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December 2, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

It was a dark and stormy night …

Until the time of English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742), comets were believed to make only one pass through the solar system. But in 1705, Halley used Isaac Newton’s theories of gravitation and planetary motions to compute the orbits of several comets.

Halley is often called the most famous comet because it marked the first time astronomers understood comets could be repeat visitors to our night skies.

Halley correctly predicted the comet would return in 1758. History’s first known “periodic” comet was later named in his honor. The comet has since been connected to ancient observations going back more than 2,000 years. (NASA)

King Kamehameha was prophesied to unite the Hawaiian Islands from the night of his birth. A comet streaked across the sky fulfilling an ancient prophesy that the child born under this phenomenon would one day rise up as a ruler. (OHA)

“It was said that on a certain night of heavy down pouring rain – the lightning struck its wrathful flashes into the sky – the thunder pounded with all its might – the stormy wind veered every which way – the red water churned in the streams.” (Poepoe, Ahlo)

The child born that night was of royal blood, and was destined to become not only the king of Hawaiʻi, but the conqueror and sovereign of the group.

They say the child was poʻolua, “that is, a child of two fathers, (it) was considered a great honor by chiefs of that period.” (Luomala) Some say that his mother, Kekuʻiapoiwa (married to Keōua,) had a liaison with Kahekili (ruler of Maui.)

Though Kahekili was thought to possibly be his biological father, he was raised by his parents (and was considered the son of Kekuʻiapoiwa and Keōua.)

Kamehameha was said to be born at Kokoiki (”little blood,” referring to the first signs of childbirth – Kokoiki is one of the star names listed in the Kumulipo chant.)

Another notes, “(A) bright and beautiful star, appeared at Kokoiki on the night before the child was born and is hence called Kokoiki.” (Kūʻokoʻa Home Rula, Ahlo)

“Dr. Maud Makemson, plotting the position of Halley’s comet as it appeared December 1, 1758, finds that it corresponds in position and movement with the description given by the Hawaiian observer of the star called Kokoiki.” (Ahlo and Kamakau footnote)

Keʻāulumoku predicted that he “would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.” (Kalākaua)

Word went out to find and kill the baby, but the Kohala community conspired to save him.

“A numerous guard had been set to wait the time of birth. The chiefs kept awake with the guards (for a time,) but due to the rain and the cold, the chiefs fell asleep, and near daybreak Kekuʻiapoiwa went into the house and, turning her face to the side of the house at the gable end, braced her feet against the wall.”

“A certain stranger (Naeʻole) was outside the house listening, and when he heard the sound of the last bearing-down pain (kuakoko), he lifted the thatch at the side of the house, and made a hole above.”

“As soon as the child was born, had slipped down upon the tapa spread out to receive it, and Kekuʻiapoiwa had stood up and let the afterbirth (ewe) come away, he covered the child in the tapa and carried it away.” (Kamakau)

The young child, Kamehameha, was carried on a perilous journey through Kohala and Pololū Valley to Awini. (KamehamehaDayCelebration)

Hawi, meaning ”unable to breathe,” was where the child, being spirited away by a servant, required resuscitation and nursing. Kapaʻau, meaning ”wet blanket,” was where heavy rain soaked the infant’s kapa (blanket.) Halaʻula (scattered blood) was the town where soldiers were killed in anger. (Sproat – (Fujii, NY Times)) Some believe Kamehameha also spent much of his teen years in Pololū (long spear.)

“Kamehameha (Kalani Pai‘ea Wohi o Kaleikini Keali‘ikui Kamehameha o ‘Iolani i Kaiwikapu Kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea) was a man of tremendous physical and intellectual strength. In any land and in any age he would have been a leader.” (Kalākaua, ROOK)

While still in his youth, Kamehameha proved his right to rule over all the islands by lifting the Naha Stone at Pinao Heiau in Pi‘ihonua, Hilo (c. 1773.) (ROOK)

By the time of Cook’s arrival (1778,) Kamehameha had become a superb warrior who already carried the scars of a number of political and physical encounters. The young warrior Kamehameha was described as a tall, strong and physically fearless man who “moved in an aura of violence.” (NPS)

(Halley was last seen in Earth’s skies in 1986 and was met in space by an international fleet of spacecraft. It will return in 2061 on its regular 76-year journey around the Sun. (NASA))

December 1, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Joseph Paul Mendonça

Joseph P Mendonça was born in the Azores Islands (1,500 miles off the coast of Portugal) on May 19, 1847; serving as a galley hand on a whaling vessel, he arrived in Hawaiʻi at about the age of 17 – he jumped ship.

