Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Scariest Story I Know

It’s Halloween – I was asked to tell a spooky story. I first thought about stories about Night Marchers, but then realized I have an even spookier story than that.

Here’s the scariest story I know.

Not long ago, a family was sitting at the kitchen table – wondering why they weren’t able to make ends meet.

In fact, simply sitting there, they were getting deeper and deeper into debt.

Their household income was $77,700. However, that year they spent over $90,000 – they put about 30-cents of every dollar they spent on a credit card.

Because of their spending in the prior years, the family had accumulated about $450,000 in debt.

While that outstanding debt sounds like the amount of a mortgage, it’s not. Unlike a mortgage, they have no house or anything else to show for this debt – it is simply money they owe.

They scratch their heads and wonder why.

This seemingly fictional family is real – these numbers represent the context of the national deficit and the debt (in the context of if a median income family spent money like the federal government).

The US national debt has passed $36.93 trillion. (October 2, 2023)

We keep spending money we don’t have.

Administration after administration, I think it’s pretty clear, folks in the federal government don’t want budgets – they want unlimited spending and no accountability for the money they spend (contrary to the key reasons why budgets are prepared.)

That’s like a family that makes $77,700 a year – and is already up to their necks in debt – blowing over $90,000 a year.  It does not make rational sense.

Deficits and debt cost money; it is called interest – paying this cost of borrowing does nothing in providing services and programs for the people today.  In addition to the interest, you also need to repay the principal of the debt.

Likewise, to pay off the debt you have to use current dollars to pay back past expenditures – money spent paying interest and paying back past debt does nothing in providing services and programs for the people today.

We had been fortunate that interest rates had been low – their lowest ever … but, now interest rates are rising.  More of our hard-earned tax dollars will go to paying higher interest on our growing deficits and debt.

Think about your household – I bet you find ways to cut spending to make ends meet. The folks in Washington, including the White House, don’t even try.

Some say, “we don’t have to worry about it short-term.”

In other words, if you have $7 but spend $9 (and continually borrow to make up the difference,) year after year, it’s OK – let future generations of Americans worry about it (the can is being kicked to your children and grandchildren).

Government should follow the example set by the American household:

  • live within your means (have a balanced budget)
  • we can’t continue to spend money we don’t have (stop deficit spending and borrowing to cover the difference)

Stop the Rhetoric – Balance the Budget – Reduce the Debt

You can’t spend money you don’t have. You can’t borrow your way out of debt.

For those that still don’t get it, I think I need to repeat this simple, basic thought:

You can’t spend money you don’t have. You can’t borrow your way out of debt.

This is the scariest story I know – and we are all caught in the middle of it, whether we like it or not.

As of August 5, 2025, the US Senate figure for the debt of the federal government is $36.93 trillion. This equates to:
• $108,551 for every person living in the US.
• $279,319 for every household in the US.
• About 82% more than the combined consumer debt of every household in the US.
• About 7.0 times annual federal revenues.
• About 123% of annual US economic output (GDP).

“The federal budget deficit totaled $1.3 trillion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2025, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. That amount is $65 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last fiscal year.” (Congressional Budget Office)

“Net interest has been exploding over the past few years, with payments rising from $223 billion in 2015 to $345 billion in 2020 before nearly tripling to $881 billion in 2024. In 2025, CBO projects net interest will total $952 billion, a near-record 3.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and interest will eclipse its record as a share of the economy in 2026.” (Committee for Responsible Federal Budget)

Every man, woman and child in the United States owes nearly $110,000 as his or her share of the national debt. Not every US citizen is a taxpayer; for taxpayers, you owe more than $323,000 (as his or her share of the national debt). (Highland County Press)

Scary, isn’t it? Happy Halloween.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Train Accident at Maulua Tunnel

Following the Treaty of Reciprocity (1875) between the US and the Kingdom of Hawai‘i (that eliminated the major trade barrier to Hawai‘i’s closest and major market), sugar cultivation exploded on the Big Island.

As a means to transport sugar and other goods, on March 28, 1899, Dillingham received a charter to build the original eight miles of the Hilo Railroad that connected the Olaʻa sugar mill to Waiākea, that was soon to become the location of Hilo’s deep water port.

Rail line extensions continued.  Extensions were soon built to Pāhoa, where the Pahoa Lumber Company was manufacturing ʻōhia and koa railroad ties for export to the Santa Fe Railroad.

