Economy | Page 208 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 22, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kuakini’s Cotton

“The pleasant village of Kailua is situated on the west side of Hawaii. It is the residence of the Governor of the Island. It is celebrated in Hawaiian history, as having been the residence for several years of Kamehameha I, and at this place he died, on the 8th of May, 1819, at the age of 66 years.”

“Here was first announced by Royal authority, that the old tabu system was at an end. It was in the quiet waters of this bay, that the brig Thaddeus anchored, April 4th, 1820, which brought the first Missionaries to the shores of Hawaii.”

“The natural features of the lofty mountain of Hualālai, and the rugged and rocky coast remain the same; but changes have been gradually going forward in the habits of the people and the appearance of the village.”

“There stands the village church with its tapering spire, almost a lac-simile of some that anciently stood in the centre of the common in many a New England village.”

“During the summer of 1844, we landed at Kailua to commence a tour of Hawaii. It was on the morning of the 1st of July, and we were kindly invited to take up our brief sojourn at the house of the Rev, Mr. Thurston who with his wife and children had been our voyaging companions on board the Clementine, from Honolulu.”

“The day of our landing happened to be the first Monday of the month, which has been so sacredly consecrated by American Missionaries and the churches of the United States, as a day of prayer for the blessing of God upon the Missionary enterprise.”

“It was pleasant to enjoy one of these sacred seasons, on the spot, so replete with incidents calculated to inspire the friend and lover of the cause with thanksgiving and gratitude. As might naturally be supposed, we had a ‘thousand’ inquiries to make of our venerable Missionary best, who bad been here watching the successive phases and changes of events for the last quarter of a century.”

“From our Journal for July 2d, we copy the following: ‘This morning it was proposed that we visit the village. Our steps were first directed to Governor Adams’ ‘factory,’ a long, and low, thatched building, now occupied as a native dwelling and store house.”

“Here the Governor undertook the manufacture of cotton cloth, and actually succeeded so far as to make several hundred yards.” (The Friend, April 15, 1845)

“Governor Kuakini indeed went so far as to manufacture a very stout kind of cloth in Kailua, Hawaii. It was proposed by the Rev. Mr. Armstrong that prizes in money and of sums which would make them worth contending for should be offered on a graduated scale for say, the three best specimens that may be exposed at the exhibition of this year.”

“It was asserted that this cotton raising is a business which will fall in with the habits of the people, and for which they have always evinced an inclination.” (Polynesian, June 11, 1859)

The cloth making experiment begun at Wailuku was continued; spinning and knitting were undertaken at one or two other stations; cotton growing was taken up by the church members at several places as a means of raising funds for new school and church buildings and to aid the missionary cause in general.

At Haiku, Maui, an American farmer commenced a small plantation, having 55 acres planted in 1838. Governor Kuakini of Hawaii. one of the most business-like of the chiefs, visited Miss Brown’s class at Wailuku in 1835 and conceived the idea of having the industry established on his island.

In 1837 the governor was reported by one of the merchants to have planted an immense cotton field at Waimea, Hawaii. In the same year he erected a stone building at Kailua, thirty by seventy feet, to be used as a factory. A foreigner in his employ made a wheel, from which as a sample the natives made about twenty others.

Wheel heads and cards were imported from the United States. Three poorly trained native women served as the first instructors for some twenty or thirty operatives, girls and women from twelve to forty years of age.

In a comparatively short time they acquired a fair proficiency in the work; by the middle of 1838 a large quantity of yarn bad been spun. Two looms were next procured and a foreigner familiar with their operation.

Members of the United States exploring squadron visited the factory in 1840, and the commander of the expedition wrote that the foreigner just mentioned ‘was engaged for several months in the establishment, during which time he had under his instruction four young men, with whom he wove several pieces of brown stripes and plaids, plain and twined cotton cloth.’

‘After this time, the natives were able to prepare and weave independently of his aid. Becoming dissatisfied, however, all left the work, together with the foreigner; but after some time they were induced to return to their work. This small establishment has ever since been kept up entirely by the natives.’ (Kuykendall)

Kuakini’s “scheme failed probably from the fact that the Governor found it cheaper to buy coarse cottons than to make them.” (The Friend, April 15, 1845)

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‘John Adams’ Kuakini, royal governor or the island of Hawai’i, circa 1823

July 20, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Redwood Trail

By the 1830s, forested lands in the Islands were in decline. The sandalwood trade had reduced sandalwood populations to such an extent that in 1839, Hawaii’s first forestry law restricted the harvest of sandalwood.

