The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-03-24

II \ LATE exchange we note some Lom-
ments upon the progress of ideas and iuven-
tions, and in that connection the following
ZEN ark is made
d" Il Is curious also TO learn tLat Honolulu is al
ready perlneated by a perfect network Of telephones.
This recalls the odd and significant fact that pos
taSc stamps were perforated IN Hawaii while they
were still cut with = pair Of scissors in Paris
Not alone. III these particulars has Homo
lulu kept pace with the world in the adOp-
ton of laEOT saving inventions, and new
ideas generally. As the great centre of
business in these Islands, her merchants
and business men have been quick 10 adopt
all valuable means Of facilitating the dis
patch Of business, and as the demand for
our leading products has increased each
year, every effort has been made to procure
the most improved styles of machinery
will which to prepare the soil, and, after
ward to manufacture our sugar and prepare
our rice for the markets of the world.
Very early III the history of sugar manu-
factuTe here the vacuum pan was intro
duced, and a~nte-dating that even the now
famous Weston Centrifugal" for driving
the sugar was invented here, and in its best
form, together with other styles, is now
universally used. y great many costly
experiments in crushing the cane, and in
utilizing the megaSse as fuel nave been tried
here. Planters who nave gone into the
business without any special previous train
ing or aptitude other than their determine
ton to succeed, have met difficulties as they
arose and conquered them, and have found
time, too, TO try new methods recon-
mended to them by those of larger eX-
perience, or suggested by their own.
No sooner was the cripple effect -
brought forward than its value was seen,
and machines were ordered and put in place
at once.
And so with the thousand and one ideas
and inventions connected with the %cultiva-
ton of cane and the manufacture of sugar;
they have been tried-many ofthem origin-
ating here, as in the case of the Coleman
Cane Planter - and used freely if found
good. On Maui some sixteen miles of ditch
was cut under the direction of men who
had no previous knowledge of such work,
the enterprise involving the laying of huge
inverted syphons of boiler iron over deep
gulches and r%avines, a section OF country
almost inaccessible by reason of the dense
forests and deep gorges, being traversed in
the course of the work. 1t was done, how
ever, within a year, and well done too, and
he work now stands as. a monument of
energy and perseverance, of which the
country may well be proud.
The Artesian wells that now dot Kulaoka-
hua plains are the result of that same pro-
gressive spirit that has always character
iZed our business men here.
When the experiment was first begun it
seemed a hazardous one. But no sooner
did the first boring demonstrate the fact
that the water WSs to be had, than other
wells were bored, not only on the
plains but at other points, and, in most
cases with well-merited success. This new
supply of water has led to an increased
production of rice, broad tracts of otherwise
worthless and being now covered with
waving grain, and, to properly prepare this
valuable crop for the market, the most i'm
proved kinds of mills have been erected
from which the rice is sent ready for the
consumer.
In the way of inventions for the purpose
of cleaning and otherwise preparing fibres
of various kinds for the market, much has
been done here, and when men of capital
take hold in earnest of this most valuable
product of the islands, it will be found that
there are those in our midst who have
given the matter of the construction of suit
able machinery much thought. We haYe,
too, the steam fire engine, the electric light,
and last, but by no means least, the Postal
Money Order System.
Thus we see that Honolulu keeps pace
with the rest of the world in the originat-
ing or adoption of things new and useful,
and in the near future, when she is more
fully recognized as the great inter-Ocean
metropolis of the North Pacific, the port of
call for the fleets that ira verse that vast
ocean, the electric cable will bind her still
closer to her sister cities AID still further
extend her sphere of usefulness and en-
nance her prosperity.