The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-07-20


/ nW when oate ashore. uf safsiy on toafd,
fhr disrnmf0r s fufeuitrn. amid The NOV.
sliy az rocky ellis and Ffren uunntnlh
strnffY that erect The rye ia every rec
ton The Government road leads from
Nnairhu yn iiuo 90 Fahala. Al heat all
DE fUnds n knu are rough Until the
volcano House reached Those who are
in search 40 volcanic scenery Will ma u
I M knu ln every form and more than
abundant
f a ride over the rocky lava roads % kau
IL not novelty to any one who has lived
or Travelled IN the district. but ride be-
/ hind the dummy engine over the newly
reconstructed railway from punaluu to
/ pnhnla was such. The track has been
very much siraightencd and improved as
compared with what { was formerly. The
time may come when the steam car may
traverse the entire distance from tlilp u
Kau va the orator. At present the route
II covered by stages, which run weekly
or oftoner N desired.
An accident Of somewhat rare nature
occurred at the Pahala mill the morning
of our arrival a workman was engaged
IN mondng the nume, whicn was carry
irE cane to the mill, four m les distant.
His hammer, by some accident, was
caught In the cane and carried along W tn
II I'm the nume bur was not missed at
the time As the cane shoots down with
great rapidly, -..e tool was not long In
reaching the mill, where II went with the
cane to the ponuorous shredder, VIII ch
slices the cane into thin pieces. but Is not
warranted to do the same with cast steel
hammers. on the other hand, the mis-
chievous tool tore and crushed the teeth
of the shredding machine as though they
were chips OF wood. or course the mill
was stopped, and its ponderous cylinder,
which weighs many tons, had to be taken
heavy task which only skilled workmen
could promptly handle. Fortunately du-
plicate sets of the .roken parts were on
hand, and the men ready for the Job.
within forty-eight hours this serious
break was repaired and the mill started
up, as well fitteu as II was before the
accident. Mention Is made of this to en-
phasize the Importance OF having on hand
duplicate pieces of such parts of the ma
chinery as are liable to breakage We
have never heard of milar accident
here nor any so heavy break down mend
ed so quickly. In large factory of any
kind time is money" and It is well to
be provided for any such emergency.
PAHALA PLANTATION
Pahala plantation has adopted a coop
erative system of cane planting, which is
worth mentioning here. About one-third
of the area Of cane now growing on the
estate is cultivated by Chinese and Jap
anese, under contracts VIII CHI allow them
one-third of the sugar obtained from their
| cane. Most of this is on the high noun
tain land, some of it $500 feet above the
sea, and the greater part OF the cane
grown on these highlands s the Whitney
variety, which is well adapted to that
elevation where the Lahaina and other
canes will not grow so well. Some may
think that one-third of the crop IS a large
to-, 10 ll.,r .
must be borne in mind that the first crop
requires about three years to mature at
that e.evat!on. Clearing off the forest,
blowing and cultivating there are more
laborious than on the mellow lands low
er down. Still the cane of the contract
men turns out four, five and six tons of
sugar to the acre, one-third OF which goes
to them. This system is becoming very
popular, and though .--~.r share may be
large, they certainly earn 1t for their
three years labor, while the two-thirds'
share received by the plantation secures
to the shareholders the largest dividends
obtained by any company in Hawaii. with
very little outlay. All estates may not be
so situated as to adopt such profit
sharing system, yet some can do 80, and
it is probable that this system will Re
adopted by others.
1t may be remembered by some old rest
dents that Pahala was commenced in 1877
under very unfavorable circumstances
severe droughts, poor MILL poor sugar
boilers and many other drawbacks inter
fered with its success. Lahaina cane,
which does so well on lower fields, disap-
pointed the pioneers. The scarcity of
water was also a great drawback. AT one
time one of the principal owners thought
of abandoning the field as a sugar ven
ture. But the tide turned, and year after
year gave improved results. The intro
duction of a new variety-the Whitney
cane-orginating on Paha a, which would
thrive on the high lands as well as the
Lahaina does on the lowlands, has had
much to do with the subsequent Develop
ment of the estate. For ten years past
this has been the leading cane on Pahala
estate, and 1t IS stll growing In favor
each year. So long as 1t secures returns
as at present there can be no question as
to Pahala standing at the head OF the
list of our successful sugar estates. And
the cooperative plan now being adopted
by the present manager will unquestion-
ably insure to II for many years a pla e
among the safest Investments on Hawaii.
The public road from Pahala to the vol
cano still remains one of the worst on
Hawaii, and though sporadic attempts
are made to improve sections of 1t, every
downpour of rain leaves 1t as II was be-
fore. almost impossible in some places.
good road between Pahala and the
volcano would secure much more travel
through Kau than 1t has at present.
CRATER OF KILAUEA.
OF the crater OF Kilauea, little can be
said. 1t lies In a dormant state, with
abundance OF smoke and steam, but no
fire, unless 1t be faint gl!mmer now and
then. The fact that the present Level of
the lava floor in the crater around Hale
maumau is fully 300 feet-perhaps 500
higher than 1t was in the early part of
the last century, is proof that the crater
of Kilauea has been raised, at least On
the western half of IT. lhe high west
ern wall was reported by visitors in the
early part of the century at 1900 feet
above the lava floor. 1t cannot be more
than half tnat height now. The crater
around Halemaumau has unquestionaoly
been raised during the past fifty years,
and II the three volumes Of the early rec
ords of the Volcano House could be found