Cattle (which had been introduced in the late-1700s) continued to cause widespread destruction of native forests. (Idol) For many years, cattle were allowed an unrestricted range in the forests so that in many sections the forest is either dead or dying. (Griffith)

The almost total destruction of the undergrowth has allowed the soil to bake and harden thus causing the rainfall to run off rapidly with the resultant effect of very low water during the dry season. (Griffith)

It reached a maximum by the late 1800s/early-twentieth century owing to burning of the forests to locate the fragrant sandalwood trees, demand for firewood, commercial logging operations, conversion to agricultural and pastureland, the effects of grazing and browsing ungulates (including cattle, goats, and pigs) and increased fire frequency. (Woodcock)

The sugar industry, still concerned about water shortages due to forest decline, sought and succeeded in establishing the forest reserve system, which instituted partnerships between public and private landowners to protect forests.

On March 5, 1902 US Forester EM Griffith presented a report “General Description of the Hawaiian Forests;” it documented 3 key issues …

1) the most important ecosystem service of Hawaiian forests is water, 2) destruction of Hawaiian forests by feral ungulates and 3) wildfire, previously unknown in forested ecosystems, rapidly converting forested ecosystems to fire-dominated ecosystems. (DLNR)

Due to the cooperation between public and private landowners, and another tax break for conservation of forests on private land in 1909, large scale reforestation, fencing and feral ungulate eradication efforts occurred across the islands.

The forests were transformed during this time, as millions of fast-growing nonnative trees were planted throughout the islands to quickly re-establish watersheds denuded by logging and ungulates.

They planted 130,000-redwood trees from 1927 to 1959 in many Forest Reserves on Kauai, Maui, Lanaʻi, Molokai, O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island.

The tree may be seen at Kokeʻe State Park on Kauai, Waihou Spring Forest Reserve on Maui, and near Volcano Village on Hawaii, as well as Hilo and Honaunau. Maui has more than 280-acres with about 7-million board feet in the Kula Forest Reserve at 5,500-feet.

In order to save the little remaining forest in Kula, “the cattle must be absolutely excluded. It is far easier and a much better policy to save the existing forests than to certainly destroy them by grazing and attempt to realize by planting a forest in some other locality.”

“Planting is extremely expensive, especially if the trees are set out very close together as must be done if a dense forest is to be secured which will act as a sponge and hold the water supply. Then too, a small amount of planting here and there does very little good and such expensive work will seldom be necessary in the islands if a common sense forest policy is pursued.” (Griffith)

The ‘Redwood Trail” at Polipoli Springs State Recreation Area takes you to and through some of the remnants of the tree planting of almost 100-years ago.

Trail starts at at 6,200-foot elevation, winds through stands of redwood and other conifers, past Tie Trail junction and down to the old ranger’s cabin at 5,300-feet.

At the trail’s end is the old Civilian Conservation Corps camp and a three-way junction, the beginning point for both the Plum Trail and the Boundary Trail. Several plum and other fruit trees can be found in this old camp area.

To get there, take Highway 37 past Pukalani to the second junction of Highway 377. Turn left on 377 for about 0.3 mile, then right on Waipoli Road.

This becomes Polipoli Access Road at the first cattle guard and climbs up the mountain through a long series of switchbacks until it enters the forest at 6,400′ elevation, where the pavement ends.

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July 18, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Where Love and Kindness Replace Want and Misery

In 1865, William Booth, an British ordained minister with the Methodist New Connection, along with his wife Catherine, formed an evangelical group which preached to people living in poverty within London’s East End.

Booth’s ministry recognized the interdependence of material, emotional and spiritual needs. In addition to preaching the Gospel, Booth became involved in the feeding and shelter of the hungry, the homeless and the rehabilitation of those with alcohol addiction. Soon they were tagged, ‘Soap, Soup and Salvation Army.’

