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October 13, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

250 years Ago … Early Colonists Were Loyal to the King (1620 – 1775)

In the 1500s England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created a new church called the Church of England (sometimes referred to as the Anglican Church).

Although the new church had been founded by Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) during the Protestant Reformation in opposition to the Catholic Church, it still retained many aspects of Catholicism which some Protestants, derisively known by Anglicans as “Puritans” because they wished to purify the Church, objected to. (Joshua Mark, 2021)

King James I, the same who commissioned the famous King James Translation of the Bible, was the head of the Anglican Church, interpreted this criticism as treason, and authorized officials to fine, arrest, imprison and even execute dissenters. (Joshua Mark, 2021) Everyone in England had to belong to the Anglican Church. There was a group of people called Separatists that wanted to separate from that church.

The Early Colonists Wanted to Remain English, Even Though They Were Persecuted and Arrested

In 1607 CE, the Anglican Church became aware of the Scrooby congregation and arrested some, placing others under surveillance, and fining those they could. The congregation, under the leadership of John Robinson (l. 1576-1628 CE) sold their belongings and relocated to Leiden, the Netherlands, where the government practiced a policy of religious tolerance.

Between 1607-1618 CE, the congregation lived freely in Leiden. Bradford and Edward Winslow both wrote glowingly of their experience. In Leiden, God had allowed them, in Bradford’s estimation, “to come as near the primitive pattern of the first churches as any other church of these later times.” God had blessed them with “much peace and liberty,” Winslow echoed. (Joshua Mark, 2021)

However, after several years of living the Netherlands they cherished the freedom of conscience they enjoyed in Leiden, but the Pilgrims had two major complaints:

they found it a hard place to maintain their English identity (their children wanted to speak Dutch instead of English and they missed other things about English life) and
it was an even harder place to make a living.

In America, they hoped to live by themselves, enjoy the same degree of religious liberty and earn a “better and easier” living. (Robert Tracy McKenzie)

The Colonists were British Until the Declaration of Independence and Subsequent Revolutionary War

While the Mayflower Compact (signed in 1620) established a government for the Plymouth Colony, they still considered themselves loyal subjects of King James I and made that very clear in the text.

The first words of the Mayflower Compact confirm the Pilgrims’ loyalty to the king:

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.

They concluded the Mayflower Compact with:

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.

The rest of the Mayflower Compact bound the signers into a “Civil Body Politic” for the purpose of passing “just and equal Laws … for the general good of the Colony.”

In the 1600s and 1700s, Europeans came to North America looking for religious freedom, economic opportunities, and political liberty.

They created 13 colonies on the East Coast of the continent. Each colony had its own government, but the British king controlled these governments.

They believed that Great Britain did not treat the colonists as equal citizens. (US Citizenship and Immigration Services)

Colonists Were Loyal to the King During the First Continental Congress (1774)

At the end of the First Continental Congress, the delegates adopted a Petition addressed to “The King’s Most Excellent Majesty” on October 26, 1774. In part, it states,

WE your majesty’s faithful subjects of the colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and South-Carolina,

in behalf of ourselves and the inhabitants of those colonies, who have deputed us to represent them in general congress, by this our humble petition, beg leave to lay our grievances before the throne. …

Permit us then, most gracious sovereign, in the name of all your faithful people in America, with the utmost humility to implore you, for the honour of Almighty God, whose pure religion our enemies are undermining ; for your glory, which can be advanced only by rendering your subjects happy, and keeping them united ;

for the interest of your family depending on an adherance to the principles that enthroned it ; for the safety and welfare of your kingdoms and dominions threatened with almost unavoidable dangers and distresses :

That your Majesty, as the loving father of your whole people, connected by the same bands of law, loyalty, faith and blood, though dwelling in various countries, will not suffer the transcendent relation formed by these ties, to be farther violated, in uncertain expectation of effects, that if attained, never can compensate for the calamities through which they must be gained.

We therefore most earnestly beseech your majesty, that your royal authority and interposition may be used for our relief, and that a gracious answer may be given to this petition.

That your majesty may enjoy every felicity, through a long and glorious reign, over loyal and happy subjects, and that your descendants may inherit your prosperity and dominions, till time shall be no more, is, and always will be, our sincere and fervent prayer.

