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February 27, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Henry Chee

His vessel, Malia, was known as the ‘Grey Ghost of the Kona Coast’. He had the uncanny ability to venture solo away from fleets and find the best marlin fishing available. (Cisco)

“Neither (he nor his father) had ever been in a boat, until the day in 1935 that (Henry) went fishing with someone here.” (Chee; LA Times)

Born in Honolulu in 1910, Henry Chee and his wife Ellen moved to Kona in 1931. (IGFA) From a family of banana farmers, Chee entered the charter fishing business in 1935.

Interestingly, many believe bananas are a jinx and bring bad fishing luck. Not so for Chee. (Rizzuto) “He went out with Findlayson one afternoon, and they caught a marlin. Dad told me the sound of that very first screaming reel stayed with him all those years.” (Chee; LA Times)

“‘When Dad started out here, in the late 1930s, there was no such thing as radios on boats. So he was in partnership on his first boat with a man named Charlie Findlayson, who owned a bunch of pigeons.’”

“‘So if someone fishing with Dad caught a marlin, he’d write a note on a tiny piece of paper, put it in a capsule on the pigeon’s leg, and release it.’”

“‘The pigeon would fly back to Kona, through Mrs. Findlayson’s kitchen window. She’d spread the word around town. If it was a big fish Henry would be bringing in, she’d arrange for the newspaper photographer to be there, at the pier.’” (Chee; LA Times)

Throughout his lifetime, Captain Chee set an unprecedented number of game fish catch records which helped make his favorite fishing grounds, the Kona Coast, world famous. (HIBT)

“Henry Chee originated marlin fishing on the Kona Coast. He developed it, he pioneered it, he taught everyone how to catch those big blues.”

“There are a lot of young skippers here today using techniques that they don’t even know Henry started. It’s no exaggeration to call Henry Chee our Babe Ruth.” (Phil Parker; LA Times)

He started using the first plastic marlin lures in Hawai‘i in the 1950s. And he made them himself. (LA Times)

Plastic was new in 1949 and Henry was one of the first to experiment with it. Intrigued when he came upon a screwdriver embedded in resin hardened in a jar, and using the family kitchen as his laboratory …

Henry borrowed bar glasses for molds; inserted copper tubing, doll eyes and shell (for color and reflection); poured in fiberglass resin; boiled the glass on the stove; and removed the hardened blank.

He turned it on a lathe and hand-cut the attack angle with a miter box — all by eye so no two of his ‘straight runners’ were exactly alike.

Skirts were made from red inner tubes, fish skins and oilcloth tablecloths. Each lure was tested in the most scientific way: if it caught fish, he kept it; if it didn’t, he didn’t. (IGFA)

Elsewhere in the fishing world, anglers were convinced marlin would only take baits. The ‘obvious’ truth to bait fishermen: a marlin attacked food fish with its bill and then ate its prey only after it had battered the injured baitfish into submission.

Any lure-catch would, therefore, be a total accident, and there was no useful percentage in accidental catches.

But Henry and his followers were catching those ‘accidents’ every day including some astonishing world record blue marlin and yellowfin tuna. (Rizzuto)

“In 1955, when everyone but Dad was using bait, there were 175 marlin caught. Dad caught 63 of them, all on plastic lures.” (Chee; LA Times)

By the 1950s, Henry Chee’s fame had spread to the mainland. Pictures of celebrities standing next to huge blues caught in Hawaii began to appear in newspapers and magazines. He was the guide for Henry Fonda, Errol Flynn, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Arthur Godfrey, Roy Rogers, Gordon McRae, Hal Wallis and Walter Lantz. (LA Times)

“‘In the old days, when I started running a boat here in 1954, there were four boats. Now look out there. There are something like 54 to 60 now. I can’t keep track of them.’”

“‘Looking back, it seems like there were more fish then. But then, we lost a lot of marlin. Our gear wasn’t as good as it is today.’” (Parker; LA Times, 1986)

Back then, caring for linen fishing line was a full-time job. (IGFA) “Dad had to work a lot harder in the old days, when skippers had to dry out the line every night, to prevent rot.”

