General | Page 199 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 22, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Waimea-Kona Belt Road

It probably started as a foot path, then progressively improved.

The 39-mile roadway was first constructed between 1916 and 1922, and served as the main Kona-Waimea connector for 11-years until it was superseded by construction of the Māmalahoa Highway (now Highway 190) in 1933. (ASM)

Using prison labor, they built the road setting rocks, rolling with a steam roller, and pouring tar heated in a pot. A camp for the prisoners who built the road was located on the down slope side of the Saddle Road intersection, where a grove of eucalyptus trees stands today.

From Pu‘uanahulu south to Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a, the road was built under the direction of Eben Low, by prisoners living at a camp located downslope of the road, at Ke‘enaki, at the 18-mile marker.

Then, the Waimea-Kona road was rebuilt and straightened, in the area down slope from the Ke‘amuku Sheep Station, by contractor Medeiros, leaving the old road to the east. (HDOT)

“The formal opening of the new belt road on the island of Hawaii, July 22, 1933, was an important occasion, attended by the Governor and his party from Honolulu and many excursionists.”

“The proposal has been made that the new road be named ‘Mamalahoe,’ commemorating the famous edict by King Kamehameha I, “the Law of the Splintered Paddle” making Hawaii’s highways safe for the traveler.”

“The earlier Hawaiians traveled along the rough and rocky trails from Kailua to Kawaihae assured of the protection of ‘Mamalahoe Kanawai.’ The old and the young alike were protected by this order of the king, Kamehameha.”

“Later on, the rough road was put through the lava fields and sufficed for a time until the demands of the new era have now been met by the highway dedicated only yesterday.”

“As we journey along this new road, let us think of the just and kind law enunciated by the ‘ali‘i nui.’ Kamehameha, Ka Nui Aupuni.”

“The opening of the Mamalahoe Road yesterday afternoon, named in honor of the beneficent law given by the great King Kamehameha, recalls to us the words of the ancient prophet Isaiah, as uttered in the fortieth chapter of that book, verse 3 – ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

“In a literal sense, what has just been completed in North Kona was to make straight in that desert land, through lava flows and over rough places, a highway for all people who wish to make the journey around the Island of Hawaii or who desire to travel from Waimea to this fair land of Kona.”

“Across that desert-land many travelers have made their weary way, first on horses or in wagons from the more settled portions of North Kona, across the lava flow of 1801 and beyond Puuanahulu to the pastures near Waimea …”

“… and then in later years have journeyed in automobiles, an experience hard on the nerves of the driver and always hard on the tires of the car, making the trip an unwelcome one.”

“All these unpleasant features of travel on this island are now to be relegated to memory’s halls, for today we are now able to motor through the interesting upland country on a well-built highway made straight across the desert.”

“Thanks to the government in its various branches for the thoughtfulness and wisdom and care with which the project was completed, we would render today. The construction of this splendid road brings us in Kona nearer to the rest of the island and makes us feel more neighborly than ever before to others who live on this ‘Hawaii nui o Keawe.’”

“As never before, the charms and delightful spot! of this favorite land will be opened up to the world. For Kona has many “pana”—-many places famed in tradition and history, renowned in song and story.” (The Friend, July 1933)

EE Black, a contractor, built the road from Kailua-Kona to what is now the start of the Saddle Road. He used the first bulldozer in the history of the islands to do so. (Thurston)

This is what is now generally referred to as the ‘upper’ road between Waimea and Kona. The ‘lower’ road, Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway, was built from Kailua to the ‘new’ Kona Airport in 1970 (when the new airport opened.) That road was completed to Kawaihae in 1975.

The improvement of the Waimea-Kona Road also played a role in the revival of outrigger canoe racing; but that is another story.

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Portion of Old Waimea-Kona Road

July 20, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Bishop Bank – Waimea

Charles Reed Bishop was born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York; his father was a toll collector who worked on a toll booth in the middle of the Hudson River. Glens Falls was later known as “Hometown USA,” a title given to it by Look Magazine in 1944.

Shortly after his brother was born (1824,) his mother became ill and died a few weeks later. Her older sister, Lucy, takes the two-year old to Fort Ann, New York to live with her awhile.

He then went to live with his paternal grandfather, Jesse. He didn’t have much schooling, attending Glens Falls Academy for 7th and 8th grades, his only years of formal schooling.

After leaving school, he was a clerk for Nelson J Warren, the largest business in Warrensburgh, New York. He learns bartering, bookkeeping, taking inventory, maintenance and janitorial duties.

