Waiwelawela

Paʻu o keahi o Waiwelawela o ka lua e
Aloha na poʻe la o

The pit of Waiwelawela is encircled by fire
Greetings to the people of the upland pit

(From the chant “A popoʻi haki kaikoʻo” – it describes how Pele got established in Puna; it compares the movement of the lava to the movement of water.)

There are indications that the ancient Hawaiians made use of natural hot springs for recreation and therapy. Oral history relates that the ancient chieftain, Kumukahi, frequented hot springs in Puna to relieve his aches and pains.  (Woodruff/Takahashi)

“The fame of the waters of the warm springs of the Puna districts has been great during many years. In fact, it is a legend … that when the ailments of the body overcame the aliʻi of old they betook themselves to the spring known as Waiwelawela … and there they were healed of rheumatic affections through bathing, and their systemic ills cured by drinking of the waters.”

“This legend has come down to the Hawaiians of today and even now there is a fame attached to the waters of the springs, which draws to the side of the stream scores of the native residents of nearby districts.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

Waiwelawela “is a warm spring, crescent shaped, and of a vivid ultramarine in color …. The spring, named the Blue Lake, is 90-deg in temperature and 900-feet above the level of the sea.  The water is wonderfully clear and, strange to relate, at this elevation, it has a regular rise and fall which is said to correspond to the tide of the ocean.”  (Daily Bulletin, August 28, 1882)

The Kapoho Warm Springs was formed when the downthrown block of the Kapoho fault slipped below the water table and exposed the warm waters, probably heated by a magmatic body intruded in 1840.  (USGS)

“At present no practical use is made of them, but were there a proper access a small hotel would be built and many invalids would be able to make use of these springs.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, September 17, 1889)

“The famous warm spring is to be found near the residence of Mr RA Lyman (Kapoho’s largest landowner) and is one of the finest bathing places on the islands.  Natives formerly flocked to the place from all over the islands believing that it was possessed of great healing powers.”

“The water is a pleasant temperature for bathing and is clear as crystal, small objects can be readily distinguished twenty feet below the surface. There is a mineral taste to the water.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 22, 1892)

“The railway now goes so close to them that it is believed if a few cottages were built, and attendance provided, many afflicted people would be glad to go there and be healed.  Even those who need no physician would find at these springs a place for rest and contemplation, far from the maddening crowd.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 12, 1908)

“It is the most marvelously beautiful place in all these beautiful islands. There is not a doubt of it. The pool, at the base of a small peak that is like what Diamond Head would be if that had sugar cane growing to its very summit, lies shaded by a dense growth of ʻōhiʻa and koa and lehua trees and guava bushes, the sun glistening upon it through the leaves of these.”

“The waters, not steaming, but of perceptibly higher temperature than the air, by some strange law of refraction are shot through with dazzling gleams of a blue that is like the blue depths of the sky. Yet the rocks in the pool are not blue. They are of rather reddish cast.”  (Mid-Pacific Magazine, 1912)

“The exposed basin where the spring comes to the surface is something like five by six yards, and the water rises from no one knows where and departs no one sees how.  The water is warm and is very full of mineral salts.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

“This spot is unquestionably one of the loveliest in all Hawaiʻi, and its charm is typical of Hawaiʻi.  It is close against the face of a volcanic cliff.  Here there is a shady grotto, and in this grotto a pool almost as it hewed out of the rocks for the bathing place of some giant of the forest.”

“The water is in spots 20-feet deep, but so translucent that it seems much less than 10.  It holds many lights and shadows, many hues and colors, varying from the deep indigo blue to a transparent jade-green and in spots a golden brown.  There are seats here and the shade is grateful.”  (Honolulu Star-bulletin, September 6, 1916)

At Warm Springs, where portions of ‘Bird of Paradise’ (1951) and other motion pictures had been filmed, stone steps led to a spring-fed, naturally heated pool fringed by ferns, cattleya orchids and lau hala trees.

The grounds and a half-mile drive were landscaped with plumeria, thousands of ti plants, crotons and ginger. Picnic tables and barbecue pits dotted a smooth lawn shaded by mango trees.  Slim Holt, who leased the property from Lyman, had labored for years to create this beauty, assisted by interested individuals and organizations.  (Flanders)

Then, “Something was amiss.”  An eruption at Kilauea had ended on December 21, 1959.

“(B)ut the shallow reservoir beneath the summit of Kilauea volcano was gorged with magma, far more than before the eruption started. Rather than removing pressure, the eruption had, for all intents and purposes, created more.”

