Henry M. Whitney’s Tourists’ Guide Through the Hawaiian Islands [33] provides readers with an overview of sugar plantation development in Honouliuli and the larger Ewa District in 1890. At the time of writing, the Oahu Railway & Land Company (OR&L Co.) had just opened with train service passing from Honolulu to the Ewa Court House; remaining track routes to be laid shortly thereafter. With the development of the rail system, businesses began immediately expanding, as rail access made the job of transport of freight and livestock an easy task, and the Ewa Plantation incorporated. Whitney’s account of the inaugural service on November 15, 1889, coinciding with King Kalakaua’s birthday, and subsequent trips, provides a description of the Pearl Harbor regions, documenting the continuing change in the Ewa landscape, and the planning going into making Pearl City where new homes and business opportunities came to be built. Another part of the rail development focused on the wharf at Iwilei, by which crops, livestock, and goods could be easily transported from the field to ships for transport across the sea. Below is an excerpt from The Tourists’ Guide, which ran under the title “Oahu Railway and Land Co.: The story of its origin.”
…Within the past year Hawaii has started in the footsteps of America by projecting a railroad around the island of Oahu, and actually perfecting, within the period from April 1st, 1889, to January 1st, 1890, a well-equipped railroad in running order, extending from Honolulu along the southern shore of the island to a temporary terminus at Ewa Court House, a distance of twelve miles. It was five years ago that Mr. B. F. Dillingham advanced the idea of building a steam railroad that should carry freight and passengers, and conduct business on the most improved American methods. A hundred men told him his scheme was infeasible where one offered encouragement. He believed he was right, and so put forth every endeavor to secure a franchise, which was granted to him only after vigorous legislative opposition to the measure. The incorporation of the Oahu Railway and Land Company with a capital stock of $700,000 was the next step in the venture, but not an easy one by any means, as home capitalists were timid at that time, and few would believe that the soil of Oahu was worth developing to the extent of Mr. Dillingham’s plans. A small number of gentlemen, notable among whom was Hon. Mark P. Robinson, came forward at the right time and purchased enough stock and bonds to set the enterprise on foot. With all the disadvantages that remoteness from the manufacturing centers of America offered, Mr. Dillingham undertook the contract of building and equipping the railroad. Rails were ordered in Germany, locomotives and cars in America, and ties in the home market; rights of way were amicably secured, surveyors defined the line of road, and grading commenced. The work was prosecuted with the utmost speed consistent with stability and safety, and there was hardly a day’s delay from the time grading commenced, in the spring of 1889, till September 4th following, when the first steam passenger train, loaded with excursionists, left the Honolulu terminus, and covered a distance of half a mile. It was the initial train, and the day was Mr. Dillingham’s birthday, a period he had designated when he secured his franchise, exactly twelve months before, as the natal day of steam passenger traffic on Oahu. The little excursion was a success, as far as it went. On November 15th, his Majesty’s birthday, the formal opening of the road took place. Trains ran to Halawa and back all day, carrying the public free. Following this event, which marked a significant epoch in the commercial history of this kingdom, the Oahu Railway & Land Company opened the doors of their commodious offices in the King Street depot for business. [33]
The story continued with a section entitled “Developing the Country.” Simultaneous with the commencement of business was the acquisition, by the O. R. & L. Co., of a fifty-year lease of the Honouliuli and Kahuku
Rancho’s 60,000 acres, and the purchase of 10,000 head of cattle running thereon. This vast area, hitherto utilized as a stock range, is, under the manipulation of the railroad people, becoming one of the garden spots of the Kingdom. Two new corporations of sugar planters,—the Ewa plantation and Kahuku plantation—capitalized at $500,000 each, have each secured from the railroad leases of from 5,000 to 10,000 acres for sugar cultivation. Cane is now growing on a part of the lands. These two great agricultural enterprises, the direct outgrowth of the railroad movement, confer valuable pecuniary benefits on the business men and mechanics of Honolulu. Artesian wells, yielding a bounteous flow of water, supply the means of irrigation, and make possible in that section of the island what almost everyone but the promoter of the railroad formerly believed to be impossible—the culture of sugar cane on a large scale. This abundance of water, which is obtained by the mere sinking of wells, has stimulated other agricultural pursuits on the railroad’s lands. Ever since the day traffic was begun, the railroad people have been pushing forward in their good mission of banding the island with iron rails. [33]
The story of the railroad at Puuloa was told in a section entitled “Pearl Harbor.”
