The times., 1898-07-10

minutes west longitude. They have been
called the crossroads of the North Pa
cific, being about the center of the great
lines of commerce from British Column
bia, San Francisco. Nicaragua and Pana-
ma on the east, 10 Japan, China, New
Zealand and Australia on the west. They
are distant from San Francisco 1850
miles; from Hong Kong 4,917 miles from
the Aleutian Islands 2,0S0 miles, and from
Tahiti 1889 miles
They were originally ten in number, but
in 1894 the Hawaiian government annexed
several rocky islets, chiefly for their
guano and phosphate deposits They are
usually spoken of as eight but only five
are of real Importance The most north
ern is Kauai, twenty-five miles long by
twenty-five miles wide an area of 500
square miles and a central height of
5000 feet. Kauai is known as the Garden
Island and It is geologieally the oldest
of the group. Here is the birthplace of
President Dole, the Washington of Ha-
waii," and 1t was here that Capt. Cook
first landed. 1t has good carriage roads
and many natural wonders, including a
spouting cave, the crater of kalualaonu,
the Hanapepe fails and the like. Here,
also, is ostrich farm.
Oahu, the capital island, sixty-four
miles southeast of Kauai, is forty-six
miles long. by twenty-five wide has an
area of $50 square miles and two noun
tain ranges one of which is 4e00 and the
other 3106 feet high. Honolulu, the
capital of Hawaii. sits on d sloping plain
of partly decomposed lava cinders from
the extinct volcano Punchbowl. Near
this is Pearl Harbor, a magnificent inlet
that viii admit Of twenty miles of
wharves and can contain all the navies
OF the world.
Molokai. twenty-three miles southeast,
is forty miles long by seven miles wide.
and rises to a height of $500 feet. From
its eastern side projects the peninsula of
Kalauwao, where thousand lepers are
supported by its fertile soil.
Maui the Switzerland of Hawaii eight
miles southeast IS forty-eight miles long
by eight to twenty-five miles wide wi
an area of 620 square miles. The west
ern part is 6,00o feet high cleft into
ridges and Valleys among them Iaa, the
Yosemite of Hawaii This valley is two
miles wide. and surrounded by precipices
4,0G0 feet high, covered with an enchant-
ing robe of vegetation The eastern part
Is occupied by the great dome-like noun
tain, Haleakala the House of the Sun.
The wonder of this mountain is the era
ter at lis summiti 0009 feet above the
sea. 1t is a vast cavern, seven miles
long by three miles wide, and 1900 feet
deep Its magnificence is declared 10 be
indescribable. On this island are the
great sugar mills of the Spreckles, 40 600
acres of cane and thousands of en-
ployes. This plantation, like most, has
a railroad. The island suffers from an
overflow of Asiatics. 1t has the largest
apple orchard in the world, the crop of
which would fill a hundred steamers.
The trees are often fifty feet high.
The largest of the islands is Hawaii
which is ninety miles long by seventy
miles wide, with an area of $3.50 square
miles. 1t has the highest mountains in
the Pacific, Loa and kea, each 1900
feet above the sea. There are also Mount
Hualalai, S,275 feet high, and KohaIa,
$50 feet high, besides the three volca-
noes of Kelauea Mauna Loa and Hual-
alai. From Mauna Loas eternal SHOWS
20 Kelauea's everlasting fires this ISL
and is one scene of grandeur and sub
Unity. Among its beauties is the Rain
bow Falls and the towering groves of CO.
coanuts
Except Nilhau, these are all the ISL
ands that are worthy of present atten-
tion. Nilhau is owned by two men who
use it as a cattle ranch: 1t has ninety
seven square miles and has few trees, but
good pasture. The wool from the 80 coo
head of sheep is equal to the finest quail
ity of Australia production. The little
island of Lanai, near Maui, is one of the
least fertile, but its grassy hills support
many sheep. Layson Island, recetnly dis
covered is about 100 miles long, and is 800
miles distant from Honolulu 1t is low
without single mountain. and is in
teresting because of the myriads of birds
that make it their home. No less than
twenty-five distinct species of birds are
found there, including ducks, boobies
gulls and frigate birds. Here they lay,
hatch and die by millions Their eggs
are gathered in wheelbarrows. The de-
caying bones with disintegrated coral
help to form guano, hundreds of tons of
which are shipped TO the islands and the
coast of the United States. The birds are
tame and can be picked up by the hand.
They gather on the car track and man
with a stick sits in front to push them
off
1t is not known when the first sugar
cane was brought to Hawaii; but it is
now regarded as native, being Sweeter
than any other. The stalks are twenty
feet long, and yield from six to ten tons
of pure sucrose to the acre. The lowest
average is three and a half tons. The
first sugar factory was established by
an American in 1885.
Rice is raised in large quantities, and
is an important element of the native
diet Not less than 2,000 tons, or 240 000
bags. is the product of every year. There
are $500 acres in rice, with two crops a
year. About 1000 persons are employed
in its culture.
The coming industry is coffee. There
are 100000 acres of good coffee land, of
which two-thirds belongs to the govern
merit and may be- ACQUIRED on easy
terms in small lots by5persons who will
use it. The industry is still in it's in
fancy, although fully 10000 acres of land
are devoted to this product.
There are banana plantations, but the
markets are too distant to make 1t a
very profitable businesssto raise the fruit
In 1894 there were exported 1222s004 bunch
es, valued at s123,50 The same year $40,
600 worth of pineaRplesswere exported.
The most important of the manufacture
ing establishments are the iron works at
Honolulu which last year. made sixty
crushing machines sfor the sugar planta-
tions. Pan-electric and cold storage en-
terprise lights the city of Honolulu, gives
| a telephone service and does a cold stor-
age business. More telephones. in pro-
| portion to population are used in the
city than in any other in the world. The