Peter T Young

July 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Loch Na Garr

“Away, ye gay landscapes!
Ye gardens of rose …”

Wait … while those are the beginning lines of the Loch Na Garr poem by Lord Byron, cousin of the captain of the Blonde who brought the bodies of King Liholiho and Kamāmalu back to Hawaiʻi, after they died of measles in England (1824) …

… this story is not about that Loch Na Garr, nor is it about ‘gay landscapes’ nor ‘gardens of roses.’

But it is about a king, Kamehameha V, and a boat, the Loch Na Garr, and unfortunately its cargo – deer – that dastardly do-bad to landscapes and native plants on Molokai, Lānaʻi and, now, unfortunately, Maui.

“A gentleman residing on the upper Ganges, where these deer abound, offered to supply them for transportation here, when Dr. Hillebrand was in Calcutta, and at his suggestion that His Majesty was desirous to obtain them, this consignment was made to Hong Kong.”

“Three bucks and four hinds have arrived safely. They have been well cared for on the voyage by Capt. Baskfill, and are the finest as well as largest number of deer imported here at any one time. They have been delivered to the King and will be sent to Molokai.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 17, 1867)

“These really beautiful animals, the spotted Indian deer brought by the Loch Na Garr, which lies at market wharf, have been visited by many of our residents the past week.”

“On Wednesday one of the hinds gave birth to a fine kid, as healthy and frisky as if born in his own mountain home. It is a male, and the officers of the ship have named him Kamehameha VI.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 21, 1867)

“They are the speckled Indian deer, a variety well adapted to domestication on our islands.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 17, 1867)

“(S)even in number, a present from the Hawaiian Consul at Hong Kong to the King. Eight were put on board, but one has died. The remainder are in very fine condition, having apparently improved on the voyage.”

“Some of them are quite young, and the horns of the bucks are in the process of growth showing the manner in which these ornamental appendages are formed.”

“All the animals are as tame as pet kids, and will be shipped to Molokai, as soon as the King’s yacht is ready to take them aboard.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1867)

“(T)he deer will be transferred to the King’s yacht, and taken to Molokai, where we hope they will rapidly increase and stock the whole island.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 21, 1867)

As the property on Molokai belonged to King Kamehameha V, he placed a kapu (prohibition) on the deer. The deer increased under this protection. They sought the mountain areas as their habitat because they were crowded out by the large herds of cattle that ranged on the low lands. (Cooke)

In this highland area in thirty years the deer increased to a great number. The American Sugar Co, Ltd built a forest fence to keep the cattle from entering the forest. This however did not keep out the deer.

In November 1898, the sugar company hired two professional hunters from California to shoot off the deer. These men were engaged at forty dollars per month with perquisites and were allowed to sell the skins.

It is commonly reported that these two men, in the year in which they operated, killed between 3,500 and 4,000 deer. (Cooke)

Molokai was not the only island to get these deer. Shortly after Harry A Baldwin and his brother, Frank, had purchased the island of Lānaʻi from the Lānaʻi Company in 1917, they wished to stock that island with deer.

The Molokai folks sold them for $50 apiece. In lieu of ranch wages, cowboys captured and transported the deer for half the amount that the Baldwins would pay.

Twelve deer in all were captured. They were then loaded on to a truck, caged then sent over on a large sampan, “Makaiwa.” When near the shore of that island, the cage was opened and the deer allowed to swim ashore. (Cooke)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Deer on Molokai – Lanai

July 15, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kau Ka Lā I Ka Lolo

“Kau ka lā i ka lolo, a hoʻi ke aka i ke kino” is a phrase designating high noon; the time when “the sun is directly overhead and the shadow retreats into the body,” or, more literally, “rests the strong sun on the brain, and retreats the shadow into the body.”

“In the beliefs of old Hawaiʻi, morning was masculine and afternoon was feminine. Once a day, the two met in a brief union. Morning then retired, his day’s work done; Afternoon took over. At the time of this meeting, no shadow could be seen.”

“Man’s own mysterious aka (shadow) neither followed nor preceded him nor paced at his side. Instead it retreated into the body, directly into the brain.”

“Near the very region of the spirit pit (tear duct of the eye) through which one’s own living spirit might exit and return in the wanderings of dreams. In the topmost part of the entire poʻo (head), sacred to the aumākua (ancestor gods.)

