Marcus Cumming Monsarrat

“Whereas, Marcus C Monsarrat, a naturalized subject of this Kingdom, is guilty of having perpetuated a grievous injury to Ourselves and to Our Royal family”.

“(We) do hereby order that the said Marcus C Monsarrat be forthwith expelled from this Kingdom; and he is hereby strictly prohibited, forever, from returning to any part of Our Dominions, under the penalty of Death.”  King Kamehameha IV and Kuhina Nui Victoria Kamāmalu (May 20, 1857)

Whoa … let’s look back.

Marcus Cumming Monsarrat was born in Dublin Ireland on April 15, 1828.  He is a descendant of Nicholas Monsarrat of Dublin, who went to Ireland from France in 1755.

Marcus made his home in Canada before coming to Hawaiʻi and was admitted as a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, June 18, 1844, at Osgoode Hall, Toronto.

He came to the Islands in 1850.

He was deputy collector of customs and later entered the lumber firm of Dowsett & Co, which was eventually absorbed by SG Wilder & Co.

Marcus married Elizabeth Jane Dowsett; their children were, James Melville Monsarrat (1854-1943,) Marcus John Monsarrat (1857-1922,) Julian Monsarrat (1861-1929,) Kathleen Isabell Monsarrat (1863-1868,) William Thorne Monsarrat (1865-1924) and Samuel Archibald Monsarrat (1868-1956.)

Prince Lot had invited Marcus Monsarrat, who lived nearby, as a guest at a dinner party on January 15, 1857.  Two weeks before, Monsarrat led a group of merchants in presenting a new carriage to Queen Emma on her 21st-birthday.

When dinner was over, Monsarrat bid his goodbye and left.

So far, so good – so, why the expulsion?  … It’s what happened next ….

Soon after, one of Lot’s servants said the tall, handsome Monsarrat was in Victoria Kamāmalu’s bedroom.  (Kanahele)

Prince Lot burst into Victoria Kamāmalu’s quarters and discovered her in compromising circumstances with his guest Marcus Monsarrat (he was ‘arranging his pantaloons.’)  (KSBE)

Lot ordered him to leave and threatened to kill him.  Later, the King blamed Lot for not ‘shooting Monsarrat like a dog.’  (Kanahele)

The king then “commanded (Marshal WC Parke,) in pursuance of Our Royal order, hereto annexed, forthwith to take the body of MC Monsarrat, and him safely convey on board of any vessel which may be bound from the port of Honolulu to San Francisco, in the State of  California”. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 28, 1857)

On Wednesday, May 20, Mr. Monsarrat was led to believe he would be allowed to remain in Honolulu long enough to settle up his affairs, and would for that purpose be granted his liberty on parole – this was declined.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 27, 1857)

“At half past three o'clock, Thursday morning, Mr Monsarrat was conducted by the Marshal and Sheriff and a guard of forty soldiers to the steamer, which had her steam up and ready for sea.”

“On leaving the palace, Mr M was told that resistance on his part would be of no use, that the orders issued in regard to him were peremptory, and if any attempt to escape was made, he would have to be treated as a culprit.  He assured those having charge of him that he had no idea of resisting, and would yield to the superior force placed over him.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 28, 1857)

Monsarrat  refused to pay for his passage; whereupon Parke paid the captain $80.  The King sent over $100 to be given to Monsarrat, that he might not say he was sent off without means. This he declined.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 27, 1857)

The incident was embarrassing to the court because efforts were underway to arrange a marriage between Victoria Kamāmalu and Kalākaua; these plans were quickly aborted.  (Kanahele)

Two years later (May 20, 1859,) the King reduced the sentence to seven years (the King “Being … moved by a feeling of deep sympathy” for the Monsarrat family.)

However, he was “strictly enjoined and prohibited from returning to any part of Our Domains, before the expiration of the period of banishment.”  (Forbes)  (When he later returned, the King had him arrested and banished, again.  (Kanahele)

Monsarrat returned; he died in Honolulu on October 18, 1871.  Some suggest Monsarrat Street near Lēʻahi (Diamond Head) is named for Monsarrat; others say it is for his son, James Melville Monsarrat, an attorney and Judge.

