The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-03-21

Mr.. RObinSOnS report, the section be-
ing that in which he is treating of
parks.
Coming next to Punchbowl, we reach
a more strictly, i'm the sense of more
Intimately connected, town possession
OF this again the suitability for a
scenic reservation, and even the obli-
CATION that rests upon the community
thus to save it, needs no argument of
mine When the city is seen from
afar. from the deck Of an incoming
steamer, this great highshouldered
mass. rising from the very midst of
the houses. and overlooking sea, port,
and the mountain valleys, presents it.
self as a natural park site. Never in
the city does one get away from it,
and among all the residents there
seems but one opinion-Punchbowl for
a park! What to do with it, however
and how best to make it available are
questions that press for solution.
With propositions to transform it in
to a great bouquet of flowers-a sort
of set piece-by clothing its sides with
vines of brilliant bloom, l do not SYM
pathize, even were such results i'm
mediately attainable. Any city may
! look for such an effect, and countless
cities have it-as Los Angeles has it
in the slopes at the entrance of Ely
sian Park, or as Rochester has it in
| Highland Park; but few are the cities
| that have an extinct volcano in their
very center. Would one put baby blue
| ribbons on a giant, or paint an ocean
vessel to resemble a birchbark canoe?
In the gaunt sides of Punchbowl and
Diamond Head you have unique pos
! sessions to be treasured, not hidden,
and full of a beauty that is rare be
cause it is all their own. What finer
scenes near town than these when the
low sun turns their brown slopes to
gold? Don't be ashamed of them; be
proud of them. Throw all the verdure
| you desire around their bases, that
they may be the more emphasized,
but keep them the volcanic masses that
they are.
For these reasons 1 can not endorse
the suggested temple effect upon the
summit. There are other hills where
the beauty of white columns against
a blue sky may be tried, if you will.
Here the architecture would needs be
unpleasantly massive i'm the near view
to have adequate proportion from affair,
where there no question of appropriate
ness; and for these reasons again I
dislike the appearance of the trail
well as it is to have one-for it seems
to tame or belittle the hill while maxi
ing scar upon it. Some algarobas
that now cling here and there to the
steep banks indicate that few others
planted close to the trail, if humored
a little at first, would doubtless grow
sheltering the hot, sunny path and
softening its outline For the rest,
if there must be planting of any kind
on the slopes, let the wild morning
glory climb the sleeps and try the
ryanthemum-both vines which
| live and prosper on very little soil or
moisture, and both flowers too modest
to seem to be attempting to deck the
| dead volcano.
Within the crater the rich soil and
the protection from strong winds Offer
when water shall be Obtainable, an
admirable site for horticultural and
| forestry experiments. My recommend
alton would be to give the care of this
area to the Forestry Department,
which must soon outgrow the cramped
| experimental grounds on King street,
or to any similar association, that, in
creating here, where the view is shut
off, an attractive and interesting gar
den, would take over i'm this way the
| ,l,
and at the same time do a work that
would be of value to county and is
lands. This would leave only the rim
for strictly scenic-park purposes,
where you would need to do little more
than make trails, so reducing largely
the cost of maintenance. A shelter al
so should be erected, but my advice
would be to put it below the rim, that
it might not show from any point in
town thus defending the height from
artificial eXcresences.
AS to the approaches to Punchbowl
if the hill is to be used, it is important
to make them adequate. A long step
toward this would be the extension
of Prospect street. At about its pres
ent grade it should be carried around
the west side of Punchbowl, following
| the irregular contour of the hill and
so constantly presenting new and at
| tractive views, until, passing above the
| little cottages, it strikes into Punch
bowl road Carried teen, at the other
end, over the gully, it would reach
in a very short distance the east end
of Punchbowl road, forming with it a
complete circle around the hill and af-
fording direct and attractive access
from every part of the city. The ex-
tension of this street is so important
for its park connection that | urge it
in this portion of my report rather
than in that which dealt with the open
ing of streets and tracts.
! Diamond Head is so far from the
city and there is so much pressing to
be done nearer town, that l recon-
mend no immediate expenditure there
beyond that involved in opening salt