General | Page 156 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 27, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiʻi’s Visitor Industry

It is believed that Hawai‘i’s first accommodations for transients were established sometime after 1810, when Don Francisco de Paula Marin “opened his home and table to visitors on a commercial basis …. (in) ‘guest houses’ (for) the ship captains who boarded with him while their vessels were in port.”

In Waikīkī, in 1837, an ad in the Sandwich Island Gazette newspaper extended an invitation to visit the new “Hotel at Waititi” (as Waikīkī was sometimes called) – the exact location of this first hotel was not given, however it remained in business for only a few years.

In the 1870s, another foreign resident, Allen Herbert, turned his home into a family resort. Herbert’s enterprise broadened its appeal by welcoming ladies and children. In 1888, this became Waikīkī’s second hotel – The Park Beach Hotel.

In 1893, the first famous Waikiki hotel opened. George Lycurgus, leased Herbert’s premises, renamed the hotel “Sans Souci” (“without care”) and turned it into an internationally known resort to which visitors like the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson were attracted (the beach, there, is still named for it.)

When Hawaiʻi became a US territory (June 14, 1900,) it was drawing adventuresome cruise ship travelers to the islands. Hotels blossomed, including Waikiki’s oldest surviving hotel, the Moana Hotel, in 1901.

However, the tourists stopped coming – possibly because Honolulu was swept by bubonic plague in 1899 and 1900. There were reports that Los Angeles was anticipating a bumper crop of tourists for the winter of 1902. Competition had already begun.

Over the decades, promotional efforts grew and so did the number of tourists.

In 1917, the Hau Tree was purchased and expanded – the buyers renamed it the Halekulani (“House Befitting Heaven.”) The Royal Hawaiian Hotel opened on February 1, 1927.

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

In 1941, a record year, in which 31,846 visitors arrived, World War II brought an abrupt end to tourism in Hawaiʻi. Three years later, the Chamber of Commerce began bringing it back to life with a Hawaiʻi Travel Bureau (now HVCB.)

An important priority was to get the ocean liner “Lurline” back in the passenger business after her wartime duty. In the spring of 1948, with an enthusiastic welcome by some 150,000 people and an 80 vessel escort, she steamed into Honolulu Harbor to reclaim her title as “glamour girl of the Pacific.”

Also In 1948, American President Lines resumed flying the Pacific and scheduled air service was inaugurated to Hawaiʻi.

1959 brought two significant actions that shaped the present day make-up of Hawai‘i, (1) Statehood and (2) jet-liner service between the mainland US and Honolulu (Pan American Airways Boeing 707.)

These two events helped guide and expand the fledgling visitor industry in the state into the number one industry that it is today.

Tourism exploded. Steadily during the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the millions of tourists added up, and Hawai‘i was learning to cope with the problems of success. The yearly visitor arrivals total peaked at nearly 9.4-million people in 2017.

Tourism is the activity most responsible for Hawaiʻi’s current economic growth and standard of living.

Although many emerging industries – such as technology, film, health & wellness, professional services, specialty products and others – show great promise for the future, Hawaiʻi’s economy will likely depend on the activity generated by visitor activity for years to come.

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) has been adjusting to deal with both the short-term challenges facing Hawai‘i’s tourism industry and the longer-term challenge of achieving a healthy and sustainable industry that provides maximum benefits to Hawai‘i’s community.

I was happy to have served for four years on the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority.

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March 24, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Water Matters

For centuries, Hawaiians recognized the life giving qualities, significance and value of water to their survival. Water is wealth; water is life.

On islands with limited supplies of water, we need to better understand the importance of water in our lives. With greater understanding, we may then give greater respect (and attention and care) to water and recognize its critical link to our quality of life and ultimate existence.

Ground and surface water resources are held in public trust for the benefit of the citizens of the state. The people of Hawai‘i are beneficiaries and have a right to have water protected for their use and/or benefit.