The photo shows Victoria Kamāmalu.  (1865)  In addition, I have included other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Room 120

Amasa Leland Stanford was born and grew up in New York; he was a lawyer.  Stanford married Jane Eliza Lathrop on September 30, 1850; they first lived in Port Washington, Wisconsin, then New York, and then they moved West after the gold rush, like many of his wealthy contemporaries.

Stanford made his fortune in the railroads; he co-founded and was president of the Central Pacific Railroad (it formed part of the “First Transcontinental Railroad” in North America; It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad.) He served as California Governor and US Senator.

In 1868, the Stanfords had their only child, a son, Leland DeWitt Stanford (later known as Leland Stanford Jr.)  In 1876, Stanford purchased the Rancho San Francisquito for a country home and began the development of his famous Palo Alto Stock Farm.

Tragically, in 1884, while travelling in Italy, young Leland died of typhoid fever (2-months before his 16th birthday.)

Within weeks of his death, the Stanfords decided that, because they no longer could do anything for their own child, “the children of California shall be our children.” They quickly set out to find a lasting legacy to memorialize their beloved son.

Ultimately, they decided to establish two institutions in Leland Jr’s name.  The ‘Leland Stanford Junior University’ was founded in 1885; on October 1, 1891, it opened its doors with 15 faculty and more than 400 students (David Starr Jordan served as president.)  The Leland Stanford Junior Museum opened in 1894.

They were built on the 8,000-acre Palo Alto Farm; a provision in the school’s founding grant stipulated that the land could never be sold.  The campus still carries the nickname ‘the Farm,’ it is more commonly called, ‘Stanford.’

The university was coeducational, in a time when most were all-male; non-denominational, when most were associated with a religious organization; and avowedly practical.

The Founding Grant states the university’s objective is “to qualify its students for personal success, and direct usefulness in life” and its purpose “to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization.”

On June 21, 1893, Leland Stanford died at his Palo Alto home at the age of 69.  For a decade following her husband’s death, Jane Stanford was the sole trustee of the University; she doted on the fledgling institution with “the commanding meddlesome love which an unbridled maternal instinct thrusts upon an only child.”  (Wolfe)

Jane involved herself in Stanford’s daily management, corresponding with Jordan on every operational matter. When she disapproved of a faculty member, she told Jordan to oust him. And when she began to second-guess some of Jordan’s decisions, she found a faculty confidant, German professor Julius Goebel, to keep a paper trail on him.  (Wolfe)

On June 1, 1903, Jane granted control of the university’s endowment and management to the Board of Trustees, although she remained a member of the board and continued to be involved in its operation.

By 1904, it appears that Mrs Stanford had lost her toleration for Jordan. In June, Goebel had reported in a letter to her that Jordan’s favoritism and political patronage were endangering faculty recruitment. In a letter to trustee Horace Davis, who was another in her inner circle, Goebel wrote that she had reached the point of “final remedy … the removal of the President.”  (Wolfe)

Then a small story appeared in a couple out-of-town papers, reporting on a January 14, 1905 incident, “... private detectives are working on an alleged attempt to murder Mrs Jane Stanford ... in her home here, by placing poison in mineral water.”

“The contents vomited from the stomach and found in the water were analyzed and showed sufficient poison to kill a dozen people.”  (Spokane Press, February 18, 1905.)

Of the incident, Mrs Stanford said: “How dreadful if I had died that time. People might have thought I committed suicide.”  (The San Francisco Call, March 7, 1905)  Following the incident, she planned a trip.

“If I am not to stay in my San Francisco home, and as the wet season is coming on, rendering it inadvisable for me to go to my country residence, I prefer to go to Honolulu, as it is warmer there.” (Jane Stanford; San Francisco Call, March 7, 1905)

“Mrs Stanford arrived in Honolulu ... accompanied by her maid and her secretary (Bertha Berner,) and went at once to the Moana, announcing that she had come here to rest for a few weeks.”

“She seemed, however, very cheerful and received the many friends who called on her in that spirit, although to one at least of the more intimate ones she threw aside her cheerfulness and spoke of the fears that beset her (the prior poisoning attempt.)”

“Mrs Stanford went on a drive to the Pali, and down into Koʻolau, where the party had a picnic dinner. Mrs Stanford ate very heartily, and seemed to enjoy every moment of the drive. The party returned to the Moana hotel, and at dinner time Mrs Stanford went into the dining room.”