The quiet precincts of Pearl Harbor were first invaded by the locomotive in December, 1889, and in the following month Ewa Court House was reached.
Graders and track layers are still marching on. Pearl Harbor signifies something more than a mere body of water. It is a series of picturesque lochs, connected with the sea, but sufficiently protected from the encroachments of the breakers to render its water calm and placid, whereby boating, bathing, and fishing may be enjoyed in all the fullness of those pastimes. From the sandy shores of these lochs the mountains of the Koolau range rise up to a high altitude. The new town of Pearl City, another offspring of our railroad enterprise, rests on one of the loveliest slopes of Pearl Harbor’s borders. A handsome depot and several residences built in new styles of architecture present a decidedly attractive appearance. The town is bisected by a wide boulevard, from either side of which extend well graded avenues. A landscape gardener is engaged in beautifying the borders of the thoroughfares, and setting out trees of all the varieties that flourish in this generous climate. Pearl City will afford pleasant homes for those who desire recreation after the day’s toils in Honolulu. Another prominent feature of Pearl Harbor’s improvements is a pavilion, seventy feet square, built by the railroad company. This is designed for the accommodation of picnic parties, and, being embowered by a grove of choice tropical trees, furnishes the sylvan environment so essential to the pleasure of the conventional picnic. An electric light plant has been introduced for the special service of evening parties on these grounds. [33]
The efficient layout of the railway on Oahu was described in a section entitled “Wharf Terminus.”
Chief among the ends secured by facilitating the shipment of produce from the interior to the seaboard is the conjunction of ship and car, and principle that Mr. Dillingham had in view when he launched his railroad venture. This project, involving the construction of a wharf from the present railroad terminus at Iwilei to deep water in Honolulu harbor, is being carried out.
Only three or four cities in the United States claim this superior arrangement for rapid and economic transfer of freight, and it certainly becomes a progressive movement on the part of Honolulu when our railroad cars bring sugar, bananas and rice from plantations on the northwest side of the island directly to ship’s tackles. The wharf now being built is 200 feet long and sixty feet wide. The piles are torpedo proof, and the whole structure is put up with an eye to strength and durability. Its usefulness will be appreciated when, in 1892, the first crop of Ewa Plantation will, with only a nominal cost of handling, be placed in the hold of out-bound packets. The company are reclaiming in the vicinity of the wharf thirty acres of tideland, which will prove very valuable water frontage. Banana and rice planters along the line of the railroad will not be slow to avail themselves of the shipping advantages provided by the meeting of ship and car. Bananas can be cut from the plant on the morning a vessel sails, and will arrive in the California market in a much better condition than those heretofore transported by horse and mule back from the interior. Hawaiian rice, which commands a higher price in American markets than the South Carolina product, can be placed in San Francisco at a lower figure than formerly. While the banana and rice traffic will be stimulated to a greater extent here than in any other country on the globe, the advantage given to sugar, the staple commodity of the Kingdom, will be heightened to an extraordinary degree. In no other country have we the spectacle of sugar being taken from the mill directly to ship’s tackles. In Manila, Jamaica and Cuba, and even in Louisiana and Mississippi, the process of transportation is slow, laborious and expensive, reducing the profits of the planter to a minimum. [33]
The railroad is described as part of a larger project to colonize Hawaii with Europeans and Americans in the following section, entitled “Colonization.”
It is patent to every resident of this Kingdom who is acquainted with Mr. Dillingham that his pet scheme is the industrial development of these islands through colonization. The railroad signalized the advancement of the scheme. It is now the purpose of the railroad company to bring out thrifty people from Europe and America who will take up land, cultivate the same, and establish their homes thereon. The railroad makes colonization possible, and is in itself an invitation to ranchers to engage in the different pursuits that are especially adapted to this soil and climate.
Market gardening, dairying and the raising of poultry can be made lucrative to the industrious, while fruit culture, embracing a large variety of products, offers the liberal inducements. Along the line of the railroad there are now 7,500 acres in rice, yielding 10,000 tons annually, and 150 acres in bananas, yielding 100,000 bunches annually, and besides these prolific plantations there are, in close proximity to the several stations, thousands of mellow acres untouched, capable of bearing all the multifarious fruits and flowers of the tropics. The plan of colonization contemplated by the railroad tends to promote the nation’s welfare as well as to bring the railroad lands under systematic cultivation. Repeated successes in the past give some assurance that the railroad will succeed in this laudable project. None but the industrious and law-abiding will be invited to these shores. Worthy people who are without the means of traveling expenses will be assisted. In the sale of lands special inducements will be given to those now living in the Kingdom. As Mr. Dillingham has recently procured the franchise of a seventy-mile railroad from Hilo to Hamakua, on the island of Hawaii, he will have a still larger scope for the promotion of colonization. [33]
The progress made by OR&L through 1890 is described in the following section, entitled “Condition of the Railroad.”
