Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Schoenberg

“To the Emigrants for the Sandwich Islands … Contracts with those who will go to the Sandwich Islands, are drawn up and signed on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and the following days at the office of Hans P. Faye, at Drammen from 11 to 3 o’clock. The parties must be provided with good recommendations, and attestations for good and faultless behaviour.”

“Parties under obligation of military service, must bring release from service. Signature of minors must, to be valid, be confirmed by guardian.”

“The conditions are now regulated, and thus fixed: laborers over 20 years, 9 dollars; under 20 years, somewhat less, per month, with free board, or board-money and free lodgings, families may bring two children with them. Free passage and board, which is not to be worked out afterwards. … Chr. L’Orange, Agent for the Hawaiian Bureau of Immigration, Sandwich Islands” (PCA, Oct 21, 1882)

“There were about 600 Norwegians who emigrated to Hawaii, the main harbor for this organized emigration was Drammen. It was planned and executed by Hans L’Orange. L’Orange was commissioned by the king of Hawaii (King Kalakaua) to bring the Norwegians to the island. L’Orange was a Norwegian plantation owner in the islands.”  (Haakon Bjerke)

A plaque near Maalaea Maui states, “This monument commemorates the arrival of the Norwegian barque Beta which dropped anchor near this spot on February 18, 1881, and of her sister ship Musca, which arrived in Honolulu May 13, 1881.”

“They brought more than six hundred Norwegians, Swedes and Danes to work in the sugar cane fields and mills of the Hawaiian Kingdom – the first and only mass migration of Scandinavians to these islands.”

“For their contribution to the life of this land, as well as those of their countrymen who proceeded or followed, our mahalo and aloha. The Scandinavian Centennial Commission, February 14, 1981, the centennial date. This monument was restored in the year 2006, in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Scandinavians arrival in Hawaii”.

“The Norwegians had signed a four-year contract as plantation workers. This experiment by having the Norwegians employed as plantation workers was not successful enterprise. The plantation owners soon found out they could not whip the Norwegians as they had previously done with the Asians. Soon, strikes flourished and the jails were filled up with Norwegians.”

“The Norwegian emigration to Hawaii was a failure, as soon as their four-years contract expired the majority of the Norwegians left for the US mainland to places like California, Minnesota and the Dakotas; there were only then a small number of Norwegians who remained in Hawaii.” (Haakon Bjerke)

But sugar laborers weren’t the only Norwegians to come to Hawai’i.  “A long line of seafaring ancestors were responsible for the early call to the sea of Victor [Cotta] Schoenberg (born December 5, 1885, at Bergen, Norway; son of Fredrik Christian Torp and Edle Margarete (Holm-Brock) Schoenberg).” (Nellist and Siddall)

“At the completion of his education in the Hambro School and College and the Bergen Commercial College at Bergen, Norway, M. Schoenberg began his world travels [by way of England, Egypt, Siam and Hongkong, remaining in Hongkong until June, 1906] and reached Hawaii in Aug, 1906, as an officer on a Norwegian steamship. He remained here to accept a position in a mill at Makaweli, Kauai.”

“Later he removed to Waimea, Kauai, where he was acting postmaster for a short time. From 1907 to 1909 he was bookkeeper for the Lahaina branch of H. Hackfeld & Co., and for the next seven years was manager of the Lahaina National Bank, Lahaina, Maui, going to the Waipahu branch of the Bank of Hawaii, Ltd., in 1918, as manager and cashier, a position he still occupies.”

“Mr. Schoenberg has specialized in country and branch bank organization. He organized and developed the Pearl Harbor branch of the Bank of Hawaii, Ltd., in 1921, with a collection office at Aiea, which he managed for a year in conjunction with the Waipahu branch and a collection office at Wahiawa.”

In 1910 he married Jennie Wilhelmina Hansen and they have two sons, Erling (born in Wailuku July 2, 1911) and Eyvinn Schoenberg. (Nellist)  Eyvinn was born and raised in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and began making model aircraft at age eleven while visiting San Leandro, California.

“On returning home to Hawaii, my room became my model shop, as I turned out all kinds of rubber-powered models, culminating in my building a successful flying Gas model ‘California Chief,’ powered with a Baby Cyclone engine, in 1939.”