Booth’s original ‘Christian Mission’ became The Salvation Army in 1878 when it became modeled after the military structure. Booth became the ‘General’ and officers’ ranks were given to ministers. (Salvation Army)

Its orders and regulations were patterned after those of the British Army. All workers assumed military titles, its trainees became ‘cadets,’ local units were designated as ‘Corps,’ places of worship became known as ‘Citadels’ or ‘Outposts’ and their evangelistic undertakings were called ‘Campaigns.’ (Ruckman)

Thousands of immigrants were pouring into Hawai‘i to work in the plantations in the 1890s. Christian men and women realized the serious need for a ‘spiritual organization with a social aim … a social organization with a spiritual aim’ to work with the young and old of all nationalities in Hawai‘i. The Salvation Army met this need.

At the request of Central Union Church, the first contingent of Salvationists came to Hawaii in 1894. Five devoted and earnest workers, led by Staff Captain John Milsaps, arrived in Hawaii and were ready to face the challenges ahead.

“An institution concerning which little is known among the general public of Honolulu, and which is yet doing an amount of practical good quite out of proportion to the limited means at its disposal, is the Salvation Army home”. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 25, 1908)

“The old Hopper homestead, on King street between Likelike and Punchbowl streets, has been secured by the Salvation Army for the Home for Women which it is about to establish in Honolulu. The property, which was recently bought as a site for the proposed Single Men s Hotel, is an improved estate with a fine residence upon the same.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 3, 1901)

“The rescue home of the Salvation Army is distinct from (other women/girls’ homes) and will have a distinct work. Its chief aim will be the rescue of fallen women. In the home they will be given such work as is suitable and proper, moral will be thrown around them.”

“All of their temporal and spiritual Interests will be looked out for. Already six fallen women have accepted the care of this institution and are being well looked out for although the home is still in an embryo state.” (Hawaiian Star, July 11, 1901)

By 1903, “The Kaʻiulani Home for Girls is to be opened September 1st, in the old Hopper homestead at King and Punchbowl streets. The place has been leased by an organization of ladles who have for a long time been desirous of providing a home for girls who are without homes of their own. The place is intended primarily as a home for Hawaiian girls, but It will be open as well to girls of other nationalities.”

“The Hopper homestead was formerly used as a Salvation Army home and later as a boarding house. It is well adapted for use as the ‘Kaiulani Home for Girls.’” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 14, 1903)

The Salvation Army’s Home relocated near the corner of King Street and Pawa‘a. “Here homeless children are taken in and tenderly cared for, irrespective of origin, color, race or sex, age or history.”

“Here also can be found a home for girls who have fallen but who have seen where their erring would certainly take them if continued and who have expressed a desire to regain the world of honesty and honor.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 25, 1908)

Then, they moved to Manoa, “New Structure Adds Immensely to Equipment of Salvation Army Home in Manoa” “With simple ceremonies, the cottage presented to the Salvation Army Home, Manoa Valley, by Mrs CM Cooke, was dedicated, and opened at 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon.”

“Fronting Manoa Valley and commanding a splendid view of the fine residential suburbs, the opposite mountain walls, Diamond Head and the ocean is a pillared lanai with furnishings for comfortable resting.”

“Inside of this lanai is the dormitory with 21 beds of crib pattern. Then, lengthwise of the building, is an inner lanai to serve as a common living room for studies or meals as may be desired.” (Star Bulletin, November 19, 1915)

By 1920 it was becoming apparent that there was a need for vocational training as the children, who had grown up in the Salvation Army Girls’ Home, were reaching the age of majority.

The Waioli Tea Room was added to the Home and dedicated in formal ceremonies in November, 1922. The tea room concept was patterned after the English-style High Teas popular in British Columbia, Canada. (The Canadian influence appeared with the arrival of two Canadian officers around 1915.) The morning classes produced goods to be served in the tea room every afternoon.

By the 1930s a luncheon service had become established and provided for large tour groups, especially from the frequent cruise ships calling at Honolulu Harbor. Income derived from the food service, both luncheon and high tea, maintained the cost of the operation.

Bakers, cooks, waitresses, housekeepers, maids, gardeners, kitchen helpers, cashiers, and clerks are some of the job classifications developed out of the training. (NPS)

For more than a century, The Salvation Army has functioned successfully within that unusual structure. Its outreach now encompasses 126 countries and its ministry is spoken in 160 languages.

The Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division of The Salvation Army covers the state of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands including Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands and The Federated States of Micronesia.

