Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Surfing Gives Life and Interest to the Scenery

Did the Missionaries Really Stop Surfing in Hawaiʻi?

Open any book or read any article about surfing in Hawaiʻi and invariably there is a definitive statement that the missionaries “banned” and/or “abolished” surfing in Hawaiʻi.

OK, I am not being overly sensitive, here (being a descendent of Hiram Bingham, the leader of the first missionary group to Hawaiʻi;) actually, I believed the premise in the first line for a long time.

However, in taking a closer look into the matter, I am coming to a different conclusion.

First of all, the missionaries were guests in the Hawaiian Kingdom; they didn’t have the power to ban or abolish anything – that was the prerogative of the King and Chiefs.

Anyway, I agree; the missionaries despised the fact that Hawaiians typically surfed in the nude.  They also didn’t like the commingling between the sexes.

So, before we go on, we need to agree, the issue at hand is surfing – not nudity and interactions between the sexes.  In keeping this discussion on the sport and not sexuality, let’s see what the missionaries had to say about surfing.

I first looked to see what my great-great-great-grandfather, Hiram Bingham, had to say.  He wrote a book, A Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands, about his experiences in Hawaiʻi.

I word-searched “surf” (figuring I could get all word variations on the subject.)  Here is what Bingham had to say about surfing (Bingham was leader of the 1st Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi, arriving in 1820 – these are his words:)

“(T)hey resorted to the favorite amusement of all classes – sporting on the surf, in which they distinguish themselves from most other nations. In this exercise, they generally avail themselves of the surf-board, an instrument manufactured by themselves for the purpose.”   (Bingham – page 136)

“The inhabitants of these islands, both male and female, are distinguished by their fondness for the water, their powers of diving and swimming, and the dexterity and ease with which they manage themselves, their surf-boards and canoes, in that element.”  (Bingham – pages 136-137)

“The adoption of our costume greatly diminishes their practice of swimming and sporting in the surf, for it is less convenient to wear it in the water than the native girdle, and less decorous and safe to lay it entirely off on every occasion they find for a plunge or swim or surf-board race.”  (Bingham – page 137)

“The decline or discontinuance of the use of the surf-board, as civilization advances, may be accounted for by the increase of modesty, industry or religion, without supposing, as some have affected to believe, that missionaries caused oppressive enactments against it.  These considerations are in part applicable to many other amusements. Indeed, the purchase of foreign vessels, at this time, required attention to the collecting and delivering of 450,000 Ibs. of sandal-wood, which those who were waiting for it might naturally suppose would, for a time, supersede their amusements.” (Bingham – page 137)

Most people cite the first sentence in the above paragraph as admission by Bingham that the missionaries were the cause, but fail to quote the rest of the paragraph.  In the remaining sentences of the same paragraph Bingham notes that with the growing demand to harvest sandalwood, there is less time for the Hawaiians to attend to their “amusements,” including surfing.  These later words change the context of the prior.

Here is a bit of poetic support Bingham shows for the sport, “On a calm and bright summer’s day, the wide ocean and foaming surf, the peaceful river, with verdant banks, the bold cliff, and forest covered mountains, the level and fertile vale, the pleasant shade-trees, the green tufts of elegant fronds on the tall cocoanut trunks, nodding and waving, like graceful plumes, in the refreshing breeze; birds flitting, chirping, and singing among them, goats grazing and bleating, and their kids frisking on the rocky cliff, the natives at their work, carrying burdens, or sailing up and down the river, or along the sea-shore, in their canoes, propelled by their polished paddles that glitter in the sun-beam, or by a small sail well trimmed, or riding more rapidly and proudly on their surf-boards, on the front of foaming surges, as they hasten to the sandy shore, all give life and interest to the scenery.”  (Bingham – pages 217-218)

Likewise, I did a word search for “surf” in the Levi Chamberlain journals and found the following (Chamberlain was the mission quartermaster in the 1830s:)

“The situation of Waititi (Waikīkī) is pleasant, & enjoys the shade of a large number of cocoanut & kou trees. The kou has large spreading branches & affords a very beautiful shade. There is a considerable extension of beach and when the surf comes in high the natives amuse themselves in riding on the surf-board.”  (Chamberlain – Vol 2, page 18)

“The Chiefs amused themselves by playing on surfboards in the heart of Lahaina.”  (Chamberlain – Vol 5, page 36)

Another set of Journals, belonging to Amos S. Cooke, also notes references to surfing (Cooke was in the 8th Company of missionaries arriving in 1837:)

“After dinner Auhea went with me, & the boys to bathe in the sea, & I tried riding on the surf.  To day I have felt quite lame from it.”  (Cooke – Vol 6, page 237)  (Missionaries and their children also surfed.)