He started working with his uncle, Jason (Jacinto Pereira) Perry (1826-1883 – the father of Antonio Perry, who would later serve on the Hawaii Supreme Court from 1900-1934.)

He met and lived with Mary Anehe Sylva (1870-1962.) She was part Hawaiian her father a British sea captain with at least some Portuguese ancestry.

They had not yet married and had six children; each took the last name Sylva. The children included Dr Francis K Sylva, a dentist who also served in the Territorial legislature (1939-1945;) Edward N Sylva, an attorney and graduate of Harvard Law School, who was Territorial Attorney General from 1953-1956 …

… Joseph L. Sylva, who served in the Territorial legislature (1931-1937) and was also a member of the Honolulu Board of Supervisors; Dr Henry Sylva, a dentist; Rose Anehe Sylva and Mrs. Alice (Sylva) Ackerman. (HHF)

The couple later married in the 1920s and Mary Sylva became Mrs Mary A Mendonça.

Mendonça became active the Annexation Party. On January 14, 1893, he became a member of the party’s Committee on Public safety, which soon afterward moved to overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Mendonça helped seize the government offices at Ali‘iolani Hale, an act that later led to the Queen Liliʻuokalani’s forced abdication. (Chinatown)

In 1894, Mendonça participated in the constitutional convention for the then Republic of Hawaiʻi. After that, Mendonça left politics. (Punawaiola)

Mendonça had practical training as a carpenter and mason, and went into the construction trade. He also started to acquire land, lots of it.

His leases and other acquisitions included property in Chinatown, the North Shore and the Windward side.

As early as 1890, Mendonça and his partner C Bolte had been leasing the former Kāne‘ohe Ahupua‘a lands of Queen Kalama. (MCBH)

A journal entry on June 1, 1893, noted “We commenced today doing business under the name of Kāneʻohe Ranch”. (Mendonça and Bolte formed Kāneʻohe Ranch.)

They started with the herd with imported Angus cattle, purchased from James I Dowsett, one of the founders of the ranching industry in Hawai‘i. Horses, sheep, and goats rounded out the livestock assets.

A couple years later, the ranch was incorporated, with JP Mendonça and C Bolte as the only shareholders. (MCBH) Mendonça was one of the most successful ranchers on the island.

The future of that ranch was noted in an October 31, 1905 article in the Hawaiian Gazette, “James B Castle has great plans for the future of the Koʻolau side of Oahu.”

“He has bought the one-half interest of JP Mendonça in the Kāneʻohe ranch and has secured an option on the other half interest, which is owned by C Bolte, and on the entire Heʻeia plantation, also owned by Mr. Bolte. These properties cover a considerable amount of real estate and a complete sugar mill at Heʻeia.”

“It is Mr. Castle’s intention at an early date to join the two properties which formerly constituted the Kaneohe and Heeia sugar plantations, and to add thereto a large area of fertile land not heretofore under cultivation, which will be reached by pumping, and turn the whole into a sugar plantation.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 31, 1905)

Mendonça was ready for a change. In anticipation of getting out of Kāneʻohe Ranch, the Ranch ledger entry for December 31, 1899 stated, “Joe Mendonça is ‘pau ke aloha’ with Kaneohe, he wants to sell out or do something, he does not exactly know what; he has bought about 20 acres land in Kalihi and is now in town … about 5 days every week.” (MCBH)

It seems he diverted his interest to Chinatown.

“(Mendonça) owned a lot of property in Chinatown, all of which had windows with either red frames or red brick around them. That was his building identity, to let everyone know how many properties he owned.”

“At one time there were more than 10 buildings in Chinatown with that signature red trim.” (Leineweber; HHF)

Two devastating fires swept through Chinatown in 1886 and 1900, reducing the majority of its wooden structures to ashes. (HHF)

Mendonça was one of the first landowners to rebuild after the 1900 fire. He hired architect Oliver G Traphagen to design his new building, sited on a block that consolidated many of his small landholdings. Traphagen was at the time working on the Moana Hotel, which was completed at the same time as the Jos P Mendonça Building in 1901. (HHF)

On the North Shore, Mendonça had property less than a mile from the Oʻahu Land and Railway Company’s Mokuleʻia train station (it was also accessible by automobile;) the family had a beach house there.