“This lead to my interest in flying and I obtained a pilot’s license through the University of Hawaii’s CAAPT5 flight training course in 1940.” Schoenberg learned to fly a full-sized Piper Cub.

“Post war, living in Lima Peru, I built my first Radio Controlled model, a Walt Good ‘Rudder Bug’ design, with an English single-channel radio system and an S29 engine, with rudder only control. It flew beautifully!!”

“And while driving to the flying area 43 kilometers south of Lima, Peru, I saw the wonderful point break waves at Punta Hermosa, surfed there with my pal Hal McNicol, and changed Peruvian surfing from beach break to point break surfing thereafter …” (Schoenberg, Academy of Model Aeronautics)

Eyvinn’s son had an influence on music in the Islands. “I collaborated with Herb Ohta, Sr. (Ohta-San) on a number of songs over the years, beginning in the late 60s when I was a student at Punahou (class of 69).”

“This came about when a guest lecturer at a creative writing class mentioned that a local musician was looking for help with lyrics. That sounded interesting, so I met with Mr. Ohta at his practice studio and then went to see him perform at a club in Waikiki.”

“Initially, a song translated from French needed a little editing. Later, Ohta wrote original compositions that required lyrics. After I moved back to the mainland we continued working together by mail. He would send me sheet music, sometimes a cassette recording, or call and play a new tune over the phone.”

“Ohta was a terrific musician who could play the ukelele like a jazz guitar. Many of his recordings were instrumentals, although I still received credit as lyricist.” (The songs he collaborated with Ohta-san include, The Changing, Claustrophobia, Everything Is Real, I’m Going To Go, Love Can Be A Harmful Thing, More Than I Can Say, Sunshine, Wishes and You.)

“His music was very popular in Japan, where he was known as Ohta-San. For a while, I received annual printouts showing royalties earned, categorized in Japanese with amounts in Yen. A letter in English said they would hold onto the sum until it was enough to write a check.”  (Victor (Vic) E Schoenberg)

That wasn’t the only musical Schoenberg. Folks might recall the Vaqueros that included Cotta Schoenberg (who played regularly at the Kāneʻohe Yacht Club). Back in the day, the Long House was available for periodic teen dances (hundreds of us packed the place.)

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Kahului Landing

It is believed that initial Polynesian discovery and settlement of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200. (Kirch) This effectively started the ‘Settlement’ phase.

For generations, the small, slowly growing population clustered around shore sites near streams that supplied them with water. Such sites are best for inshore fishing.

The food plants of Hawaiʻi can be divided into three groups: those known as staple foods (the principal starchy foods – kalo (taro,) ʻuala (sweet potato,) ʻulu (breadfruit,) etc;) those of less importance (to add nutrients and variety to the diet;) and those known as famine foods. (Krauss)

Kamakau states that there were no chiefs in the earliest period of settlement but that they came “several hundred years afterward … when men became numerous.” The communities shared familial relations and there was an occupational focus on collection of marine resources.

By the 14th century, inland elevations to around the 4,000 foot level were being turned into cultivated fields of the early dryland Kona Field System.

By the 15th century, residency in the dry uplands was becoming permanent, and there was an increasing separation of chiefly class from commoners. In the 16th century the population stabilized and the ahupua‘a land management system was established as a socio-economic unit. (Kepā Maly)

“The sweet potato and gourd were suitable for cultivation in the drier areas of the islands. The cult of Lono was important in those areas, particularly in Kona on Hawaii and ‘Ulupalakua on Maui . At both of these places there were temples dedicated to Lono. The sweet potato was particularly the food of the common people.”  (Handy Handy & Pukui)

In the later Hawaiian period (c. 1600-1800), leading to the eventual rise of Kamehameha I to power (c.1791 A.D.), the ko kula kai and ko kula uka (coastal and upland-slopes) of this area came to be extensively cultivated with important staple and supplemental crops suited to dryland planting techniques and the Kona environment. (Kepa Maly)

“Not the smallest piece of Ground was left uncultivated.  By their accounts it is hardly possible that this Country can be better cultivated or made to yield a greater sustenance for the inhabitants; they passed thro fields of hay, with which they cover the young Tarro Grounds, to prevent the suns drying it up.”