“This evening I have been reading to the smaller children from “Rollo at Play”–“The Freshet”. The older children are still reading “Robinson Crusoe”. Since school the boys have been to Waikiki to swim in the surf & on surf boards. They reached home at 7 o’clk. Last evening they went to Diamond Point – & did not return till 7 1/2 o’clock.”  (Cooke – Vol 7, page 385)

“After dinner about three o’clock we went to bathe & to play in the surf.  After we returned from this we paid a visit to the church which has lately been repaired with a new belfry & roof.” (Cooke – Vol 8, page 120)

James J Jarvis, in 1847, notes “Sliding down steep hills, on a smooth board, was a common amusement; but no sport afforded more delight than bathing in the surf. Young and old high and low, of both sexes, engaged in it, and in no other way could they show greater dexterity in their aquatic exercises. Multitudes could be seen when the surf was highest, pushing boldly seaward, with their surf-board in advance, diving beneath the huge combers,  as they broke in succession over them, until they reached the outer line of breakers; then laying flat upon their boards, using their arms and legs as guides, they boldly mounted the loftiest, and, borne upon its crest, rushed with the speed of a race-horse towards the shore; from being dashed upon which, seemed to a spectator impossible to be avoided.” (Jarvis – page 39)

In 1851, the Reverend Henry T. Cheever observed surfing at Lāhaina, Maui and wrote about it in his book, Life in the Hawaiian Islands, The Heart of the Pacific As it Was and Is, “It is highly amusing to a stranger to go out to the south part of this town, some day when the sea is rolling in heavily over the reef, and to observe there the evolutions and rapid career of a company of surf-players. The sport (of surfing) is so attractive and full of wild excitement to the Hawaiians, and withal so healthy, that I cannot but hope it will be many years before civilization shall look it out of countenance, or make it disreputable to indulge in this manly, though it be dangerous, exercise.”  (Cheever – pages 41-42)

Even Mark Twain notes surfing during his visit in 1866, “In one place we came upon a large company of naked natives, of both sexes and all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing. Each heathen would paddle three or four hundred yards out to sea, (taking a short board with him), then face the shore and wait for a particularly prodigious billow to come along; at the right moment he would fling his board upon its foamy crest and himself upon the board, and here he would come whizzing by like a bombshell!  It did not seem that a lightning express train could shoot along at a more hair-lifting speed.  I tried surf-bathing once, subsequently, but made a failure of it.  I got the board placed right, and at the right moment, too; but missed the connection myself.–The board struck the shore in three quarters of a second, without any cargo, and I struck the bottom about the same time, with a couple of barrels of water in me..”  (Mark Twain, Roughing It, 1880)

Obviously, surfing was never “banned” or “abolished” in Hawaiʻi.

These words from prominent missionaries and other observers note on-going surfing throughout the decades the missionaries were in Hawaiʻi (1820 – 1863.)

Likewise, their comments sound supportive of surfing, at least they were comfortable with it and they admired the Hawaiians for their surfing prowess (they are certainly not in opposition to its continued practice) – and Bingham seems to acknowledge that he realizes others may believe the missionaries curtailed/stopped it.

So, Bingham, who was in Hawaiʻi from 1820 to 1841, makes surprisingly favorable remarks by noting that Hawaiians were “sporting on the surf, in which they distinguish themselves from most other nations”.  Likewise, Chamberlain notes they “amuse themselves in riding on the surf-board.”

Missionary Amos Cooke, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1837 – and was later appointed by King Kamehameha III to teach the young royalty in the Chief’s Childrens’ School – surfed himself (with his sons) and enjoyed going to the beach in the afternoon.

In the late-1840s, Jarvis notes, “Multitudes could be seen when the surf was highest, pushing boldly seaward, with their surf-board in advance”.

In the 1850s, Reverend Cheever notes, surfing “is so attractive and full of wild excitement to the Hawaiians, and withal so healthy”.

In the mid-1860s Mark Twain notes, the Hawaiians were “amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing. Each heathen would paddle three or four hundred yards out to sea, (taking a short board with him), then face the shore and wait for a particularly prodigious billow to come along; at the right moment he would fling his board upon its foamy crest and himself upon the board, and here he would come whizzing by like a bombshell!”

Throughout the decades, Hawaiians continued to surf and, if anything, the missionaries and others at least appreciated surfing (although they vehemently opposed nudity – likewise, today, nudity is frowned upon.)

And, using Cooke as an example, it is clear some of the missionaries and their families also surfed.

