In 1907, Alfred Charles Benson Fletcher graduated from the University of California, where he was a leading figure on the campus. He was editor of the Daily Californian, prominent in other affairs, and a member of the Golden Bear and Winged Helmet honor societies and the Psi Upsilon fraternity.
He decided to take a graduate course in the school of hard knocks and see the world on his nerve and native hardihood and made “a three-year trip … around the world, starting from San Francisco with only a five-dollar gold piece and earning [his] way.”
“[His] wanderings took [him] to Hawaii [and multiple other countries and boasted that his travels show] that it is possible to work one’s way around the world and do so with a considerable degree of comfort.”
“‘The loveliest fleet of islands that lie anchored in any ocean,’ were the words in which Mark Twain once described the Hawaiian group, and the time we spent in the ‘Paradise of the Pacific’ proved to be one of the most enjoyable periods of the trip.”
The following is a portion of his account of his experiences in Hawai‘i that he wrote in his book (of the same title as this summary) in 1916; his recollections give some insight into Hawai‘i at that time …
“‘What’s the trouble? Are you seasick or homesick?’ cordially inquired [Ralph J] Richardson, approaching a stranger who was hanging over the side of a ship bound for Honolulu.”
“‘Neither, my friend,’ I replied with a smile.”
“These were the initial sentences of a dialogue which was happily destined to continue for three years.”
He two were “starting out on a similar expedition – a trip around the world.” He and the friend he met onboard the SS Alameda out of San Francisco had “A combined wealth of less than ten dollars and the wide, wide world in front of us!”
“We agreed not to make any definite plans; we mapped out no itinerary, except the general one of around the world; we had no elaborate scheme of travel nor ideas of how we were to make our way, but decided to resign ourselves to chance and bang around, taking whatever came along.”
“My idea was to explore the earth before I was anchored by matrimony, and Richardson wanted to see all of this world before he went to the next. We set out not as tourists–that familiar species of humanity–but as two refined American tramps. …”
“The six days it takes to go to Honolulu from San Francisco were spent as such days are usually spent at sea, talking and reading in the morning, shuffle-board and other games in the afternoon, singing and spooning in the evening–on the whole a civilised trip. On the morning of the seventh day we arrived in the harbour of Honolulu.”
“After being amused by a group of native boys diving for coins thrown by all passengers except ourselves–who felt inclined to strip and join the divers – the ship was soon alongside and in a short time we were mingling with the cosmopolitan inhabitants on the streets of Honolulu.”
“The next day found each of us enrolled on the teaching staff of two different schools. We became school teachers! … Richardson affiliated himself with Mills Institute, a school under the control of the Hawaiian Board of the Congregational Church Missionary organisation.”
“I assumed the duties of teacher of the fourth and fifth grades in Iolani School, a parochial institution connected with Saint Andrew’s Cathedral …”.
“I have been surprised on many occasions at the ignorance displayed by people in the United States, and especially in the East, concerning the Territory of Hawaii.”
“They imagine that the natives are a half-clad race recently descended from cannibals, that Honolulu is a semi-civilised village of Hawaiian huts and that modern conveniences have not yet found their way to the islands.”
“Honolulu is a city of fifty thousand people, of whom a large number are Orientals and but a few thousand are Americans. … Honolulu is one of the most beautiful and up-to-date cities of its size under the American flag.”
“It was in this paradise that Richardson and I began our wanderings. During the recesses we had from our school duties we explored the island of Oahu, upon which Honolulu is situated, and became as familiar with it as the average man is with his own back yard.”
“We learned to ride the surf at Waikiki–the finest bathing beach in all the world. We climbed all the hills in the vicinity of Honolulu. We visited Diamond Head and its fortifications. We took a dip in the Kalihi swimming hole, and we explored the island from one end to the other.”
“Through the kindness of an American friend, we had at our disposal a summer cottage at Kaneohe, about twelve miles from Honolulu on the northern shore of the island. … It was situated on the beach of Kaneohe Bay.”
“At this ideal spot we spent many week-ends and, the whole time, we would go about clad in only a pair of trunks and devote the pleasant hours under the semi-tropical sun to swimming, boating and fishing.”
“Many a time since, I have longed for another few days’ stay at this little resort–to bathe in its sunshine and enjoy its outdoor pleasures undisturbed by the noise and bustle of civilisation. …”
“
We concluded that teaching stipends would never get us around the world. … We therefore decided to give up our schools and to rustle a more remunerative line of labour.”
“Hearing that the United States Navy Department needed inspectors for its operations in connection with the construction of the naval base at Pearl Harbour, about twelve miles from Honolulu, I wandered into the navy headquarters one morning and bluntly addressed the first man I saw.”
They studied for the exam to be inspectors, and passed the examination to obtain positions as sub-inspectors of dredging on the construction of the Pearl Harbour Naval Base.
Waiting for the job openings, they “decided to visit some of the other islands while awaiting developments. We wished to see Kilauea, the only active volcano in the Hawaiian archipelago, on the island of Hawaii, about one hundred and twenty-five miles south of Honolulu.”
