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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
In 1760, twenty-two-year-old monarch George III ascended the throne of England. The French and Indian War (Seven Year War) that had stretched on for years and encircled the globe finally ended in 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by France, Great Britain and Spain.
France lost all claims to Canada and gave Louisiana to Spain, while Britain received Spanish Florida, Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas. The treaty ensured the colonial and maritime supremacy of Britain and strengthened the 13 American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and the south.
Colonists were proud of their role in defeating the French, but England was faced with a vast territory to safeguard and a soaring debt.
In 1764, George Grenville, First Lord of the Treasury, proposed to strengthen Britain’s hold on its American investment. Addressing the King in his declaration of intent, Grenville argued that,
“Whereas it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom, and for extending and securing the navigation and commerce between Great Britain and your Majesty’s dominions in America, which, by the peace, have been so happily enlarged and:
“whereas it is just and necessary, that a revenue be raised, in your Majesty’s said dominions in America, for defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing the same.”
“We your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, being desirous to make some provision in this present session of parliament, towards the said revenue in America, have resolved to give and grant unto your Majesty the several rates and duties herein after mentioned;”
“and do most humbly beseech your Majesty, that it may be enacted; and be it enacted …, That from and after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid, unto his Majesty …,”
“for and upon all white or clayed sugars of the produce or manufacture of any colony or plantation in America, not under the dominion of his Majesty …; for and upon indico, and coffee of foreign produce or manufacture; for and upon all wines (except French wine …)
The colonies have already been mired in a post-war depression.
In Boston, town meeting (the local government) carefully considered the Sugar Act (also called Plantation Act or Revenue Act). “We . . . declare our just expectations,” Bostonians announce, as they assert their rights and advise their representatives to the Massachusetts legislature to stand firm for traditional prerogatives.
Meanwhile, in New York, American patriots urge their countrymen to cast off British luxuries and set about producing their own raw materials and home manufactures. Such self-sufficiency, they insist, will empower colonists to dispel their dread and become the “richest People upon Earth.”
Effects of the Sugar Act
In order to enforce the collection of taxes violators were tried in admiralty courts where a judge decided the outcome rather than in colonial courts in where the decision was left to a jury. Admiralty courts were located in Halifax, Nova Scotia while colonial courts were local.
Admiralty judges were awarded 5% of the confiscated cargo as compensation which gave them the financial incentive to find the violator guilty and thus enforcing the law vigorously. This new system removed the traditional British protection to a fair trial.
In addition, the new law also affected the trade of certain commodities. Lumber and iron were added to the list of products that could be traded only with England. Duties were introduced to the importation of coffee, pimiento, wine from Madeira and the Azores and French and West Indian goods.
With few exceptions vessels going to the colonies had to pass through Britain, unload its cargo, pay duty on it, reload it and sail to the colonies. These measures increased the cost of doing business and undermined local industry. (Stamp-Act-History)
The Sugar Act and the American Revolution
Because of the strict enforcement the act did accomplish its goal of reducing smuggling which affected colonial economy, especially in Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. The protests against the act were heavier in affected colonies and almost non-existent in unaffected ones. The law nevertheless promoted boycott of British luxury goods in some colonies and gave some boost to local manufacturing.
For the first time the Sugar Act raised different constitutional issues. While many perceived the Sugar Act as an infringement of their constitutional rights because they were, for the first time, taxed to raise revenue for the benefit of the crown, others viewed it as a tax to regulate the flow of trade and as a continuation of the existing and long accepted 1733 Molasses Act.
Those who perceived the law as unconstitutional thought that the law transformed a trade regulation into a revenue measure. Colonial residents had a fragmented view and it was not perceived in a uniformed way. The following year most colonial residents would agree that the proposed Stamp Act of 1765 violated their colonial rights of “No taxation without representation”. (Stamp-Act-History)
Click the following link to a general summary about the Sugar Act:
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
All the known Hawaiian eruptions since 1778 have been at Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes, except for the 1800–1801 eruption of Hualālai Volcano on the west coast of Hawai‘i Island.
For the past 200 years, Mauna Loa and Kilauea have tended to erupt on average every two or three years, placing them among the most frequently active volcanoes of the world.
The individual Kilauea eruptions recorded historically are in addition to the nearly continuous eruptive activity within or near Halema‘uma‘u Crater, extending throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century.
Simultaneous eruption of both volcanoes has been rare except at times when Kilauea was continuously active before 1924. The only post-1924 occurrence of simultaneous eruption was in March 1984, when activity at both volcanoes overlapped for one day.
Between 1934 and 1952, only Mauna Loa was active and, between 1952 and 1974, only Kilauea was. (Tilling) Since July 1950, Hawaiian eruptive activity has been dominated by frequent and sometimes prolonged eruptions at Kilauea, while only a couple short lived eruptions have occurred at Mauna Loa (July 1975 and March-April 1984).
Except for the nearly continuous eruptive activity at Halema‘uma‘u for a century before 1924, and at Mauna Loa summit between 1872 and 1877, the Pu‘u ‘O‘o eruption became the longest lasting single Hawaiian eruption in recorded history.
