Peter T Young

November 14, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Seagull

“It happens every Friday evening, almost without fail … Old Ed comes strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand is a bucket of shrimp.”

“Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’”

“To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant …. maybe even a lot of nonsense. …” (Swindoll)

Let’s look back …

Edward Vernon ‘Eddie’ Rickenbacker had first gained fame as a racecar driver from 1912-1917, racing in a number of events including the first Indianapolis 500. He even broke the land speed record, reaching 134 mph. (Nye)

When the war to end all wars broke out (WWI), “he became the nation’s ‘Ace of Aces’ as a military aviator despite the fact that he had joined the Army as a sergeant-driver on Gen. John J. Pershing’s staff.”

“He was named by Gen. William Mitchell to be chief engineering officer of the fledgling Army Air Corps. His transfer to actual combat flying – in which he shot down 22 German planes and four observation balloons – was complicated …”

“… not only by his being two years over the pilot age limit of 25, but also because he was neither a college man nor a ‘gentleman’ such as then made up the aristocratic fighter squadrons of the air service.” (NY Times)

After the war, he delved first into the automobile industry and then wound his way back to aviation, eventually becoming president of Eastern Air Lines.

“A self-made man whose formal education ended with the sixth grade, Rickenbacker was a driving leader. He put the stamp of his dominant personality on everything he touched.” (NY Times)

In 1942, the Army Air Force asked Rickenbacker to consult on operations in the Pacific theater. It was a secret mission touring air bases around the world, but also to deliver a secret message to General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of Allied forces in the Southeast Pacific Theater.

With a $1 a day salary, he set out for a tour of the Pacific. He first visited Hawai‘i en route to bases from Australia to Guadalcanal.

On October 20, Rickenbacker inspected air units stations on O‘ahu. Evidence of the Pearl Harbor attack were still present – bullet holes pockmarked hangars, sandbags surrounded public buildings and armed patrols enforced nightly blackouts. (Lewis)

From Hickam, their first stop would be Canton Island, an atoll in the Phoenix archipelago where Pan American had established a base in 1938.

The following are portions of a speech given by John Bartek. It is an account of the flight of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker; Col. Hans Christian Adamson (Protocol Officer accompanying Rickenbacker); Capt. William T. Cherry, pilot; Lt. James C. Whittaker, co-pilot; Lt. John DeAngelis, navigator; Sgt. Frank Reynolds, radio operator; Pvt. John Bartek, flight engineer; and Sgt. Alex Kaczmarzyck, passenger returning to his unit after hospitalization.

“Well, anyway, as we approached the island we flew all night … as we approached the island we let down about an hour and a half ahead of time because we were on a secret mission. We just wanted to go in and locate the island without any interference.”

“Our time of arrival was overdue. In the meantime the navigator was beginning to look a little worried.”

“Oh, he said there was no problem. So then he called the island and he asked for lost plane procedure. But when he called about the lost plane procedure what took place then was the island called back and said we have had the equipment here for two weeks but we haven’t had time to set it up yet.”

“(W)e asked the island to fire anti-aircraft shells at 8,000 feet. We climbed to 8,000 feet to see whether we could see the burst at 8,000 feet. Well, we climbed to 8,000 feet and we didn’t see any burst for about a half an hour.”

“Captain Cherry then decided, well, the best we could do is we’ll fly around in what they call a square. You fly for maybe thirty minutes or forty-five minutes north, and you fly east, and you fly south, and then you fly west. We could look on each side of the plane to see whether we could see ships at sea or something down there.”

“Well, we flew the whole course and in the meantime we saw nothing out in the vast Pacific. We covered hundreds of miles and still nothing. I figured we would at least find somebody trying to get away from the war in some ship out there, some little sail boat or something, find the Japs or something, but there was nothing out there.”

“But we realized how big the ocean was.”

“So then Captain Cherry decided well, we’ve got to figure out a way to bring this plane in because we don’t have enough gas to go to the next island. … So we decided how we were going to ditch this plane.”

“Anyway, Captain Cherry was telling Rickenbacker how he would like to bring the plane in. Now no B-17 before had ever been brought in without cracking up in two and losing half of the crew.”

“I think first now we are coming in at a hundred miles an hour and when you are [up] a hundred feet or so a little bit everything looks still pretty quiet but as you get lower to the surface you realize that the waves are pretty high. We had about ten to fifteen foot waves out there and we were coming between the swells.”

