General | Page 136 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 18, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Aloha Amusement Park

An amusement park for the city of Honolulu was a long contemplated project by a number of prominent citizens, and various sites convenient to the public traffic were considered.

The “official” opening of Aloha Amusement Park on Kalākaua Avenue in Waikīkī was September 14, 1922. (Although the American Legion held a 4th of July carnival there as its first use (even though the park was not completed, they used the partially completed facility for the celebration.)

The three-day 4th of July celebration attracted nearly 25,000 paid admissions to the park; of this number, 16,395 attended on the closing day.

That year’s annual report of the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company noted the opening of the park “resulted in a considerable increase in night travel. This attraction in its present location will no doubt stimulate travel on the cars.” (In part, the siting of the facility was due to the accessibility over the transit line.)

Reportedly, the Advertiser described it as “another laurel to the wreath of Honolulu’s progressiveness.”

The reception was not all good. Apparently, the Outdoor Circle and many residents called it an “atrocious ballyhoo bazaar”. There were complaints of commercialization of Waikīkī.

Likewise, a petition, signed by property owners in the area, said the park was misrepresented when the permit was granted, would lead to immorality. RA Vitousek, attorney, represented the park and its manager, WA Cory.

City Supervisors said they cannot revoke the permit but feel it should be investigated. (Krauss) (The City’s 1922 financial report notes a $50 expense, for “Aloha Amusement Park Investigation”.)

The operator noted the complaints were coming from people who are already operating hotels, bath houses and dancing places – all of which were catering to the rich. He noted that the rest of the people should have a place in the same area. (He had considered and decided against siting the Park in Pālama.)

Aloha Park was adjacent to Fort DeRussy, an American army base and was opened by the Aloha Amusement Company, a group of local investors. They invested $250,000 to build and equip the park with modern rides. They hired Los Angeles resident Cory to manage the park and gave him a stake in the new company.

While Honolulu only had a permanent population of 90,000, it also had a transient population of 30,000 soldiers, sailors and tourists. And its mild climate was perfect for year around operation.

Although its proximity to the army base was helpful, the five-acre site required extensive filling and dredging to make it into an amusement resort. Two acres were set aside as sunken gardens and grass lawns.

Technical director Mark Hanna was in charge of the park’s construction. The park’s entrance was designed after the Palace of Fine Arts arcade at the 1915 San Francisco Exposition.

The park’s rides included the Big Dipper roller coaster designed by Prior and Church of Venice, California, a Noah’s Ark fun house, a 70 foot high Traver Seaplane, a ten-car Dodgem, a carousel built by Arthur Looff, and a miniature railroad.

The dance hall had a floor 120 x 150 feet, with a 20 foot lanai, where refreshments were served, and contained boxes for private parties. Music was provided by the Hawaiian brass band, that played at the band pavilion where a big musical revue was staged nightly.

Electric lights at light brightly lit up the grounds and rides. Free daily entertainment was provided. Oscar V. Babcock performed his thrilling bicycle loop-the-loop during the park’s opening weeks.

Running into financial difficulties, the Park went into bankruptcy in 1924. New investment came in and the park was renamed Waikiki Park. It is believed the park lasted until the 1930 Depression.

The Park played a role in the Massie case in 1931. Five young men who had been charged with rape of Thalia Massie, as she walked home from a Waikiki nightclub, had reportedly been at a dance at the Aloha Amusement Park (and used that as an explanation in their defense.)

Lots of information here from National Amusement Park Historical Association and Bob Krauss’s newspaper notes.

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1925 Entrance to the Waikiki Amusement Park-Ilikai

Aloha Amusement Park-Hnl SB-Sept 14, 1922

Honolulu and Vicinity-Map-1934-(portion-noting-Waikiki_Park)

Honolulu and Vicinity-Map-1934-(portion-noting-Waikiki_Park)-Waikiki_Park-Honolulu-Map-1927

June 17, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Preparing a Constitution

Collaboration between Ali‘i and the American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the introduction of Christianity, the creation of the Hawaiian written language, widespread literacy, making Western medicine available, and the evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition with harmony and choral singing.