“The uncertainty ended at 1935 January 13, (1960,) when red glow in the night sky above Kapoho announced the 1960 eruption.”  (USGS)

Bulldozers erected a quarter-mile line of dikes designed to prevent the lava from reaching Warm Springs.  Despite this effort, toward midnight the flow surmounted the embankments.

Barbecue pits exploded; trees, shrubbery, tables and benches burst into flame. Lava poured down stone steps in a cherry-red stream.  Still water, reflecting the infernal scene, disappeared under the flow. The new cinder cone was dubbed Puʻu Laimanu.  … Today, buried beneath this primeval landscape, under 50-feet of lava, lays Warm Springs.  (Flanders)

“Estimates of damage from the six-day eruption of Kilauea volcano rose into the millions today.  State Senator Richard F Lyman estimated damage to his land, blanketed by the lava as $2,000,000.”

“He owns 80-acres of sugar land and the Warm Springs resort area, now buried by the flow on Hawaiʻi Island.  Other landowners reported 3,500-acres of farmland destroyed.”  (The Spokesman, January 20, 1960)

“Waiwelawela (meaning ‘warm water’) was a warm spring pool near Kapoho which was covered in the 1960 eruption. … It is said by people of the area that Pele covered the springs because people were charging others, namely Hawaiians, for use of the warm springs. In former days these warm springs were available to everyone.”  (Pukui; DOE)

The photo shows Waiwelawela.  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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Kolo Wharf

In 1907, McNeill & Libby started its first fruit cannery in Sunnyvale, California. It quickly became the largest employer with a predominantly female workforce.

In the early 1900s, it established a pineapple canning subsidiary in Hawaiʻi and began to advertise its canned produce using the ‘Libby’s’ brand name.  Unlike the other bigger pineapple producers, Libby did not start in Central Oʻahu, it started in Windward O‘ahu.

Libby’s pineapple covered the southern portion of Kāne’ohe, what is now the Pali Golf Course, Hawaiian Memorial Park and the surrounding area.   By 1923, it was evident that pineapple cultivation on the Windward area could not keep up with that in other O‘ahu areas.

Then, Libby began to grow pineapple on land leased from Molokaʻi Ranch; their activities were focused primarily in the Kaluakoʻi section of the island.  Lacking facilities and housing, the plantation began building clusters of dwellings (“camps”) around Maunaloa.

By 1927, it started to grow into a small town – as pineapple production grew, so did the town.  By the 1930s, more that 12 million cases of pineapple were being produced in Hawaiʻi every year; Libby accounted for 23 percent.

There were two main pineapple growers on Molokai, Libby, situated on the west side at Maunaloa and California Packing Corporation (later known as Del Monte) in Kualapuʻu in the central part of Molokaʻi.

Then steps in a fledgling Hawaiʻi company, also seeing expansion opportunities, and it was through shipment of Libby’s pineapple from Molokaʻi to Libby’s processing plant in Honolulu that Young Brothers expanded into the freight business.

In 1900, three brothers, William, Herbert and Jack, got into business along Honolulu’s waterfront.  What started out working small, odd jobs running lines, delivering supplies and providing harbor tours ended up to be a company that has played an important role in the maritime community of the State.

In those days, there might be from five to twenty sailing ships off Sand Island.  When a ship came in, the anchor line had to be run out to secure the ship; if the ship was coming to the dock, a line had to be carried to the pier.

In the early years of the company, the brothers carried supplies and sailors to ships at anchor outside the harbor, as well as run lines for anchoring or docking vessels.  They also gave harbor tours and took paying passengers to participate in shark hunts.

Libby’s need to ship fruit from the growing area on Molokaʻi, to pineapple processing on Oʻahu created an opportunity for the brothers.  The brothers, using their first wooden barges, YB1 and YB2, hauled pineapples from Libby’s wharf to Honolulu.  “That's how (Young Brothers) started the freight.”  (Jack Young Jr)

Libby constructed paved roads, a warehouse and worker housing in Maunaloa.  In addition, they dredged a harbor and built a wharf at Kolo on the south-west side of the Island (between what is now Hale O Lono and Kaunakakai.)

“A natural channel thru the coral reef was blown and dredged to give a minimal depth of nine feet with two hundred feet width.  Spar buoys mark the outer and inner ends of this channel.”

