Peter T Young

November 14, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Donna

“Honolulu is to have a new family hotel – ‘The Donna’ – at Beretania and Piikoi streets. The four cottages owned by Col CJ McCarthy are to be made into a hotel, having about thirty rooms, and the opening will take place next month. Mrs CJ McCarthy will manage the enterprise.”

“During recent months there have been many visitors unable to get the sort of accommodations they wanted. Several of the local hostelries have had the experience recently of turning away applicants for room and board, and visitors have had difficulty in finding places at all suited to them.”

“The McCarthy cottages are located in a fine residence district and have attractive grounds.” (Hawaiian Star, Feb 17, 1910) “It was run by the McCarthy family and Mr. [Charles J] McCarthy at one time was governor of Hawai’i. [1918-1921] Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy ran this hotel.” (Nell Kahululani Conant Porter, Watumull Oral History)

Charles James McCarthy “was born in Boston, August 4, 1861, and came to San Francisco with [his] parents in 1866. [He] was educated in the grammar schools of that city also attended the Pacific Business College. [He came] to Hawaii in March, 1881, as an employee of a wholesale fruit house, which shipped tropical fruits to San Francisco .”

In 1889 he married Margaret Teresa Morgan. “Mrs. McCarthy was born in Honolulu on October 30, 1865, the daughter of Robert Dalton Morgan and Catherine Ward Morgan. Both her parents were born in Dublin, Ireland, and had lived in New York City before coming to Hawaii. Her father came to the islands three years before his wife and family followed”.

“A native of Honolulu, Mrs. McCarthy was intensely interested in the islands and beloved by the Hawaiian people of whom she was a true and understanding friend. She spoke Hawaiian fluently and did much in the interests of these people.”

“As a member and for several years an officer of the Outdoor Circle se took a leading part in the organization’s work to preserve the natural charm of the islands. She was also a member of the Sons and Daughters of Warriors, the Daughters of Hawaii and the Guild of Francis Hospital.” (Hnl Adv, March 19, 1934)

After several elected public service positions, CJ McCarthy “was appointed Governor of Hawaii on April 18, 1918, for a term of four years. On March 4th, 1921 , [he] tendered [his] resignation to President Harding to take effect June 1st, [1921, because he had] been appointed by the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce to represent them in Washington, DC.” (Charles J McCarthy Autobiographical Sketch, American Irish Historical Society)

“Mrs. McCarthy’s life was a busy one. In addition to the task of rearing her family of five daughters and seconding her husband’s public activities, she successfully established and maintained the Donna Hotel on Beretania street and also managed other apartment holdings at Waikiki.” (Hnl Adv, March 19, 1934)

[T]here was a large house, two or three stories high, and it was the home of Governor [Charles J] McCarthy. He was governor here [June 22, 1918 to 1921.] And his wife had the hotel and it was her private project.”

“He had nothing to do with it and she wanted it understood that it was hers and she ran it and they had the best food in the city that you could buy, you know, at a restaurant and she did catering for big parties if the people wanted to pay for really nice food, nice catering. And the rooms weren’t so good.”

“She owned, I think, three buildings – could have been only two – there on Beretania and they owned the land right straight through to the street behind it, Kinau.”

“Their big house was where Schuman Carriage Company is and then these smaller houses, where they had roomers, were Waikiki side. And then they had the dining room–main dining room. That was the style of practically all the hotels here then.” (Margaret Way, Watumull Oral History)

It was originally advertised as “Home-Like in its surroundings and comforts and with all the conveniences and ease of the most approved hotel” “The Donna The new Apartment Hotel” at “1262-70-76-86 Beretania Avenue” ((PCA, Jun 1, 1910)

“The Donna Hotel, 1286 S. Beretania, is delightfully situated within ten minutes’ ride from the center of Honolulu. Here, amidst the surroundings of a subtropical park, one may enjoy all the comforts of home.”

