General | Page 153 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Money to Burn

“After the Pearl Harbor bombing, people in Hawai’i hoarded money against an emergency such as a possible invasion. Fearing that the Japanese might capture Hawai‘i and find all this money, the U.S. government on Jan. 2, 1942, made it illegal for individuals to own more than $200 in cash. Businesses could own $500.”

“Everybody was supposed to turn in their cash and securities. Patriotically, they did so – $200 million worth.” (Krauss)

“From the time of the Blitz, everyone realized the possibility of the return of the (Japanese) and naturally gave consideration to the safety of their money.”

“Those who had bank deposits began to worry about the security of their deposits and as a result many withdrew their savings and secreted them in various places considered safe.”

“This worried the banks, but a more serious problem was occasioned by the cashing of drafts by Navy ships for paying the crews in cash and for other purposes and depositing drafts to cover the withdrawals.”

“The money received by the ships, which was used to pay the sailors, was all too quickly spent in Hawaii, but the receivers of that money carefully withdrew a considerable portion of it from circulation and secreted in places best known to themselves. The result was that the banks were gradually running out of cash.”

“During the first week in January 1942 a group of bankers called on me to assist them in getting the Army and Navy to fly in money from the Mainland for them. They had plenty of credit, but their actual cash had shrunk to an alarming state.”

“I had a great deal of sympathy for the bankers, but their plan had two very serious objections.”

“First, neither the Military Governor nor anyone else in the military service had a right to place the Government in the position of insuring private money.”

“Second, the admirals and the generals were using every available airplane for military purposes and both were pleading for more.”

“Both of these reasons forbade the use of military aircraft for the purpose, but it was clear that some remedial action had to be taken and promptly, since the situation was worsening rapidly.”

“The bankers informed me that there was plenty of cash in the Territory but that it was not in their banks. I agreed to think the matter over and late that night I came up with a plan which was a little frightening to me but it would work.”

“When I informed the bankers of it the next day it not only frightened them but astonished them as well.”

“The Military Governor would issue an order prohibiting the withdrawal of more than $200 per month from a bank and forbidding the possession of more than $200 in cash.”

“Exceptions to the order included the Federal Government, the Territorial Government, banks, trust companies, finance companies, building and loan associations, etc.”

“There was also a catch-all provision which permitted anyone to be exempted from the provisions of the order upon a showing of the necessity therefor.”

“The bankers agreed that it might solve their problem, and I became more convinced than ever that some means must be found for substituting some form of legal tender for our present paper money.”

“The so-called ‘money order’ was issued as General Orders #51 and dated January 9, 1942. The effective date of the order was January 12th, three days after the issuance of it.”

“The new bills were similar to the ordinary bank note except that the seals and the numbers were printed in brown ink instead of green and the bills bore the word ‘Hawaii’ overprinted in black on both sides. It was explained to me that the printing of red money would require prohibitive changes in normal Treasury practice and processes.”

“As the old bills came into banks they were exchanged for new bills and then bundled up and destroyed”. (Maj Gen Thomas H Green)

“At first, the money was incinerated at the O‘ahu Cemetery crematorium, in Nu‘uanu Valley. However, it was soon discovered that the facility couldn’t handle the large quantity of bills, it was decided to burn the bills in the ‘Aiea Sugar mill.” (Numismatist)

“All of this was done with the full cooperation of Governor Poindexter and was under careful scrutiny by a committee composed of a local banker, a Treasury representative, and a junior Army officer.”

“Applications for the last-named post were numerous and it was not until I learned of the practice of lighting cigarettes from bills of large denominations that I understood the desirability of such duty.”

“This ritual was enjoyed, especially by young officers who had little prospect of handling, much less burning, bills of large denominations.”

“The objective of the plan was now complete. It placed the Treasury in the position of being able to declare our overprinted Hawaiian money not legal tender in the event that the (Japanese) were able to take the Hawaiian Islands.”