“When we come between the swells I looked at Captain Cherry. He was in complete command of that ship. He knew exactly where he was going to put that plane. So I was pretty confident even coming in. I wasn’t scared, I was very confident. None of the men seemed to be scared of anything. I guess they had confidence in Cherry, too.”

“It suddenly started to flutter a little bit and in the meantime Captain Cherry hollered “cut.” When he hollered cut Cherry put the tail down in the water and that put a drag on the plane and then the plane flopped right down. It had flopped down but it stopped suddenly.” (All survived the crash.)

“When we come in and stopped the first thing I did I let one life raft out … In the meantime the other fellows were in the back of the plane they let the third raft down, but they had to do that by themselves. I got up on a fuselage and I got out to the wing and I saw the raft out there and the colonel and Rickenbacker was up there atop the fuselage.”

“(Cherry) was in the plane to see whether there was any food around so when we get to floating out there we’ve got something to eat. He come out with three oranges. Now DeAngelis who was in the raft in the back of the plane come out with one orange. So we had four oranges.”

“The first thing we did, we took inventory and the main thing is we didn’t have water, we didn’t have any food. We had a fishing line but that was sort of rotted. We had to double, triple up on that. We had about four fish hooks that weren’t too big. You couldn’t catch a big fish with it and we had no bait.”

“So the second day comes around we had an eighth of an orange and Rickenbacker was chosen to divide that orange. When I say an eighth of an orange I don’t think you’ve got scales in this whole university that could measure an eighth of an orange as accurate as he did.”

“An eighth of an orange with us hungry men all looking at that we made sure we got our eighth of an orange. No more and no less. One of the fellows says while we are eating the orange, he said don’t eat the peels. While thinking about that over a little bit, I said ‘I never heard of a man dying of eating orange peels but they do die of starvation.’”

“So the third day went on and we had another eighth of an orange and I figured today should be the day that the air force would be out to look for us because the search party had to go from Hawai‘i to Canton Island and then they had to get themselves together, oriented and then they would go search”.

“Now what happens is the nights are very cold. The nights are black, when I say black you don’t see anything. You can’t see your eyeball in front of you. I mean that’s how dark it is, you don’t see the other rafts. Plus on top of that it is cold and the salt spray gets on your face and gets on your eyes, and in the meantime we were thirsty, dying of thirst.”

“We didn’t have much to say because Eddie Rickenbacker told us we shouldn’t talk too much, we had to save the saliva in our mouth because when we dry it that would be the end. So the sixth day came along we had sighted nothing. No planes, no nothing but sharks.” (John Bartek)

“Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry,” that was the B-17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, “read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. “

“There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my yes to keep out some o the glare, I dozed off.” Now this is still Captain Rickenbacker talking … “

“‘Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food … if I could catch it.’”

“Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice.”

For 24 days, they were drifting; Navy pilots rescued the members of the crew on November 13, 1942, off the coast of Nukufetau near Samoa. The men were suffering from exposure, dehydration, and starvation. Rickenbacker completed his assignment and delivered his message to MacArthur, which has never been made public.

“You know that Captain Eddie made it. And you also know … that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening, about sunset … on a lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast … . you could see an old man walking … white-haired, bushy-eyebrowed, slightly bent.”

“His bucket filled with shrimp was to feed the gulls …. to remember that one which, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle … like manna in the wilderness.” (Harvey)

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November 13, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Missionaries to Government Service

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

A few of the missionaries left the mission and ultimately worked for the Hawaiian Government; for the most part, they left the mission because the King asked for their assistance working directly for the Kingdom. These included William Richards, Gerritt P Judd, Lorrin Andrews and Richard Armstrong.

William Richards

On October 30, 1822, William Richards married Clarissa, daughter of Levi Lyman, of Northampton, Massachusetts. On November 19, he, with his wife, joined the Second Company of American Protestant missionaries to Hawai‘i. After five months at sea they reached Honolulu on Sunday, April 27, 1823.

In May 1823, Richards and others escorted Keōpūolani (wife of Kamehameha I and mother of King Kamehameha II & III) and her husband Hoapili to Lahaina and set up the Lahaina Mission Station there.

In 1837, after fourteen years of labor, he made a visit to the US, accompanied by his wife and the six oldest children. The health of himself and his wife made such a change desirable, and he wished to provide for the education of his children there. On his return to his post in the spring of 1838, the king and chiefs, asked Richards to work directly with them.

