Hawaii | Page 253 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 18, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Airports at South Kohala

Originally an Army camp named Camp Waimea, when the population in town was about 400, it became the largest Marine training facility in the Pacific following the battle of Tarawa. Camp Tarawa trained over 50,000 servicemen between 1942 and 1945 in the community of Waimea, South Kohala, Hawaiʻi.

There were three ways to get to Camp Tarawa – by narrow-gage sugarcane freight train; by hard-axle truck or on foot. The 3rd Marine Corps built a small airstrip near town, consisting of a graded and oiled airstrip 3,000-feet long on land belonging to Parker Ranch. This facility was known as Bordelon Field.

The field was named for William James Bordelon (December 25, 1920 – November 20, 1943), a US Marine who was killed in action while he led the assault on the enemy and rescued fellow Marines during the Battle of Tarawa. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Following the war, the field was renamed Kamuela Airport. In 1947, funds were appropriated for the development of this field to meet scheduled airline operations using DC-3 aircraft. The strip was successfully used by non-scheduled operators flying small planes and also, on several occasions, by DC-3s, but the strip was hazardous for DC-3 operations.

The community wanted a satisfactory airport in this area, not only for the convenience of the travelling public, but for the transportation of produce from this area to the Honolulu market.

Extensive studies were conducted with regard to the further development of lands for increased production of farm commodities and if the community were assured of prompt delivery of its goods to the local markets, the air freight carriers alone would be the major users of this field.

However, in 1950 Kamuela Airport was deemed unsuitable for development as a modern airport. Studies of terrain and weather were conducted to find a suitable site for a new Kamuela Airport.

In the meantime, the airport was served by daily (except Sunday) scheduled freight flights and non-scheduled passenger planes. (It did not meet the requirements for scheduled passenger service. )

On January 28, 1952, the construction of the new Kamuela Airport was awarded to Hawaiian Dredging Company; the new airport was just across the highway from the old one. The landing strip was to be 5,200 feet by 100 feet.

It was foreseen that the new airport would aid the development of the agricultural industry in Hawaii. Air freight traffic at the old Kamuela was sizeable. The field would be served by scheduled airlines, non-scheduled passenger airlines and freight air carriers.

The new Kamuela Airport runway was completed in April 1953; the old Kamuela Airport (Bordelon Field) was inactivated in August 1953.

In May 1953, Hawaiian Airlines began DC-3 cargo operations at the new airport and on July 1, 1953 it started scheduled passenger service, three times a week. The terminal featured a ranch house design and was the first of a combination passenger-freight structure in the island. This airport was completed entirely with Territorial funds without Federal Aid.

The Island of Hawaiʻi’s County Council adopted Waimea as the official name for the area in which the airport was located. A 1969 legislative resolution requested that the airport be designated as Waimea-Kohala Airport to prevent confusion with Waimea, Kauaʻi.

Shunichi Kimura, Mayor of Hawaiʻi County, hearing the desires of the County Council and residents around Kamuela, asked that the name of the airport be changed from Kamuela Airport to Waimea-Kohala Airport. This was approved by Governor John Burns.

On October 1, 1970 Waimea-Kohala Airport was placed under the control of a new position in the State Airports Division, the North Hawaii District Superintendent.

An innovative project in 1975 installed a wind-driven generator to power obstruction lights; previously, power had been provided by acetylene and later by storage batteries, all of which required continual maintenance. The wind-driven generator that powered the obstruction lights resulted in a substantial savings in operating costs.

By 1976 there was a 24 percent drop in passengers at the airport. This was due to the completion of the new highway connecting the airport to the visitor destinations in the vicinity of Waimea-Kohala Airport and the more frequent scheduling of flights into Keāhole Airport.

In 1978 the airport was designated as an eligible point to receive Essential Air Service (EAS) under the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. On October 1, 1979 the Civil Aeronautics Board Order 79-10-3, the Bureau of Domestic Aviation, defined essential air service for Kamuela as a minimum of two daily round trip flights to Honolulu or Hilo and Kahului providing a total of at least 62 seats in each direction per day.

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December 17, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

49th State Fair

During the First World War the Chamber of Commerce sponsored the first Territorial Fair, with the idea that an event held every 2-3 years could draw from across the Territory to “display the results of their efforts along agricultural lines.”

The Hawaiʻi Territorial Fair was largely focused on “a demonstration in intensive cultivation of staple and special field products and also as a demonstration in food conservation … it was found (that) the islands depended too largely on the mainland for food supplies”.

