Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Haleʻakala

Orphaned when young and with only an 8th grade education, Charles Reed Bishop arrived in the Islands on October 12, 1846 and became an astute financial businessman, and one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom from banking, agriculture, real estate and other investments.

In early 1847, Bishop met Bernice Pauahi Paki (she was still a student at the Chiefs’ Children’s School;) despite the opposition of Pauahi’s parents who wanted her to marry Lot Kapuaiwa (later, Kamehameha V,) Bishop courted and married Pauahi in 1850.

For the first few months of their marriage, Pauahi and Charles lived in homes of Judge Lorrin Andrews, first in his downtown residence, and later in a cottage in upper Nuʻuanu Valley, opposite the site of the present Maunaʻala (Royal Mausoleum.)

Like many Hawaiian homes of the time, this one had a name, Wananakoa, for the grove of koa trees in the yard. This was only temporary – they were building a home on property Bishop bought on the Diamond Head/Mauka corner of Hotel and Alakea Streets.

Meanwhile, Pauahi’s father, Paki, had completed the construction of his new residence on King Street (between Fort and Alakea.) (Bishop Street had not been built, yet, the property would be on the ʻEwa/Mauka corner of what is now Bishop and King Streets.)

This new home replaced Paki’s prior modest, thatched-roof home he called ʻAikupika (‘Egypt’) that had been on the same piece of property. (ʻAikupika is where Pauahi was born.)

The name Paki gave his new home has been translated by some as ‘House of the Sun’ or Haleakala, but he probably meant it to be Haleʻakala or the ‘Pink House,’ after the color of the stone used in its construction. (Kanahele)

By the standards of the day, Haleʻakala was a splendid structure that was probably the equal of any of the better homes and gardens in town.

It was a large two-story stone-and-frame building with lanai (porches), supported by pillars on both first and second floors, extending around at least three sides of the house. Its extensive gardens combined shrubbery, flowers and trees and included the special tamarind tree planted at Pauahi’s birth.

Clarice B Taylor stated that he really built the house “hoping Pauahi would marry Prince Lot and make her home with her parents.” It was bigger than he and his wife needed; Paki had sold his lands at Mākaha to raise the money for its construction. (Kanahele)

Paki and his wife Laura Konia raised Pauahi there. When Liliʻuokalani was born, she was hanai (adopted) to Paki and Konia. The two girls attended the Chief’s Children’s School (Royal School,) a boarding school, together, and were known for their studious demeanor.

The history of the home goes beyond the Paki family living quarters; some other interesting bits of Hawaiian history happened here.

Liliʻuokalani and John Dominis were married at Haleʻakala, “I was engaged to Mr Dominis for about two years and it was our intention to be married on the second day of September, 1862. … our wedding was delayed at the request of the king, Kamehameha IV, to the sixteenth of that month”.

“It was celebrated at the residence of Mr and Mrs Bishop, in the house which had been erected by my father, Paki, and which … is still one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu.”

“To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city. My husband took me at once to the estate known as Washington Place, which had been built by his father, and which is still my private residence.” (Queen Liliʻuokalani)

“There was a Baptism at the Residence of the Honorable CR Bishop, “Haleʻakala;” baptized was the child of the honorable (Princess Ruth) Keʻelikolani and JY Davis, and he was called, “Keolaokalani Paki Bihopa.”

The Honorable CR Bishop and Pauahi were those who bestowed the name, and Rev C Corwin is the one who performed the baptism.” (Hoku o ka Pakipika, February 2, 1863) (Keolaokalani was hanai to Pauahi; unfortunately, he died later that year.)

Duke Kahanamoku was born at Haleʻakala on August 24, 1890. (With respect to his name “Duke,” he was named after his father. The elder Kahanamoku was born during the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to the islands in 1869 and was named after him.)

Haleʻakala was converted to Arlington Hotel.

On the afternoon of January 16, 1893, 162 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore. The property that Liliʻuokalani was raised in (Haleʻakala) served as ‘Camp Boston,’ the headquarters for the USS Boston’s landing force at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 17, 1893.

In 1901, Honolulu had three high-class hotels, the Hawaiian Hotel (in downtown Honolulu, now the State Art Museum on Hotel Street,) the Arlington Hotel and the Moana Hotel (in Waikiki.)