Richards translated Dr Francis Wayland’s ‘Elements of Political Economy’ into Hawaiian and organized discussions with the Chiefs on constitutional governance. Richards was instrumental in helping to transform Hawai‘i into a modern constitutional state with a bill of rights (1839) and a constitution (1840.)

In 1842 he went abroad with Timoteo Haʻalilio as a diplomat seeking British, French and US acknowledgment of Hawaiian independence. William Richards later became the Minister of Public Instruction in 1846, an office which gave him a seat in the King’s Privy Council. and worked with the legislature to make education a legal mandate.

As a member of the Cabinet, he had a larger influence with the young king, probably, than any other persons. In addition to the discharge of the ordinary duties of a Cabinet officer, he preached regularly at the palace on Sunday evening.

On July 18, 1847, while he was at the palace he was suddenly attacked by illness which was brought on by overwork and which led to his of death (November 7, 1847 – at the age of 54.) “Perhaps no man has ever shared more largely in the affections of the Hawaiian people than did Mr. Richards.”

Gerritt P Judd

Judd was a medical missionary, part of the Third Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM.) Dr. Judd was sent to replace Dr. Abraham Blatchely, who, because of poor health, had left Hawaiʻi the previous year.

Judd had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician, intending to treat native Hawaiians for the growing number of diseases introduced by foreigners. He immersed himself in the Hawaiian community, becoming a fluent speaker of Hawaiian.

By letter dated May 15, 1842, Kamehameha III and Kekauluohi stated, “Salutations to you, GP Judd. You have been appointed Translator and Recorder for the Government, and for your support and that of your family, we consent that you be paid out of the Government money seven hundred and sixty dollars per annum, to commence from this day.”

As chairman of the treasury board Judd not only organized a system, he also helped to pay off a large public indebtedness and placed the government on a firm financial footing. In November 1843, Judd was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs, with the full responsibility of dealing with the foreign representatives. He was succeeded by Mr. RC Wyllie, in March 1845, and was then appointed minister of the interior.

In 1846, Judd was transferred from the post of minister of the interior to that of minister of finance (which he held until 1853, when by resignation, he terminated his service with the government.)

In 1852, Judd served with Chief Justice Lee and Judge John Ii on a commission to draft a new constitution. He wrote the first medical book in the Hawaiian language. Later, Judd formed the first Medical School in the Islands (the school had a Hawaiians-only admissions policy.) Judd participated in a pivotal role in Medicine, Finance, Law, Sovereignty, Land Tenure and Governance in the Islands. Gerrit P Judd died in Honolulu on July 12, 1873.

Lorrin Andrews

In November of 1827, Andrews and his wife of three months, Mary Ann, set sail for the Sandwich Islands in the Third Company of missionaries sent to Hawaii by the ABCFM; after a long and unpleasant journey, the party arrived in Maui in March of 1828. Lorrin Andrews became the assistant to Rev. William Richards at Lāhainā and began teaching.

In 1831, the General Meeting of the ABCFM recognized the need for an institution of higher education to train native teachers and other workers to assist in their missionary efforts, resulting in the establishment of the Lahainaluna Seminary.

The seminary was literally built from the ground up by its founding group of twenty-five scholars and Lorrin Andrews became its first principal. In 1834, Andrews had established a printing operation onsite at Lahainaluna. Ultimately, printing was done in Hale Pa‘i (which still stands today.) Lorrin Andrews is credited as the man most responsible for the development of engraving done at Lahianaluna.

Andrews wrote ‘A Vocabulary of Words in the Hawaiian Language.’ “At a general meeting of the Mission in June, 1834, it was voted, ‘That Mr. Andrews prepare a Vocabulary of the Hawaiian Language.

Andrews left the mission in 1842. He left the mission as a matter of conscience because the board in New England had accepted funds from slave owners. Also, in part, it was due to his concern for education of his children.

“On September 19, 1845, Governor Kekūanāo’a appointed former missionary Lorrin Andrews to be judge of foreign cases. Andrews had taught at the mission school at Lahainaluna and was an accomplished scholar of the Hawaiian language. He was not trained in law but was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.”

“His role in the courts was to initiate internal procedural uniformity. He began by issuing a “Lex Forti” containing twenty-one rules of practice. Although there were only three lawyers at this time practicing besides Attorney General John Ricord, who undoubtedly drafted the rules, this was the beginning of the internal regulation of the courts. Andrews handled his duties carefully and quietly and did not become notorious or a subject of diplomatic correspondence.”