All the sugar grown in East Hawaiʻi, in Puna and on the Hāmākua Coast, was transported by rail to Hilo Harbor, where it was loaded onto ships bound for the continent.

An early account stated that the rail line crossed over 12,000 feet in bridges, 211 water openings under the tracks, and individual steel spans up to 1,006 feet long and 230 feet in height.

Some of the most notable were those over Maulua and Honoliʻi gulches, the Wailuku River and Laupāhoehoe.

Over 3,100 feet of tunnels were constructed, one of which, the Maulua Tunnel (built in 1912), was over half a mile in length. This historic tunnel once opened to a 144 ft. high steel trestle that was 1,006 ft. in length.

While the main business of the railroad remained the transport of raw sugar and other products to and from the mills,  it also provided passenger service.

Between 1909 and 1913, the Hāmākua Division of the railroad was constructed to service the sugar mills north of Hilo. Unfortunately, the cost of building the Hāmākua extension essentially destroyed the Hilo Railroad, which was sold in 1916 and reorganized as the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway.

Targeting tourists to augment local passenger and raw sugar transport, the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway ran sightseeing specials under the name “Scenic Express.”

Passengers were treated to spectacular views of the rugged Hamakua Coast, pounding surf, massive cliffs, plunging waterfalls, and wild and tangled tropical vegetation.

Not for the faint of heart, these trips included a stop on the trestles, where passengers disembarked to admire the outstanding scenery.

Then, an accident … “According to information from passengers, the observation train had just passed through the long tunnel at the approach of Maulua gulch trestle at 10:30 am, and had come to a stop on the high steel structure to allow the passengers to enjoy the view from that point.”

“As the observation train stood still the regular passenger train following came out of the tunnel. The brakes of the oncoming locomotive failed to hold well enough to stop the train from coming into collision.”

“The accident occurred about 100 feet out from the tunnel, as both trains were headed towards Paauilo.  The derailed rear truck of the excursion train was thrown about one foot off the rails, it Is said.” (HTH, Oct 22, 1924)

“‘We all feel that we had a miraculous escape,’ a member of the excursion said in commenting on yesterday’s accident. ‘Although a near tragedy, the accident has put a different atmosphere into the party.”

“You might say that we feel awed. In that short moment yesterday morning families were drawn closer together and we have forgotten the little things that irritated us.’”

“Very soon after the accident everyone had himself well in hand, husbands were particularly attentive to wives, and a gentleman of the party went about administering ‘oxygen’ from the bulb of his kodak to those who were feeling faint.” (HTH (Oct 23, 1924)

A few remnants of the railway are still visible. Hawaiʻi Consolidated’s yards were in the Waiākea district of Hilo, where the roundhouse still stands today, next to the county swimming pool on Kalanikoa Street.

In Laupāhoehoe, a concrete platform remains where Hula dancers once performed for tourists. And the Laupāhoehoe Train Museum is housed in the former home of Mr. Stanley, the superintendent of maintenance.

Today, the Laupāhoehoe Train Museum and Visitors Center keeps the memory of Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway alive.  The admission fee is $10 for adults, Kamaaina $8, and $5 students. Special rates for tours are also offered.

The museum is typically open 10 am to 2 pm Monday – Saturday. Other days open by appointment. (Hours sometimes change based on available volunteers.) The address is 36-2377 Māmalahoa Highway, Laupāhoehoe, Hawaiʻi 96764.  (Lots of information here for Laupāhoehoe Train Museum and Ian Birnie.)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Drinking Smoke

Nicotiana tabacum was unknown in Europe when Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic. There he saw both men and women who ‘drank’ (or inhaled) the smoke of rolls of burning leaves. The use of tobacco spread quickly through Europe. (Le Couteur)

“For a long time, there was simply no name for what you did with tobacco. Only in the course of the seventeenth century did ‘smoking’ become a commonly used term. Up to that time it was compared with drinking – one spoke of ‘drinking smoke,’ (‘fog drinking’) and ‘drinking tobacco.’” (Stern)

In the Islands, tobacco cultivation dates at least to 1809, when Archibald Campbell observed ‘smoking tobacco is another luxury of which the natives are very fond.’ Don Francisco de Paula Marin planted tobacco on January 11, 1813.

Six years later, the use of tobacco was widespread. Chiefs, as well as their servants would pass a single pipe from one person to another. (Schmitt)

The island of Kauai is credited with the enterprise of first systematic attempts in tobacco growing (as it was in sugar, coffee and other agricultural effort), which was in 1851, possibly earlier.