“The plan worked so well in Hawaii that the use of scrip was adopted all-over the world wherever our troops served. While the need for ‘Emmons Money’ ceased with the termination of hostilities with Japan, the money is still in use and I have personally received some of the bills in change in various parts of the United States. (Maj Gen Thomas H Green)

“By October of 1944, the U.S. no longer felt the threat from Japan, and they took the emergency bills out of circulation, allowing normal currency to re-enter Hawaii. The treasury took some of the overprint bills out of circulation and pushed some of them to other islands in the Pacific.” (Numismatist)

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Oahu-cemetery-crematorium&chapel

C. Brewer’s Honolulu plantation mill (1898-1946) located at ‘Aiea, O’ahu, ca. 1902

US-$1-SC-1935-A-Fr.2300

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January 10, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

John Emil Van Lil

“In September, 1865, the spit of land on the northern or windward side of the island of Molokai was chosen as a suitable site for the establishment of a settlement for the segregation of lepers.”

“The site is probably one of the most suitable and isolated that could have been chosen for such a purpose. It is surrounded on the north, east, and west by the sea, and the base or southern side is placed beneath a steep pali or precipice from 1,800 to 2,000 feet high, which discourages communication with the rest of the island.”

“The first settlement was at Kalawao, on the eastern side of the spit of land. It lies close to the mountains at the rear and is much exposed to the northeast trade winds.”

“Kalaupapa, the more recent and larger settlement, is situated on the plain to the westward, is further removed from the steep cliffs, and is somewhat protected from northeast winds by the crater of Kahukoo.”

“When the board of health first opened the settlement, and for many years afterwards, much difficulty was experienced from the presence of persons who owned parcels of land in this tract and who were called Kamainas or old settlers. They were not subject to the laws governing lepers, and were free to come and go from the settlement at will.”

“The Hawaiian government has secured the property owned by those Kamainas, and they have been removed from the settlement. Molokai is probably the most complete settlement of its kind in the world.”

“It has hospitals, churches, homes for leprous children, male and female, stores, market dispensaries, cottages for leper residents, jail, storehouses, etc. The majority of the lepers live in cottages built by themselves or by the government, and in the settlement there is a total of all buildings of 716.” (Carmichael, Leprosy in the US, December 30, 1898)

“At a distance Kalaupapa looks like a prosperous little town, and in anticipation of the visit of the board of health a large number of the habitants had gathered at the landing place, some on foot and many mounted on horses.”

“Some difficulty was experienced in landing, which was done by open boat, there being no docks or wharves, as there was a strong northerly swell and the surf was somewhat dangerous. In the hands of natives skilled in surfboating this was soon accomplished without accident, and the entire party landed.”

“Here were seen the different churches, Protestant, Catholic, and Mormon, including that built by Father Damien, and the grave of this leper martyr by the church side. The Baldwin Home for leprous boys was then visited, and the hospitals and cottages for the accommodation of lepers in various stages of the disease.” (Carmichael, Public Health Reports, December 30, 1898)

American Protestant missionary H Harvey Hitchcock held a three-day meeting at Kala‘e, on the cliffs above Kalaupapa, in 1838, which was attended by many from the peninsula and the northern valleys. (An out-station of the Kalua‘aha mission was established there around 1840.) In 1839 a Hawai’ian missionary teacher named Kanakaokai was stationed on the peninsula.

Siloama Protestant Church was the first church to be erected at Kalawao Settlement at Kalaupapa, it was originally constructed and dedicated on October 28, 1871 by the Protestant Congregational Church.

Kana‘ana Hou Church (New Canaan church) was a branch of Siloama’s church; it was built in Kalaupapa in 1878 and enlarged in 1890. In 1881, the congregations of Kalawao and Kalaupapa united as Kanaana Hou. Siloama Church was rebuilt in the 1960s.

Belgium-born Joseph De Veuster arrived in Honolulu on March 19, 1864. There he was ordained a Catholic Priest in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on May 31 and took the name of Damien.

Another Belgian, John Emil Van Lil, son of John Francis Van Lil and Marie Teresa, came to the peninsula near the turn of the century. He was a lay Catholic brother assisted at the Baldwin Home.

