The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-08-24
CLAUS AS A FRIEND OF THE
NATIVE.
His Real Estate Transactions Witt
the Princess Rutb-Some Tell-Tale
Deeds in Type.

tdbt, upeS lOt SLOW up NSly WCi uhuSi
analysis. The other day the STAR
drew public notice to what a fine
estate Mr.. Spreckels himself had pro-
cured from one of the old chiefesses,
and to-day we add further information
in point.
One of Claus Spreckels' first invest
ments in Hawaiian real estate was
rather peculiar, to say the least Refer
ence is made to the transaction be-
tween himself and the Princess Ruth,
given at length below, in which he pur-
chased all that lady's title in the
Crown Lands for the paltry sum of ten
thousand dollars. AS the ladys in
terest was considered somewhat myth
ical, it was thought at the time that
Spreckels was purchasing a law suit.
But the old man knew better; he knew
a good thing when he saw it, and took
his chances on a law suit and laid
claim to everything that little Ruth
thought she owned. How much that
was can be estimated by a perusal of
the following decd:
Know all men by these presents that
l, Ruth Keelkolani of Honolulu, in
the island of Ohau, in consideration of
tba Af thancorI lnllore -
hand paid to me by Claus Spreckels OF
San Francisco, in the State of California,
and of Honolulu aforesaid, the receipt
whereof l do hereby admit and ac-
knowledge, do hereby bargain, sell,
remise, release and forever quitclaim
unto the said Claus Spreckels, his heirs
and assigns, all and singular the several
lands reserved by His late Majesty,
Kamehameha the Third, to himself as
his own private property and
mentioned and specified and de-
clared in and by certain
act, ordinance or law passed on the
seventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and
forty eight, entitled Gan Act relating
to the lands of His Majesty the King
and of the Government to be the
private lands of His Majesty Kameha-
meha the Third, and commonly called
and known as the Grown Lands.
x And all my estate, right,
title and interest both at law and in
equity of and to the said land and OF
all other lands commonly called, known
or repoted to be Crown Lands or to be
part, parcel or member thereof and
whether belonging to me or to which l
may be now entitled as heir to his said
Majesty Kamehameha the Third, or to
to their late Majestes Kamehameha
the Fourth, Kamehameha the Fifth,
my father his Highness the late NJ
Kekuanaoa, or in any other manner Of
right whatsoever
The above deed is signed by R
Keelikolani, witnessed by Simon K
Kaai and acknowledged before Ceci
Brown, notary public. 1t was dated
on the 18th of December, 1880, and
recorded the same day in Book Ga
page 34a, $40 stamp heing affixed.
With the aid of King Kalskaua and
the subservient Legislature of 1882 g
bill was lobbyed through and passed
which granted to Claus Spreckels the
lands in the Ahupuaa of Wailuku ir
consideration of his relinquishing al
his so-caled interest in the Crown
Lands obtained under the above deco
from Ruth Keelikolani, and under and
by virtue of the authority conveyed by
that Act deed of the Waikiki prop
erty was made by the Crown Land:
Commissioners to Spreckels. AT the
same time he decided to them his title
obtained from Ruth. By this little
deal Claus Spreckels showed his love
for native soil, if not for the native:
themselves, by obtaining possession Of
$4,000 acres of the finest land in the
country for $4,000, although it may
have cost a little more for suitable
tokens of his regard to the King anc
his friends in the Legislature.
Shortly afterward the Sugar Kine
transferred nearly all his interest in thi:
land to the Hawaiian Commercial anc
Sugar Company, together with some OF
Cornwell's Wakapu lands, and tina
huge concern has sprung out of the
original deal. 1t would take volumes
to describe the various deals by which
Spreckels obtained possession or con
troll by leases, deeds or otherwise Of
the various water rights and other APP
purtenances which now form part O
the sugar company's property b.
careful business management Spreckel
had made that property one Of tn
finest sugar plantations in the world
There are in the neighborhood of 800
acres under cultivation, which woul'
be largely increased if more waite
could be obtained. A conservative
estimate of the value of the land, eX
elusive of Improvements and growln
crops, places it at 100000. VIVA
the annual income obtained from thi
great property is can only be told b
the officials of the company, but
must be enormous.
Shortly after his transactions wit
the fragile princess, his friend, Sam
uel Parker, made quite an investmer
in real estate, purchasing from tina
IL 4 n