Hanalei was the first tested locality, in which venture Messrs. Wundenburg, Bucholz and Gruben were the pioneers, followed very soon after by JR Opitz at Waimea.

“(T)obacco raised on these islands is said by the Mexicans and Californians to be of excellent quality. It certainly possesses a flavor superior to that of two-thirds of the cigars imported into our market. It will grow, I think, almost anywhere on these islands.” (Judge Robertson; Thrum)

However, they soon learned that “growing tobacco at Hanalei, on the island of Kauai, has proved a failure, and Messrs. Bucholz and Gruben who were engaged in the same business have removed to Waimea, and joined Mr Opitz.”

“It has been found that tobacco cannot be grown to any profit at Hanalei, owing to the great humidity of the soil, and luxuriant vegetation, which keeps the ground filled with destructive insects.” (Lee; The Polynesian, July 17, 1852)

“Wundenburg speaks of the growth of tobacco in the following terms. ‘I have been examining where tobacco will grow best, and have found that it is most advantageously cultivated in those very plaices, which are unfit for the growth of nearly every other thing.” (Lee; The Polynesian, July 17, 1852)

“I believe all the leeward sides of the islands contain many tracts of land exclusively fitted for its cultivation, but the windward sides never will furnish good places for the growth of tobacco, except on a few small spots in barren ravines, well sheltered from the high winds.”

“Where the tobacco grows the finest, as near Waimea on this island, only one good crop can be raised in a year.” (Wundenburg; Lee, The Polynesian, July 17, 1852)

The good news held true in the leeward side of the Island of Hawaiʻi. “The promising outlook attending the cultivation of tobacco on the island of Hawaiʻi must be very gratifying to the promoters and shareholders in the established plantations”.

“(T)he crops and returns therefrom this past year already exceeding the estimate set forth in launching the new enterprise, so as to warrant the extension of the planting area and curing barns for the scientific care and treatment of the leaf.”

“A shipment each of several tons leaf tobacco from the Kona and the Hawaii Tobacco Co’s this year, is reported to have met ready sale in New York at very satisfactory figures; the leaf being of excellent quality and well cured received favorable notice of eastern buyers.” (Thrum)

The Islands grew “four different kinds of tobacco in our field, and as some of them are much better than others”. (Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, 1854)

First, native tobacco – when tobacco was first introduced into these islands, there were two kinds cultivated by the natives, one with a large round leaf, and the other with a smaller and more pointed one.

Second, there were some plants from seeds introduced from Havana by Robert C Wyllie. Both in appearance and flavor, the tobacco bears a strong resemblance to the broad-leafed native kind, and none but one well acquainted with tobacco, could distinguish them.

Third, there were a few plants from seed sent us by William L Lee, procured by him from the NYSA Society. It has a very small, round and fine leaf, and a superior tobacco.

Fourth, seed sent by John Montgomery; the plant is so different from any other we have seen, that it was suppose it was from Manila. (Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, 1854)

Later, “Cooperative experiments with tobacco have been conducted on the island of Hawaii with the object of producing a type of tobacco that is especially adapted to Hawaiian conditions.” (USDA; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 19. 1904)

By November, 1908, there are three de facto tobacco growers in Hawaii, the Kona Tobacco Company, operating in Kona and Hāmākua, on the island of Hawaii, one farmer in south Kona, and one farmer in Hāmākua.

“Hawaiʻi’s competitors in the tobacco industry are Cuba, Sumatra, and possibly the Philippines, tropical countries only. … The superior burning qualities of the Hawaiian-grown Cuban leaf will sell it in any market, and four years out of five Cuban leaf will not burn. The maintenance of the present duties on tobacco are necessary if a tobacco industry is to be built up in Hawaiʻi.” (Tariff Hearings, House of Representatives, 1908-1909)

Things were looking up for the Kona crop … “A small quantity of the Kona leaf was sent to the Coat recently to be made up into cigars. These have just arrived and demonstrate beyond a doubt that the wrapper tobacco as grown in the Kona district has no superior not even shade grown Connecticut or the finest imported Sumatra.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 25, 1911)

“The source of commercial tobacco is a large, sticky-hairy annual herb to about 6 feet high, 3 native of tropical America. Since about 1812 it has been growing in Hawaii, where from 1908 to 1929 it was tried out on a large scale in Kona, Hawaiʻi, as a possible industry.” (In Gardens of Hawaii; Melrose)