He sold some of the beach front land to CC Crozier, who created the Mokuleʻia Beach Lots subdivision. (The path of the original train track was on the immediate mauka side of Crozier Drive.) (HHF)

He also had an H-shaped, 2-story Mediterranean Revival Style house, designed by Robert Miller, on Judd Hillside Road on the slopes of Pu’u ‘Ualakaʻa in lower Manoa Valley (built in 1927.) Mendonça died in 1927.

November 30, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Near Abdication

“In referring to the several journals of the day one is struck with the absence of any account of the occurrence at the time”. (Thrum)

While local papers appear to have had stories squashed by a “pocket veto” of the King, a couple mainland papers ran short stories on the tragic events and follow-up.

“No legal notice of the event was in any way taken; no person would have been foolhardy enough to propose it. It is not my purpose to defend the right of the king to this execution of summary vengeance …”

“… especially as it was done in a moment of anger; yet beyond the sadness of the act, it has a certain bearing on this sketch of my life as one of the descendants from the ruling families of Hawaii.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“On Sunday, September 11th, 1859, occurred a melancholy and tragical affair at Lahaina, which, as a matter of history, should not be omitted in these recollections.” (Thrum)

“The first news we received was that the king in a fit of passion had shot and mortally wounded one of the party, his own secretary, Mr. HA Neilson.”

“After the occurrence all that the tenderest of brothers could have done was proffered by the king to the wounded man; but after lingering for some months, Mr. Neilson died.“ (Liliʻuokalani)

“(T)he community was electrified by the intelligence, from Lahaina, that his Majesty had shot, and dangerously, if not fatally, wounded Henry A Neilson, formerly of New York, but since the accession of the King … his private secretary and constant attendant, confident and friend.” (New York Times)

“Much more might be said, were I disposed to report every flying rumor. Conjecture is alive to the motive of such an imprudent, impolitic act. The first supposition of all is that it was jealousy – whether well-founded or baseless.”

“But no breath of suspicion lights upon the young Queen. She is by every one acquitted of such a folly and dishonor as giving any cause of vengeance to her lord. She is above reproach.” (New York Times)

“I incline to the opinion that the act was committed under the influence of ungovernable passion, accompanied by more or less of temporary mental aberration brought on by brooding on his troubles.”

“There seemed to be a distinct intention to kill the man he shot. For this some assign as the cause jealousy, created by ill-disposed persons in his train; others anger at indiscretions of Neilson. All feel deeply for the Queen.” (New York Times)

The Honolulu Advertiser ventured an editorial on September 28 and actually mentioned the act (“the king shooting his secretary”) but with no details. They said the act was “an open contradiction to the laws of God and man, which can under no pretext be justified.” Yet, it concluded: “He has erred, so we are all liable to commit acts of error.” (Theroux)

On October 12 the king wrote a letter to Neilson in which he “regretted” this “great false act of my life … the act committed by me was premeditated, founded upon suspicions long harrowed up and extending for a length of time.” (Theroux)

King Kamehameha IV (Alexander Liholiho) announced that he would make a public proclamation, submit to a trial and abdicate the throne. A flurry of letters were exchanged between the king and his minister of foreign affairs, Robert Wylie.

The King listed his reasons for abdication, but Wylie begged him not to exaggerate the gravity of the affair and opposed the proclamation. He insisted that “no emergency has occurred,” that “abdication” would be “a shame on himself” and “annihilation on the sovereignty of the nation.” (Theroux)

The Privy Council and the House of Nobles, the legislatures of the day, advised against “abdication.” One of the few items that appeared in the papers was a notice from the Privy Council that, despite rumors, the king would not abdicate his throne.

“We are authorized to state, for the purpose of allaying any anxiety that may exist in the public mind, that the rumors in regard to his Majesty’s abdication are, we are happy to say, without foundation.” (New York Times)

By October 20, McKibbin reported to the king that Neilson was “feverish and in low spirits.” On November 20, he suffered a relapse and the wound opened “afresh.”

“There were causes which were apparent to any of our people for something very like righteous anger on the part of the king. His Majesty was trying to make us each and all happy; yet even during moments of relaxation, undue familiarity, absence of etiquette, rudeness, or any other form which implied …”

“… or suggested disrespect to royalty in any manner whatsoever, would never be tolerated by anyone of the native chiefs of the Hawaiian people.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“To allow any such breach of good manners to pass unnoticed would be looked upon by his own retainers as belittling to him, and they would be the first to demand the punishment of the offender.”

