Peter T Young

October 19, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waikīkī Beach Agreements

Waikīkī Beach was eroding.

As early as 1901, both the government surveyor and Lili‘uokalani had residences at Waikīkī Beach with walls across their seaward frontages that were in the ocean, blocking public passage along the beach.

Another Waikīkī residence and the Moana Hotel also had portions of their structures similarly situated in the water. By the late-1920s, walls were common along Waikīkī Beach.

A 1927 report by the Engineering Association of Hawai‘i pinpointed seawalls as the primary cause of erosion in Waikīkī. The report concluded that beach nourishment and groins could be used to rebuild the beach.

During the same time period, plans were underway to turn Waikīkī district wetlands into an urban community. The Ala Wai Canal was dredged from 1922 to 1928.

In 1927, the Territorial Legislature authorized Act 273 allowing the Board of Harbor Commissioners to rebuild the eroded beach at Waikīkī. By 1930, the Board of Harbor Commissioners reported on construction progress, which included 11 groins along a portion of the shoreline.

On October 19, 1928, property owners at Waikīkī signed the Waikīkī Beach Reclamation Agreement between the Territory of Hawai‘i and Property Owners – an agreement with the Territory of Hawai‘i to not build any obstructions on what would become Waikīkī Beach.

The agreement was to “forever thereafter keep the beach free and clear of obstructions and open for the use of the public as a bathing beach and for passing over and along the same on foot.”

The Beach Agreement illustrated the need to control and limit seaward development on Waikīkī Beach. The agreement establishes limitations on construction along the beach in response to the proliferation of seawalls and groins in Waikīkī.

The 1928 agreement consists of a) the October 19, 1928 main agreement between the Territory and Waikīkī landowners, b) the October 19, 1928 main agreement between the Territory and the Estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop and c) The July 5, 1929 Supplemental Agreement between the Territory and Waikīkī landowners.

The agreement provides that the Territory was to use “best efforts” to construct beach area 180-feet seaward for the purpose of beach erosion control together with “maintenance, preservation and restoration thereof as may be necessary from time to time.”

The expanded beach would “be deemed to be natural accretion attached to the abutting property, and title there to shall immediately vest in the owner or owners of the property abutting thereon in proportion to their sea-frontage, subject only to the easement in favor of the public as above stated.”

The private landowners agreed they “will not erect or place on any part of such beach so to be constructed as aforesaid within seventy-five (75) feet of mean highwater mark of such beach as it may exist from time to time …”

“… any building, fence, wall or other structure or obstruction of any kind unless such mean highwater mark shall be more than seventy-five (75) feet from the present line of mean highwater mark.”

The agreement covers the Waikīkī beach area including the area from the Ala Wai Canal to the Elks Club at Diamond Head. The Waikīkī Beach Reclamation Agreement of 1928 gave property owners title to beach fronting their seawalls.

According to the 1928 Waikīkī Beach Reclamation Agreement, no commercial activities are permitted to take place on Waikīkī Beach. All commercial activities originate from private property and people traverse the beach to gain access to the water.

As part of the 1928 Beach Agreement, eleven groins composed of hollow tongue and concrete blocks were built along Waikīkī Beach with the intent of capturing sand. (SOEST)

A lot of the sand to build the beach was brought in to Waikīkī Beach, via ship and barge, from Manhattan Beach, California in the 1920s and 1930s.

As the Manhattan Beach community was developing, it found that excess sand in the beach dunes and it was getting in the way of development there. At the same time, folks in Hawai‘i were in need for sand to cover the rock and coral beach at Waikīkī.

In addition, the segment between the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Moana Surfrider (Surfrider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement) is the subject of a separate agreement between the Territory and the subject Waikīkī landowners entered into on May 28, 1965.

State law states that the right of access to Hawai‘i’s shorelines includes the right of transit along the shorelines. (HRS §115-4)

The right of transit along the shoreline exists below (seaward of) the private property line (generally referred to as the “upper reaches of the wash of waves, usually evidenced by the edge of vegetation or by the debris left by the wash of waves.”) (HRS §115-5)

Waikīkī Beach is unique because the State does not own all of the land in front of the Royal Hawaiian, Outrigger Waikīkī and Moana Surfrider hotels.

