Economy | Page 218 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

August 10, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mr Smith

It’s not clear when or why his middle and last names were hyphenated to give him a new last name; his father had the same name, but was identified as “Smith, John Mott, Rev Prof” in the Wesleyan University Alumni Record (1881-3) (where he was listed as former faculty.)

The father, professor of Latin and Greek, was the first to be buried in the Wesleyan ‘College Cemetery.’ A Methodist preacher, a sermon of his, ‘The Kingdom,’ was posthumously published; it was attributed as ‘Rev John M Smith’s Sermon.’

When the son died, his widow (and executor of his estate) was identified as Ellen Dominis Smith. His children generally carried the ‘Smith’ last name, as well.

Never-the-less, Hawai‘i’s first royal dentist and last royal ambassador was commonly known as John Mott-Smith. (Gibson) So, we’ll call him what others called him in the Islands.

John Mott-Smith was born in New York City November 13, 1824 (his mother was Amada Day Smith.) Although not schooled in dentistry, Mott-Smith borrowed a book from a friend who was attending dental school and passed the exams to set up a practice in Albany, New York.

Then, “He was among the first in the great migration from the Eastern States to California in 1849, when the news of the great gold discoveries caused one of the greatest stirs of the century. For two years he shared the vicissitudes of the California pioneers, and in 1851 came to Honolulu”. (Evening Bulletin, August 10, 1895)

“Dr Mott Smith in 1859 married Miss Ellen Dominis Paty, a daughter of the late Collector General Paty and cousin of Mr John H Paty. Three sons and four daughters were born to the couple, all having Honolulu for their birthplace but receiving their higher education in the colleges and seminaries of New England.” (Evening Bulletin, August 10, 1895)

He was Hawai‘i’s first dentist to settle permanently in the Islands. A ‘Card’ publishing in the Polynesia (March 8, 1851) announced business:

“Dr J Mott Smith. Dentist, of Albany NY, has the pleasure to inform the citizens of Honolulu that he has opened an office in Hopewell Place, corner of Beretania and Smith streets. He is now prepared to receive all who may desire his services.”

For many years he did virtually all the dental work in Honolulu and maintained a full practice until 1866 and followed his profession on a part-time or intermittent basis.

In 1866 Mott-Smith gave up his dental practice to John Morgan Whitney (the first in Hawai‘i to actually graduate from a dental school. Whitney, MD, DDS, was for more than fifty years regarded as Honolulu’s leading dentist.)

Then, Mott-Smith got into politics and served Kings Kamehameha V, Lunalilo (he was later named to the first board of trustees of Lunalilo Trust,) Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani.

“He was appointed director of the Government press in 1867, and the following year was sent to Washington as Charge d’ Affaires, where he performed valuable service in advocating the reciprocity treaty. “

“Returning home in 1869 he was appointed Minister of Finance by Kamehameha V, holding that office for the remaining two or three yours of that king’s reign.”

“King Lunalilo appointed Dr Mott Smith president of the Board of Education in 1873, and King Kalākaua on his accession reappointed him as a member of the same body. He was about the same time made a member of the House of Nobles, which was a life position until that body was changed to an elective one by the constitution of 1887.”

“Dr Mott Smith was also a member of the Privy Council of State. He was called to the Cabinet a second time by King Kalākaua in 1876, holding the office of Minister of the Interior for three years.”

“From 1882 to 1891 Dr. Mott-Smith at intervals assisted the late Minister Carter at Washington as Charge d’affaires. He was in his place in the Legislature of 1884, going back to the United States the following year, when he had charge of the Hawaiian exhibit at the New Orleans Exposition.”

“In 1891 the lamented gentleman was appointed by Queen Liliuokalani to be Minister of Finance, the third time he occupied a position in the Cabinet of this country.”

“Upon resigning that office he was appointed Minister to Washington, holding the commission until he was recalled by the Provisional Government in 1893.” After a protracted illness, John Mott-Smith died on August 10, 1895. (Evening Bulletin, August 10, 1895)

Here is a short video about Dr Mott-Smith, portrayed by Adam LeFebvre at a ‘Cemetery Pupu Theatre,’ sponsored by Mission Houses:

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John Mott-Smith-Evening Bulletin-Aug_10_1895

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No._3._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_Catholic_church._(c._1854)-Portion-Dentist

Rev John Mott Smith headsone

August 9, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hotel Honokaʻa Club

In 1878, three commercial sugar plantations (Honokaʻa Sugar Company, Paʻauhau Sugar Company and Pacific Sugar Mill) existed in Hāmākua in the vicinity of a village that later became Honokaʻa.