A site was selected and “set aside for territorial fair and amusement park purposes that portion of the government lands lying mauka of the proposed Waikiki drainage canal (Ala Wai) and adjacent to Kapahulu road.”

The Territorial Fair continued for a number of years. Starting in 1923, golf started at the Fair Grounds, when someone placed a salmon can down as its first hole; by 1931, more holes were built and the fairgrounds were converted to a golf course, instead. The place was renamed the Ala Wai Golf Course.

The United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (the Jaycees) were formed on the continent in 1920. The Jaycees first appeared in Hawaiʻi in 1930 with the chartering of the Honolulu Junior Chamber of Commerce.

In 1939, Jaycee chapters sprouted up in Hilo, Maui, Kauaʻi and Wahiawa. In 1943, an umbrella organization ‘Hawaiʻi Junior Chamber of Commerce’ was formed.

Coinciding with these timeframes, the (senior) Honolulu Chamber and Commerce was conducting the Hawaiian Products Exhibit, first held in 1930.

Hawaiʻi was suffering from the effects of the Depression; the Chamber launched the Hawaiian products exhibit at the old National Guard Armory downtown to boost interest in local goods, 33,000 attended.

For seven years the senior Chamber ran the Show, until 1937, when the Jaycees were looking for a signature fundraising event for their organization. The Chamber passed the responsibilities to the Jaycees; from then, it was a Jaycees event.

A decision was made to include mainland manufactures and agricultural products in 1940, resulting in a significantly larger event. It was held under tents in Kapiʻolani Park.

The next year the Show moved to the corner of Kalākaua Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard. During the war years, the shows were not held. After the war, the first post-war show was held at McKinley High School.

The 1948 show was the first to be named “The 49th State Fair” (the Honolulu Jaycees copyrighted the name;) it was held at Kapiʻolani Park. (The Jaycees were anticipating that Hawai’i would become the 49th state.)

“By this time the country was actively debating the issue of Statehood for Hawaii and Alaska. Most people thought Statehood would be granted first to Hawaii and then to Alaska … we had the 49th State Fair, businesses called 49th State such-and-such …” (George Ariyoshi)

“Statehood was in the air, and everyone expected Hawaii to become the 49th state; hence there was a 49th State record label and a 49th State fair at the old Honolulu stadium.” (Tom Moffatt, Star Revue)

Hawaiʻi’s 1948 “State Fair” won a national award from the National Jaycees who rated it the best project in the field of profit-making conducted by a Jaycee entity in a city of 100,000 or more.

The next year event also won a national Jaycee award (in the field of trade promotion.) The 1949 State Fair was held in warehouses on the Ala Moana Boulevard, EK Fernandez furnished the entertainment.

Then, again, in 1950 the 49th State Fair was selected as the “Outstanding Project of the Year” conducted by Jaycees throughout the nation in cities with populations of 250,000 and more.

In 1952, the 49th State Fair moved to Sand Island.

On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state – Hawaiʻi’s Fair name changed, again.

Hawaiʻi joined the union on August 21, 1959 – since then it hosts the 50th State Fair.

(“The Territorial Savings and Loan Association said its name would be continued to denote the firm’s ‘age, stability and pre-Statehood background.’” (star-bulletin))

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49th_State_Fair_elephant-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair_Under_the_Big_Top-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-Sand_Island-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-Under_the_Big_Top-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-History-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-2nd_Annual-(Billboard, May 21, 1949)

December 16, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Webster’s Way

On July 14, 1826, the missionaries established a 12-letter alphabet for the written Hawaiian language, using five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w) in their “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language.” The report was signed by Bingham and Chamberlain. The alphabet continues in use today.

“To one unacquainted with the language it would be impossible to distinguish the words in a spoken sentence, for in the mouth of a native, a sentence appeared like an ancient Hebrew or Greek manuscript-all one word.”

“It was found that every word and every syllable in the language ends with a vowel; the final vowel of a word or syllable, however, is often made so nearly to coalesce or combine with the sound of the succeeding vowel, as to form a dipthongal sound, apparently uniting two distinct words.”

“The power of the vowels may be thus represented: – a, as a in the English words art, father; e, as a in pale, or ey in they; i, as ee or in machine; o, as o in no; u, as oo in too. They are called so as to express their power by their names – Ah, A, Ee, O, Oo.”

“The consonants are in like manner called by such simple names as to suggest their power, thus, following the sound of the vowels as above – He, Ke, La, Mu, Xu, Pi, We.” (Bingham)

Learning the Language by Syllables

Noah Webster (1758-1843) was the man of words in early 19th-century America. He compiled a dictionary which became the standard for American English; he also compiled The American Spelling Book, which was the basic textbook for young readers in early 19th-century America.

