Hawaii | Page 191 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 24, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chiefs in the 1820s

“The houses of the chiefs are generally large, for the kind of building, – from forty to sixty feet in length, twenty or twenty-five in breadth, and eighteen or twenty in height at the peak of the roof.”

“The sides and ends, as well as the roof, are of thatch, and the whole in one apartment. They are generally without windows, or any opening for light or air, except a wide door in the middle of a side or end.”

“In the back part of the house, the personal property and moveables, such as trunks, boxes, calabashes and dishes for water, food, &c. are deposited; while the mats for sitting, lounging, and sleeping are spread near the door.”

“Every chief has from thirty to fifty and an hundred personal attendants, friends and servants, attached to his establishment; who always live and move with him, and share in the provisions of his house.”

“All these, except the bosom friends, or punahele, have different offices and duties: – one is a pipe lighter, another a spittoon carrier, a third a kahile bearer, &c. Others with their families, prepare, cook, and serve the food, &c.”

“All the former, from the bosom friend, or punahele, to the pipe lighter, eat from the same dishes and calabashes with their master; and form, at their meals, a most uncouth and motley group.”

“In every respect indeed, as well as in that of eating, the household servants of the whole company of chiefs, from the king to the petty headman of a village, seem to enjoy a perpetual saturnalia.”

“The formation of this establishment takes place immediately on the birth of a chief, whether male or female. A kahu or nurse is appointed, who assumes all the care of the parent, and directs the affairs of the child, till he is old enough to exercise a will of his own.”

“Thus, often, very little intercourse takes place between the parents themselves, and the young chief; the former not unfrequently residing at a different district, or on a different island.”

“The present prince and princess, who are both children, have each separate houses, and a large train of attendants: and though their guardians of state reside near them, they are left very much to their own will, or to that of their kahus or nurses.”

“I have seen a young chief, apparently not three years old, walking the streets of Honoruru as naked as when born, (with the exception of a pair of green morocco shoes on his feet,) followed by ten or twelve stout men, and as many boys, carrying umbrellas, and kahiles, and spitboxes, and fans, and the various trappings of chieftainship.”

“The young noble was evidently under no controul but his own will, and enjoyed already the privileges of his birth, in choosing his own path, and doing whatever he pleased.”

“This portion of the inhabitants spend their lives principally in eating and drinking, lounging and sleeping; in the sports of the surf, and the various games of the country; at cards, which have long been introduced …”

“… in hearing the songs of the musicians, a kind of recitation accompanied by much action; and in witnessing the performances of the dancers.”

“They are not, however, wholly given to idleness and pleasure. It is customary for the male chiefs to superintend, in a degree, any work in which their own vassals, at the place where they are residing, are engaged, whether of agriculture or manufacture …”

“… and the female chiefs, also, overlook their women in their appropriate occupations, and not unfrequently assist them with their own hands.”

“A great change appears about to take place among the chiefs, in the general manner of employing time. The palapala and the pule, letters and religion, as presented by the Missionaries, are happily beginning deeply to interest their minds …”

“… and books and slates, I doubt not, will, as is the fact already, in individual cases, soon universally take the place of cards and games, and every amusement of dissipation.”

These general and desultory remarks will give you, my dear M-, some idea of the external character and state of the nobler part of the nation, for whose benefit H – and myself have sacrificed the innumerable enjoyments of home.”

“As to their qualities of heart and mind, they in general appear to be as mild and amiable in disposition, and as sprightly and active in intellect, as the inhabitants of our own country.”

“Ignorance, superstition, and sin, make all the difference we observe: and though that difference is at present fearful indeed, still we believe, that, with the removal of its causes, it will be entirely done away.”

“Notwithstanding the dreadful abominations daily taking place around us, drunkenness and adultery, gambling and theft, deceit, treachery, and death, all of which exist throughout the land to an almost incredible degree …”

“… such has already been the success attending the efforts at reformation, made in the very infancy of the Mission, that we are encouraged by every day’s observance, with fresh zeal to dedicate ourselves to the work of rescue and salvation.”

