Economy | Page 152 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 24, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu in the 1830s

“The plain of Honoruru exhibits, in a singular manner, the extent and effects of volcanic agency. It is not less than nine or ten miles in length; and, in some parts, two miles from the sea to the foot of the mountains.”

“The whole plain is covered with a rich alluvial soil, frequently two or three feet deep; beneath this, a layer of fine volcanic ashes and cinders extends to the depth of fourteen or sixteen feet …”

“… these ashes lie upon a stratum of solid rock, not volcanic, but calcareous, and apparently a kind of sediment deposited by the sea, in which branches of white coral, bones of fish and animals, and several varieties of shells are found.”

“The base of the mountains which bound the plain of the interior, appears to have formed the original line of coast on this side of the island; but probably, in some very remote period, an eruption took place from two broad-based, truncated mountains, called by foreigners, Diamond Hill and Punchbowl Hill, evidently extinguished craters …”

“… when the ashes and cinders thrown out, and wafted by the trade winds in a westerly direction, filled up the sea, and formed the present extensive plain; the soil of its surface having been subsequently produced either by the decomposition of lava, or by the mould and decayed vegetable matter washed down from the mountains during the rainy season of the year.”

“Across this plain, immediately opposite the harbour of Honoruru, lies the valley of Anuanu, leading to a pass in the mountains, called by the natives Ka Pari, ‘the precipice.’”

“The mouth of the valley, which opens immediately behind the town of Honorary is a complete garden, care fully kept, by its respective proprietors, in a state of high cultivation, and remarkably productive.”

“The valley rises with a gradual ascent from the shore to the precipice, which is seven or eight miles from the town. After journeying through varied scenery, all exceedingly rich and beautiful, for about this distance, the valley becomes gradually narrower, and the mountains rise more steep on either side.”

“The scenery is romantic and delightful: the bottom of the valley is gently undulated; a rapid stream takes its serpentine way from one side of the valley to the other, sometimes meandering along with an unruffled surface, and at other times rushing down a fall of several feet, or dashing and foaming among rocks which interrupt its progress.”

“The sides of the hills are clothed with verdure; even the rocks that project from amongst the bushes are ornamented with pendulous or creeping plants of various kinds; and, in several places, beautiful cascades roll their silvery streams clown the steep mountain’s side into flowing rivulets beneath.”

“The beauty of the scenery around increases, until, at length, after walking some time oh a rising ground, more steep than usual, and through a thicket of hills, the traveller suddenly emerges into an. open space, and, turning round a small pile of volcanic rocks, the Pari all at once bursts upon him with an almost overwhelming effect.”

“Immense masses of black and ferruginous rock, many hundred feet in nearly perpendicular heights, are piled up on both sides; while, immediately before him, he looks down the fearful steep several hundred feet, and be holds hills and valleys, trees and cottages, streams and paths, cultivated plantations and untrodden thickets …”

“… in short, a varied landscape, many miles in extent, bounded by lofty mountains on the one side, and the white-crested waves of the ocean on the other.”

“From this lower level the ascent is at first gradual and easy, but, as the highest edge is approached, be comes more formidable, especially in two places, where the volcanic rocks appear to rise perpendicularly, and present an even and apparently projecting front, which it seems impossible to surmount.”

“The elevation of the upper ridge, over which the path leads, is from four to five hundred feet above the land below. Still the natives not only pass and repass without much difficulty, but often carry heavy burdens from one side to the other.”

“Within a few yards of the upper edge of the pass, under the shade of surrounding bushes and trees, two rude and shapeless stone idols were formerly fixed, one on each side of the path, which the natives called Akua no ka Pari, ‘gods of the precipice.’ …”

“Immediately south of the valley of Anuanu, are situated the town and harbour of Honoruru. The harbour is the best, and indeed the only secure one at all seasons, in the Sandwich Islands, and is more frequented by foreign vessels than any other; seldom having less than three or four, and sometimes upwards of thirty lying within it at the same time.”