“Dad would wrap it a few times around his back and roll his shoulders, trying to break it. If it broke, he’d throw it all out and load up with new line.” (Chee; LA Times)

Chee died in 1965. “He had a stroke one day while gaffing a marlin, and died three days later (at the age of 55).” (Chee LA Times)

The Henry Chee Memorial Award was established in 1965 by the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament Board of Governors; it is given to the charter boat captain with the highest number of billfish points scored on their boat during the five days of tournament fishing. (HIBT)

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Henry Chee-IGFA

February 25, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Varsity Victory Volunteers

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Japanese Americans, like everyone else in Hawaii, responded to the emergency. They pitched in with other locals to aid the wounded, sort through the rubble, give blood, and bury the dead. (GoForBroke)

Soon after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, leaders of the University of Hawai‘i Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) assembled their student members and ordered them to report for combat duty at the Manoa campus. (100thBattalion)

The ROTC students were assigned to the Hawai‘i Territorial Guard. Their responsibilities included guard duty over utility installations and Iolani Palace, the temporary headquarters for the military governor in charge of martial law in the Hawaiian Islands.

But on January 19, 1942, the Army disbanded the Hawai‘i Territorial Guard – only to reform the unit the following day without its Japanese American soldiers. By the end of March, all Japanese American men of draft age were redesignated as “IV-C” or “enemy aliens.” As enemy aliens, they could not enlist in the armed forces.

Then, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an order authorizing the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland. (ourdocuments-gov)

In all, between 1,200 and 1,400 local Japanese were interned, along with about 1,000 family members. The number of Japanese in Hawai‘i who were detained was small relative to the total Japanese population here, less than 1%.

However, the mass exclusion and detention of all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast states resulted in the eventual incarceration of 120,000 people.

The former UH ROTC cadets felt deep despair when confronted with such racism. But community leaders convinced the demoralized students to persevere.

The students petitioned the military governor: “Hawaii is our home; the United States is our country. We know but one loyalty and that is to the Stars and Stripes. We wish to do our part as loyal Americans in every way possible, and we hereby offer ourselves for whatever service you may see fit to use us.”

The government’s response was allowing the formation of a volunteer civilian work unit, the Army Corps of Engineers Auxiliary at Schofield Barracks. They identified themselves as the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV, also referred to as the “Triple-V”). (100thBattalion)

The group of 155 students worked for nearly a year on a variety of jobs involving heavy labor at Schofield Barracks. In time, the group grew to 169 young men, including some prominent amateur boxers who were recruited off the streets of Honolulu.

When they left campus on February 25, 1942, for their new lives as Army volunteer workers, they had no idea that it would be nearly a year before the US War Department would change their classification as “enemy aliens,” thus preventing any Japanese American from serving in the military. (100thBattalion)

On the Army base, under the direction of Chinese American Lieutenant Richard Lum, Native Hawaiian former football star Tom Kaulukukui, two haole sergeants and civilian supervisor Ralph Yempuku, the young men organized themselves into work teams that painted buildings, constructed field iceboxes for combat units, dug ditches and quarried rocks.

But they also participated in Army life on the base, playing respectably in basketball, football and baseball leagues and competing well in boxing tournaments. They also held their own competitions, including golf and tennis.

Some of the VVV members kept up their studies with instructors brought in for special lectures and by enrolling in some courses providing college credit. Most of their interaction with the regular Army troops at Schofield was fine. (100thBattalion)

“We were civilians, but we were assigned as a unit to the 34th Construction Engineer Regiment. So, in being assigned to them, we did the same work that a US Army Engineer outfit was doing, and well, this called for building up the defenses of Oahu …”

“… from digging ammunition pits to creating new roads in the mountains, repairing bridges, building housing for the troops. One unit was sent up to Kolekole Pass and they upgraded the stone quarry. So, we just did what the US Army Engineers were doing.”

“We were actually Federal Civil Service and we got paid the equivalent of an Army Private, I think that was $90 a month, but a lot of that was taken away for housing and food.”

“So, you know, we were lucky and most of us bought war bonds, so we had only a few bucks left every month and that went on for one year.”