In addition, the missionaries collaborated with the Chiefs on the promulgation of a constitutional government. Reverend William Richards came to Hawai‘i in 1823 as a member of the Second Company of missionaries sent to the Islands by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; he was instrumental in transforming Hawaiian governance, through a constitution with individual rights.

It was a time of transition. when the Hawaiian people were faced with the difficult task of adjusting themselves to changing conditions. They turned to their teachers, the American missionaries, for guidance along this intricate path.

The king and chiefs, acknowledging their own inexperience, had sought for a man of probity and some legal training who could act as their advisor in matters dealing with other nations and with foreigners within the Islands. (Judd)

Richards “accepted the invitation of the Chiefs to become their teacher, and entered into engagements with them which were signed on the 3d of July (1838). According to those engagements, (he) was to devote (his) time at (his) discretion to the instruction of the King and chiefs, as far as (he) could and remain at Lahaina, and do the public preaching.”

“(He) was also to accompany the King to O‘ahu if important public business called him there. (He) engaged to act as interpreter and translator in government business of a public nature when called to it, and was to receive for (his) services 600 dollars a year, to be paid in quarterly enstalments of 150 dollars each.”

“As soon as the arrangements were completed, (he) commenced the compilation and translation of a work on political economy, following the general plan of Wayland, but consulting Lay, Newman and others, and translating considerable portions from the 1st mentioned work.”

“(He) also met king & chiefs daily when other public business did not prevent, and as fast as (he) could prepare matter read it to them in the form of lectures. (He) endeavored to make the lectures as familiar as possible, by repeating them, and drawing the chiefs into free conversation on the subject of the Lecture.”

“They uniformly manifested a becoming interest in the school thus conducted, and took an active part in the discussion of the various topics introduced in the Lectures. The Lectures themselves were mere outlines of general principles of political economy, which of course could not have been understood except by full illustration drawn from Hawaiian custom and Hawaiian circumstances.”

“In these illustrations (he) endeavored as much as possible to draw their minds to the defects in the Hawaiian government, and Hawaiian practices, and often contrasted them with the government and practices of enlighted nations.”

“The conversation frequently took so wide a range that there was abundant opportunity to refer to any and to every fault of the present system of government. But when the faults of the present system were pointed out & the chiefs felt them & then pressed me with the question, ‘Pehea la e pono ai,’ (How will it be bettered?)”

“During the year (Richards had) been called on to translate various documents and laws, some of which were transmitted to the USA & some were for promulgation at the Islands.”

“(He had) said scarcely nothing to the king and chiefs respecting the existing evils or defects in the government, except as the subject has come up naturally and almost necessarily while discussing established principles of Political Economy.”

“A system of laws has been written out by (Boaz) Mahune, a graduate of the (Lahainaluna) high school, and he was directed by the King to conform them to the principles of Political Economy which they had learned. Those laws are some what extensive and protect all private property.”

“According to this code, no chief has any authority over any man, any farther than it is given him by specific enactment, and no tax can be levied, other than that which is specified in the printed law …”

“… and no chief can act as a judge in a case where he is personally interested, and no man can be dispossessed of land which he has put under cultivation except for crimes specified in the law.” (Richards Report to the Sandwich Islands Mission, May 1, 1839)

No Ke Kālai‘āina (translation of William Richards’ Book)

Classes in political economy were taught by Mr. Richards for the chiefs; these laid the foundation for the political reforms started soon after. Indeed, it can be said that Mr. Richards exercised a profound, though somewhat intangible, influence on Hawaii’s evolution towards a constitution form of government.

Richards translated portions of Dr Francis Wayland’s ‘Elements of Political Economy’ into Hawaiian and organized discussions with the Chiefs on constitutional governance.