“The town has, also, since the number of shipping has increased, become populous. It is one of the largest in the islands, usually containing six or seven thou sand inhabitants.”

“It is the frequent residence of the king and principal chiefs, who are much engaged in traffic with foreigners visiting the islands, or residing on shore for purposes of trade.”

“There are twelve or fourteen merchants, principally Americans, who have established ware houses on shore for foreign goods, principally piece goods, hardware, crockery, hats and shoes, naval stores, etc. which they retail to the natives for Spanish dollars, or sandal wood.”

“On the eastern side of the basin is a strong fort, one hundred yards square, mounting sixty guns. It was begun by some Russians, who were, however, expelled, and the fort finished by the natives, from an apprehension that these foreigners were in connexion with the Russian settlements on the north west coast of America, and were about to take possession of the island.”

“About six miles to the west of Honoruru, and nearly as far from the village of Eva, on the Pearl River, there is a singular natural curiosity – small circular lake, situated at a short distance from the seashore, so impregnated with salt, that twice in the year the natives take out between two and three hundred barrels of fine, clear, hard, crystalized salt.”

“This lake is not only an interesting natural curiosity, but an important appendage to the island. It belongs to the king, and is not only useful in curing large quantities of fish, but furnishes a valuable article of commerce. The population of Oahu is estimated at about twenty thousand.” (All from Mission Records, 1839)

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‘Honolulu_1836’_by_Joseph_Dwight_Strong

Honolulu_Fort_(PP-36-5-001)-1837

Interior_of_the_Fort,_Honolulu_Harbor-1830s-1840s

“Honolulu Salt Pan, near Kaka‘ako” drawn by a Auguste Borget-(Hammatt)-1838

Mission_Houses,_Honolulu,_ca._1837._Drawn_by_Wheeler_and_engraved_by-Kalama

Auguste_Borget_-_’Honolulu_Waterfront’,_graphite_on_paper,_1838

Honolulu_Harbor-(TheFriend)-1836

Niuhelewai-Fish_Ponds_at_Honoruru,_Oahu,_by_John_Murray,_after_Robert_Dampier-(WC)-1836-400

Anonymous illustrator entitled ‘Town of Honolulu- Island of Woahoo-Sandwich Islands’-(Hammatt)-1834

June 22, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

First American Ship to Circumnavigate the Earth

“Followers of the sea more than the people of any other place in America before the Revolution, the men of Boston could not but return, in the general restoring of normal conditions, to their interest in maritime affairs. How could it be otherwise?”

“At their very feet lay the inviting bay, with its best of harbors, safe from the sea, of which it is less an arm than a shoulder. At their very doors lay all the materials for ship building. (The) Constitution, finished in 1797, was a home made vessel”.

“With the coming of peace (following the Revolutionary War) it might have been expected that the doors of commerce would be thrown immediately open. Yet it would have been hardly human for the mother country to smooth any paths for the child that had cast off all parental authority.”

“The British West India trade was of course subject to English legislation. It was not long before the merchants of Boston, as of all our ports, found themselves forbidden to bring their fish to the islands or to carry the island products to England.”

“These products, if brought first to New England, could not even be carried to England in British ships. This prohibition was followed in 1784 by that of exporting anything from the West Indies to the United States except in British vessels.”

“Here the citizens of Boston asserted themselves, and entered as of old into agreement to buy none of the wares so imported.”

“The Massachusetts legislature passed measures of retaliation; and the national laws of navigation and commerce reflected for some years the British policy of restriction.”

“If success is determined by obstacles, the commercial enterprise of Boston could not have had a more favorable beginning. Not content with the difficulties nearest home, the merchants of America, in the earliest days of peace, began turning their eyes to the distant trade of China.”

“To New York belongs the credit of sending out the first vessel in this trade, the Empress of the Seas, which set sail for Canton in February of 1784, and was back in New York in May of the next year.”