Today, The Salvation Army has grown into a well-established and comprehensive network of social services and religious programs in Hawaii serving thousands of men, women and children each year. (Salvation Army)

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Waioli Tea Room Salvation Army Girls Home Oahu Postcard ca 1930s

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Waioli Tea Room -Kauai Room Postcard

Waioli Tea Room Postcard

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Grass Hut Salvation Army Girls Home-postcard-1930s

Inter-Island Airways Sikorsky S-38 flying over Manoa, Oahu-PP-1-4-024-1930s

July 17, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kahului Railroad Company

Wū-wū Kaʻa Ahi Kahului
Ke alahao a i Wailuku
Wū-wū Kaʻa Ahi Kahului
Chūkū-chūkū mua o Hawai`i

Chorus:
Woo-woo! Kahului Railroad
Tracks all the way to Wailuku
Woo-woo! Kahului Railroad
The first train of Hawaiʻi
(Kaʻa Ahi Kahului; Palani Vaughan)

Less than a decade after the construction of the first transcontinental railway in the US, the first steam railroad line in Hawaii was established. (Akinaka)

On July 17, 1879 Captain Thomas H Hobron ran the first train line from Kahului to Wailuku; the 3-foot-wide was eventually extended to over 15 miles in length along the north coast to Kuiaha with a number of branch lines. (AASHTO)

That year, Hobron issued in 12 ½ cent copper tokens bearing the initials ‘T. H. H.’ and ‘12 ½’ on the obverse. In the same year he also issued a 2 ½ cent copper token, intended also for use on the Kahului railroad.

Within a year or two the line was extended eastward from Kahului to Pāʻia. The enterprise was incorporated, July 1, 1881, as the Kahului Railroad Company.

Since then, railroad lines have been built on the four larger Islands connecting the sugar plantations and other industrial communities with their shipping points. (Akinaka)

But passengers were not the primary part of the rail’s business. The isthmus between Haleakala and West Maui contained rich soils ideal for crop cultivation. Within a few short years, the region soon supported one of the largest sugar plantations in the world.

In 1876, following the Reciprocity Treaty, other Westerners gained interest in Maui’s agriculture potential, including Claus Spreckels (who came to Hawaiʻi from San Francisco.)

Spreckels leased land from the government and obtained the water rights needed to build a large irrigation ditch that provided water for crops. These events set the stage for the establishment of Maui’s first railroad system. Rail transported cane from the fields to the harbor.

The Kahului station was located southeast of the harbor at Hobron Point (the east side of the harbor (which includes Pier 1) and tracks extended through Spreckelsville as well as to the sugar mill at Puʻunene.

By 1889, the company reported more miles of track plus three locomotives, two passenger cars, one baggage-mail car, 14 platform cars and 60 boxcars. (JoDorner)

By the turn of the 19th century, Kahului supported a new customhouse, a saloon, a Chinese restaurant and a small but growing population.

In 1901, Kahului Railroad purchased its first tugboat, the Leslie Baldwin, to tow lighters to and from vessels. The railroad company was instrumental in Kahului Harbor development.

The final stretch of line even included a steel bridge over the Maliko Gorge which, at nearly 230-feet, was the highest railway bridge in Hawaiʻi. (AASHTO)

Besides rail equipment, “the Kahului Railroad Company owns and operates the steamer Leslie Baldwin, two wharves with the necessary appliances for handling freight, and nine lighters of 65 tons capacity each.” (Report of Governor, 1903)

Hobron, who also was postmaster of Kahului, allowed mail to be sent free over the railroad. Later, in 1884, a subsidy of $25 per month was paid for hauling mail. Mail carried on the railroad was in closed bags for delivery to postmasters along the route. Probably loose letters were also carried. (HawaiianStamps)

In 1894, the Kahului Railroad decided to obtain a set of stamps and turned to the American Bank Note Company to produce lithographed stamps for special use on the railroad to pay freight and packages sent outside the mail. (HawaiianStamps)

Hobron also owned Grove Ranch Plantation in Makawao. (Hobron Drug Company, that was based in Honolulu, was owned by TW Hobron, the son of Thomas H Hobron.)