“The wharf is a heavily built wooden structure, having a road constructed for heavy truck traffic between it and the plantation on the summit of Mauna Loa. The only buildings at Kolo are those of the construction camp.”  (Dept of Commerce, 1925)

Back then, there was competition in hauling freight.  “The Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co, established in 1883, own(ed) and operate(d) a fleet of first-class vessels engaged exclusively in the transportation of passengers and freight between ports on the islands of the Hawaiian group.” (Annual Report of the Governor, 1939)

Regular sailings of passenger vessels are maintained from Honolulu four times weekly to ports on the island of Hawaiʻi, four times weekly to Molokaʻi, twice weekly to Kauaʻi, three times weekly to Lānaʻi and daily, except Monday and Saturday, to ports on the island of Maui. Included in the fleet are 12 passenger and freight vessels."  (Report of the Governor, 1930)

During the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, Inter-Island Steam Navigation had the SS Haleakalā, Hualālai, Kilauea and Waiʻaleʻale. There were others that carried 12-passengers such as the SS Humuʻula, which was primarily a cattle boat.  “(Inter-Island) would run their passenger ships and heave to off Kaunakakai. And it would be passengers and mail which just went (ashore) by boat.”  (Jack Young Jr)

But those vessels had deeper drafts than the shallow barges and couldn’t service Kolo; “Kolo was a very shallow draft channel, and it was a privately owned port, owned entirely by Libby McNeil & Libby.  They had bigger acreage on the west end. That was a shorter haul for them. But the bulk of Libby's pineapples came from Maunaloa which was shipped out of Kolo.”  (Jack Young Jr)

To handle the conditions there, Young Brothers had a special tender built, the ‘Kolo.’  “My father had the Kolo built for that. He had the propellers swung into the hull of the launch because of the shallow depth. … The tug had to remain off port.”  (Jack Young Jr)

With expanded freight service to Molokaʻi (Kolo and Kaunakakai,) around 1929, Young Brothers initiated a practice of towing two barges with one tug and became known as tandem towing.

The system was pioneered because two barges were needed to serve Molokaʻi – they would drop one barge off at Kolo and then carry on to Kaunakakai; they’d pick up the Kolo barge on the way back to Honolulu.

Then, the 1946 tidal wave struck.  “Libby would have to spend $1-million to restore it, and redredge it. And so instead of that they bought a fleet of trucks and hauled their fruit from Maunaloa to Kaunakakai. Everything went out of Kaunakakai, Libbys and (California Packing Corporation (later known as Del Monte.))  So Kolo was abandoned.”  (Jack Young Jr)

The end of the pineapple era began in 1972 when Libby sold to Dole Corp and was finalized three years later when Dole closed its Maunaloa facility. The very last pineapple harvest took place in 1986.  (West Molokai Association)

Young Brothers continues today.  In 1999, Saltchuk Resources, Inc of Seattle, Washington, the parent company of Foss Maritime, acquired Young Brothers and selected assets of Hawaiian Tug & Barge. In 2013, Hawaiian Tug & Barge was rebranded and incorporated into the Foss Maritime fleet, while Young Brothers remains a wholly own subsidiary of Foss.

The youngest of the Young Brothers, “Captain Jack,” is my grandfather; several quotes in this piece include statements from my uncle, also known as Captain Jack.

The image shows remnants of the Kolo Wharf (Google Earth.)  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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ABCD

"The New Navy of the United States was launched in the waters of uncertainty."  (New American Navy, Long, 1903)

Following the Civil War, the US Navy rapidly demobilized, and for the next 15 years the fleet was shrinking and becoming technologically obsolete.

A law of 1883 had signaled the end of the old Navy. Repairs were prohibited on wooden warships whenever the cost would exceed 20% of the cost of a new ship of the same size and type.  New construction favored steam while still carrying sails.  In addition, American ships were to be built of American-made steel. Then, naval shipbuilders were introducing a new policy, new ships.

Bids for the new vessels were opened on July 2, 1883. Eight firms participated in the competition. The proposal of John Roach, whose shipyard was at Chester, Penn., was the lowest, and it was accepted.

The unfortunate financial failure of John Roach in 1885 forced the government to take over and complete the first of the new fleet.  (Long, 1903)

"The United States started a squadron of cruisers ... the sole purpose of which, sailing under the euphonious title of 'the Squadron of Evolution,' will be to demonstrate in a peaceable sort of a way to the rest of the world that the United States Government has a navy, or rather the nucleus of a navy." (New York Times, November 19, 1889)

The first four vessels of the "New Navy" came to be known as the ABCD Ships because their names began with the first four letters of the alphabet - Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Dolphin.

They were also known as the "White Squadron" (named for the group's white-painted hulls.)  Later, other ships were added to the growing, modernizing Navy.

Three years later the Squadron was strengthened by the addition of the cruiser Baltimore and the gunboat Vixen and was ordered to prepare for action by Undersecretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt.

There are some Hawaiʻi ties to a couple of the ABCDs - the Atlanta and the Boston.