A disastrous fire broke out in late 1912, completely destroying numerous company buildings and two years’ worth of tobacco stored in them. The company never recovered. With the advent of World War I then the Great Depression, tobacco slowly withered away in Kona. (Melrose)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Public Access on Beaches and Shorelines

State law states that the right of access to Hawaii’s shorelines includes the right of transit along the shorelines. (HRS §115-4)

The right of transit along the shoreline exists below (seaward of) the private property line (generally referred to as the “upper reaches of the wash of waves, usually evidenced by the edge of vegetation or by the debris left by the wash of waves.”) (HRS §115-5)

However, in areas of cliffs or areas where the nature of the topography is such that there is no reasonably safe transit for the public along the shoreline below the private property lines, the counties by condemnation may establish along the makai boundaries of the property lines public transit corridors (not less than six feet wide.) (HRS §115-5)

Generally, the Counties have the primary authority and duty to develop and maintain public access to and along the shorelines. (HRS Secs 46-6.5, 115-5 & 115-7)

The State’s primary role in the shoreline area is to preserve and protect coastal resources within the conservation district and support public access along and below the shoreline. (HRS Chap. 205A)

When the shoreline erodes, lateral access is not lost; instead, the State’s acquires title to the newly eroded lands. (Application of Sanborn, 57 Haw. 585, 562 P.2d 771 (1997)) In other words, the public continues to have access along the shoreline to the upper reaches of the wash of the waves.

There is a specific situation related to ownership of beach areas; it is a special circumstance in Waikiki that dates back to 1928.

Waikiki is a ‘built’ beach.  Over the last 100-years it has been built primarily in two ways, (1) construction of walls and groins in the nearshore waters and (2) beach nourishment/replenishment (adding sand to the beach.)

Between 1913-1919, the majority of Waikiki had seawalls; they were placed to protect roadways and new buildings. The beach was lost fronting Kūhiō and Queen’s Beach.

In 1927, the Territorial Legislature authorized Act 273 allowing the Board of Harbor Commissioners to rebuild the eroded beach at Waikiki.

In 1928, the Territory of Hawaiʻi entered into a “Waikiki Beach Reclamation” agreement with several of the beachfront property owners.

Effectively, the agreement authorized the Territory to build a beach from the existing high water mark fronting the shoreline from the Ala Wai to the Elks Club.

The new beach was “deemed to be natural accretion attached to the abutting property, and title thereto shall immediately vest in the owner or owners of the property abutting thereon”.

In exchange, the property owners agreed not to build anything “within seventy-five (75) feet of mean highwater mark of said beach” and “at no time prevent such beach in front of their respective premises from being kept open for the use of the public as a bathing beach and for passing over”.

As part of the 1928 Beach Agreement, eleven groins composed of hollow tongue and concrete blocks were built along Waikiki Beach with the intent of capturing sand. (SOEST)

A lot of the sand to build the beach was brought in to Waikiki Beach, via ship and barge, from Manhattan Beach, California in the 1920s and 1930s.

As the Manhattan Beach community was developing, it found that excess sand in the beach dunes and it was getting in the way of development there. At the same time, folks in Hawai‘i were in need for sand to cover the rock and coral beach at Waikiki.

Kuhn Bros. Construction Co supplied the sand; they would haul the sand up from Manhattan Beach, load it onto railroad cars, have it transported to the harbor in San Pedro and shipped by barge or ship to Hawai‘i. (Dalton)

Since 1929, about 616,500 cubic yards of sand have been used to enlarge and replenish Waikiki Beach between Fort DeRussy and Kuhio Beach, but every year more erodes away. Little new sand has been added since the 1970s. (DLNR)

When I was at DLNR, we initiated a demonstration project to move nearshore sand back on to the beach. In 2006, DLNR spent $500,000 to siphon 10,000 cubic yards of offshore sand – this was the largest replenishment effort of Waikiki’s beaches in more than 30 years.

It worked; then, a larger project was implemented. Early in 2012, a larger-scale replenishment project pumped sand from 2,000 feet off Waikiki to fill in the shrinking beach. Later, other replenishment projects occurred.

The 2006 demonstration project and the subsequent replenishment activity were really recycling projects, because the sand now settled offshore was brought in years ago to fill out the beach.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Wī

In ancient Hawai‘i, most of the makaʻāinana (‘common people’) were farmers, a few were fishermen. Tenants cultivated smaller crops for family consumption, to supply the needs of chiefs and provide tributes.