Richard Armstrong

Richard Armstrong was with the Fifth Company of missionaries; they arrived on May 17, 1832. Armstrong was stationed for a year at the mission in Marquesas Islands; he then replaced the Reverend Green as pastor of Kaʻahumanu Church (Wailuku) in 1836, supervised the construction of two stone meeting houses one at Haiku, and the other at Wailuku. Reverend Green returned to replace Armstrong in 1840.

Between 1836 and 1842, Kawaiahaʻo Church was constructed. Revered as the Protestant “mother church” and often called “the Westminster Abbey of Hawai‘i” this structure is an outgrowth of the original Mission Church founded in Boston and is the first foreign church on O‘ahu (1820.)

Kawaiahaʻo Church was designed and founded by its first pastor, Hiram Bingham. Bingham left the islands on August 3, 1840 and never saw the completed church. Reverend Richard Armstrong replaced Bingham as pastor of Kawaiahaʻo.

Armstrong was pastor of Kawaiahaʻo Church from 1840 to 1848. In 1848 Armstrong left the mission and became Minister of Public Instruction on June 7, 1848, following the death of William Richards. Armstrong was to serve the government for the remainder of his life. He was a member of the Privy Council and the House of Nobles and acted as the royal chaplain.

He set up the Board of Education under the kingdom in 1855 and was its president until his death. Armstrong is known as the “the father of American education in Hawaiʻi.” The government-sponsored education system in Hawaiʻi is the longest running public school system west of the Mississippi River. To this day, Hawaiʻi is the only state to have a completely-centralized State public school system.

Armstrong helped bring better textbooks, qualified teachers and better school buildings. Students were taught in Hawaiian how to read, write, math, geography, singing and to be “God-fearing” citizens. (By 1863, three years after Armstrong’s death, the missionaries stopped being a part of Hawaiʻi’s education system.)

Above text is a summary – Click HERE for more information

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November 12, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ali‘i Letters Beretane to ABCFM (1852)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, EP Kamai Beretane writes to the ABCFM regarding the return of Rev. Hitchcock and his wife, their long dedication to the people of Molokai and the strides made in the betterment of the lifestyle there.

Harvey Rexford Hitchcock came with the fifth company of missionaries, founded the first church on Molokai and worked there for many years with his wife, Rebecca Howard.

EP Kamai Beretane – Also spelled Kamaipelekane, this man was a district judge on Molokai and went on to become a member of the house of representatives.

“Nov. 13, 1852”

“Na E.P. Kamai Beretane”

“To the Prudential Committee of the ABCFM”

“Salutations to you.”

“I am inconsiderable brother, living on Molokai declare to you my mind reporting the return of Mr and Mrs Hitchcock to meet with you in their native land. They return on account of their frequent infirmities.”

“They have persevered a long time but have no improvement in health among us. It is therefore thought best that they go there if perchance they may in some degree improve in health and then return.”

“But that is uncertain they may recover and may not, it is with God’s consent.”

“They return greatly beloved by us, very great are Our obligations, to them for their patience in teaching us religion, and teaching our schools.”

“Molokai excels all the islands of the group in peacefulness, docility, activity in every good event, and in the knowledge of the children, and members of the church; as well as in sound comfort – and in constituting [unintelligible] unanimously to all benevolent objects.”

“When they first landed on Molokai it was an ignorant and backward …and – poverty stricken land. seeing our distressed and death like condition.”

“They disregarded their life and devoted it and their strength for ours. From their first arrival 20 years and upward until the present time they have labored hard for our good. Constantly and immeasurably have thy been engaged for the benefit of the people.”

“They have consequently become sick and infirmed. They leave us greatly beloved and with our heartfelt pain, on their account
they also leave us, their children with heartfelt pain.”

“Our Step father father [unintelligible] with us Mr Andrews – Our own father leaves us it my chief – love is to my own father – that to the step father is only a part.”

“They two return greatly beloved by Hawaiians, and and with a name over their hearts which is better than gold or silver. I have done.”

“yours respectfully R. P. Kamai Beretane member of the Hawaiian Parliament & District judge of Molokai.”

Here’s a link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation:

https://hmha.missionhouses.org/files/original/0a0641a281a6b90c6f9f1d32016a9c60.pdf

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

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November 10, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bass Viol

The Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries landed at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820. There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity in this first company.

