Peter T Young

October 31, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kyoto Gardens

Driving down the Pali, after you pass Kapena Falls, off to the right are a number of cemeteries (including Mauna ʻAla, Oʻahu Cemetery and others – including Honolulu Memorial Park.)

Part of the Honolulu Memorial Park, rising out of the foliage, is the Sanju Pagoda – it’s discernible and it’s deteriorating.

With over 20-years of neglect, the neoprene roofing material has sprung leaks, exposing the reinforced concrete rafters to weakening moisture and decay. (Historic Hawaii Foundation) Historic Hawaii Foundation listed it as one of Hawaiʻi’s Most Endangered Historic Sites in 2006.

The pagoda is the only concrete pagoda outside of Japan and is built in the authentic fashion of a wood-constructed pagoda.

The neoprene was supposed to be the best thing ever, but it turned out to be not so good. The eaves are in jeopardy right now, in bad condition and very heavy. At any point, one of those eaves could fall down. If one falls, it falls on the next, and the building would most likely collapse. (Historic Hawaii Foundation)

Located in the eastern half of the Honolulu Memorial Park, Kyoto Gardens consists of two large columbarium (a structure of vaults lined with recesses for urns holding a deceased’s cremated remains) structures and a Japanese garden.

The Territory of Hawaiʻi established the Honolulu Memorial Park as a community service cemetery in 1958.

The Honolulu membership of the Buddhist Federation commended and endorsed the development of the cemetery in 1964, whereupon it was decided that a monument be erected which would honor the followers of the Buddhist faith.

Founded by the Richards family, Honolulu Memorial Park includes the Sanju Pagoda along with the Kinkaku-ji memorial, which were completed and opened in July 1966.

The name of the Kyoto Gardens was designated in 1966 with the donation of a bronze bell donated by Mayor Takayama of Kyoto, and brought to Honolulu in May of 1966.

The inscription on the bell was written in both Japanese and English. In English, it reads: World Peace Forever, and continued with the inscription: Praying for the Everlasting Fellowship of Honolulu and Kyoto, Mayor Yoshizo Takayama, January 1, 1966.

With the arrival of the bell, the name of the Nuʻuanu Memorial Gardens Funerary Home was changed to Kyoto Gardens. In 1966, the Senior Minister of the Kinkaku-ji of Kyoto, Japan, Abbot Jikai Murakami, was present for the opening of the Kinkaku-ji memorial and gave his blessing.

The three-tiered Pagoda, the Kenkaku-ji Temple and the Mirror Gardens located within the Honolulu Memorial Park are historically important for being the best examples of Japanese traditional-style structures and gardens built outside of Japan.

The Pagoda is architecturally significant for three reasons: it was designed with the original proportions of the Nara Pagoda and uses the bracketing construction techniques found in the traditional design; it is the largest pagoda ever built; and it incorporates new construction techniques using concrete and steel.

The Sanju-Pagoda, designed by Robert Katsuyoshi, is a 1½-times larger model of a pagoda located on the grounds of the Minami Hoke-ji Temple in Nara, Japan, built in the Momoyama Period (1571-1602.)

Its height from the foundation to the top of the roof, not including the ku-rin copper spire is 80-feet, the total height, including its spire, is 116-feet.

The Kinkaku-ji columbarium models itself after the world-famous Kinkaku-ji located on the grounds of the Roku-on-ji Temple in Kyoto, built in the Muromachi Period (1335-1573) style.

The Kinkaku-ji columbarium is a three-story steel-framed and plaster finished columbarium. The height of the building measures approximately 38-feet high, not including the phoenix finial at its roof peak (the symbol of the Paradise of the heavenly Buddhas.)

The Mirror Lake Garden is also designed in the style of the Muromachi Period (1335-1573.) The design of this garden is based upon the symbols of the Buddha’s world.

Originally, carp fish were donated to Mirror Lake – traditionally the significance of the carp fish is a Japanese historical and religious one: carp fish are always found in the ponds of the temples for, through the carp, one’s sins were washed clean.

The inspiration and information for this summary is primarily from the National Park Service. While at DLNR, I signed off on the nomination forms to list these improvements on the National Historic Register of Historic Sites; it was listed on February 11, 2004.

October 30, 2024 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Waikīkī, Place of Healing

From historic times, Waikīkī was viewed not only as a place of peace and hospitality, but of healing. There was great mana (spiritual power) in Waikīkī. Throughout the 19th century, Hawai’i’s royalty also came here to convalesce.

The art of healing they practiced is known in the Islands as la‘au lapa‘au. In this practice, plants and animals from the land and sea, which are known to have healing properties, are combined with wisdom to treat the ailing.