Of course, not everyone tolerated or supported surfing.  Sarah Joiner Lyman notes in her book, “Sarah Joiner Lyman of Hawaii–her own story,” “You have probably heard that playing on the surf board was a favourite amusement in ancient times. It is too much practised at the present day, and is the source of much iniquity, inasmuch as it leads to intercourse with the sexes without discrimination. Today a man died on his surf board. He was seen to fall from it, but has not yet been found. I hope this will be a warning to others, and that many will be induced to leave this foolish amusement.”  (Lyman – pages 63-63 – (John Clark))

“No Ka Molowa. Ua ’kaka loa ka molowa. Eia kekahi, o ka lilo loa o na kanaka i ka heenalu a me na wahine a me na keiki i ka lelekawa i ka mio.”  (Ke Kumu Hawaii – January 31, 1838 – page 70 – (John Clark))

“Laziness. It is clear that they were lazy. The men would spend all their time surfing, and the women and children would spend all their time jumping and diving into the ocean.”

“No Ka Palaka. No ka palaka mai ka molowa, ka nanea, ka lealea, ka paani, ka heenalu,ka lelekawa, ka mio, ka heeholua, ka lelekowali; ka hoolele lupe, kela mea keia mea o ka palaka, oia ka mole o keia mau hewa he nui wale.”  (Ke Kumu Hawaii – January 31, 1838 – page 70 – (John Clark))

“Indifference. Indifference is the source of laziness, relaxation, enjoyment, play, surfing, cliff jumping, diving, sledding, swinging, kite flying, and all kinds of indifferent activities; indifference is the root of these many vices.”

Let’s look some more – could something else be a cause for the apparent reduction of surfers in the water?  What about affects the socio-economic and demographic changes may have had on the peoples’ opportunity to surf?

Remember, in 1819, prior to the arrival of the missionaries, Liholiho abolished the kapu system.  This effectively also cancelled the annual Makahiki celebrations and the athletic contests and games associated with them.

Likewise, the Chiefs were distracted by new Western goods and were directing the commoners to work at various tasks that took time away from other activities, including surfing.

Between 1805 and 1830, the common people were displaced from much of their traditional duties (farming and fishing) and labor was diverted to harvesting sandalwood.

Between 1819 and 1859, whaling was the economic mainstay in the Islands.  Ships re-provisioned in Hawaiʻi, and Hawaiians grew the crops for these needs: fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, cattle, white potatoes and sugar.

With the start of a successful sugar plantation in 1835, Hawai‘i’s economy turned toward sugar and saw tremendous expansion in the decades between 1860 and 1880.

From the time of contact (1778,) Hawaiians were transitioning from a subsistence economy to a market economy and the people were being employed to work at various industries.  (Even today’s surfers prefer to surf all the time, but in many cases obligations at work means you can’t surf all the time.)

In light of the demands these industries have in distracting people away from their recreational pursuits, let’s look at the Hawaiian population changes.

Since contact in 1778, the Hawaiian population declined rapidly after exposure to a host of diseases for which they had no immunity.  In addition, many Hawaiians moved away or worked overseas.

The Hawaiian population in 1778 is estimated to have been approximately 300,000 (estimates vary; some as high as 800,000 to 1,000,000; but many writers suggest the 300,000 estimate – a higher 1778 estimate more dramatically illustrates the change in population.)

Whatever the ‘contact’ starting point, by 1860 the Islands’ population drastically declined to approximately 69,800.  Fewer people overall means fewer people in the water and out surfing.

My immediate reaction in reading what the missionaries and others had to say is that the purported banning and/or opposition to surfing may be more urban legend, than fact.

It is easy to blame the missionaries, but there doesn’t seem to be basis to do so.

Rather, I tend to agree with what my relative, missionary Hiram Bingham, had to say (rather poetically, to my surprise,) “On a calm and bright summer’s day, the wide ocean and foaming surf … the green tufts of elegant fronds on the tall cocoanut trunks, nodding and waving, like graceful plumes, in the refreshing breeze … the natives … riding more rapidly and proudly on their surf-boards, on the front of foaming surges … give life and interest to the scenery.”

Surf’s up – let’s go surfing!

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawai‘i Enters the Global Economy

Beginning well before 1600, the North American fur trade was the earliest global economic enterprise. The North American fur trade was a response to declining populations of fur-bearing animals in Western Europe and the cost of purchasing and importing furs from Russia.

Eventually, all of the North American colonies, even the Carolinas, produced some furs for markets in Europe, and there was a lively trade in furs and deer hides out of Louisiana, but the best furs were to be obtained north of the Great Lakes.

Then, from 1775-1783, war was waging on the eastern side of the continent.  The main result was an American victory and European recognition of the independence of the United States.

When US independence closed the colonial trade routes within the British empire, the merchantmen and whalers of New England swarmed around the Horn (around southern Africa), in search of new markets and sources of supply.

Supplying Explorers and Traders

The opening of the China trade was the first and most spectacular result of this enterprise; the establishment of trading relations with Hawai‘i followed shortly.

Within ten years after Captain Cook’s 1778 contact with Hawai‘i, the islands became a favorite port of call in the trade with China.  The fur traders and merchant ships crossing the Pacific needed to replenish food supplies and water.