The Hawaii Supreme Court identified water-related public trust purposes: Maintenance of water in their natural state; Domestic water use of the general public, particularly drinking water; and Exercise of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights.

The object of the public trust is not to maximize consumptive use, but, rather, the most equitable reasonable and beneficial allocation of state water resources, with full recognition that resource protection also constitutes “use.”

“Reasonable and beneficial use” means the use of water for economic and efficient utilization for a purpose and in a manner which is both reasonable and consistent with the state and county land use plans and the public interest.

Such uses include: domestic uses, aquacultural uses, irrigation and other agricultural uses, power development, and commercial and industrial uses.

Under the State Constitution (Article XI,) the State has an obligation to protect, control and regulate the use of Hawaii’s water resources for the benefit of its people.

Over 90% of our drinking water statewide comes from ground water resources.

This percentage could change to include more surface water, as Counties make use of surface water ditches formerly run by sugar companies, most whose fields have since been taken out of sugar cultivation.

Virtually all of our fresh water comes through our forests.

Forests absorb the mist, fog and rain, and then release the water into ground water aquifers and surface water streams. Healthy forests protect against erosion and sediment run-off into our streams and ocean.

A healthy forest is critically important to everyone in Hawaii.

We are fortunate that 100-years ago, some forward-thinkers established Hawai‘i’s forest reserve system and set aside forested lands and protected our forested watersheds – thereby protecting the means to recharge our ground water resources.

Interestingly, it was the sugar growers, significant users of Hawai‘i’s water resources, who led the forest reserve protection movement.

Threats to the forests, and ultimately to our fresh water resources, are real and diverse – whether it is miconia (a tree that prevents rain water from soaking into the watershed, resulting in run-off and erosion,) …

… ungulates (such as pigs and goats that disturb the forest floor and lower level shrubs and ferns) or the many other invasive plants and animals that negatively impact the native forest resources.

We are reminded of the importance of respect and responsibility we each share for the environment and our natural and cultural resources – including our responsibility to protect and properly use and manage our water resources.

I was honored to have served for 4½-years as the Chair of the State’s Commission on Water Resource Management overseeing and regulating the State’s water resources.

We are fortunate people living in a very special place. Let’s continue to work together to make Hawaii a great place to live.

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March 23, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

$20,000 as a Guarantee

On July 21, 1838, the French minister of the navy dispatched orders to Captain Cyrille-Pierre-Theodore Laplace, who at the time was already en route to the Pacific on a voyage of circumnavigation. Laplace received these orders, along with supporting documents, at Port Jackson, Australia, in March 1839.

The plight of French Catholics in Hawai‘i being distressingly similar to that of French Catholics in Tahiti, these orders read: “… What the English Methodists are doing in Tahiti, American Calvinist missionaries are doing in the Sandwich Islands.”

“They have incited the king of these islands, or rather those who govern in his name, to actions that apply to all foreigners of the Catholic faith – all designated, intentionally, as ‘Frenchmen.’”

“They found themselves prohibited from practicing their religion, then ignominiously banished from the Island … You will exact, if necessary with all the force that you command, complete reparation for the wrongs that they have committed and you will not leave those shores until you have left an indelible impression.”

In addition to the religious persecution, “Our wines, brandies, fabrics, and luxury goods find ready purchasers in Honolulu as well as in Russian, British, and Mexican settlements; but these articles are imported by American merchants (or replaced by substitutes of American manufacture).”

“French wines and brandies are subject to excessively high duties, on the grounds that bringing them into the Sandwich Islands would be harmful to the morals of the native population. American rum, on the other hand, is brought in – whether legally or illegally, I do not know—and consumed in prodigious quantities.” (Laplace; Birkett)

France, historically a Catholic nation, used its government representatives in Hawaiʻi to protest the mistreatment of Catholic Native Hawaiians. Captain Cyrille-Pierre Théodore Laplace, of the French Navy frigate ‘Artémise’, sailed into Honolulu Harbor in 1839 to convince the Hawaiian leadership to get along with the Catholics – and the French.