The 1965 agreement between the State and the hotel landowners gave the owners of the abutting hotels 75-feet of the beach in exchange for cooperation with the State’s proposal to extend Waikīkī Beach up to 120 feet from the existing shoreline.

The abutting private beach land is subject to a 75-foot public right of way for the public to pass along the Beach, sunbathe or do other beach activities. The easement in favor of the public restricts commercial activities in the right-of way.

According to the agreement, the State is responsible for maintaining and policing the easement. This easement would be extinguished upon the State building 75-feet of beach seaward of the existing beach, but since that has never happened, the easement remains in effect. (DLNR)

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Waikiki-Moana_Hotel-1920

Waikiki-fronting_old-Seaside_Hotel-seawall-1915

Royal_Hawaiian-rice-taro-duck_ponds-in-background-1929

Royal_Hawaiian_Hotel-Aerial-December 5, 1928

Moana_Hotel-Aerial-1929

Royal_Hawaiian_oceanside_construction-(HSA-HHF)-1926

Seaside_Hotel-noted-(Moana_Hotel-Apuakehau_Stream-marshland_behind)-1920

Waikiki_Beach_Houses_(UH_Manoa)-1924

Natatorium-1928

Honolulu_and_Vicinity-(portion)-(UH_Manoa-Hamilton_Library)-1923

USGS_Map-Waikiki-1927

October 18, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hygienic Dairy

“Sugarcane was introduced to Ko‘olaupoko in 1865, when the Kingdom’s minister of finance and foreign affairs, Charles Coffin Harris, partnered with Queen Kalama to begin a partnership known as the Kāne‘ohe Sugar Company.”

“After Queen Kalama passed away in 1870, Mr. Harris purchased the land from her estate to continue the sugar production, which, by 1880, was yielding as much as 500 tons of sugar annually. At about this time, the He‘eia Agricultural Company (HAC) was also cultivating about 250 acres of sugarcane”.

“To transport the sugar, HAC built a pier in Kāne’ohe Bay (He‘eia Kea pier) so that rail cars could take the sugar out to ocean vessels for transportation to Honolulu harbor.”

“The ocean steamer ‘J.A. Cummins’, owned by John Adams Cummins of the Waimanalo Sugar Plantation Company, made trips twice a week between He‘eia and Honolulu, exporting sugar and returning with supplies and goods.”

“After almost four decades of a thriving sugar industry in Ko‘olaupoko, the tide eventually turned bad and saw the closures of all five sugar plantations by 1903. The closures were due to poor soil, uneven lands, and the start-up of sugar plantations in `Ewa, which were seeing much higher yields.”

“As sugar was on its way out in Ko‘olaupoko, rice crops began to emerge as the next thriving industry. The demand for rice in Hawai‘i increased as the number of Asian sugar workers migrating to the islands from Japan and China increased. In the upland areas of Kāne‘ohe and He‘eia, Chinese farmers converted terraces and abandoned taro patches (lo‘i) to rice paddies.”

“Another agricultural crop, pineapples, emerged throughout Ko‘olaupoko in the early 1900s as sugar and rice steadily declined. From 1901 to 1925 lands in several ahupua`a previously unused for agriculture were now being covered up with pineapple fields, especially the hillsides and upslopes.”

“It was estimated that approximately 2500 acres of land throughout the Ko‘olaupoko region was converted to pineapple cultivation. A pineapple cannery along with numerous old-style plantation houses popped up in 1911, and became known as ‘Libbyville’ (named after its owners, Libby, McNeill, and Libby).”

“The pineapple industry in Ko‘olaupoko did not prosper as well as those on the ‘Ewa plains of central O‘ahu though, and the result was the closure of the cannery in 1923.”

“After the closure of the cannery, the pineapple fields were left to grow over and was then converted to grazing pasture land for cattle.”

“By the mid-1920s, large landholdings were converted to ranch land, such as the Judd Family’s Kualoa Ranch, the McFarlane Family’s Dairy in Ahuimanu, and the ranch lands of the Kāne‘ohe Ranch Company, which was originally a part of 20,000 acres belonging to Queen Kalama.” (History of Ko‘olaupoko)

“Today Ahuimanu is proud of the fact that it has one of the best dairies on Oahu. This dairy is called the Hygienic Dairy and is visited by many people. The dairy was started in 1924 by Mr Young.”