Named for a city in northwestern Georgia (originally called Terminus and later Marthasville,) the community was renamed Atlanta when it was incorporated as a city in 1847.

The ship was the second to carry the City's name (the first was a gunboat acquired by the Navy in the autumn of 1858 and later renamed Sumpter.)  The new Atlanta was part of the new Navy.

When Queen Kapiʻolani traveled to celebrate the Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in England in 1887, while on a stop in New York, Commodore Bancroft Gherardi invited the Queen to visit the Brooklyn Navy Yard - he wanted to show off some of the new Navy ships.

Queen Kapiʻolani was able to adjust her schedule and visited the facility on her last day in New York.  "Seldom has the yard looked so well.  The commodore’s residence and the Lyceum building had been profusely decorated by Sailor Douglass with the colors of the two nations."

"Just before the royal party reached the yard a battalion of marines arrived from the Minnesota.  At the same time out came the naval band and discoursed some popular music."

"The masts, spars and rigging of the Atlanta and Boston were then manned, and Commodore Gherardi and staff in full uniform advanced to the wharf to meet their guests, who were taken on board the Atlanta."  (The Day, May 25, 1887)

"The Atlanta had been just put into commission and her majesty was shown how quickly the great guns could be handled. Close alongside was the Boston, her powerful propeller churning the water incident to the breaking in of her."  (Iron Trade Review May 5, 1898)

In a follow-up thank you note (May 30, 1887) from Henry Alpheus Peirce Carter (who coordinated the Queen's state visits) to US Secretary of State Thomas Francis Bayard notes, "Her Majesty Queen Kapiʻolani (requests) you to convey to the honorable Secretaries for War and of the Navy, her grateful thanks for the attentions and honor paid her ... by Commodore Gherardi and officers of the United States Navy at the navy-yard at Brooklyn, on the occasion of her visit".

"... Her Majesty was the recipient of the kindest attentions, both public and private, and she desires that her very sincere acknowledgments may be properly conveyed to those officers of the Army and Navy of the United States stationed (there.)"  (HAP Carter, May 30, 1887)

A later sight of the Boston was not as pleasant.

It happened in the Islands; Captain Wiltse gave the order … “Sir: You will take possession of the Government building, and the American flag will be hoisted over it at 9 am. Very respectfully, GC Wiltse, Captain US Navy, Commanding USS Boston.”

In accordance with that order, the battalion of the Boston landed at Brewers Wharf, in the city of Honolulu, at 5 pm, January 16, 1893.

After the battalion was formed, they marched first to the United States consulate, where Lieut. Draper, with his company, was detached with orders to proceed to the legation and leave half his command in charge of the orderly sergeant, returning with the remainder to the United States consulate, himself, and remain there as a guard until further orders.

The remainder of the battalion then marched down King Street. In passing the palace the battalion, in column of companies, gave a marching salute, trumpeters sounding four ruffles in honor of the royal standard, which was flying there.

At 2:30 pm the next day, a civilian, armed, reported that a policeman had been shot while attempting to stop a wagonload of ammunition which was being conveyed to the old armory where the civilian forces enrolled by the committee of safety were then assembling, and that a large crowd was collecting on Merchant Street.

The battalion was immediately assembled under arms in the yard in rear of the building to await developments. Until nearly 6 o'clock, the men leading the citizens' movement had assumed charge of the Government building without opposition of any kind; the civilian companies under arms had marched in and established a line of sentries about the Government building.

The Boston's battalion was kept in rear of the camp, at their company parades, with arms stacked. About 1 pm, they were notified that a Provisional Government, of which Mr. SB Dole was presiding officer, was in complete possession.  A letter from the United States minister recognized it as the de facto government of the Hawaiian Islands, and the battalion was to consider it as such.

On January 19 new quarters were provided for the battalion at the unoccupied house on King street, the property of Mr. CR Bishop.  That home was formerly the home of Abner Pākī and his wife Laura Kōnia (Kamehameha III's niece.)  Their child, Bernice Pauahi Pākī and hānai daughter, Liliʻu (later Queen Liliʻuokalani) were raised as sisters.  The battalion of the Boston named this former home of the Queen Camp Boston.

A proclamation from Minister Stevens establishing a protectorate over the Hawaiian Islands in the name of the United States, pending negotiations with the Hawaiian Commissioners at Washington, was read.

At 9 am, the United States ensign was hoisted over the building, the battalion and civilian forces presenting arms.  The Hawaiian flag, hoisted on the pole in the grounds, received the same salute.  (Lots of information from the Report of the Committee on Foreign Relations.)

The image shows the ABCD ships, the Squadron of Evolution.  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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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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