In the beginning part of his American Spelling Book, several signed a ‘Recommendation,’ stating, “Having examined the first part of the new Grammatical Institute of the English Language, published by Mr. Noah Webster we are of opinion, that it is far preferable, in the plan and execution, to Dilworth’s or any other Spelling Book, which has been introduced into [o]ur schools.”

The Speller’s Preface notes the priority in learning, “The syllables of words are divided as they are pronounced, and for this obvious reason, that children learn the language by the ear. Rules are of no consequence but to printers and adults. In Spelling Books they embarrass children, and double the labour of the teacher.”

“The whole design of dividing words into syllables at all, is to lead the pupil to the true pronunciation: and the easiest method to effect this purpose will forever be the best.” (Webster’s Speller)

“As far back as one can trace the history of reading methodology, children were taught to spell words out, in syllables, in order to pronounce them.” Webster wrote.

And so it was with the American Protestant Missionaries teaching the Hawaiians to read and write their own language.

Just as American schoolchildren spelled aloud by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing the result: “b, a – ba,” so did Hawaiian learners. (However, back then, Webster used ‘y’ as a vowel; the missionaries did not.)

Pī ʻā pā

In the initial instruction, the missionaries taught by first teaching syllables – adding consonants to vowels, just as Noah Webster noted in his speller.

The classroom exercise of spelling aloud also focused on syllables: Pupils first pronounced each letter of the syllable, and then put the sounds together and pronounced the syllable.

This practice of spelling aloud gave the Hawaiian alphabet its name. Just as American schoolchildren taught with Webster’s speller began their recitation by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing the result: “B, A – BA,” so did Hawaiian learners.

The early missionary teacher said to his pupil, b, a – ba; the Hawaiian would repeat, pronouncing “b” like “p” and said “pī ʻā pā; hence the word that is now known as the Hawaiian alphabet and the name of the book. (Schütz 2017a:12)

Webster’s way of teaching was practiced in Hawai‘i, as described by Andrews, “The teacher takes a Piapa (i.e., speller, primer,) sits down in front of a row or several rows of scholars, from ten to a hundred perhaps in number, all sitting on the ground, furnished perhaps with Piapas, perhaps not.”

“The teacher begins: says A. The scholars all repeat in concert after him, A. The teacher then says E. They repeat all together, as before E, and so on, repeating over and over, after the teacher, until all the alphabet is fixed in the memory, just in the order the letters stand in the book; and all this just as well without a book as with one. The abbs and spelling lesson are taught in the same way.” (Schütz 1994:163)

The Hawaiian version also used the names of the letters and the resultant syllable: bē ā – bā; by 1824, this had become the Hawaiian word for ‘alphabet’. However, after b had been eliminated from the alphabet, p took its place in this new name.

One result of applying this methodology to Hawaiian is that it produced a new word: Pi a pa. From that time on, the word for ‘alphabet’ has been pī‘āpā, first appearing with this spelling (minus the kahakō and ‘okina) in a book title in 1828.

The purpose of all these first exercises was to teach the mechanics of pronouncing words, one by one – syllable by syllable.

This is a summary; click HERE for more on Webster’s Way.

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Schütz 1994. Albert Schütz – The voices of Eden: A history of Hawaiian language studies. 1994 Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.

Schütz 2017a. Albert Schütz – Reading between the lines: A closer look at the first Hawaiian primer (1822). In Palapala-He puke pai no ka ‘olelo me ka mo ‘olelo Hawai’i (A journal for Hawaiian language and literature)

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December 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kaumualiʻi

Kaumuali‘i was the only son of Queen Kamakahelei and her husband, Aliʻi Kāʻeokūlani (Kā‘eo;) he was born in 1778 at Holoholokū, a royal birthing heiau specifically designated for the birth of high ranking children.

When Vancouver was anchored off Waimea, Kauai, he became interested in Kaumuali‘i, who was then about twelve years old. Vancouver found the child quiet and polite and good-tempered. He was interested in the new things which he saw, and asked intelligent questions.

When Vancouver made his second visit, he brought sheep as a present to the young chief. Kaumuali‘i entertained him with a dance of six-hundred women.

Kaumuali‘i kept up his interest in foreigners. They were his friends and taught him to read and write. Kaumuali‘i sent his son Humehume (Prince George) to America to be educated. (The young Prince later returned to the islands with the first party of American missionaries, in 1820.)

