The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-12-12

Out in the Bishop Museum are two
telephones marked as the first put in
use here. They are well finished in
birdseye maple and bear the monogram
of Kalakaua on the wooden box that
once held the batteries. But history
antedates these a little while for, it is
said, and on very good authority, that
Thomas G. Thrum has the distinction
of owning the first telephones ever used
in the Hawaiian Islands, when he had
one in his store on Fort street and the
other in the printing shop which he
owned. Then came the one owned by
Kalakaua which operated from the
palace to the Kings b0athouse.
y These were followed by one construct
ed by the late Samuel G. Wilder be-
tween the Honolulu Hale semaphore
and the Diamond Head signal station.
Senator Dickey, whose brother was
superintendent of a company at Omaha,
was also Interested in a line, probably
one between his house and somewhere
else. The Kalakaua short line was the
outcome of visit by the Princess Lake
like to the coast. In her encourage was
the late James Dowsett, not Kimo Pc
lekane, but his son, who died in the
pos At the time of the royal visit
there was an exhibition of telephones,
sight taken in by every one who went
to the city. That was in 1877 or rs.
1t was not until 1850 that a company
was thought of for Honolulu. A COM
pany that would put in operation a
public service phone. G. 0. Berger, a
son-in-law of Herman Widemann, while
on the Coast investigated the matter
thoroughly and made some sort of an
arrangement with the people who con-
trolled the American Bell telephones.
There had been a bitter fight between
Alexander Graham Bell and Edison
over the patents and Edison lost. Bell
had the business for himself and the
American Bell Telephone Company was
organized. On the Coast it was diff
cult to get anyone of means to go into
the scheme because everything cleo
trical had burned the fingers. One man
in San Francisco, rich beyond the
thought of avarice, had something like
six thousand machines requiring the
use of electricity, and, as the eommun-
itv angel. he was looked upon as ready
TO ge into the company that was being
organized over there. There was moth
ing doing, however.
The Southern Pacific company was
gust finishing the installation of a 'tele-
graph system about thar time and John
Cassidy was in charge of the work. The
promoters of California Telephone
Company used their persuasive elo-
quence on him to go into telephone
company and failed. He was offered
<'ground floor" chances but he could
see nothing in it and studiously and
industriously allowed himself to be
come anything but a millionaire. He
could have been rich but wouldn't be.
Cassidy Arrived.
In casting about for someone TO 90
10 the Islands and install telephone
system the ewes of Mr.. Berger fell up
on this same John Cassidy and he ac-
%epted a short term contract that was
offered. That was twenty-nine years
ago and with the exception of an oeea-
sional visit TO the mainland he has
been here ever since.
About the first thing l did after
settling here said Mr.. Cassidy the
other day. twas TO disman5le the
Wilder line to Diamond Head. Was it
much' Well. rather The Inc was
built of heavy fence wire and over, lava
rocks and rough land. | had hard
time to get it out of the way. Natural
1v the public line was not a long one
al the START After we had been ii
operation a very short time there was
a cry for an extension to the other
side of the Island and it was large
undertaking. But there were planta-
lions on that side and the owners were