The Oahu Railway & Land Company are nothing if not progressive. It is difficult at this stage of the corporation’s history to convey an idea of what will be accomplished at the close of the year 1890. The projection of branch roads, the importation of locomotives and cars, the improvements around Pearl Harbor and the track laying beyond Ewa are circumstances of the present that indicate preparations for an enormous business. The branches or spurs now under way are, one extending into the Palama suburb, having its terminus at the stone quarry, and the other is a line running along the peninsula at Pearl City. The stock of the company is 7,000 shares at a par value of a $100 each. At a public auction, held in January, 1890, stock sold at five per cent premium. The bounded indebtedness is $300,000. The income of the railroad with its promising future cannot be readily estimated. It is safe to assume that the income from the lease to the Ewa Plantation alone for the year 1893 will be an amount equal to the rent to be paid by the company on the whole Honouliuli Rancho, 40,000 acres, leaving the income from Kahuku Plantation and sale of livestock, and land rentals, which will amount to about $60,000, as a net profit on the land transaction. Adding to this figure the returns from sale of lands now owned in fee by the company, and the net earnings of the road, which must necessarily be large in view of the rapidly increasing traffic, there is presented a healthy condition of business. Some idea of the profits may be gathered from the fact that while the trains were running only to Pearl City, during the time of construction, the receipts from passenger traffic exceeded by $1000 per month the running expenses from the day the road was opened, Nov. 16, 1889. The property of the Oahu Railway & Land Company, represented on the books at a valuation of $1,000,000, is as follows: Fifteen miles of road bed (three-foot gauge) equipped with steel rails and ohia and redwood ties, two Baldwin passenger locomotives, two combination baggage and smoking cars, six first class coaches, one parlor car, six second class cars, eight flat freight cars, one box-freight car, two hand cars, eight well-furnished stations, 2,250 acres of land in fee, 60,000 acres under 50 years’ lease, 18,000 acres under thirty years’ lease, 10,500 head of beef cattle, 325 head of horses, and 50 miles of good fencing on ranch property. The officers of the company are as follows: Jno. H. Paty, President; J. I. Dowsett, First Vice-President; W. C. Wilder, Second Vice-President; Robert Lewers, Third Vice-President; W. G. Ashley, Secretary; C. P. Iaukea, Treasurer; W. F. Allen, Auditor; J. B. Castle, S. C. Allen, T. R. Walker, and J. G. Spencer; Directors. [33]
The benefits of the OR&L are extolled in the following section, entitled “Progress of the Oahu Railway and its Attendant Improvements.”
The enterprise shown by the Oahu Railway and Land Company from the very commencement of its great undertaking, and in every branch of its service, is worthy of special note and commendation. Every month witnesses the opening of some new plan, or the completion of some noteworthy object, in which all will be more or less interested. Of what may be termed the Pearl Harbor Section of the Oahu Railway there will be sixteen miles of track from the city to the mill of the Ewa Plantation, located near the shores of the west loch of the lagoon, of this twelve miles are completed and in excellent order to Pearl City Depot, improving, however, with each month’s service and use by daily freight and passenger trains, and with the additional ballasting which the road receives from time to time, wherever and whenever wanted. At each station convenient buildings have been erected, with two good depots at Honolulu and Pearl City. A commodious turn-table building has been erected near the Honolulu Depot, where the engines may be housed when not in use, and another smaller one at Pearl City.
The site of the new town at Ewa, which has been named Pearl City, is a very desirable one, the land rising gradually from the water’s edge to the foothills of the mountains, distant three or four miles, and with a beautiful view of the lagoon from any portion of it. About one hundred lots have been surveyed, and will be built on, and water from mountain springs being brought down in pipes for the use of residents. On a recent visit there, the writer left the city on a calm and very sultry day, and on reaching Ewa was surprised to find a cool mountain breeze blowing, which made it very comfortable.