“The people had ample cultivable land in the moist upland from two to four miles inland at altitudes of one thousand to twenty-five hundred feet. … The soil is most fertile, being formed from the decay of recent lava flows.”

“There the natives found their chief means of subsistence, and, in good seasons, were sufficiently fed. In bad seasons there were droughts, and more or less of ‘wī,’ or famine.” (Bishop)

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)

Food shortages and famines result from a variety of events: natural disasters, drought, or even the unrelated consequence of political or economic policy. We saw the latter in the Islands when sandalwood harvesting took people away from farming.

“The chiefs also were ordered to send out their men to cut sandalwood. Because the chiefs and commoners in large numbers went out cutting and carrying sandalwood, famine was experienced from Hawaii to Kauai. … The people were forced to eat herbs and fern trunks, because there was no food to be had. “

“When Kamehameha saw that the country was in the grip of a severe famine, he ordered the chiefs and commoners not to devote all their time to cutting sandalwood, and also proclaimed all sandalwood to be the property of the government. Kamehameha then turned and ordered the chiefs and the people under them to farm. (Kamakau; Kuykendall)

There were three approaches to the use of famine food; these included: the use of plants that were not usually eaten but, even if not deliberately planted, were provided at least rudimentary agricultural attention; the use of wild plants that were obtained from natural forest; and the setting aside of land for cultivation, but for use only under emergency conditions. (Campbell)

According to Hawaiian traditions, the ʻuala (sweet potato) was not only a primary staple food, it was also a food to deal with famine, as noted in the following ʻōlelo noʻeau:

He ʻuala ka ʻai hoʻola koke i ka wi
The sweet potato is the food that ends famine quickly

ʻUala is in the Morning Glory family and grows easy and it grows fast – within 4-5 months of planting (as opposed to nine to eighteen months for taro), ʻuala is cultivated for their enlarged primary roots called tubers (the primary food from the ʻuala,) while leaves can also be eaten.

Tubers were also used as bait for fishing; Vines were used to make an under cushion for lauhala mats in houses; and Fermented ʻuala “beer” (ʻuala ʻawaʻawa) brewed (but it is unclear if this is a pre-contact practice.) (Bishop Museum)

ʻUala, sweet potato, was a canoe crop (it was brought to Hawaiʻi by the Polynesians, who brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs.)

Another food recognized, not only in the Islands but across the world, as an important staple, as well as famine food, is ʻulu (breadfruit.)

Tradition traces its origin to a time of famine when Kū, the god of building and war, buried himself in the earth near his home. He later turned into an ʻulu tree so that his wife and children would not starve. (Pukui)

“If a man plant ten breadfruit trees in his life, which he can do in about an hour, he would completely fulfil his duty to his own as well as future generations.” (Joseph Banks, 1769)

Banks had been on the Endeavour with Captain Cook on his first voyage to the South Pacific in 1768-1771. William Bligh was part of the Cook’s crew on its third voyage when it made contact with Hawaiʻi in 1778.

Bligh later captained the Bounty on a voyage to gather breadfruit trees from Tahiti and take them to Jamaica in the Caribbean. There, the trees would be planted to provide food for slaves.

Bligh didn’t make it back on the Bounty, his crew mutinied (April 28, 1789;) one reason for the mutiny was that the crew believed Bligh cared more about the breadfruit than them (he cut water rationing to the crew in favor of providing water for the breadfruit plants.)

ʻUlu (breadfruit) was another canoe crop – one of around 30 plants brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians when they first arrived in Hawaiʻi.

“This tree, whose fruit is so useful, if not necessary, to the inhabitants of most of the islands of the South Seas, has been chiefly celebrated as a production of the Sandwich Islands; it is not confined to these alone, but is also found in all the countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean.” (Book of Trees, 1837)

The breadfruit is multipurpose, it may be eaten ripe as a fruit or under-ripe as a vegetable – it is roasted, baked, boiled, fried, pickled, fermented, frozen, mashed into a puree, and dried and ground into meal or flour.

Another famine food, but not part of the typical cultivated plants, was hāpuʻu (tree fern.) Another ʻōlelo noʻeau notes that when the hāpuʻu was eaten, it was a time of famine:

He hāpuʻu ka ʻai he ai make”
If the hāpuʻu is the food, it is the food of death

Other crop plants that also served as famine food was: maiʻa (banana,) kō (sugarcane,) ki (ti,) noni (Indian Mulberry) and others.

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