“Her supercargo was a Boston youth of twenty, Samuel Shaw by name, whose service on General Knox’s staff in the Revolution had already won him the rank of major.”

“In his journal of the outward voyage he tells of landing at St. Jago, an island of the Cape de Verde group. The officer of the port was a Portuguese.”

“‘On telling him,’ says Shaw, ‘by the interpreter, a negro, that we were Americans, he discovered great satisfaction, and exclaimed, with an air of pleasure and surprise, “Bostonian! Bostonian!”’”

“With this – and the Boston supercargo – to remember, the New England town may comfortably orient herself with the first of the Chinese traders.”

“It was not long, however, before the town could claim as her own a commercial venture of the first importance and magnitude. The journals of Captain Cook, the navigator, were published in 1784. Through them the great possibilities of the fur trade on the northwest coast of America were made known.”

“Five Boston merchants, including the Bulfinch whose architecture still dominates the local landscape, and one merchant of New York, joined themselves to enter this new field.”

“The vessels they secured for the expedition were two: the Columbia, a full rigged ship of two hundred and twelve tons, eighty-three feet in length; and the Washington, a sloop of ninety tons.”

“Let those who dread six days of the Atlantic on liners of fifteen thousand tons’ burden stop a moment and picture these cockleshells – as they must appear to-day – and the spirit of the men who embarked in them for the North Pacific, and – in the Columbia – for the complete circling of the globe.”

“Before they set sail, September 30, 1787, they provided themselves plentifully with silver, bronze, and pewter medals commemorating the expedition, and with useful tools and useless trinkets, jews’-harps, snuff-boxes, and the like. Rounding the Horn, and sailing northward, it was the little Washington which first reached the northwest coast.”

“While waiting for the Columbia, the sloop’s crew had an encounter with natives who gave them good reason to call their anchorage ‘Murderers’ Harbor.’”

“Then the Columbia came, with scurvy on board. But the cargo of furs was secured, and, in pursuance of the owners’ plan, was carried to Canton for sale.”

“Stopping on the way at Hawaii, Captain Gray took on board the Columbia a young chief, Attoo, promising to send him back from Boston as soon as might be.”

“From China the ship, loaded with teas, sailed for home by way of the Cape of Good Hope. In August of 1790 she dropped anchor in Boston harbor, the first American vessel to circumnavigate the earth.” (Howe; The Atlantic Monthly, 1903)

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George Davidson sketch, “Columbia in a Squall”

ship_columbia-rediviva

Columbia_on_river

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June 21, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Policy of Great Britain toward the Hawaiian Islands (1824-1854)

Here are a number of correspondences between British leadership at the time that suggest the position of the British government on Hawai‘i during the reign of Kamehameha III. (All are from an Appendix in the Report of the Historical Commission of the Territory of Hawai‘i, 1925.)

A note of George Canning, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (July 14, 1824), to King George, Announcing the Death of Kamehameha II notes, “an Attention perhaps the more advisable as the Governments both of Russia and of the United States of America …”

“… are known to have their Eyes upon those Islands: which may ere long become a very important Station in the trade between the N. W. Coast of America and the China Seas.” (Canning to King George IV, July 14, 1824)

“On the Question of the Right of Great Britain to the Sandwich Islands … their Lordships confide in your Judgement and discretion in treating unforseen Circumstances according to the Principles of Justice and Humanity which actuate H[is] M[ajesty]’s Councils …”

“… and They recommend to You, that while You are ready to assert and vindicate H[is] M[ajesty] ‘s Rights, you will pay the greatest Regard to the Comfort, the Feelings, and even the Prejudices of the Natives, and will shew the utmost Moderation towards the Subjects of any other Powers, whom you may meet in those Islands.”