“In their walk through the Villages they met with real hospitality, every one was desirous of entertaining them, & used enticing arts to prevail upon them to stay some time amongst them; these Villages were never found farther than 4 or 5 miles from the sea side”. (Journals of Captain James Cook, Beaglehole)

“Small bays generally had a cluster of houses where the families of fishermen lived-as in Kona, Hawaii, in the specific localities of Kailua, Holualoa, Kahalu‘u, Keauhou, Napo‘opo‘o, Honaunau, Kealakekua, and Ho‘okena. … Wherever a ruling ali‘i had his establishment there was a large aggregation of domiciles.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Of significance to the land of Kahului, is the fact that a number of early historians record that the area between modern day Kailua Town to Keauhou, was favored by the ali‘i nui (high ranking chiefs) of the island of Hawai‘i as a residence. (Maly)

Kahului is a ili within the ahupua‘a of Holualoa. (Ili, ahupua‘a and moku are Hawaiian terms that refer to land divisions. A moku is a large section of an island, while an ahupua‘a is a portion of a moku that is typically somewhat pie-shaped, and runs from the mountains to the ocean, and an ili is a portion of an ahupua‘a.) (NPS, Henderson House) (Others suggest Kahului is an ahupua‘a.)

Kahului is a part of this larger district that was a significant political seat and population center. (Maly) On the makai side, at Kahului Bay, was a canoe landing.

“Look at all the ulu niu [coconut grove]. This is about 1890, it’s Kahului Bay, there are canoes at the landing, the sand was up. Look where all the people are standing. And there are thatched house here. This is where the Kona Tiki Hotel is now.” (Kepā Maly)

“You know, the shore was very different here, even when I was young. The beach came up with sand and rocks into the yard, and there used to be an old canoe and boat landing in front here. You know Kahului was an important landing, before days.”

“Over there [pointing to a thatched house in the picture on the north side of the landing] that’s where the Kona Tiki Hotel is now. You see, they’ve filled all this in to make the road and hotel. The landing is all changed now.”

“But look, there are so many people, all Hawaiians down on the shore. Now almost all the families are gone. Our house would be just off the picture here. Now, all these walls and house sites are all gone too.” (Luciana Ka‘ailehua Makuakâne-Tripp, Interview with Kepa Maly)

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Pipe Line

An image posted on the ‘History of Hawaii Island (The Big Island) in photos’ Facebook page caught my eye. It is an aerial image of a portion of Hilo Bay from NARA (National Archives and Records Administration).

It showed and was labeled ‘Pipe Line, Hilo Harbor, Hawaii, TH, 6 August 1935’. It looked like a pier going out into the bay coming off of Downtown Hilo. I had never seen this before on any images or maps, and certainly did not know what it was.

The land-based connection of the pier was at the northern end of Kaipalaoa (also known as Mokupane and Isabel Point). I had just researched that area of Hilo and there was never any mention of a pier, nor any mapping or photos of it … until now.

Looking at nautical charts, the ‘pier’ extended from the fringing, shallower part of the Bay to the drop-off. Initial thoughts suggested the ‘pipe line’ may mean it was a fueling line (that offshore ships could refuel or it could be a place for ships to offload fuel for the city).

(Somewhat supporting this idea, starting in 1917, Hilo Gas had a manufacturing facility nearby on Ponahawai Street that produced liquid gas from crude oil for local industrial, lighting, and cooking needs.  By 1935, the facility could produce 120,000 cubic feet of gas in eight hours.  (The plant was destroyed by the May 22, 1960 tsunami.) (Weston))

After further review, it was clear the fuel alternatives – either supplying ships or off-loading from ships – were not viable (there was no land-based evidence of fuel storage in the vicinity).

Then, the prospect of something relating to wastewater disposal came up. Initially, a subtle reference to ‘Sewage Sys’ (and very small square near the railroad track) on the land was noted on a map.

Further investigation led to more information about the ‘pier’ and ‘pipe line’ led to the conclusion that the ‘pier’ in the image was associated with sewer improvements in Hilo.