“The wonderful volcano of Kīlauea, on the island of Hawaii, is the great attractive of visitors. It is the only crater in the world that is constantly in action, and that can be safely approached at all times to the very edge of the precipice which encloses the boiling lava.”
“To reach Kīlauea necessitates a passage of thirty hours from Honolulu in a fine steamer to Hilo or Punalu‘u, then a ride of thirty miles in coaches takes visitors to a fine hotel, which overlooks the molten lava lake. It is a sight that will repay the effort and expense incurred ten times over, and one that will never be forgotten.” (Whitney)
The earliest structure associated with Volcano House can be traced back all the way to 1846 when Benjamin Pitman constructed a four walled thatched shelter “in the native style.” It was a simple, one-room 12-by-18-foot shelter made of grass and native ohia wood poles is built and later dubbed “Volcano House.” The name stuck. (NPS)
The NPS records include a Volcano House Register, essentially a Guest Book; this started at Pitman’s Volcano House. Orramel H Gulick donated the first blank volume of the Volcano House Register. Gulick noted in the preface,
“Travelers and passersby are requested by the donor of this book to record their names in it and to note all, or any, volcanic phenomena that may come under their notice during their stay or at the time of their visit. By so doing, this record may become of great value, some years hence, to the scientific world.”
The first entry of Volume 1 is dated February 8, 1864; here JB Swain starts, “Having been located in this vicinity for the year last past I have noticed that the volcano has been in greater activity the last month than at any time throughout the last year. Within the last few days jets of lava could be seen from the Volcano House during the day, a circumstance not before observed.”
Later (1866), a four-room wood frame, thatched-roof Volcano House replaced the original building. One of its early guests was Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain).
Mark Twain recounts his Volcano House stay in a November 16, 1866 Sacramento Daily Union article, “Neat, roomy, well furnished and a well kept hotel … The surprise of finding a good hotel at such an outlandish spot startled me, considerably more than the volcano did.”
Royal Geographical Society traveler Isabella Bird visited in 1872. Bird remarked “The inn is a grass and bamboo house, very beautifully constructed without nails.”
“It is a longish building with a steep roof divided inside by partitions which run up to the height of the walls. There is no ceiling. The joists which run across are concealed by wreaths of evergreens, from among which peep out here and there stars on a blue ground.”
In 1877, William Lentz, a carpenter from Baltimore, built a more permanent western-style Volcano House hotel; it was located on the flat area fronting the present Volcano Art Center. King Kalākaua, Louis Pasteur and Robert Louis Stevenson are among its guests.
By 1891, the popularity of Volcano House hotel was booming. The hotel had traded hands again, this time to Lorrin A Thurston, a Honolulu businessman and controversial historic figure. Thurston formed the “Volcano House Company” in partnership with the steamship companies that operated in Hawaiʻi at the time.
In 1891, this partnership increased capacity of the hotel with a 2-story Victorian-style addition to the Ka‘ū side of the building. Even with the addition, space in the hotel was barely enough for demand. At times, the lodge was so crowded that the billiard table in the parlor would be used as a bed.
In 1912, Thomas Jaggar built the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which he located on edge of the crater (at the site of the existing Volcano House). The concrete vault of the observatory Jaggar was called the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology (named after Edward and Caroline Whitney, whose estate subscribed $25,000 for research into the science of volcanoes).
In 1921 the Volcano House grew again; in addition, the 1877 section of the building was removed from the 1891 Victorian addition and moved behind the new structure, back to where it currently is (the Volcano Art Center building). A two-story wing was then added to the Victorian addition, bringing the number of rooms from 25 to 104.
A lack of tourism due to the Great Depression forced the company to sell the hotel at a sheriff’s auction. George Lycurgus, sole bidder and a previous manager of the hotel, purchased the building for $300.
“Uncle George”, as he later became known, would go on to manage the hotel until his death in 1959. Lycurgus hosted celebrities such as Princess Victoria Ka‘iulani, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart,
On February 7, 1940, tragedy struck; the Volcano House burnt to the ground. A kitchen fire raged out of control and claimed the entire building. The next day, Volcano House was open for business as the smaller 1877 building was pressed back into service to accommodate guests.
In 1941, NPS paid for the construction of a new 24-room wood-and-stone hotel; it is designed by noted architect Charles W Dickey. The hotel was also relocated about 200 yards from its former site, across Crater Rim Drive on the caldera’s edge. (The 1941 Volcano House having been constructed over it.)
On November 8, 1941, the new hotel opened for business. Over the years, the list of guests included Dwight D Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, Dr. Charles W. Mayo, John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon as well as many others.
The Park Headquarters (Administration Building) was built in June 1932; in 1949 it was turned over to the Volcano House Hotel. At that time, Lycurgus renamed the building the Ohia Wing and converted the interior into 10-guestrooms with private baths. In 1953, an eight-room wing was added to the main hotel building.
