The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-10-15

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington. d. c.
T YAWAII, toward which the eyes
F. of all American newspaper
readers were turned recently
while scores of navy vessels
searched for a missing seaplane, has
not come so prominently into the con-
seriousness of the people of the main
land for a decade. The handful of
Americans who journey back and
forth to the Orient know Honolulu
well but not all of them know any
thing about the Island of Oahu back
of the metropolis of the Pacific, or
about Maui, Hawaii, Kauai and the
other islands of the group. To most
mainlanders these are names that
mean nothing at all.
1t is a cause of great chagrin to citi-
zens of Hawaii that many Of the peo-
pie of the mainland think their island
group is a possession" of the United
States, comparable to the Philippines
or the Virgin islands. AS a matter
of fact it is a territory whose citizens
are as truly citizens of the United
States as those of any of the Orig
inal Thirteen" states.
The Hawaiian islands more than
''pay their own way" The group is
of very great value to the United
States as a first line of both military
and health defense; but this value has
come without the net expenditure of
any money by the mainland. True,
considerable sums have been spent on
military Notifications and naval base
Improvements properly chargeable to
the whole nation, but the prosperous
land in mid-Pacife more than makes
even this good in the income taxes,
customs duties and internal revenue
taxes which it RENTS to the federal
treasury. The islands stand the ex-
pense of their own government, Of
course.
Oahu Best-Known Island.
Oahu is by far the best known Of
the islands because on it is situated
Honolulu, which is a port of call for
most trans-Pacifc ships. The main
portion of the island is roughly rec
tangular, about 20 by 25 miles, but it
has a stubby projection to the south
east which makes the longest side of
the island about forty miles in extent.
1t is a lovely island Of mountain
slope, plateau and valley. A large
proportion of it's surface is carefully
cultivated. Like all the other islands
it is divided sharply by its main noun
tain ridge into windward and leeward
sides. On the narrow windward area,
facing northeast, the trade winds
dump an exceedingly heavy rainfall.
AS q result the windward slopes are
forested and covered with luxuriant
vegetation. The portion of the island
to the leeward of the mountain ridge
is, on the other hand, relatively dry,
and there irrigation must be practiced.
Oahu has wonderful irrigation
works, but they are little more won
derful than those of the other isles.
American enterprise and daring has
undertaken stupendous engineering
feats to supply Hawaii's drier soil
with the water that makes it a magic
producer, and has achieved its goal
with flying colors. Tunnels pushed
man. miles through rocky mountains,
%aqueducts that span huge canyons,
n reservoirs holding many millions
of gallons of water are mere inciden-
tails in these extensive systems.
Another result of the windward and
leeward division Of the islands, and
the existence of high mountains, Is.
that one may choose almost any eli
mate he wishes. Honolulu has only a
normal rainfall and much sunshine
a sort of mild y~ear-round summer.
But by drives Of a few hours one can
exchange Honolulu's weather condi-
lions for the cool of nearby mountain
resorts. the dryness of the plateau a
Few miles to the northwest or the
windy, moist air of the northeast
coast.
The chief Industry of the Hawaiian
islands is sugar production. Some
l25.OOO acres are devoted TO sugar
cane practically all under irrigation
The per acre yield is larger than that
of n other country. On an average
about Eve tons Of sugar are turned
mn ner acre. Each year the islands
send TO the United States a billion
mounds or more Of refined sugar.
~PineappIes Come Second.
Next in Importance to sugar produc-
ton is the growing and packing OF
pineapples. This industry came TO