“She did not remain more than three minutes, but made no complaint of feeling ill. In fact, she said that she felt remarkably well. ... Leaving the dining room, Mrs Stanford sat on the lanai talking very cheerfully until bed, time. At a little after ten o’clock ... she went to her room on the second floor of the hotel, and retired.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 1, 1905)

“After Mrs. Stanford retired on February 28 I was aroused from my sleep by hearing my name called. I recognized Mrs Stanford’s voice calling out: “Bertha - May - l am so sick.’“

“We rushed out and found her clinging to the frame of her door. Mrs Stanford said: ‘Bertha, run for a doctor.’  Mrs Stanford walked two steps and then said: ‘Bertha, I am so sick.’“  (Bertha Berner; San Francisco Call, March 7, 1905)

Doctors were called; but Jane Lathrop Stanford died in room 120 of the Moana Hotel on February 28, 1905.  (The room numbering system has changed at the Moana Hotel; her room is still used in the hotel pool.)

After a 3-day Coroner inquisition, a unanimous verdict in less than two minutes was returned, “The Coroner’s jury to-night returned a verdict that Mrs Jane L Stanford died from ... strychnine poisoning, the poison having been introduced into a bottle of bicarbonate of soda with felonious intent by some person or persons to the jury unknown.”  (San Francisco Call, March 10, 1905)

Dr Robert WP Cutter wrote a book, ‘The Mysterious Death of Jane Stanford,’ wherein he implies that Stanford’s President at the time, David Starr Jordan, was involved in a cover-up of the circumstances surrounding Mrs Stanford’s death.

Immediately following her death, Jordan was en route to Honolulu.  Jordan and Timothy Hopkins, Stanford Trustee, stated, “In our judgment, after careful consideration of all facts brought to our knowledge, we are fully convinced that Mrs Stanford’s death was not due to strychnine poisoning nor to intentional wrong doing on the part of any one.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 16, 1905)

“We think it probable that her death was due to a combination of conditions and circumstances.  Among these we may note in connection with her advanced age, the unaccustomed exertion, a surfeit of unsuitable food and the unusual exposure on the picnic party of the day in question.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 16, 1905)

Jordan also said, “Dr Humphris (the hotel Doctor) and his associates don’t know what they are talking about.”  (Evening Bulletin, March 15, 1905) And later said, “Mrs. Stanford died a natural death in Honolulu”.  (Hawaiian Gazette, January 2, 1906)

However, Honolulu papers suggested a bribe, “Hopkins interviewed the physicians and told them that if things were satisfactory, their bills would be paid at once.”

“In different interviews it was plainly shown that it would be satisfactory ... if the physicians could arrange to revise their findings and agree that poison had nothing to do with the tragedy, and, in that event the amount of the bills would not be questioned, but it happened that not one of the medical men could or would change what he had said In the first place.”  (Hawaiian Star, August 23, 1905)

The Stanford website, in telling the life story of Jane Stanford notes, while “Trace amounts of strychnine were found in her body and in her bottle of bicarbonate ... Her cause of death was never conclusively determined.”  (Lots of information here from Stanford.)

The image shows Jane Stanford.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Something was amiss

The eruption in Kilauea Iki had ended on December 21, but the shallow reservoir beneath the summit of Kilauea volcano was gorged with magma. Rather than removing pressure, the eruption had, for all intents and purposes, created more.

The end of 1959 was an uneasy time for the staff at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.  During the last week of the year, a swarm of earthquakes started in Pāhoa (more than 1,000 earthquakes were recorded by the Pāhoa station on January 12.)

The 1960 Kapoho eruption and its predecessor, the 1959 summit eruption in Kilauea Iki Crater, together formed a summit-flank sequence. The Kapoho eruption caused havoc in lower Puna, an idyllic rural community until the lava fountains and flows covered farm land and villages.

The size and frequency of the earthquakes increased; at 8 am, January 13, the ground was severely cracked along the fault through Kapoho town.  Movement along the fault was literally pulling the town apart.

The ground was constantly shaking. The roughly 300-residents undertook voluntary evacuation, which was completed by early evening.  At 7:35 pm, January 13, 1960, a red glow above Kapoho confirmed the start of the eruption.

Within half an hour, fountaining was nearly continuous along a nearly ½ - mile long fissure.  After a couple hours, the activity focused with central fountains – for the next 11-hours powerful steam blasts roared from the vents.