“The Arlington Hotel has, for its principal building, a house once occupied by a Hawaiian princess, by whose estate it is now leased to the hotel proprietor (Thomas E Krouse.”) (Chipman, 1901) Krouse, unfortunately, committed suicide at the Arlington the next year.

“A Mrs Dudoit ran the place for a while as a boarding house, and she was followed by a Mr Hamilton Johnson. Both these houses were, however, on a small scale. Just seven and a half years ago it became known as the Arlington, six cottages were attached, the aviary and the cages of animals so familiar to us all were added.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

“The place was maintained as a chief’s residence for many years. It can only have been turned to other uses during the past fifteen years at the outside. Mrs Bernice Pauahi Bishop left the estate to her husband, who turned the property over to the Kamehameha estates.” (Sereno Bishop; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

“(Haleʻakala) has a most unique and interesting history. It is one of the most historic spots in all Honolulu, embracing as it does the scenes of joyousness under royalty, through the stirring days of ’93 … the pettinesses of a boarding house and down to the present day as the Arlington Hotel.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

“The estate which had been so dear to us both in my childhood, the house built by my father, Paki, where I had lived as a girl, which was connected with many happy memories of my early life, from whence I had been married to Governor Dominis,”

“I could not help feeling ought to have been left to me. … This wish of my heart was not gratified, and at the present day strangers stroll through the grounds or lounge on the piazzas of that home once so dear to me.” (Liliʻuokalani)

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Kahanamoku – Weissmuller – Crabbe

There is evidence, particularly archaeological evidence which suggests that what we deem as modern swimming has been practiced from as early as 2500 BC in Egypt and thereafter in Assyrian, Roman and Greek civilizations. Swimming was often a part of martial training in the Greek and Roman civilizations in order to help with strength and overall fitness.

During the 1st Century BCE, Gaius Maecenas a Roman diplomat and counsellor to the Roman emperor Augustus built the first known heated swimming pool.  As for swimming in Europe and the UK, it wasn’t really practiced until around the late 17th century for Europe and around 1830 in the UK. (SwimmingNature)

Swimming started its sporting journey in the mid-19th century, when the world’s first swimming organization was formed in London in 1837. Inevitably, things soon became competitive, and, in 1846, the first swimming championship was held in Australia. (Olympics-com)

The breaststroke is believed to be the oldest stroke and the first to be swum competitively. Breaststroke looked relatively similar to what we see in pools today: A wide, sweeping pull with the arms at the same time, followed by a ‘frog kick’ with both legs simultaneously. Between strokes, swimmers would glide for a few beats before their next pull.

The breaststroke is believed to be the oldest stroke and the first to be swum competitively. Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim across the English Channel – from Dover to Calais – swimming the breaststroke for 21 hours 45 minutes without stopping on August 24-25, 1875.

The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. Swimming is “one of only four disciplines to have been retained, appearing in every summer Olympics since [the first Olympic Games] – the others being athletics, artistic gymnastics and fencing.”

The first Olympics introduced some strange races into the lineup, as it was purely an experimental event to begin with. For example, the 100m free for sailors was strictly for members of the Greek Navy, and all of the races were held in open water. (Swimming World)

By the late 1890s, Australian swimmers of the British Empire began experimenting with the earliest version of the crawl stroke. Charles Daniels is credited with perfecting the modern freestyle stroke. (pbs)

This freestyle stroke was evolving painfully in the western world until Duke Kahanamoku swam out of the Hawaiian Islands with it in 1911.  His world record times no one would believe. (International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF))

Until 1912, only male swimmers were allowed to compete in the Olympics. It was not until the 1912 Stockholm Olympics that women were able to compete, and even when they were finally allowed in the water, they were only given two events in which to compete—the 100 free and 400 free relay.

“There was — and arguably still is — no greater icon in the sport of swimming than Duke Paoa Kahanamoku. He was the most successful athlete of his time and the harbinger of Hawai‘i’s Golden Age of Swimming.”  (Checkoway)

Duke Kahanamoku earned his living as a beachboy and stevedore at the Honolulu Harbor docks. Growing up on the beach in Waikiki, Duke surfed with his brothers and entertained tourists with tandem rides.