The Chiefs proposed themselves to publish the work which I have compiled, & they are to have the Copy Right & defray the expense of the publication.” (The book was known as No ke Kālai‘āina.)

Richards was instrumental in helping to transform Hawai‘i into a modern constitutional state with a bill of rights (1839) and a constitution (1840).

A project of the Hawaiian Mission Houses bicentennial commemoration involves translating the Hawaiian text into English and research William Richards and process of constitution in Hawaiian language sources.

Click HERE to view/download Background on Preparing a Constitution

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Elements of Political Economy-Wayland

William_Richards

June 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Smallpox Epidemic – 1853

Smallpox was introduced to Hawai‘i by an American merchant ship, the Charles Mallory, sailing from San Francisco and arriving at Honolulu Harbor on February 10, 1853.

Displaying a yellow flag indicating a serious infection on board, the ship berthed in isolation on a reef off Kalihi.

One of the passengers had smallpox.

When the period of quarantine ended in late-March, no new cases had been reported, the smallpox patient was recovering and the ship set sail and left.

In May 1853, the disease reappeared.

Two native women were stricken; their homes and the adjacent properties were cordoned off and their infected clothing and grass huts were burned.

This time smallpox spread rapidly; cases were reported from most of Honolulu’s districts.

In response to the growing impacts, June 15, 1853 was declared a national day of mourning, prayer and fasting.

The epidemic was at its worst in July – August with the island of O‘ahu recording more than 4,000-cases and 1,500-deaths.

Despite efforts to contain it, smallpox spread to Kaua‘i, Maui and Hawai‘i, killing at least 450-people.

The people on Ni‘ihau, Moloka‘i and Lāna’i remained protected because of their remoteness, stricter quarantine and better vaccine quality.

Missionary Dr. Dwight Baldwin was the government physician for Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna’i during the smallpox epidemic. Due to his vigilance, the number of smallpox deaths on these islands was only 200 deaths.

Statewide, during an eight-month period, about 8% of Hawai‘i’s population died of the disease.

When the epidemic ended late in January 1854, the estimated number of statewide cases was 6,400 – 9,100 and an estimated 2,500 – 5,750 deaths.

The intensity of the epidemic led the Hawaiian legislature to make vaccination mandatory for both residents and visitors in 1854.

Smallpox is a serious and contagious disease due to a virus, causing illness and death wherever it occurred. It mainly affected children and young adults. Family members often infected each other.

Smallpox localizes in small blood vessels of the skin and in the mouth and throat. In the skin, this results in a characteristic rash, and later, raised fluid-filled blisters.

After a twelve-day incubation period, patients developed severe headaches and backaches, a high fever, and chills, followed by a severe rash, a return of the fever, and bacterial infection. Death came by infection of the lungs, heart, or brain. The entire course from infection to death usually took five or six weeks.

Smallpox spreads easily from one person to another from saliva droplets. It may also be spread from bed sheets and clothing. It is most contagious during the first week of the infection. It may continue to be contagious until the scabs from the rash fall off.

It is reported that the Honuakaha Smallpox Cemetery (near South Street and Quinn Lane in Kakaʻako) has more than 1,000 burials from the 1853-1854 smallpox epidemic.

This is near the present Honolulu Fire Department Headquarters stands, adjoining the former Kakaʻako Fire Station. (Some suggest, because of this, the Kakaʻako firehouse is haunted.)

Because of the smallpox epidemics a Small-Pox Hospital opened. Likewise, over the years a small island in the reef across from Downtown Honolulu was used as a quarantine site.