“It was in this case far too severe. No one realized that more than the king himself, who suffered much distress for his victim, and was with difficulty dissuaded from the abdication of his throne.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“If ever mortal man suffered the pangs of remorse it was Liholiho the king. From the first sober moment, if he was drunk, he never forgot the deed, and all that he could order done for the poor unfortunate sufferer was done to relieve him.” (Gorham D. Gilman, in Thrum)

“I used to visit Mr. Neilson and never a word did I hear him utter against the king. I believe that they were two friends until that fateful night. … In my recollection Kamehameha IV was the most of a gentleman in his manner of the five kings I was favored to be acquainted with. He was so from boyhood.” (Gorham D. Gilman, in Thrum)

“The (then) seaside cottage of the king, on the present site of the Enterprise Mill, was assigned to him for a residence. Subsequently he was moved to a cottage on Alakea street, just below the Wicke’s premises, and which he occupied to the time of his death, which occurred February 12th, 1862, as shown by the following notice in the Advertiser of the 13th:”

“‘Yesterday morning, Mr. Henry A. Neilson died in this city. In former years he was well known, but for two and a half years past has been confined to his room by the unfortunate occurrence which is familiar to all.’” (Thrum)

There was never an official investigation into the shooting of Henry Neilson.

On the 27th of August, 1862, Prince Albert, the four-year-old son of Alexander Liholiho and Emma died. “The king and queen had the sympathy of all parties in their bereavement; but Kamehameha IV completely lost his interest in public life, living in the utmost possible retirement until his death.” (Liliʻuokalani)

The king became a recluse, suffering from asthma and depression. He died on St. Andrew’s Day, November 30, 1863, two months’ short of his 30th birthday. Emma ran unsuccessfully for the throne in 1874, losing to David Kalākaua. She died in 1885 at the age of 50.

November 29, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Karsten Thot

An inventory of bridges on Oʻahu, published in 1983, listed 127 built before 1940 and still standing.

Oʻahu’s 127 historic bridges are composed of five different types: reinforced concrete arch bridges, steel bridges, timber bridges, reinforced concrete deck girder bridges and reinforced flat slab bridges.

The historic steel bridges are further divided into three separate types; warren truss, steel girder and metal flume. A bridge is considered historic if built before 1940 and is associated with people and events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of Hawaii’s history.

The Karsten Thot Bridge was identified as worthy of historic recognition.

It was built in Wahiawa over the north fork of the Kaukonahua stream in 1932, by the John L Young Construction and Engineering Company for a price of just over $65,500.

The bridge is named after Karsten Thot, who was a prominent community-minded citizen and it was built by a prominent Honolulu businessman, who was a prolific builder.

The bridge-building company merged with another construction company and upon completion of the Thot bridge called itself the Hawaiian-American Construction Co.

Built in the style of steel railway bridges throughout the continent, it is the only structure of its type in existence on Oʻahu; due to salt water erosion problems steel bridges were phased out on Oʻahu.

The structure is a Warren-type through-truss steel bridge, with a single span 210-feet in length and 40-feet wide, with a vertical clearance of the bridge is 13’5″.

Karsten Thot was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on Feb. 12, 1889. He came to Hawaii in 1904. Thot worked as a field supervisor for Hawaiian Pineapple Co.

In addition, an announcement in the paper noted, ‘Karsten Thot, manager of the Hawaii Preserving Company, has opened a butcher shop at Castner Station, near Schofield Barracks.’ (Honolulu Star-bulletin, July 09, 1915)

Thot died in 1932, the year the bridge was under construction. He was survived by a wife and three children.

He “was very active in community affairs when the Honolulu Board of Supervisors under Charles Crane asked if they could name the bridge after him. This was not carried out until Fred Wright became mayor in 1937. In 1974 a memorial plaque was placed on the bridge by the family.” (Thompson)

When built, the bridge was said to be an important transportation link between the North Shore and Honolulu, contributing to the growth of Wahiawa.

That ultimately changed after the construction of the H-2 freeway, when Kamehameha Highway no longer was “the primary circum-island road.”

Critical emergency structural repairs have been made to the 80+-year-old steel bridge, including replacing rivets and repairing and replacing steel beams.