“(T)hese guys are all university kids, but they stopped their education, gave up their education, and are volunteering and doing all this crappy work because that is the only way that they can, you know, show their loyalty.”

“And that, you know, we think, had a dent, an impression on the Secretary of War, because within a month, the announcement came for the formation of the volunteering for the 442.” (Ted Tsukiyama, GoForBroke)

The Varsity Victory Volunteers finally got their chance to fight.

On January 28, 1943, the War Department announced that it was forming the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and called for 1,500 volunteers from Hawaii. An overwhelming 10,000 men volunteered. The Varsity Victory Volunteers made up the core of the 442nd while other members served in military Intelligence.

At its request, the VVV was inactivated on January 31, 1943, so that its members could volunteer for the Army. Many went on to serve in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. (GoForBroke)

“It was the VVV which marked the turning point in the treatment of the people of Japanese ancestry in this Territory and their acceptance by the rest of the community.”

“What followed afterward – the record of the 100th, the formation of the 442nd and its history of hard-won battles, the less publicized but equally important and impressive record of the interpreter groups, and the work of the civilians on the home front …”

“… was the natural result of the trend which was started in the early months of the war when a group of young men, who numbered at no time more than 170 …”

“… demonstrated to a suspicious and skeptical community that the Americans of Japanese ancestry were every bit as American and every bit as loyal to this country and to her ideals as any other group of Americans, whether they were white, yellow, black, or brown.” (Shigeo Yoshida; Oda)

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VVV Officers Richard Lum and Tommy Kaulukukui

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February 24, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Last Letter to Lucy

Asa and Lucy Thurston had five children, Persis, Lucy, Asa, Mary, and Thomas. On August 3, 1840, Lucy Thurston set sail on a trip with her children to the continent to provide them with educational opportunities. Her daughter, Lucy, was aboard.

“August 8th. – This morning mother took a package from her desk, opened it, and presented each of us with a letter. We saw that they were written in the well-known hand of our dear father.”

“On perusing the contents of mine a tender chord was touched in my heart and my tears flowed afresh. This letter will be doubly valuable from the affecting circumstances under which it was written.”

“Ever will it be my joy and aim to regard the parting advice and instruction of an absent parent, and conform my actions to his wishes.” (Lucy G Thurston)

The following is the last letter to Lucy, from her father …

“Honolulu, July 14th, 1840, My Dear Daughter Lucy, The time has come that we must separate. Nay, we have separated for a season – perhaps for life – perhaps for ever. We may no more meet on earth.”

“We shall both be in the great assembly at the judgment day, either at the right or left hand of the judge. We may not both be among the blessed, who shall enter heaven with songs and everlasting joy. Would we enter heaven we must be prepared for that place while here on earth.”

“See to it that you are prepared. Be careful lest you be led away by the glare and fascinations of this world. Ten thousand temptations will assail you, and if you are not on your guard you may yield to some of them.”

“Beware of the three great enemies of your soul, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.”

“Read your Bible daily with prayer and meditation. Live near to God, walk with God, and let it be seen by all around you, that you are indeed a disciple of Jesus; that you bear his image, and that you are determined to follow him, whatever may be the consequences, whatever others may say of you.”

“Regard not the maxims, customs, or opinions of the world, if in their tendency, they lead you away from Christ, and from heaven. Let the love of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

“‘Know thyself’ is an injunction of great importance to the well being of the soul.”

“This you cannot know without frequent and careful self-examination. Examine yourself daily, and once a week let the work be done with more care and scrutiny than usual.”

“There are seasons when this duty is rendered peculiarly appropriate – the close of the day – the close of the week – the close of the year.”

“Previous to a season of communion, as it is enjoined by the apostle ‘Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.’ There are many other seasons when the duty of self-examination is peculiarly appropriate.”

“Never let these seasons pass away without finding you engaged in your appropriate duties. Be not ashamed of Christ and his cross – take up your cross daily and follow him, and let it appear to all, with whom you associate, that you are a disciple of the meek and lowly Jesus.”

“Forget not to labor and pray for the heathen, and prepare yourself by mental cultivation, as well as Christian discipline to labor among them; if the providence of God shall favor it.”

