Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-27
Have Gone Up Hundred Per Cent
in the Past Year.
THE ABSORBING TOPIC At HONOLULU
Large Fortunes Made on PIanta-
tons in Hawai-.
HOPING FOR WHITE LABOR
of The Evening Sta.

HONOLULU, May .. 1899.
The one subject most absorbing here to
public and private attention for the past
two months has been the immense rise in
prices in sugar plantation stocks and how
to get some share in the great profits. Since
annexation, nearly year ago, the average
prices Of such stocks have advanced fully
100 per cent There were then about sixty
separate plantations, whose united value
at a conservative estimate was twenty
five millions. Since then, in less than a
year, so, 100000 more has been added to
| the market value of these properties mainly
In consequence of the annexation of these
islands to the United States.
This means that a considerable number
of persons have realized large fortunes and
| many more have gained great profits, all
within a very few months or even weeks
AS an inevitable consequence an intense ex-
element arose six eight weeks ago and
prices Of some favoritc plantations advanc-
| ed by leaps and bounds to an inordinate de-
gree, followed by rapid shrinkage. In this
oscillation of prices many persons became
Sadder and wiser, and the prices, still high,
| have gone back to more reasonable limits.
AS an example, an excellent undertaking
for 3O,G00-ton plantation at Waiaiua, on
| this island was started last July with a
capital of $500, 600. By February this was
selling at premium of 30 per cent. In an
| other month it had gone to 40 per cent, and
| then in two quick leaps jumped to 125 or
$225 share. number of wiser ones then
unloaded: During the past two months it
| has steadily dropped to $175, where the de-
cline seems to be checked.
Then again, about March 1. another new
| enterprise, and really an excellent one,
| though rather highly capitalized at three
million, put the assessable half of its shares
| on the market. These We're greedily sub
scribed for. the 10 per cent assessment to
| be paid upon receiving a certificate of the
| shares due. This payment was deferred for
several days. That gave opportunity for
| number of persons to realize a large profit
| without expanding a dollar. One young
| man put his name down at o'clock for 800
| shares, or so 600 and by noon had sold
them for 10 per cent premium, or $500
| profit, to gain which he had not put down
one cent. In fact he could not have raised
| $500 of his own for any purpose. This kind
OF operation set many people wild, and
there followed a crazy rush for money to
| invest in kihee shares at an advance.
| Some got together all their savings others
| mortgaged their homes and bought Kihee
| at high premium. That stock doomed up
| to $50 premium, or 40 per cent. and then
| collapsed to 50. or 10 per cent Again some
| sharp lessons of experience to many small
| investors. kihee now stands at 81 preTni-
| UNI, or IA per cent
| Result of Good Management.
| 1t will undoubtedly rise much higher, but
slowly. This Kihee plantation is located
| on Maui Island, next south of the famous
| ild "dIIdH Commercial. OF SlpTtthtiSNlllE. 1t
contains about 1000 acres of ffrst-c!ass land
| below the 400 feet elevation, well available
| for irrigation by pumps. Copious supplies
| of water are found at level. This is
| not from artesian wells. Large pits are ex-
| cavated to below the level, some dis
| lance inland. From the bottom of the pits
| a number Of drifts are run horizontally in
| land for several hundred feet. Thus from a
| single pit enough million gallons are daily
yielded to water from 800 to 500 acres.
|
| kthee is 1900 to 1a,Go0 tons. The president
| is II. =. Baldwin. who is the leading owner
| of the adjacent Hawaiian Commercial. Tn
| der Mr. BaIdwin's experienced direction the
| latter concern has begun an immense de-
ve'opment of its resources. Baldwin and
| his associates a few months ago contrived
| to get hold of a majority of the $1o0OD00O
| of the Hawaiian Commercial stock at A.
per cent. It has since gone uD to 135, a
| gain of about six million dollars to the
fortunate shareholders. This advance is
! mainly due to the improved management
| of the successful Baldwin in which advan-
| tage <ihee shares A leading element in
| this development is the of wells such
as are being dug at Iihee, thus bringing
| under culture some 10000 splendid acres
otherwise useless.
| Besides Kihee. the shares of three other
| new plantations dependent on pumping
| and of one not needing irrigation, all newly
started. have been placed on the market
| These aggregate a capital of five millions
| The shares were all eagerly subscribed for
| at par, and now command from to 80
per cent premium. Other promising enter
priseS said to be in view OF the
| farther extension of sugar culture in
| Hawaii arid lands by the means of ir-
rigation from wells by steam pumps, it is
| difficult to say where the limit is But
my personal knowledge of the country
| warrants a belief that such limit is not re-
| mote. | do not think many more available
| localities can be found. The full develop
| ment of the new plantations now begun
VIII increase present annual prO6nc-
| ton of about 2J@,oo0 tons Of sugar to per-
! haps $4,000 tons.
| New and Immense Plantation.
| 1T remains to describe immense con-
Germ which has just been started at Olaa,
| on the Volcano road. That is the famous
| coffee district. until lately so promising
| 1t is now suddenly absorbed into a monster
sugar plantation. OF late the coffee grow
| ers have suffered much discoura cement
| from the continued great decline in the
prices of coffee, and from the disappoint-
ments always encountered by inexperienced
| undertakers of a new business. They have
been glad to sell out to the promoters of
the new plantation at prices for their lands
which substantially reimburse their ex-
| pended capital and labor. So thousands
| of acres of tiourishing coffee trees are being
pulled up, and the ground ploughed for
cane.
| The Oaa sugar promoters have secured
| mostly in fee simple, about 10000 acres of
| land suitable for cane culture. Perhaps
| half of this is heavily timbered, one-fourth
open country and one-fOurth in coffee clear
ings. The greater part is a superb quality
of deep soil underlain by porous clinker
lava, which gives perfect natural drain
age. The rainfall is excessive-some 200
| inches per annum-but no standing water
accumulates. The soil is a layer of vol
| canic ashes elected at recent period from
| the Kulaui cone near kilauea. The timber
| is Oha or Eugenia, about thirty trees of
| large size to the acre, of no value as lum-
| Der and easily cleared the interspaces be-
| ing occupied mainly by giant tree ferns. A
supposed objection to half the land is Its
altitude being over ! 200 feet above sea level,
| a height usually unfavorable to the rapid
growth of sugar cane when exposed to the
cold trade winds. But in the whole of this
region the trades bank up against the two
| lofty inland mountains in such manner
| to force precipitation of their moisture.
| This sets free great stores of the latent
| heat of the vapor and raises the tempera-
| ture. Thus the mercury is kept exception
| ally high. and everywhere in Olaa sugar
n Of L.