(King Kaumuali‘i sent his son Humehume (George Prince) to America to be educated. Humehume, and Thomas Hopu, William Kanui and John Honoliʻi were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School that came with the missionaries in 1820.)

“While the question of our settlement was pending, we invited and received the royal family on board the brig to dine. They came off in their double canoe, with waving kahilis and a retinue of attendants. His majesty, according to the taste of the time, having a malo or narrow girdle around his waist, a green silken scarf over his shoulder”.

“Happy to show civilities to this company, at our own table, we placed the king at the head of it, and implored the blessing of the King of kings, upon our food, and on the interview. All assembled on the quarter-deck of the Thaddeus; and the mission family with the aid of a bass-viol, played by George P Kaumuali‘i, and of the voices of the captain and officers, sang hymns of praise.”

(The bass viol (sometimes called the ‘church bass’) is similar to the cello, and is played while seated with the stringed instrument is between the legs.) (In what circumstances he acquired this large instrument and learned to play it is not documented. (Spoehr))

“Apparently pleased with this exercise, and with their interview with the strangers, our royal visitors gave us a friendly parting aloha, and returned with favorable impressions of the singular group of newcomers, who were seeking among them an abode in their isolated territories.”

“On the 7th, several of the brethren and sisters visited the king and chiefs, endeavoring to make their acquaintance and secure their confidence. On the 8th, we felt it necessary to ask of the king that a part of our mission might disembark at Kailua, and the rest at Honolulu, believing that it would be far better than for us all to leave the king, and go to Oahu, or for all to remain with him at Kailua, which he was proposing to leave ere long.” (Hiram Bingham)

“On the succeeding Sabbath, a similar opportunity occurred, when the songs of Zion, with the presence of Zion’s King, drew tears from a veteran resident, a self-expatriated American, who had not heard them before for twenty years, and who had a native wife, and a family of sons and daughters around him there, now to be taught the things of the world to come.”

“In these sacred songs, George P Kaumualii assisted both by his voice and the bass-viol. They appeared attractive to native ears, as well as to the naturalized foreigner, who had seen better days.” (Bingham)

“April 23 (1820) Sabbath. To day, for the first time, we have public worship on land. A considerable audience of European and American residents, masters and other officers of vessels, chiefs, sailors, and common natives assembled, in and about the house occupied by Mr. Bingham, to hear the sound of the gospel, for the first time on these long neglected heathen shores.”

“The discourse was from Luke ii. 10. ‘Fear not; fur behold I bring yon good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.’ The theme, the scene, the opening prospect, the dawning light of a brighter day, the incipient songs of Zion, conspire to animate out hearts, and to awaken an unusual joy in our soul …”

“… while we listened to the language of the messenger from heaven, and seemed to be favoured with the special presence of Him, who was born in the city of David, a Saviour, even Christ the Lord.”

“Our singing, aided by the bass viol, on which G. P. Tamoree (Prince George Kaumuali‘i) played, was pleasing to the natives, and will probably have a salutary influence in winning them to approve and to engage in Christian worship.” (Journal of the Mission, Missionary Herald, May, 1821)

“This George Tamoree (Kaumuali‘i,) a son of Tamoree (Kaumuali‘i,) king of Atooi (Kauai,) was for some time at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall, Connecticut (he was one of the founding students, (Chappell,)) and went out with the first missionaries that sailed to the Sandwich Islands.”

“All the religion, however, which he ever appears to have possessed, consisted in his being able to play well on a bass viol.”

“The father of George, we are told by the missionaries, was much pleased with the return of his son, and said “he must know a great deal, in order to play so skilfully.” (The Reformer, January 1, 1826)

After the Thaddeus departed, George remained in Kailua-Kona and took Betty Davis, the half-Hawaiian daughter of Isaac Davis, as his wife, or his “rib” as he described her. In a short time they rejoined the missionary party in Honolulu, having obtained passage on the ship Neo.

George, his “rib,” and his bass viol then embarked on the Thaddeus for Kauai. Samuel Ruggles and Samuel Whitney escorted him home to his father. The Thaddeus anchored at Waimea, Kauai, opposite the fort on May 3, 1820. George kept himself concealed in the cabin until he was sure of his welcome.