“No pagan nation on earth can be better prepared for the labour of the Christian Missionary; and no herald of the cross could desire a more privileged and delightful task …”

“… than to take this people by the outstretched and beckoning hand, and lead their bewildered feet into paths of light and life, of purity and peace …”

“… nor a greater happiness than to be the instrument of guiding, not only the generation now living, in the right way, but of rescuing from wretchedness and spiritual death, millions of the generations yet unborn, who are here to live, and here to die, before the angel ‘shall lift up his hand to heaven, and swear that there shall be time no longer!’” (The entire text, here, is from CS Stewart.)

Alphonse_Pellion,_Îles_Sandwich;_Maisons_de_Kraïmokou,_Premier_Ministre_du_Roi;_Fabrication_des_Étoffes_(c._1819)

May 22, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaluanui

Henry (Harry) Alexander Baldwin, eldest son of Henry Perrine Baldwin and grandson of missionary Dwight Baldwin, was born in Pāʻia, Maui on January 12, 1871.

Baldwin was educated in Honolulu at Punahou School. His parents later sent him to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts from which he graduated in 1889. In 1894, Baldwin obtained a degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He returned to work for his father and uncle on the Haiku sugarcane plantation; from 1897 to 1904 he became manager. In addition to extensive business interests (including Baldwin Bank, Haleakala Ranch Co, Maui Agricultural Co, Grove Ranch, Kahoʻolawe Ranch, Maui Telephone Co, and Maui Publishing Co,) Harry dabbled in politics. He was elected to represent Maui in the territorial senate and served several terms.

Then, in 1922, following the death of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (Hawaiʻi’s congressman,) Baldwin was elected to the sixty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy and Kūhiō’s unexpired term (Baldwin declined to be a candidate for a subsequent term.)

He resumed his former business pursuits and later got back into politics, first as a State representative in 1933 and then member of the Hawaii senate 1934-1937, serving as president during the 1937 session.

Harry married Ethel Frances Smith (1879–1967), daughter of lawyer William Owen Smith in Honolulu — Harry’s younger brother Samuel later married Ethel’s sister Katherine Smith. Harry and Ethel had one daughter, Frances Hobron (1904–1996,) who married J Walter Cameron (1895–1976.)

In 1917, Harry and Ethel Baldwin had a home designed (by a relative, architect CW Dickey) and built in 1917 – the property was known as “Kaluanui.”

Horses were Harry’s passion, and riding was his respite. He kept a private stable at Kaluanui; occasionally, racing some of his favorites at the Maui County Fair and joining his brothers on the polo field, beginning a Baldwin Family tradition that continues today.

Baldwin Beach Park is named after Harry A Baldwin. The park was originally developed as a company recreation facility by Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company, but in 1963 it became a public beach park. (Clark)

Back in 1850, Robert Wood and AH Spencer started East Maui Plantation at Kaluanui. It was eventually bought by C Brewer & Co and closed in 1885. The land sold to Haiku Sugar Co. It became part of the Maui Agriculture Co and later Maui Land & Pineapple Co (run by son-in-law J Walter Cameron and grandson Colin.)

In 1934, Ethel Baldwin, a community leader, founded the Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Society. She invited artists from around the world to stay at Kaluanui in exchange for art lessons that she and her friends attended.

When the family stopped using Kaluanui as a home in the 1950s, the estate became the property of Maui Land & Pineapple Company.

In 1976, Maui Land & Pine granted the Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Society use of Kaluanui property for a school of the visual arts. It has since under gone extensive historic restoration and repair. In June 2005, the Hui purchased the 25-acre property from Maui Land & Pine.

The Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center is a non-profit organization that now owns the Kaluanui property and supports lifelong learning in the arts including public workshops and classes, lectures, exhibitions, art events, historical tours and educational outreach programs. The “Hui” has been a gathering place for some of the greatest artistic minds contributing to Maui arts and culture.

The art studios at Hui Noʻeau offer year-round access to fine art equipment and technical supervision for all who choose to participate. The exhibition program and galleries of Hui Noʻeau play an important role in Maui’s growing art community, showing work from on and off island artists.

The unique gallery shop features the work of Hui Noʻeau member artists and a wide variety of handcrafted items, books, jewelry, cards, posters and prints.