At about the age of 20 (in 1842,) the younger worked as a bookkeeper and head clerk for Charles Dewey in the Old Stone Store in Sandy Hill.

He then sailed (February 23, 1846) for the continent’s west coast aboard the ‘Henry,’ however the ship needed extensive repairs and landed at Honolulu Harbor on October 12, 1846.

He became ‘Hawaiʻi’s First Banker’ and formed Bishop & Co Bank in 1858. The Bishop Bank Building at 63 Merchant Street was the earliest of the Italianate (or Renaissance Revival) structures on the street, built in 1878 and designed by Thomas J. Baker (one of the architects of ʻIolani Palace.)

In 1895, Samuel M Damon bought Bishop & Co. from founder Charles Bishop. After the turn of the century the bank started opening neighbor island branches, including the Waimea branch on Kauai in 1911.

The Waimea branch at one time served the entire island of Kauai. As the economy of the island developed, however, additional branches on that and other islands were opened. The Bank incorporated as Bank of Bishop & Co. Ltd in 1919.

(After some mergers, in 1956 it was renamed Bishop National Bank of Hawai‘i; in 1960, First National Bank of Hawai‘i; then, in 1969, First Hawaiian Bank.) (FHB)

“One of the oldest and most reliable banking institutions in the Territory is Bishop’s Bank. With head offices in Honolulu, it has branch banks in Waimea, Kauai, and Hilo, Hawaii, both of which are conducted in the same prompt and highly satisfactory manner.”

“The bank issues Commercial and travelers’ Letters of credit, available to all parts of the world. All business entrusted to this institution or to either of its branch houses, receives prompt attention.” (The Garden Island, April 29, 1913)

On December 29, 1929, construction was completed on the Bishop National Bank of Hawaii’s Waimea Branch. It replaced an earlier structure on the same site which had been built in 1911.

Its eclectic style and solid, imposing appearance is typical of post-World War I banking architecture. It is designed to give an aura of permanence and stability a visual assurance to Waimea’s inhabitants that the bank was ‘here to stay.’ (NPS)

Like many buildings in Waimea, the first floor was constructed three feet off the ground to protect against flooding. This presented an opportunity for the architect to create an important entry porch.

Stairs lead up to the main entry, which is flanked on each side by two classic columns of simple Ionic order supporting an entablature above which a dental cornice with crown mould surrounds the building, topped by a partially balustraded parapet.

Although a small structure, it contributes a sense of permanence and solidity. The exterior has retained most of its original appearance; however, extensive remodeling to the bank interior has altered the appearance from the typical 1920s era banking structure.

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July 18, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Remond Grove

BF (Frank) Dillingham’s OR&L company, created in 1889, changed the landscape of west Honolulu. The first section of track extended only as far as Aiea. (Burlingame)

In the beginning, since there were as yet no real destinations along the line, Dillingham created the concept of picnicking along Pearl Harbor, and within days of the line’s opening began marketing excursions.

These excursions had several purposes: they helped train the employees—from the on-board crews of engineers, firemen, conductors and brakemen to those on the ground like ticket agents and mechanics …

… they also built up an excitement among the public that the railroad was a reality; and most importantly perhaps, they brought in at least some income.

Some excursions included boat rides, others picnics and dancing, where people could be entertained with piano, banjo, trumpet, and saxophone performances. Community groups were encouraged to plan picnics and parties there, the larger the better. (Next Stop)

“A few years ago, when a party of a dozen or more gentlemen made a circuit of Oahu, and inspected the lands proposed to be bonded and made available for the purposes of settlement and public use, they were facetiously called the ‘colonization party’ by the wags of Honolulu, who stood upon the street corners and wished the party a sarcastic good-bye.” (Daily Bulletin, November 27, 1890)

He held a contest that gave to Mānana the new name ‘Pearl City,’ and on its main thoroughfare, Lehua Road, he promoted a dance pavilion named Remond Grove. (de Silva, ksbe)

“The then manager of the development scheme took all jokes good-naturedly. He had faith in the scheme which the public had not. His faith proves now to have been founded in reason; if faith, followed by good works, as exemplified at Pearl City and along the line of the Oahu Railway, are to count for anything.”

