The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-10-16

In all that has been published about
the recent growth of Honolulu, very
little attention has been given to the
newest and one of the most beautiful
suburbs. Alewa Heights. It is cert2--
that not one in a dozen people in Homo
lulu has visited it or realizes what has
been accomplished in the three years
since the lands of Alewa were opened +
by the territorial govrnment.
"Do you live on Alewa Heights?' ;
said an old Honolulu resident the other
day. 4'And how do you get down in
time for business every day7'
cit takes me just eighteen minutes
to come from my front door to my
Office the Alleviate replied, land
twelve minutes of that time is spent
on the Rapid Transit cars.
''Whv, that s quicker than | can
come in from Punahou,' the old resi-
dent exclaimed incredulously. But it
must be very unpleasant living up there
without electric lights, or telephones,
or gas, or any other conveniences.
The Alewa man chortled. ''Come up
and see.'' he said, and passed on. Such
ignorance was not worth enlightenment.
Thirty Months Old.
It vas on July %, 1907, that the
Alewa lands were opened to purchasers. /
At that time there was no road into
the tract Prospective purchasers We're !
forced to climb up the face of the pre-
cipitous bluff which bounds Nuuanu
Valley on the western side and scram
BILE through a wilderness OF lantana
and puava to find the lots which the
Territory was Offering to home build
ers. 1t was a dry, treeless hillside,
blessed with a beautiful view, to be
sure. but with little else to attract the
man who wanted a home near enough
the city so that he might &C daily to
business. 1t was only stones throw
from Honolulu, almost, but without
road the prospect looked not inviting.
As a consequence it is not surprising
that when the sale of the newly opened
lots took place they went for song.
Acre lots, within a mile of the post
office. were sold for prices ranging from
$3.50 to $500. You could not buy those
same lots now for less than ten times
the figures paid three. years ago.
Improvement Club Organized.
The first problem to be solved by the
lot purchasers was a road. An improve
ment club was organized within a few
days, and although it took some time
to unravel the necessary official red
tape, within six months a fine macad
amized road had been built into the
heart of the tract. This road was built
out of the money paid by the Alewa
people for their lots, with day labor
furnished by the county.
Water was the next necessity. The
Territory had no money for water pipes,
and the legislature would not meet for
another two wears This did not daupt
the Alewaites
eff we buy the pipe, will You install
il and give US water, and then credit
what we paid for the pipe on our water
rates''' they asked the government
"Delighted,' was the reply, in the
words of a wellknown African hunter.
So Alewa got its water supply 1t was
not much, it is true. 4 two-inch pipe
connected with the Alewa quarry, but
it suf1iced temporarily.
Already the waste of lantana and
guava had been swept from the hillside.
and here and there little cottages had
been built. One ambitious individual
even bore up on his own Bonded back,
board by board, the lumber for his
home. and before the road was even
begun there were several families
housed on the hill in temporary homes.
Has Everything Now.
With fine road and a fairly good
water supply the ordinary homesteaders
would have been content But they
We're nor enough for the Alewa people.
They wanted electric lights. and tele-