The organization offers classes in printmaking, pottery, woodcarving and other visual arts. Folks are welcome to visit the gallery, which exhibits topnotch local artists, and walk around the grounds, which include stables turned into art studios. The gift shop sells quality ceramics, glassware and original prints.

The Hui provides an array of programs that support lifelong learning in the visual arts including public workshops and classes, free lecture series, monthly exhibitions, art events, historical house tours and educational outreach programs with schools and community partner organizations.

Harry Baldwin died at Pāʻia, Maui County, Hawaii, October 8, 1946, Ethel Baldwin died September 20, 1967 they are buried in Makawao Cemetery, Makawao, Hawaiʻi.

May 21, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Haraguchi Rice Mill

The Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society was formed in 1850 to develop Hawaiʻi’s agricultural resources. It was then that rice made its mark in the Hawaiʻi economy. The group purchased land in the Nuʻuanu Valley and rice seed from China and planted in a former taro patch.

At first the Society offered the rice seed to anyone in Hawaiʻi who wanted to plant it. King Kamehameha IV also offered land grants for cultivation of rice. Because there were no proper milling facilities in Hawaiʻi, it didn’t take off as a viable crop right away.

Then, in 1860, imported rice seed from South Carolina proved very successful and yielded a fair amount of crop. This, combined with the collapse of the taro industry in 1861-1862 (as the Hawaiian population declined, the demand for taro also declined,) added value to the numerous vacant taro patches and a boom in the rice industry.

In 1899, Hawaiʻi’s rice production had expanded so that it placed third in production of rice behind Louisiana and South Carolina.

The Agricultural Extension Service of the University of Hawaiʻi encouraged rice production, primarily in Hanalei. As a result the acreage planted in rice on the island rose from 759 acres in 1933 to 1,058 in 1934.

For areas like Hanalei Valley, such efforts, coupled with the valley’s general remoteness and absence of competing demands for the land, allowed rice cultivation to continue as a regional activity.

The Hanalei Valley of Kauaʻi led all other single geographic units in the amount of acreage planted in rice. The valley was one of the first areas converted to this use and continued to produce well into the 1960s.

The Commercial Pacific Advertiser noted on October 3, 1861, “Everybody and his wife (including defunct government employees) are into rice – sugar is nowhere and cotton is no longer king. Taro patches are held at fabulous valuations, and among the thoughtful the query is being propounded, where is our taro to come from?”

When the Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaiʻi, their tastes preferred a shorter grain rice than the Chinese long-grain variety. With the decline of the Chinese population and increase in the Japanese population, more of the Japanese rice was being imported from Japan.

As the Japanese left the plantations, they started their own farms and cultivated their own staple rice.

It was at Hanalei where some Chinese built a rice processing facility; it as later purchased by the Haraguchi family in 1924. At one time, the Haraguchis cultivated about 75-acres in Hanalei Valley.

Fire destroyed the original wooden mill in March of 1930; a new mill consisted of a 3-foot thick concrete foundation with corrugated iron for its roof and siding. Interior spaces included engine room, milling area, and storage area for both finished and unprocessed rice.

This main engine operated all the mill machinery by turning a main shaft that connected all the other machines by a pulley system. The rice in a pit would be delivered up by cups on a belt located on a “triple chute” system. One chute served the belts going downward, another chute for the belts returning upwards and a third to suck the dust up which traveled to the blower.

The cups carried the rice over the wall onto another chute and into the strainer. This strainer would shake the rice and separate any rubbish or stones to prevent it from entering the husking machines. From the strainer, the rice would proceed to the first husker that removed part of the husk.

About 80% of the husks would be removed by this husker. The husks would travel up the air ‘chute to the blower which blew the husks out the back of the mill into a ditch that carried the husks into the river.

The partly husked rice would exit the first husker and was taken up a chute by belted cups and dropped onto another chute into the second husker. The second husker would remove the rest of the husks and the grains would continue up another “triple chute” which would carry it up and over into the polishing machine.

The fine dust from the second husker was collected in a basket under the machine and also taken up the chute into the blower. Cowhide was used to polish the rice which prevented the grains from cracking which ensured high quality rice. The rice would exit the polisher and taken up another chute to the grader.