“The development of this scheme, the largest individual enterprise ever set afloat in Hawaii, barring Col. Spreckel’s steamship lines and mammoth plantation, has grown so gradually but steadily amongst us that many people as yet hardly realize the sacrifices which have been made …”

“… and the work that has been done by the management of the Oahu Railway and Land enterprises to develop the resources of Oahu, by bringing the large Pearl City tract into quick communication with the Honolulu market …”

“… and making it available to the better classes of Honolulu’s business and professional people, who desire to live in the country within reach of town.” (Daily Bulletin, November 27, 1890)

“The new town lies just beyond Remond Grove. It marks the beginning of a suburban city within twelve and a half miles, or thirty
minutes’ run of Honolulu. The new town is laid out to the best advantage and covers a series of splendid building terraces which arise from the depot to the branch reservoir 100 feet above the sea level and within half a mile of the station.”

“The lots offered for sale are mostly situated upon graded streets and are ready for building upon. The soil is a rich, red loam in which will flourish cither trees, or vegetables, or flowers.”

“The main avenues of Pearl City are Lehua, Maile and Woodlawn, laid not in the order named. The cross streets are numbered from First to Tenth. The avenues are each eighty feet wide and the cross streets are sixty feet each. (Daily Bulletin, November 27, 1890)

The pavilion at Remond Grove has for some time been one of the attractions. It was built for the use of picnickers and dancing parties by the railroad company.

It is seventy feet square, open on all sides, and is lighted by electricity. Surrounding it is a well-kept lawn, with a playing fountain in front, and provided with swings, croquet games, etc.

During an evening fete at the pavilion it is brilliantly lighted, and gorgeously decorated, presenting an animated spectacle. (Next Stop)

To further expand the number of passengers on his train, in 1890, Dillingham carved up the Mānana peninsula to create O‘ahu’s first major housing development.

His railroad ran regular tours to Remond Grove, and according to his advertising, it was “always at the disposal of Pleasure Parties.” (de Silva, ksbe)

The Remond Grove grounds are beautifully laid out with flowers and shrubbery. The large dancing pavilion had a capacity for 1,000 people; it was located in the center of the Grove, both grounds and pavilion being lighted throughout with electricity.

During the Spanish-American War, Army Engineers established Camp Langfitt at Pearl City and was occupied from September 27 to October 19, 1898. It was named after Major William Campbell Langfitt, commanding officer of the battalion of the 2nd Engineers.

The troops camped inside the large dance pavilion. Remond Grove was south of Kamehameha Highway, east of Lehua Avenue and primarily north of the H-1 freeway (at the present Hale Mohalu Site.) (Greguras)

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July 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

When Was Hawai‘i Settled?

Various European explorers, traders, missionaries, and others – from Captain James Cook onwards – speculated about where the ancestors of the Hawaiians and other Polynesians came from, and about when they had made their migrations into and across the Pacific.

But the first to systematically compile a large body of empirical data relevant to these questions, and to lay out a formal argument and theory, was Abraham Fornander, primarily in his classic An Account of the Polynesian Race (1878–1885), but also in a posthumously published summary.

Fornander was not an archaeologist; he did not draw upon the material record of ancient sites or artifacts. Fornander, who became fluent in Hawaiian, regarded the Hawaiian traditions as historical accounts of real individuals.

He also realized that these accounts could be placed into a relative chronology using the genealogies of the chiefly lines which he also collected and analyzed. Fornander estimated Hawaiian settlement at around AD 450. Later, Emory, analyzing linguistics, proposed a date of around AD 1150.

Professional anthropology incorporating archaeology took hold in Polynesia in the early 20th century. Early on, archaeology lacked any direct methods for dating Polynesian sites or artifacts, and was largely relegated to the mapping of surface architecture. Oral traditions, along with detailed ethnographic comparisons, were the main sources for historical reconstruction.

Evidence for human settlement of an island or archipelago can come from two different sources: (1) direct artifactual evidence from human settlements such as sand dune occupations or rockshelters; and …

(2) indirect evidence in the form of proxy signals of anthropogenic disturbance, such as increases in charcoal fluxes in lake or swamp sediments, rapid changes in pollen frequencies in these sediments, or the appearance plants and animals that live near or benefit from association with humans (such as weeds, insects or rats.)

The invention of radiocarbon dating helped to spark a boom in Polynesian and Pacific archaeology. In the 1940s, Professor Willard F Libby and his associates developed radiocarbon dating – a method to measure the age of organic materials.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1960 was awarded to Libby “for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science”.

For radiocarbon dating to be possible, the material must once have been part of a living organism. This means that things like stone, metal and pottery cannot usually be directly dated by this means unless there is some organic material embedded or left as a residue.