The resulting fallout coated everything with a thin film of fine, wet, glassy ash. Salt crystals formed as the water evaporated; they testified to the brackish nature of the groundwater.

By noon on January 14, the steam blasts had ended and lava fountaining was confined to many sources along a 600-long section of the fissure.  An ʻaʻa flow, 18-feet thick and nearly 1,000-feet wide reached the ocean – a bench formed 300-feet beyond the old shoreline.

In an attempt to save Warm Springs, bulldozers pushed a rock dike; shortly after, lava overtopped it and filled the pool.

Kapoho, a bit uphill of the fissure, was near all this activity but had not been touched by lava. Pumice and lava were wreaking havoc on nearby homes and farms (papaya, coconut, orchid and coffee groves.)

ʻAʻa continued to enter the ocean; it was also spreading southward.  Bulldozers worked in forming a barrier to protect Kapoho, Kapoho School, an area of expensive homes and real estate at Kapoho Beach Lots.  By January 20, lava had reached the barrier and overtopped it on January 23; a second barrier was shoved aside on January 27.

A third barrier held the flow, but lava then moved underground, beneath the end of the barrier, emerging near Kapoho School. The buildings began to burn at 10 am and the school was lost shortly after noon.

The barrier itself remained intact, and it survived until February 5, when it was finally overtopped and almost totally buried by lava that eventually covered the Kapoho cemetery.  More coastal houses were lost.

Despite notable developments in the vent area, Kapoho village remained virtually intact except for a blanket of pumice and ash that covered everything.

For seven hours on the afternoon of January 27, the heaviest pumice fall of the entire eruption rained down on the area during strong kona winds.

However, it was the lava flow that would doom the town.

Late that night, the rapidly moving ʻaʻa flow moved through the streets, overwhelmed building after building. By midnight January 27, most of Kapoho had been destroyed; a couple days later (January 30) the town was gone.

The eruption ended slowly. Dribbles of lava continued to enter the sea north of Cape Kumukahi as late as February 13. High fountains continued until February 15, when lava was spraying upward from the main vent area to heights of 600-feet.  It gradually subsided and on the morning of February 19, the eruption stopped.

Volcanologists concluded that the Kapoho eruption was tied to events at Kilauea’s distant summit.  On January 17, four days after the Kapoho eruption had started, the summit began to subside (deflate, by analogy with a balloon) as magma was leaving the storage reservoir and heading down the east rift zone to the Kapoho area.

The eruption was the first during the modern era of volcano monitoring at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Observatory. As a result, probably more fundamental ideas were reached from it than from any other single eruption in Hawaiʻi.

The main lesson, and really the only one that bears repeating over and over again, is clear. What happened then will happen again. That lesson should never be lost.  (All information here is from USGS.)

The image shows Kapoho and the eruption.  In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Major Warren’s Hotel

“Major (William R) Warren was Honolulu’s first restauranteur. His establishments, both in Honolulu and California, were famous for their excellent cuisine.”  (Hoyt)

Warren ‘The Major’ - he of the big paunch, red face, and blonde eyebrows - was in the hotel business in 1817 and offered a July 4 dinner in 1818.  (Greer)

Land Commission Award records note, “this lot was first occupied by William R Warren, who originally obtained it from Kaikioʻewa (governor of Kauaʻi) before the year 1819.”  (avakonohiki)

In 1819 he obtained property at what is now Hotel and Bethel Streets, and around 1825 built a structure referred to as the ‘Warren House’ and ‘Major Warren's Hotel.’  (Schmitt)

It apparently also served as town hall, or general meeting place for the public to assemble and plan for celebrations, or discuss questions of importance in the community, or serving as a ball room. (Thrum)

“(Warren) gave the use of his large dining room to the ‘Oahu Amateur Theatre.’ Major Warren had moved his Honolulu establishment several times, but in 1834 he was located approximately, on the makai-ewa corner of Fort and Beretania Streets, almost opposite the present Catholic Cathedral.  (Hoyt)

So prominent was this Warren name in the community that in 1836, when the naming of the streets was being considered the suggestion was made that ‘the open space near Messrs. Peirce & Brewer's establishment" (corner of Fort and Hotel) "from Rooke & Peabody's house to Major Warren's old stand be named Warren Square.’  (Thrum)