A contingent was sent to England to present and discuss the Petition with the King. It was presented to the House of Commons by Lord North on January 19, 1775, as No. 149 of a set of papers, and to the House of Lords the next day. (Wolf) Franklin reported back that,

It came down among a great Heap of letters of Intelligence from Governors and officers in America, Newspapers, Pamphlets, Handbills, etc., from that Country, the last in the List, and was laid upon the Table with them, undistinguished by any particular Recommendation of it to the Notice of either House; and I do not find, that it has had any further notice taken of it as yet, than that it has been read as well as the other Papers.

No answer was ever made to the first attempt of Congress to appeal to the King. (Wolf)

Colonists Were Loyal to the King During the Second Continental Congress (1775)

Unwilling to completely abandon their hope for peace, the Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775 to be sent to the King as a last attempt to prevent formal war from being declared. The Petition emphasized their loyalty to the British crown and emphasized their rights as British citizens.

We, your Majesty’s faithful subjects of the colonies of new Hampshire, Massachusetts bay, Rhode island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, in behalf of ourselves, and the inhabitants of these colonies, who have deputed us to represent them in general Congress, entreat your Majesty’s gracious attention to this our humble petition.

The union between our Mother country and these colonies, and the energy of mild and just government, produced benefits so remarkably important, and afforded such an assurance of their permanency and increase, that the wonder and envy of other Nations were excited, while they beheld Great Britain riseing to a power the most extraordinary the world had ever known. …

We, therefore, beseech your Majesty, that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned by the system before mentioned, and to settle peace through every part of your dominions …

That your Majesty may enjoy a long and prosperous reign, and that your descendants may govern your dominions with honor to them selves and happiness to their subjects, is our sincere and fervent prayer.

War and a Push for New Governance and Citizenship

By the time Congress met again, war was already underway, and thus the delegates to the Second Continental Congress formed the Continental Army and dispatched George Washington to Massachusetts as its commander.

Over one-hundred and fifty years after the Pilgrims landed and signed the Mayflower Compact in the New World, the subsequent colonists stated in 1776,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another …

… and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. …

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

They concluded their Declaration stating,

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,

That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States

that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The Declaration of Independence (1776) was designed for multiple audiences: the King, the colonists, and the world. It was also designed to multitask. Its goals were to rally the troops, win foreign allies and to announce the creation of a new country.

By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking independence.

By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain. (National Archives)

However, King George III did not want to lose this valuable land, and so the colonies took to arms to defend their new country and rights in what is now known as the Revolutionary War.

Unfortunately, it took five long years of war before the British surrendered in October 19, 1781, and the United States of America could begin the business of becoming a nation. Later, when the colonists won independence, these colonies became the 13 original states.

Click the following link to a general summary about Early Colonists Were Loyal to the King (1620 – 1775):

Click to access Early-Colonists-Were-Loyal-to-the-King.pdf

October 12, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Moa

The first birds to be introduced into the Islands came with early Polynesians, who brought the Moa – Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) – for food.

“It is not clearly understood how this species interacted with the terrestrial native birds, how it competed for resources, and what diseases might have been introduced with it, but the introduction of this bird by the Polynesians as a domestic animal probably had some impact.”

“[T]he Red Junglefowl is found in numbers only on Kauai, which lacks the mongoose, but it was formerly established in the wild on all the main islands. Its reproductive potential is high, and it is omnivorous.”

“It seems very likely to us that this species in large numbers could have been a potent competitor to some species of ground-foraging native birds, such as the smaller rails, only one of which survived into historical times.” (Van Riper and Scott)

This “original chicken” is smaller than its domestic descendants and is widespread throughout South and Southeast Asia; can also be found as an introduced species in many regions around the world (especially prevalent on many Pacific Islands, including Hawaii). (eBird)

“Dr. Stanley C. Ball … has studied the Polynesian chickens (moa) and concluded that they were brought from Malaysia to Polynesia, where they were found in all the islands except New Zealand.”

“‘The wooden breast-plates carved by the natives of Rapanui (Easter Island) to represent the cock, and the few traditions which mention this bird, lend weight to the view that the fowl has long been associated with the inhabitants of even the easternmost islands of Polynesia.’”

“‘The Malaysian region, from which fowls were evidently brought to the Pacific islands, was very close to, if not actually the home of, the wild jungle fowl (Gallus gallus),’ Dr. Ball states.”