Several new buildings have recently been erected. Among them are the pavilion, the hotel, the depot and several fine private dwellings. The pavilion is located in one of the most beautiful groves on the island. Here will be found the tallest royal palms, Poinciana regia, mango, and other rare exotics, some of which reach eighty to a hundred feet in height. This grove was planted thirty or more years ago by Mr. Remon of the firm of Bernard & Remon, who then owned the property, and introduced many rare trees and plants. [33]
Along with construction of the railroad itself, OR&L developed facilities to promote railroad use. One such facility in Pearl City wasn’t a harbinger of fashionable resorts there as the author suggests. The facility is described in the following section entitled “The Pavilion.”
Was erected specially for the accommodation of picnic parties, for which it is most admirably adapted. It is seventy feet square, well ventilated on all sides, with a smooth, clear floor, large enough to accommodate at one time twelve to sixteen sets of dancers. It is lighted with electricity, and when the forty incandescent lamps hanging throughout the building and in front as far as the railway track, are all lit, it resembles fairy land. On the occasion of a recent picnic, when six hundred guests were brought by rail from Honolulu, and the pavilion was decorated with flags and colored lanterns, the scene was exceedingly brilliant. For a holiday outing for old and young no more desirable place could be chosen than this charming spot, which must improve from year to year. The Hotel is a small but neat structure, containing a central reception room, and seven smaller ones for sleeping apartments. It stands on a large lot, and can at any time be enlarged to meet the wants of the public. The Depot is also a neat and commodious building, with all the conveniences needed in such a structure. It shows what taste and skill can do at a small cost.
It may not be long before Pearl City will become a fashionable resort, and probably will attract many permanent residents. It enjoys a mild climate, with land and sea breezes, plenty of fresh water, and good facilities for boat sailing on the placid bay, and bathing in the salt water, without fear of sharks, or heavy surf, or strong currents, which in other places endanger life and limb.
Respecting the improvements now being made by the Railway Company along the harbor, the following, taken from Paradise of the Pacific, will be of interest to tourists and readers of the GUIDE.
Hearing that extensive improvements were in contemplation, involving the construction of wharves to connect the rails with the shipping in the harbor, we wended our way to the engineer’s office in the depot building where we found Messrs. Kluegel and Allardt, engineers in consultation with the Minister of the Interior and Superintendent of public works, in regard to the proposed extension of the business area of Honolulu. Mr. Kluegel, Chief Engineer of the Company, a gentleman of large experience and ability, has been with them from the beginning of their enterprise and has shown himself to be a master of the art of civil engineering. Mr. G. P. Allardt is Consulting Engineer of the Spring Valley Water Works of San Francisco. He is considered one of the ablest railroad and hydraulic engineers in the United States. He came here the second time in the interest of this Company with Mr. Dillingham on his return from his late trip to the Coast. He is now installed in the engineer’s office as Consulting Engineer for the Company, until such time as the problems involving special engineering skill shall have been worked out. These gentlemen showed us the maps and drawings illustrating what is proposed to be done; which were supplemented by their own lucid explanations; from which it appears that there has been granted by the Government seven hundred and fifty feet of water front property on the harbor, and that wharves are to be built out to where there is sufficient depth of water to accommodate ships of the largest size that enter the harbor. Slips will be made for the accommodation of as many as possible of vessels of all classes that will come to this port to load and unload. To one or more of these, the rails will be laid and the cars will be run, thus securing for Honolulu what is rarely accomplished in any city in the world, the connection of the shipping with the railway lines of the country, avoiding all caring which is no small item of expense in transportation, especially of the heavier articles, such as sugar, rice, etc., much of which will be carried by this route. The building of this extensive line of wharfage involves the filling up and reclamation of twenty-six and a half acres of land south of the prison road; equal to about eleven blocks. So much wrested from the grasp of old ocean and made available for the uses of commerce in what will then be one of the busiest parts of this already busy town, can but be of immense advantage to the city and the interest of that large class of people who will soon do business with the Oahu Railway and Land Co. More than that it will be a public improvement, that will be a benefit to the whole country. The twenty-six and a half acres mentioned are located south of the prison road and do not include the smaller area of reclaimed land north of it, a large part of which has already been done, adding much to the beauty, healthfulness, and business capacity of this commercial and political center of the Paradise of the Pacific. As all this requires time for its full development, the enterprising managers of the road have provided for bridging over the interim by means of a scow that will run from the end of the rails that will soon be laid to a point where there is sufficient water, to go along side of vessels in the harbor. In order that the development of the new Ewa plantation may not be hindered, the work is being rapidly pushed forward, so that in a few weeks at most the material for improvements will be taken from the ships directly to them by rail. [33]
The following section, entitled “Pearl City,” describes the city’s origin as an OR&L project.
