Peter T Young

December 16, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Everybody Has It – Everybody Needs It

“The most interesting medical journal that has come to this desk in a long time is Number 3 of the first volume of the Hawaii Medical Journal. Although the publication date given on the cover is January, the Journal did not arrive until the middle of April.” (North Carolina Medical Journal, May, 1942)

“The delay in the publication of this issue of the Journal is due in part to the pressure of activity following the events of December 7th (1941) which delayed the preparation of material by the authors and in part to the necessity for securing permission from the office of the Military Governor for continuance of publication. That permission was finally received on January 15th…”

“The whole issue breathes the spirit of American medicine at its best. The first page of reading matter is headed ‘War Came to Hawaiʻi’, and briefly retells the story of the Pearl Harbor tragedy.”

“A dramatic story of the Honolulu Blood and Plasma Bank is told by its director, Dr Forrest J Pinkerton. He first tells of how ‘wounded men … very evidently marked for death … still live because of the life-giving plasma poured back into their veins.”

“A call for donors was broadcast over local radio stations and the response was overwhelming. From a previous maximum of 8-donors a day, 4-days a week, volunteers were now being bled at the rate of 50 an hour, 10-hours a day, 7-days a week. This continued over a period of 2-weeks. Every available doctor and nurse was enlisted to assist.”

“Men and women waited in line for hours. Soldiers stood their guns with fixed bayonets in the surgery hallway and rolled up their sleeves and helped; sailors gave their few precious hours of liberty to wait their turn. Mothers asked strangers to hold their small children and took their turns on the surgery tables.”

“Civilian defense workers from Pearl Harbor, and workers from Red Hill, red eyed from long hours of welding, stopped by to donate before snatching a few hours rest.”

“A crew of husky iron workers in their oily work clothes came en masse; whole crews from dry docks and inter-island steamships; the dock workers and society folks waiting in line side by side to do their part. Sugar and pineapple plantation employees came direct from their work in the fields…”

“The question most commonly asked was ‘How soon can I come again?’” (North Carolina Medical Journal, May, 1942)

Founded in 1941, the organization was originally known as the Honolulu Blood and Plasma Bank operating out of The Queen’s Hospital.

The Blood Bank operated as a war-time agency with the outbreak of World War II returning to its civilian status in 1942. Over the years, the name changed to Blood Bank of Hawaiʻi, services were expanded to include neighbor island blood drives and Hawaii’s unique ethnic population became nationally recognized as a source for many types of rare blood.

Later, to encourage folks to donate, ‘Fang’ called into Aku’s morning radio program (Hal Lewis – J Akuhead Pupule) to announce a coming Blood Drive. That was Betsy Mitchell (the Blood Lady;) she was Director of Donor Recruitment and Community Relations for the Blood Bank.

The Mitchells used to live in our old neighborhood on Aumoana on Kaneohe Bay Drive. In the early-‘80s she moved to Volcano, co-founded and was past president of the Cooper Center Council, and was one of the most energetic and community-minded people you would ever meet. Unfortunately, Betsy passed away on December 16, 2013.

I looked forward to the monthly meetings we had in Volcano; I think of Betsy a lot, especially when I give blood.

Unlike the post-Pearl Harbor waiting lines to give blood, the Blood Bank of Hawai‘i needs folks to drop into their offices or mobile locations to make donations to meet Hawaiʻi’s needs; they require approximately 250 donors every day.

There’s no substitute for blood. If people lose blood from surgery or injury, or if their bodies can’t produce enough, there is only one place to turn – volunteer blood donors.

You may donate if you are in good health, weigh at least 110 pounds, have a valid photo ID with birth date and are at least 18 years old (or 17 years old with signed Blood Bank parent/legal guardian consent form.)

Every donor completes a health history questionnaire and screening interview to identify behaviors that indicate a high risk for carrying blood borne disease. There is strict confidentiality.

They like my blood (O-negative,) it’s a universal donor type (can be transfused to almost any patient in need;) I’m also CMV-negative (not been exposed to the cytomegalovirus (so I am a ‘baby donor.’))

They regularly call me for donations – there is an 8-week wait period between donations. I was called again last week. The process is relatively painless – the worst part for me is when they pull the tape holding the needle down and it pulls the hair on my arm.

Please consider giving blood.