“Write a letter at least once a year to some of your scholars on Hawaii; and forget not to pray for the children and youth of the Sandwich Islands. Pray for the church and people of Kailua, and pray for your father, who is still laboring for their salvation.”

“God Almighty bless you, my daughter Lucy. – Farewell. – We may meet no more on earth. Shall we meet in heaven? ‘Your Father.’” (The Missionary’s Daughter)

“Mrs Thurston’s stay … in the United States was saddened by the death of her daughter Lucy, who died in Brooklyn, NY, February 24, 1841, at the age of seventeen years. She died at the home of Mr AP Cummings, editor of the New York Observer”.

“She was a lovely and interesting girl, and a great favorite with every one who knew her. Mrs. Thurston left two children to be educated in this country, when she started on her return October 24, 1842.”

“She was received with joy by her husband and the natives, and found a church of eighteen hundred members – three times as many as when she went away.” (Bailey)

(Mrs Cumings wrote a book, The Missionaries Daughter, that relates the life of young Lucy G Thurston – it includes entries from Lucy’s journal and extracts of letters she wrote. It is well worth reading.)

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View of Kailua-Thurston

February 23, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Going to “the land of our fathers”

“The Flora, is a barque of about two hundred and ninety-three tons burden, nearly a hundred tons smaller than the ‘North America’, and in many other respects is her inferior. She is a merchant vessel, and arrived at Honolulu a short time since, with stores for the Exploring Expedition (Wilkes Expedition).”

“The Flora, is chartered by one of the mercantile houses at Honolulu, and is principally freighted with sugar and molasses, novel exports from the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, a distance of eighteen thousand miles. …”

“There are twenty passengers in all, who, with the exception of two or three that are to be left at the Society Islands, are to constitute a community by ourselves for many a month, while roving the ocean, in the long voyage to our native land. …” (Olmstead)

Among the passengers were Hiram and Sybil Bingham (and family); Mrs Lucy Thurston and children; and Caroline Armstrong, 9-year-old daughter of missionaries Richard and Clarissa Armstrong).

“Mr. and Mrs. (Asa) Thurston, who thought it their duty to convey their children to the United States, myself, and Mrs. B(ingham), with health much impaired had permission to visit our native land. Mrs. B. was too much worn out to go without her husband.”

“Mr. T(hurston) chose to stand at his post at Kailua, and send his family with mine, and trusted the arrangement for their children with Mrs. T., the Board, and private friends. Mr. Armstrong took my post at Honolulu.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Time passes rapidly on, and brings near the day of our departure from the land of our childhood. Our family, which has so long lived together, is soon to be separated.”

“Probably we shall not all meet again on earth; but it will be but a short time before we shall meet in a better, brighter world, if prepared. Our passage is engaged in the Flora, Captain Spring, bound to New York. The Captain is a pious man, and we are much pleased with him.”

“I hope you will write us whenever you can. We shall desire very much to hear from the Sandwich Islands. We shall always think of you with interest; and shall long remember the many pleasant visits we have made at your house, and the many kindnesses we have received at your hands. The Lord reward you for them all.”

“We shall often think of the many friends we leave behind, when far away. Pray for us. I hope you will often visit Kailua, and comfort our father in his lonely home at Laniakea.” (Lucy G Thurston to Mrs Forbes, July 29, 1840)

“Mrs. Thurston, with her family, arrived in New York on the 4th of February, 1841. She delayed going immediately on to the home of her kindred, in the eastern part of Massachusetts, in order to have the company and protection of a friend who was expecting to make the same journey.”

Upon arrival, young Lucy writes, “Brooklyn, Feb. 16th, 1841. “My Dear Father, We learn that a vessel is to sail for the Sandwich Islands in about a week, and I take my pen to inform you of our safe arrival in the land of our fathers.”

“We were six months and one day from the S. Islands to this place. Stopped a fortnight at the Society Islands, and three days at Pernambuco. We have been remarkably favored in our passage, and all enjoyed good health.”

“The captain has been as a father to us, and by his kind attentions we have felt your loss much less than we otherwise should have done.”