At Waikīkī, Oʻahu on Kūhiō Beach, Hawaiian legend says Na Pōhaku Ola Kapaemāhu A Kapuni were placed here in tribute to four soothsayers, Kapaemāhu, Kahaloa, Kapuni and Kinohi, who came from Tahiti to Hawaiʻi (long before the reign of Oʻahu’s chief Kākuhihewa in the 16th century.)

Kapaemāhu was the leader of the four and honored for his ability to cast aside carnality and care for both men and women. Kapuni was said to envelop his patients with his mana. While Kinohi was the clairvoyant diagnostician, Kahaloa— whose name means “long breath”—was said to be able to breathe life into her patients.

They gained fame and popularity because they were able to cure the sick by laying their hands upon them. Before they returned to Tahiti, they asked the people to erect four large pōhaku as a permanent reminder of their visit and the cures they had accomplished.

Legend says that these stones were brought into Waikīkī from Waiʻalae Avenue in Kaimuki, nearly two miles away. Waikīkī was a marshland devoid of any large stones. These stones are basaltic, the same type of stone found in Kaimukī.

On the night of Kāne (the night that the moon rises at dawn,) the people began to move the rocks from Kaimukī to Kūhiō Beach. During a month-long ceremony, the healers are said to have transferred their names — Kapaemāhu, Kahaloa, Kapuni and Kinohi — and or spiritual power, to the stones.

One of the pōhaku used to rest where the surf would roll onto the beach known to surfers as “Baby Queens”, the second pōhaku would be found on the ʻEwa side of ʻApuakehau Stream (site of Royal Hawaiian Hotel), and the last two pōhaku once sat above the water line fronting Ulukou (near the site of the present Moana Hotel.) In 1963, they were relocated to Kūhiō Beach.

One of Waikīkī’s places of healing was the stretch of beach fronting the Halekūlani Hotel called Kawehewehe (the removal). The sick and the injured came to bathe in the kai, or waters of the sea.

They might have worn a seaweed lei of limu kala and left it in the water as a symbol of the asking of forgiveness for past sins (misdeeds were believed to be a cause of illness and “kala” means to forgive.) Hawaiians still use the sea to heal their sores and other ailments, but few come to Kawehewehe.

From 1912 to 1929, a home here was converted to a small two-story boardinghouse, and operated by La Vancha Maria Chapin Gray, known as “Grays-by-the-Sea.” Its grounds were later incorporated into the Halekūlani. The beach is still known today as Gray’s Beach. (Kawehewehe is also the name of the surfing site called Populars, today.)

The natural sand-filled channel that runs through the reef makes it one of the best swimming areas along this stretch of ocean. It was dredged in the early-1950s to allow catamarans to come ashore at Gray’s Beach. The channel lies between two surf sites, Paradise and Number Threes.

There was a Kawehewehe Pond; people with a physical ailment would come to the pond in search of healing. A kahuna, or priest, would place a lei limu kala around their neck, and instruct them to submerge themselves in the healing waters of the pond. When the lei came off and floated downstream, it was said that the afflicted ones were healed.

It was for this particular ceremony that the area was called Kawehewehe, which literally means “the removal.” It was on the ʻEwa side of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (adjacent to Helumoa), just east of the Halekulani Hotel, Waikīkī.

Kawehewehe takes its meaning from the root word – wehe – which means to remove. (Pukui.) Thus, as the name implies, Kawehewehe was a traditional place where people went to be cured of all types of illnesses – both physical and spiritual – by bathing in the healing waters of the ocean.

The patient might wear a seaweed (limu kala) lei and leave it in the water as a request that his sins be forgiven; hence the origin of the name kala (Lit., the removal.)

After bathing in the ocean, the person would duck under the water, releasing the lei from around his neck and letting the lei kala float out to sea. Upon turning around to return to shore, the custom is to never look back, symbolizing the oki (to sever or end) and putting an end to the illness. Leaving the lei in the ocean also symbolizes forgiveness (kala) and the leaving of anything negative behind.

In the 1880s, Helumoa was inherited by Kamehameha I’s great-granddaughter, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

In the last days of her battle with breast cancer, Pauahi returned to Helumoa. Although the Princess could have gone anywhere to recuperate, she chose Helumoa, for the fond memories it recalled and the tranquility it provided.

Here she wrote the final codicils (amendments) of her will, in which she bequeathed her land to the Bishop Estate for the establishment of the Kamehameha Schools.