The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska.  The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the United States.

Needing supplies in their journey, the traders soon realized they could economically barter for provisions in Hawai‘i; for instance any type of iron, a common nail, chisel or knife, could fetch far more fresh fruit meat and water than a large sum of money would in other ports.

A triangular trade network emerged linking the Pacific Northwest coast, China and the Hawaiian Islands to Britain and the United States (especially New England).

The Hawaiian Islands first entered the international economic scene in the latter-18th century when its ports and favorable climate made the Islands an ideal winter harbor and stopover for merchant ships, whalers and explorers’ vessels who needed to replenish food and water supplies, or make necessary repairs. (Duncan)

Practically every vessel that visited the North Pacific in the closing years of the 18th century stopped at Hawai‘i for refreshment and recreation.

Fur trading on the coast remained profitable from the 1780s into the 1820s, but the successful trade in furs depended entirely on the locale. Some parts of the coast, such as Nootka Sound and Clayoquot Sound, witnessed a complete collapse of the sea otter population after only a decade of intense hunting. (Igler)

Sandalwood

Sandalwood (ʻiliahi) has been highly prized and in great demand through the ages; its use for incense is part of the ritual of Buddhism.  Chinese used the fragrant heart wood for incense, medicinal purposes, for architectural details and carved objects.

Sandalwood was first recognized as a commercial product in Hawai‘i in 1791 by Captain Kendrick of the Lady Washington, when he instructed sailors to collect cargo of sandalwood.  From that point on, it became a source of wealth in the islands, until its supply was ultimately exhausted.

It was not until the opening years of the 19th that the sandalwood business became a recognized branch of trade.  Trade in Hawaiian sandalwood began as early as the 1790s; by 1805 it had become an important export item.

Sandalwood trade was a turning point in Hawai‘i, especially related to its economic structure.  It moved Hawai‘i from a self-sufficient economy to a commercial economy.  This started a series of other economic and export activities across the islands.

In 1811, an agreement between Boston ship captains and Kamehameha I established a monopoly on sandalwood exports, with Kamehameha receiving 25% of the profits.  As trade and shipping brought Hawaiʻi into contact with a wider world, it also enabled the acquisition of Western goods, including arms and ammunition. 

Between about 1810 and 1820, the major item of Hawaiian trade was sandalwood.  Sandalwood, geography and fresh provisions made the Islands a vital link in a closely articulated trade route between Boston, the Northwest Coast, and Canton, China.

By 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed.  Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from India and other areas in the Pacific drove down the price in China and made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable.

Whaling

From the 16th century through the 19th century, whale oil was used principally as lamp fuel and for producing soap. (Britannica)

The over-fishing of “on shore” New England whales in the 1700s forced local whalers to venture “offshore”, journeying further west in search of their lucrative prey.

The first New England whalers rounded Cape Horn in 1791, and fished off both the Chilean and Peruvian coasts.  Many sailed around South America and onward to Japan and the Arctic.

In 1819, the New Bedford whaler Balaena (also called Balena,) and the Nantucket whaler Equator became the first American whalers to visit Hawai‘i. A year later, Captain Joseph Allen discovered large concentrations of sperm whales off the coast of Japan, setting off an exodus of whalers to this area.

These ships might have sought provisions in Japan, except that Japanese ports were closed to foreign ships. So Hawaiian ports became the major ports of call for whalers.  (NPS)

When whaling was strong in the Pacific (starting in 1819 and running to 1859,) Hawaiʻi’s central location between America and Japan whaling grounds brought many whaling ships to the Islands.  Whalers needed food and the islands supplied this need from its fertile lands.

The whaling industry had a major effect upon Hawaiian commerce and trade. As the Northwest fur trade decreased and sandalwood supplies and values dropped, the whaling industry began to fill the economic void.

Whaling had been “an economic force of awesome proportions in these Islands for more than forty years,” enabling King Kamehameha III to finally pay off the national debts accumulated in earlier years. (NPS)

Sugar

The early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully in the islands; sugar was a canoe crop.

It appears Cook was the first outsider to put sugarcane to use.  One of his tools in his fight against scurvy (severe lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in your diet) was beer.  Others later made rum from the sugarcane.

But beer and rum were not a typical sugar use.  Since it was a crop that produced a choice food product that could be shipped to distant markets, its culture on a field scale was started in about 1800.  Hawaiʻi had the basic natural resources needed to grow sugar: land, sun and water.

Hawai‘i’s economy turned toward sugar in the decades between 1860 and 1880; these twenty years were pivotal in building the plantation system.

What encouraged the development of plantations in Hawaiʻi?  For one, the gold rush and settlement of California opened a lucrative market.  Likewise, the Civil War virtually shut down Louisiana sugar production during the 1860s, enabling Hawai‘i to compete with elevated prices for sugar.