He later was in “charge of all (animal) stock. Mr. Van Lil is a practical farmer, and enthusiastic in his work and I feel that our dairy and farm matters are in good hands.” (Report of the Superintendent of the Leper Settlement, BOH Annual Report, 1903)

“(A) hog ranch (had previously been started) with one boar and ten sows. We have now over one hundred pigs. but through lack of food am unable to go ahead as fast as we might. As the pork is to be issued to the people in lieu of beef, I do not believe it would be a paying proposition to purchase food from the outside.”

“We have cleared about six acres of land in one of the sheltered valleys and planted four thousand papaia trees; about 50 per cent. of which are coming along nicely.”

“We have also planted about two acres in pumpkins which are also doing well. As papaias and pumpkins make good hog feed combined with the cooked offal from the slaughter house. it is only a question of time until we will have sufficient food for all the hogs we can raise.” (Report of the Superintendent of the Leper Settlement, BOH Annual Report, 1903)

“The general health conditions of the Settlement have been excellent … and I here with wish to express my appreciation to Superintendent McVeigh for his foresight in establishing and maintaining this dairy …”

“… as well as to Mr. Emil Van Lil for his able management of the same; not one of the numerous daily milk orders issued having been dishonored, although some 56 gallons of milk are requisitioned daily.” (Board of Health Annual Report, 1906)

A patient from Lahaina, Elizabeth Kaehukai (Baker) Napoleon, had “married Walter U(w)aia Napoleon on April 26, 1890 and they had 12 children together. Seventeen years later, she and Uaia divorced on Dec. 27, 1907.”

“The divorce decree states, ‘On 11 Nov. 1907, Uaia, without just cause or provocation, turned Elizabeth out of his house, and refused to allow her to re-enter their house. Uaia utterly failed, neglected and refused to provide Elizabeth lodging, clothing, food and other necessities. Uaia also refused to allow their children to see or talk with her.’”

“It is likely that Uaia suspected Elizabeth had early signs of leprosy and this is why he kicked her out of the house. By court order, Elizabeth was allowed visits with her children on Saturdays and Monday from 9 am to 7 pm. On Sept. 22, 1911, she was taken in for suspicion of leprosy. She was sent to Kalaupapa on April 9, 1912.” (NPS)

There, she met and married (October 12, 1914) Van Lil at Kalawao. “Six months later, Van Lil was examined on April 10, 1915 and found to have leprosy. He was 59 years old.” (NPS)

“The huge Belgian dairyman, good Van Lil, of old memory, now a patient, had married another, and the pair lived happily in a vine-hidden cottage near Kalawao, making the most of their remaining time on earth.”

“Beyond a fleeting embarrassment in his vague blue eye, he met us on the Damien Road with the undimmed buoyancy of other years, and our eyes could see no blemish on his face. Probably we were more affected than he, for in the main the victim of leprosy is as optimistic as he of the White Plague.”

“And Emil Van Lil was not the only one whom we saw who had perforce changed his status toward society in the intervening eight years. The little mail-carrier who had led us up out of the Settlement, we found in the Bay View Home, cheerful as of yore, although far gone with the malefic blight.”

“And, auwe! some of the men and women we had known here before as extreme cases still lingered, sightless perhaps, but trying to smile with what was left of their contorted visages, in recognition of our voices.”

“Others, whose closing throats had smothered them, breathed through silver tubes in their windpipes. Strange is this will to persist tenacity of life!” (Charmian London )wife of Jack London), 1917)

“Van Lil died four years after Elizabeth on May 2, 1925. He does not have a marked grave.” (NPS)

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John Emil Van Lil

Kalaupapa Molokai-Bertram

Kalaupapa Dairy-Van Lil in white-NPS

Kalaupapa Dairy-Van Lil center-NPS

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Kalaupapa, Molokai-Bertram

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St. Philomena’s Church-Bertram

St. Philomena Church-Bertram

January 9, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Emmons Money

“Delos Carleton Emmons was born on January 17, 1888, in Huntington, West Virginia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in June 1909 and was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry. He later transferred to aviation and rose through the ranks, becoming a major general in 1939.”