A labor shortage beginning in the mid-19th century prompted the importation of foreign workers. The Chinese were the first to arrive, followed by Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Puerto Rican and Filipinos over the next 40 years.

The workers, many married with families, were housed in 13-camps along the Hāmākua coast near Honokaʻa. As these workers completed their contracts with the plantations, many moved to Honokaʻa and began businesses, providing the impetus for the development of the town.

As Honokaʻa grew and evolved, a variety of businesses, offering wide-ranging choices of goods and services, eventually made Honokaʻa the largest town on the Hāmākua coast and the second largest on the island (behind Hilo.)

In 1910, the population of Honokaʻa stood at 9,037, a population sufficient to support a hotel along with lodging for travelers, salesmen and laborers in transit to the plantations to support the growing village.

Hotel Honokaʻa Club did not have a name when it first opened, and was allegedly labeled as the result of a vote by club “members,” who were likely boarders and community members who frequented the hotel.

The “Club” in the name reflects the use of the establishment from its inception as a nexus for entertainment and drinking, while the hotel portion served as a residence and lodging for immigrants, unmarried sugar cane workers, paniolo (cowboys), and travelling salesmen. (Star Bulletin; March 25, 1948; NPS)

“At that time the majority of the key plantation men were unmarried, and it was their custom to convene on Saturday nights for merry and lengthy sessions at the hotel. They came on horseback and departed the same way although not always with the same horse.”

“As years went by the hotel became the ‘club’ with all its members and eventually in a duly called ‘committee’ hearing the name was voted to become the Honokaa Club Hotel.” (Star Bulletin; March 25, 1948; NPS)

The original site of the hotel complex lay along the Government Road (Māmane Street) on the Hilo-side of the present Bank of Hawaiʻi.

The hotel/club functioned as a local gathering place that provided accommodations, temporary sales space for the display of commercial samples and wares by traveling salesmen, and a dining room and bar facility (that was the site of numerous local social occasions and get-togethers from the 1920s through the 1960s and beyond.) (SHPD)

Salesmen who stayed at the hotel were known as “drummers” commercial travelers, runners or “gripmen” (“grip” referring to the trunk or suitcase carried by salesmen.) These sales personnel travelled through Hāmākua and Kohala approximately every two weeks in a circuit from Honolulu to Kawaihae to Laupāhoehoe to Hilo “drumming up” business. (Star Bulletin, March 25, 1948; NPS)

The Hotel Honokaʻa Club is an example of the small hotels built at the turn of the 19th century by Japanese immigrants to mainly serve their countrymen in towns such as Captain Cook, Waiʻōhinu, Kohala and Honokaa.

Opened in 1912 by Kumakichi Morita, the original Honokaʻa Hotel Club was styled like a modern motor court, with rooms strung together in a row.

By 1915 it is listed in the local business directory as the “Honokaʻa Hotel Club – A First Class Hotel and Boarding House, Rates $3.00 per Day and Up.” By 1920 rates had increased to $4.00 per day. The Hotel Honokaa Club was at the present location by about 1927.

Kumakichi Morita, the hotel’s first manager/owner, trained as a chef in American cuisine and became chef to Prince Jonah Kūhīo Kalanianaʻole. Unfortunately, the Prince did not appreciate the American cuisine and Kumakichi looked elsewhere for employment, arriving in Honokaʻa to cook for the manager of the Honokaʻa Sugar Company.

From 1943-1945, over 50,000 US Marines lived and trained in and around Waimea and the Kohala Coast. Camp Tarawa was originally built by the 2nd Marine Division, but upon the 2nd’s deployment to Saipan, the 5th Marine Division moved in to train for the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Alfred Carter (manager of Parker Ranch) had historically limited the availability of liquor in Waimea, so when the Marines came they found that town dry.