In addition, the Treaty of Reciprocity-1875 between the US and the Kingdom of Hawai‘i eliminated the major trade barrier to Hawai‘i’s closest and major market.

For nearly a century, agriculture was the state’s leading economic activity.  It provided Hawai‘i’s major sources of employment, tax revenues and new capital through exports of raw sugar and other farm products.  The industry came to maturity by the turn of the century; the industry peaked in the 1930s. (However, a majority of the plantations closed in the 1990s.)

As an economic entity, sugar gradually replaced sandalwood and whaling in the mid‐19th century and became the principal industry in the islands, until it was succeeded by the visitor industry in 1960.

Pineapple

Christopher Columbus brought pineapple, native of South America, back to Europe as one of the exotic prizes of the New World.  (‘Pineapple’ was given its English name because of its resemblance to a pine cone.)

Although sugar dominated the Hawaiian economy, there was also great demand at the time for fresh Hawaiian pineapples in San Francisco, and, later, canned pineapple.

The first profitable lot of canned pineapples in Hawai‘i was produced by Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1903 and the industry grew rapidly from there.  (Bartholomew)

The demand for canned pineapples grew exponentially in the US and in 1922, a revolutionary period in the history of Hawaiian pineapple; Dole bought the island of Lanai and established a vast 200,000-acre pineapple plantation to meet the growing demands.

Lanai throughout the entire 20th century produced more than 75% of world’s total pineapple.  More land on the island of Maui was purchased by Dole.

Then, pineapple production on O‘ahu began a steady decline. In 1991, the Dole Cannery closed.  The Dole Plantation tourist attraction, established in 1950 as a small fruit stand but greatly expanded in 1989 serves as a living museum and historical archive of Dole and pineapple in Hawai‘i.

Crossroads of the Pacific

As trade and commerce expanded across the Pacific, numerous countries were looking for faster passage and many looked to Nicaragua and Panama in Central America for possible dredging of a canal as a shorter, safer passage between the two Oceans.

Finally, in 1881, France started construction of a canal through the Panama isthmus.  By 1899, after thousands of deaths (primarily due to yellow fever) and millions of dollars, they abandoned the project and sold their interest to the United States.

After Panamanian independence from Columbia in 1903, the US restarted construction of the canal in 1905.  “The opening of the canal will increase Hawaii’s importance as a coaling and general calling station.”

“Tremendous new cargoes of supplies that will cross the Pacific, because of the canal, will need shelter and protection at a common port of supply – Honolulu.”  (Hawai‘i Historical Review)

In 1912, this strategy and declaration was claimed in an article in ‘Paradise of the Pacific’ that Hawaiʻi was truly deserving of the name, “Crossroads of the Pacific”.

Before the Panama Canal was ‘officially’ opened for commerce (the canal officially opened on August 15, 1914), “The first commercial business handled by the canal was a shipload of sugar from Hawaii.”  It was also “the first continuous ocean-to-ocean trip through the Panama Canal by any vessel.”

The first cargo ship passing westward through the Panama Canal to call at Honolulu was the American Hawaiian Steamship Company’s SS Missourian commanded by Captain Wm. Lyons, on September 16, 1914.

Visitor Industry

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 … Closely arranged around the Marin home were the grass houses of his workers and the ‘guest houses’ of the ship captains who boarded with him while their vessels were in port.”

In the late-1890s, with additional steamships to Honolulu, the visitor arrivals to Oʻahu were increasing.  When Hawaiʻi became a US territory (June 14, 1900,) it was drawing cruise ship travelers to the islands; they needed a place to stay.

By 1918, Hawai‘i had 8,000 visitors annually, and by the 1920s Matson Navigation Company ships were bringing an increasing number of wealthy visitors.  This prompted a massive addition to the Moana.  In 1918, two floors were added along with concrete wings on each side, doubling the size of the hotel. 

Between 1950 and 1974, domestic and international visitor numbers shot up to more than 2-million from less than 50,000.  Statehood and the arrival of jet-liner air travel brought unprecedented expansion and construction, in Waikīkī and across the Islands.

On March 21, 1927, Hawai‘i’s first airport was established in Honolulu and dedicated to Rodgers.  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.) The Visitor Industry remains the primary economic force in the Islands.

 A total of 10,424,995 visitors came to Hawaii in 2019 (another record number). That’s more than seven times the state’s population.  Tourism represents roughly a quarter of Hawai‘i’s economy.

Resident concerns and impacts of COVID have shifted Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s focus with more emphasis to address tourism’s impacts.  This shift recognizes the need for tourism to provide both a quality visitor experience and enhanced quality of life for Hawai‘i residents.