Mr. A. B. Loebenstein, civil engineer, has laid out the streets and lots on the site of Pearl City. The main avenue is eighty feet wide. The situation of the embryo town is one of the finest to be found in the Kingdom. It is on a gentle slope where the drainage will be easily accomplished, and the view of the mountains, the harbor and the sea, is such as is but seldom seen from any one point of observation. The shores of the Pearl Harbor lie at its feet, and that inland sea with but a single narrow opening connecting it with the great ocean affords unlimited opportunities for boating, yachting, and all the pleasures to be had upon water untroubled by any stormy wind. Honolulu almost at its very doors, for with the distance-annihilating railway train between, you count not by miles but by minutes. All these advantages will make the new town one of the most desirable places for residence in the world, and the interest which the people of the Capitol city are already taking in the matter, shows that the matter of town or no town at Ewa has already been decided in the affirmative. Some have even thought that, with the great area of fertile land lying back of it and its own great natural advantages, that sometime a city will be built up there that will rival Honolulu in numbers and commercial importance. But that remains for the future to unfold. The success of the present enterprise seems to be assured.
The recent negotiations with the United States have made Pearl Harbor almost as widely known as London, and now these new attractive features that make it easily accessible, and the supplementing of Nature’s wonders by these additions from the hand of man will make it in future one of the places that all tourists to the Islands will visit as surely as the volcano. It will be in the programme of tourist travel.
The freight business of the road is increasing with each new enterprise, that is being developed at or near the present western terminus. And it is also a noticeable fact that business along the line of road between Honolulu and Ewa has already received a stimulus that is helping to increase the passenger and freight traffic and to develop the resources of those fertile plains.
Bananas are already coming by rail, as well as wood, beef, milk, etc. During the coming year 10,000 tons of paddy and 100,000 bunches of bananas will be shipped over this route to Honolulu, besides large quantities of the above mentioned article, and the material and supplies to be carried the other way for the use of the Ewa Plantation Company.
In regard to the proposed extension of the road to complete the circuit of the island, it is encouraging to note that Messrs. Kluegel and Allardt, assisted by Mr. M. D. Monsarrat, Civil Engineer, have made reconnaissance of the entire island with a view of determining the feasibility of the proposed extension and they both assured us that it is practicable, and that there are no difficult obstacles to overcome, though portions of the line will be somewhat expensive. [33]
The primary business of the OR&L was to transport agricultural produce. The following section, entitled “The Ewa Plantation,” describes the origin of that corporation and its future plans for Ewa.
One of the direct results of the railroad enterprise is Ewa Plantation, now an accomplished fact. Over 5,000 acres of land have been leased, and a company organized with the following efficient officers, who are all experienced sugar men, thoroughly versed in all the ins and outs of sugar production on these islands: C. M. Cooke, President; J. B. Castle, Vice-President; E. D. Tenney, Secretary; J. B. Atherton, Treasurer; J. H. Paty, Auditor. The foregoing five officers constitute the Board of Directors. Castle & Cooke are agents, and William J. Lowrie is Manager. He has had a large experience as manager on plantations on Maui, and brings to this work the energy and business capacity that are needed. Sixty-five acres are planted with seed cane. The best of Lahaina top-seed is being used, which is considered much the best. Sixty men are now employed. Flumes have been constructed connecting with those from Mark Robinson’s pumping works, which were already in operation when the company took possession. The young cane show a marvelous growth for this season of the year. This seed will plant six hundred acres, and that area will be seeded for the first crop, the planting to begin in August, 1890, and next year it is expected that one thousand acres will be planted. The best Fowler & Son’s steam plows have been ordered from Scotland. The McCandless Bros. are already at work putting down artesian wells, and expect to have six wells in operation during 1890. The wells are ten inches in diameter, which is somewhat larger than is usual in this country. Carpenters are at work building laborers’ houses, etc. A Baldwin locomotive, cars, rails, etc., are already ordered for the transportation of the cane. The pumping plant will be of the latest designs and the best patterns made. Five hundred workmen will be employed, and the planting of the first crop will be pushed forward as rapidly as possible. [33]
The article ended with some thoughts about the prospects of artesian wells in Ewa in a section entitled “Abundant Water Supply.”