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‘View_of_Smallpox_Hospital’,_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Paul_Emmert,_c._1853-59

Honolulu_Harbor-Reef_Titles-Reg1471 (1885)-Note_’Quarantine_Island’-(present_day_Sand_Island)

Smallpox

Kakaako Fire Station, Hook & Ladder Building, 620 South Street, Honolulu-LOC-218878pv

Kakaako Fire Station, Hook & Ladder Building, 620 South Street, Honolulu

Hawaii_Small_Pox-tally

Hawaiian officials documented statistics of the smallpox epidemic, O‘ahu, 1854

June 13, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Lāhainā Lighthouse

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 when two New England ships became the first whaling ships to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands.

The whaling industry was the mainstay of the island economy for about 40 years. For Hawaiian ports, the whaling fleet was the crux of the economy. More than 100 ships stopped in Hawaiian ports in 1824.

Whalers needed food and the islands supplied this need from its fertile lands. There was a demand for fresh fruit, cattle, white potatoes and sugar. Hawaiians began growing a wider variety of crops to supply the ships.

In the record year of 1846, 736 whaling ships arrived in Hawai‘i. Lāhainā was the port of choice for whale ships.

To aid the ships in reaching the port, in 1840, King Kamehameha III ordered a wooden tower built as an aid to navigation for the whaling ships. It was equipped with whale-oil lamps kept burning at night.

It was built on a section of waterfront known as Keawaiki which means literally, “the small passage,” referring to a narrow break through a coral reef leading to protected anchorage.

This structure was the first lighted navigational aid in the Hawaiian Islands and is older than any lighthouse on the US Pacific Coast.

Later, a light was installed on top of the Union Hotel, which helped the mariners until 1856 when the government installed two powerful locomotive lamps by the Custom House.

Repairs and improvements continued to be made to the lighthouse with a new one being built and put in operation on November 8, 1866.

The new design was a store-house building with a light tower built on top, which contained the light room and a sleeping room for the keeper. The new lamps burned kerosene oil, instead of whale oil.

In 1905 a new wooden, pyramidal, skeleton tower fifty-five feet tall which raised the focal plane of light to sixty feet above high water and had an enclosed workroom near the top, just below the lens platform. The lens had red and white sectors. As long as a mariner remained in the white sector, a safe approach to the port could be made.

In 1917, the wooden tower was replaced by the present thirty-nine foot, pyramidal, concrete tower. A metal ladder leads up one side of the tower to the platform from which a fixed red light is shown. The durability and ease of maintaining such concrete towers led to their wide deployment throughout the islands.

In 1996 the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation signed a 30-year lease agreement with the Coast Guard and assumed responsibility for maintenance of the site.

A metal plaque placed at the tower in 1984 by the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation, the caretakers for the lighthouse, gives a brief history of the towers built at the site, which was originally home to the “oldest Pacific lighthouse.”

The plaque reads: “Oldest Pacific Lighthouse – On this site in 1840, King Kamehameha III ordered a nine-foot wooden tower built as an aid to navigation for the whaling ships anchored off Lāhainā. It was equipped with whale-oil lamps kept burning at night by a Hawaiian caretaker who was paid $20 per year.”

“The tower was increased to 26 feet in 1866, rebuilt in 1950, and the present concrete structure was dedicated by the Coast Guard in 1916. Thus, this light was the first in the Hawaiian Islands and pre-dates any lighthouse on the US Pacific Coast.”

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Lahaina-Harbor-Light-1866 lighthouse on the left and new 1905 skeleton tower (lighthouseguy-com)

Lahaina_Light-Station._View_Looking_NE_along_dock._Site_of_proposed_new_light-station_buildings-1905

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Lahaina as seen from Lahainaluna (EngravedAtLahainaluna)

Village of Lahaina Whaleships at Anchor (hawaiianhistoricalprints-com)-1848

June 12, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Queen’s Hospital

The Queen’s Hospital (now called The Queen’s Medical Center) was founded in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV.

In King Kamehameha IV’s initial speech to the legislature in 1854, the King voiced his desire to create a hospital for the people of Hawaiʻi.

At that time, the continued existence of the Hawaiian race was seriously threatened by the influx of disease brought to the islands by foreign visitors.

