Economy | Page 188 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1870s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1870s –first Kamehameha Day, Reciprocity Agreement, Lili‘uokalani writes Aloha ‘Oe and Iolani Palace is started. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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February 19, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Aliʻiolani House

By 1866, the need for a new courthouse government building in the Hawaiian Kingdom was apparent. The old courthouse, completed in 1852, accommodated not only the judicial needs of the young nation, but also served as the reception hall for diplomatic ceremonies and official social functions.

The legislature appropriated $40,000.00 respectively towards a new palace and a new government building. Delays ensued, and those figures were increased to $60,000.00 each by 1870. (Friends of the Judiciary History Center of Hawai‘i)

Kamehameha V envisioned a civic center around the palace, and plans were made to purchase the Mililani premises on King Street, “a long and fatiguing journey over the dustiest street in the city.” (HABS)

“In 1871, (Robert Lishman) was summoned from Australia where he had been living for many years, by King Kamehameha V to come to Hawaii to superintend the construction of Aliʻiolani Hale, and now known as the Judiciary building.” (Independent, May 13, 1902)

On behalf of King Kamehameha V, Stirling wrote Alex Webster, Hawai‘i’s Counsul in Sydney, “As His Majesty’s Govt has within the next 18 months or two years to erect buildings of considerable magnitude, & the supply of skilled & steady builders her is very limited, and not equal to our requirements …”

“… His Excellency wishes you, if possible, to engage two young, steady & intelligent builders to come here, offering them the engagement for 12 months, paying their passage hither, and paying them $4 p day to begin with, and a promise of $5 p. day if they give satisfaction.”

“Our work will be chiefly done in concrete, so that simple stone cutters will not serve our purpose. What we want them for chiefly is to look after & teach the natives, and to set the blocks of concrete on the buildings.” (Stirling, February 25, 1871)

In a subsequent letter, Stirling wrote, “It is the intention of this Govt to build a new Royal Palace here, and to commence operations as soon as they can produce suitable plans …”

“… but, as we have not Architect here, capable of designing such a building, and as Architects in Northern Countries would not be likely to have a proper appreciation of the nature of the climate in the Islands, and its requirements …”

“… it has appeared to His Excellency probable, that in Sydney, where the summer climate is very similar to ours, as Architect might be found more likely to be able to design an appropriate building.”

“The style of building considered most suitable is the Italian, of one Storey in height; this however may to a certain extent be departed fro ti give variety of outline.”

“All the principal rooms must be on the ground-floor, but the Billiard-room, some of the bed-rooms, and perhaps the Ladies & Gentlemen retiring rooms might be in the second storey.”

“The main entrance should have a spacious Portico, semicircular or semieliptical in form, in front, flanked by wide Verandahs with columns of the Ionic Order; in fact it is desirable that the entire front and at least two sides of the buildings should be protected by a verandah of say, 15 ft wide.”

“About Twenty Rooms in all will be required, consisting, in addition to the spacious entrance Hall, of a Council Chamber of about 50 x 30 ft. An Audience Chamber about 40 x 40 ft with another room of similar dimensions adjoining it …”

“His Excellency requests that you will endeavor to get one or two sketches f such a building from one or more of your architects, shewing the Plans and elevations only, without entering into details until the design is approved”. (Stirling, June 24, 1871)

Sketches were sent back and Stirling followed up stating, “I am now directed by His Excellency to inform you that he has carefully studied all the Designs sent, and is much pleased with all of them …”

“… but owing to a difficulty about the site to be selected for the Palace – involving I believe a doubt as to the proprietorship of a portion of the land proposed to be occupied – he cannot yet, and may not for some time to come be able to say which of the designs will be chosen.”

“In one respect however, the arrival of the Designs was most opportune, as we were just commencing to build our New Govt Offices, upon a very indifferent Plan, and no sooner has His Excellency seen Mr Rowe’s Design B than he conceived that …”

“… with modification which I shall presently state – it would answer well as a plan for these offices, and further consideration confirmed him in this view, so that he has now determined to adopt it, & is consequently prepared to pay Mr Rowe the 100 additional for this design as p your agreement with him.”

The alteration of the Plan proposed, applies only to the wings, the body of the building remaining the same as before. The verandah all around will be dispense with, and will be retained only on the front and rear of the Main building. The Wings will be of the same length as in the Design, but will be 5 ft wider, and the semicircular ends will be cut off.”