Warren’s pioneering enterprise, ‘Major Warren's Hotel,’ gave ‘Hotel Street’ its name in downtown Honolulu (although in the 1830s that part of Hotel between Fort Street and the hotel was also called Warren Square.)  (Greer, Clark)

Warren went to California.  “That this boniface had a winning personality may be judged by the following description of him on his departure in February, 1838: ‘A gentleman with a smiling visage, a rotund figure, a disposition like a sunbeam, and a heart as big as the Island of Hawaii was Major Warren.’”  (Thrum)

Dr. Ed. Espiner took over Warren’s interest in the premises and continued for some time without change of name. In December, 1840, Espiner sold the property to Wm. French and the ‘Warren Hotel’ name continued until 1844.

On June 15, 1844, French made a 50/50 partnership deal for operation of the hotel with Ahung, a Chinese. He brought in three Chinese copartners - Atai, Ahsing, and Ahlan - all doing business as Hungtai.  Ahung soon died; at his death Hungwa bought into the enterprise and became the proprietor of the Canton Hotel - featuring Chinese cooks and waiters. (Greer)

Hungwa ran advertisements in the local paper noting, “Canton Hotel.  The undersigned having taken the premise formerly known as the ‘Warren Hotel,’ begs to assure the public that he has spared no expense in fitting up the same for the comfort and convenience of residents and visitors, and solicits a share of the public patronage.  Billiard Room and newly fitted Bowling Alleys attached." (Polynesian, April 26, 1845)

Samuel Thompson, one of the town's celebrities, succeeded to it in July, 1849, to maintain it as a first class hotel under the same name.  His term was brief, John Bartlett as proprietor of the ‘Canton’ when it was fitted up and became a noted resort for officers of ships in the flush whaling days.

"Jack Bartlett," as he was familiarly called, was cash-keeper for many of the officers and he served them honestly.  Bartlett passed away in May, 1858.  Following his death the ‘Canton Hotel’ was maintained by various parties for several years until September of 1865, when Samuel Loller of the International leased the premises and opened up the same January, 1866, under the changed name of Eureka Restaurant (it later changed to Eureka Hotel and Restaurant.)  (Thrum)

In 1878, F. Horn, put his Horn’s Bakery at the property; Horn died August 5th, 1896, but the business was continued by his widow for several years, then she sold it to the New England Bakery business.  (Thrum)

Later, the Aloha Park, then the Collegia Theatre was on the site (across the street from Empire Theatre – the building there still goes by the Empire name.)

Today, the property ( at the mauka-Diamond Head Corner of Hotel and Bethel Streets) is known as the Marine Finance (built in 1910 - it was known as the National Building when National stores occupied a bunch of it;  it’s the home to the Plumbers and Fitters Union and several other shops and offices.

The image shows the Land Commission Award map (before Bethel Street extended mauka.) In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Aloha from Vermont

In 1777, the thirteen colonies were fighting the Revolutionary War with England.  Vermont was not one of the 13 Colonies; rather, in January of that year, delegates from towns around Vermont held a convention and declared their independence.

They called the new republic ‘New Connecticut;’ later that year, they changed the name to Vermont. (Vermont Secretary of State)

Although an independent republic, Vermonters fought with the Colonists against the British.  A turning point in the revolution was at the Battle of Bennington, Vt.  It was a major victory for the Americans and helped to convince France that the rebels were worthy of support.

Between 1777, when Vermont established its independence, and 1791 (when Vermont joined the Union as the 14th state,) Vermont was truly independent – as a republic it had its own coins and its own postal service.  (Vermont Secretary of State)

At this same time (October 30, 1789,) Hiram Bingham was born to Calvin and Lydia Bingham in Bennington Vermont.  Thirty years later (October 23, 1819,) Bingham led the Pioneer Company of Protestant missionaries to Hawaiʻi.

This is not the only tie Vermont has to the Islands.  A lasting legacy is through descendants of another Hawaiʻi missionary, Peter Johnson Gulick, a member of the Third Company of missionaries to the Islands.

First of all, Hawaiʻi-born grandson Luther Halsey Gulick, Jr. MD and his wife Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Emily Vetter founded Camp Fire Girls (now known as Camp Fire.)

Another Hawaiʻi born grandson Edward Leeds Gulick and his wife Harriet Marie Gulick later settled in Vermont and started the “Aloha Camp” there in 1905.  It started as a success and is still going strong today.

