The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-10-16

SOm N hhO1k1 AL LIN
the road would be kept for the use of
carriages and wagons. But in this
| they are disappointed" II Mr.. Hitch
cock were authorized to speak for
''these men" / should content myself
| with saying that no body of men or
any community has the right TO sup
pose that public highway is to be
| used by privileged class OF vehicles.
| My right TO traverse the road with my
| engine, so long as unreasonable incon-
venience and damage do not result
| therefrom, is an absolute one. 1t
| happens, however, as can be abund-
antly proved, that Mr.. Hitchcock
/ is not the mouthpiece for the Vol
| cano road settlers. He represents,
/ il any constituency at al, very small
one. BY far the largest number OF
these settlers know that the engine IS
| not an Inconvenience, neither has IL
done any more damage than Is TO be
expected from a heavy wagon passing
over a new road that had already been
much cut up.
On the other hand, from the stand
point of the settler whose aim at the
inception of his work is business and
not sentiment, the introduction OF the
engine has meant the lowering OF
freight, and what is more important
still to those settlers whose finances
are weak, all their wood Is bought by
me and handed into market. Prior TO
this a very small amount of wood
could be sold as it would not pay
team to go up without load ana Tor
wood alone. The engine can do this.
Many poor settlers who could not well
get along for three or four years wait
ing for their coffee trees TO bear, are
now insured some kind of an income
by selling a few cords monthly.
Third. What has the engine done
to the road 1t is alleged by Mr..
Hitchcock that prior to the advent of
the engine there were only a few
places that had a central ridge and
that these were not high and could be
easily filled by few days work. My
unfortunate engine is accused OF max
ing 'depressions, deep holes and long
ditches' and a central ridge that ex-
tends for the most part over this sec
ton of the road varying from a few
inches in height to two feet" /. e.,
over the section from IL to % miles.
Various other allegations that follow,
of damage done to the road, convey to
the average reader that my engine Is
a kind of fiend incarnate. Now, Sir,
/ have no hesitation in saying that
there is a vast deal of imagination In
all this. For instance, if, as Mr..
Hitchcock says, the engine makes
hole in the road it is plain to anyone
who knows what a traction is, that if
it were run into hole of the kind he
indicates it would take days to get it
out. My engine cannot run on
muddy road. Again, the allegation
that q buggy-aXle scraped on the ridge
of the road must be purely imagina-
tive, as the bottom of the engine is
only eight inches from the ground, so
that if ridge is made over eight
inches high it cannot run. The dam
age stated to have been done is not
nearly so extensive as the above
statements would indicate, neither has
the engine done the damage If any
has oeen done. The road from nine
teen miles to twenty three miles all
over a clay bottom was made with
the Government traction engine, and
that engine is still being used in re-
pairing the road, thus showing that
the superintendent realized the value
of weight in the construction of
]he road. The engine in question
weighs sixteen tons and has 1S-inch
tires, while mine weighs uine tons
and has 16-inch tires. These figures
show clearly that my engine cannot
be held responsible for any damage
that may be said to have been done.
The wagons may have assisted,
with the heavily laden vehicles of
others, in breaking into the new
road, and the blame if any must be
laid on them. For hundreds of years
the introduction of new labor devices
has met with opposition, and L in
vested in my engine knowing per-
fectly we'll that it would have a hard
frrh rs in
favor. All kinds of objections were
made to it, at the start and even be-
fore it was landed on the island, but /
am certain that the prejudice against
it is fast disappearing. Now, sir, to
show, that L am prepared to go out of
my way and at great expense meet
the wishes of this minority, L may
say that / propose to so change the
arrangement of the wagons that the
wheels will act as complete roller,
serving that purpose as well as does
the road roller in Honolulu. The
present tires are eight inches wide
but they will be replaced at once by
ones of sixteen inches, so that the
center of the road can be rolled. Fur
Their, 1 am having the front aXles OF
the wagons shortened so that the
front wheel track is inside that of the
the hind wheels, and the latter again
inside the engine track, thus as L
have said rolling the entire road.
When this Encouragement is COM
piete / shall expect to be looked on
as public benefactor, and my friend
Mr.. Hitchcock will then L trust be
the first to publicly admit it.
He and / are old friends but we have
always managed to "agree to disagree"
on this one subject of the traction en-
CINE. trust that now L have placed
myself on record and shown my dis
position to meet him and his friends
halfway, that there will be no further
fault-finding, but that the engine, as
the advance guard of many other
American enterprises, will be treated
kindly and given n fair chance to
thoroughly prove its merits.
Hoping you will find space in both
ADVERTISER and GAZETTE,
L remain, very respectfully yours,