Queen Emma enthusiastically supported the dream of a hospital, and the two campaigned tirelessly to make it a reality. They personally went door-to-door soliciting the necessary funding.

Through six generations, The Queen’s Medical Center has become a major provider of health care to the people of our State and a part of the cultural fabric of Hawaiʻi.

The Queen’s Medical Center, located in downtown Honolulu, is largest private hospital in Hawaiʻi, licensed to operate with 505 acute care beds and 28 sub-acute beds. The medical center has more than 3,000 employees and over 1,200 physicians on staff.

Its Mission Statement is, “To fulfill the intent of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide in perpetuity quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawaiʻi.”

The first official building of Queen’s Hospital was erected on the same site where Hawaiʻi’s leading medical center stands today. It was a two-story structure made of coral blocks and California redwood that held 124 beds.

This original building stood for more than 60 years and was called “Hale Mai O Ka Wahine Ali‘i,” or “Hospital of the Lady Chief.”

Most of the buildings on the Queen’s campus have been given Hawaiian names to honor Hawaiian Royalty or other prominent citizens in the hospital’s development.

Nalani Wing (a shortened version of Queen Emma’s name, Kaleleonalani) is all that remains of a structure built in 1922, over the spot where the original hospital stood.

The Nalani facade remains today, with its ornate crest emblazoned over the entrance to the main lobby. Still visible are the now-sealed arched windows which originally lined open walkways, welcoming the trade winds and cooling the occupants within.

The Bishop Wing was an 1893 building that was razed in 1989, making way for a new addition to the Queen Emma Tower, which now houses Hawaiʻi’s largest Magnetic Resonance Imager (MRI).

The first Pauahi Wing stood in the same location as the present-day building, which was constructed in 1971. Its name honors Bernice Pauahi Bishop, whose husband, Charles Bishop, donated the wing in memory of his wife.

Maluhia was the location of the first Emergency Department and means “Peace” or “Rest” in Hawaiian. Maluhia was razed in 1998 to make way for the new Emergency Room and Same Day Surgery Center.

Edward Harkness of New York donated more than half the cost of the Harkness building in 1932 for the original School of Nursing, and as a residence for nurses. It remains virtually unchanged in its appearance and is now home to many administrative offices.

Kīna‘u was the name of King Kamehameha IV’s mother. Built in 1945, it has housed a wide variety of patient services and units.

The first open heart surgery in Hawaii was performed in the Kamehameha Wing (constructed in 1954 and named for the co-founder of Queen’s, King Kamehameha IV,) which was considered the most advanced surgical center in the state for over 30 years.

Iolani means “royal hawk” in Hawaiian, and was one of King Kamehameha’s names. The Iolani Wing was completed in 1960. It houses the Pathology department, patient rooms, Emergency department and administrative offices.

The Hawaiʻi Medical Library was established in 1913 and moved to the Queen’s campus in 1916. It has served the medical community for over 83 years.

Kekela was the name of Queen Emma’s mother, and this building, built in 1973, honors her memory. The University of Hawai‘i School of Medicine occupies the upper floors and Queen’s Mental/Behavioral Health Services is on the lower floors.

Naea was the name of Queen Emma’s High Chief father. The building bearing his name is the home of the Radiation Therapy department and its three linear accelerators.

Paahana means “hard working,” and this building, built in 1981, is the site of the hospital’s utility services plant. It supplies the infrastructure services necessary to operate the facility.

Manamana was originally an apartment building; this structure now houses administrative offices and housing units for patients and their families who have traveled to Oahu for treatment.

Named in honor of Queen’s founder, the Queen Emma Tower was constructed in 1985. Its unique design features a triangular shape with an open central core.

Its ten stories are filled with patient care units and services. The top-most floor is occupied by the Maternity Department, where the charm of the birthing suite’s decor won a designation as “the most beautiful hospital room in Honolulu.”

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