Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-09-23
ENGINEERS HOLD SWAY ATNIGHT
! SESS|ONOF TERRITORIAL BODIES

ton, especially the latter. VINO IS TO
bear the burden. of the necessary ex-
penditure for reconstruction and i'm
/, proyement and the added mainten.
ance? How to pay for the new road.
ways which will open up our undeyel-
oped areas to the settler, and for adj
ditional streets that viii relieve the
congested and insanitary conditions
/ in the cities This financial question
is of the first Importance and ] trust
win receive the careful consideration
and study which you gentlemen are
so eminently qualified to give. The
proper drainage of the road bed is an
/ absolute necessity III the road is to
stand Our weather conditions are
1 the world, but where you record rain
fall by the foot, as In some Of the wet
! districts here, 1t Is easily to be. seen
that SUFFICIENT drainage means money,
and lots Of it, If the work is to be
considered of permanent nature.
Criticism 10 just.
Il have noticed that most boards Of
supervisors that have come into Of.
flee are imbued with the idea that to
properly emblazon their names on the
Tsext ballot, they must construct a
| little piece of road to, which they can
point with pride and say: Il did 1t"
and that the construction of this same
road of theirs is much more import
ant than maintaining the roads OF
their predecessors. Maintenance has
been neglected in many instances I'M
I'll the road is so far gone that it is
impossible to do anything with 1t e4-
cept reconstruct 1t. A great deal Of
Just criticism comes from the public
on this score. To my mind tbs more
important to properly maintain the
constructed roads than it is to build
new ones"
Mr.. Gere concluded his address by
reading an extract from a report OF
the City Plan Commission of Jersey
City, N. J., dealing with road matters.
Interesting Address.
The first reference to the excellent
system Of roads maintained through
tout the other islands was taken
up when HUH M. Howell. civil engi-
neer Of the county OF Maui, read a.
paper entitled "The Development and
Construction on Hawaii" This adj
dress was interesting as we'll as in
structive, the speaker at first taking
up q historical description of the first
native roads on the Big Island
The address in full follows:
cit is hard to say when road build
ing first began in these islands, but
Il Is certain that me early natives
were great travellers and they, were
known to make long journeys on foot
at very rapid pace Some of the.
simplest forms of the early roads can
be seen toby. Over the rough lava
flows can be found round, flat, smooth
stones. spaced about the distance Of
mans stride, to protect the bare
feet of the natives from being cut
with the sharp lava. These stones
were called ala; hence the term, ala
hui, a roadway, from ala, and null,
meaning large. In the windward dis
tricts over the steep pals, zigzag
trails were built, following the line
of least resistance, usually running
from seashore up over the highest
points Of ridges and down to the sea
again. These trails were naturally
very steep, some of the ridges being;
six or seven hundred feet high. In.
places have measured grades as
steep as sixty per cent or six feet up
in ten feet horizontal: and for long
distances, thirty and forty per cent
( is common. To avoid the excessive
wear of water, these trails were often.
paved With stones, generally round,
slippery cobbles from the beach. these
being the most available.
BAD for Good Roads.
with the importation OF horses,
but few changes we're made in the
trails except in places to widen them
slightly and lay the paving stones
closer together. Both man and beast
had to learn to negotiate these steep,
slippery, zigzag paths, or stay at
home. Even in the smoother country
hut little attention was paid to grade
in laying ont the trails. They almost
always ran in the most direct line,
ever hills and across hollows. Then.
when the missionaries came, and
whisky, tobacco, and other forms Of
civilization we're introduced, wheeled
vehicles became necessary, these be
ing drawn at first mostly by cattle.
OF course when the grade, was too
steep or too rough. 1t was easier to
hitch on two or three dozen more
yoke of oxen than to build roads that
horses and mules could pub over and
very often the same old trails that
were first picked out for foot trails.
and later used for horse trails, were.
converted into wagon roads by simply
widening them. regardless Of grades
except where they were so. frightfnlly
steep that it was fairly impossible to
get over them. Where the original
grade was very much over thirty per
cent, il was sometimes cut down to
about twenty-five pei. cent Then.
later, progressive road board found
ways and means to cut shis down to
twenty per cent, whereat there was
much rejoicing. Strange to say, this
light grade was later on found to be
too steep to meet the demands of an
increasing traffic, so by much saving,
and sometimes borrowing, enough
money was collected to cut a new
road altogether. This was to be the