Economy | Page 64 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 8, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Building Breakwaters

In 1899, Herbert, William, Jack and Edgar Young were at Catalina Island; the year before they started taking fishing parties out daily and conducting excursions to the coral gardens.

Then the Hawaiian Islands attracted their attention, and, as William put it, they “went with high hopes and the spirit of a pioneer toward strange lands and all the beauty of sky and sea in the blue Pacific.” (Herb and William were headed to Hawai‘i.) “On January 9, 1900, we sailed out of Golden Gate toward the Great adventure …”

“For years we had heard tales of Hawaii; now at last we were to see it for ourselves. Every passing hour, every wave curling under our bows brought us so much nearer, and the eyes of youth, straining ahead of the ship, seemed almost to glimpse a palm-fringed shore where life was gay and living carefree.”

“At last, on January 19, after a fine voyage, we sighted Honolulu. The green shores. the white beach and coral formations, the boats of the Kanakas, the town rising at the harbor edge to be lost in the verdure of the tropical plants …”

“… the great forest of masts and spars in the harbor, the clear water and brilliant coloring of everything within eyeshot made a picture that the years could not dim. Here at last was the land of my dreams, the real El Dorado, the place which one may leave, but to which he will always return, the enchanting isles where there is no good-bye, but only Aloha.”

“We dropped anchor at quarantine and stood on deck, silently, in wonder at the natural beauty of the island. Would our dreams come true here?”

Most associate Young Brothers as an inter-island barge company. But, in their early years in the Islands, Young Brothers did a lot of things. Young Brothers was given a contract to help with the original dredging of Pearl Harbor. They engaged to tow mud scows out to sea and dump them.

They also got involved in the construction of a couple substantial breakwaters that continue to protect some significant bays.

In the late 19th century, the growing sugar industry in East Hawai’i demanded a better and more protected port, and a breakwater was constructed on Blonde Reef in Hilo Bay to shield ships from rough waters as they entered Hilo Harbor.

In 1911, Young Brothers contracted with the Lord Young Construction Co. to tow barges to build the breakwater at Hilo harbor on the Big Island.

They bought the tug Mikiala and went to work towing barges of huge rocks from the Hamakua coast and dumping them to build the long breakwater which protects the harbor today. Building it took many long months.

Jack Young was in charge of the work at Hilo and spent the better part of a year skippering the Brothers (the name of their tug) as it towed a scow loaded with rock to be dumped on the breakwater extension.

Dangerous conditions that developed during the Hilo breakwater construction were somewhat inevitable, given the unpredictable ocean swells and enormous load carried by the rock scow.

A news article appearing in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser on December 25, 1911, provides some insights into the job of building the breakwater as the Young Brothers’ crew experienced it:

“The sea had been rough for several days, and finally made it impossible to work. On Monday, the … scow was taken out in tow of the Hukihuki, having on board about 125 tons of rock, which it was to dump on the bottom ….”

“Here the substructure, which has been laid by Lord & Young, forms a kind of artificial reef over which the waves break in stormy weather. On the day in question, the breakers were thundering in at a great rate, and great combers were continually sweeping the deck of the scow.”

“Nevertheless, the Hukihuki bucked through the swirling water, and she had just brought the scow over the substructure, though not in the exact place where the load was to be dumped, when trouble began.”

“The heavy scow was let down, in the trough between two big waves, to such a depth that one of her edges struck the rock of the substructure with such a force that the timbers were splintered and broken, and the water began to pour in through the leak.”

“All thought of depositing the load had to be abandoned, and the Hukihuki maneuvered the disabled craft out of the breakers. The scow was sinking so rapidly that it was impossible to save the load, and good Kapoho rock was jettisoned.”

“By good seamanship the scow was towed to safety, where she is being repaired.”

Contrary to urban legend, the Hilo breakwater was built to dissipate general wave energy and reduce wave action in the protected bay, providing calm water within the bay and protection for mooring and operating in the bay; it was not built as a tsunami protection barrier for Hilo.