The grading machine constantly shook to move the rice to the three different grades of rice. The whole grain would bypass the grading holes and a trowel was used to push the rice onto a small trough into the rice bag which hung at the end of the funnel. From there the bags were scaled, sewn by hand and then stacked.

Despite the competition from the California grown rice, the Japanese farmers continued to produce on a smaller scale than the Chinese farmers. By the early 1950s there were about 50 growers cultivating 170 acres of rice on Kauaʻi. Hanalei Valley held 90 acres, 48 acres in Wailua and the rest was split between Hanapepe and Waimea valleys.

In addition to the staple rice, “mochi rice,” used for traditional Japanese cake on New Year’s and other special occasions, was grown.

The mochi rice from Hanalei Valley was noted for its quality throughout the Islands. It was largely a luxury crop and most of it was consumed in the Islands; about 200-bags were shipped to the Mainland.

Some mochi rice was imported from the Mainland but local buyers preferred the local crop since it was said to produce a larger yield of mochi per pound.

In 1959, Hurricane Dot left the mill intact except for an air vent at the roof peak that was torn off and not replaced. The mill ceased operating in 1960 when Kaua`i’s rice industry collapsed. Hurricane Iwa on November 23, 1982 toppled 85% of the building onto the machinery; then came Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

The Haraguchi Rice Mill was the last mill to operate in Hanalei Valley and the only remaining rice mill in the State of Hawaiʻi. A nonprofit organization was formed to preserve and interpret the mill; the organization is guided by an unpaid Board of Directors (many of them are members of the Haraguchi family.) The Haraguchi family now farms taro on the adjacent lands that once supported rice.

Today, the Hoʻopulapula Haraguchi Rice Mill is an agrarian museum located in the taro fields of Hanalei Valley. The Rice Mill Kiosk is open to the public, Monday through Saturday, 11 am – 3 pm. No Public access into the farm & Rice Mill unless through guided tours, available Wednesdays at 10 am (reservations are required.) (Lots of information here from NPS.)

May 20, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Call of the Sea

“It began in the swimming pool at Glen Ellen. Between swims it was our wont to come out and lie in the sand and let our skins breathe the warm air and soak in the sunshine. Roscoe was a yachtsman. I had followed the sea a bit. It was inevitable that we should talk about boats.” (London)

In 1906, Jack London announced he was planning a trip on a boat – the Snark – he was to build and do blue-water sailing on a round-the-world cruise. (The Snark was named after one of Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poems.)

“‘Honolulu first,’ said London yesterday. ‘After that we are not very definite. Everybody’s in good health, the bourgeoise tradesmen have finally freed us, the boat is staunch, the weather fine. What more a man wants I don’t know.’”

“‘Meet me in Paris,’ called Mrs. Jack London back through the megaphone as the boat disappeared. ‘Isn’t it glorious? Good-by, everybody!” [April 23, 1907]

“The remaining members of the crew of the Snark are: Captain Rosco Eames, under whose personal direction the Snark was built; Herbert Stoitz of Stanford University; Martin Johnson, cook, and Hideshisa Hochigi. Cabin boy.”

“Flying from her mainmast the red flag of Socialism, Jack London’s Snark, towed by a gasoline launch, passed through the Oakland estuary shortly after noon yesterday.”

“She had been freed from Federal surveillance and scores of the author’s friends thronged her deck as she lay at Franklin-street wharf to bid godspeed to him and his wife on their long cruise.”

“Cheer after cheer rent the air as the Snark moved down the channel and passed out into the bay, on her way to Bonita Cove, near Sausalito, where she will await the ebb tide this morning before sailing through the Golden Gate.”

“In the farewell levee on the deck leaders in Socialism hobnobbed with literary workers and a staid burgher friend or two mingled in the gathering with men of the professions. But for the most part the throng that gathered was made up of workingmen as negligee in attire as the author himself.”

“They all called him ‘Jack,’ and he seemed to know them all. They cheered when the two banners of red, the one bearing the initial S. for Snark and Socialism: the other, a black and white star, the London emblem,” were hauled by Captain Eames to the masthead.”