“The rooms in the main buildings or in one of the attractive screened cottages are cheery, well-furnished, and have hot and cold running water. The delicious home cooked meals are served at little cozy tables which are grouped about an artistically decorated open lanai. Permanent rates are $65 a month or $3.00 a day and up.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, Feb 1928)

“Although located amidst quiet and restful surroundings, The Donna is only a few minutes’ walk from the business portion of the city. Electric cars, which transfer to all parts of the city and the beach, have a station in front of the house. The Donna has many unique and pleasing features that will irresistably appeal to visitors to Honolulu.” (The Courtland Guide, Jan 1917)

“C. & M. McCarthy, Ltd., was a corporation organized under the laws of the Territory of Hawaii. In 1944 it owned (and presumably operated) in Honolulu the Donna Hotel and the Waikiki Apartments.” The company was dissolved on February 15, 1945. (US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Oct 10, 1957, 248 F.2d 765)

The hotel operation and apartment rentals “was her business. She may have had it before he was governor and she kept it quite a long time afterward too.” (Margaret Way, Watumull Oral History) The Donna Hotel was situated on property now occupied by Times Super Market. (Yardley, Hnl Adv, Apr 10, 1985)

“The home and the hotel properties ran back to Kinau Street, but a high wooden fence separated the rear part of the hotel grounds. Behind the fence were the staff quarters, known as Japanese Camp.”

“It was a community unto itself with its own stores and baths. The waiters, maids, dish washers, cook, yard men and laundresses all lived there and to and from work through a door in the fence.”

“The hotel building on the on the Kaimuki end consisted of rooms upstairs and the office, parlor, public rooms and a dining room on the lanai of the first floor. An inviting lanai with rockers ran the length pf the front of the building.”

“The rooms were simple, clean and always cool. Floors were covered with sturdy lauhala mats, the dining tables covered with white linen cloths (with linen napkins tucked in the guest’s own napkin ring), and the quest rooms had comfortable iron and brass bedsteads covered with heavy white counterpanes.”

“Mrs McCarthy was a fabulous Island cook and her recipes and menus were referred to as the Kitchen Bible. … Unfortunately, the era of boarding houses in lovely residential districts is a thing of the past, but how nice it would be to have them revived.” (Yardley, Hnl Adv, Apr 10, 1985)

An interesting aside … “Governor McCarthy was the fifth territorial governor but the first to live at Washington Place. In 1918, he leased Washington Place privately. In 1921, the Territorial government purchased Washington Place from the Liliʻuokalani Estate.” (Washington Place)

November 13, 2025 by Peter T Young 9 Comments

How Did The Aliʻi Feel About non-Hawaiians?

The historical record is clear – from Kamehameha I to Liliʻuokalani, the aliʻi befriended, sought counsel, and even married Caucasians and other foreigners. As examples:

Foreigners supported Kamehameha I, including John Young, Isaac Davis, Don Francisco de Paula Marin, George Beckley and Alexander Adams (and others.)

One can only speculate what might have happened had these foreigners not aligned with Kamehameha. However, it is clear, with their help, he became Kamehameha the Great. Without these and other foreigners, Hawaiʻi’s history may have been significantly different.

Kamehameha III chose American missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and Gerrit Parmele Judd to serve as teacher and physician for the children of the seven families who were eligible under succession laws stated in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i.

In a letter requesting Cooke to teach and Judd to care for the children, King Kamehameha III wrote, “Greetings to you all, Teachers – Where are you, all you teachers? We ask Mr. Cooke to be teacher for our royal children. He is the teacher of our royal children and Dr. Judd is the one to take care of the royal children because we two hold Dr Judd as necessary for the children and also in certain difficulties between us and you all.”

Kamehameha III called on seven boys and seven girls to board in the Chief’s Children’s School. No school in Hawai‘i has ever produced so many Hawaiian leaders in one generation.

In this school were educated the Hawai‘i sovereigns who reigned over the Hawaiian people from 1855, namely, Alexander Liholiho (King Kamehameha IV,) Queen Emma, Lot Kamehameha (King Kamehameha V,) King William Lunalilo, King David Kalākaua and Queen Lydia Lili‘uokalani.