More on the Blood Bank of Hawaii here:
http://www.bbh.org

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Blood Bank of Hawaii

December 15, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Mastiff

“We have received from Captain Hart of the Achilles an extract from the log of that ship signed by the captain, officers and cabin passengers of the vessel containing a full and interesting account of the loss of the Mastiff by fire as viewed from the Achilles.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 18, 1910)

“By the arrival of the British ship Achilles, which anchored off this port yesterday afternoon, we have news of the burning of the clipper ship Mastiff, on the route from San Francisco to Hongkong, via Honolulu.”

“The ship Mastiff, under command of Wm O Johnson, Esq, sailed from San Francisco, Saturday, Sept. 10th, having on board, twenty-six men, officers and crew” (and 175 Chinese between decks.) The ship was bound to Hongkong”.

“On Tuesday, the 13th, we raised a ship right ahead, which afterward proved to be the British ship Achilles, and continued in company with her until Thursday, at 4 PM, wind being very light”.

“At this time, the Achilles, being on our lee quarter, and about 5 miles distant, the second mate, Mr. Johnson, descried smoke coming out of the ventilators, which were situated in the after part of the ship, and immediately communicated the fact to the Captain and passengers, who were on the quarter deck.”

“At six and half o’clock, the flames burst out at all points, and the ship was left to her fate, Capt Johnson being the last man to leave, and having the satisfaction of knowing that but one life was lost, that of a Chinaman who went below, to get the key of his iron chest which he had got on deck; he was smothered.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 28, 1859)

Wait … this story isn’t about the destruction of the Mastiff, this is about the dedication of a mastiff to his master.

Evelaina was the English mastiff of Kamehameha III.

She originally was a gift to the king. She understood commands in both Hawaiian and English. (Hawaiian History & Culture)

Kamehameha III died on December 15, 1854.

I’ll let the February 19, 1857 story in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser tell the rest of the story …

“Among the instances of strong attachment of dogs to their masters, many interesting tales have been recorded, but we do not recollect one where more endurance and constancy has been displayed than in an instance which many have witnessed here during the past two years.”

“When the remains of our late beloved King, Kamehameha III, were deposited in the sepulchre, many were the sad mourners who watched night and day, lamenting in heart-rending wailing the death of their King, friend and benefactor.”

“Weeks wore on, and human grief was moderated, if not assuaged; the mourners quietly departed and returned to their homes and occupations.”

“Not so the late King’s favorite mastiff.”

“When the body was deposited in its last resting place, ‘Evelaina’ took his station outside the door of the tomb, and there commenced his weary watch.”

“For many weeks he would not leave the spot.”

“After a time, food was not taken to him, and at last, driven by hunger and thirst, he was compelled to leave; but, having satisfied these wants, he returned to his post, and has thus kept watch for nearly two years.”

“Of late his keepers have tried to confine him, but he is frequently missing, and, if searched for, will be found guarding the mortal remains of him he loved so well.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 19, 1857)

The dutiful dog passed away some seven years after Kamehameha III and the then-Prince and Interior Minister Lot Kapuāiwa Kamehameha had the dog put in a coffin and buried in Waikiki.

When Prince Lot ascended the throne as Kamehameha V and began to transfer the bodies of the late sovereigns from Pohukaina to Mauna ʻAla in 1865.

He also ordered the body of Evelaina to be buried at Mauna ʻAla under a tree behind the main chapel so she could continue to guard her beloved master. (Hawaiian History & Culture) (The dog here is representative, not Evelaina.)

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December 14, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mauka-Makai Watch

Before I became Chair and Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources I was Deputy Managing Director for Hawaiʻi County. I had regular (daily) interaction with the Police Department on a wide variety of issues.

Police tell us that an engaged community is one of the best ways to reduce crime. They then help organize and support Neighborhood Watch programs across the Islands.

It’s a program that discourages preventable crime by organizing awareness meetings to help neighbors get to know one another and look out for each other, and recognize and report suspicious activity.

At DLNR, we initiated the Mauka-Makai Watch program. It’s modeled after the successful Neighborhood Watch program; the intent is to get communities working with resource managers and enforcement.

However, here community volunteers focus on natural and cultural resources, especially the coastline and nearshore waters, when partnering with Department of Land and Natural Resources DLNR enforcement officers.

The program incorporated experience DLNR had with the Miloliʻi community, with the assistance of The Nature Conservancy and the Community Conservation Network, as well as with the Wai ‘Opae community.