“He was soon promoted to lieutenant general and became chief of the Air Force Combat Command in June 1941. He replaced Major General Walter C. Short as commanding general of the Hawaiian Department on December 17, ten days after the Pearl Harbor attack.”

“Emmons oversaw the implementation of martial law in Hawai‘i and is credited with preventing the mass exclusion of Japanese in the Islands. He also promoted the entry of the Nisei into the military with the formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion and eventually encouraged the end of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans on the mainland.” (Nakamura)

“Martial law involved the outright suspension of constitutional liberties as civilian courts were declared closed. Additionally, all government functions—federal, territorial, and municipal—were placed under army control, and a military regime was established. “

“As the commanding general, Emmons held the title of the ‘Military Governor’ of Hawai‘i and controlled the entire civilian population with absolute discretionary powers.”

“According to some ‘Emmons played a key role in the fate of Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i’ by challenging allegations of sabotage made by Navy Secretary Frank Knox. Emmons is thus credited with preventing plans for the mass forced removal of Japanese from the Islands citing logistical problems, cost, and labor shortages.”

“However, in lieu of mass removal, the army and the FBI quickly rounded up aliens and other suspicious persons in the Japanese community who had been investigated earlier for being disloyal or dangerous during a war. Of the 1,569 persons eventually detained on suspicion of disloyalty, 1,444 were of Japanese descent.”

“Emmons also played a key role in the formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion and supported the entry of Nisei into the military who were partly responding to ‘extreme insecurity’ in wartime Hawai‘i.”

“During the period of military rule in Hawai‘i that lasted until late October 1944, some 181 general orders were issued under the names of the commanding general Emmons and Lt. Col. Thomas H. Green, the latter having been given the title of ‘Executive, Office of the Military Governor.’” (Nakamura)

“The so-called ‘money order’ was issued as General Orders #51 and dated January 9, 1942. The effective date of the order was January 12th, three days after the issuance of it.”

“Before the effective date of the order, more than one and one-half million dollars had been deposited in the banks and on each of the following days there were queues of people waiting to deposit their money in the banks.”

“Suddenly, the banks found themselves with more than twenty million dollars on deposit. Some of the money deposited was in the form of gold certificates long outmoded by the Treasury, and much of the money was moist and even wet, indicating that it had recently been excavated.”

“The public response to General Orders # 51 was instantaneous. Perhaps some of it was motivated by fear of punishment because the penalties prescribed were severe. However, I think the major factor in this, as well as in all other undertakings, was that the public trusted the integrity and intelligence of the Military Governor.”

“The problem of keeping the banks supplied with money having been solved for the moment, there still remained the greater problem of substituting something for that money. I was obsessed with the idea that something further must be done in the interest of security.”

“I finally came up with the idea of exchanging United States currency for some other form of legal tender which, in the event of invasion, could be outlawed as legal tender and therefore defeat its use by an invader.”

“I appreciated that any such plan would have to be approved by the United States Treasury. I began discussing the idea with my staff and decided upon a substitute paper money which would be red in color instead of green.”

“I began calling it ‘Emmons Money.’”

“I took up the matter with General Emmons who scoffed at the idea of calling the substitute money ‘Emmons Money’ but he told me to go ahead.”

“Early in March 1942, a Treasury detail came to Hawaii from Washington to close the deal with us whereby regular currency would be exchanged for specially printed paper money. The agreement was consummated and some twenty million dollars on regular currency was exchanged for the special issue money.”

“When the new money arrived I was disappointed as I hoped that it would be red in color and have ‘Emmons’ written all over it.”

“The new bills worked out well, in fact there was an immediate demand for the new currency and the transfer from the old to the new was made without incident.”

“The plan worked so well in Hawaii that the use of scrip was adopted all-over the world wherever our troops served. While the need for ‘Emmons money’ ceased with the termination of hostilities with Japan, the money is still in use and I have personally received some of the bills in change in various parts of the United States.”