“In view of all this, what we now call ‘high noon’ was thought a time of great mana (spiritual power.)” (QLCC)

It is suggested that “Kau ka lā i ka lolo, a hoʻi ke aka i ke kino” applies to the sun’s position around noon on any date; but there are times when the sun is exactly overhead.

The Earth’s subsolar point is the point on our globe ‘directly under the Sun’ (where the Sun appears directly overhead.) It’s location is always changing, this point circles the globe once a day.

In addition, once each year it gradually migrates north and then south over the equator, its yearly northernmost and southernmost limits respectively defining the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

This site lets you see where the subsolar point is at your search time (to update, reload):

ttp://www.skymarvels.com/infopages/vids/Earth%20-%20Sub-solar%20Point%20001.htm

Equinoxes occur when the subsolar point crosses the equator, once in March (the Vernal Equinox) and again in September (the Autumnal Equinox.)”

In the tropics, the sun passes directly overhead twice during the year; in Hawaiʻi this happens about a month before and after the Summer Solstice (June 20/21) when the Sun is at the highest point in the sky around noon.

This ‘overhead noon’ is sometimes called ‘shadowless noon’ or ‘zenith noon.’ Here in the islands, a term we use for zenith noon is ‘Lāhainā Noon’ (when the sun is directly overhead and many vertical objects cast no shadows.)

This is a modern term, selected by Bishop Museum in a 1990 contest held to select a name for the zenith noon phenomenon. (However, the exact time of Lāhainā Noon is not necessarily ‘noon.’)

The term ‘Lā hainā’ means ‘cruel sun’ in Hawaiian, and while the sun in the islands is almost never ‘cruel,’ it can be pretty intense as it shines directly down from the zenith. (Bishop Museum)

Here’s a link showing shadows leading to Lāhainā noon:

Dates/Times for Lāhainā noon, 2016
Līhuʻe ………….July 11 12:42 pm
Kāne‘ohe……..July 15 12:37 pm
Honolulu………July 15 12:37 pm
Kaunakakai…..July 16 12:34 pm
Lānaʻi City…….July 18 12:34 pm
Lāhainā………..July 18 12:33 pm
Kahului………..July 18 12:32 pm
Hāna……………July 18 12:30 pm
Hilo…………….July 24 12:27 pm
Kailua-Kona….July 24 12:30 pm
South Point….July 28 12:28 pm

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Lahaina Noon-Skygate-HnlMag

Lahaina Noon-togashi

Lahaina Noon-Skygate

Lahaina Noon-imgur

Lahaina Noon-alohavalley

Lahaina Noon-melinda

Lahaina Noon-nichols

July 14, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Pierpoint

The December 5, 1874 issue of the Los Angeles Herald noted, “The telegraph line along the railroad is to be built under the superintendence of Mr John Cassidy, who arrived for that purpose yesterday.”

John Cassidy, an associate of Mr Alexander Graham Bell, was the builder of the first railroad telegraph line in California. He then came to the Islands at the time the telephone services were starting.

“Honolulu was among the first cities of the world to take up the telephone practically, and as far back as the year 1880 it is to be noted that it had more telephones than any other city of the same size in the world.”

“The honor of introducing the telephone in the Islands belongs to Senator Charles H. Dickey, who brought a set of instruments to Maui and used them there; this was in the early part of 1878, barely two years after the original patent had been granted to Alexander Graham Bell.”

“And in the latter part of the same year, Mr SG Wilder, Minister of the Interior, installed a set of instruments connecting the government building in Honolulu with the office of his lumber business some distance away.”

“The practicability of the telephone thus being demonstrated, King Kalākaua purchased telephones for the Palace and had them in operation for some time, these instruments being on exhibition at the Bishop Museum at the present time.”

“In the year 1879 the first telephone company was organized and incorporated under the name of ‘The Hawaiian Bell Telephone Co,’ and on December 30, 1880, began giving service in the City of Honolulu.”