“Aloha began as a picnic. Three young couples, one summer day of 1898, were cycling around Lake Morey, seeking the loveliest spot at which to enjoy their lunch, brought from Hanover, NH. At just the very place where all agreed the views were most beautiful, stood a plain, substantial house, with no paint, no blinds, and a porch only big enough for two small chairs.”

“The sign, ‘For Sale; Inquire at the next house,’ fired the imagination, and while Mr. Gulick, ‘just for fun,’ went over to make inquiries, the rest ran around, peeking in at each window, and promptly imagining themselves spending a gay summer in that ideal spot.”

“July 1899 found the Gulicks with a new baby, Harriet, later known to campers as ‘Johnnie, the bugler,’ taking the long ride from New Jersey to their new summer home.”

“The name of the new cottage was a source of lively and humorous discussions. Aloha, meaning ‘Love to you,’ in Hawaiian, was finally chosen, for its euphonious sound, and its kindly meaning. Who better should name this cottage Aloha, than one who was son and grandson of men who had spent their lives in uplifting the natives of those beautiful Islands?”

“For six happy summers Aloha cottage housed the quartette of Gulick children, and their cousins and uncles and aunts and friends, filling it full from the attic down.  But just when and how Aloha camp was thought of, it is hard to say.”

“Believing that girls and their parents would soon see the immense advantages of camp life, - the health, the beauty, the sanity, and the wholesome democracy of such a life, - we started bravely in.”  (Harriet Farnsworth Gulick)

In 1905 - 15 years before women were allowed to vote, when floor length skirts and lace up boots were mandatory for playing any sport; when popular conduct books for girls encouraged a "retiring delicacy" and declared that "one of the most valuable things you can learn is how to become a good housewife" - Harriet and Edward Gulick created a world in which every girl could discover her most adventurous self.

That world, Aloha Camp on Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont, afforded young women the knowledge, skills and freedom to explore wild nature on foot and on horseback, by skiff and by canoe; to kindle campfires in the woods and cook meals in the open air; to pitch tents over rough ground and sleep out of doors under the stars.

“Imagination necessary. The very fabric of human civilization depends on it.” Harriet Farnsworth Gulick wrote these words in a notebook of ideas for assembly talks at Aloha Camp, a camp for girls.

Next, the Gulicks turned their imagination to opportunities for women ‘age eighteen to eighty,’ opening Aloha Club in 1910 on the secluded shore of Lake Katherine in Pike, New Hampshire. The success of Aloha Camp and Aloha Club inspired the Gulicks to imagine how camp could benefit younger girls. Having purchased 400-acres of farmland on Lake Fairlee in Ely, Vermont, they developed Aloha Hive, which opened in 1915.

At the turn of the century (1900,) girls’ camps were rare.  Then, the girl camper was about twelve to twenty. She usually came from a home of luxury and enjoyed the novelty of sleeping in tents, the unhampered opportunities for learning to swim, to row, to paddle - in short, to live close to friendly Mother Nature - through eight or nine happy weeks of the camp season.  (Coale)

At Aloha Camp, girls received ‘Kanaka’ awards – “The little figure in bloomers is won by a camper whose tent and land adjoining it is perfect as to order and neatness for a week. If to that virtue is added punctuality at all the appointments of a week - meals, assembly, crafts, etc - the girl wins a Kanaka”.  (Aloha Kanaka)

Every summer one whole camp has an opportunity to vote for just one girl. It is not the most popular girl; nor the most athletic; nor yet the best-looking. Not any of these. The highest honor the camp has to bestow is given for Camp Spirit - and it goes to the girl who has proved to be the most thoughtful, generous, and kind-in short, the best friend.  (Worthington)

After launching Hive, the next question for the Gulick's imagination was “what about all the little brothers of Aloha and Hive campers?” Far from the military camps that prevailed for boys in those days, they envisioned Camp Lanakila, a camp that promoted a spirit of adventure, discovery, creativeness, respect for others and individual growth.

After Edward Gulick’s death in 1931, Harriet Gulick continued for twenty years as the central, caring presence for all the camps. She passed away in February 1951 at the age of 86. In the mid-1960s, the camps faced a major challenge as members of the Gulick family's next generation followed pursuits other than the management of Aloha (1905,) Hive (1915) and Lanakila (1922.)