The Mauka-Makai Watch program is based on the idea that the people who use, live closest to or are involved with the resources are in the best position to help in ensuring compliance with resource protection and preservation. Think of it as a community “watch” program in the forests and/or coastal areas.

It’s not about vigilantism or exclusion, but simply a willingness to help prevent wrong-doing through presence and education, look out for suspicious activity, monitor and care for the resources, and report inappropriate activity to law enforcement and to each other.

The program is flexible and versatile; it can focus on marine and coastal related context under a “Makai Watch” reference, or it can center on forest, hunting or other inland issues under a “Mauka Watch” reference. Or, it can incorporate a broad, comprehensive network linking inland and coastal matters under a Mauka-Makai Watch.

Most attention has been to the “Makai” aspect of the program. Makai Watch focuses on caring for near-shore marine resources with the active participation of local communities.

Makai Watch volunteers in over ten communities across the state serve as the ‘eyes and ears’ for conservation and resource enforcement officials (DLNR-DOCARE), as well as help monitor and protect the resources.

The Makai Watch Program was initially created as a partnership effort by the DLNR and several non-governmental organizations including Community Conservation Network (CCN), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Hawaii Wildlife Fund (HWF) and several community-based organizations.

Community-supported natural and cultural resource protection and preservation programs represent a win-win opportunity. DLNR wants and needs citizens to take more personal and collective responsibility for protecting the resources.

Over the years, DLNR has developed various programs to involve communities in resource protection and management. Until now, these programs worked interdependently and, although very successful, lacked a coordinated effort by the department.

When the community is part of an ongoing stewardship-type presence and educational outreach, they can help monitor and care for the resources. This protection can also extend to being aware of suspicious activity, and reporting it to each other and law enforcement.

The Makai Watch Program has grown over the past 10-years and DLNR partners with communities and non-governmental organizations including The Nature Conservancy, Kua‘aina Ulu Auamo, Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund, Project SEA-Link and funding provided by Conservation International Hawaii and the Harold K Castle Foundation.

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December 13, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Waʻa O Maui

The Wailuku is the longest river in Hilo (twenty-six miles.) Its course runs from the mountains to the ocean along the divide between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The Wailuku is the boundary between Hilo Palikū in the north and Hilo One on the south.

There are many vague stories as to why the Wailuku River was so named. Wailuku literally means “destroying water.” Legends connected with the Wailuku tend to confirm the belief that it was named for its violent habits.

In olden times before there were bridges and other safeguards, the river wrought considerable damage to property and during the rainy season it took its toll of human lives. (Hapai)

Waiānuenue Avenue (rainbow (seen in) water) is named for the most famous waterfall, Ka Wailele ʻO Waiānuenue, Rainbow Falls on the Wailuku River. The goddess Hina once lived in the cave beneath and behind the waterfall. Maui was her son.

The stories of Maui are common old tales and speak of a real voyager who traveled throughout the islands of the Pacific, a sailor of great renown deified for his deeds; hence, the commonality of the tale.

He raised the islands the same way sailors have always raised islands, by sailing towards it until the land rises from the sea above the horizon. The story of Maui is a tale of discovery. (Kaulukukui)

In many of the accounts Maui is a mischievous trickster, stealing the secret of fire and helping his mother to dry kapa by lassoing the sun to slow its progression across the sky. (Bishop Museum)

It is on the Wailuku River that we still see the evidence of Maui in Hilo – Ka Waʻa O Maui – the Canoe of Maui.

Far above Rainbow Falls, in the bed of the river, dwelt Kuna. The district through which that portion of the river runs bears to this day the name “Waikuna” or “Kuna’s river.” Kuna was a mo’o (lizard, reptile of any kind, dragon, serpent; water spirit.)

Kuna often tormented Hina in her rocky cave behind Rainbow Falls by sending over great torrents of water or by rolling logs and boulders down the stream. Quite often he would block the stream below the falls to dam the river and drown Hina.

But Hina was well protected. Her cave was large and the misty cloud of spray from the falling waters helped to conceal it. So in spite of the frequent floods and many threats from Kuna, Hina paid him little attention.

On many days Hina was alone, while her son, Maui, was away on one of his numerous expeditions. Even then she did not mind this, for should any danger befall her she had a peculiar cloud servant which she called ao-o-pua (a sharp pointed cloud.)