It was while they were engaged in building the Hilo breakwater that Captain Jack Young met and fell in love with Alloe Louise Marr. She had come to Hilo from Oakland, California, in 1909 with her father, Joseph Thomas Marr, to visit his cousin, Jack Guard.

John Alexander (Jack) Young and Alloe Louise Marr were married in a double wedding ceremony with her cousin, Stephanie Guard and John Fraser on September 20, 1911 at Hilo. They returned to Honolulu to live. The couples remained friends and co-workers in shipping.

In 1922, Young Bros. Ltd. contracted the towing to build the breakwater at Nawiliwili harbor hauling by barge the 6-ton rocks from the quarry on the coast of Maui to build the base of the breakwater.

The waterfront community was shocked when Captain Jack Young died of a heart attack at his home on October 23, 1946. Alloe Louise Young was afflicted with a brain tumor in 1945 and died October 9, 1947 at her home on McKinley Street.

I am the youngest brother of the youngest brother of the youngest brother of Young Brothers. Jack and Alloe Young are my grandparents.

We never met them, and they never knew they had grandchildren from their son Kenny; they both had died before they knew my mother was pregnant with my older brother. (Lots of information here is from Young Brothers: 100 Years of Service and a Young family background and genealogy.)

December 2, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Rotten Row

In Rotten Row the poor ships lie –
Pathetic hulks ‘gainst the brazen sky

Drowzing life through on a lazy tide,
At anchor the vanquished vessels ride.

The surf on the reef vents a hideous sneer
At her ocean’s victims resting there

Never again to plough the seas,
Nor flaunt their flags in the bellying breeze.

The good ships come and’ the good ships go
With ne’er a salute for Rotten Row.

But the green weed loves their unkempt sides,
And the sea-worn hither and thither glides.

At night when the moon breaks through the clouds,
It chases ghosts from the feeble shrouds,

Of men who down to great seas did go
With the broken tenants of Rotten Row.
(HM Ayres; Hawaiian Star, Sep 9, 1909)

“Most harbours scattered over the seven seas have a last haven for ships which have passed from the sphere of usefulness. This haven, in the parlance of the sea is called Rotten Row.” (University of Wellington, NZ)

In Honolulu, “Hulks in rotten row are trembling for their bones, the winds whistling through their ancient forms in fierce glee. A few hats lost in the harbor, a few changes in position of wreckage on the reef, is all that the wind can do at present to be held responsible for in the vicinity of the harbor.” (Evening Bulletin, March 1, 1902)

Formerly known as Naval Row “as it was once proudly known”, located Ewa side and near Sumner’s islet across the harbor from the town, “not all of the vessels in rotten row are wrecks, there are some of them in good ripe old age.” (Evening Bulletin, July 19, 1907)

“That portion of the bay that was once known as “rotten row” and which was cleared of all the old hulks some time ago, is again taking on the aspect of former days. The accumulation is growing and being added to every little while.”

“Captain Miller’s yacht, the Lady, is in the neighborhood of 30 years old. The bark Melanchton is nothing but a hulk, and for over 40 summers she breasted the waves. The Mokolu is next in line. Her usefulness is nearly over. The Kaena, the Hover and the James Makee lay in the line with the old Kaimaloa acting as rear guard for the rotten row.” (Evening Bulletin, July 19, 1907)

“At the request of Lieutenant Slattery the army engineering officer who has charge of surveying the harbor for the improvements by the United States government, the various vessels which have been moored In Rotten Row, were taken elsewhere by their owners.”

“The removal of the craft was only temporary as they occupied considerable space that had to be surveyed. Permission has been granted to the owners to take their craft back to the Row.”

“The hulks which are resting on the bottom in Rotten Row will have to be removed before the work of Improving the harbor is undertaken by the United States government.”

“Lieutenant Slattery says he will notify the owners to remove them and In case of failure to do so, the government will remove the hulks and sell the material for whatever price It will bring to pay the expenses of removal.” (Hawaiian Star, June 26, 1905)

November 29, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kauwā

At the time of European contact in 1778, Hawaiian society comprised four levels. People were born into specific social classes; social mobility was not unknown, but it was extremely rare.