The soldiers simply followed the Waimea ranch cowboys down the hill to “wet” Honokaʻa. Hotel Honokaʻa Club was one of many “watering holes” in Honokaʻa that benefited from the servicemen’s patronage. Camp Tarawa closed in November 1945.

After the war, the hotel expanded its activities focusing on locals, hosting weddings, high school group gatherings and lūʻau events. In 1948, the hotel expanded, adding a second story containing six bedroom suites. Five new bedrooms were added downstairs and new bathrooms were attached to the original bedrooms.

In 1960, the Moritas added a cocktail lounge dubbed the “Waipiʻo Room,” and in the 1970s they inaugurated a bar named the “Dan McGuire Left-Handed Martini Room,” after the well-known sports writer.

Further pranks related to the Martini Room included Jim Nabors’ (Gomer Pyle) dedication of the “Jim Nabors Right-handed Pay Toilet.” (Honokaa Historical Project)

Hotel Honokaa Club is a two story-wood frame “plantation style” commercial building. Defining features include a totan (corrugated metal) roof, single wall construction with vertical wood planks, and numerous double-hung windows.’

The building has three floor levels that include the main floor, a rear second story addition and a basement area. (Lots of information here is from Historic Honokaʻa Project and NPS.)

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Hotel-Honokaa-Club-1950 Honokaa High School yearbook advertisement

Hotel-Honokaa-Club-1958 Honokaa High School yearbook advertisement

Hotel-Honokaa-Club-Victor Morita with hotel guest ca. 1940s

Hotel-Honokaa-Club-Alex, Robert, and Henry Morita standing in front of the Hotel Honokaa Club sign

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Hotel-Honokaa-Club-Victor Morita preparing food in the kitchen with unidentified waitress, ca. 1940s

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Hotel-Honokaa-Club-Victor (left of center) and Tomiko (right of center) Morita’s wedding party. Mother Kane Morita is in white, ca. 1920s

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August 8, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Transportation Determines the Flow of Population’

John Diedrich Spreckels was born August 16, 1853 in Charleston, South Carolina, the oldest of five children of Claus and Anna Spreckels. (The siblings were: Adolph Bernard (1857-1924), Claus August (1858-1946), Rudolph (1872-1958), Emma Claudina (1869-1924) Spreckels.)

The family moved to New York and then to San Francisco where he grew up. He studied at Oakland College and then in Hanover, Germany, where he studied chemistry and mechanical engineering in the Polytechnic College until 1872.

He returned to California and began working for his father, who had grown extremely wealthy in the sugar business. In 1876 he went to the Hawaiian Islands, where he worked in his father’s sugar business.

Sons of the Hawai‘i “Sugar King” (Claus Spreckels) formed John D Spreckels and Brothers (John, Adolph and Claus Spreckels.) On December 22, 1881, the Oceanic Steamship Company was incorporated in California.

It was the first line to offer regular service between Honolulu and San Francisco, and it reduced travel time immensely. While the sailing ship “Claus Spreckels,” made the trip in less than ten days in 1879, the new steam vessel Mariposa required fewer than six days to make the run in 1883.

On November 8, 1883, the Mariposa delivered Mother Marianne Cope, the leader of a small group of Franciscan Sisters who sailed to Hawaii to help “procure the salvation of souls and to promote the glory of God.” (She is now Saint Marianne.)

John became very wealthy in his own right.

In October, 1887, he married Lillie Siebein in Hoboken, New Jersey, and together they had four children. They first lived in Hawaii and then in San Francisco.

In 1887, Spreckels visited San Diego on his yacht Lurline to stock up on supplies. (Nearly forty years earlier (1850,) Honolulu-born William Heath “Kanaka” Davis, Jr. (1822 – 1909) had arrived in this part of California. Davis purchased 160-acres of land and, with four partners, laid out a new city (near what is now the foot of Market Street.) He built the first wharf there in 1850.)

Impressed by the real estate boom then taking place, Spreckels invested in construction of a wharf and coal bunkers at the foot of Broadway (then called D Street). That boom ended soon but Spreckels’ interest in San Diego would last for the rest of his life.