The Aloha Foundation was formed as a nonprofit organization that continues operating the camps and endeavors to sustain the Gulick traditions.

In Hawaiʻi, one of the lasting legacies and reminders of the Gulick family in Hawaiʻi is heard in almost every morning’s Honolulu traffic report with reference to conditions at the Gulick Avenue overpass in Kalihi.  (Lots of information here from Aloha Kanaka and Aloha Camp website.)

The image shows Edward & Harriet Gulick, founders of Aloha Camp.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Kōnane

Lawe ʻili keokeo, paʻani, ka ʻeleʻele
Removing the whites is playing with the blacks

It starts with a papamū, a generally rectangular flat stone whose surface is marked with shallow pits in regular order and of considerable number.  Later more mobile boards were used.

The center of the board was called piko (navel) and frequently marked with an inset human molar; sometimes every position had an inset tooth (or a chicken or human bone.) The row along the borders of the board was termed kakaʻi.  (Ernst)

“They have a game somewhat resembling draughts (checkers,) but more complicated.  It is played upon a board about twenty-two inches by fourteen, painted black, with white spots, on which the men are placed; these consist of black and white pebbles, eighteen upon each side, and the game is won by the capture of the adversaries pieces.”

“Tamaahmaah (Kamehameha) excels at this game. I have seen him sit for hours playing with his chiefs, giving an occasional smile, but without uttering a word. I could not play, but William Moxely, who understood it well, told me that he had seen none who could beat the king.”  (Campbell)

Captain James Cook also noted Konane in his journal.  “It is very remarkable, that the people of these islands are great gamblers. They have a game very much like our draughts; but, if one may judge from the number of squares, it is much more intricate.”

“The board is about two feet long, and is divided into two hundred and thirty-eight squares, of which there are fourteen in a row, and they make use of black and white pebbles, which they move from square to square.”  (Cook)

Kōnane boards do not follow any established pattern in size and range from 6x6 boards to well over 14x14 boards.  (Some suggest even larger boards are used.)

To begin the game, the first player (black) must remove one of their pieces, either the center piece, one laterally next to it or one at a corner. The second player (white) now removes a piece of their own, adjacent to the space created by black’s first move.

Then, the players take turns making moves.  A player moves a stone of his color by jumping it over a horizontally or vertically (not diagonally) adjacent stone of the opposite color, into an empty space. Stones so jumped are captured, and removed from play.  Thereafter players take turns making moves on the board.

A stone may make multiple successive jumps in a single move, as long as they are in a straight line; no turns are allowed within a single move. The winner of the game is the last player able to make a move.

Kōnane figures in the saga of Lonoikamakahiki, a great chief credited with creating the first kahili and instituting the Makahiki games.

In a fit of jealous rage over rumors that she had been unfaithful, he killed his wife during a game of kōnane by beating her over the head with the heavy board. Later learning of her steadfastness, he was crazed with grief, but eventually nursed back to health by a faithful retainer.  (Yuen)

King Kalākaua and his Queen Kapiʻolani were experts at kōnane, and it is well known that the goddess Pele did not refuse to play the game with the demigod Kamapuaʻa.  (Brigham)

An alternative name for kōnane was mū, and for the board, papamū. Brigham notes that mū was the name of the official who captured men for sacrifice or for judicial punishment and suggests this name was adopted for the game.  (Ernst)

The image shows a papamū stone and Kōnane board at the Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park (NPS.)  In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Fire Power … to Fired Power

Camp Malakole (originally called Honouliuli Military reservation) was an anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery training facility … later, Kalaeloa’s Chevron fuel refinery took over the site; just down the road is HECO’s oil-burning 651-Megawatt Kahe Power Plant.

Let’s look back.

On March 22, 1939, the North Shore's Kawailoa military firing point was relocated to Honouliuli Military Reservation, on over 1,700-acres situated between Barbers Point and Nanakuli, Oʻahu; it then served as a Hawaiian Separate Coast Artillery Brigade.

Firing positions were prepared for six batteries along the shoreline and plans were prepared to add an additional three positions, allowing three battalions to conduct firing practice at the same time.