The word “Sewer” is derived from the term “seaward” in Old English, as in ditches and ravines slightly sloped to run waste water from land to sea.

From an 1857 story in the Commercial Pacific Advertiser it appears that the first sewer facility to be constructed on Oʻahu was a storm drain located at Queen Street at the foot of Kaʻahumanu Street opposite Pier 11.  (ASCE)

Despite three outbreaks of smallpox, a typhus epidemic and two cholera epidemics between 1853 and 1895, no other serious actions were taken to improve conditions.

In Hilo, “The old system built in 1905 together with minor improvements and extensions up to 1933 was serving only 2.6 per cent of the city within the old limits (9 square miles) and 0.6 per cent within the new limits (43 square miles).”

“With the increase in population and extension of the city limits in Hilo, the old sewer system was found to be inadequate to meet the growth and expansion.”

“The low areas in the lands of Ponahawai, Waiolama, Waiakea and Kapiolani drained their sewage into the Waiolama canal, Wailoa river and the Kalepolepo and Mohouli ponds.”

“Twenty or more years of house wastes being discharged into these waterways made them dangerous open sewers. The bay areas were simultaneously greatly polluted by the discharges from these two sources.”

“Formal application for a direct grant and loan for the immediate sewerage works program for the city was made on October 19, 1933”. (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Sept 13, 1936)

On January 1, 1935, the Star Bulletin reported, “Hawaii received more than $18,000,000 in federal government’s ‘spending program’ for public works”.

With respect to the County of Hawaii, one of those projects was “A sewer system for the city of Hilo, consisting of an 1,800 foot outfall into Hilo bay, three pumping stations and the required interceptor and laterals.” (SB, Jan 1, 1935)

“The first unit consisting of a pipe 24 in. in diameter, will start near the present outfall and carry along Shipman St, then over Keawe and up Furneaux St, across three blocks midway between Kilauea and Kinoole streets, and back along Kilauea St, as far as the junction at Hualalai.”

“The purpose of this pipe will be to ‘intercept’ all the mains above coming down toward the bay; and acting as a trunk line, convey the pump-in sewage out into the bay 2,000 feet to a new outfall by force of gravity.”  (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Nov 16, 1933)

Then, information on the outfall pipeline and ‘pier,’ “Contractor EE Black, who is in charge of Job 870, outfall unit, is now working his men on a 21-hour shift. The men worked until 3 am today in constructing trussels for a distance of 1800 feet into the bay. “

“This is preparatory work for the excavating of trench and laying of 24-inch cast iron pipes.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, April 4, 1935) On September 4, 1935, the project engineer announced that the outfall was complete.

“The outfall sewer job is well-constructed, and is functioning very well … There was no sign of sewage coming to the surface.” (HTH, Sep 4, 1935)

The Hilo Chamber of Commerce recently suggested that a buoy be put up over the outfall terminal in order to prevent ships from anchoring in its vicinity.” (HTH, Oct 3, 1935)  A red buoy was placed the next month. (HTH. Nov 27, 1935)

So, the 1935 ‘Pipe Line’ image shows the brief installation and use of the ‘pier’ above the waterline, while the contractor trenched, then laid, the new sewer outfall.  There are no identifiable remnants of that ‘trussel’ structure.  There is a remnant of pumping station on the makai side of the highway, just before you get to the Wailuku River – it was completed March 13, 1936.

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DLNR’s Roles at the Ala Wai

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

“Over the decades, all sorts of pollution – pesticides, heavy metals, sediments and even raw sewage –  has flowed into the canal. As Honolulu’s upstream population mushroomed, contamination in the canal has steadily increased …”

“… and over the years levels of pollution have tested well above limits considered safe. One local man died from bacterial infections he picked up after falling in the water.” (Civil Beat)

One role DLNR plays is dealing with the trash that floats down the respective drainage ditches up mauka that make their way into the Ala Wai.

Ala Wai small boat harbor is particularly prone to collecting trash that heavy rains, such as has been experienced this summer, wash down from watershed areas of Manoa, Makiki and Palolo streams.