“You have often heard the remark that San Diego is a one-man town. Personally I feel proud to live in San Diego when it is referred to as a one-man town … this afternoon you can’t give our great leader enough glory.” (Mayor Wilde of Spreckels, November 15, 1919; San Diego History))

Spreckels became an investor in the Coronado Beach Company in 1889, buying out Hampton L. Story’s one-third interest and over the next three years, s bought controlling interest in the company and became the sole proprietor of the Hotel del Coronado. (Coronado History)

He established Tent City, a large vacation campground that sprung up near Hotel del Coronado. Tent City grew quickly — from 300 tents in the first year to more than 1,000 three years later, and attracted visitors from across the nation as an affordable vacation alternative.

“To be candid, I did not entirely fancy the idea at first, and then for a time I was doubtful of the success of the place. I was somewhat of the opinion that it might detract from the popularity of the resort proper and the hotel,” Spreckels said in a 1903 interview. “But Tent City has … established itself as firmly in my favor as in that of the public.” (San Diego Union Tribune)

In 1892, Spreckels bought a failed streetcar operation and launched the San Diego Electric Railway Company. Spreckels’ business played a key role in San Diego’s growth, providing access to areas such as Mission Hills, North Park, Kensington and East San Diego that were largely undeveloped at the time.

For a time, Spreckels was owner of the San Francisco Call, then a morning newspaper. While still living in San Francisco he continued his investment in San Diego, buying the San Diego Union newspaper in 1890 and the Tribune in 1901.

He moved his family permanently to San Diego immediately after the 1906 earthquake and moved into his new mansion on Glorietta Blvd. in Coronado in 1908. That structure survives today as the Glorietta Bay Inn.

In the next decades Spreckels became a millionaire many times over, and the wealthiest man in San Diego.

At various times he owned all of North Island, the San Diego-Coronado Ferry System, Union-Tribune Publishing Co., San Diego Electric Railway, San Diego & Arizona Railway, Belmont Park in Mission Beach.

He built several downtown buildings, including the Union Building in 1908, the Spreckels Theatre and office building, which opened in 1913, the San Diego Hotel and the Golden West Hotel. He employed thousands of people and at one time he paid 10% of all the property taxes in San Diego County.

“Transportation determines the flow of population,” said Spreckels, and throughout his ownership of the streetcar system he extended it from downtown to new areas where he owned land, such as Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and Normal Heights.

He invested millions in the San Diego & Arizona Railroad, the “Impossible Railroad”, which finally opened a rail link to the east in 1919, after 13 years under construction.

Spreckels organized the Southern California Mountain Water Company, which built the Morena and the Upper and Lower Otay dams, the Dulzura conduit and the necessary pipeline to the city.

Spreckels contributed to the cultural life of the city by building the Spreckels Theatre, the first modern commercial playhouse west of the Mississippi.

He gave generously to the fund to build the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and, together with his brother Adolph B. Spreckels, donated the Spreckels Outdoor Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park to the people of San Diego just before the opening of the Exposition.

Spreckels died in San Diego on June 7, 1926. His biographer, Austin Adams, called him “one of America’s few great Empire Builders who invested millions to turn a struggling, bankrupt village into the beautiful and cosmopolitan city San Diego is today.” (San Diego History Center) (Lots of information here is from San Diego History Center and Coronado History)

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JohnDSpreckels-1901-WC

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John D Spreckels

The_Hotel_Redondo,_ca.1900

Tent City, a vacation land for the common man of the early 20th century

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Spreckels Theatre

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JD Spreckels driving ‘golden spike’ on the San Diego & Arizona Railway_November_15_1919

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Coronado Ferry Landing

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July 29, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘And how do you get down in time for business every day?’

Someone asked, “Do you live on ‘Ālewa Heights? And how do you get down in time for business every day?”

The reply, “It takes me just eighteen minutes to come from my front door to my office, and twelve minutes of that time is spent, on the Rapid Transit cars.”

“It was on July 29, 1907, that the ‘Ālewa lands were opened to purchasers. At that time there was no road into the tract. Prospective purchasers were forced to climb up the face of the precipitous bluff which bounds Nu‘uanu Valley on the western side and scramble through a wilderness of lantana and guava to find the lots which the Territory was offering to home builders.”