“I obtained the first four one dollar bills of this Emmons money to be issued in Hawaii by exchanging for it four one dollar bills of regular currency.”

“At my request, General Emmons endorsed his name on all four bills and I did likewise. I then sent all four bills to Admiral Nimitz with the request that he endorse his name on all four bills, retain one for his scrap book and return the other three to me.”

“In my letter of transmittal, I explained that I intended to give General Emmons one of the bills for his scrap book, retain one for myself, and send the fourth to The Adjutant General of the Army for historical purposes, because, to my knowledge, it was the first time such a money transaction had been accomplished.”

“With his reply, dated July 29, 1942, Admiral Nimitz returned all four of the bills, duly endorsed, and stating that he was not including American currency in his scrap book and added, ‘No doubt you will have constructive use for the one allocated to me.’”

“At the bottom of the letter was a pen-written postscript which typifies the keen sense of humor possessed by that great commander. It read, ‘I have a particular yen for Japanese yen taken from captured or destroyed planes – and if you get a collection of that kind of currency please don’t forget me. CWN.’” (Maj Gen Thomas H Green)

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US-$1-SC-1935-A-Fr.2300

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US-$10-FRN-1934-A-Fr.2303

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Oahu-cemetery-crematorium&chapel

C. Brewer’s Honolulu plantation mill (1898-1946) located at ‘Aiea, O’ahu, ca. 1902

January 8, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Apili

“The valley of Kalihi succeeds to that of Anuana (Nu‘uanu), but is less bold and diversified in its scenery. Human dwellings and cultivated lands are here very few, or scattered thinly over a great extent of, probably, the finest soil in the world.”

“The commencement of the valley is a broad pasture-plain 0 the tall grass waving on every side, and intersected by a footpath, reminding one forcibly of the rural scenes which precede the hay-harvest in England.”

“Kalihi has a pass to the vale of Kolau similar to the pari of Anuana, though more precipitous, and only employed by a few of the islanders who convey fish from Kolau to Honoruru.” (Bennett)

“Kalihi had a shallow seaside area, now the shore of Kalihi Basin, that was, like that of Moanalua, ideal for the building of fishponds …. On the flatlands below the valley there were extensive terraces on both sides of the stream, while along the stream in the lower valley there were numerous areas with small terraces.”

“The interior valley was rough and narrow and not suitable for lo‘i but it would have been good for sweet potatoes, yams, wauke, and bananas, which probably were planted there.” (Handy)

Numerous taro pondfields, or lo‘i, were claimed during the Māhele, particularly along the Kalihi and Niuhelewai Streams, which served as the eastern and western boundaries of Kalihi. However, on the flat of Kaluapuhi where Kalihi Kai meets the ocean, there is no indication of taro lo‘i or fresh water sources. (Cultural Surveys)

There were five fishponds in Kalihi Kai, Ananoho, Auiki, Pāhouiki, Pāhounui and Apili. Apili pond was about 28-acres, with the wall surrounding it about 1,500-feet long.

Apili (“caught, snared, or stuck”) was noted for its awa (milkfish), a fish “which vied with the ‘ama‘ama (mullet) in popularity”. “The fishpond is yet famous for the superior flavor of its fish, particularly the awa, which, eaten raw, is esteemed a rare treat by native epicures.” (Cultural Surveys) (It was near what is now Sand Island Access Road and Hoonee Place.)

In 1828, Queen Kaʻahumanu gave Captain Alexander Adams over 290-acres of land in Kalihi Valley in connection with and in gratitude for his services. The area was called Apili, and included the pond.

Adams was born December 27, 1780; he left Scotland in 1792 to begin a life of working on the sea. This eventually led him to Hawaiʻi, where he arrived in 1811 on the American trading ship the ‘Albatross’ from Boston.

He became an intimate friend and confidential advisor to King Kamehameha I, who entrusted to him the command of the king’s sandalwood fleet. He became the first regular pilot for the port of Honolulu, a position he held for 30-years.