The affecting, tender reunion with his father has been amply recorded. Kaumualii rewarded the missionaries and Captain Blanchard well. He supplied the Thaddeus with 50 large hogs and generous amounts of yams, coconuts, sugar cane, and other items. To the mission in Honolulu he sent mats, oranges, pineapples, and one pig to Bingham and one to Chamberlain. For George’s passage, he gave Captain Blanchard sandalwood.

In late July, Ruggles and Whitney with their wives and young Nathan Chamberlain returned to Kauai to establish the mission. (Spoehr)

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November 9, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Waiolama

Ke one ‘anapa o Waiolama
The sparkling sand of Waiolama

This is an expression much used in chants of Hilo, Hawai’i. Waiolama is a place between Waiakea and the town of Hilo. It was said to have sand that sparkled in the sunlight. (Pukui, #1773)

The Waiolama marsh was just inland from the Hilo shoreline. This river/marsh area was also developed into a fishpond and was used for a unique type of kalo cultivation (kipikipi).

“In flat swampy ground earth is heaped up into long mounds 3 or 4 feet high and about 3 feet broad on top, each mound surrounded by water left standing in the ditches created by digging out and heaping up the earth.”

“The taro is planted around the lower margins of the mounds near the water; sweet potatoes are planted on top. This method of swamp-land planting finds its counterpart in the old style of mounding”. (Handy)

The ali‘i Ruth Ke‘elikolani had a house near the bay at Waiolama, and spent time there during her well-known 1880-81 visit to Pele, at which it was said she successfully stopped an advancing lava flow just over a mile above Hilo Bay.

In 1889, a small canal was dredged to divert some of the water from the Waiolama Marsh into the Wailoa River. The drainage canal was enlarged and paved between 1915 and 1917.

Then, in the early 1900s, the Territory of Hawai‘i saw the opportunity to drain and fill the land that “was valueless” to be “available for the growth of the business district of the city” and attain “a valuation greatly in excess of the cost of the filling and draining.”

In Hilo, the Waiolama Reclamation Project included the draining and filling of approximately 40-acres in the area between the Hilo Railway tract, Wailoa River, and Baker and Front Streets. It included diversion of the Alenaio Stream. (1914-1919)

“One of the most important undertakings on Hawaii has been the Waiolama Reclamation Project. The Lord-Young Engineering Company, Ltd., was awarded the contract for the reclamation of about forty acres of swamp land in the district between the Hilo Railway tract, Waioloa River, and Baker and Front streets, Hilo.”

“(T)here was a total flow of 36,000,000 gallons of water into the swamp, exclusive of storm water from the Alenaio Stream, and that the estimated cost of diverting this flow before it enters the swamp would be $33,800.00.” (Superintendent of Public Works Report, 1916)

“Over 215,000 cubic yards (CY) of fill material were needed. Of this, 207,000 CY of black sand were obtained from the nearby Bayfront Beach. The remaining 8,000 CY or so of fill material were obtained from the dredging spoils of the Waiolama Canal which was also a part of the project.”

The nearby Ponahawai Reclamation Project required another 32,000 cubic yards of fill material, all of which was obtained from the Bayfront Beach.

“In all, about 247,000 CY of fill material were required for the two projects. Approximately 239,000 CY of this total came from the Bayfront Beach.”

“Apparently, sand mining along the ocean side was also occurring at about this period. This was accomplished by the railroad company by using a rail-mounted crane with a clamshell to load gondola cars. The sand was used for bedding and a variety of construction purposes in East Hawaii.”

“On 16 December 1921, high waves undermined the railway and deposited sand at various areas. All of Mo‘oheau Park was inundated except for the inland-most 100 feet. Opposition was raised by the Hilo Railroad Company over the dredging of sand from the beach for the Ponahawai Reclamation Project.”

“They claimed that the dredging of sand from the earlier Waiolama project had compounded the heavy surf and had contributed to the undermining of the tracks through the removal of beach frontage.”

“It was at about this time that the railroad company began dumping stone to form a crude revetment at the western portion of the bayfront shoreline. After some delay, the railroad relented their objections to further dredging of beach sand. Then on 3 February 1923, a tsunami (again damaged the railroad tracks along Hilo’s bayfront shoreline.” (Army Corps)

Later, the Army Corps implemented the Alenaio Stream Flood Control project here. Completed in 1997, the project consists of a levee; channel, floodwall structures and other improvements.

Today, what was once a river and marshland … and unique kalo cultivation area is now open space and soccer fields at Hilo’s Bayfront area.

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