“It was a dry, treeless hillside, blessed with a beautiful view, to be sure, but with little else to attract the man who wanted a home near enough the city so that he might go daily to business. It was only a stone’s throw from Honolulu, almost, but without a road the prospect looked not inviting.”

“As a consequence it is not surprising that when the sale of the newly opened lots took place they went for a song. Acre lots, within a mile of the post-office were sold tor prices ranging from $150 to $300. You could not buy those same lots now for less than ten times the figures paid three years ago.” (Advertiser, October 16, 1910)

“The first problem to be solved by the lot purchasers was a road. An improvement club was organized within a few-days, and although it took some-time to unravel the necessary official red tape, within six months a fine macadamized road had been built into the heart of the tract.”

“This road was built, out of the money paid by the ‘Ālewa people for their lots, with day labor furnished by the county.”

‘Water was the next necessity. The Territory had no money for water pipes, and the legislature would not meet for another two years. This did not daunt the ‘Ālewaites.”

“’If we buy the pipe, will you install it and give us water, and then credit what we paid for the pipe on our water rates?’ they asked the government.”

“’Delighted,’ was the reply, in the words of a well-known African hunter. So ‘Ālewa got its water supply. It was not much, it is true. A two-inch pipe connected with the ‘Ālewa quarry, but it sufficed temporarily.”

“With a fine road and a fairly good water supply the ordinary homesteaders would have been content. But they were not enough for the ‘Ālewa people. They wanted electric lights, and telephones and gas. So they proceeded to get them.”

“They also planned and partly carried out through the work of the club, a complete system of shaded roadways, laid out artistically with poinciana regias for one stretch of the road, golden showers for another, yellow poincianas for a third.”

“The purchasers of ‘Ālewa lots in 1907 quickly saw that is they were to obtain any assistance from the government it would be necessary to get together and work together for the common good.”

“The last year (1909) has seen continued improvement in our district. All of the lots in what is currently known as the residence district have been built upon (31 residences) and the owners have begun to fulfill the clause in their contracts which requires them to live at least one year upon their land.”

“Considering that a little over three years ago this district was a barren mountain side, shut off from the city by an almost unscalable pali, and producing nothing but kolu, guavas and lantana, (the homeowners were) proud of the progress in the district.”

“And when you look around at the pretty homes and the green lawns of the ‘Ālewa dwellers and feel the fresh cool air from the hills, and then look back at that wonderful view, you will wonder why in time you did not buy a lot on ‘Ālewa Heights.”

This summary comes from a community update on Ālewa Heights, published in the Advertiser, October 1, 1910. Today, the USGS Geographic Names Information System notes ‘Ālewa Heights is a “Populated Place.”

In 1910, there were “thirty-one families, with an estimated total population of ninety souls” (Advertiser, October 16, 1910;) today, Realtor-com notes the population is nearly 4,400.

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Alewa Heights-Adv-Oct_16,_1910-WJ Cooper

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July 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Puakō Plantation

In Hawaiian tradition, there was a man named Puakō, “a very handsome man whose form was perfect.” At the place where he lived, he would carry “sea water and filling pools for salt making.’ (Fornander) Some suggest the name Puakō is associated with salt-making.

Others suggest Puakō (sugarcane blossom) is associated with sugar, “Mr. WL Vreedenburg (sic) one Sunday came to Hawi in a state of considerable excitement, with four or five sticks of fine looking cane strapped to his saddle …”

“… which, as he put it, he discovered at Puakō the day before while on a shooting trip. This cane was grown without irrigation, and he enthusiastically announced, there were large areas of as good land as that on which these particular sticks were grown…” (Hind; Maly)

“Puakō is a village on the shore, very like Kawaihae, but larger. It has a small harbor in which native vessels anchor. Coconut groves give it a verdant aspect. No food grows in the place. The people make salt and catch fish. These they exchange for vegetables grown elsewhere.” (Lorenzo Lyons, 1835; Maly)

“Not infrequently at Kawaihae and Puakō there is no food to be had. The people live without food for days, except a little fish which prevents starvation. Nor is this to be had everyday, the ocean being so rough they cannot fish, or a government working day interferes, when the sailing of a canoe is tabu – unless the owner chooses to pay a fine.”