Captain Laplace and his fifty-two-gun frigate L’Artemise arrived in the Hawai‘i in July 1839. Laplace was the first Frenchman to visit the Islands with specific instructions from Paris to enter into official diplomatic relations with the Hawaiian government.

“It was my task to end this prohibition so detrimental to our commercial interests. I succeeded in doing so through a convention with the king of the Islands where he agreed that in the future French wines and brandies would be subject to no more than a 6 percent ad valorem duty when imported under the French flag.”

“The American missionaries raged and fumed at me, claiming that I was anti-Christian. They brought down on me all the curses of New and Old World Bible societies, to whom they depicted me as championing drunkenness among their converts …”

“… as if the way in which they were running things allowed these poor people to earn enough to buy Champagne, Bordeaux, or even Cognac brandy. Despite these diatribes, as unjust as they were treacherous, I carried my project to completion.” (Laplace; Birkett)

During the brief conflict, Laplace issued a ‘Manifesto’ “to put an end either by force or by persuasion to the ill-treatment of which the French are the victims at the Sandwich Islands” – Haʻalilio was taken hostage by the French. He was later exchanged for John ʻĪʻi who went on board the L’Artemise.

Item 4 of the Manifesto noted, “That the king of the Sandwich Islands deposit in the hands of the Captain of the l’Artemise the sum of twenty thousand dollars, as a guarantee of his future conduct towards France, which sum the government will restore to him when it shall consider that the accompanying treaty will be faithfully complied with.”

“However harsh the exaction of the $20,000 as a guarantee for the faithful observance by the King and chiefs of the treaty of the 12th July, 1839, the exaction of such pledges, and, even of hostages was a common practice, in remote ages of nations, now the leaders of civilization and the greatest in power.”

“It was the humiliating penalty which strength imposed on doubtful faith, before a higher civilization had rendered it the greatest reproach to a monarch, or the supreme director of a slate, to commit a breach of national faith, or break his word.” (Polynesian, May 12, 1855)

King Kamehameha III feared a French attack on his kingdom and on June 17, 1839 issued the Edict of Toleration (173-years ago today) permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.

The King also donated land where the first permanent Catholic Church would be constructed, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace; the Catholic mission was finally established on May 15, 1840 when the Vicar Apostolic of the Pacific arrived with three other priests – one of whom, Rev. Louis Maigret, had been refused a landing at Honolulu in 1837.

On July 9, 1840, ground was broken for the foundation of the present Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, and schools and churches were erected on other islands to advance the mission.

So, what became of the $20,000? … “The following notice respecting the visit of Rear Admiral Hamelin to these Islands, is taken from the Moniteur of 10th August, 1846:”

“M. le contre Admiral Hamelin, commanding in the Pacific Ocean and on the west coast of America, arrived at the Sandwich Islands in March last, in the frigate Virginie.”

“After being made aware that the treaty of 1839, made by Captain Laplace, had been executed with fidelity, that officer general, by the advice of M. Dudoit, the Consul of Prance, restored, to the Hawaiian Government $20,000, the guarantee of the fulfilment of that treaty.” (Polynesian, May 1, 1847)

“This was effected with all formality, on the 23d of March (1846), the money being delivered in the original cases, No. 1, 2, 3, 4, secured by the seals of the French Royal Navy, and that of the Hawaiian Government, to M. Kekuanaoa, C. Kanaina and Wm. Richards, Esq., as the King’s Commissioners.” (Wyllie; Polynesian, August 22, 1846)

“I saw a couple of handcarts containing several ironbound boxes, and guarded by files of French marines, proceeding up Nuuanu street from the wharf, and on enquiring was told that the boxes contained the twenty thousand dollars …”

“… which was being returned to the Hawaiian Government. The same seals were on the boxes which had been affixed when they were delivered to Captain La Place, seven years before.” (Sheldon)

“The benevolent disposition of the Hawaiian Government towards the Catholics established there, and the protection accorded our missionaries by the authorities of the country, fully justify that measure, which has produced good effect. It has proved the sincerity of the French Government, and we have no doubt, will secure to our compatriots in the Archipelago the protection due to them.”