“There they will fly until the cruise is done, carrying the message of Socialism to the people of the seven seas.” (PCA, April 30, 1907)

“The arrival of Mr. Jack London in the Snark is looked forward to with pleasant anticipation by certain society folk who will doubtless wine and dine him most hospitably.”

“After many rumored departures, he is said to have really sailed from San Francisco and may be expected here shortly, wind, weather and his navigating officer permitting.” (PCA, April 28, 1907)

“Folks flocked down to the waterfront to get a glimpse of the little craft which was designed to circumnavigate the globe.”

“A glimpse was all they got, for the Snark gave a line to Young Brothers’ tug Waterwitch and was towed to Pearl Harbor, where she dropped anchor off the Hobron place, and will probably remain there for the best part of the next two months.”

“Mr and Mrs London made up their respective and collective minds to spend at least two months in the waters of Pearl Lochs and to take their residence ashore in the TW Hobron cottage. They yearn for the shore awhile and want to be quite.”

“‘We are here for work,’ said Mrs London when the Londons were visited by a representative of the Star shortly after their arrival here at 11:20 o’clock this morning [May 20, 1907]. Continuing Mrs. London stated that her husband intended to put in a lot of time writing and that they could not Image a quieter place than Pearl Lochs.”

“They will not go to Honolulu today. They do not want the distractions of the city, preferring, for the present at least, the peacefulness of the Hobron cottage, whither the typewriter has already been transferred from the cabin of the Snark and where

its click will be heard until late in July.”

London noted, “‘Pearl Harbor is a dream. The coming through the breakers into the placid water of the lagoon is a sight I shall never forget. We shall remain here and work as quietly as may be. I’m sick of the hotels and steamships.’”

“There are years of adventure and romance before the people of the Snark and the beginning has been auspicious. The Snark has proved herself to be everything that London claimed she would be.”

“‘We’ve come 2600 miles In twenty-seven days,’ said the captain, ‘and while not tired of the trip must say that land looks mighty good to me. We went south in order to fall in with the dolphins and flying fish and latterly bore southwest for the wind as far as the nineteenth longitudinal.’”

“‘We loafed along the whole way, with more wind the first four days out than we had all the rest of the trip. The voyage was singularly devoid of Incident. Three days out a ship was sighted, after which nothing was seen till Sunday, when we saw a steamer hull down.’

“The Snark is thirty tons gross and ten tons net; fifty-one feet in length, fifteen and five-tenths beam and seven and fieve-tenths in depth of hold. Her foremast is much taller than the main and she carries a big bowsprit. Her deck is flush and living apartments occupy the whole vessel from stem to stern.”

“The Snark, according to present plans, will leave here in about twenty days for Hilo. From Hilo the South Seas, Australasia and the Orient, and the rest of the world, will be checked off the Snark’s chart.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 21, 1907)

Charmian London (Mrs Jack London) made a couple of books about the two years’ with her husband in the forty-five-foot ketch Snark into the South Seas, by way of the Hawaiian Islands.

The seafaring portion of her notes was published in 1915 as “The Log of the Snark.” The record of five months spent in the Paradise of the Pacific, Hawaii, she made into another book, “Our Hawaii,” issued in 1917. Jack London had previously passed through Honolulu in 1893.

The South Sea trip was meant to be just the beginning of the cruise. London dreamt of threading the Arabian Sea and traversing the Mediterranean and the Atlantic but ultimately it was the savage climate of the south Pacific that did for him.

After about 2-years of sailing, at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands London became afflicted by a skin disease which meant his hands swelled up and chunks of skin fell off. Without his hands he could not write and earn the money to fund the voyage and, after seeking medical advice, he was urged to abandon the trip.

It was a devastating decision for London, and he and Charmian were distraught, as Jack recalled: “In hospital when I broke the news to Charmian that I must go back to California the tears welled into her eyes.”