If Hina were in trouble this ao-o-pua would rise high above the falls, taking an unusual shape. When Maui saw this warning cloud he would hurry home at once to his mother’s side.

One night while Maui was away from home on the Island of Maui, where he had gone to bargain with the Sun, a storm arose. The angry waters roared about the mouth of Hina’s cave.

Kuna, aware of the situation, was quick to take advantage of the situation. Calling upon his powers he lifted an immense boulder and hurled it over the cliffs. It fitted perfectly where it fell between the walls of the gorge and blocked the rush of the hurrying torrent.

Hina slept until the cold waters entered the cave, rapidly creeping higher and higher until they reached her where she slept.

Startled, she sprang to her feet, and her cries of panic resounded against the distant hills. Again and again, her voice went out from the cave. It pierced through the storms and the clouds. It swept along the side of the great mountain. It crossed the channel between the islands of Hawaii and Maui.

Ao-o-pua rose swiftly above the falls when Hina cried for aid and then, assuming a peculiar shape, stood high above the hills that Maui might see it.

Through the darkness Maui could see the strange warning cloud, unusually large and mysterious. With his mother’s cries ringing in his ears he bounded down the mountain to his canoe. Pushing it into the sea, with two mighty strokes of his paddle, he crossed the sea to the mouth of the Wailuku river.

A long, narrow rock in the river, called Ka Waʻa O Maui (The Canoe of Maui), is still just where he ran it aground at the foot of the rapids.

Leaving his canoe, Maui seized the magic club with which he had conquered the sun after lassoing him, and rushed along the dry bed of the river to the place of danger. Swinging the club swiftly around his head, lie struck the dam holding back the water of the rapidly-rising river.

“Ah! Nothing can withstand the magic club. The bank around one end of the dam gives way. The imprisoned waters leap into the new channel. Safe is Hina the goddess.”

Hearing the crash of the club and realizing his attempt on the life of Hina had again failed, Kuna turned and fled up the river. Maui rushed up the river to punish Kuna for the trouble he had caused Hina.

Kuna fled to his different hiding places, but Maui broke up the river bed and drove the dragon out from every one, following him from place to place as he fled down the river.

At last Kuna found what seemed to be a safe hiding place in a series of deep pools, but Maui poured a lava flow into the river. He threw red-hot burning stones into the water until the pools were boiling and the steam was rising in clouds. Kuna uttered incantation after incantation, but the water scalded and burned him.

Dragon as he was, his hard, tough skin was of no avail. The pain was becoming unbearable. With cries to his gods he leaped from the pools and fled down the river. The waters of the pools are no longer scalding, but have never lost the tumbling, tossing, foaming, boiling swirl – today this area is known as ‘The Boiling Pots.’

With joy at the sight of Kuna’s body hurled over the falls, they eagerly watched the dragon as the swift waters swept him against the dam with which he had hoped to destroy Hina. Maui had saved Hina.

Across Polynesia, almost every group has its own versions of the tales of Maui, including Maui’s canoe. For instance, Maori note “Te Waka-a-Maui” (“the Canoe of Maui”) as an ancient name for the South Island of New Zealand.

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Maui’s Canoe-Wailuku-River-PP-29-5-025-1935

Maui’s Canoe-Wailuku-River-PP-29-5-023-1935

Mauis_Canoe

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Maui’s Canoe

Hilo-bridge-Wailuku-DMY

1946-Hilo-tsunami_Wave_Surges_up_Wailuku_River

Wailuku_River-DMY

Boiling Pots & Pe’epe’e Falls

Boiling Pots-&-Pe’epe’e Falls

Wailuku-River-Boiling-Pots

December 12, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

John Kendrick

Sea Captain John Kendrick fought in the French and Indian Wars in 1762, threw tea overboard in the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and was in charge of the Fanny, one of the United States’ first ships, during the Revolutionary War.

He survived all that, and was later killed on December 12, 1794 in a 13-canon saluting round in Fair Haven (now known as Honolulu Harbor.) (Lytle)

Let’s look back …

Kendrick was born in 1740 on a small hilly farm in East Harwich, Cape Cod, the third of seven children of Solomon Kendrick and Elizabeth Atkins.

Kendrick’s grandfather, Edward Kendrick, had arrived in Harwich around 1700 and married Elizabeth Snow, the granddaughter of Nicholas Snow, a holder of extensive lands and one of the ‘old-comers’ from Plymouth who first settled the Cape.