“Admiral Hamelin and suite visited King Kamehameha, and remitted to him and his Minister a few presents, consisting of firearms, which were received with satisfaction.”

“The King invited Admiral Hamelin and his officers to a dinner, which was followed by a soiree at the Consulate of France. The next morning the King was received on board the frigate where he evidently appreciated the attention shown him by the Admiral.
It is pleasing to know that the transactions in March, 1846, had given satisfaction to the French people in regard to all parties concerned.”

“The protection of the French missionaries has been the award due to their good conduct, and it is their right under the existing laws.”

“The irregularities of 1837 and 1889 have disappeared with the excitements that created them; and the Consul of France may justly boast of having emerged from difficulties unusually great, and gained for himself and compatriots a high measure of popular esteem.” (Polynesian, May 1, 1847)

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L’Artemise,_Arthus_Bertrand

March 20, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hanapepe Salt Ponds

Native Hawaiians used pa‘akai (sea salt or, literally, “to solidify the sea”) to season and preserve food, for religious and ceremonial purposes, and as medicine.

Preserving food like i‘a (fish) and he‘e (octopus) was essential not just for storage on land, but also to provide nourishment during ocean voyages.

In Hawai‘i, sea salt can be collected from rocky shoreline pools, were it occurs as a result of natural solar evaporation. Native Hawaiians also harvested sea salt on a larger scale through the use of man-made shallow clay ponds.

The Hanapepe Salt Pond area has been used since ancient times for the production of salt for food seasoning and preservation.

Every summer, the families of this region gather to build their “pans” to prepare salt for the next year. The earthen pans impart a distinct red hue and flavor to the salt.

Pa‘akai from the Hanapepe Salt Ponds is created by accessing underground saltwater from a deep ancient source through wells and transferring the saltwater to shallow pools called wai kū, then into salt pans that are shaped carefully with clay from the area.

The farms near Hanapepe are one of only two remaining major areas in the Islands where natural sea salt is still harvested; the other spot is on the Big Island at Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau.

But the unique red salt, called ‘alaea salt, is produced only on Kaua‘i.

This type of salt-making is unique and authentic, and harvested traditional Hawaiian sea salt mixed with ‘alaea, a form of red dirt from Wailua, is used for traditional Hawaiian ceremonies to cleanse, purify and bless, as well as healing rituals for medicinal purposes.

It was a crucial commodity for Hawai‘i’s early post-contact economy; visiting ships, especially the whaling ships, needed the salt for food preservation.

Today, the Hanapepe fields operate under that concept of communal stewardship; the salt may be given or traded, but not sold.

The harvest season is in the height of summer, when the waves are calm and rain scarce.

The first task in making salt is to work on maintaining the salt beds, smoothing wet mud over the walls of the beds, filling cracks and reinforcing the structure of these holding beds; this can take up to a week.

The punawai (feed water wells) are cleaned of leaves and debris, so that only the purest sea water enters the rectangular holding tanks called wai kū, literally “water standing.”

The brine is left in the wai kū to evaporate, which can take up to ten days depending on the afternoon rains.

When the water in the wai kū turns frothy white and crystals form on its surface, the harvester gently pours it into the lo‘i.

For several weeks, a rotation of new water, sunshine and evaporation continues until a slushy layer of snow-white salt forms.

The salt is harvested by slowly and carefully raking the large, flat crystalline flakes of salt from the base of the bed, and transferring them to a basket.

The salt is then dipped in buckets of fresh water to rinse off the mud, and remove rocks, chunks of dirt and other debris.