Trash then flows down the Ala Wai canal, where a portion is captured in a debris trap, or amid the harbor front row piers and boats that is visible to the public.

“The trap utilizes a floating boom on the makai side of the bridge span next to Ala Wai Marine boatyard that captures tons of refuse after every rainstorm. But, like any trap, once it’s filled it must be emptied before it can function again.” (Pendleton)

DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) is responsible for removing this mess from the traps. (DLNR) The trap is normally cleaned three to four times a year. The expense is paid through the Boating Special Fund (paid by boaters), not from General Funds from tax revenues.

That responsibility became more profound when, in 2006, “the city dumped 48 million gallons of untreated sewage into the canal – which flowed out into the ocean and polluted Waikiki beaches – in order to keep the waste from backing up into hotels, homes and businesses.”  (Civil Beat)

“This spill is such a large magnitude. We have never seen this before,” said state Health Department spokesman Kurt Tsue. “It’s pretty bad.”

“More than 100 warning signs to stay out of the water were posted along a 1 ½-mile stretch covering 18 beaches from Waikiki to downtown Honolulu.” (LA Times)

“Oliver Johnson, a 34-year-old mortgage broker, died April 6 from a bacterial infection after falling or being pushed into the sewage-contaminated Ala Wai Harbor on March 31.” (Star Bulletin, April 15, 2006)

DLNR had to clean up the debris trap and we viewed it as a biological hazardous waste removal/treatment and “Workers in protective gear will begin cleaning the sewage-polluted Ala Wai Boat Harbor today, under a $50,000 state contract.” (Star Bulletin, April 15, 2006)

Some may recall the ‘black noodle’ in and around the Ala Wai.  “The 5,135-foot sewage pipe that juts out of the water near community gardens on the mauka bank of the canal, has been a constant reminder of that environmental disaster.” (Civil Beat)

It took the City seven years to remove the large black sewage pipe that snaked along the bottom of the Ala Wai Canal and out toward the mouth of the boat harbor, adjacent to Waikiki’s famous beaches.

In addition to the surface collection of debris, DLNR is also responsible for periodic dredging of the Ala Wai Canal.  Just as debris comes downstream, accumulated silt and sediments come down and collect in the Ala Wai.

The Ala Wai Canal serves as an essential drainageway and sediment basin for the Ala Wai watershed. Over time, the build-up of sediments into the Ala Wai Canal has affected the canal’s sediment- and water-holding capacity, reducing the canal’s ability to temporarily contain and then release storm water when there are heavy storm events. (Army Corps)

At times, “some areas are only 4 to 6 feet deep at high tide and canoes ply inches-deep water at low tide” (Honolulu); dredging is targeted to get water levels closer to “12-6 feet below the mean lower low water mark”. (DLNR)

As reported in 2003, “The dredging is a state-financed, $7.4 million effort to restore a measure of health and self-respect to the Ala Wai, which began filling with sediment almost as soon as the Army Corps of Engineers dug it in 1927 to control floods and mosquitoes and to provide landfill for the swampland that was then Waikiki.”

“The canal, which collects runoff from streams and storm drains on the densely populated mountain slopes above Waikiki, has been dredged periodically, most recently in 1979.” (NY Times, March 3, 2003)

A challenge was that Hawaiian Electric has underground electrical cable crossing under the Ala Wai (first installed in 1956 replaced in 1990 with higher capacity cables).  “DLNR encountered Hawaiian Electric’s cables during routine maintenance dredging of the Ala Wai Canal” and “it was determined the cables were at risk of damage from dredging”.

“As a temporary solution, sections of the active cables on the makai side of the canal were covered with twelve 20-foot by 8-foot pre-cast concrete panels. The panels provided protection and allowed the dredging operations to continue in areas upstream of the cables.” (Belt Collins)

Later, “Hawaiian Electric relocated underground sub-transmission line cables that connect to HECO’s Waikiki Substation located on Kai‘olu Street.” This also shifted the alignment of the cable to the west of the existing route. New technology allowed for horizontal directional drilling to cross under the Ala Wai Canal.

