The Hawaiian gazette., 1903-12-25
Mr.. Pratt's Rapid
Tour on Island
Of Hawaii.
Is Satisfied PoloIu Land
Exchange Was Well
Turned Down.
Visited the Volcano Besides Hear
ing Many Boundary Gases
and Seeing Lands.

j. w. Pratt, Commissioner of Public
Lands, returned yesterday from rapid
official tour on the Island of Hawaii.
Judge Philip L. Weaver of the Land
Registration Court accompanied him
on the expedition, both as attorney in
some boundary cases and in his judi
cial capacity to instruct deputies of his
court. S. NJ. Kanakanui of the Ter
ritorialfsurvey was also with Commits
sioner Pratt on most of the tour break
ing off at Kohala.
I'VE left Honolulu in the steamer XII
nau on the 18TH" Mr.. Pratt said when
asked about the trip, "and arrived at
Hilo at 0 o'clock the evening of the
10th, after a very rough passage.
Next morning there was a hearing
of boundary cases at Hilo. We finish
ed these at 11>o'clock, and at three
o'clock took the train for the Vol
cano House, arriving there by train
and team at 1920.
I'VE went down into the. crater after
dinner 1t was more active than it had
been for seven years past and we'll
worth seeing. There We're three or four
places in Halemaumau where the lava
was breaking out in explosions like
Roman candles. In the large crack out
side of the crater liquid lava could
be seen. 1t was about midnight when
we got back to the Volcano House.
THE following morning we returned
to Hilo in time to catch the Kinau for
Mahukona. We put up that night at
the Kohala Club. On the 18th, from
courthouse on boundary cases, several
of which were brought up and received
final hearing.
"On Sunday morning, the Goth, we
drove over to Pololu. Kohala, and eX-
amined Government land beyond Niu-
Iii. We viewed some rice lands and
found the extent of lands held by 9TH
ers than the Government.
Returning to the Kohala Club about
1880, at o'clock we left for Palmer
Woods's at Puuhue. We stayed there
over night and next day went up
through the upper lands of the Kohala
Ranch Co. to Frank Woods's place at
Kahana. This is $500 feet above the
sea.
Thence we went to inspect some
remnants of Government land on our
way to Mahukona, where we took the
Mauna Loa for Honolulu.
Il was gone from the office seven
days lacking three and a half hours,
and never slept more than once in one
place.
NO, nothing particularly new was
struck in the trip, but there may be
some applications later from Hawai-
ians for homesteads.
Il may say that l am very we'll salts
fled, from my observation of the Po.
lolu lands, at the turning down of the
application of the Bishop Estate for
an exchange of that tract for land in
Nuuanu. 1t would not have been n
good bargain for the Government"
Mr.. Pratt took notice of the desolate
condition of Olaa from its former prom
ising appearance as a home for Amerl-
can coffee planters. Instead of the
cheerful countenances of white women
and children looking down from the
cottages, scarcely face that
is not japanese is now to be seen along
the roadside. Coffee trees are still
growing rankly but INTENDED and in
terspersed with a heavy underground
Of dank weeds. There is too much
moisture in Olaa for coffee. The Olaa
Plantation Co. is gradually absorbing
the coffee farms and replacing the trees
with sugar cane.