Kendrick’s father, Solomon, born sometime during the winter of 1705, was master of a whaling vessel who was famous in local lore. He followed his father and went to sea by the time he was fourteen. By his late-teens, he was crewing on local sailing vessels.

“John Kendrick came of age in the defiant atmosphere of the coffeehouses and taverns of Boston. Here, he was in the midst of the firestorm of opposition to the Parliament’s Stamp Act of 1765 and the hated Townshend Acts, which usurped local authority and levied an array of onerous taxes.”

“As strife increased on the waterfront, he may have been involved in the widespread boycott of British goods and the burning of Boston’s customs house, or riots over seizure and impressment of American sailors for British ships.”

“(O)n the rainy night of December 16, 1773, John Kendrick was part of the legendary band that boarded two East India Company ships at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. Thumbing his nose at the British shortly after, he is said to have been master of the brig Undutied Tea.”

He fought in the American Revolutionary War and at its outbreak, he smuggled powder and arms from the Caribbean with the sloop Fanny, whose owners were under contract with a secret committee of the Continental Congress and later captured a couple ships, which helped to precipitate the entry of France into the war.

“Shortly before the British surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, Kendrick came ashore. In his sporadic visits home he had managed to father six children, and now he buckled down to making his way in the new nation.”

“After the victorious Revolution and the euphoria of the Peace Treaty of 1783, an economic depression had settled over villages and farms. Port cities and their harbors were left reeling from the war. Inflation was rampant.”

“There was no common currency, state governments were weak, and representatives to the Congress of the Confederation bickered over fundamental issues, threatening to secede.”

“Heavy debts owed to Britain for damages in the war were due, and the prospects for international trade and revenue were bleak. In a punching move, the king had closed all British ports from Canada and the British Isles to the Caribbean to the remaining American ships.”

Without trade, without customs revenue, without taxes, it would be impossible to support a new central government and succeed in securing independence.

Shipping was the soul of early commerce; the Pacific voyages of James Cook revealed the high prices sea otter furs from the Northwest Coast would bring in China.

That took Kendrick and his crew to the Pacific, where they traded with the local population and explored the northwest of the American continent. They eventually (January 1790) went to China to trade the Northwest furs and eventually made it to Japan, arriving on May 6, 1791, probably becoming the first official Americans to meet the Japanese.

On December 3, 1794, Kendrick arrived in Fair Haven (Honolulu) Hawaiʻi aboard the Lady Washington; a war was waging between Kalanikupule and his half-brother Kaʻeokulani (Kaʻeo.)

Also in Honolulu were Captain William Brown (the first credited with entering Honolulu Harbor) in general command of the Jackall and the Prince Lee Boo, Captain Gordon.

At the death of Kahekili in 1793, Kaʻeo became ruling chief of Maui, Molokai and Lānaʻi. Kalanikupule was ruler of Oʻahu. Homesick for his friends, Kaʻeo set out to return to Kauai by way of Waialua and then to Waimea. He learned of a conspiracy to kill him. (Kamakau)

Captain Brown of the Jackall helped Kalanikupule. While Kaʻeo was successful after some initial skirmishes. A great battle was fought in the area between Kalauao and ‘Aiea in ‘Ewa. Kalanikupule’s forces surrounded Kaʻeo. (Cultural Surveys) The ship’s men successfully aided in the defense and Kaʻeo was defeated.

To celebrate the victory, on December 12, 1794, Kendrick’s brig fired a thirteen-gun salute in celebration the British ship of Captain Brown.

The tradition of rendering a salute by cannon originated in the 14th century as firearms and cannons came into use. Since these early devices contained only one projectile, discharging them rendered them harmless.

Initially, the tradition began as a custom among ships, whose captains had volleys fired upon entering a friendly port to release its arsenal, which demonstrated their peaceful intentions (by placing their weapons in a position that rendered them ineffective.)

Following Kendrick’s salute, Brown answered with a round of fire.

Unfortunately, through an oversight, one of the saluting guns on the Jackall was loaded with round and grape shot, and this shot passed through the side of the Lady Washington, killing Captain Kendrick and several of his crew. (Kuykendall) (Lots of information here is from Ridley; Daughters of the American Revolution)

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Captain John Kendrick