Kaumuali‘i became ruling chief of Kauai upon the death of his father Kā‘eo.

In 1784 Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kauai.

King Kamehameha I launched his first invasion attempt on Kauai in April of 1796, having already conquered the other Hawaiian Islands, and having fought his last major battle at Nu‘uanu on O‘ahu in 1795.

Kauai’s opposing factions (Kaumuali‘i versus Keawe) were extremely vulnerable as they had been weakened by fighting each other (Keawe died and Kaumuali‘i was, ultimately, ruler of Kauai and Ni‘ihau.)

About one-fourth of the way across the ocean channel between O‘ahu and Kauai, a storm thwarted Kamehameha’s warriors when many of their canoes were swamped in the rough seas and stormy winds, and then were forced to turn back.

Kamehameha’s second attempt was thwarted, again, when an epidemic, thought to be typhoid or dysentery, swept through the population, killing thousands. The sickness delayed for a second time Kamehameha’s goal of conquering Kauai.

In a renewed effort for a large-scale attack on Kauai, Kamehameha began assembling a formidable armada of sailing ships in Waikīkī, using foreigners to construct the vessels. The invasion never took place.

In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, at Pākākā on Oʻahu, negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha I took place and Kaumualiʻi yielded to Kamehameha.

The agreement marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the islands. Although Kaumuali‘i had ceded Kaua‘i and Niʻihau to Kamehameha I, he generally maintained de facto independence and control of the island following his agreement with Kamehameha.

It is believed that in 1816 Kaumuali‘i considered it possible for him to claim rule over Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau, O‘ahu, Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i, if he had Russian support. The Russians meanwhile were searching compensation for lost trade goods, as well as expanded trading opportunities.

Kaumuali‘i and Russian representative Georg Anton Schäffer had several agreements to bring Kauai under the protection of Russia, as well as weapons and ammunition from Schäffer, in exchange for trade in sandalwood. While agreements were made, subsequent battles never took place.

After King Kamehameha I died in 1819, Kaumuali‘i pledged his allegiance to Liholiho, Kamehameha’s son and successor. In 1821, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II) anchored his royal ship Ha‘aheo o Hawai‘i (Pride of Hawai‘i) in Waimea Bay, and invited Kaumuali‘i aboard.

After boarding the ship Kaumuali‘i was effectively taken as a prisoner and the ship sailed for O‘ahu. Kaumuali‘i settled in Honolulu and became a husband of Ka‘ahumanu, widow of Kamehameha I.

Hiram Bingham was on a preaching tour of the island of Kauai in 1824, shortly before King Kaumuali‘i died. Kaumuali‘i had been living on Oahu for three years. Bingham spoke to him just before coming to Kauai.

Bingham writes: “We found Kaumuali‘i seated at his desk, writing a letter of business. We were forcible and pleasantly struck with the dignity and gravity, courteousness, freedom and affection with which he rose and gave us his hand, his hearty aloha, and friendly parting smile, so much like a cultivated Christian brother.”

When the king died, Bingham said a gloom fell over Kauai. Kaumuali‘i was buried at Waine‘e Church (Wai‘ola Church,) on Maui.

After Kaumuali‘i’s death his son Humehume tried to seize the throne by leading a rebellion on Kauai, but he was defeated and sent to O‘ahu, where he could be watched.

King Kaumuali‘i’s granddaughter Kapiʻolani (1834–1899) married King Kalākaua.

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Mahiole (feather helmet) reportedly to be the gift from Kamehameha I to King Kaumualii-400
Mahiole_of_Kaumualii,_1899- Kaumualiʻi (c. 1778 – May 26, 1824) was the last independent Aliʻi Aimoku (King of the islands) of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau
Maui-Lahaina-Waiola_Cemetery-Kaumualii
George_Prince_Kaumualii-Morse-1816

December 14, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Telling Time

Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?

The answer to both is Yes … and Kekaha on Kauai has the distinction of being one of only two official Time broadcast points in the United States (the other is in Fort Collins, Colorado.)

At first, I thought “Time” was a pretty simple thing. Oh yeah, every now and then we need to mentally add or subtract an extra hour between points on the continent for time zone changes – and most folks there need to adjust for “Daylight” or not – but in looking into the Kauai operation, I quickly learned that there are many variables of “Time.”

OK, let’s fast forward past the daylight-darkness, sundial, wind-up and quartz watch timing eras … nowadays, transportation, communication, financial transactions, manufacturing, electric power and many other technologies have become dependent on accurate clocks; folks need to be more accurate than being “about” a certain time.

