The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-08-10
BOARD OF TRADE OF HILO.
Hilo, Hawaii. August 2, 1905.

ID. X. Slattery, ISL Lieutenant corps OIL
Engineers, L. S. A, Honolulu, Oahu.
Dear Sir: Replying to your request
| to furnish you with an estimate of the
increased cost of shipping and loss to
shippers by reason of the absence of a
| breakwater, and an expression from
| this board as to whether or not to in
clude inside of the. proposed break
water the pocket or deep depression,
I've beg to state:
| That vessels arriving in the port of
Hilo are compelled to stay here from
three days to three weeks, about half
of which time is lost on account of
| rough weather. This could be saved
| if we had proper protection from the
rough seas, which would result from
the construction of a breakwater.
| The port of Hilo is the largest in the
| Territory of available anchorage and
deep enough to accommodate the larg-
| est ship afoat and can be entered
either night or day. Upon the compile
| ton of the Panama Canal, HiIo will
be port of call and probably a coal
| ing station for the various steamers
bound to and from the Canal Zone.
We are of the firm belief that the pro-
posed breakwater should be built from
a point about ne-fourth of a mile east
| of Cocoanut Island and extended to the
present whistling buoy, so as to include
inside of the breakwater the pocket;
by so doing the available anchorage of
the harbor would be almost doubled
and shipping would be protected from
the north winds, whereas if the break
hill
pocket our shipping viii not be so
we'll protected and our anchorage space
largely reduced.
+
| AS to the future possibilities of this
port in the event of the construction of
a breakwater, we beg to say that in
the enclosed table we have figured only
on the sugar actually shipped from
here during the year 1904, whereas with
the completion of the breakwater and a
railroad running north, which would
naturally follow, we could increase the
outgoing sugar. from $1,000 tons to
fully $4,000 tons, basing this upon the
following:
Upon the completion of the Kohala
ditch, now under construction, the ko-
hala district will increase their annual
yield of sugar from their present out
put Of 10000 tons to 10000 tons, and
the yield of the Hamakua district will
be increased from their present output
of $4,000 tons to $4,000 tons by reason
of the larger acreage under cultivation,
all of which will probably be shipped
through Hilo instead of being sent di
rect.
In our communication to you dated
June 22nd of this year, this board fail
ed to include the yield of sugar for
the Kau district This amounts to 49,
900 tons and if shipped through this
port would bring our outgoing sugar
up to 10000 tons.
At present we are shipping about
$4,000 punches of bananas every year,
| whereas had we proper protection from
| the rough weather wharves would be
built and steamers would call at Hilo,
permitting us to raise and ship a much
larger quantity.
| Since you have left Hilo we have as
certained that there is plenty of rock
available in the near vicinity to build
the breakwater. About one mile dis
| tant from town there is a flow of lava
| from FIVE to twenty feet in depth cover
ing an area of about 200 acres. The
| Hflo Railroad have tracks running al
| most to this flow and it is described
as being in three layers, the first layer
being soft, the second layer being suf-
| ficlently hard to be hammer dressed,
and the third layer being as hard as
flint.
The enclosed estimate of loss to
shipping and shippers is based on the
actual number of vessels entering and
the actual amount of incoming and
outgoing freight for the year 1904 and
is, to our minds. very conservative
one. We have not based our figures
on any probable increase in the future,
which would amount to fully so per
cent. The proposed breakwater would
do much to increase property values
in Hilo and the surrounding country
and in every way tend to build up this
island in commercial sense.
Touching on the item of $4,000 loss
to plantations. plantation landings,
property and lumber yards adjacent to
the beach, it is very conservative esti-
mate. inasmuch as it included loss to
plantations by not being able to rapidly
receive incoming freight and ship out
going sugar, damage done to plantation
landings, damages to property, lumber
yards. ETC.. by reason of high seas.
! Trusting that the above data and
enclosed estimate will be of service TO
you and be the means of the begin
ming of the construction of a break
water, we are
Yours very truly,