In addition, the following royal family members were taught there: Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Princess Elizabeth Kekaaniau Pratt, Prince Moses Kekuaiwa, Princess Jane Loeau Jasper, Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, Prince Peter Young Kaeo, Prince William Pitt Kīnaʻu, Princess Abigail Maheha, Prince James Kaliokalani and Princess Mary Polly Paʻaʻāina.

The last of the Kamehameha’s, Kamehameha V, had a Caucasian (John Owen Dominis) as a secretary and advisor. “On the accession to the throne of Prince Lot as Kamehameha V., the last of the Hawaiian monarchs to bear that name, my husband (John Owen Dominis) was at once appointed his private secretary and confidential adviser, which position he occupied during the entire reign.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“The king was surrounded by his own people, with whom he was in perfect accord, but showed this mark of royal favor to my husband simply because he preferred to advise with him on matters of public importance.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Hawaiʻi’s last queen, Queen Liliʻuokalani, was married to a Caucasian, John Owen Dominis. This shows her acceptance of being a lifelong partner with a non-kanaka maoli – of the marriage she noted, “My husband was extremely kind and considerate to me”.

Dominis died before the overthrow – related to that, Queen Liliʻuokalani noted, “His death occurred at a time when his long experience in public life, his amiable qualities, and his universal popularity, would have made him an adviser to me for whom no substitute could possibly be found.”

“I have often said that it pleased the Almighty Ruler of nations to take him away from me at precisely the time when I felt that I most needed his counsel and companionship.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani’s sister, Miriam Likelike, was also married to a Caucasian, Archibald Scott Cleghorn. The Cleghorns had one child Kaʻiulani – “the only member of the Royal Family having issue.”

Princess Kaʻiulani was not the only royal who was part-Caucasian – Emma, a future queen, was born to Fanny Kekelaokalani Young, daughter of John Young, King Kamehameha I’s Caucasian counselor, and Kaʻoanaʻeha, Kamehameha’s niece. Her father was high chief George Naea.

As was the custom, Emma was offered to her mother’s sister, Grace Kamaikui Rooke (the second daughter of John Young) and her husband, Dr Thomas Charles Byde Rooke (a Caucasian) as hānai daughter. Unable to have children of their own, the Rookes adopted Emma. Queen Emma was part Caucasian and she was raised by Caucasians.

We can’t forget that Princess Bernice Pauahi was also married to a Caucasian (Charles Reed Bishop.)

Following contact, Caucasians were actively involved with all of the aliʻi – they were befriended and served as personal and significant advisors to the aliʻi. Aliʻi sought their advice and put them in places of importance – many of these were missionaries.

Back then, there was an obvious tolerance by the Hawaiian leadership in engaging and including Caucasians (and other foreigners) in various matters.

A lot of non-kanaka maoli were born in the Islands or became naturalized citizens, or are descendants of such. By laws and practice, they, too, are Hawaiian citizens … history and the laws related to Hawaiian citizen status are clear and unambiguous.

(The image shows the letter Kamehameha III sent to the American (Caucasian) missionaries, asking Cooke and Judd to teach and serve the children of the aliʻi (including all of the subsequent Kings and Queens of the Hawaiian kingdom.))

November 12, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Pohaku O Lanai

“It is different in character from the rocks that line the coast, and unlike anything for miles around.”

Hawaiians know it as ‘pohaku lanai,’ and is said by them to have floated ashore ‘from Kahiki,’ (Tahiti.) It is a balancing rock on a somewhat broader base, of limestone formation, with projecting top so as to afford material shelter in its shelving structure. (Thrum)

This is said to have been used as a lookout by fishermen in the region. When fish were sighted, the stone was beaten with a wooden mallet, and the resulting hollow sound was sufficient to gather together the fishermen of the village.” (McAllister; Ulukau)

On a trip around Oʻahu, Tyerman and Bennet (1832) noted, “Continuing our circuminsular tour we crossed a spacious plain, on the coast, of which the base was coral, and the soil a thin layer of vegetable mould.”