In addition, some folks need time referenced to the Earth’s rotation for applications such as celestial navigation, satellite observations of the Earth and some types of surveying. For those folks, Time relative to the motion of the Earth is more important than the accuracy of the atomic clock (even though Earth time fluctuates by a few thousandths of a second a day.)

For the rest of us, highly accurate atomic clocks and the agreement in 1967 on what a “second” is (the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation associated with a specified transition of the cesium atom) led to a compromise time scale of the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC.)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST – an agency of the US Department of Commerce) laboratories in Boulder, Colorado does the computing for us and even broadcasts the UTC(NIST) via various means. (UTC(NIST) is the US national standard for measurements of time-of-day, time interval and frequency.

Here’s the official statement on what they do: “UTC(NIST) is the coordinated universal time scale maintained at NIST. The UTC(NIST) time scale comprises an ensemble of cesium beam and hydrogen maser atomic clocks, which are regularly calibrated by the NIST primary frequency standard. The number of clocks in the time scale varies, but is typically around ten.”

“The outputs of the clocks are combined into a single signal by using a weighted average. The most stable clocks are assigned the most weight. The clocks in the UTC(NIST) time scale also contribute to the International Atomic Time (TAI) and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).”

“UTC(NIST) serves as a national standard for frequency time interval, and time-of-day. It is distributed through the NIST time and frequency services and continuously compared to the time and frequency standards located around the world.”

Whoa, that’s waaay more information than I needed; … and, I think you are confusing me with someone who cares. (Short answer, those guys “keep” the time.) OK, let’s move on.

If you really want to know what Time it is, go to http://nist.time.gov , select your desired time zone in the US and the time will be displayed for you.

Or, call to hear the “Time” broadcasts by dialing (303) 499-7111 for WWV (Colorado) and (808) 335-4363 for WWVH (Hawaiʻi).

These are not toll-free numbers; callers outside the local calling area are charged for the call at regular long-distance rates. The telephone time-of-day service is used to synchronize clocks and watches and for the calibration of stopwatches and timers. It receives about 2,000 calls per day.

OK, back to Kauai.

At Kokole Point at Mānā, Kauai, the NIST radio station WWVH broadcasts time and frequency information 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to listeners worldwide. (These are the guys who “tell” the time.)

The information broadcast by WWVH includes time announcements, standard time intervals, standard frequencies, UT1 time corrections (time derived by astronomers who monitor the speed of the Earth’s rotation,) a BCD time code (time data is coded binary coded decimal (BCD) digits in the form HH:MM:SS:FF,) geophysical alerts, marine storm warnings and Global Positioning System (GPS) status reports.

Voice announcements are made from WWVH once every minute. The announced time is “Coordinated Universal Time” (UTC). Coordination with the international UTC time scale keeps NIST time signals in close agreement with signals from other time and frequency stations throughout the world.

UTC differs from local time by the number of time zones between your location and the zero meridian (which passes through Greenwich, England.) (In Hawaiʻi, it’s UTC – 10 (the online and telephone time broadcasts are calibrated for Hawaiʻi.))

UTC is a 24-hour clock system. When local time changes from Daylight Saving to Standard Time, or vice versa, UTC does not change. However, the difference between UTC and local time may change by 1-hour. UTC runs at an almost perfectly constant rate, since its rate is based on cesium atomic frequency standards.

In addition to the time-related data, NOAA uses WWVH to broadcast geophysical alert messages that provide information about solar terrestrial conditions. Marine storm warnings are broadcast for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. The National Weather Service provides the storm warning information. (This information is broadcast at specific time intervals in each hour.)

Another critical function of the WWV system (especially for Hawaiʻi) is keeping the clocks on the GPS satellites in sync. GPS technology requires very accurate timekeeping as the difference in radio signal arrival is a big part of fixing your location. Without WWVH, the GPS system would drift off and lots of transportation and related functions would be affected (airplanes, ships, self-driving cars, etc.)

WWVH began operation on November 22, 1948 at Kihei on the island of Maui (the site now houses the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary offices.) In July 1971, the station moved to its current location, near Kekaha, Kauai.

For those wondering why these two facilities, that are west of the Mississippi River, have call signs that start with “W” (typically, station call signs west of the Mississippi start with “K” and those east start with “W,”) the time station’s early location was in Washington, DC (May 1920) – when it moved to Fort Collins (1966,) it kept the call sign. For consistency, Kauai followed the call sign pattern.

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