“For two days she was wrecked and broken by the knowledge that the happy, happy voyage was abandoned.” Thus one of the most offbeat and pioneering cruises ended rather abruptly. Once the voyage was called off, Snark was sailed to Sydney and sold there. (Jefferson)

May 19, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Woods – Hawaiian Royal Residences

Most houses at the time of Cook’s contact consisted of a framework of posts, poles and slender rods – often set on a paving or low platform foundation – lashed together with a coarse twine made of beaten and twisted bark, vines, or grassy fibers. This was then covered with ti, pandanus or sugarcane leaves, or a thatch of pili grass or other appropriate material.

When covered with small bundles of grass laid side by side in overlapping tiers, these structures were described as resembling haystacks. One door and frequently an additional small “air hole” provided ventilation and light, while air also passed through the thatching. Grass or palm leaves covered the raised earth floors of these houses.

When a chief needed a house, his retainers assembled the materials and erected the structure under the direction of an individual (kahuna) expert in the art of erecting a framework and applying thatch.

Many of these more modern royal residences were named – some were named after the material they were made from. Here are three such royal residences.

Hale Kauila (Downtown Honolulu – Queen Kīna‘u)

Hale Kauila (house built of kauila wood) once stood on the street in downtown Honolulu that still bears the name of this large council chamber or reception room (some refer to it as Kina‘u’s house.)

While the thatch is attached in the usual way, the posts are much higher than usual and have squared timber; but the most foreign touch, apart from the windows, are the cross braces at the top and between the posts and the plate (they were never used in genuine native work.)

The description by Captain du Petit-Thouars of this house (which he calls the house of the Queen Kīna‘u:) “This house, built in wood and covered with dry grasses, is placed in the middle of a fortification closed with a fence.”

“The platform on which it rests is high above the ground in the yard about 30 centimeters and it is surrounded, externally, a covered gallery which makes it more pleasant.”

“Its shape inside, is that of a rectangle lengthens; in one end, there is a flat shape by a wooden partition which does not rise to the roof.”

“This piece serves as a bedroom, in the remaining of the area, box, and at the other end, there is a portion of the high ground from 28 to 30 centimeters, which is covered with several mats: it is this kind of big couch that was placed the ladies and they are held lying on one side or stomach, or they stand to receive and to make room.”

Hale Lama (Waikīkī – King Kamehameha V)

King Kamehameha V’s Waikīkī home was built in 1866. It was called Hale Lama. As described by George Kanahele, the residence “was quite modest with only one bedroom, but was notable for its neo-Hawaiian architecture – a low, rectangular-shaped structure, with a high-pitched, hipped roof that was thatched and descended to the poles of the lanai that sounded three of the four exterior walls.”

“The design suited Waikiki’s climate perfectly. The high pitched roof allowed for the upward expansion of warm air, thus cooling the inside of the house, and the wide overhanging eaves kept out both sun and rain, while inviting the serenity and beauty of the natural setting.”

“It has been mentioned that the lama wood was especially used for building houses of the gods, that is, the thatched houses within the enclosures of the heiau or luakini, and its use in building the house for King lot, Kamehameha V, gave an excuse for its reported use by an old kahuna in the King’s establishment, for a house of prayer, and I am assured by an old resident that prayers to the gods were frequently offered therein”.

After the Kamehameha V’s death in 1872, the house and property went to went to Princess Ruth who bequeathed the property to Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. The Princess and her husband Charles Bishop renovated and enlarged the house with servant quarters.

Hale Kamani (Lāhainā – Princess Nahiʻenaʻena)

When Keōpūolani returned to Maui to live her final years, she had a house on the beach in Lāhainā; her daughter, Nahiʻenaʻena, lived in her own home next door – Nahiʻenaʻena called her house Hale Kamani.

It had an early and convenient addition to the common grass house in a land where the people lived so generally in the open air, was the lanai, with extensions of the rafters at the same or a slightly reduced slope.

This verandah was, generally speaking, the most comfortable part of the house. This lanai was often detached as in the Hale Kamani and was sometimes large with walls of coconut leaves intertwined, and a nearly flat roof of similar substance which was intended to furnish shade rather than shelter from heavy rain.

At least one other Royal Residence was named after a native wood ‘Āinahau (Princess Kapi‘olani’s home in Waikīkī;) however, it was named such because it was situated in a hau grove, not that its wood was used in the structure.