(Lots of information here from a report by Bethany Thompson, Honolulu-gov and Watanabe, Star-Bulletin.)

November 28, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ice

Refrigeration first came to Hawai‘i in the middle of the nineteenth century.

“The first Boston ice brought to these islands, was received on the 14th inst. (September 14, 1850) by brig Fortunio, Hasty, via San Francisco.” (Polynesian, September 21, 1850)

Then, “(a) few tons of ice were brought to this port from San Francisco by the bark Harriet T Bartlet, Capt Heeren, and a part sold by our friend Thompson, at auction, on Tuesday.”

“This is the first importation of the kind, in any quantity, to this market, and but the beginning, it is to be hoped, of a regular supply of this luxury to the inhabitants of this city.” (Polynesian, June 26, 1852)

More came … “Ice! Ice! Ice! Just Received – 400 Tons Fresh Pond Boston Ice … have just been received by the (Mountain Wave) and are for sale by the Honolulu Ice Co. CH Lewers, Proprietor” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 21, 1858)

Then, they started to make ice in the Islands.

“Ice Manufacture. The establishment on the Esplanade for the manufacture of ice by chemical process, has been in operation during several days past. “

“Like all new beginnings, difficulties have had to be met and overcome, but yesterday the machinery was in the full tide of successful experiment, and to-day we expect to be able to see home-made ice.”

“It is expected that enough will be manufactured to supply the demand for the city, and at such rates as will prevent the necessity of importing the luxury from California.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 2, 1871)

“Manufactured Ice – The ice machine has resumed work again and arrangements are now complete for a regular supply, which we understand will be furnished at about one-third less than the imported article has lately been sold.”

“The proprietor has not only been at a great expense in bringing this machine here, but in having it altered to suit the temperature of the water in this climate. A regular supply of ice at the reasonable price asked, will doubtless cause it to become an actual necessity.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 4, 1871)

“Ice and Iced Drinks. We are glad to know that the Ice Manufactory is at length established as a permanency, and is capable of turning out about 3,000 pounds daily of a fine article of pure ice.”

“We approve of the enterprise for several reasons. First on the policy of encouraging all home enterprises that are laudable, and second, we believe that the general and moderate use of ice is healthy, and that iced drinks are social reformers.”

“A loss by perspiration, whether by heat or labor, or both combined, excites the feeling of thirst, and that thirst must be satisfied. How much better, on all accounts, a glass of iced lemonade, soda water, or ginger pop, slowly imbibed, than imported tipple of beer, stout, whiskey, or suicidal absinthe!”

“And what an improvement does the house-wife find in satisfactorily carrying on her culinary duties with a few pounds of ice in the chest. Thus our experience of the benefits of ice, even in this hot climate, is in favor of the opinion of the London Liberal Review, a late number of which says that …”

“… ‘the introduction on a large scale of iced-non-intoxicating drinks for the English hot weather would be a great advantage to a thirsty public, and we believe would tend to lessen the number of drunkards.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 16, 1871)

Air conditioning first appeared in theaters. In 1912 or 1913, the Hawaiian Opera House experimented with electric fans blowing over large tubs filled with cakes of ice. Other theaters subsequently installed more sophisticated refrigerating equipment, although full-scale air conditioning did not appear in Island movie houses until the Hawai‘i Theater’s unveiling of a completely modern system in 1935.

Other early examples of air conditioning included the Metropolitan Market in 1917, McInerny’s store on Merchant Street in 1926 or 1927, and the Queen’s Hospital asthma ward in 1936. The first fully air conditioned home was built in 1938. (Schmitt)

By 1922, Hawaiian Electric had constructed lines to serve Wailupe and Kuliouou, Schofield and Pearl Harbor, Kahuku and Laie, Lualualei and Ewa. The following year, families in Kailua and Lanikai had electricity.

By 1924, the population of Honolulu exceeded 125,000 and the company reported selling 7,000 “cooking and heating” appliances. In 1927, Hawaiian Electric’s new King Street building opened for business. (HECO)

The first home electric refrigerators sold in Hawaii were reportedly Kelvinators, introduced by the Hawaiian Electric Company in 1922.

Newspaper advertisements for electric refrigerators did not appear until 1925, however, when Hawaiian Electric began running display ads for “Kelvinator, the Oldest Domestic Electric Refrigeration.” (Schmitt)