“At that time it was called the Ahuimanu Stock Farm. It was located below its present site. Mr. Young raised cows, pigs and chickens. There were about ninety milking cows in his herd.”

“In 1927 Mr. Young shifted his dairy to the present site. In 1930 he sold it to (Col Charles E) Davis.” (Hawaii Educational Review, 1938)

“Work is being rushed on the new hygienic dairy which the Ahuimanu stock farm is building on its property in windward Oahu. A milk house and a milking barn are under construction.” (Star Bulletin, June 23, 1931)

Apparently, the operation fell under hard economic times and in November 1931, creditors were organizing and bankruptcy was contemplated. In 1932, the dairy property was sold at auction to Shattauer, the former manager.

“Located in the very heart of the picturesque Ahuimanu Valley, a section of Oahu rich in legends and Hawaiian folklore, lies the Hygienic Dairy, one of the most up to date and modern in the territory.”

“Ownership of the dairy was taken over the first of the year by Herman von Holt and GW Knowles, who have been sparing no expense in making constant improvements. The herd now consists of many high grade cows. (Advertiser, February 12, 1934)

“The Hygienic Dairy, Ltd., has acquired 5,000 acres of land at Ahuimanu on a long term lease from the He‘eia Co., according to Herman von Holt, president of the dairy.”

“The estate adjoins 2,000 acres already controlled by the dairy, in addition to 1,000 acres at Kaneohe. The company therefore has 8,000 acres of grazing land for a herd of 1,000 cattle.”

“GW Knowles Is vice president and general manager of the dairy company. The New Fair Dairy Is the distributing agency. (Nippu Jiji, February 12, 1937)

The remaining remnant of the Hygienic Dairy (reportedly once the largest dairy in the state) is the Hygienic Store. “Simon Chong, took over the store from the dairy in 1950”.

“(It) was a full-service gas station and general store, complete with fresh meat and produce, hardware and rubber boots. In the late ’70s, the Chongs leased the store to Millie Kim, who ran it with her son Michael through 2003, when So Cha Hashimoto took over.” (Keany; Honolulu)

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Hygienic Dairy Bottle-eBay

Ahuimanu Farm Dairy-1-4 pint

Ahuimanu Farm Dairy-SB-June 23, 1931

Hygienic Store

October 17, 2018 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Black Box

Ke, ku la ia, ku la.
Pilia, ku lalani, ku la.
O pouli la, poeleele la.
Opu kalakala, lau ia, e ku’ la.
He Akua nui, he Akua mana,
He Akua ola, he Akua mau
O’Iehova he Kamahele mai ka lani mai;
He Akua noho i ka iuiu,
O ka welelau o ka makani,
Iloko o ke ao kaa lelewa.
He ohu ku i ka honua,
He onohi ku i ka moana,
Ieku, ko makou Kalahala.

Arise, stand up, stand.
Fill up the ranks, stand in rows, stand.
Lest we be in darkness, in black night.
Ye thorny-hearted, assemble, a multitude, stand.
A great God, a mighty God,
A living God, an everlasting God,
Is Jehovah, a Visitor from the skies;
A God dwelling afar off, in the heights,
At the further end of the wind,
In the rolling cloud, floating in the air.
A light cloud resting on the earth,
A rainbow standing in the ocean,
Is Jesus, Our Redeemer.
(Portion of Hewahewa’s Prayer)

At the close of a Makahiki ceremony marking the time of Lono, the Hawaiian god of peace, agriculture, the weather and healing, a prophecy was given that Lono would return in a small black box and the people would not know him or recognize the language he spoke. (alohakeakua)

“I knew the wooden images of deities, carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants, but worshipped them because it was a custom of our fathers … My thought has always been, there is one only great God, dwelling in the heavens.” (Hewahewa; Thurston)

Hewahewa, the last high priest of the ancient regime in these islands, was a great favorite with the high chiefs and the royal family.

He foresaw the coming of the missionaries and instructed his awa-chewer to run in front of the house, near the shore where the royal family were living, and call out, “E ka lani e, ina aku ke akua a pae mai.” O King, the god will soon land yonder, pointing, as he spoke.

A few days later, April 4, 1820, the Pioneer Company of missionaries arrived at that very spot aboard the brig Thaddeus, bringing with them the new god.

