The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-05-04
TIE PACIFIC
SATURDAY. MAY 4.
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
WA1LuKU, Maui, April 9th, 1873.

the Kohala Coast, to Makena (Alakees LandIng)
on Maui, the distance is reckoned at ~forty-ive
miles, and the Likehke makes it in about six
hours. A good deal of inter-island travel and
trade is springiug up from the regular trips OF
the steamer. Passengers and freight pass be-
tween the ports of Hawaii and Maui with dis
patch and facility, unlike the tedious process
around about to Honolulu and thence to destina-
ton on Maui, as used to be the case in the days
when there was no steamer. At present every
trip sees increasing travel and intercourse be-
tween Kona and Aohala and between various
points on Hawaii and Maui. All this tends to
the lettering of the condition of the people and
the development of the country.
The channel between the two Islands is usually
pretty rough, but on getting under the lee of
Maui the sea becomes smooth. As we round the
peculiar headIand of Makena-an extinct crater
we see glimpses of the plantation buildings Of
Ulupalakua, encompassed with groves of euca-
lyptus, cypress and other trees. This part Of
Maui has suffered severely from the protracted
drought of the past winter. The loss of Jas.
Makee & Co.., the owners of Ulupalakua, has
been estimated at about 800 900, by failure of
the crop. An exceptionally good year may
however follow this bad one, and make amends.
Since the beginning OF April, some good showers
have fallen, and report says three inches in and
about UIupalakua. This will be invaluable to
young cane recently planted, for it will give it
vigor to stand summer heats and dry spells. An
hour and a half steaming against a strong trade
wind, that at times blows furiously across the
isthmus between East and West Maui, brings us
to
MAALAEA LANDING,
Where the steamer anchors for an hour or two,
to land and to receive passengers and freight. At
l. SOL L@A-o~- A. 1871
tiOns Of East Maui and the metropolis goes by
the way of Maalaea and thence across the san
dy, dusty isthmus to Wailuku. As soon, how
ever, as the KilaueG HOU gets to running regu-
larly on the Kahului route, travellers to East
Maui will be apt, to q considerable extent, to
avoid Maalaea. There is a very good wharf here,
in smooth water; a store-hOuse for the reception
of goods; and a lately improvised 8 restaurant"
kept by an ancient specimen of " LO "a de-
scendant perhaps Of Uncas or Mlantonomah-
where for two bits one may get a cup of tea or
coffee with bread and butter. If one is inclined
to be particular about the small matters of
strength or flavor perhaps one had better call for
tea, and let the coffee alone. For the wharf ia
c~ilities and the restaurant building, the public
are indebted to the enterprise of Wilder q Co.,
the owners of the LtkeEike. The road from the
landing up to Wailuku-the village which now
claims to be : the second city of the Kingdom -
as it undoubtedly is in the matter of wealth-is
Z very IdlF OlG, IL TIC Wluu uuppGuS 10 DG mOucr-
ate; otherwise the traveller will find it advisable
to wear a handkerchief on the face to protect
eyes, nose and mouth from the clouds of dust and
sand. Express wagons > are in plenty, and
land you az the village for a dollar. Four miles
from the landing we come at Waikapu to Corn
we'll & Co.'S mill, the first of
THE PLANTATIONS
In this region. A crop of some six or seven
hundred tons is now in process of being ground.
Three miles further and we come to a regular
street, with church buildings, shops and stores,
with neat cottages embowered in shrubbery and
flower gardens. Near the centre of the village,
on the bank of the rushing, brawling Wailuku
stream, is the mill building of the Waikiki Su-
gar Company, with its tall chimney sending
forth smoke and adjacent sugar works perpetually
putting out steam. Fourteen hundred tons it is
estimated will be produced by this mill the pres
ent year, though some put the figures at one or
two hundred tons more. The present company
is the result of Il combination of the owners of
the old Waikiki and Bailey plantations, making
it one of the largest estates on the Islands. Mr..
w. Ii. Bailey Is the resident manager, and every
thing about the works and in the fields betokens
watchful care, industry and thrift. Passing the
stream over a very substantial wooden bridge,
the smooth road leads for several miles over an
undulating country with luxuriant fields of cane
on every hand, to Waihee Plantation, formerly
owned by Judge Widemann and others but now
the property of James Makee, ESQ. The crop
now coming off it is estimated will amount to
eight hundred tons. The accomplished sugar
boiler on this estate, Mr.. Muller, showed US
some results of recent boilings. Five hundred
gallon CHARTERS turned out from eight hundred
and fifteen to eight hundred and twenty-five
pounds, first, second and third sugars; with juice
at twelve degrees, nine hundred and fifty pounds
have been obtained, -twenty-eight ounces of SUI
gar to the gallon Of juice. The yield per acre on
these three estates of Waikapu, Waikiki and
Waihee (all under irrigation from never-failing
streams) is from three to four and-a-half tons
per ENTHUSIASTICALLY higher in favored localities.
This, considering the fact that most of the lands
here have been under cane cultivation for a long
series Of years without the application of fertil-
izers, is doing remarkably well. At Kohala,
without irrigation, but with a virgin soil, from
five to six and-a-half tons is a common crop.
What would the Louisiana planters say to such
q yield as this, where they are content with a ton
and-a-half to the acre At Waikiki and Wal
hee, the cooperative system prevails to a con-
siderable extent, the mill owners furnishing the
land and fencing, and making advances to indi-
viduals who raise the crop, for One-third of the
proceeds. This arrangement is found to work
well, to the advantage of all concerned, and a
rare opportunity is thus afforded for Industrious
men with small means to become comparatively
well-to-do in a few years. Sugar planting as
thus carried on is
A RARE s. BONANZA
TO the poor man who has the energy and indus
try to engage in it. The blowing is all done with
oxen, eight and sometimes ten yoke in a team.
So also with the carting of cane to the mills and
of produce for shipment, though mules are being
gradually introduced for this purpose, when they
can be had. They are acknowledged to be far
preferable to oxen. in quickness of movement,
economy of keeping, and endurance. \ gentle
man, OF kona, Hawaii, is understood to be about
to enter largely into the business of breeding
mules, which, in the demand for these animals
that already exists, will unquestionably prove re-
munerative.
A busy, thriving district is this. During the
hours of labor, from six in the morning until
halt-past five in the evening, no idlers are to be
seen IN the streets of the village or on the roads
everybody is busy in the fields or in the mills.
IN ACTIVE LIFE
Is that of a plantation manager. He is in the
saddle from an early hour to see that the hands
are at their work promptly and that they do it
properly; now through this field and now through
that; looking we'll and closely to the blowing.
the trenching, the planting, the watering and the
wedding; Che has an eye not only to the cane that
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