“It is found from the southern Himalayas, through India, Java, Timor, Lombok, the Philippines, Balabac, Palawan, and Hainan, into Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.”

“Ball believed (and rightly, without doubt) that the chickens brought by Polynesian migrants were already domesticated, and that wild chickens to be found in the Marquesas, Tahiti, Hawaii, and elsewhere have reverted to the wild.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

As noted in Captain Cook’s journal, “The hogs, dogs, and fowls, which were the only tame or domestic animals that we found here, were all of the same kind that we met with at the South Pacific islands. There were also small lizards; and some rats, resembling those seen at every island at which we had as yet touched.”

“Of animal food, they can be in no want; as they have abundance of hogs, which run, without restraint, about the houses; and if they eat dogs, which is not improbable, their stock of these seem to be very considerable … They eat fowls of the same domestic kind as ours, but they are neither plentiful nor much esteemed by them.” (Cook’s Journal)

“Probably Hawaiians regarded their chickens as second-rate fare because chicken meat steamed in an imu is less flavorful for eating with poi than is good fish.”

“We may be sure, nevertheless, that the pioneering voyagers to these islands would not have taken the trouble to keep alive hens and roosters on their long voyages hither if they had not prized them.”

“Mrs. Pukui remembers, however, that even in her childhood older Hawaiians would not eat eggs. ‘It would be like eating the hen’s unborn baby,’ her grandmother said with distaste.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“Mrs. Pukui has, with the help of her mother, Mrs. Pa‘ahana Wiggin, recorded the following colors and names of a variety of native chickens in old Hawaii.”

“The moa of Hawai‘i were smaller than the haole (introduced) chicken, legs shorter, and bodies longer. A pure white moa was called moa-ke‘oke‘o, -Iawa, or -wakea. A black moa was called a hiwa or hiwa-pa‘a.”

“The moa nene were speckled like the Hawaiian goose (nene) . Those with yellowish-cream feathers were called pua-hau, for the yellow hau flower. Smoky gray ones were called lehu or nalehu. (ashy). Speckled with feathers of variegated colors were the ‘opule-pule (mixed-up-crazily).”

“With a ring of feathers around the neck like the plover, it was the moa ‘a‘i kolea. The ‘ulahiwa ranged in shade from a light red to a deep ocherous red. White with red feathers on the back was termed lawa a‘ea‘e (mixed).”

“(The Pukui-Elbert dictionary, 1957, adds two others: the completely black chicken, similar to the mud hen ‘alae, is called moa ‘alae; the black chicken with red feathers at neck and rump is moa ‘alae hulu ‘ula.)”

“The long, curving, irridescent tail feathers of the cocks are always present. These were prized in the Marquesas for warriors’ headdresses, and in Hawaii for making the tall feather-trimmed standards (kahili) that were emblems of rank.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“We have often heard the shrill crow of wild roosters in the forests around Koke‘e, above Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai. These cocks are bright-hued. They have crossbred with Indonesian jungle fowl imported some years ago.”

“In the Marquesas the hours before dawn were named ‘first-cock’s-crow,’ ‘second-cock’s-crow,’ and ‘third-cock’s-crow’; in Hawaii likewise: ‘moa-kua-kahi,’ ‘moa-kua-lua,’ ‘moa-kua-kolu.’”

“In Hawaii, if a cock crew much too early it was a sign that canoes might be expected to make an appearance. If a cock came right to the house door to crow, it announced the imminent arrival of visitors and warned the family to make preparations.”

“The Hawaiian fowl is traditionally identified with the Lono-Pele migration, specifically with ‘Olopana, paramount chief of Ko‘olau on Oahu. The first predacious exploit of the doughty Kamapua‘a (‘Hog-child,’ a demigod) was killing jungle fowl belonging to his uncle ‘Olopana.”

“And it was Ka-wa‘u-hele-moa (The-fowl-scratching-as-it-goes), a native sprite in the form of a fowl, who saw the thievery and gave the alarm to ‘Olopana, thus precipitating notable warfare. Ka-wa‘u-hele-moa lived in Palolo Valley, above the southerly shore of Oahu, and plays an active role in several legends.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“Cock-fighting (haka-moa) was a very fashionable sport with the aliis”. (Malo) Chickens were thought to be forms of the mo‘o (reptile) class of ancestral gods (‘aumakua).