“H[is] M[ajesty] ‘s Rights you will, if necessary, be prepared to assert, but considering the Distance of the Place, and the Infant State of political Society there, You will avoid, as far as may be possible, the bringing these Rights into Discussion …”

“… and will propose that any disputed Point between Yourself and any Subjects of other Powers shall be referred to your respective Governments.” (Secret Instructions Given to Lord Byron, September 14, 1824)

“Considering the increasing importance to Great Britain of many of the islands in the Pacific, and especially of the Sandwich and Society Islands, both in a naval and commercial point of view …”

“… Lord Aberdeen is desirous of impressing on the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the expediency of a more frequent intercourse between Great Britain and those Islands, by the visits of ships of war, than has hitherto been maintained.”

“[It appears from Captain Jones’ letter to Admiral Thomas that British trade in the Sandwich Islands had increased in the last three years from $20,000 to $150,000 annually, and] that at the time of his arrival there, two years had elapsed since a British Ship of War had visited those islands.”

“Lord Aberdeen is of opinion that such an increase of trade alone would fully justify the more frequent appearance of British ships of wax in those parts. It would also tend to maintain the just influence of Great Britain, and to counter balance the efforts which are now making by other Powers, to establish a dominant authority in the islands of the Pacific.”

“The object of Her Majesty’s (Queen Victoria) Government in increasing their connexion with the chiefs of those islands, ought, in the opinion of Lord Aberdeen, to be rather to strengthen those authorities and to give them a sense of their own independence, by leaving the administration of justice in their own hands …”

“… than to make them feel their dependence on Foreign Powers, by interfering unnecessarily in every matter in which a foreign subject is concerned, and to compel those rulers by peremptory menace, or a show of physical force …”

“… to render to foreign subjects that measure of justice which may appear to the aggrieved person, or to the officer who steps forward in his behalf, to be his due. (Viscount Canning, Under Secretary of State to Sir John Barrow, Second Secretary of Admiralty, October 4, 1842)

“Her Majesty’s Government have no intention of retaining permanent possession of that country; and they have already given, both to the French Government and to that of the United States, an assurance to that effect. But it will be desirable that possession should be held, until the grievances complained of shall have been finally and formally redressed.”

“Her Majesty’s Government have already announced to the Ruler of the Sandwich Islands, their intention to acknowledge his independence. The United States have, it is understood, already taken that step; and the French Government have declared that they are ready, and intend to adopt the same course.”

“Therefore there appears to be no reason to apprehend that when Great Britain gives up her present possession of that country, it will fall into the hands of any other Power.”

“Never-the-less in order to provide against such a possible contingency, Her Majesty’s Government propose, before they release the Chief of the Sandwich Islands from the conditions into which he entered with Lord George Paulet, to endeavour to come to an understanding with the French Government …”

“… to the effect that both Governments shall engage not to assume to themselves any separate or special protection over that country; but that, on the contrary, both Governments shall equally recognise, and at all times treat the King of the Sandwich Islands as an independent ruler, and his country as open to all nations alike.” (Foreign Office to Admiralty, July 11, 1843)

“I have to desire that you will lose no time in officially assuring the Government of the United States that this Act (Paulet’s) was entirely unauthorized by Her Majesty’s Government, and that they propose, with the least practicable delay, to call on Lord George Paulet to render an account of his conduct.” (Foreign Office to Henry S Fox, British Ambassador to the United States, June 3, 1843)

“Without giving way to unreasonable jealousy or suspicion, it is desirable that you, should constantly keep a vigilant eye on the proceedings of the French in the Pacific, and that you should report on them to Her Majesty’s Government whenever you may have the means of safe communication.”