The location provided adequate space to exercise the searchlight and sound locator units to work with the guns in tracking targets that were towed off-shore by towing aircraft consisting mostly old bi-planes.  (Bennett)

The installation initially consisted of a tent camp on the southern half of the tract; officers were quartered on the east side with their mess, showers, and latrines. The post kitchen and bakery tents were located across the roadway from the officer's encampment.

Closer to the beach were the ammunition storage tents. The camp's primary observation station was located to the rear of the firing line atop a steel-frame tower.

The 251st Coast Artillery (AA,) California National Guard, was sent to Hawaiʻi in November 1940 and stationed at Honouliuli Military Reservation.  (army-mil) The facility's peacetime strength was 1,200-men and the wartime strength was 1,800-men.

"(A)fter we'd been there for about a week or so, we had a tremendous rainstorm and the water got to be about two foot high and just washed us all out. And we had to move everything up on the higher ground because our foot lockers and our shoes, and everything else was pouring right down to the sea".  (Anthony Iantorno)

As a result of the flooding, a large sand berm was built between the firing line and the beach that ran parallel to the beach.

With the 251st arrival came the plan to build more permanent facilities.  The regiment lived under canvas pending completion of their new quarters, which they were tasked to build under the supervision of engineers from Schofield Barracks.

The regiment spent every morning on the firing line, with the evenings reserved for clearing away the kiawe and building the camp improvements.  (Sebby)

Upon completion in early 1941, the camp consisted of temporary theater of operations-type structures.  There were 48 barracks structures (90 feet by 24 feet,) 12 mess halls, 9 magazines and storehouses, 5 officers quarters, 7 showers (equipped with only cold water) and latrines.

Other improvements included a dispensary, officers' mess, headquarters building, post office, regimental day room, movie theater, laundry, motor repair shop, gasoline station, fire house, guard house, photo laboratory, quartermaster and engineers' buildings. The majority of the buildings were built on piers with the footings buried in the coral ground.

With the improvements, on January 9, 1941, the facility's name was changed to Camp Malakole.  (Bennett)  It was part of the growing presence in the Islands.

Back in 1941, the Hawaiian Department was the Army's largest overseas department.  For more than three decades the War Department had constructed elaborate coastal defenses on Oahu.  The Hawaiian Department's two main tasks were to protect the Pacific Fleet from sabotage and defeat any invasion.

The previous 18 months had seen the arrival of the Pacific Fleet, war scares, the start of selective service, numerous training exercises, the mobilization of the National Guard, and the doubling of the department's strength to 43,000 soldiers (including Air Corps.)  (army-mil)

Besides carrying out extensive training (firing exercises, field maneuvers and gas attack drills,) several members of Camp Malakole participated in sports activities and entered the Hawaiian Department track meet on May 29, 1941, winning several first places and some second and third places.

Then, like other military installations in the Islands, things changed with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Sgt Henry C Blackwell, Cpl Clyde C Brown and Sgt Warren D Rasmussen were the first American casualties of the Pearl Harbor attack; they were stationed at Camp Malakole, F Battery.  (Kelley)

Licensed pilots, that morning, they had gone on pass to Rodgers Airport (now Honolulu International Airport) and rented a couple of piper cubs to practice flying over the water.  The Cubs took off to the northeast, then flew parallel to Waikīkī Beach toward Diamond Head before reversing direction and heading west.  (Harding)

They were about two miles offshore at an altitude of between 500 and 800 feet, headed toward Camp Malakole.  (Harding) They were out over the water just as the Japanese attacked. They were shot down.  (Kelley)  Guards at Camp Malakole shot down a strafing Japanese plane at about 8:05 am with small arms fire.

Newly arrived coast artillery units on Oahu in 1942 were quartered at the camp during the early months of the war.  Later in the war, the Hawaiian Antiaircraft Artillery Command (HAAC) took over operation of the camp, which was used completely as the principal facility for training antiaircraft units on Oʻahu during the war.

Camp Malakole served as a base camp for anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons training, and staging and temporary lodging for troops preparing for deployment to the Pacific during the height of World War II. During its years of service, 43,350 troops were billeted to Camp Malakole for staging and training purposes.  (Dye)

Today, the Chevron fuel refining facility sites on the former Camp Malakole grounds.  A reminder of the prior use is a steel turreted machine gun pillbox; it's still there (in the lawn area on Malakole Street at the entrance to the Chevron facility.)

The image shows 3-inch guns at Camp Malakole.  (Bennett)  In addition, I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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