In commemoration of this incident the spot received the name, “Kai-o-ke-akua,” the sea of the god, by which name it has ever since been called (it is now more commonly called Kailua.)

During the next few days the missionaries had audience with royalty and earnestly presented the claims of their god for the worship of the people.

Their pleading made such an impression on the high chiefess, Kapiʻolani nui, that she told Hewahewa that the god had really landed, and expressed her willingness to accept the new religion.

This led Hewahewa, the chief religious leader of the kingdom, to prepare his prayer as a welcome to the new god who had so recently arrived. (Emerson)

Reportedly, the missionaries carried a ‘black box’ (a box or baggage holding the Bible.)

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Black Box

195th Anniversary – Reenactment of Landing – Hewahewa with Black Box (left of Liholiho)

October 16, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘I must own to one great disappointment’

“I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents. Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted.”

“Konia, my foster-mother, was a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and was married to Paki, also a high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi, afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister.”

“In speaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily used in the English language, but there was no such modification recognized in my native land. I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.”

“I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child; while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs’ families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage.”

“This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain its origin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us.”

“As intelligible a reason as can be given is that this alliance by adoption cemented the ties of friendship between the chiefs. It spread to the common people, and it has doubtless fostered a community of interest and harmony.”

“The house she lived in, ‘Haleakala,’ “was completed in 1851, and occupied by Paki until 1855, when he died. … It was there that the years of my girlhood were passed, after school-days were over, and the pleasant company we often had in that house will never cease to give interest to the spot.”

It was “one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu. To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“In the course of time Mr. and Mrs. Bishop were induced to take up their abode at ‘Haleakala,’ which, with other property, became hers as an inheritance from Paki.”

“This charming home, which immediately became the centre of all that was best, most cultivated, and refined in Hawaiian social life, has been graphically described by a cousin of Mr. Bishop, Mrs. Allen, who arrived in Honolulu in 1864 from California, on a visit.”

“It may be said that a warm and enduring friendship was formed at that time between the two, which continued unbroken during the lifetime of Mrs. Bishop. Of ‘Haleakala,’ as the house was called, and its picturesque life Mrs. Allen wrote:”

“‘At that time her home was the most beautiful in Honolulu, the house large and pleasant, the grounds full of beautiful trees, shrubs, and vines and so well cared-for. I shall never forget my first night’s rest in the home, and the satisfaction of waking in such pleasant surroundings.’”

“‘At that time there were at each end of the premises large yards with long low buildings on two sides, which were divided into rooms and occupied by numerous families attached to her as their chiefess to whom they looked for counsel in all their affairs—joys and sorrows.’”

“‘I was always interested to see her out under a large tamarind tree surrounded by her people, many of whom had come in from the country to advise with her. She would sit for hours with the utmost patience listening to them .’” (Allen; Krout)

Pauahi died October 16, 1884. “When the will of Mrs. Bernice Pauahi Bishop was read, in which she disposed of her own estate, I did not happen to be present …”

“… but her husband, Hon. Charles R. Bishop, informed me that I had been duly remembered, that his wife had bequeathed to me the lands of Kahala, island of Oahu, Lumahai on Kauai, Kealia in Kona, Hawaii …”

“… besides which he sent to me a pair of diamond wristlets, a diamond pin with crown which had once belonged to the Princess Ruth, and a necklace of pearls beautifully chased and set in tigers’ claws.”

“But nevertheless I must own to one great disappointment. The estate which had been so dear to us both in my childhood, the house built by my father, Paki, where I had lived as a girl …”

“… which was connected with many happy memories of my early life, from whence I had been married to Governor Dominis, when he took me to Washington Place, I could not help feeling ought to have been left to me.”

“The estate was called Haleakala, or House of the Sun, and the residence received the name of Aikupika; but both these are forgotten now in that of the Arlington Hotel.”

“This wish of my heart was not gratified, and, at the present day strangers stroll through the grounds or lounge on the piazzas of that home once so dear to me.”

“Yet memories of my adopted parents still cling to that homestead, and rise before me not only when I pass its walls, but I recall in a foreign land the days of my youth.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“The place was maintained as a chief’s residence for many years. It can only have been turned to other uses during the past fifteen years; at the outside. Mrs. Bernice Pauahi Bishop left the estate to her husband, who turned the property over to the Kamehameha estates.” (Bishop, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

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Haleakala-Bishop_Property-on_King_Street-1855

October 15, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

David Malo’s Grave

In 1823, Malo moved to Lāhainā, Maui where he learned to read and write. Malo soon converted to Christianity and was given the baptismal name of David.