“Starting with thirty instruments in operation, this number was considered at the time to be satisfactory, or enough for all time to come; but in this they were mistaken, for the number has always been steadily on the increase.” (Chamber of Commerce Annual Report, 1912)

“Mr. Cassidy has been in the telephone business here almost since it started. He was Superintendent of the old Bell Company during its existence, and when the consolidation with the Mutual Company took place he was made manager and has conducted the business satisfactorily.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 2, 1896)

“Mr. Cassidy remained with the Mutual company for several years, going to the Coast finally with a view to remaining there permanently; but the lure of the Pacific was greater than he could stand and he came back and entered the service of the Hawaiian Electric Company, where he now is.” (Advertiser, December 12, 1909)

Back in 1891, at Kālia, the ‘Old Waikiki’ opened as a bathhouse, one of the first places in Waikīkī to offer rooms for overnight guests. Then, “Ripley & Dickey, the architects are about completing plans for a new beach home for John Cassidy …. It will be one of the handsomest houses in that section of the city, which is noted for the number of its beautiful and comfortable residences.”

“The house will be two stories, of frame. It will be of the chalet type a German adaptation of the Swiss style. The exterior will be very pretty and the interior will be nicely finished.”

“Mr. Cassidy’s beach lot is a large one adjoining the premises of John Ena in Old Waikiki. The house at present occupied will be moved back and leased. … There will soon be a call for tenders for construction of the home. (Hawaiian Gazette, February 18, 1898) The Old Waikiki later served as a boarding house.

Cassidy died on March 9, 1915, at the age of 71. Advertisements shortly thereafter note his widow, Eliza E Cassidy, offering “The Pierpoint, formerly Cassidy, only home hotel, Waikiki Beach; consists of individual cottages and single rooms; cuisine excellent; 1000-ft promenade pier at the end of which is splendid bathing pool and beautiful view.” (Star Bulletin, May 15, 1916)

It appears the name of this new use as a hotel was geographical; the pier extended 1,000-feet out into the ocean from a point … a promotional item from Child’s Blaisdell Hotel noted it as a “Pier on a Point.” The pier had moments of excitement …

“When Arthur E. Troiel speared a conger-eel off the end of Cassidy’s pier at Pierpont Wednesday night he ran all the way home, donned his bathing suit and assisted in landing the big fellow before he could fully realize that he had not caught a whale or at least a shark.”

“Thereafter he was the pride of the fair ones and the envy of the stronger sex along the beach. By day Troiel works for J Hopp & Company.” (Star Bulletin, November 9, 1916)

Later Pierpoint became the Waikiki Annex for downtown Honolulu’s Blaisdell Hotel. In the early 1920s, nearby quaint clusters of cottages known as Cressaty’s Court and Hummel’s Court offered simple lodging. (Waikīkī Historic Trail)

The Pierpoint Hotel, Hummel’s Court and Cressaty’s Court, all located at Kālia, were acquired by the Heen Investment Company in May of 1926.

The six acres were re-landscaped, the cluster of cottages was renovated, and a new main building was added with the Tapa Room and a dance floor. The site, renamed Niumalu Hotel, meaning “sheltering palms,” opened in 1928. (Cord International)

Henry J Kaiser bought it and adjoining property and started the Kaiser Hawaiian Village (1955.) He sold to Hilton Hotels in 1961 and the property (now totaling 22-acres) continues to be known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Pierpoint-pier-Atkins

Fort_DeRussy_before_Maluhia_Recreation_Center-(HABS)-1938-noting location of Pierpoint

End of the Pierpoint Pier-BidStart

Pierpoint-walk way-Atkins

Pierpoint-ocean frontage-pier-Atkins

Pierpoint-house-Atkins

On the porch of a cottage at the Pierpoint Hotel-sallysdiaries4

Pierpoint-beach_lawn_frontage-Atkins

Niumalu Hotel Tarrant

Hummels Court-Tarrant

Cressatys Court-Tarrant

Kewalo-Ala_Wai_aerial-(UH_Manoa)-1927-portion-noting pier-lower

Ala_Wai-Channel_being_dredged-UH_Manoa-(2411)-1952-portion

John_Cassidy-PCA-Jan_17,_1907

Pierpont Hotel Ad-Hnl_SB-Sept 10, 1917

July 13, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Shoyu

The soybean finds numerous uses, it can be eaten cooked, ground into flour (kinako / roasted soy flour) or used for the manufacture of shoyu, miso or tofu.

The bean, its seed coat, pod, leaves and stem serve as feed for animals. It has been used on a trial basis to feed sheep, and the results proved that ‘it was the best feed that one could give to them.’

Soybeans originate from China. In 2853 BC, Emperor Sheng-Nung of China named five sacred plants – soybeans, rice, wheat, barley and millet. They were domesticated between 17th and 11th century BC in the eastern half of China, where they were cultivated into a food crop.