Plans now call for re-balancing attention from mainly marketing to greater emphasis on ‘destination management’ and support for culture, community and multicultural programs, and natural resources. (HTA Strategic Plan)

Click HERE for an expanded discussion on Hawai‘i and its role in the global economy.

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Music Hall – Opera House

Opera was born circa 1600 from the desire of Renaissance Italians to recreate Greek drama, pointing to various less-elevated national theatrical traditions as important contributors to the art form.  (Abbate)

Although Hawai‘i is hardly known as an international opera powerhouse, a number of native Hawaiians have been among the art form’s stars.  Most notable was tenor Tandy Ka‘ohu MacKenzie, who was born in Hāna in 1892 and went on to become a star of the international opera stage star after he was discovered by an Irish singer who happened to drop in on a performance by MacKenzie’s Kamehameha School glee club.  (Ferrar)

In 1881, a Music Hall was built across the street from ʻIolani Palace, where Ali‘i regularly joined the audiences at performances. Queen Lili‘uokalani is even said to have written her own opera.  (Ferrar)  It was built by the Hawaiian Music Hall Association.

The Wells troupe from California opened the music hall.  “Since then many companies and individual artists from abroad have trod its boards, and given more or less delight to the inhabitants.”  (Daily Bulletin, February 12, 1895)

The building was first called the Music Hall, but shortly after its transfer to new owners, the name was changed to the Royal Hawaiian Opera House.  (Daily Bulletin, February 12, 1895)

Despite its name, the Opera House was not primarily a venue for classical entertainment. Many of its bookings were melodramas and minstrel shows, two very popular forms of theater at the time.  Then, it was the first house to show moving pictures in Hawaiʻi.

The building was of brick 120 by 60 feet on the ground floor and walls forty feet high and twenty inches thick. The front door was ten feet wide, opening into a vestibule 16 by 27 feet. The seating capacity of the house was 671 persons. The stage was forty feet deep and provided with a complete set of scenery, traps and all necessary paraphernalia. (Hawaiian Star, February 12, 1895)

On July 28, 1883, the property was sold at auction to satisfy a claim. It was purchased by Mr. WG Irwin for $21,000, John D Spreckels being a partner in the deal.  (Hawaiian Star, February 12, 1895)

“Originally there were two (private) boxes. One on the right of the stage looking out was regarded as the property of the late King Kalākaua, who had subscribed liberally to the stock of the Association.  The box on the opposite side was owned by the present proprietors, Messrs. Irwin & Spreckels. About two years ago two boxes wore opened above those mentioned for letting to whomever first applied for thorn on any occasion.”  (Daily Bulletin, February 12, 1895)

The Music Hall played a role in the Wilcox Rebellion, when it was occupied by Government sharpshooters in suppressing the insurrection of Robert Wilcox in 1889.  (Daily Bulletin, February 12, 1895)

“Wilcox and I then marched towards the gate and came by Boyd’s cannon; he told us to get out of the way he wanted to fire then, because he saw some one in the Music Hall pulling down a window; Wilcox  stopped him; we walked on toward the gate when a gun fired from the Music Hall.”  (Kauhane, Hawaiian Gazette, October 29, 1889)

“Wilcox sung out to Music Hall to “stop firing! stop firing!” three or four more shots were fired from there and then Wilcox gave order to fire; cannons were then fired; think Wilcox knew that Government were gathering forces to drive us out; not my place to surrender.”  (Kauhane, Hawaiian Gazette, October 29, 1889)

It later hosted the complimentary farewell reception and ball for Captain Wiltse, commander of the USS Boston in 1893, under the auspices of the provisional Government.

The Music Hall’s “exterior was built of red brick and the facade on King street was of a modest but presentable and harmonious style. Internally it was fitted and furnished in modern fashion, with seats on a sloping floor in semi-circular rows. There were a balcony and a gallery in the second story.”  (Daily Bulletin, February 12, 1895)

Fire nearly destroyed the building.  Irwin, owner of the property, surveyed the sodden, smoking ashes from his curtained carriage. “I have had enough of music halls,” he told a questioning newsman.

He was later persuaded to rebuild, however, when it was pointed out that the only other theatrical accommodations in the city were inadequate facilities at the YMCA and the hall in Independence Park.

A commission was appointed to inquire into the strength of the walls left standing.  After a careful inspection, it was decided that three of the walls were in sound condition, and could be built upon with perfect safety.  The rear wall had to be rebuilt.  The work began.

The opening of the New Hawaiian Opera House tonight begins another epoch in the history of Honolulu and the public finds that through the action of William G. Irwin of this city and John D. and Adolph Spreckels, of San Francisco, it has a theater equal to the leading places of amusement in the United States.  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 10, 1896)

A commission was appointed to inquire into the strength of the walls left standing.  After a careful inspection, it was decided that three of the walls were in sound condition, and could be built upon with perfect safety.  The rear wall had to be rebuilt.  The work began.

