The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-06-16
HlL0 LETTER.
luau at the Opening of Hon lii
Bridge
Road Board Snort of Funds
Plantation and Shipping
Notes.

The l1ih Of Jnne pa-sel of with
out event in town, but large mum.
Der of the residents were drawn ont
to the luau given at the opening of
the Honolii bridge. A speech, in ma
tive, was delivered by A. B. Loeben-
stein, who declared the bridge open
to traffic. An elaborate spread was
in readiness and was soon disposed
of. A number of tourists were on
hand to take in the sights, and were
we'll pleased with the luau aud en-
tertainment which followed. The
Catholic Band furnished some excel
lent music. The bridge was very
handsomely decked with evergreens
and with Hawaiian flags flying from
each entrance. Tue luau was eaten
under lanai of bamboo and cocoa
nut fronds. The bridge is the largest
steel bridge in tie kingdom, being a
single truss, 152 feet long and about
fourteen feet above high water mark.
1t has been raised five feet above the
old bridge that it has replaced There
is a little filling in still to be done at
each end, but it will not interfere
with It's being used. The people of
the district are heartily glad the
work is done, as they have suffered
good many months the inconvenience
of using scow.
The monthly social of the Foreign
Church was held on Friday evening
at the Parsonage. No entertainment
was given, but a very sociable time
was spent and enjoyed by all.
The annual celebration OF Corpus
Christi, by the Portuguese. was held
at Amauulu on the evening OF Satur
day, the 4th inst. The Catholic Band
was in attendance and played some
very good selections, while the dis
play of fireworks was quite ambitious.
A number of set pieces were very
successful and very beautiful. The
fireworks were made by the Japanese
on the plantation, and the improve
ment that is seen each year in their
work will soon enable them to fur
nish a very successful exhibition.
Their rockets are far ahead of most
that have been seen here In the past.
They, however. want more variety.
The last public meeting of the
Road Board revealed an empty treas
ury, not only empty, but the taxes to
the extent of about $500 of the
forthcoming year, have been hypoth
ecated. No wonder may be expressed
at this as the Board have gone on
spending money since they took
office, as if there was no hereafter.
I'VE have had very fine weather
now since the the election, but it
won't always last. When the rain
comes and the roads get out of order,
where is the money to come from to
put them in repair? Is the forth
coming tax fund to be further drawn
On, or are we at the mercy of the
Legislature in Honolulu for an ap-
preparation? The lack of a good
business head on the present Board
is very apparent, or the money would
not have been squandered as it has
been without looking to the future.
The Board built new stables to in
augurate their entry into Office, while
the old quarantine grounds and
stables would have admirably filled
the purpose for long time to come.
The rock crusher was next resurrect-
ed and set agoing, and very large
amount Of rock crushed, and now the
crusher is silent and the rock is still
there; no money to put 1T on the
streets of the town, and In fact the
streets of the town don't need it very
bad. The rest of the money has been
spent on road construction. But here
we have several months before the
tax money is available, and if an ap-
preparation is granted,it will be some
time before it can be obtained, so
where is the money to pay the labor
In the meantime, there beng appar-
emily but little diminution in the
work. Hilo is such a populous dis
trict, and the improvement of the
road has developed the town trade to
such an extent that a good road has
become imperative. But we have so
much rain that our tax money is
hardly sufficient to keep our roads in
repair and to keep on making the
new road to the farther end of the
district. The Legislature, instead of
appropriating $4,000 for new
wharves and $1,000 for a custom
house, which it does biennially, should
give us good appropriation for our
roads so that the present road may
be completed and properly main
tanned. 1t will then earn the good
opinion of the whole district, but
these sops that we get thrown to US
every session might as well be with
held and save running up the Appro-
priation bill so high until you mean
business.
The rains of the past week have
allowed the mills that were forced
to shut down on account of water to
get to work again, so that in few
weeks the most of the mills will
finish this years grinding. The
crop throughout the district has
fallen short of expectation on &C
count Of last year being so wet.
We notice that our Central HilC
representative Koahou has intro
duced bill into the House to make
Central Hilo a judicial district and
appoint a judge therefore. Out
side of the necessity of such 6
change, which does not exist, it is 6
l.,