By the time that Kahanamoku burst upon the world scene in 1911 (at the age of 21,) shattering American and world records in the one hundred and fifty yard freestyle swimming races at an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) sanctioned meet in Honolulu Harbor, sport had become a tool of nationalism used by countries around the world to demonstrate modern manliness and vigor.  (Nendel)

Duke later won an Olympic gold medal in 1912 – a feat he repeated eight years later at the age of 30. In 1924, he won the silver.  Overall, he won five medals at the various Olympic Games.

For The Record:  Olympic Games: 1912 gold (100m freestyle), silver (4x200m freestyle relay); 1920 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay), 4th (water polo); 1924 silver (100m freestyle); 1932 team member (water polo); World Records: freestyle.

In the 1924 Olympics, Kahanamoku raced against Johnny Weissmuller.  Barely 20 years old, Johnny Weissmuller was favored against 34-year-old Duke Kahanamoku. Both were tall, lean and strong, with large hands and feet. And both were faster than any swimmers the world had yet seen. (Smithsonian)

Just before the race began, pointing at the awards podium, Duke told Weissmuller: “Hey, the most important thing in this race is to get the American flag up there three times. Let’s do it”. (Sports Gazette) Weissmuller nodded his agreement. Weissmuller finished 2.4 seconds ahead of Kahanamoku; Kahanamoku’s younger brother Sam took the bronze medal.  (Smithsonian)

The 1932 Olympic Games were held in the middle of the Great Depression and, given the transport links of the time, in the relatively remote region of California. Consequently, participation in the Games was the lowest since 1904, with only half as many athletes taking part as had in 1928. Despite this, the standard of competition was excellent. (Olympics-com)

Clarence Linden ‘Buster’ Crabbe II, who was not a native Hawaiian but who lived in the Territory, won Olympic gold in the 400-​meter freestyle in Los Angeles in 1932, and two island brothers named Maiola and Manuela Kalili grabbed silvers at the same Games in the 4×200-​meter relay. (Checkoway)

Buster Crabbe moved to Hawaii as a 2-year-old when his father took a job as an overseer on a pineapple plantation. At Punahou he was a three-year letterman in swimming and captain of the 1927 swimming team.

While in college at USC from 1928 to 1932 he was the AAU National Indoor and Outdoor Champion, domination every freestyle event in excess of 200 yards. (Punahou)

Kahanamoku was a legend in his own right – swimmers Weissmuller and Crabbe went on to portray legends.  Johnny Weissmuller was swimming’s first superstar by winning five Olympic gold medals and set 28 world records.

After his Olympic swimming experiences, Kahanamoku played in four decades of intermittent bit-part acting in Hollywood films.  Though he was never able to escape typecasting or achieve Hollywood stardom, you can still spot him in small roles in 13 Hollywood films. (pbs)

After his swimming career, Weissmuller became a movie star. Cast as ‘Tarzan the Ape Man’, he starred in 12 films and became the actor most commonly identified with the character.  (Olympics-com)

After the Olympics, Crabbe was signed by Paramount Studios, who were looking for a rival to Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan at MGM. The first of Crabbe’s 175 movies was ‘King of the Jungle’ in which he played the role of Kasta, the Lion Man.

Although Crabbe played Tarzan only once, as the star of (B) movies he was never short of work, playing the title role in Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers films in addition to appearing in 65 westerns. (Olympics-com)

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Selective Service

June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungary’s throne, and his wife, Sophie, were visiting Sarajevo; Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated the couple.  A month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

Within days, other countries got into the fray, including, Germany, Russia, France and United Kingdom; US President Woodrow Wilson announced the US would remain neutral.

Long before the US entered the war a number of men from Hawaiʻi had entered the Army and Navy.  The preparedness movement of 1915 and 1916 and the creation of Army units stimulated the enlistments.  When the US was actually in the war, the local interest increased.

“By a curious irony, the very first men who left Hawaiʻi for the battlefields of Europe were a couple of German reservists who sailed from Honolulu during the first week of August, 1914, but were captured by the British before they got across the Atlantic.”  (Kuykendall)

On April 6, 1917, two days after the US Senate voted 82 to 6 to declare war against Germany, the US House of Representatives endorsed the decision by a vote of 373 to 50, and the US formally entered the First World War.