“Their greatest importance to Hawaiians was their use as offerings to temple gods and to family gods. Often a chicken of a particular color was called for as an offering in a healing rite. Sacrificed chickens played an important part in any ritual performed to fend off black magic.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

October 11, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawai‘i Transportation Evolution

The canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi, extensive cross-country trail networks. Overland travel was on foot and followed the traditional trails.

Then, in 1803, American ship under Captain William Shaler (with commercial officer Richard Cleveland,) arrived with three horses aboard – gifts for King Kamehameha.

In the 1820s and 1830s, more horses were imported from California, and by the 1840s the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing.

In 1825, Andrew Bloxam (naturalist aboard the HMS Blonde) noted in Honolulu that, “The streets are formed without order or regularity. Some of the huts are surrounded by low fences or wooden stakes … As fires often happen the houses are all built apart from each other. The streets or lanes are far from being clean …” (Clark, HJH)

By the 1830s, King Kamehameha III initiated a program of island-wide improvements on the ala loa, and in 1847, a formal program for development of the alanui aupuni (government roads) was initiated.

Sidewalks were constructed, usually of wood, as early as 1838. The first sidewalk made of brick was laid down in 1857 by watchmaker Samuel Tawson in front of his shop on Merchant Street.

It wasn’t until 1850 that streets received official names. On August 30, 1850, the Privy Council first named Hawaiʻi’s streets; there were 35-streets that received official names that day (29 were in Downtown Honolulu, the others nearby).

At the time, “Broadway” was the main street (we now call it King Street;) it was the widest and longest – about 2-3 miles long from the river (Nuʻuanu River on the west) out to the “plains” (to Mānoa).

It wasn’t until 1852 that the Chinese became the first contract laborers to arrive in the islands. At about that time, Honolulu had approximately 10,000-residents. Foreigners made up about 6% of that (excluding visiting sailors). Laws at the time allowed naturalization of foreigners to become subjects of the King (by about that time, about 440 foreigners exercised that right).

The majority of houses were made of grass (hale pili,) there were about 875 of them; there were also 345 adobe houses, 49 stone houses, 49 wooden houses and 29 combination (adobe below, wood above). In 1847, Washington Place was built by future-Queen Liliʻuokalani’s father-in-law.

The earliest public transit was the Pioneer Omnibus Line, with a horse-pulled vehicle serving parts of Honolulu for a few years beginning in the spring of 1868. (Schmitt)

In the quarter century from 1872 to 1896 the population just about doubled in the kingdom from 57,000 to 109,000; Honolulu doubled from 15,000 to 30,000.

In 1884, the legislature passed a law “granting to William R. Austin and his associates the right to construct and operate a street railroad upon certain streets of the city of Honolulu.” Later amended, the law granted authority the Hawaiian Tramways Company, Limited (from England.) (Kuykendall)

In 1888, the animal-powered tramcar service of Hawaiian Tramways ran track from downtown to Waikīkī. In 1900, the Tramway was taken over by the Honolulu Rapid Transit & Land Co (HRT).

That year, an electric trolley (tram line) was put into operation in Honolulu, and then in 1902, a tram line was built to connect Waikīkī and downtown Honolulu. The electric trolley replaced the horse/mule-driven tram cars.

The first automobiles appeared on the streets of Honolulu on October 8, 1899, the date on which both Henry P Baldwin and Edward D Tenney took possession of their newly arrived vehicles (both described as Wood electrics.) (Schmitt)

By 1900, Honolulu had a population of more than 39,000 and was in the midst of a development boom, creating tremendous need for more housing.

“[T]here were only four automobiles on Oahu in 1901 – you lived downtown because you worked downtown, you couldn’t live in Kaimuki or in Manoa.” (Star Bulletin)

The “first gas-engined automobile complete with steering wheel and tonneau,” acquired by CM Cooke in 1904, and the Honolulu Automobile Club later adopted this date for the “first real automobile” in the Islands. (Schmitt)

Spurring a boom, in 1903, Henry Ford officially opened the Ford Motor Company and five years later released the first Model T. In 1907, Henry Ford announced his goal for the Ford Motor Company: to create “a motor car for the great multitude.” (pbs)

“The automobile owner uses his car six days a week either in direct pursuit of his business or as a means of quickly transporting himself and others to and from that place of business.”