Adams is credited with helping to design the Hawaiian flag – a new flag for Hawaiʻi was needed to avoid confusion by American vessels (prior to that time, Hawaiian vessels flew the British Union Jack.)

After 30 years of piloting, Adams retired in 1853, grew fruit on his land in Kalihi Valley, and was great host to visitors. He also had a home on what was named Adams Lane (in 1850,) a small lane in downtown Honolulu off of Hotel Street named after him (near the Hawaiian Telephone company building.)

Adams married three times, his first was to Sarah “Sally” Davis, daughter of Isaac Davis; two of his wives were the Harbottle sisters (Sarah Harbottle and Charlotte Harbottle,) who were reared by Queen Kaʻahumanu and were favorites at court. According to his personal account, he was the father of 15 children, eight of whom were by his third wife.

The estate in Niu Valley was held by his granddaughter Mary Lucas, who started subdividing it in the 1950s. The area created by the filling of Kupapa Fishpond is now the site of numerous oceanfront homes.

Old Niu Fishpond (Kupapa Fishpond) is part of a tract of 2,446 acres that was once a summer home of Kamehameha I and which later claimed by Alexander Adams under Claim No. 802 filed Feb. 14, 1848, with the land commission at the time of the Great Māhele.

“A favorite place of resort for old residents in those days was Captain Alexander Adams’ residence at Kalihi. Adams was the pioneer par excellence of foreigners then living in the country”.

“Adams had a few acres of land enclosed at the mouth of the Kalihi stream, some three miles from town, where he cultivated grapes, bananas, pine-apples and a variety of vegetables.”

“Here, on holidays (and every Sunday) were wont to gather a number of Adams’ acquaintances, mostly Scotchmen like himself, ‘trusty, drouthy cronies,’ such as Andrew Auld, Jock Russell, James Mahoney, and others.”

“These used regularly to walk out to Adams’ in the cold of the morning and take dinner with him, one of the standing dishes being a soup the principal ingredient of which was ‘Scotch Kail,’ grown by himself.”

“The afternoon was spent under the shade of a large mango tree, one of the first planted on the Islands, where the chairs surrounded a big table covered with bottles and glasses.”

“Here old Adams as mine host was in his glory, and spun yarns and fought his battles o’er – he was with Nelson at Trafalgar – and told what he had said to ‘old Tammy’ (Kamehameha I) and what ‘Tammy’ said to him …”

“… anecdotes of John Young, and of Kaahumanu – who, before her conversion to Christianity must have been a veritable barbarisa – then back again to boyhood’s recollections in ‘Auld Scotia.’”

“The old man’s memory was excellent – like most Scotchmen he was pretty well read – and with a good listener he became eloquent, and had just enough of the old burr in his accent to be interesting.”

“The attentive listeners were generally the new comers, for as to the old hands, who had become familiar with Adams’ stories, they improved the time by getting more or less ‘foul.’” (Sheldon)

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Loko Apili-1897 Map over Google Earth

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January 7, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

113,000,000 Sheets of Paper

“Without the printing press, the written Hawaiian language, and a learned people of that time, we would know little about the past.” (Muench)

“The first printing press at the Hawaiian Islands was imported by the American missionaries, and landed from the brig Thaddeus in April, 1820. In style, it was not unlike the first used by Benjamin Franklin.”

“It was set up in a thatched house standing not very far from the old frame Mission house that now stands on King street opposite the Kawaiahaʻo Seminary (where the Mission Memorial Building is today.)” (Parker; The Friend)

“On the 7th of January, 1822, a year and eight months from the time of our receiving the governmental permission to enter the field and teach the people, we commenced printing the language in order to give them letters, libraries, and the living oracles in their own tongue, that the nation might read and understand the wonderful works of God.”