On September 5, 1831, classes at the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (Upper Lāhainā)) began in thatched huts with 25 Hawaiian young men.

Under the leadership of Reverend Lorrin Andrews, the school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents”. It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

When Sheldon Dibble arrived to Hawai‘i in 1836, “connected with the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna, and being called to teach History as one branch of my department of instruction”.

He had found it “quite objectionable that the scholars, whilst they were becoming acquainted with other nations, should remain to a great degree in ignorance of their own.”

Dibble made an “effort to collect the main facts of Hawaiian history,” he “selected ten of the best scholars of the Seminary, and formed them into a class of inquiry.”

Dibble “requested them to go individually and separately to the oldest and most knowing of the chiefs and people, gain all the information that they could on the question given out, commit each his information to writing and be ready to read it on a day and hour appointed.” (Dibble, April 28, 1843) One of the leading students was Malo.

“(David) Malo was the son of Aoao and his wife Heone, and was born at the seaside town of Keauhou, North Kona, Hawaii, not many miles distant from the historic bay of Kealakeakua, where Captain Cook, only a few years before, had come to his death.”

“The exact year of his birth cannot be fixt’d, but it was about 1793, the period of Vancouver’s second visit to the islands. … During his early life Malo was connected with the high chief Kuakini (Governor Adams), who was a brother of Queen Kaahumanu …”

“… and it was during this period specially that he was placed in an environment the most favorable to forming an intimate acquaintance with the history, traditions, legends and myths of old Hawaii, as well as with the meles, pules and olis that belong to the hula and that form so important and prominent a feature in the poesy and unwritten literature of Hawaii.”

“Such good use did Malo make of his opportunities that he came to be universally regarded as the great authority and repository of Hawaiian lore.” (NB Emerson)

Malo was ordained into the Christian ministry and settled down in the seaside village of Kalepolepo on East Maui. (Trinity) His book, Hawaiian antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii – 1898,) addressed the genealogies, traditions and beliefs of the people of Hawai‘i.

In the “Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition,” Admiral Wilkes (1840,) commenting on books about Hawai‘i, said, “(s)ome of them are by native authors. Of these I cannot pass at least one without naming him.”

“This is David Malo, who is highly esteemed by all who know him, and who lends the missionaries his aid, in mind as well as example, in ameliorating the condition of his people and checking licentiousness.”

“(A)s Malo aged, and perhaps because he spent so much time pondering the old traditions in writing Hawaiian Antiquities or wading through Lahaina’s crowds of seamen on leave, he became increasingly exasperated with the rising tide of haoles as the Hawaiians died and kept on dying.”

“In a letter to native friends, he wrote: If a big wave comes in, large and unfamiliar fishes will come from the dark ocean, and when they see the small fishes of the shallows they will eat them up.”

“The white man’s ships have arrived with clever men from the big countries. They know our people are few in number and our country is small, they will devour us.” (Malo; Vowel)

Malo died October 21, 1853. “The death of the well-known native preacher, David Malo, is one of those events which throw sorrow upon the hearts of the friends of the native race.”

“Seeing a white object on the very summit of Mt. Ball (a hill above Lahainaluna School), a day or two since, I inquired what it was.”

“It was David Malo’s tomb. And why was he buried in so strange spot? He wished it. He said this land would fall into the possession of foreigners.”

“Land in Lahaina would be valuable. The graveyards, enriched by the remains of the natives, would be coveted, and the contents of the graves scattered abroad.”

“He wished not his bones to be disturbed. Let him be buried on that summit where no white man will ever build his house.”

“And so his grave has become beacon; and if his spirit ever lingers over it, he can survey, as from lofty watch-tower, his former home, and the scene of many of his labors.” (Sereno Bishop; The Friend, November 16, 1853)

Malo’s grave is on Pu‘u Pa‘upa‘u (sometimes called Mt Ball) – that is the hill above Lahaina with the ‘L’ (standing for Lahainaluna, the school that Malo attended).

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David Malo grave