The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-06-13


TX thee Kohala Ditch. May you 4
\ bring blessings, happiness and X
LIZ prosperity to the people of X
~ Kohala.'' X
II X
X Xxx X X Xxx 4 Il X X X X
In those words Mrs Samuel Parker
today set the waters of Honokane to
flowing down upon the rich lands of
8 Kohala The ceremonies of the opening
! of the ditch were impressive and very
the head of Halawa Gulch, where the
"a ditch breaks out through long tunnel
fzSAhder the mountain, crossing the gulch
/ by an aqueduct only to enter the side of
the mountain again and run sparkling
down into the dark
Over the entrance to this second tun-
nel an arch had been erected, bearing
the word - Aloha, :" white ribbon upon
red, with bands of MALE twining down
the sides.
Under this arch the speakers stood,
all but Governor John Baker. He
climbed the precipitous side of the cliff
beside the tunnel when it came his turn
To speak, and spoke in Hawaiian there
to his own people.
The day was perfect = Kohala
weather, a strong cool wind and blue
sky, Hecked with drifting clouds from
which fell occasional raindrops. The
Nsbning npIands shone almost golden
/ Green in the sunlight, and the cane tops
nodded and whispered among them
selves of the water that was soon to
rush down to them, cool and refreshing.
All Kobala, and some parts of Homo
lulu We're gathered about the arch in
the head of Halawa Gulch, and upon
the viaauct; and small boys and Japan
ese laborers and Hawaiian men and
women in gay colors, picturesque with
the long leis they wore, hung in cling
ing clusters upon the steep and grassy
slopes of the gulch, like bees swarmed
upon lichen-covered tree stump. And
to the chattering of the people, the
dashing of the waters running down
through the spillway and falling into
the gulch far below made a rythmical
accompaniment. This was the flood
that was to be turned into the ditch to
mark the formal dedication of the
waterway to the purposes of its con-
struction.
The exercises began, appropriately,
with prayer The President John U.
Hind, of the Kohala Ditch Company; |
Vice-President Sam Parker and Secre- |
tary Abe Lewis made speeches upon the !
completed work. These were followed
sbN Secretary y. L. c. Atkinson, whose |
SPEECH electrified the audience, and !
after him Governor John Baker was |
called and climbed the bank to make |
.his speech.
He spoke in Hawaiian and from the
effect upon the natives in the crowd
Pleasineiy In effect, he said that the
Hawaiians had tried once, long ago, to
bring water to these lands, and had
failed Now the haoles had come, and
all things had yielded to them. $50, =
said the speaker. ''here we have the
water on the land The trouble was in
the old times, that the Hawaiians had
worked only in the dark, resting in the
daytime The haoles worked in dark
ness and daylight, regardless of all
things, and they accomplished results
1t Is fact that. a long time ago, one
of the hamehas-probably the first
of them-tried to carry water in bitches
and tunnels here. his tunnel-diggers
digging themselves to the surface at
short intervals to note whether they
were going true to line, but his project
failed.
After Governor Baker had spoken.
Mrs. Parker was handed a bottle of
champagne, from which red ribbons
futtered. and smashing it upon the
drawhead. christened the ditch and
pulled the lever that sent 20.O00,000 of
gallons of water coursing down the
oneI ditch, a turgid flood that bore
aheal Of it all the timbers and dirt and
,dds and ends that the workmen had
eft in the ditch.
Continued on Page 81