The seating capacity of the New Hawaiian was about 900, but the seats were placed so far apart, in order to make it more comfortable for the patrons, that if it were necessary, two or three hundred more chairs could be placed in the auditorium without crowding. In the rear of the orchestra are two loges, each containing six chairs.  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 10, 1896)

On February 5, 1897, the Opera House displayed Edison’s Veriscope which promised to be one of the most interesting sights ever seen in Honolulu.   One of the first projections was of a fire department response to a fire.  “The crowds gather, people run hither and thither, teams pass, some block the way, the police appear, and there are seen all the usual incidents of a street lire drill.”

“It is a wonderful advance in the stereoscopic art. It projects pictures upon a white screen, in which all the figures are in motion with life-like detail. … The exhibition of the wonderful veriscope is alone worth the evening’s attendance.”  (Hawaiian Star, February 4, 1897)

The building was demolished in 1917 to make way for the Federal Building.  One of the many eulogies for the building said:  “It is historical. It is ugly. It is like a box with a few touches of ornament to make it look unlike a box. So much for the outside. On the inside, it is as cozy and comfortable as anyone could desire.”  (Gereben)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Charles Reed Bishop

Born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York, Charles Reed Bishop was an orphan at an early age and went to live with his grandparents on their 120-acre farm learning to care for sheep, cattle and horses and repairing wagons, buggies and stage coaches. Academically, he only attended the 7th and 8th grades at Glens Falls Academy, his only years of formal schooling.

After leaving school, he becomes a clerk for Nelson J. Warren, the largest business in Warrensburgh, New York. He learned bartering, bookkeeping, taking inventory, maintenance and janitorial duties.  Bishop became an expert in barter, and ran the post office, lumber yard and farm. He becomes a capable businessman.

By January 1846, Bishop was ready to broaden his horizons. He and a friend, William Little Lee, planned to travel to the Oregon territory, Lee to practice law and Bishop to survey land.  They sailed aboard the ‘Henry’ from Newburyport, Massachusetts, around Cape Horn on the way to Oregon.

The vessel made a stop in Honolulu on October 12, 1846; both decided to stay.  (Lee later became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.)

Bishop soon found work, first at Ladd and Company, a mercantile and trading establishment, then at the US Consulate in Honolulu. In 1849, Bishop signed an oath to “support the Constitution and Laws of the Hawaiian Islands” and was appointed collector of customs for the kingdom.

Bishop met Bernice Pauahi while she was still a student at the Chiefs’ Children’s School (they probably met during the early half of 1847,) and despite the opposition of Pauahi’s parents who wanted her to marry Lot Kapuāiwa (later, Kamehameha V,) Bishop courted and married Pauahi in 1850.  (His letters that mention Pauahi reveal a deep respect and affection for his wife and suggest she was a major source of his happiness throughout their 34-year marriage.)

Their home, Haleakala, became the “greatest centre of hospitality in Honolulu.” They graciously hosted royalty, visiting dignitaries, friends and neighbors as well as engaged in civic activities such as organizing aid to the sick and destitute and providing clothing for the poor.

Bishop was primarily a banker (he has been referred to as “Hawaiʻi’s First Banker.”)  An astute financial businessman, he became one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom from banking, agriculture, real estate and other investments.

However, his industrious nature and good counsel in many fields were also highly valued by Hawaiian and foreign residents alike. He was made a lifetime member of the House of Nobles and appointed to the Privy Council. He served Kings Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and Kalākaua in a variety of positions such as: foreign minister; president of the board of education; and chairman of the legislative finance committee.

Bishop believed in the transforming power of education and supported a number of schools: Punahou, Mills Institute (now known as Mid–Pacific Institute), St Andrews Priory and Sacred Hearts Academy.  He not only contributed money to his causes, he provided sound advice and financial expertise.

He even sent presents of food or clothing to schools like Kawaiahaʻo Seminary at Christmas, “It is my wish that Mr. Raupp should send them plenty of mutton…also that they should have two turkeys or some ducks, some oranges and cakes…”

Next to her royal lineage, no other aspect of Pauahi’s life was as important to her fulfillment as a woman – and as the founder of the Kamehameha Schools – as her marriage to Charles Reed Bishop. He brought her the love and esteem she needed as a woman and the organizational and financial acumen she needed to ensure the successful founding of her estate.  (Kanahele)

Soon after Pauahi’s death in 1884 he wrote: “I know you all loved her, for nobody could know her at all well and not love her. For myself I will only say that I am trying to bear my loss and my loneliness as reasonably as I can looking forward hopefully to the time when I shall find my loved one again.”

Immediately after Pauahi’s death, Bishop, as one of first five trustees she selected to manage her estate and co-executor of her will, set in motion the process that resulted in the establishment of the Kamehameha Schools in 1887.  (The other initial trustees were Charles Montague, Samuel Mills Damon, Charles McEwen Hyde and William Owen Smith.)