Steam locomotive No. 12 was built in 1928 for the Kahului Railroad Company in Hawaii by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Kahului Railroad hauled sugar from the fields to a mill and then took the finished sugar to the port of Kahului. Later extensions of the line allowed it to haul other commodities, such as pineapple, to the port. No. 12’s Hawaiian background has earned it the nickname “Pineapple Princess”. (MCRR)

Trains hauled goods to stores and mills, pineapple from field to cannery, and passengers to school or work. The military took over the rails during World War II, transporting everything from food to amphibious vehicles. (Engledow)

The Kahului Railroad outlasted its fellow railways in the state, in addition to the honors of being the first railway, it was also the last public railroad in operation. Today, some of the tracks and equipment are used for a tourist train that was constructed on the west side of Maui. (AASHTO)

Engine No. 12 made its last run on May 24, 1966 and in 1967 was sent to the mainland. Eventually, Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, Idaho purchased the engine. Now Engine No. 12 is a part of Colorado history and has been returned to service as part of the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park. (JoDorner)

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Kahului Railroad engines line up for a picture taking session in 1911.

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Kahului, Maui. Puunene Store, left. Kahului Railroad Station and post office, right-hawaii-edu-Circa 1930s

1879 Thomas Hobron Kahului & Wailuku Railroad_Token

1879 Thomas Hobron Kahului & Wailuku Railroad Token

SS Claudine docked at the Claudine Wharf-(MasterPlan2025)

July 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Loch Na Garr

“Away, ye gay landscapes!
Ye gardens of rose …”

Wait … while those are the beginning lines of the Loch Na Garr poem by Lord Byron, cousin of the captain of the Blonde who brought the bodies of King Liholiho and Kamāmalu back to Hawaiʻi, after they died of measles in England (1824) …

… this story is not about that Loch Na Garr, nor is it about ‘gay landscapes’ nor ‘gardens of roses.’

But it is about a king, Kamehameha V, and a boat, the Loch Na Garr, and unfortunately its cargo – deer – that dastardly do-bad to landscapes and native plants on Molokai, Lānaʻi and, now, unfortunately, Maui.

“A gentleman residing on the upper Ganges, where these deer abound, offered to supply them for transportation here, when Dr. Hillebrand was in Calcutta, and at his suggestion that His Majesty was desirous to obtain them, this consignment was made to Hong Kong.”

“Three bucks and four hinds have arrived safely. They have been well cared for on the voyage by Capt. Baskfill, and are the finest as well as largest number of deer imported here at any one time. They have been delivered to the King and will be sent to Molokai.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 17, 1867)

“These really beautiful animals, the spotted Indian deer brought by the Loch Na Garr, which lies at market wharf, have been visited by many of our residents the past week.”

“On Wednesday one of the hinds gave birth to a fine kid, as healthy and frisky as if born in his own mountain home. It is a male, and the officers of the ship have named him Kamehameha VI.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 21, 1867)

“They are the speckled Indian deer, a variety well adapted to domestication on our islands.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 17, 1867)

“(S)even in number, a present from the Hawaiian Consul at Hong Kong to the King. Eight were put on board, but one has died. The remainder are in very fine condition, having apparently improved on the voyage.”

“Some of them are quite young, and the horns of the bucks are in the process of growth showing the manner in which these ornamental appendages are formed.”

“All the animals are as tame as pet kids, and will be shipped to Molokai, as soon as the King’s yacht is ready to take them aboard.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1867)

“(T)he deer will be transferred to the King’s yacht, and taken to Molokai, where we hope they will rapidly increase and stock the whole island.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 21, 1867)

As the property on Molokai belonged to King Kamehameha V, he placed a kapu (prohibition) on the deer. The deer increased under this protection. They sought the mountain areas as their habitat because they were crowded out by the large herds of cattle that ranged on the low lands. (Cooke)

In this highland area in thirty years the deer increased to a great number. The American Sugar Co, Ltd built a forest fence to keep the cattle from entering the forest. This however did not keep out the deer.

In November 1898, the sugar company hired two professional hunters from California to shoot off the deer. These men were engaged at forty dollars per month with perquisites and were allowed to sell the skins.

It is commonly reported that these two men, in the year in which they operated, killed between 3,500 and 4,000 deer. (Cooke)

Molokai was not the only island to get these deer. Shortly after Harry A Baldwin and his brother, Frank, had purchased the island of Lānaʻi from the Lānaʻi Company in 1917, they wished to stock that island with deer.

The Molokai folks sold them for $50 apiece. In lieu of ranch wages, cowboys captured and transported the deer for half the amount that the Baldwins would pay.

Twelve deer in all were captured. They were then loaded on to a truck, caged then sent over on a large sampan, “Makaiwa.” When near the shore of that island, the cage was opened and the deer allowed to swim ashore. (Cooke)

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Deer on Molokai – Lanai