In part, HECO’s action supported the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ efforts to provide continuous maintenance dredging of the Ala Wai Canal. The replacement cables also help maintain the reliability of the electrical distribution system. (Belt Collins)

DLNR Chief Engineer Carty Chang said, “The long-term benefits of this project include maintaining the ability of the canal to efficiently convey storm water flows to the ocean to reduce the risk of flooding, and to improve the aesthetics and safe use of the canal for recreational users.”

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Henrik Christian L’Orange

L’Orange is a Norwegian family of French origin. The family were Huguenots (Protestants), and after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, members of the family had to leave France.

The first known man of the family, Jean L’Orange, who according to tradition came from St.-Quentin in Gascogne , probably came to Copenhagen at the end of the 17th century. His son Johan Gerhard L’orange (1696–1772) came to Norway and settled in Vestfold.  (Norwegian Encyclopedia)

Fast forward to the end of the American Civil War in 1865; emigration from Norway to the US increased rapidly.  But there were some who chose other destinations. 

In 1877, Hendrik Christian (Christian) L’Orange (born in Fredrikshald in 1843) married Caroline Faye (born in Drammen in 1856), daughter of merchant Hans Peter Faye and his wife Karen Sophie Knudsen in Drammen.  (Emigrantforlaget)

Following their wedding Christian and Caroline sailed for the islands of Hawai‘i in 1877.   Her cousin, Anton Faye, also sailed with them to Kauai in 1877.  Caroline’s uncle, Valdemar Knudsen, had already settled there in 1856. 

Knudsen, Faye and L’Orange got involved in the operation of a sugar plantation on Kauai. (Scandinavian Club of Hawai‘i)  Knudsen had  acquired a 30-year lease on crown lands in the Waimea district where he established a ranch. Using an old Hawaiian ditch at Waiele, he drained and reclaimed about 50 acres on which he and L‘Orange planted sugar cane in 1878. (HSPA)

In 1879 Christian purchased his own plantation on Maui. He named it Lilikoi. He later sold the plantation and moved to Kauai. There he became the director of a sugar plantation, which was also given the name Lilikoi. (Norwegian Heritage)

As early as July 7, 1878, Captain L’Orange proposed to the Bureau of Immigration of the Hawaiian Kingdom to bring Scandinavian laborers to the Islands. By mid-June of 1880 he was involved in plans to go to Norway for contract workers to fill the needs of plantations represented by the sugar factors, Castle and Cooke.  (Satrum)

By July 20, 1880, he had received his letter of appointment as agent of the Bureau of Immigration, and a few weeks later was on his way to Norway with a letter of credit for $20,000 from the firm of Castle and Cooke for expenses and advances.

Captain L’Orange had Instructions to hire not more than 400 adult workers, in a ratio of 35 to 40 women to each 100 men. These people were to be of ‘proper class’ and good workers, and no family was to bring more than two children. (Satrum)

A long depression from the mid-1870s to the early 1890s hit the Norwegian economy severely. Signs of the stagnation could be found in the large-scale immigration from Norway to North America during the 1880s. In the long-run, immigration was basically a result of increased labor productivity in the primary sector, causing surplus labor to find jobs in the New World. (Grytten)

Thousands were leaving Norway for other lands. This occurred at a time when there was actually a demand for more farm laborers in Hawai‘i. These circumstances partially determined who would be in the mix of people signing contracts as Hawaiian plantation workers. (Satrum)

L’Orange placed an advertisement in Drammen, Norway newspapers, stating, in part, “To the Emigrants for the Sandwich Islands Contracts with those who will go to the Sandwich Islands, are drawn up and signed on Wednesday, Sept. 23 … The parties must be provided with good recommendations, and attestations for good and faultless behaviour.”

“The conditions are now regulated, and thus fixed: laborers over 20 years, 9 dollars; under 20 years, somewhat less, per month, with free board, or board-money and free lodgings, families may bring two children with them. Free passage and board, which Is not to be worked out afterwards. Chr. L’Orange, Agent for the Hawaiian Bureau of Immigration, Sandwich Islands”.

The idea of a paid voyage and an opportunity to make their fortunes in a new land had an irresistible appeal to many Drammen folk that difficult year of 1880. Norwegians by the thousands were flocking to the US in response to promises of free land or jobs.