“The opening to them of this source of light never known to their ancestors remote or near, occurred while many thousands of the friends of the heathen were on the monthly concert, unitedly praying that the Gospel might have free course and he glorified.” (Bingham)

Standing beside a printing press and observed by an American printer, shipmasters, missionaries, and traders, Chief Ke‘eaumoku put his hand on the press lever, exerted pressure, and printed wet black syllables in Hawaiian and English. (HHS)

At this inauguration there were present his Excellency Governor (Ke‘eaumoku (Gov. Cox,)) a chief of the first rank, with his retinue; some other chiefs and natives; Rev. Hiram Bingham, missionary; Mr. Loomis, printer, (who had just completed setting it up); James Hunnewell; Captain William Henry and Captain Masters (Americans.) (Ballou)

“Edmund Butler … a resident of Maui … also took an interest in this novel scene, while one of the highest chiefs of these islands aided in commencing the printing of his native tongue.” (Gulick)

Mr. Loomis set up the first lesson of a spelling book, or primer, called ‘P-a-pa.’ … It is a sheet four by six inches, having twelve lines, each line having five separate syllables of two letters.”

“This certainly was the first printing done at the Hawaiian Islands, probably the first on the shores of the North Pacific Ocean. A month later Mr. Bingham received a letter from Governor Kuakini (John Adams) of Hawai‘i, who had succeeded in mastering the contents of the first printed sheet.” (Parker: The Friend)

“We are happy to announce to you that, on the first Monday of January (1822), we commenced printing, and, with great satisfaction, have put the first eight pages of the Owhyhee spellingbook into the hands of our pupils”.

Native Hawaiians immediately perceived the importance of “palapala” – document, to write or send a message. “Makai” – “good” – exclaimed Chief Ke‘eaumoku, to thus begin the torrent of print communications that we have today. (HHS)

Thereafter, printing on the first press, a second-hand Ramage, went on continuously for six years, until in 1828 an additional press was sent from Boston. The original press was acquired by the missionary school at Lahainaluna on Maui in 1834.

The presses of the Sandwich Islands Mission in Honolulu and Lahainaluna were the major printers of books in Hawaiian in the Islands until 1858, when the work of printing for the Mission was handed over on a business basis to Henry M. Whitney, a missionary son.

He continued to handle the Hawaiian language books for the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, which had superseded the Sandwich Islands Mission in 1854.

The Bible was translated from the original Greek and Hebrew by the combined efforts of Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston of the Pioneer Company, Artemas Bishop and James Ely of the Second Company, William Richards, Lorrin Andrews, Jonathan Green, and Ephraim Clark of the Third Company, and Sheldon Dibble of the Fourth Company.

Although the work was begun in 1822, the first segment of the Bible, the Gospel of Luke, did not come off the press until 1827. The rest of the New Testament was completed by 1832 and the Old Testament in 1839 (although the date given on the title page is 1838).

“By far the larger part of the great mass of printed matter issued here in the fifty years subsequent to the arrival of Christian teachers was in the form of religious works and school books.”

“Aside from the Scriptures there have been published works on theology, in its different branches, church history, Bible text books and commentaries on the Bible, or parts of it.”

“Much time and labor, too, on the temperance question, with its many phases, and on other social topics, have gone into the printed page, which has found its way among the people with beneficial results to those who had the disposition to read and reflect.”

“Sermons and tracts by the thousands were published and had no lack of readers. Pilgrim’s Progress went into print in the native language among the first of the translated books.”

“Later, works of a secular nature began to issue from the native press and became popular. The stories of Washington, Lincoln. Grant, of Victoria, Napoleon, Xapier and others of the world’s distinguished men and women have been read by the Hawaiian in his native tongue.”

“The ‘Pioneer Boy,’ a story of Lincoln, was translated and published in book form for Hawaiian readers and Robinson Crusoe has also found its readers in the Hawaiian.” (Parker; The Friend)

The mission press printed 10,000-copies of Ka Palapala Hemolele (The Holy Scriptures). It was 2,331-pages long printed front and back.

The mission press also printed newspaper, hymnals, schoolbooks, broadsides, fliers, laws, and proclamations. The mission presses printed over 113,000,000 sheets of paper in 20 years. (Mission Houses)

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