Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-04
IN MODERN HAWAII
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

The American or other overseas Wis
itor upon approaching the green.
mountainy isles OF Hawaii inevitably
visions to himself islands OF the
blessed, where, amid luxuriant vegeta-
ton, an indolent and pleasure loving
people while away the time to the
stunning Of ukuleles and the plaintive
strains of rhythmic songs adapted for
island music from Methodist missionary
hymns.
Yet, II that visitor has been observant,
when the time has come for him to
depart and he hears the aloha floating
out to him over the water as his
steamer steers away again, he viii real
ize that the islands are almost as much
industrial In character as they are
either primitive or agricultural.
Life is easy in Hawaii. It would be
as possible for the population to dwell
in complete Incidence there as in any
tropical land where Natures bounty is
sufficient larder with no aid from the
hand of man in cultivation. Instead of
accepting these gifts and doing moth
ing, the natives have been stimulated
by the Americans who have gone to the
islands to take advantage of the ex-
traordinary natural advantages and
help turn the Territory into hive OF
industry as we'll as q cultivated garden
Industry Is widely ramified. It fol-
lows, in the main, the needs Of the
basic agricultural crops, but caters To
them on a larger scale than in most
tropical lands. In so many countries
where the riches Of Nature are poured
out with improvident abundance merely
the raw materials are harvested and
then shipped far overseas to be proc
essed and handled in distant, colder
and more industrial country.
In Hawaii much Of this work Is done
at home alongside the plantations which
bring forth the raw materials.
By far the greatest manufacturing
enterprises of the islands have to dc
with the grinding Of sugar cane, the
manufacture of sugar and the process
ing and canning Of pineapples. These
industries have reached amazing pro-
portions.
The islands now are producing not
far short of. 1000 900 tons Of sugar a
year. While not all Of the sugar grown
in Hawaii Is refined to the last stages
considerable quantities are and all is
proceSsed nearly to the finished state
The complete finishing of the product
| Is increasing each year. The jute sacks
in which the sugar Is shipped are made
in large quantities, but as the require
ments are so heavy, the factory capac-
ity has not yet reached the point where
it can supply the entire demand.
Scientific Methods Employed.
Pineapple canning, on the other
hand, is an operation which Is wholly
completed on the islands. The pine
apples are harvested from the rolling
acres of plantations, cleaned and cut
| into the familiar life-belt shapes and
canned in accordance with the most
modern processes. Great factories oper-
ate on the islands, employing at the
height of the season 23,500 men and
women. The pineapples come into the
factories in their raw condition. They
pass out and down to the shipping
! docks in Theoretically sealed cans and
the contents viii not be seen again
until opened In the kitchen of the
housewife or chef about to serve the
fruit for final consumption.
By employing mass production meth
DDS, the fruit is placed in the cans, the