One peculiarity of the Ewa Plantation which receives the unqualified endorsement of the manager is the source of the water supply. The main dependence will be artesian wells, and as the water does not naturally rise to the required height, the cost of pumping must be taken into account, but notwithstanding that it is claimed to be the best, inasmuch as water can be had in sufficient quantities when it is most needed, which is not the case when the supply is from mountain streams; for when those streams are lowest is the particular time of the year when the most water is needed. Another thing in favor of the Ewa Plantation is the fact that on account of its low altitude and the corresponding warmth of its soils a crop of cane can be matured there in from six weeks to two months less time than in some places where cane is successfully raised on these islands.
From what we have learned from all sources we have greater faith than ever in the success of both the Oahu Railway and Land Company and the Ewa Plantation. [33]
The following is more about development of water resources at Honouliuli from an article in the Hawaiian Gazette entitled “Ewa’s Pumps: Graphically described, giving their cost and capacity.”
On Wednesday a party of business men were enabled through the kindness of the O. R. & L. Co. and the plantation agents, to take a run down to the Ewa plantation. The mill which was made the first objective point, has already been described in these columns. It is being rapidly pushed on to completion, and will be ready long before the cane is. The whole party devoted itself principally to the examination of the pumps which are to put the water on the fields.
There are twenty-two ten-inch wells on the Ewa plantation, and three large pumping stations. The smallest of these pumps is used to raise the water from two finely flowing wells and is now watering 180 acres of cane. The pump if worked twenty-two hours a day will raise from four to five million gallons of water sixty-eight feet. This is fifty per cent more than the average daily water consumption of Honolulu. The whole plant cost $22,000 which includes building and foundation, piping and a small reservoir. The furnace consumes about two long tons of coal for each day of twenty-two hours, and the coal can be laid down at the furnace doors for about $7 per ton. If this single pump—the smallest in the plantation were transplanted from Ewa to Honolulu, the water famine would be over, and people might water their gardens “twenty-five hours in the day.”
The above pump like all those on the Ewa plantation is the produce of the Blake Manufacturing Co. It runs very smoothly, so smoothly that even the engineer one day forgot in a moment of absent-mindedness, that the powerful and noiseless engine was in motion. He got in the way—just with one finger—and did not notice the collision until he saw his finger—lying in the dripping pan!
Pumping Station No. 3 is now in process of construction, and, when complete, will be one of the “sights” of this Island. There will be nothing to beat it on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Two large pumps will lift the water from twelve artesian wells—one to a height of 137 feet, the other to a height of 167 feet above sea level. Deducting 32 feet, the height of the natural flow, we have a straight lift in the two pumps of 105 and 135 feet respectively. The ordinary capacity of these pumps is, together, twenty million gallons per day, but they have a maximum capacity of about ten millions more. Yet the ordinary daily consumption of coal will probably not exceed seven tons. This very moderate consumption of coal will be due in a great part to the use of tubular boilers which, it is claimed will furnish about twice as much steam per pound of coal as the best boilers of any other pattern. These climax tubular boilers were made at the Clombrok Steam Boiler Works in Brooklyn, N. Y. The whole work of preparing the foundation and erecting the pumps is under the personal supervision of Mr. Bunge, a courteous gentleman as well as a skillful mechanic, who has been sent here by the Blake Manufacturing Company for this special purpose.
The total cost of this great pumping station, including the wells and the piping will be in the neighborhood of $100,000.
The total capacity of the twenty-two artesian wells, with the four pumps working at their maximum capacity, will probably be not far from fifty million gallons per day. This is an astonishing figure, but it gives only a correct idea of the power of these splendid pumps. There will be water enough to irrigate, if necessary, 4,000 acres of cane, and at the ordinary working capacity of the pumps, there will be abundance of water for 3,000 acres. Enough water will flow in the once thirsty deserts of Honouliuli to supply a city of 200,000 people.
After doing more than justice to an exceedingly bountiful and generous repast, the party rode through the cane fields to convince themselves by personal inspection of the magnificent condition of the crop.
The condition of the plantation is a highly gratifying one and its prospects bright, even with sugar at the present low price. Everything which a favorable situation, a surpassingly fertile soil and appliances of the most approved efficiency can do for any plantation, nature and man have done for Ewa. The wells have not been in the smallest degree affected by the severe drought of the passing summer.
The plantation has passed the experimental stage, and the stockholders may lay, as a flattering unction to their souls, the observation of one of Honouliuli’s leading business men—an observation made after careful personal inspection:
“The plantation appears to be very carefully managed. Everything seems to have been thought out beforehand.”1
1“Development of Water Resources at Honouliuli,” Hawaiian Gazette, September 1, 1891, p. 2.