Radiocarbon dating depended upon the discovery cosmic rays, which constantly bombard Earth and turn some carbon atoms in living tissue into radioactive isotope carbon-14. (University of Chicago)

The radiocarbon date tells us when the organism was alive (not when the material was used.) The dating process is always designed to try to extract the carbon from a sample which is most representative of the original organism.

The radiocarbon formed in the upper atmosphere is mostly in the form of carbon dioxide. This is taken up by plants through photosynthesis. Plant eating animals (herbivores and omnivores) get their carbon by eating plants. All animals in the food chain, including carnivores, get their carbon indirectly from plant material, even if it is by eating animals which themselves eat plants.

Once an organism dies the carbon is no longer replaced. Because the radiocarbon is radioactive, it will slowly decay away. There will usually be a loss of stable carbon too but the proportion of radiocarbon to stable carbon will reduce. (University of Chicago and University of Oxford)

Over the following decades, radiocarbon dating technology and techniques improved. While significant improvements were made, but the greatest advance came in 1977 with Richard A Muller’s use of accelerator mass spectrometry (atoms are converted into a beam of fast moving ions. The mass of these ions is then measured by the application of magnetic and electric fields.)

Equally important to the refinements in laboratory methods was the realization by archaeologists that they needed to pay close attention to the kinds of samples they submitted for dating.

This was especially the case for wood charcoal, perhaps the most commonly dated material from Polynesian sites. In the early years of radiocarbon dating, when the crude laboratory methods required large sample sizes, there was a tendency to select the largest pieces of charcoal.

The entire contents of hearths or earth ovens (often including tens or even hundreds of individual charcoal fragments) were often submitted in bulk to the dating laboratory.

The problem was that such samples in many cases included old growth timber, which had an ‘in built’ age that was potentially much older than the time at which the wood was actually burnt in the hearth or oven.

The date returned by the radiocarbon lab may have been an accurate indication of the age of the timber, but not of the ‘target date’ of human use of the site.

The most important step in developing new protocols for radiocarbon sample selection was the taxonomic identification of wood charcoal based on anatomical characteristics by comparison to a reference collection of known woody plant species for the particular region or island.

So, what does the updated technology and techniques show as the time of Hawaiian settlement in the Islands?

Dating of a number of key Eastern Polynesian sites, using AMS radiocarbon methods on better controlled (identified) samples has lent considerable support that the central archipelagoes of Eastern Polynesia did not begin to be settled until after AD 800 or later.

The ‘proxy’ paleo-environmental evidence for human presence in Hawai‘i, which for now comes almost exclusively from O‘ahu and Kauai Islands, leaves no doubt that human activities were creating significant disturbances on both of these islands by AD 1200. This then sets an upper bound on Polynesian settlement. The earliest dates on human introduced rat bones on O‘ahu are consistent with Polynesian arrival around AD 1000.

Re-dating of the site at Bellows, Waimānalo, O‘ahu puts the occupation of that small area at between AD 1040–1219. Obviously, this range falls closely between the lower and upper bounds indicated by the Eastern Polynesian chronologies and the paleo-environmental evidence.

Based on what we know now, it is suggested here that initial Polynesian discovery and settlement of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200. (The bulk of the information here is from Kirch.)

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July 15, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

He wanted to be Lindbergh of the Pacific

Just days after Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic triumph, the Honolulu Star Bulletin announced a new challenge. Hawaii’s “Pineapple King” James Dole was offering cash prizes to the first and second person or crew to fly nonstop from North America to Honolulu.

But before the race even got off the ground, the Army’s Lieutenant Lester J Maitland (pilot) and Lieutenant Albert F Hegenberger (navigator) became the first to reach Hawaii by air flying the ‘Bird of Paradise.’ (So with that glory claimed, the Dole Derby, as it became known, evolved into a one-time race for cash.) (Smithsonian)

Ernest L Smith dreamt of becoming the ‘Lindbergh of the Pacific.’ But after the Army’s Maitland and Hegenberger reached Hawai‘i before him, he settled on becoming the first civilian to do so. Emory Bronte was his navigator.

Smith, born in Reno, Nevada, had moved with his family to San Francisco in time to experience the great earthquake of 1906. Later the Smiths moved to Oakland, where ‘Ernie’ graduated from high school and spent two years at the University of California at Berkeley.

He then went on to dental training, which was interrupted by the US entry into World War I. After serving briefly in the medical corps, Smith transferred to the new US Army Air Service and learned to fly at Rockwell Field in San Diego.