“We also wished to see Haleakala, the largest extinct crater in the world on the island of Maui. We sailed on the S.S. Wilhelmina for Hawaii”.
“We landed at Hilo on the island of Hawaii early in the morning, and bought a third-class round-trip ticket for $1.60 to Glenwood, twenty-two miles distant. From Glenwood we walked the remaining nine miles to the Volcano House in two hours and fifteen minutes, rising two thousand feet and beating the stage by twenty minutes.”
“The road was a good thoroughfare through tropical forests of tree ferns, twenty feet in height; of ohia lehua, a tree belonging to the same family as the eucalyptus; koa or Hawaiian mahogany; wild bananas; papaia, water lemons, palms and wild roses.”
“On arriving at the Volcano House we had something to eat and then set out across the lava beds for three miles to Halemaumau–the active pit of the volcano–where we spent the night in a shack perched on its edge.
“It is extremely fascinating to sit on the edge of this pit and watch the incessant dashing and splashing of the glowing lava. It impressed even such homeless tramps as ourselves. …”
“The regular tourist rate from Honolulu to Kilauea is $59.50, which includes round-trip by boat, railroad fare from Hilo to Glenwood, stage charges to the Volcano House and board and room while there. Admitting that we missed a considerable degree of comfort, nevertheless, we saw all that the average tourist sees and at a cash outlay of only $2.10 each.”
They headed to Maui … “Huddled in the steerage of the Mauna Kea (one of the small steamers of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company) with a score of Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiians, we left Honolulu for McGregor’s Landing on the island of Maui to see the extinct volcano Haleakala.”
“The trip was a night’s journey and, as no sleeping accommodations are provided in the third-class of Hawaiian steamers, we bunked on the soft side of a coil of rope.”
“The ship arrived at McGregor’s Landing about five o’clock in the morning and we went ashore feeling anything but rested after a most wearisome night. We made a bargain with a Chinese hack driver to carry us to Kahului, eight miles across the island.”
“After breakfast we boarded a little narrow gauge train for Paia, a sugar plantation village a short distance up the coast on the slopes of Haleakala. We purchased a supply of provisions at the plantation store and were soon started on the twenty-mile climb to the top of the mountain.”
“Haleakala is just over ten thousand feet in elevation and the trail to the summit ascends on an average of five hundred feet to the mile. A trip up Haleakala proved to be far from a pleasure jaunt.”
“The first part of our walk from Paia past the huge sugar factory lay through the great cane fields of the Maui Agricultural Company, the second largest plantation in the Hawaiian Islands. The cane was being harvested and the Japanese cutters were as busy as bees all about us.”
“About ten o’clock we reached the four-thousand-foot level. The cane fields began to disappear and our path wound its way among banana farms and taro patches. …. The real climb began after midday.”
“We left fertile fields and were soon following the trail across the middle slopes of the mountain. There were few trees and the sun shone down from a cloudless sky. Our gait was easily under the speed limit, only about two miles an hour. It was a hard stony road over which we had to travel.”
“As we ascended the view began to widen out on every side. We could look back over the cane fields to the Pacific and see the breakers rolling ashore. Above us towered the mountain, the summit now and again lost in a fleecy cloud. We almost forgot the hardships of the climb with such a picture before us.”
“Although the ascent from Paia to the top can be made in a single day, we decided to break the journey about half way, spend the night and start out refreshed for the last stretch. We stopped at Idlewilde and put up in the summer home of a Kahului friend. We made an early start.”
[Apparently build as a rest house by Henry Perrine Baldwin, from 1901 until 1931, Worth Osbun Aiken (bookkeeper at Baldwin’s Haleakalā Ranch) ran a tour guide operation from the property called Idlewilde, located near the top of what is now referred to as Olinda Road. (DLNR)]
“The trail was plainly marked with guide posts, each tenth of a mile. Idlewilde is eight miles by trail from the summit and the ascent from this point is over five thousand feet – seven hundred to the mile. The first three or four miles were comparatively easy, for we were fresh and the footing was good.”
“About the fifth mile the real work began. The trail became steeper and steeper until it seemed straight up. We began to strike loose, volcanic dirt and sand. …._
“The high altitude made frequent stops necessary for breathing spells. Our progress was slow. The last three miles took over three hours. …”
“Suddenly the view of the great crater burst upon us. It is a sight I shall never forget. We had reached the top of the trail and were walking along a low wall of rock towards the mountain house.”
“We came to a break in the rock and in an instant Haleakala appeared before us. … In the morning we saw the greatest of all sunrises – a Haleakala Sunrise.”
After a few months in the Islands, they started to look “for passage to either Australia or the Orient … we decided to take the Asia to Yokohama. … We closed up our affairs in Honolulu, put our money into American Bankers’ Travelers’ checks, ate a few farewell meals, drank a few final toasts and were in readiness to depart.”
“The Royal Hawaiian Band played Aloha Oe, the ship got under way and we began the second leg of our trip with seven hundred dollars each in our pockets.”
He eventually “arrived home broke. [He] had been away three years, had circled the globe and had travelled over sixty thousand miles.” (Alfred CB Fletcher)
