The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-06-12

the slow-moving water through miles
of chilly darkness. Most of the boring
was through soft rock but at times
machine drills were needed.
PRECISION OF DETAIL.
The men in charge tell Of many diff
culties. The strongest men succumbcd
after a few weeks of work i'm these tun-
nels. Sturdy Japanese would enter up
on the task and after few weeks OF
labor i'm the darkness and dampness o
scratching their way through the
mountains with tools they would be
thin and weak and finally the hospital
would get them. Like a military or
ganization the Kohala Ditch Company
maintained its own hospital In fact
its entire enterprise, from the time
when the boring began until June H.
when according to programme the wa
ter emerged into the sunlight OF Tn
hills above Kohala's plantations. ready
igor the cancfelds before the skeptical
plantation managers thought possible.
has been carried on with remarkable
precision of detail.
THE WATER IN USE.
The gates were lifted by Mrs Par
ker at 1920 1t was three hours later
before the water carrying a consider
able aggregation of old lumber and re-
fuse reached the present terminus at
Kinds plantation and at that time the
first of the water to be used for such
purpose was turned i'm to the planta-
ton There were weirs for other plan
tations along the route, but they re-
manned closed. The plantations had
not believed Engineer O'Shaughnessy's
statement that the ditch would be
ready June and We're not prepared to
use the water. SO it had to be turned
out as waste.
GREAT FOR YOUNGSTERS.
The operations Of the opening day
were carried out without any mishap.
The engineer now in charge, =. w. p.
Bluett, had every gate, weir or waste
place along the line nicely figured out.
To waste too much at a given point
might cause damage and so along the
long line water was carefully let out
only at safe points and in well limited
ran or walked down the ditch-througf
tunnels and all, ahead of the water
The ditch is going to be great thing
for them, for there will be fish in it anC
glorious bathing
t THE MONEY SPENT.
The conduit is now completed over ].
Of the p miles it is eventually to cover
OF the fourteen miles about nine ar,
tunnel. The remaining seven miles
are to be completed in "A year. Tn,
fourteen miles have cost about 100000
The remaining seven miles it is expect.
ed, will cost about 100000 more, max
ing total cost of 100000 for the en-
tire ditch. The completed part covers
all the plantations, with which the
ditch company had contracts and the
water is available for them. These ar,
Halawa, Kohala Union Mil Company
and Hawi In addition to the lands
of these plantations there are about TO-,
600 acres of other good land covered b.
the ditch. as well as the Wight estate
lands above Mahukona about GO00 acre,
, of cane land.
= A WINNING FROM NATURE
Inc water COMES from an tltNdllbll bl
p 1880 feet in the Kohala mountains. ii
is from Honokane stream. 1t is a
clear development. winning from ma
ture, of waters which were going t.
waste in the ocean and could only b,
brought to the fertile but dry lands OF
2 Kohala by some such engineering feat
r as that which has been accomplished
Nature sent the water wastefully IN
waterfalls into ocean on the Windwart
side of the island. The Kohala Ditch
, Company has bored holes through
> mountains and made the water run tC
, where it will make vast area of wei
situated land productive. In the height.
=, from which the water is drawn there is
I plenty of rain, but it has always llowe,
: uselessly to the sea- while many squar,
: miles of good low land lay dry ana id,
o in the sun. 1t is generally agreed tha
as the years go by the cultivated anC
p productive area Of the district will rap
/, idly increase and viewing it in thin
a light. the people of KOhala regard tn,
I opening of the great ditch as "A very bis
n event in the commercial history of Ha
wall.
HAMAKUA bitches.
The same company is at work upoI
the Hamakua bitches, two cOnduit
i which are to cost a million dollars. on
e of them is to be % miles long and viii
be built, over comparatively easy ter
ritory at "a cost of 100000. The othe
, one % miles long win cost $500 900; it i
r. estimated.
4 GEORGE f. HENSHALL.
; MAY RI ORNWNFD