The kapu system separated people into four groups: Aliʻi, the ruling class of chiefs and nobles (kings, high chiefs, low chiefs); Kahuna, the priests (who conducted religious ceremonies at the heiau and elsewhere) and master craftsmen; Maka‘āinana, commoners (the largest group) those who lived on the land; and Kauwā (or Kauā), social outcasts, “untouchables”.

“[T]he Paramount Chief (Ali’i Nui) fulfilled the role of father to this people … At the other extreme of the social order were the despised kauwā, who were outcasts …”

“… compelled to live in a barren locality apart from the tribesmen or people “belonging to the land” (ma-ka-‘aina-na), and whose only function and destiny was to serve as human sacrifices to the Ali’i’s war god Ku when a Luakini or war temple was dedicated in anticipation of a season of fighting.” (Handy & Pukui)

“The kauwā class were so greatly dreaded and abhorred that they were not allowed to enter any house but that of their master, because they were spoken of as the aumakua of their master.”

“Men and women who were kauwā were said to be people from the wild woods (nahelehele), from the lowest depths (no lalo liio loa).” (Malo) The word kauwā “was used in historic times to mean servant, but originally it meant outcast.”

“There was a landless class of people who were probably the descendants of aborigines found already settled in the Hawaiian Islands when the migrants from the south came and their chiefs established themselves as overlords.”

“In the district of Ka‘u on the island of Hawaii the Kauwā were confined to a small infertile reservation. This reservation was the dry, rocky west half of the ahupua’a named Ninole, which is near Punalu‘u.”

“For a makaainana or ali‘i to walk on kauwā land was forbidden. Whoever did so became defiled and was put to death. However, a kauwā, with head covered under a scarf of tapa and eyes downcast, might go to the chief in case of need.”

“When in need of a victim for human sacrifice at the war temple a priest would go to the boundary of the kauwā reservation and summon a victim. The man summoned could not refuse.”

“If a kauwā woman gave birth to a child sired by an ali’i the child was strangled; and the same was true of a child born to a chiefess whose father was a kauwā.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Kepelino gives a detailed description of kauwā under the title ‘The Slave Class,’ as follows: “The slaves or kauwā were people set apart from the rest and treated like filthy beasts. They could not associate with other men. They were called ‘corpses,’ that is, foul-smelling things.”

“They were not allowed to marry outside their own class. If they were married and bore children to one not a slave, then all those children would have their necks wrung lest disgrace come to the family and the blot be handed down to their descendants.”

“The slaves were considered an evil here in Hawaii. They increased rapidly, – a thousand or more there were. They continued to give birth from the time of their ancestors until the present time, they could not become extinct.”

“They are not a laboring class; they were not selected to serve the chiefs; but on the tabu days of the heiau [anciently] they were killed as offering to the idols.”

“The slaves occupied themselves with their own work. They had a separate piece of land given them by their masters where they built houses and sought a livelihood for themselves by farming and fishing.”

“This land was tabu. Those not slaves could not till there or use its products. The commoner who trespassed on the land was put to death.”

“The slaves were so tabu that they could not bare their heads but must cover themselves with a wide piece of tapa with great humility and never look up.”

“They were so tabu that they were not permitted to enter the house-lot of other men. If they wished for anything they came outside the enclosure and spoke. But to the place of their Chief who was their master they were at liberty to go.”

“The slaves were very different in old times, a humble people, kind and gentle. They worked for a living much like those who work under contract, but they were despised in Hawaii and are so to this day, they are not regarded as like other people.”