Further down the beach, Queen Liliʻuokalani found respite and healing at her Waikīkī retreats noting, “Hamohamo is justly considered to be the most life-giving and healthy district in the whole extent of the island of Oʻahu …”

“… there is something unexplainable and peculiar in the atmosphere of that place, which seldom fails to bring back the glow of health to the patient, no matter from what disease suffering.”

The Queen “derived much amusement, as well as pleasure: for as the sun shines on the evil and the good, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust, I have not felt called upon to limit the enjoyment of my beach and shade-trees to any party in politics …”

“While in exile it has ever been a pleasant thought to me that my people, in spite of differences of opinions, are enjoying together the free use of my seashore home.”

The author, Robert Louis Stevenson, also found respite, here. In 1888, his health had been declining; he was told by his doctor to travel here because the climate was good for his bad health.

Stevenson’s remarks in the guest book note: “If anyone desires such old-fashioned things as lovely scenery, quiet, pure air, clean sea water, good food, and heavenly sunsets hung out before their eyes over the Pacific and the distant hills of Waianae, I recommend him cordially to the Sans Souci.”

From Kālia to Kawehewehe to Helumoa to Kūhiō Beach to Hamohamo to San Souci, there are many stories of the healing power at Waikīkī.

October 29, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pratt, The Land Man

“[T]hey gave Ainahau to the city and the city wouldn’t take it, which would have been one of the glamorous tourist sites. [In a letter to Governor Lucius E. Pinkham, dated January 30, 1914, J, M. McChesney, Chairman of the Committee on Parks Civic Federation, states:

“A Resolution introduced in the last [Seventh] legislature [1913] to accept this munificent gift [Ainahau] was defeated by a majority of two; the general belief being that many of the legislators were influenced by the fact that if accepted by the [Territorial] government the heirs would be deprived of the property …”

“… and others voted against it on account of the cost of maintenance and still others on account of the conditions imposed [in A. S. Cleghorn’s will] that the grounds be closed nights.” (Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

Then it was reported, ‘Āinahau has been sold “to James W Pratt and other interests and will immediately be cut up into building lots.” The price for the 11 2/3 acres was $60,000. The new owners plan to subdivide the property into forty lots and develop it into “an exclusive residence section. . . .”

“Only the trees necessary to make the roads are to be cut down, which will leave all the rare plants, flowers and trees, with which the grounds abound, for the new owners to dispose of as they see fit.”

The lots will be priced at $3,500 up. For the past three years the house and land have been leased by Mrs. E. H. Lewis and used as a hotel and she is “to continue with the hotel without interference.” (Star Bulletin, Jan 19, 1917; Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

So, who is Pratt? … “James William Pratt [was] familiarily known to Honolulans as ‘Pratt the Land Man.’” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

“It is best to consult some one who knows the land and the climate before selecting a building site in Honolulu, or on the islands at large. The land office can put you right, or there is Pratt, the land man …”

“Mr. Jas. W. Pratt was for many years Land Commissioner, and he can tell you just where it is best to build.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

Pratt was “Son of Horace C and Susan M McCue Pratt. [He was born December 9, 1861 in Greenbush, NY.] James W Pratt moved from New York to California in 1874, when he was a boy of 13. He attended public schools in Rotterdam, New York and Oakland California.”

“In 1878 he was employed at Oakland by the Western Union Telegraph Company, remaining there until 1881, when he joined the California Electric Works at San Francisco, staying with that concern until 1884, when he came to Honolulu as superintendent of the Mutual Telephone Company, holding the position for nine years.”

“In 1893, following the overthrow of the monarchy, James W Pratt became prominently identified with the military department of the Provisional Government.”

“Two years later he became assistant superintendent of the Honolulu water works, and from 1901 to 1903 he was assessor and collector of tazes for Oahu.”

“For six years, from 1903 to 1909, he held the office of commissioner of public lands, after which he went into business for himself in real estate. …”

“One of the last projects of ‘Pratt the Land Man’ in Honolulu was the cutting up of the Ainahau tract for sale of lots, but his health was such that he left the work for others to take up.” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

Pratt married Ellen M. Torbert in Honolulu. December 2, 1895; they had three children, Susan Adelaide, James William, Jr, and Linton Torbert. (Siddall)

With respect to Ainahau, “on May 1, 1919, Percy M Pond, Honolulu real estate man, advertised 46 lots for sale, mostly at $1,400 to $2,200, representing a price of about 32 cents a square foot.” (Star Bulletin, June 2, 1956)

Pratt died December 6, 1919 in Berkley, CA, of heart disease. “Mr Pratt left the Islands for the mainland about 18 months ago hoping to benefit his health.” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

“[The house at Ainahau burned to the ground on August 2, 1921 while it was occupied by W. F. Aldrich, a motion picture producer, and his wife Peggy. The fire was said to have originated from an automatic gas heater next to Aldrich’s darkroom, which had been the old kitchen.]”

