The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-12-08
American Sugar Company Deal.

American Sugar Company Deal.
The most important financial event
of the week is the purchase of the
Hartwell interests in the American
Sugar Company by q. NJ. Cooke, Linn
tied. The transaction involved APP
proximately quarter of million dol
lars, and gives the control and almost
the entire ownership to the purchaser.
The transaction was consummated by
the election of c. NJ. Cooke, presi-
dent; c. NJ. Cooke, Jr., vice president;
A. T. Judd, secretary; G. H. Cooke,
treasurer, and R. A. Cooke and p. G.
Jones, directors.
The Ranch Principality.
George P. Cooke will be the mana
ger of the enterprise, leaving next
Tuesday to take up these duties. The
American Sugar Company has cap
italization of 100000. 1t owns some
thing over 10000 acres of land in fee
simple in the western half of the Is
land of Molokai, and operates a ranch
on which cattle, sheep, hogs and bees
are raised. 1t has been a ranch for
many years. IT was a paying ranch
when it was sold in 1897 by the
tue -tHSu
ganized American Sugar Company,
which proposed to convert it into a
sugar plantation, the belief then be-
ing that sufficient supply of water
for the irrigation of thousands of
acres of the extremely fertile and
well situated lands included in the
purchase could be obtained from arte-
sian wells, as had been done on Oahu.
A million dollars and more were ex-
pended in the effort to create a sugar
plantation. A great wharf was built
at Kaunakakai. Immense pumping
plants were constructed. Many acres
of cane were planted. A sugar mill
was contracted for. 1t was found,
however. that the artesian supply was
not as great as had been expected
in fact, was not sufficient to warrant
n sugar plantation-and the estate re
verted to a cattle ranch. AS such il
has proved profitable.
Plans for Development.
"The property will continue to b,
conducted as a ranch" said 9. III
Cooke, treasurer of the company. "I
is the expectation, however, that thu
property as al ranch can be great,
developed. The spread of the alga
roba forests along the southern shor'
of the island adds increasingly to tn,
: value of the property and its posi-
bilities as a ranch. Because of the al
garoba forests now existing, the rancl
has suffered less during the drought o
: the present season than other rancho
4 have. The algaroba has furnishe,
q forage for both, cattle and hogs.
Irrigation for Forage.
] "Some of the old artesian well
4 have been uncapped and it has beef
D found that, if moderate duty pump
!, are applied, a considerable supply o
water can be secured for irrigation
purposes, making it possible to pu
I land enough into cultivation for tn
D growing of forage and fodder for cat
, tie and hogs, to greatly increase tn
amount of stock the ranch can carry
The difficulty, when it was attempts
Q to run the estate as sugar planta
!. ton, was that when the heavy pump
;, put on the wells to secure the neces
, sary supply were run, they exhauste
i the supply of fresh water and pumpe
up salt water from the sea. I"
The Market Stronger.
/, The stock market on the whole ha
! been rather stronger in tendency thai
! for week or two before. Oahu ha
!, regained considerable, sales beinI
/. made yesterday at $2S, recover,
from last week. Eva is lower, blu
that is due to the fact that the extr
dividend was paid the first of tn
month, so that since then buyers mus
\ take into account that circumstance
{ Hawaiian Commercial is strong at sos
: Olaa, though not quite up to its high
/, est selling point of late, is still beini
: dealt in quite extensively at price
r Just under S. a share.
, Big Dividends Paid.
) Besides the extra dividend paid b,
Eva, another extra dividend was pait
> this week, that of Haiku, and tn
handsome one of three per cent. Ono
mea paid it's usual 5 per cent; Wal
+ manalo, 2 1-2 per cent; Honomu, Pho
t neer Brewer g. Company and Hawai-
9 ian Electric, per cent; Paia, ! l.
!, per cent. Olowalu. Kahuku, Hawaiian
Agricultural and Hawaiian Pineapple