“The fact that he may take his family out on a Sunday is not a pleasure trip, but a necessary recreation in order, to ‘keep fit’ for his work.” (McAlpine, Schuman Carriage, Honolulu Star Bulletin, November 3, 1907)

“The census of 1908 gave 259 cars imported into the islands in that year, thus showing that the automobile is in use pretty generally, as it is now estimated that there are nearly seven hundred cars in the islands, an increase of more than 100 per cent in one year.” (Beringer, Overland Monthly, July 1909)

“The automobile is here to stay. If we had better roads there would be more automobiles sold, naturally.” (Gustav Schuman, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 24, 1916)

The first traffic lights in the Islands were installed at the intersection of Nuʻuanu Avenue and Beretania Street, Honolulu; an overhead signal was put into operation February 19, 1936.

On February 24 the overhead lights were “replaced by side bracket lights, flashing the green go and red stop light from a post at each corner.” The new lights were “operated by the flow of traffic itself.” (Schmitt)

In 1938 automobile registration stood at 43,785. In 1945 the number of automobiles on island had grown to 52,527; a dozen years later, in 1957, automobile registration stood at 159,227, a 329.8 percent increase since 1945.

This tremendous influx of automobiles resulted in myriad needs having to be addressed, ranging from the reduction of traffic congestion to improved parking, and enhanced traffic safety measures.

The Territory undertook two other major highway projects, the Mauka and Makai Arterials, to divert traffic off downtown streets. (HHS)

“‘A super highway through Honolulu, 120 feet wide and running mauka of the business district from Kalihi to Kaimuki … would be invaluable in solving Honolulu’s pressing traffic problem,’ engineer John Rush told the City Council in 1939.”

The 1945 Territorial Legislature enacted a liquid fuel tax in order to generate the funds necessary to match the federal funds available for the highway’s construction. This tax was increased to five cents a gallon in 1955 to help offset Hawaii’s match for the increasing federal dollars coming to the islands for highway construction.

From 1952 to 1962, Honolulu officials kept adding to the Mauka Arterial, described as the first road in the state “tailored to the flight patterns of people.”

The Lunalilo Highway project was expanded to become the H-1, a 28 mile roadway running from Palailai at Campbell Industrial Park to Ainakoa Avenue, with the Lunalilo Highway being the section running through Honolulu. (DOT)

A companion Makai Arterial that would have run past Waikiki, down Ala Moana and along an elevated roadway near the Honolulu waterfront never materialized as planned. (DOT)

Instead, the eight lane Makai Arterial, named Nimitz Highway, opened to traffic in November 1952, ten years after construction had commenced at the Pearl Harbor gate. (HHS)

A section of the Federal-Aid to Highways Act of 1959 required that a study be undertaken to consider the eligibility of Hawai‘i and Alaska for interstate highway funding.

As a result of the study, the Hawaii Omnibus Act, which President Eisenhower signed into law on July 12, 1960, removed the language in the Federal-Aid Highway Act which limited the interstate system to the continental US.

It also authorized three interstate highways for Hawaii, H-1, H-2 and H-3 to address national defense concerns, an allowed interstate highway justification which resulted from a 1957 amendment to the original act. (DOT)

An interesting remnant of apparently changed alignment (and probable interconnection of the Mauka and Makai Arterials) is a stub out to nowhere at the on/off ramps at Kapiʻolani Boulevard to H-1. (Lots of information here is from DOT, HHS and Leidemann.)

October 10, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Scurvy

“(A) sailor’s diet consisted of salted fish and meat, dried vegetables, weeviled biscuits and rancid oils, cheese, and butter. … The caloric content – estimated at 2,500-3,000 calories – was adequate, but the diet was sorely deficient in vitamins.”

“In the absence of vitamin C, rampant scurvy became responsible for thousands of sailors’ deaths and disabilities. On long voyages, nearly three-quarters of a ship’s crew was likely to be unable to sail because of this deficiency.” (Cuppage)

Scurvy (derived from the Latin name scorbutus) is a disease that occurs when you have a severe lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in your diet. Scurvy causes general weakness, anemia, gum disease and skin hemorrhages. (nih-gov)

It is a gradually debilitating disease that destroys the body’s connecting tissues, causing lethargy, blotchy skin, rotting gums and teeth, and reopening of old wounds or healed fractured bones. If not treated, scurvy leads to death.