“[An account of the fire in the Honolulu Advertiser on August 1, 1921 states that the banyan tree saved the bungalows on the grounds, one owned by Samuel Parker and another occupied by Mr. McElroy being the only ones scorched. The article also mentions that the house had been used as a hotel at one time.]” (Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

October 28, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cattle in Kalalau

“In the Nāpali District, the ahupua‘a of Kalalau, Pohakuao, Honopu, Hanakapiai and one-half of Hanakoa were granted to the Government Land inventory (Buke Mahele, 1848).”

“Portions of the lands that fell into the government inventory, were subsequently sold as Royal Patent Grants to individuals who applied for them. The grantees were generally long-time kama‘āina residents of the lands they sought.”

“As a result of the sale of lands from the government inventory, forty-five grants were sold to thirty-seven applicants for lands in the ahupua‘a of Hanalei and Wai‘oli, Halele‘a District; the division being forty-one parcels in Wai‘oli and four parcels in Hanalei.”

An archaeological Survey report states “during the second half of the 19th century, Kalalau Valley residents were a cooperative, community that had a ‘reciprocal, basically subsistence, fishing, farming orientation’ and traded with people in Hanalei, Waimea, and Ni‘ihau, for items such as coffee, matches, kerosene, and soap.”

“[R]esidents of Kalalau, like other residents of ancient Hawai‘i, moved seasonally from the shoreline to the mountains within their ahupua‘a.”

“The survey further reports that most of its residents left by the early 1900s and the valley was finally abandoned by human residents in 1919, except for visits by hunters, fishermen, and scientists.” (Intermediate Court of Appeals)

“Thirty grants were sold in the Nāpali District to twenty-seven applicants; the lands being situated in Kalalau and Honopu.” (Kumu Pono) “At one time the [Robinson] family controlled another 4,500 [acres] on the north shore, including Kalalau Valley.” (Island Breath)

“The Robinsons are a family originally from Scotland having large landholdings in Hā‘ena and considerable acreage of the west side of Kauai. The family purchased the entire island of Ni‘ihau in the mid-1800s. In Halele‘a, they ran cattle in Hā‘ena, Wainiha, Lumaha‘i, and Waipā, as well as in several valleys in the Nā Pali district.” (Carlos in Pacific Worlds)

“Robinson owned their land, so they were paniolo out there, they were working for Robinson. So, when you talked about all the cattle days and so forth and paniolo, they were all working for Robinson.” (Makaala in Pacific Worlds)

“For many years, before selling it to the State, Selwyn [Robinson, former manager of Niihau Ranch from 1917 to 1922 – he then managed Makaweli Ranch on Kauai for the next fifty years] owned Kalalau Valley on the Napali Coast, and ran cattle there.” (Paniolo Hall of Fame)

“A small branch of the [Makaweli] ranch is maintained on the Napali or northwest coast of Kauai where the Kalalau valley is used for pasturage”. “The Robinsons were grazing cattle in Kalalau, and would drive them along the trail between Hā‘ena and Kalalau.” (Maly)

“The Makaweli Ranch is controlled by the [Robinsons]. The land was originally purchased mostly from Hawaiian Chiefs and the Monarchy, although it also occupies some leased lands in the Waimea, Mokihana and Hanapepe sections.” (CTAHR, 1929)

“They raised pipi [cattle]. They would come with the whale boat from Ni‘ihau to Kalalau. … I think [they got there] by ship that they dragged them all the way, by the whale boat.” (Val Ako to Kepa Maly)

“Each summer [Selwyn] took the cowboys from Makaweli to camp in [Kalalau] valley and they would bring out the cattle along the narrow trail to Haena. In the early days, he also used to hunt wild cattle in the high mountains of Kauai.” (Paniolo Hall of Fame)

“They would walk along, the pipi would go out along a trail and graze in Kalalau … And then bring them out the same way … Until after a while, then they got those surplus landing crafts.” (Stanley Ho affirmations to Kepa Maly)

“[M]y dad used to always tell us, when had people in [Kalalau], ‘You take in what you get and you get Kalalau horses.’ So if you like send out something, you put ‘em on the Ha‘ena horse.”

“But if you went in, you gotta send something out, these people gotta send something out, they just put ‘em on the other horse, Ha‘ena horse, and let ‘em go, and he work his way out.”