At the time, the US Army was comparatively small.  On May 18, 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed authorizing the President to increase temporarily the military establishment of the US. The Selective Service System was responsible for the process of selecting men for induction into the military service, from the initial registration to the actual delivery of men to military training camps.

It was a “supervised decentralization.” Folks in Washington were responsible for formulating policy; Governors of the 48 states, the District of Columbia and the territories of Alaska, Hawaiʻi and Puerto Rico managed the operation of drafting men for military service.

Local boards were established for each county or similar subdivision in each state, and for each 30,000 persons (approximately) in each city or county with a population over 30,000.

4,648 local draft boards were spread across the country; they were responsible for registering men, classifying them, taking into consideration needs for manpower in certain industries and in agriculture, as well as other deferments, determining the order in which registrants would be called, calling registrants and getting them to training centers.

There were three registrations. The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 31. The second, on June 5, 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after June 5, 1917.

A supplemental registration was held on August 24, 1918, for those becoming 21 years old after June 5, 1918. This was included in the second registration. The third registration was held on September 12, 1918, for men age 18 through 45. (archives-gov)

The operation of the Selective Service System in Hawaiʻi was different from its operation throughout the rest of the country.  First of all, Hawaiʻi was not required to furnish any men for the first draft in 1917.  For subsequent calls, Hawaiʻi adopted its own process.  (Kuykendall)

The order numbers for Hawaiʻi’s registrants were not determined by the drawings held in Washington, but by special drawings held in Honolulu.

For Hawaiʻi, President Wilson, on recommendation of Governor Pinkham, named July 31, 1917 as Registration Day, and on that day all men in the territory between the ages of 21 and 30, both inclusive, except members of the National Guard and those in regular service, were required to appear at their draft board.

In order to insure a complete registration, an extensive publicity campaign was carried on. The President’s proclamation was translated into Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Hawaiian and the three Filipino dialects of Visayan, Ilocano, and Tagalog.

At the close of the day it was found that 26,335 men had registered in the six districts of the territory. With the addition of late registrants (including National Guardsmen, who were not at first required to register) the number amounted to more than 27,000. (July 31, 1917)

The first number, 16, was drawn by Governor Pinkham shortly before 9 o’clock in the morning. This meant that the six men in Hawaiʻi having the serial number 16 would be the first called for service in this territory, unless they were exempted. The drawing was then continued by Boy Scouts in relays.  (For Hawaiʻi’s second call (July 31, 1918,) the number who registered was less than 2,500.)

Over twenty-four million American men registered for the draft for the First World War in 1917 and 1918.   (In 1918, the Supreme Court ruled that the World War I draft did not violate the United States Constitution in the Selective Draft Law Cases. The Court summarized the history of conscription in England and in colonial America, noting the Framers envisioned compulsory military service as a governmental power.)

Over 10,000 men and women from the Territory of Hawaiʻi served in “the Great War,” “The war to end all wars.”

OK, other than a slight modification in the selective service selection process, that’s pretty straight forward; was there any other quirk in the Hawaiʻi process?

Well, yes.

In reviewing World War I service records, one of the categories on the standard form is “Race: White or Colored”.  It seems that some Hawaiians who served in WWI were noted as “Hawaiian;” however, there are others who were identified as “White” on their service cards.

In reviewing some Hawaiian sounding surnames, such as Kaai – some of the men with last names Kaai were noted as “Hawaiian” on their service records, while others were labeled “White.”  (Check out the album images.)

A notable Hawaiian surname is Kahanamoku; however, Duke didn’t serve in the military in WWI (reportedly, he served training Red Cross volunteers in water lifesaving techniques and toured the nation with other American aquatic champions to raise funds for the Red Cross.)

But, Duke’s younger brother, David, did.  David’s WWI military service card notes his race as “White.” (Hawaiʻi State Archives.)  (Lots of information here from US Archives, Hawaiʻi Archives and Kuykendall.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Royal Hawaiian Hotel

The first Royal Hawaiian Hotel was not in Waikīkī.  It was in downtown Honolulu where the “One Capitol District” building now stands.  By the 1900s, the Royal Hawaiian lost its guests to the newer Alexander Young hotel a few blocks away.

The downtown Royal Hawaiian was converted to a YMCA building in 1917.  The building was demolished in 1926, and a new YMCA in a similar style was built in its place.