Scurvy was at one time common among sailors, pirates and others aboard ships at sea longer than perishable fruits and vegetables could be stored (subsisting instead only on cured and salted meats and dried grains) and by soldiers similarly deprived of these foods for extended periods.

“The plague of the sea,” killed over an estimated 2-million sailors during the Age of Sail. Far more naval personnel died from scurvy than all other diseases combined, including deaths from combat, storms, disasters and shipwrecks. (Captain Cook Society)

In the early years, its causes were imperfectly diagnosed according to prevailing medical theories and assumptions. Mandated treatments prescribed included bleeding and a host of concoctions, some of which would now be considered potentially harmful (e.g. mercury and sulphuric acid.)

One of Captain James Cook’s most important discoveries during his voyages was actually about food. Cook realized that there were certain foods that, if eaten, prevented scurvy. (Mariners Museum)

Cook experimented with a variety of alternatives to combat scurvy. Bown writes, Cook used “a regiment of cleanliness, fresh air, and an antiscorbitic diet.” (Captain Cook Society)

Cook took two major steps to change the diet of his crew. First, every time the ships stopped anywhere that grew fresh fruit and vegetables, he bought some to feed to the crew. However, because there were sometimes weeks between stops, and fruit and vegetables would rot in that time, he had to have another plan. (Mariners Museum)

Cook “eagerly embraced” the Admiralty’s tactics by stocking on board a range of antiscorbitics such as sauerkraut, wort of malt, carrot marmalade, and concentrated (robs) of orange and lemon juice, among other treatments.

He encouraged naturalists who sailed on voyages to identify edible plants to fight scurvy. Fresh vegetables and fruits were added to the ships’ food supply (e.g., scurvy grass, wild celery, the Kerguelen Cabbage.)

After Cook ordered sauerkraut served daily at the “Cabbin Table”, the once-reluctant sailors ate it as well and “murmurings” against it ceased. Cook’s experiments with “rigid enforcement of diet and cleanliness” led to “unheard of accomplishment.” (Captain Cook Society)

Cook’s crew was out to sea for a longer period of time than any sailors before them. And yet, not one of Cook’s sailors died of scurvy. This means that Cook proved that certain foods could prevent scurvy, and smart sea captains after him followed his example and took sauerkraut, fruit and vegetables on their voyages. (Mariners Museum)

Cook’s crew first sighted the Hawaiian Islands in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778. His two ships, the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, were kept at bay by the weather until the next day when they approached Kauai’s southeast coast.

On the afternoon of January 19, native Hawaiians in canoes paddled out to meet Cook’s ships, and so began Hawai‘i’s contact with Westerners. The Hawaiians traded fish and sweet potatoes for pieces of iron and brass that were lowered down from Cook’s ships to the Hawaiians’ canoes.

The first written record of sugarcane in Hawaiʻi came from Captain James Cook, at the time he made initial contact with the Islands. On January 19, 1778, of Kauai, he notes, “We saw no wood, but what was up in the interior part of the island, except a few trees about the villages; near which, also, we could observe several plantations of plantains and sugar-canes.” (Cook)

Cook notes that sugar was cultivated, “The potatoe fields, and spots of sugar-canes, or plantains, in the higher grounds, are planted with the same regularity; and always in some determinate figure; generally as a square or oblong”. (Cook)

It appears Cook was the first outsider to put sugarcane to use. One of his tools in his fight against scurvy was beer.

On December 7, 1778 he notes, “Having procured a quantity of sugar cane; and having, upon a trial, made but a few days before, found that a strong decoction of it produced a very palatable beer, I ordered some more to be brewed, for our general use.”

“A few hops, of which we had some on board, improved it much. It has the taste of new malt beer; and I believe no one will doubt of its being very wholesome. And yet my inconsiderate crew alleged that it was injurious to their health.” (Cook)

“I gave myself no trouble, either by exerting authority, or by having recourse to persuasion, to prevail upon them to drink it; knowing that there was no danger of the scurvy, so long as we could get a plentiful supply of other vegetables”.

“But, that I might not be disappointed in my views, I gave orders that no grog should be served in either ship. I myself, and the officers, continued to make use of this sugarcane beer, whenever we could get materials for brewing it.” (Cook, 1778) The image shows Captain Cook.

October 9, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Harry Irwin

“Every last one of us has felt in one way or another the impact of the personality of Harry Irwin. He learned out of the crucible of hard tough law practice … and was quick to praise and not slow to condemnation when he felt it was deserved.”