In 1868, the first 153-Japanese immigrants arrived in Honolulu on board the 3-masted sailing ship Scioto (Saioto-go.) They brought with them miso and shoyu.

The Japanese word for ‘soy sauce’ is shoyu; it derives from and is written with the same characters as the jiangyou. The various early English words for soy sauce, soy and soya, came from the Japanese word for soy sauce, shoyu, rather than from the Chinese word, jiangyou.

More started coming to Hawai‘i. In 1893, a report of Japan’s Department of Agriculture and Commerce noted Exports (Class 22) include “Soy. The total value of the latest export is 41,029 yen, and chiefly exported to Hawai‘i.”

Ingredients include equal parts dehulled wheat, soybeans and salt; a small part of the wheat is mixed with Koji (the steamed rice in sake) and allowed to ferment.

The best salt comes from Ako in the province of Harima. The salt is purified by dissolving then heating it in water, and stirring the mash (2 or 3 times a day from June to September), aging for 15, 20 or sometimes 30 months to obtain shoyu.

The mash in then pressed in cotton sacks and the resulting liquid is boiled, cooled, allowed to settle, then stored in small wooden tubs. The residue from the first pressing can be used to make a second-grade shoyu, which can be mixed in varying proportions into different grades of shoyu. (Le Japon à l’Exposition Universelle de 1878 (Japan at the Universal Exposition of 1878))

“The first Japanese who lived in Hawaii and brewed shoyu there was Jihachi Shimada, who originally came from Yamaguchi-ken, Japan.”

“He started in June 1891 and tried to make shoyu on a large scale. But bad transportation made it difficult for him to expand his market. This plus lack of capital forced him to quit.” (Soyinfo Center)

“The Japanese in Hawaii depended upon shoyu imported from Japan until Nobuyuki (Yamakami) started making shoyu in 1904.”

Then, in 1905, Yamajo Soy Co. (Yamajo Shoyu Seizo-sho) started to make shoyu in Honolulu. Established by Yamakami, it is the first successful shoyu manufacturer in Hawaii. By 1909, it was renamed Hawaiian Soy Co Ltd.

Back in Japan, 19 soy sauce brewers organized an association in Noda to ship soy sauce mainly to Edo. By the mid-nineteenth century, Noda had become the largest soy sauce producer in the Kanto region.

In 1917, the Mogi family, the Takanashi family and the Horikiri family merged their businesses to form Noda Shoyu Co., Ltd. In 1964, Noda Shoyu Co, Ltd. changed its corporate name to Kikkoman Shoyu Co, Ltd. In 1980, this trade name was altered to the company’s current name: Kikkoman

“The origin of the brewing of the ‘Kikkôman’ brand of soy, reputed to be the leader among the best varieties, dates back about 120 years (ie to about 1790.)”

“Ever since the honoured founder of the firm inaugurated the brewing of soy, the succeeding proprietors have all been men of great ability, who have succeeded in extending the business generation by generation, as well as improving the quality of the product.”

“In the year 1838, when Mr. Saheiji Mogi, fifth of the line, was the head of the firm, it was appointed by special warrant purveyor to the Household of the Tokugawa Shoguns …”

“… having been ordered to supply the Household and the Heir-Apparent every year with a large quantity of soy, a custom which was continued until the overthrow of the Shogunate in 1868.”

“The chief point worthy of special mention in regard to the ‘Kikkoman’ firm is the fact of its having been chiefly instrumental in making Japanese soy known and appreciated in foreign countries, more than half the total amount of soy exported to foreign countries at present being the ‘Kikkoman’ brand.”

“On the occasion of the International Exhibition held in Vienna, Austria, in 1873, when the Japanese Government participated for the first time in such an undertakings, the ‘Kikkoman’ soy was among the exhibits.”

“Being deemed by the judges far superior both in regard to taste and colour to the sauce usually used as a condiment, the ‘Kikkoman’ soy was awarded the gold of honour.”

In 1957, Kikkoman opened its first overseas sales base in San Francisco. To meet steadily increasing demand, Kikkoman then built its first overseas production plant in the United States in 1973 (in Walworth, Wisconsin.)

In 1946, a small shoyu (soy sauce) manufacturing plant was established in Kalihi, Hawai‘i by five local Japanese families amidst post World War II. It became known as Aloha Shoyu.