“Mr. B(ingham) has very kindly invited our whole family to remain at his house till we leave the place. We feel under great obligations to him for his kindness. ….”

“We have been thronged with visiters, who call to see us from morning till night. Mother has a trunk of curiosities, which she shows them, and thus excites a good deal of interest in the mission.”

“P(ersis) has several times dressed herself in native style, and marched about the room, much to the amusement of the company. We have received more kindness than we expected – far more than we deserved. …”

The Thurston children reached the continent, a new and different place – as written by young Lucy Thurston, ‘the land of our fathers’ – having left ‘the land of our childhood’.

Shortly after arriving, young Lucy Thurston ‘was taken sick.’ She noted in a letter she was drafting “… We visited the City Hall – a splendid building, where in the Governor’s room, we saw the full length portraits of all the Governors of the State of New York. They were elegant paintings; In the evening –”

Her sister Persis wrote to their father thereafter, explaining the abrupt ending of the letter “… Company calling, she was interrupted in the middle of a sentence, and never again resumed her pen.”

“Lucy was in most vigorous health; but she was seized with inflammation on the lungs just two weeks after their arrival, and on the morning of her coming to the family with whom she passed the last week of her life – the only week of physical pain and distress she ever experienced.”

“She told her mother, a day or two after the commencement of her illness, that she had no choice about its result. … ‘Mother, dear mother,’ many, many times repeated, still continued, and ‘Father, father,’ were the last that fell upon the ear.” Young Lucy Thurston died February 24, 1841.

“At the age of seventeen, she landed upon our shores, with the expectation of enjoying, for a season, the advantages of the society and institutions of Christian America; but within three weeks after the time of her arrival, she found a place in our sepulchres.” (Thurston) A book was written, her memoir, ‘The Missionary’s Daughter or Memoir of Lucy Goodale Thurston’.

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The Missionary’s Daughter Cover

February 22, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pali Saloon

“All visitors to Honolulu, even those who only have the few hours during which the Australian steamers remain in harbour, drive up the lovely Nuʻuanu valley to the Pali, a great precipice 1000 feet above the sea, over which all travellers must pass in crossing the island.”

“It is a seven miles’ drive, and generally a delightfully cool one, as the trade winds blow down through the pass. In the early missionaries’ days, travellers had to lower themselves down into the valley below by means of iron rods, from hand to hand. Now, however, there is a good road.” (Owen, 1898)

Before the construction of the Pali Road, residents living on the windward side of Oahu would travel over the Ko‘olau Mountains by foot, along a treacherous path, to reach Honolulu.

In 1876, improvements were made to the trail to allow horses access to the trail as well. Regardless of these improvements, the trail was still quite dangerous, and took time to travel.

In 1897, plans for the construction of Pali Road were initiated. Engineered by Johnny Wilson and Lou Whitehouse, after its completion, it was considered one of Oahu’s major roadways. Pali Road, connecting with Nu‘uanu Avenue (the present Pali Highway,) officially connected the windward side of the island with downtown Honolulu. (NPS)

“Perhaps no better point could be found along the road from which to look back upon the town and harbor than the veranda of Mr (TB) Arcia’s Half-way House.”

“A pleasant hostelry and a genial host are just the proper accompaniments to such a view; they are garnishing of the feast, which being good in themselves make all the rest the more enjoyable.”

“From here is to be had a panoramic view of town and shipping, suburban villas and the deep blue sea, towering peaks and rich tropical forest, verdant meadow dotted with Taro patches, banana groves and the huts of Kanakas. From here to the seashore is but four miles, but the change was most delightful from the daily surroundings of town life, even in Honolulu”.

“The Halfway House is conducted by Mr. Arcia on temperance principles, so the traveler whose first sensation on seeing an hotel is a craving for ‘old Bourbon’ or ‘lager,’ will not find all that satisfies him in the place. But a good meal is always available there on short notice.”

“If the tourist is bound for the Pali only, and intends to return at once to Honolulu, he cannot do better than order his lunch or dinner to be ready for him here on his return. He will get what is good, and can indulge in a delightful view whilst he is eating it, which is something he cannot secure in the town.”

