Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1898-09-23
ABOUT HAWAII. T:

Vow that "Uncle sam has consented
Ia adopt The Hawaiian infant which has
so long bcen crying ON his doorstep,
no dOubt future editors of our geog-
raphtes viii contain something more
detihite ihan il few small dots On The
map aud the brief description accom-
PAVING them. Meantime il may be
interesting % learn something of our
new domain.
Hawaii (hah-wi.ee) is located in the
center of the North Pacific about 2,lOO
miles from San Francisco, at the june
ton of numerous great commercial
highways, chief among which are the
routes connecting the United States
with Australia, and Panama With
China.
Looking at a map on which all these
radiating lines of travel are Land down,
is like looking at the hub of Il wheel
with many radiating spokes. At the
club is Honolulu and into her fine
harbor come the ships of all nations for
the supplies and brief rest necessary to
the continuance of a long voyage.
Honolulu is not, as many suppose, on
the Island of Hawaii, but on Oahu
(O.ah-boo), on this account the most
important island of the group, though
ranking fourth in agriculture.
There are in all eight inhabited is
lands and three small, ~uninhabited
ones. The group extends from north
west to southeast, beginning with
Kauai (kow-eye) on account of its fer
tility called the garden island and
ending with hawaii.
All were built up by volcanic action
and began appearing at the northeast
end of the chain. They grow success
sively larger and more subject to earth
quake. Thus the island OF Hawaii
frequently experiences strange qulvers
and quakes. One little shock occurred
during the stay at Hilo, the chef town
ofHawaii, and twenty-five years ago
all the stone buildings in Hilo were
thrown down by an earthquake.
Scientists claim thai the internal forces
h%ereabouts are still IN the business OF
island making, and that some day oul
Hawaiian possessions may be aug
mented by a real island. continent. In
which event the question arises, would
it be necessary TO consult the senatorial
iingoes in order to annex it,
The Island of Hawaii, which is a
little smaller than New York, Is not
only the largest but the most pictur-
esque one in the group. As II de-
scription of it necessitates all account
of Mauna Loa, with its great crater.
and OF many other things. we will leave
1t and the description of Oahu for the
subject of a future article in these
columns.
4 Maui (mow-ee) is second in size and
also in agricultural Importance 1t
consists of two mountain masses united
by a low isthmus. On the north and
northeast the coast is rugged, forming
q succession of p~recIpices, and the
southern slope is rocky, and covered
here and there with old lava flows; but
on the west it is undulating and spreads
into pasture lands.
East Maui contains the largest extinct
volcano III the world, Haleakela, or
blouse of the Sun" 1t is nearly twenty
miles in circumference and 200 feet
deep. According to the Hawaiian
legend the god Maui spreads his nets
on the crest of Mt. Haleakela and
shared the sun as he arose, releasing
him on condition that he should for
evermore shed light and warmth on
the island.
The soil of Maui is very rich and the
water supply generally good, though
In some places where they depend up
on rain alone, the water is stored in
tanks.
The famous town of Spreckelsville,
the largest sugar plantation of the is
land. is on Maui and the gigantic mills
of the Hawaiian Sugar Company can
turn out 100 tons of sugar per day.
The shady, macadamized streets are
thanked with pleasant cottage homes
for the worknen; and there is a church,
a park, a library. clubhouse, and a
billiard hall for their use. Seventy
miles of railway convey the cane
through the helds and to the mills,
while fifty miles of canals and ac-
queduct lrrigate this great 40, 00O-acre
tract whose proprietor is justly called a
Sugar King"