For centuries, Helumoa in Waikīkī was the home to Hawaiʻi’s royalty.  Portions of this area would eventually become the home to the new Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

In the 1890s, the property was leased as a seaside annex to the downtown Royal Hawaiian Hotel located at Richards and Hotel streets.

In 1907, the Seaside Hotel opened on the property, and was later acquired by Alexander Young’s Territorial Hotel Company, which operated the Alexander Young hotel in downtown Honolulu.

In 1924, the Seaside Hotel’s lease of the land at Helumoa was soon to expire and the land’s owners (Bishop Estate) put out a request for proposals to build a hotel.

This was the time before flight; Matson Navigation Co. had luxury ocean liners bringing wealthy tourists to Hawaii – but, they needed a hotel equally lavish to accommodate their passengers at Waikīkī (at that time, the 650 passengers arriving in Honolulu every two weeks were typically staying at Hawaiʻi’s two largest hotels, the Alexander Hotel and the Moana.)

The availability of the Waikīkī land began putting wheels into motion.  A new hotel was planned and conceived as a luxurious resort for Matson passengers, the brainchild of Ed Tenney (who headed the “big five” firm of Castle and Cooke and Matson Navigation) and Matson manager William Roth (son-in-law to William Matson founder of Matson Navigation.)

Castle & Cooke, Matson Navigation and the Territorial Hotel Company successfully proposed a plan to build a luxury hotel, The Royal Hawaiian, with 400 rooms on the 15-acre parcel of Waikiki beach to be leased from Bishop Estate.

The ground-breaking ceremony took place on July 26, 1925.  However, the official building permits were delayed while city officials changed the building code to allow increased building heights.  After $4 million and 18 months, the resort was completed.

On February 1, 1927, the Royal Hawaiian (nicknamed The Pink Palace) was officially opened with the gala event of the decade.  At the same time, and associated with the hotel, the Territorial Hotel Co opened the Waiʻalae Golf Course.

Duke Kahanamoku, the legendary Olympic swimmer and surfer, frequented the Royal Hawaiian Hotel restaurants and private beachfront. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel became a favorite stomping ground for Kahanamoku’s famed group, dubbed the “Waikiki Beach Boys”.

Over the following decades, the Royal Hawaiian was THE place to stay and the Pink Palace hosted world celebrities, financiers, heads of state and the elite from around the world.

World War II, with its associated martial law and blackout measures, meant significant changes at the Royal Hawaiian.  In January of 1942, the U.S. Navy signed a lease with the Royal Hawaiian to use the facilities as a rest and relaxation center for officers and enlisted personnel serving in the Pacific.

During the war, over 200,000 men stayed at the Royal Hawaiian. Each day as many as 5,500 service-related visitors (most of who were not staying at the hotel) passed through the front gates to enjoy the beach or social activities.

At the conclusion of World War II, the hotel was given a makeover to restore her to the level of luxury her guests would expect.

ITT Sheraton purchased The Royal Hawaiian from Matson in June 1959.  The Royal Tower Wing was added to the existing structure in 1969.  The resort was sold in 1974 to Kyo-ya Company, Ltd., with Starwood Hotels & Resorts operating it under a long-term management contract.

In 2008, the Royal Hawaiian again underwent significant renovation (to the tune of $85-million) and held its official grand reopening on March 7, 2009.  The Tower section was renovated yet again in November 2010 and reopened as The Royal Beach Tower with upgraded rooms.

Why the color pink?  Bob Krauss once reported that the Royal Hawaiian’s pink color is due to the typically pink-painted homes in Lisbon, Portugal.

Friends of William Roth (Kimo and Sarah Wilder) had visited Lisbon and upon returning repainted their home pink with blue-green shutters.  Roth commented, “I love what you’ve done to your house. Can I paint my hotel the same color?”

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The Thelma

Clifford Carlton “Gavvy” “Cactus” Cravath (March 23, 1881 – May 23, 1963,) was an American right fielder and right-handed batter in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the seven years from 1913 to 1920 he led the National League in home runs six times, in runs batted in, total bases and slugging average twice each, and in hits, runs and walks once each.  Cravath had part-ownership in a 40-foot boat, the Thelma.

On June 14, 1925, the Thelma was leaving Newport Harbor with 17-people, going out for a fishing expedition.