“On this level stands a mound, which might be taken for an artificial monument, consisting of two prodigious masses of coral-rock, the lower about six feet above the surface of the ground, but evidently imbedded in the stratum below;”

“… the upper, laid flat upon this, and overspreading it on every side, measured ninety-three feet in compass, and eight, at least, in the thickest part, the shape being conical.”

“The whole pile reached nearly five yards in height, and, when we consider that the substance must have been wrought under water, it is almost a necessary conclusion that the sea has considerably retired from this coast – from twenty-five to thirty feet in depth …”

“… or been repelled by some of the volcanic convulsions, which probably heaved the island itself from the bottom of the abyss, at a far distant period in the agency of that Providence of which the records are only preserved in the Eternal Mind.”

“There is no other rock of the same kind within several miles of this irregular formation. It was recently a marae (heiau,) to which the kings and chiefs repaired to consult Tani (Kane,) who was worshipped at it, on questions of peace and war, and to pray that in battle their bodies might be rendered invulnerable to the spears of their enemies.” (Tyerman and Bennet, 1832)

Pohaku Lanai is a large balancing stone on Kalaeoiupaoa Point. A large oval-shaped stone 18 feet across is balanced on a smaller base, standing about 10 feet high in all. (Ulukau) It’s also referred to as Lana-ike-Kane (Fisherman’s Stone.)

“One of the lions of the village affording some study is a stone of peculiar formation, in which the natives of the district maintain not a little traditional interest.”

“It is located near the seashore, not far distant from the railroad station, but of late entirely hidden from sight among the tangle-growth of lantana and kolu bushes.”

“(W)hether this shape is the natural result of the erosion of ages, or of surf wearing, of which this may be evidence of a difference in shore line and elevation at some remote period, or the result of man’s rude chizeling for a resting place, are questions of interest for the geologist, for it stands alone”. (Thrum)

An 1890 map notes “Two Rocks called Pohakulanai” located in the Land of Ulupehupehu (in what would be the present Turtle Bay Resort.) (McAllister did not document the two rocks in Kahuku in his 1930s inventory.)

November 11, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Veterans Day

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France.

However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.”

With the approval of subsequent legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls.

Today, Veterans Day, is a celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

I join with others in our grateful nation as we come together to honor and thank our veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice on behalf of us and our country.

To all who served, Thank You.

November 9, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Missile-Age Minutemen

It was not until World War II that the technology of using rockets and missiles in warfare became firmly established. During the final months of World War II, several major defense contractors studied the likelihood that evolving technologies could produce guided missiles to intercept bombers and surface-to-surface missiles.

The Cold War, a term used to describe the hostile relations between communist and non-communist countries, greatly accelerated missile and rocket technology. (Mason; HAER)

During the Cold War era that followed World War II, the threat of foreign attack on US soil shifted from naval assault to air attack, particularly by aircraft carrying nuclear weapons. Thus, the Army Air Defense Artillery took responsibility from the Coast Artillery branch for defending the US. (NPS)

The perception that the Soviet Union might be capable of constructing a sizable fleet of long-range, nuclear-armed bomber aircraft capable of reaching the continental US provided motivation to rapidly develop and deploy a missile system to defend major US population centers and other vital targets. (TheMilitaryStandard)

The potential threat posed by such aircraft became much more serious when, in 1949, the Russians exploded their first atomic bomb.

The goal of the Army in the 1950s was to establish a nationwide defense system of surface-to-air guided missiles (SAMs) placed in critical positions around major urban centers or strategic military installations within the continental US, Hawaii and Europe.

