The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-05-08
ALL ABOARD
JUNE FIRST
HiIo Railroad Trains
Start Then.
ENGINES ON THE SANTIAGO
Fred C. Smith Tells Of Company's
Plans for an Early Begin-
ming Of Traffic.

: and ticket agent of the oahu Railway
ness connected with the passenger and
freight traffic of the Hilo Railroad
Company, says the Hawaii Herald. 1t
was his first visit to Hilo in five years
and the changes impressed him great
ly.
f, II have never thought much of Hilo,"
: he said yesterday, because when
was here five years ago the place was
not the bustlng town 1t is today-there
was a sort of quietude that did not
strike me as existing in waterfront
towns having as good harbor as is
here. Those five years, however,
have brought about new enterprises
and this island has proven good field
for the investor.
II went over part of Olaa planta-
ton on Monday and was surprised at
the amount and character of the work
done there-I doubt If any of the new
plantations can make such a showing.
There are 1t00 acres planted in cane
and 200 more ready for the seed-a
pretty good record for so short a time,
You may imagine the benefit to Hilo
the Puma Sugar Co., with nearly
thousand acres cleared and much of 1t
in seed, and then the Iilo Railroad will
bring to this port the product of those
big plantations, and it would seem to
the unprejudiced mind that the pros
pect for the advancement of Hilo is
more than fair.
! The natural advantages of Iiilo are
such that with the Kohala- IIlo Rail
way on the north and the Hio Rail-
road on the south, both making this
port their terminal. the place cannot
be kept back: 1t Is the natural metrop-
oils of the island and the railroads
will open up districts for settlement
to an extent that will be extremely
beneficial. What the next five years
will do is hard to imagine. but you
may safely express it as something
pretty big.
Cars will be running over the Hlo
Railroad tracks as far as Olaa planta-
ton by the first of June. The eleven
mile stretch toward Puma will have the
attention of the grading contractors by
June 1st or possibly before, and when
the line from that point to the Puma
! terminus Is locateu n contract will be
let for grading it. Mr.. Kluegel, the
chief engineer, is now in Puma locat-
ing the lines. There will be no unneces-
sary delay In completing the line to
Puma for the simple reason that the
work must go ahead in order to have
the road in readiness to receive the
vast amount of plantation freight
that must be taken out there. The de-
lay in receiving the locomotives in Hilo
has been annoying for the reason that
the work of construction has been
limited to the highest grade for short
distance outside of Hilo to go beyond
that point required something heavier
than the improvised locomotive the
company has been using. Two locomo
tives are on the Santiago and one Of
these, the smaller of the two, will be
set up Immediately and construction
will continue until the road is complet
ed to nine miles. You may ride over
the line by June 1st If you feel like
taking an outing and from my eXpe-
rience in road beds l believe the ride
will be as enjoyable as any you have
ever taken.
THE carpenters began the construc-
ton of box and fiat cars on Tuesday
and they will be as good as they can
be made for they Will be substantial
enough to carry $4,000 pounds each.
When these are started work will be-
gin on cars of other description. The
work on the shops has been suspended
temporarily and for reasons which are
entirely satisfactory to the company
but which 1t is not thought advisable
to make public; 1t will have no effect
whatever upon the progress of the road
building; that is going ahead, else why
would the cars be constructed? There
will be four stations on the line for the
present, but of course more will be es-
tablished as conditions warrant. Two
of the stations will be in Puma, one IN
Olaa and the terminal station in Hilo.
The question of wharves Is unsettled,
l mean that the question of the COM
pany building a wharf has not had
much consideration; the wharf on the
Waiakea, though small, answers pres
ent requirements, but what the future
will demand / cannot say; IL occurs
TO me that one and possibly two viii
be necessary to handle the business"
temporary shut down In the con-
struction OF shops at Waiakea by the
Hilo r. r. Co. seems to have been ex-
cellent food for the alarmIsts who
overlooked the fact that with the
steamer that brought the orders TO
suspend operations came the car build
ers and men to look after road con-
struction. There will be no delay in
the building OF the railroad and trains
will be running on schedule time and
at the time promised just the same as
II no obstacle had been placed in the
way. of completing the foundry and
machine shops. II has been said OF
Hilo folk that n whisper on the Wal