“From the Halfway House to the Pali is a distance of two miles. As it is at least four miles from the middle of the town to Arcia’s inviting resting place, it is evident that whoever christened it the Halfway House took into account the amount of exertion to be undergone rather than the mere lineal distance.”

“And now for the Pali, of which every one arriving here hears so much beforehand, that he may reasonably expect the reality to disappoint him. Before it is reached, the road breaks into sharp ascents, winding among the projecting masses of the hills. “

“Just as I round the last corner, the wind coming up from the sea and pressing through this narrow gorge, is something terrific. The beauty and interesting character of the view, however, compensate for the blow, and, so far as I am concerned, I do not find any exaggeration in what I have heard about it.” (Polk, 1880)

Then, “Emil Wery, a Belgian, arrived in Honolulu, on the Island of Oahu, in or about the year 1878. His trade was that of a bricklayer”

“Shortly after his arrival he married a Hawaiian woman whose given name was Hattie, who, at the time of her marriage, was working as a nurse-maid … (they) had three children – Emily (now Emily Hudson… born in 1882, William, born in 1884, and Julius, born in 1896 or 1897.”

“Soon after William’s birth the family moved to a place a few miles outside of the city and there conducted a wayside tavern locally known as the ‘Halfway House.’”

“Wery, while there, worked at his trade and was also employed as overseer and caretaker of the nearby Nuʻuanu Valley reservoir, and his wife Hattie ran the tavern, assisted by Wery when he was not otherwise engaged. The family in 1893 abandoned the Halfway House and moved back to Kalihi, Honolulu.” (US Circuit Court of Appeals, 1937)

Later it was noted, “AF (Adelino Ferreira) Franca (a salesman Hawaiian Wine Co) will open the Pali Saloon in the vicinity of the Government Electric Lights to∙morrow morning for the sale of light wines and beer under the now license system. A free lunch will be set and everything will be in first-class style.” (The Independent, November 30, 1898)

And then, “AF Franca announces his Pali resort ready for business. It is half way between Honolulu and the Pali, and will prove a great accommodation to travelers.” (Hawaiian Star, December 1, 1898)

Although advertised as “Light Wines and Beers Served except Sundays,” Franca was “charged with selling on Sunday.” (The Independent, June 17, 1904)

Later, “Judge Geer began the hearing of the case of AF Franca, charged with selling liquor without a license at the Halfway House on the Nuʻuanu Pali road.” Franca was acquitted of the charges by the jury. (Hawaiian Star, September 20, 1904)

The property appears to have had different owners/operators and was identified under several names – Halfway House, Pali, Saloon, Pali Resort.

It was situated near Nuʻuanu Reservoir #2. As far as where that is today – it was about where the Old Pali Road ends (at a fence and gate.) (Old Pali Road and Nuʻuanu Pali Drive generally parallel the Pali Highway.) On Nuʻuanu Pali Drive there is a small hairpin turn with a small waterfall and pool – the way house would have been above that to the left (in the direction of Pali Highway.)

There are four dam-impounded reservoirs in Nuʻuanu Valley. They are numbered from 1 to 4 as one travels mauka. No. 1 is located near the O‘ahu Country Club on the ‘Ewa side of Pali Highway and No. 4 is to the right of the highway (it’s now known as Nuʻuanu Reservoir.)

“The construction of storage reservoirs in Nuʻuanu, and in connection therewith the utilization of the water power for the purpose of lighting the city” was among the topics that the Superintendent of Public Works WE Rowell discussed in his 1890 biennial report to Lorrin A Thurston, Minister of the Interior of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i.

He also said that “two reservoirs have been completed and the third is nearly so. In each case the same general plan of construction is followed viz: a dam of earth compactly rolled.”

“Reservoir No. 1 is located at the Electric Light Works, was completed in August 1889 … capacity of 23,240,000 gallons. Reservoir No. 2, located at the half way bridge, was completed in June, 1889, … with a capacity of about 7,959,000 U.S. gallons (and) Reservoir No. 3 is located about one-fourth mile mauka than No. 2.” (Papacosta)

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