With each immersion into the water, the salt flakes change shape, beginning to resemble large grains of what one would recognize as table salt. The salt is drained and left to dry in the sun for four to six weeks.

Depending on conditions, a family may complete three harvests in a season, yielding as much as 200 pounds of salt. Like wine, time is generous to salt; it mellows and gains character as it ages (older salt is smoother.)

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Salt-DMY

Hanapepe-Salt-Lots-of-Helping-Hands-Protecting-Paakai-Farming

Hanapepe Salt-Ponds-Salt_forming (Protecting Paakai Farming)

March 19, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waikīkī Aquarium

In 1888, the animal-powered tramcar service of Hawaiian Tramways ran track from downtown to Waikīkī. In 1900, the Tramways was taken over by the Honolulu Rapid Transit & Land Co (HRT.) HRT initially operated electrically powered streetcars on tracks through Honolulu streets. Power came from overhead wires.

Its “land” component included investments into the construction and operation of the Honolulu Aquarium (now the Waikīkī Aquarium), a popular attraction at the end of the Waikiki streetcar line.

“The company’s service extends to Waikiki beach, the famous and popular resort of the Hawaiian and tourist, and where the aquarium, the property of the company, is one of the great objects of attraction.”

“Kapiolani Park, the Bishop Museum, the Kahauki Military Post, the Royal Mausoleum, Oahu College and the Manoa and Nuuanu valleys are reached by the lines of this company.” (Overland Monthly, 1909)

The beginnings of aquarium history can be traced back to the 1820s. Through the mid-1800s aquariums displayed rarely exceeded ten gallons, a size used often today in homes and offices. In the United States, the first public aquarium opened in Boston in 1859.

The Waikīkī Aquarium opened on March 19, 1904; it is the third oldest aquarium in the United States. Its adjacent neighbor on Waikīkī Beach is the Natatorium War Memorial.

Then known as the Honolulu Aquarium, it was established as a commercial venture by the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company, who wished to “show the world the riches of Hawaii’s reefs”.

The Aquarium opened with 35 tanks and 400 marine organisms, and during its first year, the internationally renowned biologist David Starr Jordan proclaimed it as having the finest collection of fishes in the world.

Considered state-of-the-art at that time, the Aquarium also received positive comments from such notable visitors of that era as William Jennings Bryan and Jack London. (Waikiki Aquarium)

For its first 15 years the aquarium operated as a privately financed institution, with display animals collected by local fishermen.

It was also a practical objective of using the Aquarium as a means of enticing passengers to ride to the end of the new trolley line in Kapi‘olani Park, where the Aquarium was located. (The trolley terminus was across Kalākaua Avenue from the Aquarium, near the current tennis courts.)

Many in the community hoped that the Honolulu Aquarium would help develop a flagging tourism industry with the Aquarium serving as a “point of interest.”

Author Jack London called it a “wonderful orgy of color and form” from which he had to tear himself away after each visit.

When the property lease expired in 1919, the Cooke Estate ceded the Aquarium’s property lease to the Territory of Hawai‘i, and the newly formed University of Hawai‘i assumed administration of the Aquarium and the laboratory.

During these early years (1919 – 1973) admissions to the Aquarium were deposited to the State General Fund and did not return to the Aquarium for upkeep.

It was renamed the Waikīkī Aquarium following its reconstruction in 1955.

Compounding the financial and maintenance difficulties was the moving of the research function of the Aquarium to two new University institutions: the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) at Coconut Island in Kāne‘ohe Bay, and the Pacific Biomedical Research Center.

In 1975, when Dr. Leighton Taylor was appointed the third Director many positive changes came to the Aquarium and is credited for saving the aquarium from closing.

The logo, Education Department, Volunteer Program, library, research facility, gift shop, Friends of the Waikīkī Aquarium support organization and the first Exhibits Master Plan (1978) all came into being during his tenure.

By accepting donations, memberships and grants, the Aquarium was able to fund increased services and to renovate exhibits.

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