He spent the rest of the war as an instructor at March Field in Riverside, then joined the Army’s aviation reserve while flying for the Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest. In 1926 he worked for Pacific Air Transport as a pilot.

Bronte, a native of New York, had gone to sea at age 15 before entering the Navy in World War I. After the war he joined Isthmian Steamship Company, working his way up from third mate to master.

In 1923 he relocated to San Francisco to work for McCormick Steamship Company, after which he became the Pacific Coast representative of the Inland Waterways Corporation.

Along the way he had authored a book on navigation, but government service had also whetted his interest in the law, a field he planned to study after the 1927 flight was over. He had taken flying lessons and had soloed in a Curtiss JN-4 ‘Jenny’ but had no actual pilot’s license.

“The crowd of 10,000 that had assembled at Bay Farm Island across the bay from San Francisco watched intently on July 14, 1927, as (Smith and Bronte’s) Travel Air 5000 high-winged monoplane dubbed City of Oakland warmed up on the runway at Oakland Airport, preparing for a transpacific flight attempt.” (Grover)

“Smith and navigator Emory Bronte took off from Oakland, California, in a single-engine Travelair on July 14, 1927. Aside from radio earphone problems, their 25-hour trip went well ….” (Smithsonian)

At 3:45 pm they transmitted an “all’s-well” message. The SS Maunaloa received a message from the City Of Oakland at about 6:00 pm, by which time the flyers were about 500 miles out and doing well.

At 3:00 am one of Bronte’s transmissions was picked up by the SS Wilhelmina and the Army transport Kenowis. The signals were quite weak. However, the SS Waniwa later heard from Bronte’s transmitter with a stronger signal.

Now quite close to the Hawaiian Islands and a place to land, the flyers’ spirits soared only to be momentarily dampened by the sounds of their only engine sputtering and coughing.

They were running out of fuel …

Smith switched to another tank and hand-pumped fuel to it. Within seconds, the engine roared back to life. Smith checked his supply and calculated that only about one hour’s fuel remained … but, they had four hours of flying time to the Islands.

Bronte sent SOS messages to all listeners, marking the plane’s latitude and longitude where they expected to ditch.

Methodical Bronte made a close check of the navigational problem about 500 miles from Hawai‘i and learned that Maui, much closer than their O‘ahu destination, could be reached if their fuel wasn’t depleted beforehand.

Smith took measures to conserve what fuel remained by retarding his throttle, showing down to 100 miles per hour. On they flew, straining for a sight of land.

Reaching Molokai’s southern coast, the engine continued to turn. Smith flew on, parallel to the east coast, then they could see the southwestern side of the island to be heavily wooded and uneven.

Smith headed for the softest looking clump of trees he could find, as the engine quit running entirely. (Horvat; Hawaii Aviation)

“Kiawenui, a desolate, rocky stretch along the southeast coast of Molokai, aptly taking its name from the deep covering of kiawe trees that bristles on beach and hills, has been added to Hawaii’s famous spots—and the kiawe tree has become a famous species in the minds of Ernest Smith, pilot, and Emory Bronte Jr., navigation.”

“It was on this lonely stretch, about two miles east of Kamalo landing that Smith, running out of gasoline, in a last desperate effort to bring his silver monoplane City of Oakland to Oahu from the Pacific coast, was forced to land.”

“And it was the thick, thorn-encrusted limbs of a kiawe that extended Hawaii’s initial welcome to the daring birdmen.”

“Cheering thousands watched the Travelair monoplane take off from the Oakland airport at 10:40 a.m. Pacific time, Thursday. Startled mynah birds and a terrified flock of quail constituted the reception committee for Hawaii 24 hours later.” (Buckley, Star Bulletin, July 16, 1927; Hawaii Aviation)

Pilot and navigator were shaken but unhurt except for scratches from the tree thorns. It was 8:47 am, Hawaiian Standard Time, July 15, 1927.

There was no prize money to be collected, the plane was unusable. But the pair was later honored, along with Lindbergh, Maitland and Hegenberger and other famous flyers, by the President of the United States for their feat and contribution to the development of aviation. The airplane was returned to the US and repaired.

Smith became an executive of Trans World Airways. Bronte was given a Navy reserve lieutenant’s commission. Ten years later, he returned with Mrs. Bronte to the Islands aboard Pan America‘s China Clipper.

During World War II, Bronte went through the Navy’s flight training program as a commander. The pioneer flyer went on to command three naval air stations and an island in the Admiralty group off New Guinea. (Horvat; Hawaii Aviation)

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