Prior to the guided missile era, the Hawaiʻi Air National Guard, armed with four batteries of 90-mm Anti-Aircraft Artillery guns, provided antiaircraft defense of Oahu. The battalion’s four firing batteries were deployed to Sand Island (two,) Fort Barrette (one) and Waianae (one,) with battalion headquarters at Fort Ruger. (Bennett)

The development of a missile-based air defense system necessitated the reorganization of the Army command structure. In 1950, all artillery units were joined to a new continental air defense system under the US Army Antiaircraft Command (later renamed the US Army Air Defense Command;) control was placed under the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD.) (Mason; HAER)

Nike, named for the mythical Greek goddess of victory, was the name given to a program which ultimately produced the world’s first successful, widely-deployed, guided surface-to-air missile system. (TheMilitaryStandard)

The missile was first test-fired in 1951, and the first Nike Ajax battalion was emplaced at Fort Meade, Maryland in 1953. As the Nike Ajax system underwent testing during the early-1950s, the Army became concerned that the missile was incapable of stopping a massed Soviet air attack.

To enhance the missile’s capabilities, the Army explored the feasibility of equipping Ajax with a nuclear warhead, but when that proved impractical, in July 1953 the service authorized development of a second generation surface-to-air missile, the Nike Hercules.

Conversion from conventional artillery to missiles in the continental US was complete by July 1958. The Nike Hercules placements in the field expanded over the next 6-years. (Federation of American Scientists)

Coastal defenses during this period largely depended on the Nike antiaircraft missile system. The Nike system was not only the most expensive missile system ever deployed, it was also the most widespread (300 sites in 30 states) and longest-lived (25 years nationwide.) (NPS)

The missile sites were designed and constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers, and standardized plans were generally used. (However, the Hawaiʻi facilities were typically above ground launching sites with berms protecting the launchers.)

Originally, the Army planned to build eight batteries at six missile sites around the island. This plan was eventually reduced in scope, and six batteries were built at four areas (two single and two double batteries.)

The four sites were at Dillingham Air Force Base in Mokuleʻia (Kawaihāpai;) Kahuku Army Training Area near Mt Kawela; Bellows Air Force Station at Waimanalo and Barbers Pt (Palehua,) on the southwestern portion of the Waianae Mountain Range.

Barber’s Point and Bellows Field each hosted two batteries and had 24 missiles, while the single batteries each had 12 missiles.

The sites were coordinated in their defense efforts through direction from the Army Air Defense Command Post located at Fort Ruger in a tunnel in Diamond Head and were manned by Army Guardsmen.

A typical Nike air defense site consisted of two separate parcels of land. One area was known as the Integrated Fire Control Area. This site contained the Nike system’s ground-based radar and computer systems designed to detect and track hostile aircraft, and to guide the missiles to their targets.

The second parcel of land was known as the Launcher Area. At the launcher area, Nike missiles were stored horizontally. While elsewhere, the missiles were stored in underground missile magazines, the Hawaiʻi facilities were typically above-ground magazines and launching sites with berms protecting the launchers.

The Nike missile sites were manned 24-hours a day by the Hawaiʻi National Guard and were armed with the nuclear-capable Nike Hercules surface-to-air-missiles. (Army)

Hawaiʻi and Alaska were the only locations where live Nike missiles were test fired. Targets included computer generated points in space and miniature airplanes. No missile was ever fired in anger.

While the rest of the Nike force conducted its annual live fire practices at the White Sands Missile Range in NM, the Hawaiʻi Guard was unique in that it conducted its annual live-fire certifications from mobile launchers firing off the north shore of the island of Oʻahu. (National Guard)

Hawaiʻi was also the only state to man all of its firing batteries with Guardsmen; in the continental US the Guard manned about a third of all Nike sites. (National Guard)

The Hawaiʻi units were the only National Guard units to operate a command post. Guardsmen had demonstrated their ability to conduct real-world missions while in a part-time, state-controlled, status, in the process proudly adopting for themselves the title “Missile-Age Minutemen.”

The facilities were continuously operated until the closure of all four Nike sites on O`ahu in March 1970, when the entire Nike Program was closed down as part of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) with the Soviet Union (with the exception of batteries in Alaska and Florida that stayed active until the late 1970s; by 1975 all Nike Hercules sites had been deactivated.)