The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-12-23
MAY GET
ONE HALF
Stories Of Hawaii S
Experience With
Autos.
Especial to the Advertiser1

SAN FRANCISCO. Dec. 1.-THE
New York Commercial in an issue of a
few days ago, says:
J. p. Anterior. one of the richest
men in Hawaii and many times a mill
ionaire, has been in Chicago in the last
few days with L. #. Grant. manager Of
the Hawaiian Automobile Company.
lAtherton and Grant have been seeking
an adjustment of the insurance on
twenty-five automobiles that were in a
storage warehouse in Honolulu destroy
ed by fire in October. They will prob
ably recover about $4,000 on the auto
mobiles, which cost the company ST.,
600.
A curious story is connected with
their visit to Chicago. About two years
ago Honolulu went automobile mad"
| The newspapers published pictures Of
strengthening hOrselesS vehicles that
Icontrasted 50 sharply with the ancient
mule cars of the town that the people
were awe-struck. They clamored wildly
for some of these queer things. A COM
pany was formed to crafty them. j.
| b. Atherton assumed the presidency
and L. T. Grant the management. 9th
er philanthropic Honolulans cOntribut-
ed TO the capital stock and Grant was
rushed off TO Chicago 10 buy the "au
tos." Meanwhile most ambitious
building was erected on King street,
the main thoroughfare of Honolulu, op-
posite the former palace of the mon
archy. Grant returned with twenty
five electric autos" Of which about
twenty were hacks, weighing two or
three tons each. The others were run |
abouts ana buggies. Dynamos were in
stalled, and a storage battery plant
was put in at great cost.
one day the ''auto"-hacks We're put /
on the street. The drivers were Ka-
nakas who had been very well trained |
in the way they should make the auto |
mobiles go. Something went wrong |
with the works. Passengers who hired |
hack to take them to Waikiki, three |
miles from the power house, often |
found themselves stalled at midnight |
or later miles from their destination. |
with an exhausted storage battery and |
perplexed steersman.
Prince David Kawananakoa-who |
might now be King if Uncle Sam
hadn't taken a hand and Liliuokalani
had died-had a party of eight one
night at the Moana hotel. They wined |
and dined merrily and about o'clock
in the morning started back in the
hacks. They got on TO the sandy beach
road that skirts the ocean at Waikiki.
and then the trouble began. The front
auto" refused to go; the rear one
could not get ahead of the front one.
They tried to push the front one with
the rear one-and something busted.
Then the Prince and his guests got out
and tried to push the mobiles, but the
sand was deep and after plunging and
rearing about they sat down in de-
spair on the coral rocks. The driver
was hurried back to the hotel to tele-
phone to the power house for more au-
tomobiles. They came; they tried to {
pull the two which were stuck-and ,
busted IN them. Then there 8
were four; two more came and they, /
too. became anchored.
When day dawned there were six =
in procession on the an I
rient highway Of Hawaii, and much {
Disguised Prince and party. Horses s
we're finally procured and their homes
were reached. This performance was
often that finally, when
ever a wise man hired an automobile
he contracted for a horse to follow the
hack and. as this was an expensive op-
grafton, the autos" were finally shelly =
ed
Luckily the warehouse burned, and
he promoters will get back about one
fourth of the money that they invest
I'd. Honolulu now has trolley cars, and
The horse cabs still do business at the
I'D stands.