The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-06-24
WOULD FOIL FAWKES.
NO PALACE APPROACHES UN-
DERGRoUND.
A Structure That Would Take Con
siderable Conclusion to Destroy
Interesting Data


STAR man heard that the Executive
building was liable to be blown up at
any moment by the discharge Of
single bomb that in a few days it
would collapse of its own accord from
the weight Of the safes recently put on
the upper floor; that the construction
of the building was faulty from top to
bottom that the ceiling Of the ex-
throne room, now used as the meeting
place of the Executive and Advisory
Councils vas liable to fall on the heads
of President Dole, his Ministers and
the Councilmen, and that thereafter
their respective names would be known
as Dennis, the STAR thought it was
about ume 10 90 a little investigating
When additional rumor to the effect
that the ground in the vicinity of the
ex palace, judiciary building and
barracks was honey -combed with secret
passages known only to Royaists, and
liable to be used at any time for pro-
ceedings very similar to those adopted
by old Guy Fawkcs himself in his
memorable attempt to blow up the
English Parliament at one fell Swoop
came to his ears, the reporter lost no
time in getting around, and the result
of his investigations are below:
There are many subterranean pas
sages in Honolulu, but none of them
have been constructed by man; the little
coral insect has done the work unaided
and in places has done it we'll To
have built subterranean passage either
from the barracks to the palace or from
the old government building to either
would, in the first place, entail an
amount Of labor the cost Of which could
only be estimated by experts and which
from its very nature could not have
been kept secret. The soil in that
vicinity--and there is very little Of it
rests on a coral reef, as does the
whole city of Honolulu from the
fish market to Jim Sherwood's
place at Waikiki. From the opinions
of biologists, architects, and mechanics,
especially wel-b0rers, with whom the
writer has Conversed, there seems to
be no question upon this point OF foun-
dation. Wellborers, masons and others
say that were it not for the debris
washed off Punchbowl hill and deposited
fr m year to year around and about Ho
nolulu its residents would be simply
castaways on coral rock The surface
soil of the whole OF this beautiful city is
composed of dirt from Punchbowrs ex
tinct volcano; varying in places from two
feet to nine in depth, although it may be
said to average about five feet Below
this is black sand for few feet and
beyond that nothing but coral Should
some freak of nature tip over in the
slightest degree the reef on which Ho-
nolulu stands old McGinty would have
lots of company in addition TO that of
mermaids and fish.
That there are no subterranean pas
sages between any of the Government
buildings is testified to by men who
helped in their construction, who have
resided here ever since and who say
that the secret mining necessary to
obtain such passages is almost an i'm
possibility. The Blasting necessary to
be done would give the whole thing
away at the first sound.
While there are no subterranean
passages connecting the Government
buildings, there are many others from
whose existence the present wild runners
may have sprung. Among them, the
best known and probably longest, is
one running from Mr.. Tenney's place
to Little Britain, about half mile. At
Mr.. Tenney's end of this passage the
water in it rises and falls with the tide
like regularity shown in Mr.. Lyons
computations, but the whole of this
half-mile tunnel was bored by the coral
insect. In the very heart Of the town
there is another subterranean passage
extending from the postoffice to the
bay, but it runs through coral and is
also the work of that insect. Other such
tunnels could be mentioned, but enough
has been shown to give the origin of
the wild rumors above spoken of.
With regard to the stability of the ex,
palace, or present Executive building,
it might be interesting to state that its
construction was authorized and com.
menced in King Kalakaua's time, when
S, G. Wilder was Minister of the In
terror, and as such was in control of
the letting of contracts, etc, in con-
nection with the work. The original
plans we're prepared by man named
Baker, who, while a first class brick
layer, did not seem to have been much
of an architect as there was a variance
of twenty feet between his front eleva-
ton and ground plan, if the statements
of two masons who worked on the
foundation is reliable, This led to
trouble, Boxer was called on for new
drawings but did not furnish them
New plans were finally prepared and E.
B. Thomas took the contract to erect
the building at I21a cents per cubic foot,
the Government furnishing all the ma
terial The present building in which
Mr. Bakers ideas have been preserved,
is simply miniature reproduction of
Buckingham Palace in London. 1t
was Kalakaua's idea to have that build