, and Don, of course, made them hits. When Don became a star because of that material, a national star, that’s what launched Kui. And Kui became the star of Queen’s Surf.” (star-bulletin)

Here is Kui Lee singing Days of My Youth (a reminder for me of growing up in the Islands, and the one time I was able to sit on the beach and listen to Kui Lee perform – unfortunately, Kui Lee died of cancer at the age of 34 in 1966.)  Click HERE for a YouTube for one of Kui Lee’s songs.

Queen’s surf also offered a regular lūʻau on the property.

The stories vary on the cause, but later there was a lease dispute with the City and the Queen’s Surf and the neighboring Kodak Hula Show were evicted, the Queen’s Surf was torn down (1971) and the Waikīkī beachfront area was turned into a public park.

The image shows Queen’s Surf from the beach.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Filed Under: Buildings, Economy Tagged With: Hamohamo, Hawaii, Oahu, Queen Liliuokalani, Queen's Surf, Spencecliff, Waikiki

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