The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-05-20


until il was deemed advisable to have |
the passenger department entirely dis .
tinCt and embody as we'll the details of
the mechanical departments This por- ,
ton of the work has been placed i'm the
hands of r.. r. Elgin, who. having the
advantage of being in touch with the
methods employed by older roads, has
systematized matters and prohtted by
the experience. Each and every de-
partment is under the supervision of
capable men, whose former experience
proves profitable to the HilO Railroad.
The rolling stock is i'm every instance
the very best and consists of box ana
Hat cars. cane cars, first and second
class coaches and four locomotives, the
largest being ninety-ton one, built for
heavy hill work, The rails, which weigh
sixty pounds to the yard, are laid on a
rock ballasted road, i'm many places set
on a solid rock bed, and the COnstruC-
ton car which is a combined material
and tool car and rock crusher is a
rapid worker. All freight cars are of
the forty tons capacity, supplied with
the latest. appliances in couplers and
automatic air brakes.
At the Puma end of the road. aside
from the sugar plantation interests. are
caves made famous by Hawaiian
legends and songs, and the hot springs
and mountain lakes The hot springs,
according to the legends of the rulers
during the time of the Kamehamehas,
were cure all for bodily ailments,
through the use of the waters of the
springs externally and internally.
Analysis of these waters, recently
| made. show them to have ample min
elra salts and that with proper handling
! these waters are available for bOttling
and shipment to the mainland markets.
! Sundays and holidays thrOngs may be
] nj a
! venirs, bathing in the springs, or gath
| ering armfuls of matiniticert ferns,
| which grow in profusion.
| The underground river or Water of
! the Gods, as it was known in days gone
| by, is found a half mile from the rail-
| road and is i'm no way visible. 1t takes
a guide to find the spring and the en-
! trance is through cave or shaft which
| leads down something like fifty feet, at
an angle of forty-tive degrees. The
| opening widens as it approaches the
! water and discovers a flowing river
! from 30 to one hundred feet wide, and
! moving with a barely perceptible mo-
| ton. The walls are precipitOus, once
| the opening is left, and the depth of the
stream is so great that no line yet car
ried has been sufficient to fathom it,
! The water is perceptibly warm, and it
is a pleasant swim in the cavern
through which it flows. The natives
who live about the spring say they have
! swan in the direction of the heart Of
the mountain for about a mile, and that
| at that distance the water was steam
ing hot. They had not been able to go
near to the volcano on account of the
warmth. In the same way swimming
| towards the sea there is a comparative
" cooler area found when the waters
become mingled with the ocean cur
rents. The Olaa division of the road
passes through and near thousands of
acres of lands rich in tropical Vegeta-
ton. and when once populated by the
farming class and properly TILED will
be highly productive of almost all
kinds of tropical and temperate fruits
and vegetables.
Tourists and sight seers to the IA
nous volcano, kilauea, are brought
within a two hours ride of their des-
tination and RECALLED en- route by the
opportunity of seeing nature i'm her
natural wild extravaganza of primitive
foliage.
To the casual visitor. sight seeing. nc
better opportunity is offered for d
tramp among the scenes seldom eXplOr-
, ed than the various points along the
lines of the railroad, nor VIII week
visit become tiresOme and monOtOnous
for aside from the natural and wonder
full sights, one can employ spare mo-
ments in hunting turkeys and phesants
and other feathered denizens of the
, forest.
E The traveller has undisputed right OF
, way along every trail or path, anC
if he is a naturalist he has abundant
{ opportunities to collect specimens of in
sects and birds. Representatives. of the
British Museum and of Sir Lone
RothsChild have gathered fac simileS
of every Indigenous insect and bird II
> ! Hawaii, though sometimes their labOrs
were attended with difficulty. one OF
them camped on a mountain top, with
out a tent or any other shelter, through.
out the whole of a very rainy week IN
! February in order to catch an 90. He
} succeeded in his quest and believed his
efforts were literally repaid.
TO the merchant, professional or bust
ness man, the tapping by the railroad o
! this section of a naturally rich island
will eventually mean much toWarC
opening it up for resourceful revenue
= for the Crescent city. With the coming
e of the new big S0O-foOt dock, on which
. the HilO Railroad will have track privi-
: leges, and the touching at this port OF
, all mail steamers doing coast trading
the back country will come to the from
and assert itself by its adaptability fol
the small farmer.
The future prospects of this island
through the further extensions of the
: Hilo Railroad into districts naturally
rich yet hardly touched, together with
its connection with other Independent
lines in course of construction or pro
{ jected, is hard to conceive, yet il is
safe to say that only the direst of Gala
mites can stop the island from forging
ahead commercially.
Ground was broken for the harbor eX-
, tension from Waiakea to HilO proper or
May and the work will be pushed as
rapidly as possible, but portions of the
construction viii necessarily be some
what difficult owing to its proximity &c
the beach high water mark. Overtures
have also been made to the directorate
to extend the Puma division to connect
with the plantation railroad of the Ha-
Z waiian Agricultural Company at Pa
hala, and expressions from those inter-
ested in the plantations of the Hama