The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-01-29
THE ADVANCEMENT OF OAHU.

The progress of Oahu in the sugar
industry within the last few years is
very marked Within the memory of
many of our citizens there was hardly
a sugar plantation on the island and
what plantations there were, were but
struggling concerns. In the sixties the
late S. G. Wilder started plantation
at Kualoa point. The chimney and
mill building, together with the lab
orers' cottages, all built of stone, stand
to the present day. But the location
and land were alike unsuitable and the
enterprise failed before 1870. The cs-
tate became a stock ranch, for which
it is admirably suited. There were
also plantations at Kaalaea, Heeia and
Kaneohe, in the first of which DR..
Robert McKibbin was interested in,
the second was the property of Mr..
James McKeague, the third was owned
by the late Judge Harris. Kaalaea
struggled on for long time, but fin
ally, having proved bottomless pit tC
those who were interested in it, had
to be abandoned, and went into the
hands of Cinnamon, who planted it
with rice and who make fine thing
of it. This was another case of an IN
suitable location and unsuitable land.
BY the way, the late Judge Bickerton
was manager of this plantation for a
number of years.
The failure of these two plantations
was not very encouraging, and for
long time the opinion was prevalent
that Oahu was not an island adapted
for cane culture. Heeia, however, sue
ceeded and so did the plantation strrt-
ed by Halstead and Gordon at Waialua.
Kaneohe has, within a few years,
changed into a cattle ranch and rice
plantation.
After 1876, however, men began to
seek round for sugar land, and the
sugar estates of Waianae and Wanna
nalo were founded. Waianae was Il
clear discovery. Before the plantation
was started it was a little bit of fish
covered with scrub looking as dry and
arid as possible. But it has brought Il
fortune to it's stockholders. Wanna
nalo, on the other hand, was an ideal
stock ranch and seemed, with its fiat,
grassy plain, bounded on one side by
cliffs and on the other by the sea, with
an ample water supply, to invite the
planter.
AT this point the Island stayed for
many years. And yet there were lands
upon which thousands of acres of cane
could be grown within sight of Punch
bowl At last it dawned upon the
minds of our energetic men that the
plains about Eva, which had been ly-
ing waste and which had been regard
ed as useless, might be utilized, and
the Eva plantation sprang into being
Jan. /, 1890. This was quickly followed
by the plantation at Kahuku. And now
We have the new plantation between
Eva and Honolulu, which is to be the
largest of them all.
The change from the little one-horse
plantations of the sixties, to the well
equipped, prosperous plantations, with
fields of cane stretching for miles, is
wonderful to an observer who has
lived to see them all
But the development of Oahu has
only just begun. There are thousands
l,tin
and engineering skill will develop in
the next few years, if political condi-
tions are only favorable. The plateau
which springs from the Eva stream
reaches it's highest point about Leile
hua and then gently slopes towards
Waialua only needs water to make il
a paradise for the agriculturalist.
, Cane can be grown on large part Of
this tract of land and the upper parts
where can cannot be grown, will sup
ply homesteads and farms for a con
siderable population. The valleys also
are vet untouched. Coffee and fruits
pigs, poultry and so forth can be
raised.
ANY one who remembers Kalihi Val
ley as it was twenty-five years ago ano
who will visit it now, will see what thu
industry of thrifty race can do
Twenty-Five years ago Kalihi was {
tangled wilderness. Today, from thu
mouth of the valley almost to thu
head, it is crowded with small farms
Where before you saw no one, yo'
now see people by the score.
The development of Oahu has bu
commenced. The next decade will se'
a great advance. Oahu is quite cap
able of supporting a population three