The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-01-19


and e545T; @. mAnkia., specially when crowd
81 il cities ard towns. tan az ample and con
slant supply Of tie pure element. Tie ancients
fully reca.niz7d this fact, and among the runs
~ their cites W nay trace toby ihe remains
o.. va a~.leduc-s AM ci-iern- and IN the pre-
~; 81. some r tie gr=zt=- Efforts u engineering
XII have b=a -ueee-fuIy directed towards
bringing into grea, cities the he-l.h-giTing
streams 81 the country.
one great zus= u the Success Z The cholera
IN L.uGyn tie L., -as5n vas the impure water
furnished for drinking II s,ue sections, where
tie p=tilenes RACED the w1r-,. the water was
aL=..ucely filthy. \ letter ay=
IN fact. London j. - enormous that the local
~zts- csup-li-- can't Purgry q decent article
u them. the TbaD@-. which. though No longer
serving ~ = --e-T O. tL- city "a, sell - . ci-t-rl.
p-fDim- HAT o1ie- Tor al ,,sa- above iL- br.---.
and ~ htt~i.-S --i-s- u cleans IT, "t-. Nr
-r- obliged ~ LIlE- from .urI----- A. Tor The
land spriDg-. they ar- infinitely wOrs---o bad.
indeed. tta. Tho pumps have . De- c.--Led up. -
prevent people seasoning themselves t9r tie cholera
II cousequeaoe. some lew adequate source q up
plg l. imperative. akin g. which provides New
Workers with til Beautiful CIoi.a- Tao zcL'le-
have been suggested ore tie building 4 an
a4I-G4ct from The W-l-L Hills I-5m iL--i IN length {:
arD---- tL- converting U4L-wa--T- . Jake lying 20
miles away. from lie confines u "--tmr-rlard
anu tll-B-4-1s-- 4llD aG- EEa.- L--D.-tE fl 'AN
metropolis. which requires -yo.VyJ-yOv gallons @;
water every dav-
In a tropical climate ike this, the necessity If
having a full supply of pure water 10 insure
health and comfort, becomes more apparent even
than in Countries situated ia higher ATTITUDES.
II has been aid thar - cleanliness i next u god
lines" aud it may b. added that a daily Per
sonal ablu;ion Is an inselarab.. adjunct 70 civil
i~lizati5n.
During the past summer the citizens Of Homo
lulu have frequently been reminded, by the short
supply Of water through the Government pipes.
of tine importance Of this subject. Owing To the
Yaucity u the rain fall during the past year, the
springs in Nuuanu Valley, from which tie only
reservoir Is fed, did not receive their usual sup
plies. and the whole island has suffered from
drouth. The beds Of streams and water-cJurses.
seldom dry. have presented for months & growth
Of grass and weeds the hills and plains have
becyme bare Of vegetation. and in some instances
cattle have died Of thirs, and starvation. 81 far,
during the present winter, We have had vastly
les. than the usual and needed supply yf rain,
and unless We are greatly favored by the clouds
during the remaining winter month Of February,
the prospect. are that the summer Of 1867 viii
prove even a drier one than the last, and We may
have 70 resort once more - digging wells 10
Honolulu. IL Is quite true that there are springs
in the neighborhoOd Of the city, the waters Of
which could be brought here in ample supply by
the expenditure Of = few thousands, and had we
an energetic Government W might hope to see,
in view Of the threatened public PiLikiG. the nee
essary preliminary steps taken towards that end.
But, let uE ask, what are the causes OF this
change in the climate? Old residents-those
who have lived here say fifteen or twenty years
well remember the drenching and long continued
rains that used u characterize the months IRON
November to March. But of late years the fall
Of rain has BEEN gradually but steadily decreas-
ing, and cur once beautiful island bids fair 10 be
turned into q suuburnt desert. The question IL
70 the cause Of all This may be answered in four
words tie lcaSte If Jorests. Alexander Won
Humboldt, o. long ago a. 1904, warned that the
waste of forests entailed two evils on the follow
ing generation a want Of fuel. and q deficiency
Of water. The first Is self-eyiGent here. for all
our fuel is now brought from the other Islands
at a heavy expcnse. The second, a deficiency of
water. We are but just beginning to feel. Since
the theory was first promulgated by Won Hum
boldt, the close observers of nature have accumu-
lated such a mass Of evidence on the subject Of
the attraction of rain by forests, that in these
days it Is no longer a theory, but a well e=tab-
lished doctrine, confirmed by experience, that
the presence of woods and forests increases the
mean annual quantity Of rain in any given
locality, and that their reckless destruction by
the cupidity or ignorance Of man as surely re-
suits in converting 4 smiling landscape into a
barren wilderness of rocks and sand. Look, for
an illustration, at the Cape de Verde Islands.
Since the destruction Of the woods. they have
experienced all the miseries Of famine and dis
ease. For three successive years at a time there
has not a drop of rain fallen, and but for the
aid freely extended to the inhabitants by the
charitable people of America and elsewhere,
those Islands would ere this have become de-
populated. We might multiply illustrations
from abroad, but let this suffice. At home, we
find that the elevated plain of Waimea, on Ha-
wan, twenty miles in length and six in breadth,
which, thirty years ago. was covered with a
dense forest. has been stripped Of every tree or
shrub by the focks Of cattle which have been
allowed 10 run there, and the result is, that
while in former years Waimea was noted for its
moist climate, it is now a fact that six and some
times nine months elapse without a shower.
Look at Hilo, in close proximity to densely
wooded mountains, and mark the contrast.
Hanalei, on Kauai, is another instance o. a Aeat
climatic change, like that of Waimea and from
the same cause.
Speaking of the change of climate which fol-
lows cultivation, 4 Nevada letter writer says:
Il may be p~ardoned for DEPRESSING to the singu-
lar fact Of the change of climate which appears
TO accompany, or, according to the theories Of
some, to be induced by the cultivation of these
desert wastes. Before entered Nevada was
informed by all persons familiar with its climate,
that l should need no protection against the rain,
as it never rained in Nevada, except in the win
ter and early spring-the rainy season. During
! NJ Ct rel In Arl-tn l. l. = :rnr-n--s-n L.