However, some were unable to raise the passage money, or unwilling to risk their savings on the gamble of a better life in a new country. To these the phrase, ‘free passage and board, which Is not to be worked out afterwards,’ had a special attraction. (Davis)

The planters were eager for the new laborers to arrive quickly, though Captain L’Orange warned that it would be impossible to find suitable ones in a hurry. The great need in Hawai‘i was for men to work in the fields. (Davis)

When L’Orange began hiring he found men with farm experience difficult to obtain. But there were plenty of artisans and industrial workers from the towns eager to sign his contracts, and from these came most of the recruits for Hawai‘i. (Davis)

Most of the recruits were from the town of Drammen or from nearby areas; but there were a few Swedes as well.  The Norwegian bark Beta, commanded by Captain Kasper Rist Christensen, was first to weigh anchor (October 27, 1880). Almost 400 people made up the passenger list – 327 adults, Including 49 married couples, and 69 children 12 years and younger. (Davis)

The ship stopped briefly at Lahaina to take on board Captain L’Orange, who had traveled by a quicker route than the emigrants, and then went on to Ma‘alaea Landing. On February 18, 1881, it let down Its anchor.

On arrival, “The physician of the Board of Health pronounces them the most healthy company of men, women, and children he has ever seen and affirms that they are without the slightest taint of infectious diseases. The planters, who are so fortunate to obtain these laborers, highly value their adaptability by skill, as well as by physical strength, for almost every kind of work of plantations.”

“There are amongst them carpenters, blacksmiths, upholsterers, harness makers, printers, and engineers, while many of the women are admirably adapted for housekeepers.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 2, 1881)

Two hundred and twenty eight adults with their children drew numbers assigning them to Maul. Passengers not included among this number remained on board to be trans-shipped at the end of the week to Hilo by the steamer Llkelike for work on the Hitchcock plantation is Pāpa’ikou. (Davis)

The German bark, ‘Musca’ sailed from Drammen for Hawai‘i, November 23, 1880. Its master was Captain DW Oltman, and it carried 237 passengers, including 29 married and 57 children 12 and under.  Arriving in Honolulu on the island of O‘ahu, most of the workers were assigned to a variety of plantations. (Satrum)

The German bark, ‘Cedar’ arrived in Hawai‘i on July 18, 1881, primarily with Germans hired to work in the plantations of Hawai‘i, although there were ten Norwegians and four Swedes on the ship as well. One child was also born during the voyage. (Satrum)

So far, it is good news for the Hawai‘i sugar planters and the Norwegian workers.  However, things soon soured …

On both Maui and the Big Island, the Scandinavians had begun complaining almost immediately: They didn’t like the food, they didn’t like their houses, they didn’t like their wages, they felt their employers violated their contracts, they found field work difficult, the Hawaiian sun burned their flesh unmercifully.

Many of the new immigrants declared, flatout, that they’d become slaves. By the time the Musca landed in Honolulu, the folks at Castle & Cooke wanted to scatter the latest contingent of Scandinavians as widely as possible so that they couldn’t band together in their complaints. … But the complaints continued. (Bowman)

For most of the Scandinavians, Hawai‘i was a place to leave as soon as it was possible. It is estimated that about 50 of the immigrants who came to the Islands aboard the Beta and the Musca remained in Hawai‘i.

Some of them stayed on the plantations and moved rapidly out of field work and into positions that took advantage of their industrial skills. Some became integrated into the fabric of Hawai‘i and led successful lives. Christian L’Orange found himself decidedly unpopular with his fellow sugar planters and disbanded his activities on Maui.  (Bowman)

Around 1885 the family moved to Florida. One of the reasons that they left Hawai‘i was, without a doubt, all the criticism he had received for having brought such ill-suited laborers to work on the plantations there.

He bought property in Florida and became a tobacco farmer. Christian died in Florida in 1916. Caroline was buried in Hawai‘i in 1935.  Their oldest son, Hans Peter Faye L’Orange (born in 1892 in Florida), became one of the administrators of O‘ahu Sugar Company. (Norwegian Heritage)

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