The legacy of this historic hotel continues. Today, the Volcano House Hotel has 33-guest rooms; in addition, the hotel manages 10 cabins and 16 campsites located at Nāmakanipaio Campground about 3-miles from the hotel.
As they have done for over centuries, people flock to Kīlauea to experience the wonder of nature at work. As it has always done, Volcano House Hotel provides a good meal and warm hearth to those that make the journey.
(In 1935, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not stated that the “fire in the fireplace in the Volcano House has been burning continuously for 61 years”; and, it continued to do so for many more years. However, “the fabled fireplace was allowed to go out New Year’s Day 2010.” (Hawaii Magazine)) (Information here is from various documents of the NPS.)
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
A 2020 Proclamation issued by Governor Ray Cooper of North Carolina states, “Whereas, North Carolina was a pioneer of East Coast surfing;”
“the April 2, 1910 edition of Colliers Weekly includes a letter from Wrightsville Beach resident Burke Haywood Bridgers describing surfing activity in our state as early as 1909;”
“an announcement in the Wilmington Morning Star on June 30, 1910 includes mention of one of the earliest surfboard riding competitions in the mainland United States and direct communications with Alexander Hume Ford”.
However, that claim appears to be suspect, given other publications that predate the 1900s claim. In the summer of 1888, several newspapers report a girl surfing at Ashbury Park, New Jersey – they refer to her as the “Gay Queen of the Waves.”
“A group of summer loungers on the beach at Ashbury park were watching the extraordinary antics of a dark-eyed bronzed-faced girl in the sea this morning. The object of all this interest and solicitude was beyond the line of breakers and standing on a plank that rose and fell with the swelling waves.”
“Her bathing dress was of some dark material, fitting close to the figure, the skirts reaching scarce to the knee. Her stockings wore of amber hue, adorned with what from the shore seemed to be vines and roses in colored embroidery. She wore no hat or cap.”
“Her hair, bound across the forehead and above the ears by a silver fillet, tumbled down upon her shoulders or streamed out upon the wind in black and shining profusion. Her tunic was quite sleeveless , and one could scarcely fail to observe the perfect development and grace of her arms.”
“As a wave larger than those which had gone before slowly lifted the plank upon its swelling surface, she poised herself daintily upon the support, her round arms stretched out and her body swaying to and fro in harmony with the motion of the waters.”
“As the wave readied its fullest volume she suddenly, quick as a thought, and with a laugh that rang full into shore, drew herself together, sprang into the air, and, her hands clasped together and clearing her way, plunged into the rolling sea.”
“There was a little cry from timid feminine watchers on the sand, but the smiling face was above water again while they cried, and the daring Triton was upon the plank again in another moment and waiting for a second high roller.”
“So she has been amusing herself and interesting the mob for three mornings. She is as completely at ease in the sea as you or I on land, and the broad plank obeys her slightest touch.”
“When she has had enough of it she will bring the plank into shore, she riding upon the further end and guiding it like a goddess over the erects and through the foam of the biggest breakers.”
“She comes from the Sandwich Islands and is making a tour of the country. Her father is an enormously rich planter. She arrived in the park a week ago with the family of a wealthy New York importer. She is at a fashionable hotel and is one of the most charming dancers at the hotel hops, as well as the most daring swimmer on the Jersey coast.”
“She is well educated and accomplished, and, of course, speaks English perfectly, and with a swell British accent that is the despair of all the dudes.”
“She learned to be mistress of the waves in her childhood at her native home by the sea, where, she modestly says, all the girls learn swimming as a matter of course, quite as much as girls in this country learn tennis and croquet.” (Morning News from Philadelphia Press, August 17, 1888)
Although she is not identified, historian Vincent Dicks has apparently suggested that the young first-ever East Coast surfer was Emma Claudine Spreckels, the only daughter of Hawai‘i sugar baron Claus Spreckels.
Claus Spreckels (1828-1908), a German-born immigrant, made his fortune by starting a brewery and later founding the California Sugar Refinery. When he went to Hawaii in 1876 he managed to secure sole supply of sugar cane and with it much of the West Coast refined sugar market. In 1899 he founded the Spreckels Sugar Company, Inc.
The businessman gave over $25 million to his five grown children but his favorite child was the only daughter, Emma Claudine Spreckels.
He gifted an entire city block in Honolulu to her and an endowment worth almost $2 million. However, in 1893, when Emma eloped with Thomas Watson, many years her senior, she failed to tell her father. (House and Heritage)
Then, Emma “returned to her father all property, bonds, etc., which he had placed in her name. These gifts amounted to nearly $2,000,000, and were, it is said, relinquished by a single stroke of the pen by Mrs. Watson after her marriage.”
“It is reported that Mr. Spreckels was opposed to his daughter’s union with Watson, and that upon his chiding her for her seeming ingratitude in marrying against his wishes, she decided to give up her fortune, and did so, it is understood, upon the advice of her husband.” (Mount Holly News, Jan 12, 1897)
Emma ultimately married three times: after Watson died in 1904 she later married John Ferris (with her father’s blessing) and then Arthur Hutton in 1922. Emma died on May 2, 1924 at Nuffield England.