The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1890-09-23

gentlemen VI iilC hOOAu nav
made the suggestion if their knowledge
OF the subject had not been purely theo-
retical and hearsay.
A simple statement of what the work
! consists of is sufficient to show this.
The entire road is paved with heavy
rock from foot to eighteen inches IN
depth, and sixteen feet wide. This is
covered with rotten "a to depth OF
eight or nine inches.
All of the rock and "a has to be quar-
lied from holes in the ground, from three
to eight feet deep. In several places 1t
not only had TO be quarried, but carted
| for a quarter of mile. For number OF
miles ftom two to three, and even four
| feet OF earth had to first be removed be-
| fore any suitable rock could be obtained.
Five and three quarter miles of the rood
are through dense forest OF lehua trees,
and such dense tropical jungle that
man cannot get through it except by the
| aid of heavy cane knife to cut his way.
! Six miles are over rough pahoehoe,
which is frozen down SO tight that loose
rock the size of ones fist can scarcely be
! found. and every foot of material to be
used on this section of the road will have
to be blasted or carted on. During the
month last past the powder bill alone
! for blasting on this pahoehoe has been at
the rate of 81 ,034 mile.
Six miles of the road are through "the
old Ti-swamp," which in rainy weather
was in olden times impossible, and the
normal condition of which was mud to
the horses knees. Three miles of the
road through the woods are over an I'M
even "a flow, which is SO rough that the
| road has to twist and turn toward every
point of the compass to secure grade.
All this has been done in wild, unln-
habited country, where all supplies of
! every kind have to be carted from four
to thirty miles, and where it rains four
or five DAYS out of the seven, and not in
frequently during the whole week. To
say that all this could be done for 81 100
a mile is about as just criticism as to
say that it could be done for $40 mile.
4th. WHY THE PLAN OF MAKING A PRE-
LIAuNARY ROAD WAS CHANGED.
In pursuance with the original plan,
the work was started on the preliminary
road basis. The road to the woods, and
part way through it, was made without
paving, the rotten "a being simply
rounded up on the natural earth founda-
ton. While good weather lasted this
made an excellent road, but with the
first week of "Hilo weather" the ground
became SO soft and boggy that wagon
wheels went clear through, and the road
became impossible. l went over the
ground with MIR. Marlin, and we both
came to the conclusion that no road that
could be built would stand the heavy
rains, unless there was a rock bottom,
which involved paving the entire road,
and more than doubling the expense. If
the original plan had been followed,
preliminary road could have been put
nearly, if not quite, through; but the
result would have been that by the time
the upper end was reached the lower
end would have become worthless. |
accordingly instructed Mr.. Marlin to
"build the road thoroughly and get as
far as you cam" Although regretting
that more ground could not be covered,
l was convinced that this would prove
sound policy in the long run, and eXpe-
rience has proved it so to be, for the road
has stood the wear of the recent tre-
mendous rains, including storm in July
OF eighteen inches in twenty-four hours,
so well that brake was driven over the
road month or two ago, from the half
way-hoUse to the Hilo Post Office, a
distance of over Is miles in 80 minutes.
9Th. The CHARGE THAT THE CREDIT
OF THE COUNTRY AND THE APPROVAL OF
FUTURE LEGISLATURE WAS PLEDGED
This charge is without foundation, and
is an entire misrepresentation of the
facts. | cannot think that such honor
able gentlemen as the members of the
committee would wilfully misrepresent,
and therefore conclude that the same
legal light who led them astray con-
corning their fire lot legal opinion, must
have again deceived them.
The circumstances under which the
Wilder's Steamship Company and others
advanced money to carry on the road
were as follows:
In the latter part of 1883 received the
following petition from Bilo:
PETITION TO CARRY on THE ROAD
To His Excellency L. A. THURsToN,
Minister OF the Interior.
SIR: We, the undersigned, under