“It is probable that the upper portion of the central tower may ultimately be used for a public clock, but in any case it will be necessary to have access to it, and His Excellency requests you to ask Mr Rowe how he proposes that this should be had, as it is not shewn in the design, and he cannot see how it is to be done without disfiguring the tower.” (Stirling, December 15, 1871)

Not receiving plans in time, Stirling then wrote, “With regard to the build of the New Govt Offices, I am directed by His Excellency the Minister of the Interior to say, that as it was impossible to wait for working drawings from Sydney before commencing, …”

“… we had to prepare them here, and consequently full two months ago we begun to mould blocks of concrete for the walls of the first story, and have now fully a third of what we require for it prepared.” (Stirling, March 17, 1872)

The cornerstone the Government Building was laid on February 19, 1872 with full Masonic ceremony. The new building was of concrete block, a technique first used in 1870 when the government built the Post Office building.

Although Stirling wished to support the first floor with iron girders, in view of the uncertainly as to the length of time it might take to procure them, wooden beams were used instead.

(In 1913, a system of steel columns, girders and beams supporting concrete slab floors and roofs replaced the earlier system. During the renovations, nothing of the interior seems to have been retained. In addition to the rearrangement of office spaces, the character of public spaces and circulation was completely altered.) (HABS)

Kamehameha V never saw the completion of the Government Building; nor did they build his new Palace. The Government Building officially opened by the Legislature on April 30, 1874. “‘Ali‘iolani House’ is the name by which the new Government house is to be hereafter known, by command of His Majesty (Kalākaua.)”

“‘Ali‘iolani’ was one of the titles given to Kamehameha V at his birth, and is now appropriately applied to the building which was projected under his reign.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 2, 1874)

The building is known as Ali‘iolani Hale; it is the former seat of government of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the Republic of Hawaiʻi and now houses the Hawai‘i Supreme Court and Judiciary History Center of Hawai‘i.

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Judiciary and Territorial Buildings – 1935

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February 18, 2017 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Mid-Pacific Carnival

In 1903, the Territory of Hawaiʻi, Chamber of Commerce and Merchants’ Association created the Hawaiʻi Promotion Committee (forerunner to the Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau.)

Supported by a legislative appropriation, it was mandated to provide better publicity to encourage tourism to Hawaiʻi.

The early years of the Territorial era saw the creation of a series of public celebrations. Beginning with the Mid-Pacific Carnival in 1904, a series of multiethnic public celebrations and parades were created to attract tourists and showcase Hawaiʻi’s multi-ethnic culture.

Some were overtly characterized as celebrations designed to get visitors to come and/or extend their stays in Hawai’i. Others took advantage of the tourist audience and presented these congenial multiethnic celebrations as the embodiment of the Aloha Spirit.

The Mid-Pacific Carnival, held in February as a celebration in honor of Washington’s birthday, had spectacular and historic pageants and military parades featured.

During the winter season, the Mid-Pacific Carnival was at Aʻala Park in downtown Honolulu. Circus acts, sideshows and hula dancers entertained the public. With the carnival was the annual Floral Parade.

In 1914, the Promotion Committee chose to feature surfing and swimming legend Duke Kahanamoku standing his surfboard on its program and promotional pieces. It was sent all over the world as advertisement to benefit the Territory.

In 1915, a Peace Pageant celebrating one hundred years of peace between America and Great Britain was given by The Friend as a feature of the Mid-Pacific Carnival. Several thousand persons witnessed this educational feature. (The Friend)

On a separate track, starting several years before (1871,) but still ongoing, Kamehameha V had created a celebration with horse-riding and other sports to honor his grandfather, Kamehameha I.

Initially held on December 11, Kamehameha V’s birthday, it was agreed to make this celebration an annual event, but because of the uncertain weather in December it was decided to change the date to June.

Kamehameha V died soon after, and the holiday remained as a “Day in Commemoration of Kamehameha I,” (La Ho‘o-mana‘o o Kamehameha I.) The 1896 legislature declared it a national holiday.

Almost from its first observance this day was celebrated chiefly by horse races in Kapiʻolani Park, but the races eventually gave way to today’s parades of floats and pāʻū riders.

In 1916, Mid-Pacific Carnival merged into the Kamehameha Day Parade.

In 1939, Hawaii Revised Statute 8-5 under the Territorial Legislature of Hawai‘i created the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission.

In 1978 the legislature renamed this holiday King Kamehameha I Day.