“There were slave lands in every district of the islands, as, for example, Ka-lae-mamo in Kona on Hawaii, Makeanehu in Kohala, and so forth.” (Kepelino)

“When the ancient system of kapu was abandoned in Liholiho’s reign, the humiliation of the kauwā ended, and they merged with the maka‘ainana gradually over the years.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

November 25, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sweet Potato Getting to Hawai‘i

Tracing the history of agricultural products is one way scientists track the migration of people during times when no written records were left behind to offer clues. (Yirda; PHYS)

On his voyages across the Pacific, Captain James Cook encountered geographically disparate Polynesian societies, including those living on Easter Island, Hawai‘i and the north island of New Zealand. These far-flung communities cultivated a common crop, sweet potato. (Denham; NCBI)

Researchers later sampled specimens brought back by early explorers (including Cook.) They found that the DNA evidence indicated that the sweet potato had migrated to Polynesia long before European explorers had made their way to that part of the world. (Yirda; PHYS)

Peruvians first domesticated the sweet potato around 8,000-years ago. And though the crop spread from there, the means by which it traveled have always remained contentious.

One possibility was that Polynesian sailors first brought it home from across the ocean: The oldest carbonized sweet potato evidence in the Pacific hails back to about 1,000 AD – 500-years before Columbus sailed to the Americas.

The Polynesian word for sweet potato resembles the central Andes’ Quechua people’s word for the vegetable. (SmithsonianMag) Polynesian word for sweet potato ‘kuumala’ resembles ‘kumara,’ or ‘cumal,’ the words for the vegetable in Quechua, a language spoken by Andean natives. (NPS)

By analyzing the DNA of 1,245 sweet potato varieties from Asia and the Americas, researchers have found genetic evidence that proves the root vegetable made it to Polynesia from the Andes.

DNA studies did not just look at potatoes, research suggests Polynesians from Easter Island and natives of South America met and mingled before 1500 AD, 3-centuries after Polynesians settled the island also known as Rapa Nui. In the genomes of 27 living Rapa Nui islanders, the team found dashes of European and Native American genetic patterns.

But did Polynesians land on South American beaches, or did Native Americans sail into the Pacific to reach Rapa Nui? (Lawler; ScienceMag) Or, did its seeds possibly hitch a ride on seaweed or natural raft, or gotten lodged in the wing of a bird? (NPR)

“Our studies strongly suggest that Native Americans most probably arrived (on Rapa Nui) shortly after the Polynesians (got there.)” (Erik Thorsby; ScienceMag)

But many scientists say that Pacific currents and Polynesian mastery of the waves make it more likely that the Polynesians were the voyagers. They may have sailed to South America, swapped goods for sweet potatoes and other novelties—and returned to their island with South American women. (Lawler; ScienceMag)

“There’s a lot of evidence accumulating … that the Polynesians made landfall in South America. We think they had sophisticated, double-hulled canoes – like very large catamarans – which could carry 80 or more people and be out to sea for months.” (Kirch; NPR)

But Polynesians didn’t just grab the potatoes and head home. There are clues that they may have introduced chickens to the continent while they were at it.

“(T)here is this baffling evidence that there were chickens in western Peru before Columbus.” (Mann; NPR) Chicken bones – unknown in the Americas before 1500 AD have been excavated on a Chilean beach, which some believe predate Columbus. (NPR)

The researchers found strong evidence that “supports the so-called tripartite hypothesis, which argues that the sweet potato was introduced to Polynesia three times: first through premodern contact between Polynesia and South America, then by Spanish traders sailing west from Mexico, and Portuguese traders coming east from the Caribbean.”

“The Spanish and Portuguese varieties ended up in the western Pacific, while the older South American variety dominated in the east”. (SmithsonianMag)

It is believed the sweet potato then made three independent trips to Southeast Asia. The Polynesians probably introduced it in 1100 AD. While the Spanish and Portuguese brought other varieties from the Americas around 1500. (NPR)

“I’m delighted to see the (tripartite) hypothesis now further confirmed by these recent results.” (Kirch; Nature) Such studies of how humans moved plants and animals, Kirch says, show what the late pioneering ethnobotanist Edgar Anderson called “man’s transported landscapes.”

Historical specimens will be crucial to explaining these patterns. The sweet potatoes collected by Captain Cook’s voyage, for example, “provided time-controlled data” that show “the importance of continuing to curate such specimens in the world’s museums”. (Nature)

As widely used as it is now, the sweet potato could play an even bigger role in feeding people across the world: climate change may help the roots grow even bigger. (SmithsonianMag)

He ʻuala ka ʻai hoʻola koke i ka wi.
The sweet potato is the food that ends famine quickly. (ʻŌlelo Noʻeau from Pukui)

3 Independent introductions of sweet potato-NPS

November 21, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Post Office

“Almost coincident with the issuance by the United States Post Office Department of postage stamps for use on letters and parcels sent through the US mails, in 1847, the Government of the Kingdom of Hawaii, in the reign of Kamehameha III, had under consideration the establishment of an interisland mail service, with a post office department in charge of mails.”

“Up to the actual establishment of the Hawaiian Post Office, which was accomplished through a decree of the Privy Council, December 22, 1850, with Henry M. Whitney as Postmaster, mails arriving at Honolulu from the American States, largely from Atlantic seaboard ports, and of course, coming on sailing vessels, were distributed helter-skelter.”

“Charles R. Bishop, when Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1873, when asked for reminiscences concerning the early handling of mails, wrote on May 23, 1873:”

“‘Your letter of March 6 was duly received and in accordance with your request, which I passed over to Em. Fenard, Esq., first clerk in the post office, he has been kind enough to prepare an historical sketch of, and to copy out the laws relating to the Hawaiian postal system, to which he has attached all the postage stamps now in use here, and all the old ones which are procurable.’”

“‘In 1846-7, when a merchant ship from Boston or New York arrived via Cape Horn, the mail matter was usually poured out from the bags, etc., onto the floor of the counting room of the consignees of the vessel, or of the harbormaster’s office …’”

“‘… and those expecting letters gathered around the pile to assist in overhauling or ‘sorting’, picking out their own, and passing over their shoulders the letters, etc., of those standing in the outer circle.’”

“‘Letters for captains and crew of ships on cruise, addressed to care of ship chandlers, went to their offices; the seamen’s chaplain took those sent in his care, and the remainder for sailors went into the old tea-chest at the Consulate.’”

“‘When the whalers came into port to recruit, their crews made the rounds of the ship chandlers, the Chaplaincy, and the Consulate, in search of news from home, and the old tea-chest was upset and overhauled many times daily while the fleet was in port.’”

“‘Soon after steam communication was established between New York and San Francisco, via Panama, postal regulations were put in force here, which have from time to time been improved, until we now have a well-conducted and convenient post office.’”

“Singularly enough, the efforts of the United States Post Office Department to establish, through contracts, regular mail service between New York and San Francisco by way of Panama, were closely tied up with the system soon to be established in Hawaii.”

“The United States planned to use about $200,000 a year to establish the New York-San Francisco-Oregon mail service. The story is well known.”

“Contracts were let to sub-contractors, among the latter being a Mr. Aspinwall, who had the contract between Panama and San Francisco and Oregon. The overland mail-carrying service on Panama was a separate contract. The attempts to use Nicaragua and Mexico for mail service failed.”

“The steamer California was the first to be put into the service. She was especially built, and sailed from New York for San Francisco, via Cape Horn. Meantime, the news of the gold discovery reached the Eastern states, and a wild rush was made for California, via the American desert and via Panama.”

“When the California called at the Pacific side of Panama, a wild mob of prospective passengers, also mail, awaited her. The ship was crowded, many paying a thousand dollars for a ticket. At San Francisco every member of the crew, except the engineer, deserted to go to the mines.”

“When the next steamer entered San Francisco, she was anchored in the shadow of the guns of a warship and forcible measures were taken to prevent desertions, and. the pay of the crew was raised from $12 to $112.”

“But, while steam was used to convey letters from the eastern states to California and Oregon, sailing vessels were relied upon to carry mails from San Francisco to Honolulu.”

“Likewise mails originated in Atlantic seaboard ports for Honolulu direct. Oftentimes, sailing vessels with mail and passengers, as well as cargo, bound for San Francisco or Oregon, put into Honolulu for refreshments, leaving mail, and also taking mail.”

“It may not be generally known, but the first American troops for Oregon, first saw the Hawaiian Islands, as the steamer Massachusetts, a transport, called at Honolulu and the troops rested before proceeding north.”

“Prior to the use of postage stamps by the United States and by Hawaii, letters were usually handled in this manner: ‘The letter was written on one side of the paper.’”

“‘This was folded from bottom half way to the top, and the top was folded down toward the middle. Then the ends were folded over, say about one-third, so that one end overlapped the other, and sealing wax was then dropped on the junctions and a signet ring made the seal impression.’”

“‘On the opposite side, the address was written, and usually in a corner was added “via Ship Amazon.” This letter was handed in at the office of the ship company in New York, or Boston, or San Francisco, together with the amount of postage required, sometimes for a voyage beyond a certain number of miles amounting to 25 or 40 cents.’ …”

“In the 4th article of the Second Act, April 27, 1846, entitled ‘An Act to Organize the Executive Departments of the Hawaiian Islands,’ is the first mention ever made of the Post Office …”

“… and the regulations adopted in relation to the inter-island mails read that the Collector-General of Customs, and the Collectors of the respective ports of entry, shall be ex-officio, postmasters, and entitled to receive, and open, at their respective ports, the mail bags hereinafter specified.”

“‘The Minister of the Interior shall appoint some trustworthy and discreet person, residing conveniently on each of the islands, where no port of entry and departure is established, to be the postmaster thereof.’”

“The minister was to furnish each postmaster with leathern bags, capable of being securely locked. Then there were instructions about closing mails an hour previous to departures of vessels …”

“… and he was compelled to list each letter and package and retain it, that is, a copy, enclosing in each bag a copy of the list. Then the receiving postmaster was to post the list in a conspicuous place, where the public could view it.”

“When the commander of a foreign ship arrived at a port, he took whatever mail he had to the post office and was entitled to receive from the postmaster for each letter, two cents, and for each newspaper delivered, one cent.”

“Gradually, out of this primitive sort of post office, grew the Hawaiian Post Office, which had its treaty relations, in postal conferences and conventions, with other nations, and the system was made as good as possible. …”

“The above was altered by the postal convention in force between the United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom, of the 4^th of May, 1870. Two cents was required as postage on each newspaper; pamphlets were 4 cents.”

“In 1865 an amendment was made that no letters should be carried or delivered without postage having been previously affixed, and individuals were prohibited from carrying such unstamped letters for delivery.”

“Ship captains, also, could place a box, properly lettered with the name of his ship and his own name, in which box letters, properly stamped, could be dropped, the captain acting as sub-route-agent.”

“The post office was required to pay all its own expenses. Apparently, a deficit was not permissible. But, if a deficiency did arise, then the Postmaster-General could draw upon the Treasury for the amount.”

“The safe transmission of mails between the Hawaiian Government and the United States of America, previous to the Postal Convention between these two countries, and approved by the President on the 5th day of May, 1870, was provided for in Article 15 of the American Treaty, ratified on the 9th of August, 1850.”

“The first postmaster appointed in Honolulu was H. M. Whitney, who retained that situation from 1850 to 1856, when he established the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, which is now styled the Honolulu Advertiser.”

“During the time of his incumbency, stamps were issued of the denominations of 5 and 13 cents for foreign letters, and 2 cents for papers, all of which were mere digits, and by 1876, could not be found, except in rare instances.”

“Under the administration of Postmaster Jackson, from 1856 to 1859, a large number of stamps of varied denominations were issued, and during his term inter-island postage originated, of 2 cents per 1/2 ounce on letters, and 1 cent on papers.” (JF Woolley, Postmaster; Thrum 1930)

During the fifty years of Hawaii’s independent postal system from 1850 to 1900, the post office occupied three premises: a room in The Polynesian Office (1850-1854;) rooms in Honolulu Hale, situated next door to The Polynesian Office (1854-1871;) and about half of the ground floor in the “New Post Office” (Kamehameha V Post Office, 1871-1922,) situated on the former site of The Polynesian Office.

On June 14, 1900, the Kamehameha V Post Office officially became a unit of the United States Post Office (the year that Hawaii became a Territory of the US.)