“But I do not wish that you should make any parade of vigilance with respect to the French. The less you appear to watch them the more surely you will be able to do so with effect.” (Earl of Aberdeen, Secretary of State to William Miller, British Consul General for the Hawaiian Islands September 29, 1843)

“Our only object is to secure the independence and permanent well-being of that country. … All that the British Govt, desire is that British Subjects and British interests in general should be placed upon the same footing with the subjects and interests of other Countries …”

“… and also that that footing should be such as to prevent, so far as possible, all future misunderstanding and contention between the respective Govts.” (Aberdeen to Miller, July 1, 1844)

“Her Majesty’s Government have learnt with great satisfaction that the attempts to bring about the annexation of the Sandwich Islands to the United States have been so completely defeated, and principally owing to the stand in favour of Independence which has been made by Prince Alexander and John Ii, a Member of the Upper House …”

“… and I have to instruct you to convey to the Prince and to such other Persons as you may think expedient the expression of that satisfaction on the part of her Majesty’s Government.” (Earl of Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to Miller, June 26, 1854)

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The_British_Empire-WC

June 20, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Japanese High School

Japanese came to Hawai’i between 1885 and 1924, when limits were placed on the numbers permitted entry. “The government contract workers who arrived in Hawaii in the 1880s did not have much time or energy to worry about their children’s education.”

“Their only aim was to make enough money to return to Japan. With mothers going to work from early in the morning the children were virtually left to themselves all day long.” (Duus)

“At first the parents had no mind to settle permanently in this territory. One day they would go back to Japan and take their children with them. But they would be greatly to blame if their children were found unable to speak and write in their mother tongue.”

“It was thus the earnest wish of the parents for the welfare of the children that they should be fully equipped with Japanese instruction, so as to enable them, on their return home, to stand on an equal footing with those who were born in Japan and educated there.”

“In the early days then, Japanese schools tried very hard to meet this request of the parents. Though the school hours were limited to less than two hours in the morning or two hours in the afternoon, they used to give not only the language lesson, but teach as many subjects as you will find in the curriculum of Japanese instruction in Japan.” (Imamura)

“Because of the lack of higher education among most immigrants and their children in Hawai’i, Buddhist Bishop Yemyo Imamura proposed building a Hongwanji high school, incorporating dormitories for students from rural O‘ahu and the neighbor islands.”

“While in Japan in early 1906 he gained approval from the Honzan, Hongwanji’s headquarters temple in Kyoto, and on his return to Hawai‘i he spoke to (Mary) Foster about the new project.” (Karpiel)

“Mary Foster donated a large piece of land covered with kiawe trees, now bisected by the Pali Highway, which was used to construct Hongwanji High School in 1907 (the first Buddhist High School in the United States) and the new Honpa Hongwanji Betsuin in 1918.” (Tsomo)

The final stretch of the Pali Highway to be completed was the segment which connected it to the downtown area between Coelho Lane and the intersection of Bishop Street and Beretania Street. It impacted the school. Planning for this segment had
begun as early as 1953.

When the Pali Highway was constructed, the Honpa Hongwanji, whose property was bisected by the proposed new segment, requested three of its buildings be relocated and a pedestrian underpass be constructed under the new highway to connect the temple with its school premises. (HHF)

The Japanese High School of the Hongwanji got the attention of others. “The ﬁrst Japanese language program at a public school was established at McKinley High School in Honolulu on October 1, 1924.” (Asato)

“The minutes of the Japanese committee of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, dated September 10, (1924) a month before the Japanese program at McKinley High School began, reveals who was involved with this movement.”

“During the meeting, Treasurer Theodore Richards expressed his concern about female high-school students who attended the Hongwanji School for advanced Japanese language study, saying that they ‘were getting led away from Christianity.’”

“Richards was discussing the Hongwanji Girls’ High School (Hawai Kōtō Jogakkō) established in 1910, the girls’ counterpart of Hongwanji’s junior high school, Hawai Chūgakkō, established three years earlier.” (Asato)

World War II totally disrupted Buddhist activities in Hawaii. On December 7, 1941, the Buddhist community was busily preparing for Bodhi Day services at various temples. The next day the temples were closed, and the Buddhist ministers were interned.