“The water too at these places is such that I cannot drink it. I would as soon drink a dose of Epsom salts… On the way to Puakō, all is barren and still more desolate. After an hour’s walk from my house, not a human dwelling is to be seen till you reach the shore, which requires a walk of about five hours.” (Lorenzo Lyons, 1839-1846; Maly)

In 1880, Bower noted, “At Puakō there is some grief for the eye, in the shape of a grove of cocoa-palms, which are growing quite close to the water’s edge. These had been planted right amongst the lava, and where they got their sustenance from I could not imagine. They are not of any great height, running from twenty to sixty feet.”

“There are about a dozen native huts in the place. These buildings are from twenty to forty feet long and about fifteen feet high to the ridge of the roof. They only contain a single room each, and are covered with several layers of matting.” (Bower; Maly)

“At Puakō and South Kohala is the most unique affair on the Island. There, a little pocket of alluvial soil covering an area of 300 acres, lying between lava flows and fronting the ocean, has been secured from the great landed proprietor, Sam Parker, and converted into the Puakō plantation.”

“Wells have been bored and an abundant supply of good water secured for irrigation. The cane is of the Lahaina variety and grows as rank as the bamboo kind.”

“A mill with a capacity of 2000 tons is to be erected soon. A good road to Kawaihae, a distance of four miles, is greatly needed. The enterprise is under the management of Mr (Wilmont) Vredenberg.” (Honolulu Republican, July 29, 1900)

“Puakō Plantation, which was started near Kawaihae about fourteen months ago, is making a good showing under the management of Mr Vredenberg.”

“Samples of cane brought from there this week show excellent growth, the sticks running eighteen feet long and having six to eight Inch joints. The samples are of cane planted a year ago. The two pumps are doing excellent work and the quality of the water is fairly good.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, August 5, 1901)

A wharf was constructed, just south of the present day boat launch, to facilitate the shipment of materials for mill construction. In his journal, John Hind wrote, “a fine up to date little mill with all the appurtenances which go with a modern plantation was installed (ca. 1905,) on an ideal site, a hundred or so yards from the landing”. (Hind; Rechtman)

This area contained crushing machinery, mixers, vats, and all the other mechanical necessities for the mill, along with dormitories and a camp for over three hundred workers, a company store, two schoolhouses, an office building, various storehouse and warehouse facilities, and a shed for honey processing machinery.

A rail line connected the mill operations with field operations. Other improvements to the plantation included the construction of an approximately eight-mile long section of flume that carried water from Waimea Stream to the plantation.

“We found a good rain was of very great benefit, and finally as a forlorn hope, after keeping tab, on the Waimea stream for over eighteen months, put in an eight mile flume, but strange as it may seem, the water failed just before the flume was finished.”

“Mr. Carter the Manager of the Parker Ranch (1903) attributed the failure to the unprecedented dry weather in the mountains, but as the stream, never after that, continued to flow with any degree of regularity, it would appear the shrinkage of forest area in the mountains was having its effect.”

(This 1903 “severe reduction in rainfall” also brought about discussions which led to the development of the Kohala Ditch. In 1904, John Hind “launched his ditch campaign”.)

(The Honokāne section of Kohala Ditch was opened on June 11, 1906; waters of Honokāne began flowing to the Kohala, Niuliʻi, Hālawa, Hawi and Union mills; the Awini section was finished in 1907. The ditch carried the water for 23-miles northwest toward Hawi (mostly as tunnel.))

“Puakō, as a sugar proposition, I was satisfied, was hopeless, so finally was closed down, and parts gradually sold off at what they would bring (closed by ca. 1914.)” (Hind; Maly)

Hind continued to foster other economic development in Puakō even after the failure of the sugar plantation, “extending his ranching interests (a kiawe feed lot and cattle shipping operation), honey making, and making charcoal on his lease lands”. (Rechtman)

By 1930, additional grants were being awarded the few native families living on the beach, and by 1950, the beach lands had been subdivided into more than 165 Beach House Lots which at the time were generally “vacation” houses. (Maly) (Lots of information here is from Maly and Rechtman.)

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Kawaihae to Anaehoomalu-DAGS2786-zoom-zoom-noting Puako Plantation Site

Puako Bay-DAGS4027-zoom-noting Grant 4856-Puako Mill Site