“The fishing party, including high school boys, left early and found a smooth sea until within 150 feet of the Jetty, Bland (the skipper) testified, when one wave turned the craft sideways. The boat rode the second, but the third, said to be at least 20 feet high, crashed over the boat.” (San Bernardino County Sun, June 15, 1925)

“When she neared the end of the breakwater a large wave smashed the engine room hatch, disabling the motor. Another wave, closely following, carried away part of the rigging, leaving the craft overturned, but another wave righted it.”  (San Bernardino County Sun, June 15, 1925)

“Big green walls of water were sliding in from the horizon, building up to bar like heights, then curling and crashing on the shore.  Only a porpoise, a shark or a sea lion (ought) to be out there.”

Some surfers were nearby; one had his board with him the others ran for theirs.  What follows is a recounting of the events that followed.

“It was obvious that the Thelma had capsized and thrown her passengers into the boiling sea.  Neither I nor my pals were thinking heroics; we were simply sunning – me with a board, and the others to get their boards – hoping we could save lives.”

“I hit the water hard and flat with all the forward thrust I could generate, for those bobbing heads in the water could not remain long above the surface of that churning surge.”

“Fully clothed persons have little chance in a wild sea like that, and even the several who were clinging to the slick hull of the overturned boat could not last long under the pounding.”

“It was some surf to try and push through! But I gave it all I had, paddling until my arms begged for mercy. I fought each towering breaker that threatened to heave me clear back onto the beach, and some of the combers almost creamed me for good.”

“I hoped my pals were already running toward the surf with their boards. Help would be at a premium. Don’t ask me how I made it, for it was just one long nightmare of trying to shove through what looked like a low Niagara Falls.”

“The waves were pounding so furiously that when a breaker came in, he had to scramble beneath the board and hold on with all fours as the waves broke over him. Fighting his way out, he came upon the havoc of the sinking boat and began grabbing its occupants and shoving them onto the board, begging them to hold on.”  (Sports Illustrated)

“The prospects for picking up victims looked impossible. Arm-weary, I got into that area of screaming, gagging victims, and began grabbing at frantic hands, thrashing legs.”

“I didn’t know what was going on with my friends and their boards. All I was sure of was that I brought one victim in on my board, then two on another trip, possibly three on another – then back to one.”

“It was a delirious shuttle system working itself out. In a matter of a few minutes, all of us were making rescues. Some victims we could not save at all, for they went under before we could get to them.”

“We lost count of the number of trips we made out to that tangle of drowning people. All we were sure of was that on each return trip we had a panicked passenger or two on our boards. Without the boards we would probably not have been able to rescue a single person.”   (as quoted by Burnett and HawaiianSwimBoat))

After the ordeal, 5 had died, 12 were saved (8 were saved by the primary rescuer.)

“At an inquest held at the Smith & Tuthill parlors at Santa Ana yesterday afternoon the Jury brought in a verdict of ‘unavoidable accident’ and thus absolved Bland, a cigar store owner and pilot of the craft, from blame.”  (San Bernardino County Sun, June 15, 1925)

The primary rescuer, known to many, received a hero’s welcome.

The Los Angeles Times reportedly noted, “His role on the beach that day was more dramatic than the scores he played in four decades of intermittent bit-part acting in Hollywood films. For one thing, that day he was the star.”

The Hawaiian Society of Los Angeles presented a medal of heroism on September 25, 1925.  On Christmas Day 1925, the Los Angeles Athletic Club honored him with a gold watch.

Several decades later (1957,) three of the survivors thanked him in person before a national television audience of ‘This is Your Life.’

The humble hero, Duke Kahanamoku, reportedly simply replied, “That’s okay.”

This is Your Life – Duke Kahanamoku
https://archive.org/details/this_is_your_life_duke_kahanamoku

The Newport Beach, Calif., chief of police was quoted in the newspapers as saying, “Kahanamoku’s performance was the most superhuman rescue act and the finest display of surfboard riding that has ever been seen in the world.”  (Sports Illustrated)

In addition to Duke, rescuers included Antar Deraga, captain of the Newport lifeguards; Charles Plummer, lifeguard; Thomas Sheffield, captain of the Corona del Mar Swimming Club; Gerard Vultee, William Herig and Owen Hale.

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