Labeled “potentially dangerous enemy aliens,” most Buddhist clergy, language school teachers, community leaders, businessmen doctors, anyone who had been identified as possible enemies of the United States, were rounded up to be taken away to detention camps, passing through the assembly center at Sand Island on O‘ahu. (Hongwanji Hawaii)

In 1949, one of the most momentous decisions made by the Hongwanji after the war was the adoption of a proposal to establish the Hongwanji Mission School, the first Buddhist, English grade school.

In 1992, the Hongwanji Mission School became available for students up until the 8th grade. Prior to that, the school was an elementary school with students from preschool to the sixth grade. In September of 1993, the middle school building was completed, and the class of 1994 was the first class to occupy it.

In the fall of 2003, with the encouragement of Bishop Chikai Yosemori, the Pacific Buddhist Academy (PBA) opened its doors to the first class of fourteen students. PBA is a college preparatory high school, and the first Shin Buddhist high school in the western world.

The school’s mission is “to prepare students for college through academic excellence; to enrich their lives with Buddhist values; and to develop their courage to nurture peace.” (Hongwanji Hawaii)

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Japanese High School plaque

Aloha Garden-Japanese High School

June 19, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ulu Melia

The Outdoor Circle started in France; in 1911, Cherilla Lowrey, Mrs Henry Waterhouse and her daughter Elnora Sturdeon marveled at the splendor of the Gardens of Versailles.

They wanted Hawaii to be a place of beauty and in 1912 the women started the Outdoor Circle.

In the early years, The Outdoor Circle planted the Mahogany trees that line Kalakaua Avenue at Waikiki. Shower trees were planted along Pensacola Avenue and Royal Poinsianas were put along Wilder Avenue.

More was done – including the post-war-years’ ‘Ulu Melia’, ‘To Grow Plumeria’ program. (Loy)

“The Plumeria, before 1947, was primarily used as a graveyard flower; however, The Outdoor Circle wanted to promote an interest in this exotic tree so that It would be planted all over the Islands.”

“Thus the Circle held a lavish festival called Ulu Melia (“To grow plumeria”), in June, 1947 at the McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park.”

“Thousands of cuttings were given away, in order to blanket the hill of Honolulu with Plumeria rather than the unattractive Haole Koa trees.”

“Four hundred cuttings alone were given to Mr. Wilbert Choi of Makiki Nursery for planting in Makiki Valley. Rare cuttings from the Robinson’s on Kauai were sold for $10 apiece.”

“This rare tree, a diploid, was later planted by The Outdoor Circle in the Plumeria garden at Washington Place.” (Star Bulletin, 1977)

“Reminiscent of a Far East garden, plumeria decked Moana park this morning for a scene of bustling activity with Outdoor Circle members and artists completing their flower arrangements.” (Star Bulletin, June 19, 1947)

“The last large event of this kind in the court (of McCoy Pavilion) was the flower show sponsored in 1941 by the Garden Club of Honolulu.”

“Among the thousands who attended, many will recall that the plumeria as the featured flower of that occasion. Its success was spectacular when in huge leis which were draped over the curtain wall inclosing the court and around the great urn which centers the main pool.”

“Plans for Ulu Melia call for a greatly enlarged use of the flower both as a decorative unit and in special arrangements made by groups and individuals.” (Advertiser, June 15, 1977)

“This new effort of the circle is being directed by Mrs Alice Spalding Bowen and her landscape committee. Other members include Mrs Robert Thompson, vice chairman; Mrs Philip Spalding, Mrs Theodore Cooke, Mrs AV Molyneus and the organization’s president, Mrs AGM Robertson.”

“Good will from the Hawaiian Islands came in by clipper today when a Pan American plane arrived in the bay area laden with fragrant leis of plumeria …”

“… the islanders’ way of saying ‘Aloha’ to the mainland as they celebrate their annual Ulu Melia (growing of the plumeria) with a gala flora festival sponsored by the Outdoor Circle of Honolulu.” (San Mateo Times, June 20, 1947) (Photos from Babcock.)

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