On February 14, 1883, the Kamehameha statue was unveiled at Aliʻiōlani Hale during the coronation ceremonies for King Kalākaua. The customary draping of the Kamehameha Statue with lei dates back to 1901.

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February 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whitney Laboratory of Seismology

When a hotel on the rim of Kilauea caldera became a permanent facility in 1866, its series of guest registers became a repository of reports and observations by the guests, an almost daily record (by observers who varied from the scientist to the joker) of earthquakes felt and unfelt and of volcanism seen and unseen on Kilauea and Mauna Loa.

In the hope that science could close the gaps in geological knowledge and learn to predict earthquakes and eruptions, some New Englanders were willing for humanitarian reasons to finance foreign trips and support work abroad for scientists.

For instance, the Springfield (Massachusetts) Volcanic Research Society supported, at least in part, the travels and studies of Frank A. Perret, an electrical engineer and inventor turned volcanologist who became well known for his studies at Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli. The Springfield society also helped support Perret’s 1911 work at Kilauea.

It was in this climate of opinion that the trustees of the estates of Edward and Caroline Whitney gave to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the sum of $25,000 for a memorial fund; the principal and interest were to be expended at MIT’s discretion for research or teaching in geophysics, especially seismology.

Investigations in Hawaii were recommended. The Whitney fund was deeded to MIT by the trustees on July 1, 1909, and three years later a group of twelve other New Englanders supplied MIT with supplemental funds for geophysical research in Hawaii.

MIT gave Thomas A Jaggar a leave of absence in December 1911 and directed him to Kilauea to continue the investigations made in the summer of 1909. Jaggar arrived at Kilauea on January 17, 1912.

Work then started on what would be the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (Observatory.) A cellar excavation on the north rim of Kilauea caldera started on February 16, 1912, marking the beginning of permanent facilities for the Observatory.

The Observatory was largely the creation of Jaggar (1871-1953), then a MIT professor, who recognized the advantages, for the study of volcanism, of onsite facilities at an active volcano.

Wooden stakes marked the corners of a rectangle about 24-feet long by 22-feet wide only about 20-feet from the cliff-like rim of Kilauea caldera on the Island of Hawaii.

A hole was to be dug by hand. The diggers were prisoners of the Territory of Hawaii, sentenced to a term of hard labor. The prisoners dug through almost six feet of volcanic ash and pumice to a layer of thick pahoehoe lava – a firm base for the concrete piers on which seismometers would be anchored.

Jaggar had contracted with Hackfeld for the forms and concrete work for the seismometer vault, and for the wooden structures that were to stand over and adjacent to the vault – the rim-side facilities of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The result was “a basement room, eighteen feet square, with piers and floor of concrete, reposing upon the upper surface of the basalt, and high walls of concrete (and became known as) the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology.” A building was built above.

“A constant emanation of hot steam from cracks in contact with the concrete walls keeps this room at a fairly uniform temperature and thus improves it for the purposes of seismology.” (Apple)

“Concrete tables on the floor of the cellar held the pair of east-west and north-south horizontal pendulums, recording with delicate pens on smoked paper, stretched over a chronograph drum.”

“These paper records, removed every day and fixed with shellac varnish, became the seismograms of the permanent files. Long belts of wavy lines on each paper exhibited seconds, minutes, and hours; and when a sharp zigzag in one of the lines occurred, it was evidence of either a local or a distant earthquake.” (Jaggar)

However, the “oppressive warmth caused by the natural steam heat” added challenges to the scientists’ daily lives. Scientists through the active life of the vault bundled up in wooly sweaters, scarfs, and raincoats to walk to the vault through the chilling rains and fog at 4,000-foot altitude and then peeled clown to undershirts when they entered the vault to attend the instruments.

Being a basement vault with a building above also created problems. Even in calm weather, movements of the building were recorded by the seismometers in the vault below.

Winter Kona storms swept high winds from the south across Kilauea caldera, hitting with full force against the north rim and causing such rocking and trembling of the building above as to mask the records on the seismograms.

In the winter of 1915-16, gale-force winds stripped the sheets of corrugated iron from the roof of the building. Rain water in the offices above poured into the vault to wash away the seismograms on their drums, flood the floor, and soak the instruments. Repairs took weeks.

On December 19, 1921, the nearby Volcano House began to run a generator for the first electric lights at Kilauea. Variations in the engine speed as well as the exact times of starting and stopping were duly recorded by seismometers in the Whitney vault.

On February 11, 1940, the main Volcano House burned to the ground, and this led to the relocating of the Observatory facilities. (The present Volcano House was opened for business in November 1941.)