In 1965, Diamond Teriyaki Sauce started to be made in Honolulu. This is the world’s earliest known commercial teriyaki sauce. It is made from soy sauce, mirin (sweet sake) and a flavor enhancer. (Lots of information here is from Soyinfo Center.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Kikkoman

Kikkoman-gallon can

aloha

Diamond

Soy bean crop on Kauai

Soybean-USDA

Shoyu_Making

Shoyu vats

Shoyu_Making-fermenting

soy and shoyu

July 12, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Wailupe Naval Radio Station

“Navy officials said they received a garbled radio message early today, purported to have been sent by Amelia Earhart, which indicated her plane was sinking.”

“The message received by three navy operators was pieced together as follows: ‘281 north Howland call KHAQQ beyond north won’t hold with us much longer above water shut off.’”

“The operators said keying of the message was poor and they were able only to pick up the fragments of it was received between 4:30 am and 5:30 am Pacific coast time.” (Bakersfield Californian, July 5, 1937)

Reanalysis of the credible post-loss signals supports the hypothesis that they were sent by Earhart’s Electra from a point on the reef at Nikumaroro, about a quarter-mile north of the shipwreck of the British freighter SS Norwich City. (NBC)

The signal was picked up by radiomen at the US Naval Radio Station in Wailupe, O‘ahu.

“The Navy purchased a piece of land at Wailupe for the temporary station and it was very temporary as plans were in the making for a permanent station at Wailupe.”

The temporary station at Wailupe was built around the first part of 1919 and personnel moved there to allow the Kahuku and Koko Head stations to be remodeled. Almost the entire crew of operators at Koko Head was sent to Wailupe.

“There were three booths, more like chicken coops, scattered on the beach. Each booth, of crude construction, had room for two circuits. The roofs leaked and some of the operators had to sit under an umbrella suspended from the ceiling to keep water off the equipment.”

“We stood a three section watch, seven days a week, no rotation of watches, no days off. Straight 8 on and 16 off, and that’s the way it was at the start of NPM (long distance radio station at Pearl Harbor) at Wailupe as a Government and commercial traffic station.” (Phelps)

The station was completed early in 1921. It was a rectangular, one story building on pilings out over the water to provide more land space for the proposed officer’s quarters, two duplex quarters and the single men’s barracks.

The building was divided into compartments or booths, seven on each side separated by a hallway extending the full length of the building. The wireroom had Morse code landline circuits to the Old Naval Station in Honolulu (HU) for transmission of commercial, other government department traffic and press news dispatches for the Honolulu newspapers

One additional set of duplex quarters was built between the two original duplexes. A tennis court, swimming pool and recreation building had been constructed. A diversity receiving station had been built on the hill behind the quarters.

Facilities at Wailupe in 1939 were meager, and an entirely new receiving and control station was under construction. At Wailupe in December 1941 there were seventy-six men operating twelve positions to receive and send naval dispatches.

After the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy realized that the station at Wailupe on the seacoast was very vulnerable to attack.

So, on the morning of December 10, 1941, the District Communication Officer decided to have all radio equipment at Wailupe moved to Wahiawa.

(Wahiawa was originally established in 1940 as a temporary Naval Radio Station and Naval Radio Direction Finder Station, but the need to expand receiving facilities and to separate transmitting and receiving facilities forced expansion at NCTAMS PAC Wahiawa.)

The Wahiawa site was an excellent receiving area arid the best protected radio station of the entire district. Relocation was completed on December 17 without interruption of communications. (Todd)

With the outbreak of World War II, the Coast Guard established a Training Station in early spring 1942 at the former Naval Radio Station at Wailupe. One of the most important schools at the Training Station was the 16-week Radioman School.

There were approximately 20 students per class, with the first class beginning in March 1942. In November 1943, the Coast Guard assumed control of all inter-island communications for the Navy. As a result of the increased traffic, a new primary radio station was constructed on the site of the Wailupe Training Station.

However, the Coast Guard felt “the site of the present District primary radio station at Wailupe is far from satisfactory because of lack of space and the character of the terrain which prevents the proper separation of transmitting and receiving antenna systems.”

During the period of September – October 1958, the receiver site and administrative spaces were moved to Wahiawa. (Coast Guard)

Eventually, the area makai of Kalanianaʻole Highway was transferred and is now Wailupe Beach Park; the Coast Guard maintains housing and recreational facilities, mauka of the highway. (Lots of information and images here are from Phelps, Todd and virhistory-com.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger