General | Page 132 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 2, 2020 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Did The Mongoose Idea Work?

OK – in reading this, remember, this discussion is not in defense of the mongoose – nor whether the importation was a good idea.

Rather, it is addressing the age-old urban legend about the apparent conflicting activity habits of each. I repeatedly hear that mongoose don’t kill rats – primarily because their activity times are different.

Contrary to the diurnal (behavior characterized by activity during the day and sleeping at night)/nocturnal (behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day) conflict between the mongoose and rat – and apparent loss of the predator-prey relationship – reporting at the time of the introduction of the mongoose state sugar producers saw a marked reduction in the pesky rats in their plantations.

Pacific Sugar Mill on the Hāmākua Coast had the distinction of introducing the first mongoose into Hawaiʻi. In 1883, WH Purvis imported them from India and Africa for rat control on the plantation.

Later, Joseph Marsden (‘Mongoose Joe,’) former Commissioner of Agriculture, is credited with expanding the import. “He brought the little animal from Jamaica, where it had the reputation of a good rat exterminator”. (Hawaiian Gazette, March 16, 1906)

“At that time there were considerable portions of our cane fields that were so badly damaged by rats that they were not worth harvesting and now rat eaten cane is almost unknown.” (HA Baldwin – Maui News, August 5, 1921)

“The ravages of rats in the cane fields of Hāmākua previous to the introduction of the mongoose were so alarming as to cause fears that cane culture would have to be abandoned. As soon as a cane field was planted it seemed to be a new breeding ground for the rats, which appeared to exist by the hundreds of thousands.” (Evening Bulletin, December 5, 1898)

“The next importation was by the Hilo planters, who in 1883 sent Mr. Jonathan Tucker to Jamaica in the West Indies to procure mongoose for them. Mr. Tucker returned with 72 mongoose in good condition, which were liberated in the cane fields in Hilo. They soon increased in numbers, and the ravages of the rats correspondingly diminished.” (Evening Bulletin, December 5, 1898)

“The planters of Hāmākua, hearing of the good work done by the mongoose in Hilo, decided to import some on their own account (in 1885.”) (Evening Bulletin, December 5, 1898)

“Many people feel that the mongoose has failed as an enemy of the rat, but the records, both in Hawaiʻi and Jamaica, indicate that the rats have been reduced to an appreciable extent by the mongoose.” (Maui News, August 12, 1921)

“Evidence in favor of the mongoose may be seen today in Kauaʻi. The mongoose has not been introduced on that island, and the rat menace is in general more serious there than it is with the other islands of Hawaiʻi.” (The Garden Island, August 23, 1921)

In less than two years after the importation of the mongoose, the rats were so diminished that it was and is now a rare thing to see a stick of cane that is eaten, and the plantations have so extended their plantations that they now grind nearly all the year, giving employment to double and treble the number of hands with a corresponding benefit to the trade of Honolulu. (Evening Bulletin, December 5, 1895)

“When they set the mongoose to work he soon cleaned the cane fields of mice and then went for the rats which speedily met a similar fate. Having exterminated all those he next went for eggs next for chickens and then he went for the henroosts and fowls.” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

“There is no doubt that the mongoose has saved the planters of Hāmākua thousands of dollars. In former years it was no uncommon thing to see one-fourth and even one-half of the cane left on the fields, the rats having rendered that portion unfit for grinding by eating the stalks near the ground.” (The Garden Island, August 23, 1921)

“The drawback to the Mongoose is that he does not confine his menu to rats but varies it with all kinds of barnyard fowl and eggs and also ground-nesting game birds form a good part of his dietary. Another regrettable thing about him is that he is very fond of our field lizards or skinks which have an important part to play in the ‘balance of nature.’” (HA Baldwin – Maui News, August 5, 1921)

“These lizards feed on ticks among other things and since the advent of the Mongoose and the consequent scarcity of lizards ticks have become a bothersome pest to stock raisers. Ticks, however, in sufficient quantities are said to be deadly to the Mongoose and to keep him down in numbers.” (HA Baldwin – Maui News, August 5, 1921)

“The lizard is the natural enemy of bugs and insects including mosquitoes, as he lives on nothing else and never in any way harms plant life. When I first came to the Kona district in 1886, the country was well stocked with lizards and all kinds of fruits were growing in pro fusion.” (Coerper – Maui News, April 15, 1905)

“Kitchen gardens contained cabbages, tomatoes and all other varieties of vegetables which were free from insect pests; and while the leaf hopper could be found in the canefields he was kept so well in check by the lizard that he never caused any trouble.” (Coerper – Maui News, April 15, 1905)

“But later on when the mongoose came, he commenced a campaign of destruction on the lizard with the result that the lizard decreased and the pests increased to such an extent that today almost nothing can be raised in the district and fruit trees that used to bear a heavy crop of fruit are now barren and pest ridden.” (Coerper – Maui News, April 15, 1905)

OK, again, before anyone goes off on the consequence to native birds, etc, remember the context of this summary –it’s about whether mongoose rid rats from the cane fields.

I prepared this because, until looking closer into it, I, too, believed that because of the diurnal/nocturnal relationship, they never saw each other. However, based on the reports back then, from the sugar planters’ perspective, it worked; damage due to rats gnawing at the sugar was reduced to a level of nominal impact.

Unfortunately, like many other bad decisions that were made before adequate analysis of unintended consequences, the mongoose is negatively impacting many other areas in our Islands … and, except for some remnant operations, sugar (and its problems with rats) is effectively gone.

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December 22, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Mele Kalikimaka

“In every note I’ll tell of the spell of my islands, for then I know that you’ll be in love with them too.” (Last two lines in Haole Hula by Robert Alexander (Alex or Andy) Anderson, Hnl Adv, June 5, 1984)

Anderson wrote around 200-songs, “He has a fond story for nearly every melody he’s composed.”

“Of ‘Lovely Hula Hands’: ‘It’s the result of a chap watching a hula dancer, and commenting, ‘Aren’t here hands lovely?’ That was the key line, and when I went yachting in New Zealand, I saw these gulls flying over the yacht – an observation that became part of the finished song.’”

Of ‘Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai’: ‘The song was written for a party honoring Warner Baxter (a film star of the 1930s) on Molokai: I thought ‘Kaunakakai’ and ‘cockeyed’ and created that one for a crazy occasion.’”

But this is about another of Anderson’s songs, ‘Mele Kalikimaka’. Of that he noted, “‘My stenographer at Vonn Hamm-Young told me that there was no Hawaiian Christmas song, and that was inspiration enough.’” (Anderson, Hnl Adv)

“‘Mele Kalikimaka’ has become R. Alex Anderson’s best-known composition, … No surprise, as it’s truly become Hawai‘i’s way to say a Merry Christmas. The carol is well known on the Mainland as well”. (HnlMag)

Written in 1949, ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ was soon performed by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in 1950. (UCSB, Decca Matrix)

‘Mele Kalikimaka’, Hawai`i’s Christmas song, went around the world on the back of Bing Crosby’s recording of “White Christmas”. Crosby, Andy Anderson’s frequent visitor and golf partner, liked the tune so much when Andy played it for him that he surprised Anderson with the recording. (Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame)

Mele Kalikimaka

Jingle bells upon a steel guitar
Through the palms we see the same bright star

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas day
That’s the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway

Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night

Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaiʻi’s way
To say Merry Christmas
A very Merry Christmas
To say Merry Christmas to you
(Anderson; Huapala)

“‘Of all hapa haole songwriters in recent years, Anderson probably comes closest to catching instinctively a Hawaiian sound. The fact that he has never.tried to sound like ‘Anderson’ would seem to bear out his striving for a Hawaiian sound.’” (Kanahele; Shishikura)

Anderson was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 6, 1894. He attended Punahou School where he wrote the school’s football song in his junior year and the school song in his senior year (‘Go Punahou’).

At Cornell, he studied electrical and mechanical engineering and was a member of the Cornell University Glee Club. Despite lacking formal training as a composer, he wrote many songs as a Cornell student.

Alex’s musical career was temporarily side tracked while he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War I. (It was called ‘The Aviation Section of the Signal Corps’ in those days.) (Walton; Outrigger)

His exploits during World War I involved flying combat missions in France. After being shot down and taken as a prisoner of war by the Germans, Anderson conceived of a daring and ultimately successful escape. This was later turned into a movie, “Dawn Patrol” starring Errol Flynn, David Niven and Basil Rathbone.

Although he had a very active business career, he turned his love of songwriting into a very successful avocation. While Anderson never studied theory or harmony and played a piano mostly by ear, many of his island songs have become standards.

He usually composed away from an instrument, although he sometimes used a piano or ukulele to work out a melody. (Crosby, BetaThetaData)

In 1998 Anderson was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. He died in May 29, 1995, a week short of his 101st birthday. He is buried in the Oʻahu Cemetery in Honolulu.

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December 17, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

49th State Fair

During the First World War the Chamber of Commerce sponsored the first Territorial Fair, with the idea that an event held every 2-3 years could draw from across the Territory to “display the results of their efforts along agricultural lines.”

The Hawaiʻi Territorial Fair was largely focused on “a demonstration in intensive cultivation of staple and special field products and also as a demonstration in food conservation … it was found (that) the islands depended too largely on the mainland for food supplies”.

A site was selected and “set aside for territorial fair and amusement park purposes that portion of the government lands lying mauka of the proposed Waikiki drainage canal (Ala Wai) and adjacent to Kapahulu road.”

The Territorial Fair continued for a number of years. Starting in 1923, golf started at the Fair Grounds, when someone placed a salmon can down as its first hole; by 1931, more holes were built and the fairgrounds were converted to a golf course, instead. The place was renamed the Ala Wai Golf Course.

The United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (the Jaycees) were formed on the continent in 1920. The Jaycees first appeared in Hawaiʻi in 1930 with the chartering of the Honolulu Junior Chamber of Commerce.

In 1939, Jaycee chapters sprouted up in Hilo, Maui, Kauaʻi and Wahiawa. In 1943, an umbrella organization ‘Hawaiʻi Junior Chamber of Commerce’ was formed.

Coinciding with these timeframes, the (senior) Honolulu Chamber and Commerce was conducting the Hawaiian Products Exhibit, first held in 1930.

Hawaiʻi was suffering from the effects of the Depression; the Chamber launched the Hawaiian products exhibit at the old National Guard Armory downtown to boost interest in local goods, 33,000 attended.

For seven years the senior Chamber ran the Show, until 1937, when the Jaycees were looking for a signature fundraising event for their organization. The Chamber passed the responsibilities to the Jaycees; from then, it was a Jaycees event.

A decision was made to include mainland manufactures and agricultural products in 1940, resulting in a significantly larger event. It was held under tents in Kapiʻolani Park.

The next year the Show moved to the corner of Kalākaua Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard. During the war years, the shows were not held. After the war, the first post-war show was held at McKinley High School.

The 1948 show was the first to be named “The 49th State Fair” (the Honolulu Jaycees copyrighted the name;) it was held at Kapiʻolani Park. (The Jaycees were anticipating that Hawai’i would become the 49th state.)

“By this time the country was actively debating the issue of Statehood for Hawaii and Alaska. Most people thought Statehood would be granted first to Hawaii and then to Alaska … we had the 49th State Fair, businesses called 49th State such-and-such …” (George Ariyoshi)

“Statehood was in the air, and everyone expected Hawaii to become the 49th state; hence there was a 49th State record label and a 49th State fair at the old Honolulu stadium.” (Tom Moffatt, Star Revue)

Hawaiʻi’s 1948 “State Fair” won a national award from the National Jaycees who rated it the best project in the field of profit-making conducted by a Jaycee entity in a city of 100,000 or more.

The next year event also won a national Jaycee award (in the field of trade promotion.) The 1949 State Fair was held in warehouses on the Ala Moana Boulevard, EK Fernandez furnished the entertainment.

Then, again, in 1950 the 49th State Fair was selected as the “Outstanding Project of the Year” conducted by Jaycees throughout the nation in cities with populations of 250,000 and more.

In 1952, the 49th State Fair moved to Sand Island.

On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state – Hawaiʻi’s Fair name changed, again.

Hawaiʻi joined the union on August 21, 1959 – since then it hosts the 50th State Fair.

(“The Territorial Savings and Loan Association said its name would be continued to denote the firm’s ‘age, stability and pre-Statehood background.’” (star-bulletin))

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49th_State_Fair_elephant-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair_Under_the_Big_Top-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-Sand_Island-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-Under_the_Big_Top-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-History-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-2nd_Annual-(Billboard, May 21, 1949)

December 16, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Webster’s Way

On July 14, 1826, the missionaries established a 12-letter alphabet for the written Hawaiian language, using five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w) in their “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language.” The report was signed by Bingham and Chamberlain. The alphabet continues in use today.

“To one unacquainted with the language it would be impossible to distinguish the words in a spoken sentence, for in the mouth of a native, a sentence appeared like an ancient Hebrew or Greek manuscript-all one word.”

“It was found that every word and every syllable in the language ends with a vowel; the final vowel of a word or syllable, however, is often made so nearly to coalesce or combine with the sound of the succeeding vowel, as to form a dipthongal sound, apparently uniting two distinct words.”

“The power of the vowels may be thus represented: – a, as a in the English words art, father; e, as a in pale, or ey in they; i, as ee or in machine; o, as o in no; u, as oo in too. They are called so as to express their power by their names – Ah, A, Ee, O, Oo.”

“The consonants are in like manner called by such simple names as to suggest their power, thus, following the sound of the vowels as above – He, Ke, La, Mu, Xu, Pi, We.” (Bingham)

Learning the Language by Syllables

Noah Webster (1758-1843) was the man of words in early 19th-century America. He compiled a dictionary which became the standard for American English; he also compiled The American Spelling Book, which was the basic textbook for young readers in early 19th-century America.

In the beginning part of his American Spelling Book, several signed a ‘Recommendation,’ stating, “Having examined the first part of the new Grammatical Institute of the English Language, published by Mr. Noah Webster we are of opinion, that it is far preferable, in the plan and execution, to Dilworth’s or any other Spelling Book, which has been introduced into [o]ur schools.”

The Speller’s Preface notes the priority in learning, “The syllables of words are divided as they are pronounced, and for this obvious reason, that children learn the language by the ear. Rules are of no consequence but to printers and adults. In Spelling Books they embarrass children, and double the labour of the teacher.”

“The whole design of dividing words into syllables at all, is to lead the pupil to the true pronunciation: and the easiest method to effect this purpose will forever be the best.” (Webster’s Speller)

“As far back as one can trace the history of reading methodology, children were taught to spell words out, in syllables, in order to pronounce them.” Webster wrote.

And so it was with the American Protestant Missionaries teaching the Hawaiians to read and write their own language.

Just as American schoolchildren spelled aloud by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing the result: “b, a – ba,” so did Hawaiian learners. (However, back then, Webster used ‘y’ as a vowel; the missionaries did not.)

Pī ʻā pā

In the initial instruction, the missionaries taught by first teaching syllables – adding consonants to vowels, just as Noah Webster noted in his speller.

The classroom exercise of spelling aloud also focused on syllables: Pupils first pronounced each letter of the syllable, and then put the sounds together and pronounced the syllable.

This practice of spelling aloud gave the Hawaiian alphabet its name. Just as American schoolchildren taught with Webster’s speller began their recitation by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing the result: “B, A – BA,” so did Hawaiian learners.

The early missionary teacher said to his pupil, b, a – ba; the Hawaiian would repeat, pronouncing “b” like “p” and said “pī ʻā pā; hence the word that is now known as the Hawaiian alphabet and the name of the book. (Schütz 2017a:12)

Webster’s way of teaching was practiced in Hawai‘i, as described by Andrews, “The teacher takes a Piapa (i.e., speller, primer,) sits down in front of a row or several rows of scholars, from ten to a hundred perhaps in number, all sitting on the ground, furnished perhaps with Piapas, perhaps not.”

“The teacher begins: says A. The scholars all repeat in concert after him, A. The teacher then says E. They repeat all together, as before E, and so on, repeating over and over, after the teacher, until all the alphabet is fixed in the memory, just in the order the letters stand in the book; and all this just as well without a book as with one. The abbs and spelling lesson are taught in the same way.” (Schütz 1994:163)

The Hawaiian version also used the names of the letters and the resultant syllable: bē ā – bā; by 1824, this had become the Hawaiian word for ‘alphabet’. However, after b had been eliminated from the alphabet, p took its place in this new name.

One result of applying this methodology to Hawaiian is that it produced a new word: Pi a pa. From that time on, the word for ‘alphabet’ has been pī‘āpā, first appearing with this spelling (minus the kahakō and ‘okina) in a book title in 1828.

The purpose of all these first exercises was to teach the mechanics of pronouncing words, one by one – syllable by syllable.

This is a summary; click HERE for more on Webster’s Way.

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Schütz 1994. Albert Schütz – The voices of Eden: A history of Hawaiian language studies. 1994 Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.

Schütz 2017a. Albert Schütz – Reading between the lines: A closer look at the first Hawaiian primer (1822). In Palapala-He puke pai no ka ‘olelo me ka mo ‘olelo Hawai’i (A journal for Hawaiian language and literature)

Pi-a-pa-01

Pi-a-pa-02-03

Pi-a-pa-04-05

Pi-a-pa-06-07

Pi-a-pa-08-09

Pi-a-pa-10-11

Pi-a-pa-12-13

Pi-a-pa-14-15

Pi-a-pa-16

December 13, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Billy Weaver

December 13, 1958 – 8-months before Hawaiʻi became a state … it was described as a typical trade wind, Windward Oʻahu day; the sky was clear; the water was a little rough with whitecaps and there were good-sized waves.

Six friends, ages 9 to 15, were doing what kids do, then and now; they had paddled and rowed out to the Mokulua Islands to surf and play in the water.

Along with an 8-foot boat, they had three surfboards and three air mattresses. The boys kept together; never was one more than 75 – 100-feet from the others.

Then, disaster struck.

Billy, 15-year old son of Spencecliff restaurants partner Clifton Weaver, was on an air mattress and missed catching a wave. Then, the rest of the boys noticed he was clinging to the mat, apparently in difficulty.

They heard a cry for help.

Seeing blood in the water, they swam over and tried to rescue Billy – they saw he had lost a leg.

Then, one of the boys cried out ‘Shark,’ seeing it surface 30-feet away.

Fearing their small boat would swamp in the surf, they rowed to shore to get help.

About an hour-and-a-half after the attack, the Fire rescue squad was on the scene. Other boats joined in the search. Finally a helicopter crew from the Marine Base spotted the body on the reef.

A local resident dove down and recovered the body. Efforts to revive him failed; Billy died from loss of blood, drowning, shock or a combination of the three.

The shark was estimated to be over 15-feet long; they believe it was a tiger shark. It was seen still cruising in the area.

The next day, the Territory and local residents set out to capture the shark. Bounties were offered. Lines of hooks were set in the water where the attack occurred. Overhead pilots spotted two schools of sharks in nearby Kailua Bay.

Over the next couple of days, more hooks were set and three tiger sharks and two sand sharks were caught.

In response to the fatal attack, the Billy Weaver Shark Research and Control Program was initiated. Starting April 1, 1959, 595-sharks were caught off Oʻahu during the remainder of the year; 71 were tiger sharks.

Kenny Young, my father, was the fund drive chairman for the Billy Weaver Shark Control Fund (Hawaiʻi’s first shark control program.) They accepted donations, and to raise additional money teeth from the hunted sharks were put on chains and sold as necklaces.

In the old days, folks used to catch and kill sharks. The accepted attitude was, “the only good shark is a dead shark.”

In an attempt to relieve public fears and to reduce the risk of shark attack, the state government of Hawaiʻi spent over $300,000 on shark control programs between 1959 and 1976. Six control programs of various intensity resulted in the killing of 4,668-sharks.

Subsequent evaluation of the 1959-1976 efforts noted, “Shark control programs do not appear to have had measurable effects on the rate of shark attacks in Hawaiian waters. Implementation of large-scale control programs in the future in Hawaiʻi may not be appropriate.” (Wetherbee, 1994)

At the turn of the century, my grandfather and his brothers (Young Brothers) used to have various jobs in Honolulu Harbor; one was taking paying customers out to harpoon sharks off-shore. My great-uncle, William, wrote books about his adventures shark hunting.

I remember Kohala shark “hunts” on the Big Island where a donated steer carcass was tied between points in a cove and “hunters,” on surrounding cliffs using high-powered rifles, shot at sharks feeding off the carcass.

Times have changed.

We have learned that tiger sharks (the ones most implicated in attacks on humans) don’t simply dwell in small coastal territories, but are instead extremely wide-ranging.

They are opportunistic predators and typically move on soon after arriving in an area, because the element of surprise is quickly lost and potential prey become wary and difficult to catch.

We know more now and recognize that sharks are an important part of the marine ecosystem. Sharks are often the “apex” or top of the food chain predators in their ecosystems because they have few natural predators.

As top predators, sharks help to manage healthy ocean ecosystems. Sharks feed on the animals below them in the food chain, helping to regulate and maintain the balance of marine ecosystems; limiting the populations of their prey, in turn affects the prey species of those animals, and so on.

To some, sharks are ʻaumakua (ancestral spirits that take possession of living creatures) that make appearances to express parental concern for the living, bringing warnings of impending danger, comfort in times of stress or sorrow or in other ways being helpful. (Kane)

Sad and Tragic, yes – we continue to have shark attacks. However, many believe it is typically mistaken identity – the sharks mistake surfers and floaters as turtles or seals. (Remember, we are visitors to their realm in the ocean.)

I still vividly recall Halloween morning, 2003, when DLNR’s shark expert came to my office to brief me on the shark attack on Bethany Hamilton on Kaua‘i. It was a somber day at DLNR. Unlike the old days, there was no “hunt” called for. Other incidents and attacks continue to occur.

“The number of shark attacks has nothing to do with how many sharks are in the water and everything to do with how many people are in the water,” said Kim Holland, University of Hawaiʻi shark researcher and Shark Task Force member. (Honolulu Advertiser, following the Hamilton attack)

John Naughton, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, said previous efforts to remove large predatory sharks saw the proliferation of smaller ones, which harassed fishermen and their catches.

“It’s an archaic way to manage the resource. It’s like the turn of the century, when they shot wolves. It doesn’t make sense anymore.” (Honolulu Advertiser, November, 2003) (Lots of information here is from Tester and Wetherbee.)

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