“And then the same thing you do: when you come home, you like send something, you take Kalalau horse, just put on, he go back home.” (Sampson in Pacific Worlds)

In 1974, the Division of State Parks acquired Kalalau Valley and established the valley as a wilderness park. (Intermediate Court of Appeals)

Here’s a view along a tight spot along the trail (about mile 7) … Crawler’s Ledge (where cattle once trod):

October 27, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Brats

“To be born and grow up the child of a serving soldier gives one a unique background and upbringing, an observation that applies just as much during the twenty-first century as it did when Britain’s standing army officially came into being in 1689.” (TACA)

“Over the hills, and over the main,
To Flanders, Portugal, or Spain:
The queen commands, and we’ll obey –
Over the hills and far away.

We all shall lead more happy lives,
By getting rid of brats and wives,
That scold and brawl both night and day –
Over the hills and far away.”

These are some of the lines to a song in the comedy ‘The Recruiting Officer’ by the Irish writer George Farquhar. “This comedy was first produced on April 8, 1706, at Drury Lane, and was very successful. “

“It is one of the liveliest plays in our language: the plot carefully constructed and held together by amusing yet probable incidents, the scenes illustrative of certain phases of social life ignored by the historian, and the dialogue, is not supremely witty, always genial and vivacious.”

“It is the truest picture we have of the recruiting service at the close of the seventeenth century, and shows the arts that were once used to fire the ambition and appeal to the ignorance of our country bumpkins. The swagger and sentiments of the rival captains serve as excellent foils to each other.” (Farquhar)

The play “described soldier life and that of their dependents. Back then, married soldiers were divided into two categories: the lucky few who were allowed to have their families live in the barracks and be taken care of by regimental funds, and those whose families had to live outside the barracks. The song referenced the latter as being ‘brats and wives.’” (Lange, DoD News)

‘War slang: American fighting words and phrases since the Civil War’ defines ‘Army brat. A child of an Army officer’ and ‘G.I. brat. A child of a member of the armed forces’. (Dickson)

Some suggest that ‘brat’ is a conjunction of ‘barrack rat’. At the end of the eighteenth century, the term ‘barrack rat’ was used in the United Kingdom.

“‘Barrack rat’ also surfaced in ‘A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.’ It cited the book ‘Old Soldier Sahib’ written in 1936 by Frank Richards, a British soldier who detailed his experiences while stationed in India and Burma during the early 20th century.” (Lange, DoD News)

“It is entirely possible that the term ‘barrack rat’ was constricted to become the term ‘brat’ that we know and use today.” (Clifton)

Still looking at the UK, some suggest that ‘brat’ is an acronym for British Regiment Attached Traveller’ (an administrative term used to classify the families of service personnel deployed abroad). (ArmyBratJourney)

The reference apparently crossed the pond and got into the American lexicon. The October 1941 listing in “American Speech’ notes the ‘Glossary of Army Slang’ – which defines, ‘Army Brat. Son or daughter of Army officer.’

Another definition suggests “Army Brat. (slang) a child of an army officer. This is a term applied in fondness to the officers’ progeny by officers, soldiers and the families themselves …”

“… including the young sons and daughters who are proud of the fact that they form part of an army post’s everyday life as ‘army brats.’”

Other wording for the acronym are also suggested … such as, ‘Bold Responsible Adaptable Tolerant’ and ‘Born Raised And Trained’.

A little while ago, some suggested in a Washington Post article to drop the BRAT reference and replace it with CHAMP (Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel), asking, ‘Would you rather be called a brat or a champ?’ (Kelly, Washington Post)

A follow-up to that noted, “‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ category, the acronym CHAMPs (Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel) doesn’t describe a child of the military.”

“I grew up the daughter of a US Navy officer. We were always called ‘Navy juniors,’ which was unmentioned in the article. I had numerous friends who were children of the other services, and they called themselves ‘brats.’”

“No one thought anything negative about it. The word champ or champions is widely used in the sports world and is not historic to the military. ‘Brats’ is a nickname of honor that doesn’t need fixing.” (McLean, Washington Post)

041127-N-3019M-004 Marine Corps Air Base Kaneohe, Hawaii (Nov. 27, 2004) – A family member of a Sailor assigned to the “Skinny Dragons” of Patrol Squadron Four (VP-4), waves goodbye to her father as he departs aboard an C-40A Clipper assigned to the “Lonestar Express” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Five Nine (VR-59) for a scheduled deployment to the 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations in the Western Pacific. A total of 390 Sailors from VP-4 are scheduled to deploy over the next week in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF). U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 3rd Class Ryan C. McGinley (RELEASED)