“He had the courage to wade into the political bull ring and take on the biggest … if he felt the cause was right, he was battling to the finish.” (Martin Pence, HTH)

“At the request of the House Committee on Territories Chair Charles F Curry, the two territorial proposals were revised and resubmitted as one piece of legislation, House Resolution 12683. Territorial Attorney General Harry S Irwin drafted the new legislation for Kūhiō to introduce.”

“Attorney General Irwin designed what would be called the ‘Kuhio Bill’ … [after some opposition] As to the issue of reconciliation, Kūhiō recognized: ‘It is a fact, though, that the constitution granted by Kamehameha III recognized that the common people had the same interest in the lands of the kingdom as the king and the chiefs.’” (Andrade)

“In July 1921, the United States Congress enacted and President Warren G Harding signed into law the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, establishing a land trust of approximately 203,500 acres of former Crown and Government Lands to provide homestead leases at a nominal fee for native Hawaiians, those individuals of fifty percent or more Hawaiian blood.” (Andrade) (Irwin prepared much of the original Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.)

Irwin was born in born at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada on December 21, 1874. He was the son of Robert Gore and Isabelle (Archer) Irwin. He was educated in grammar, high and normal schools of Nova Scotia and studied law at Boston University Law School and Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, earning a law degree in 1898.

It is interesting that Irwin and Kūhiō were in South Africa during the Boer War. Irwin “served with Canadian forces in the Boer War in South Africa at the turn of the century.” (SB July 2, 1957)

Irwin was a volunteer with “Strathcona’s Horse” from 1899-1901, being discharged as sergeant. (Siddall) Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, raised a regiment at his own expense for service in the British Army in South Africa. The unit was known as Strathcona’s Horse. (Canadian War Museum)

“The Boers were Dutch farmers of the Orange Free State in southern Africa. Incensed over British farmers moving into their land, the Boers declared war against Britain. … The British Empire, not to be trifled with, rushed half a million troops into the area. The Boers, never more than a few thousand in number, fought back using guerilla tactics.” (Star Bulletin, May 26, 1981)

After Kūhiō married Kahanu on October 8, 1896 they left Hawai‘i on a self-imposed exile. (DHHL) Kūhiō and Kahanu “remained away two years, during which time they visited many interesting places” (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904), “vowing never to return to a Hawai‘i that appeared inhospitable to Hawaiians.” (Star Bulletin, March 26, 1996)

“They went to South Africa [where the] Prince was given an opportunity of enjoying some big game hunting. (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904) “[T]he prince was anxious to see some of the fighting. But the authorities always managed to keep him away from the scene of the skirmish although they saw bullets flying from a distance.” (Star Bulletin, February 20, 1932)

“[D]uring the Boer war … Prince Kūhiō had some exciting experiences with the British in their engagements with the Boer forces. The prince was on a train that was attacked by the Boers. He met the late Cecil Rhodes and was entertained by Sir J. Somers Vine.” (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904)

Kūhiō returned to the Islands and got into politics. Irwin “came to the Islands in 1901. He taught at several Big Island schools, and was principal of Honokaa School in 1904, the same year he started practicing law.” (SB, July 2, 1957)

In 1906, Irwin became an American citizen. (Hawaii Herald, July 12, 1906). “[Irwin] married the former Ruth Guard in 1908, and was appointed [First District Magistrate, Honolulu, 1917-1918], deputy attorney general in 1918, and served as attorney general from 1919 to 1922.” (SB, July 2, 1957)

After government service, Irwin practiced law. According to fellow attorney (later US District Judge, Martin Pence) stated, “I used to say my business was the Woolworth Five and Ten – meaning it was of the ordinary people with low income, you see.”

“The plantations had Carlsmith, Carlsmith who represented all of the big companies, who represented all of the banks and so on. They had Harry Irwin and Tiny Smith. They were the two other haoles and I was the other haole.” (Martin Pence)

When my grandparents, John Alexander (Jack) Young and Alloe Louise Marr, were married on September 20, 1911 at Hilo, Harry Irwin (First District Magistrate, Honolulu, 1917-1918 and territorial Attorney General) was Jack’s best man and Florence Shipman (daughter of WH Shipman who later married Roy Blackshear) was bridesmaid.