That year, the building above the observatory was dismantled, and a reinforced-concrete slab was poured by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to become the vault’s new roof. The slab was covered with 18-inches of topsoil (the vault mound is on the crater side of the Volcano House.)

On December 28, 1947, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was transferred within the Department of the Interior from the National Park Service to the United States Geological Survey.

In 1948, the Observatory was moved to a building at the top of Uwekahuna Bluff on the northwest rim of Kilauea caldera; a new and larger building there was completed in 1986. (The bulk of the information here comes from Russell Apple’s (retired National Park Service historian) history of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

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Whitney Seismograph Vault Stairs and Door-NPS

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Inside the Whitney Vault, Thomas Jaggar, aka Dick Hershberger-Ron Johnson-KauNews

February 13, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Anahola

Poetically the island is reportedly called, “Manōkalanipō”, or “Kauai a Manō” after the ancient chief who was largely responsible for elevating Kauai’s ancient society to sophisticated heights of advancement and productivity. (NativeKauai)

Geologically, Kauai is the oldest of the main inhabited islands in the chain. It is also the northwestern-most island, with Oʻahu separated by the 70-mile long Kaʻieʻie Channel.

Kauai is the fourth largest island in the Hawaiian chain, comprised of a land area of 352,000-acres. Kauai was traditionally divided into 5 moku (districts) including: Koʻolau, Haleleʻa, Nā Pali, Kona and Puna.

(Common district names that are universally used across of the Hawaiian Islands include “Koʻolau” marking the windward sides of the islands; “Kona” – the leeward sides of the islands; and “Puna” – indicating regions where springs and fresh water abound.)

Moku were changed in the late 1800s to Kawaihau, Hanalei, Waimea, Kōloa and Līhuʻe. In 1877, Hanalei and Līhuʻe shared a common boundary.

Kawaihau was set apart by King Kalākaua, who gave that name to the property lying between the Wailua River and Moloa‘a Valley.

Formerly, Anahola (fish poison cave) was part of the moku or district of Ko‘olau. Within the Ko‘olau district were the ahupua`a of: Kīlauea, Kāhili, Waiakalua, Waipake, Lepe‘uli, Ka‘aka‘aniu, Moloa‘a, Papa‘a, Aliomanu and Anahola.

Lae Kuaehu (also Kuaehu) is the promontory that divides Anahola from Aliomanu. Lae Lipoa serves as the southernmost boundary in the Anahola Ahupua‘a – the boundary line runs toward Kalale‘a mountain from east to west.

The Kalale‘a mountain at Anahola includes two prominent mountain peaks known as Hōkū‘alele peak and Kalale‘a Mountain. This latter pu‘u can be seen from land and sea and is spoken of in chants and mele.

With the Anahola Stream as its main water source, generations of native Hawaiians thrived in the ahupua‘a of Anahola inhabiting mostly the valley and nearby coastal areas.

The principal location of the house sites is on the shore line, especially near the mouths of the river valleys where the taro was growing; in the mountains are some house sites and small villages.

In pre-contact times, prior to transformation of ancient Hawaiian religious and political systems, Anahola’s population was comprised of ali‘i, kahuna and makaʻāinana that were experts in the professions of planting and farming, fishing, healing and kapa making.

Commercial sugar cultivation began in 1880 and continued until 1988. The shift from subsistence lifestyle to commercial agricultural impacted the Anahola Hawaiian community.

Cultural traditions like canoe construction, tapa making and traditional houses were lost with the shift of lifestyles.

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) is one of the large landowners in the region with approximately 5,000 acres in the Anahola region. DHHL’s 20,565-acres make up 6 % of the total land area of Kauai.

The Hawaiian Homelands Program was started in 1921 with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. The department extended the first homestead lease on the island of Kauai to native Hawaiian families in Anahola in early 1957.

An Anahola Japanese community was established by first generation Japanese immigrants from DHHL leaselands in the early 1900s.

Records show that prior to 1947, there were 70 Japanese families living in the Anahola area as farmers. By 1991, there were 19 Japanese families.

In 2008, it was estimated that Native Hawaiians accounted for approximately 5,700 (9%) of the 63,000 residents on the island of Kauai.

Anahola is home to the largest population of Native Hawaiians, approximately 61%, residing on Kauai. Based on historic trends and proposed development, the population in the Kawaihau region can be expected to increase between 8-10% over the next 10 years.

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