Because Pauahi’s estate was basically land rich and cash poor, Bishop contributed his own funds for the construction of several of the schools’ initial buildings on the original Kalihi campus: the Preparatory Department facilities (1888,) Bishop Hall (1891) and Bernice Pauahi Bishop Memorial Chapel (1897.)

Bishop is best known for his generous contributions to his wife’s legacy, the Kamehameha Schools (when he died, he left most of his estate to hers,) and the founding of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (1889.)

In a letter to Samuel Damon, 1911, he noted, “Being interested in her plans…I decided to carry out her wishes regarding the schools and promised to do something toward a museum of Hawaiian and other Polynesian objects…in order to accomplish something quickly … I soon reconveyed to her estate the life interests given by her will and added a considerable amount of my own property…”

In 1894, Bishop left Hawai`i to make a new life in San Francisco, California. Until he died, he continued, through correspondence with the schools’ trustees, to guide the fiscal and educational policy-making of the institution in directions that reinforced Pauahi’s vision of a perpetual educational institution that would assist scholars to become “good and industrious men and women.” (Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s Will, 1883)

In 1895, Bishop established the Charles Reed Bishop Trust.  The beneficiaries of the Trust consist of 8-designated entities: Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Maunaʻala, Central Union Church, Kaumakapili Church, Kawaiahaʻo Church, Kamehameha Schools, Mid-Pacific Institute (his original beneficiaries, Kawaiahaʻo Female Seminary and Mills Institute merged in 1907 to form Mid-Pac) and Lunalilo Trust.

By the time Pauahi died in 1884, Maunaʻala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu was crowded with caskets. Bishop built an underground vault for Pauahi and members of the Kamehameha dynasty.

Charles Reed Bishop died June 7, 1915; his remains rest beside his wife in the Kamehameha Tomb.  A separate monument to Charles Reed Bishop was built at Maunaʻala in 1916.   (Lots of information here is from KSBE.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Meteor

“To the ordinary, everyday, dollar-chasing human being the advent of a meteor is always clothed In a cloak of mystery, a sort of sublime supernatural.”

“Coming from another world as it were and passing through space within the limits of this world’s attractive force is enough in itself to cause one to believe that things ‘do move’ outside and beyond our own little cooling ball of mud.”

“And when one of these meteors gets so close to earth that its original propelling force is overcome by the earth’s attraction and it fails with a dull but dazzling thud we all sit up and take notice.”

A meteor falling to the earth is not of so rare an occurence as an ordinary being would suppose, still, the falling of one is considered worthy of cable and telegraph tolls from one end of the world to the other and the news is sent broadcast.”

“Most extraordinary occurrences that happen through the agency of man grow tame and gentle and even pall and grow stale and cease to call forth comment in a short time no matter how thrilling and wonderful may have been the initial performance.”

“Not so with a meteor. It is always new, always on tap for separation, always a subject that the wisest of us know so little about.”

“The passing of falling of a large fragment of a meteor is a sight to be long remembered by those in the lucky zone who are fortunate enough to witness it.”  (Evening Bulletin, Oct 23, 1909)

“When the steamer Claudine with the Congressional party on board was off Mahukona at 12:20 this morning. The ship appeared to be almost under struck by a meteor which fell into the sea something like three hundred yards in front of the ship.”

“The officers of the ship were almost blinded by the dazzling light and an explosion was heard, presumably caused by the meteor striking the water.”

“Territorial Senator Palmer Woods heard the explosion, thought comparatively few on board knew of the incident, the larger portion having turned in early to prepare for the first day in Hilo.”  (Evening Bulletin, May 20, 1907)

“‘You bet that was a real meteor,’ said Captain Parker of the Claudine this morning in speaking of the meteor display which was exclusively reported in the Bulletin.”

“‘It seemed to fall right in front of the ship just as we were off Mahukona. The flash was blinding and the explosion was like the report of a sixteen-inch gun.’”

“‘I put in at Mahukona to take Palmer Woods on board.  He was asleep in the Mahukona warehouse and the explosion aroused him so suddenly that he grabbed for his suit case and started up thinking something had happened or he was late for the boat.’” (Evening Bulletin, May 23, 1907)

The Claudine arrived in Hawai‘i in August 1890 and was part of the Wilder Steamship Company and later Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co.

She carried the Hawaiian annexation delegation to San Francisco following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.

In Dec 1899 the steamer collided in darkness with the barkentine William Carson causing it to roll over losing all its cargo and crew personal effects.

Her regular service run was to Kahului, Maui where ‘Claudine Wharf” was built to accommodate inter-island steamships (now ‘Pier 2). She left service in 1928.  (SOEST)

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