KAPENA SAMUEL MANA.
Sam Mana is one of the Hawaiians who is employed in the Sailing Profession as a Captain, and he is the only one among us who has been at it from a very long time ago, and because of his fortitude, he has been promoted by his foremen, and has now become the Captain of the ship the Concord. Continue reading
[Found under: “Kela me Keia”]
On this day, the 23rd, Mrs. Mary Dominis, mother of the Honorable John O. Dominis, has resided in Hawaii nei for 50 years. She arrived here in Hawaii on the 23 aboard the ship Jones which was navigated by her husband Captain J. O. Dominis, and she has not left these lands until this day.
(Kuokoa, 4/23/1887, p. 3)
Honolulu, Dec. 13. Reliable news has been heard that the Officers of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company [Hui Mokuahi Holoholo Pili Aina] has decided to build a new large steamship bigger than the Mauna Kea in place of the Mauna Kea that is now in service. And it will run three times a week, and it will be a steamer that carries 250 passengers in the stern and it will be like the Steamship Alameda that travelled between San Francisco and Honolulu some years ago. Continue reading
Our thanks are tendered to the writer of the following interesting sketch:
The English steamer Ceylon left Hilo for San Francisco at half-past nine o’clock on Monday morning, April 17th. Owing to the absence from Hilo of Judge Lyman, the Japanese Embassy were taken in charge by Fred. Lyman, Jr., who furnished them with mules for the volcano, and attended to all the details of the trip and of their stay in Hilo, and escorted them on board the Ceylon at 4 P. M. on Sunday, the hour set for sailing.
The Picture above is the Hawaiian Warship, H. M. S. Kaimiloa; on her Deck is King Kalakaua, and some of his attendants behind him.
This picture was taken before they left Hawaii for their trip to Samoa.
(Kuokoa, 11/28/1902, p. 1)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XL, Helu 48, Aoao 1. Novemaba 28, 1902.
At 10 o’clock a.m. of Wednesday, January 12, the steamer replacing the Paeli, which ran aground off Niihau, of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company [Hui Hooholo Mokuahi Pili Aina], named the Mikahala and captained by Captain B. B. Hampstead, arrived at Honolulu Harbor, reaching here in 8 days and 20 hours.
This new steamship was built in Port Blakely by the ship builders, the Hall Brothers. And from here, she was sent using a sail to San Francisco, where the machinery and steam engine of the Paeli was salvaged and waited to be laid out in her wide belly. Everything was installed there and when it was all complete, it set off for here.
The farthest the steamer went was on the second day after it left San Francisco, for it travelled 265 miles that day, and its shortest day was 230 miles. Therefore, its average speed was a little over 10 miles per hour.
The length of this ship is 150 feet and the width is 29 feet; its depth is 14 feet. Its tonnage according to the captain is 420. Its body is a little larger than the Paeli, and a little smaller than the Malulani.
Its design is similar in every manner with the Malulani, and so too are the rooms and the decks. There are 8 double state rooms on the upper deck, and 8 rooms below in the stern.
The name of this new steamship is the name of Mrs. M. E. Foster [Mary E. Foster], the wife of the President of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company.
This steamer will be set aside for Kauai under Captain Freeman, and next week, it will be sent to her ports for the first time.
[It is quite the strange coincidence that this ship named Mikahala (after the Hawaiian name of Mary E. Foster) is the same ship that ran into and sank the other ship named for her, the Mary E. Foster! See here for the article reporting the accident in 1894.]
(Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, 1/15/1887, p. 3)
Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, Buke X, Helu 3, Aoao 3. Ianuari 15, 1887.
This Wednesday, the new steamer of Foster [Poka] and company arrived; 8 days from San Francisco. “Mikahala” is its name, and it was named after the name of Mrs. J. Robinson, the wife of James [Kimo] of Pakaka. It is a large vessel like the Lilinoe, and it is speedy. We hear that it is headed for Kauai in the coming days. We do not know who the Captain is.
(Nupepa Elele, 1/15/1887, p. 2)
Ka Nupepa Elele, Buke VIII, Helu 29, Aoao 2. Ianuari 15, 1887.
The Steamer Mikahala Cuts Off the Stern of an Island Vessel.
THE MARY E. FOSTER OUT OF SIGHT.
The Vessels Meet At Midnight In the Channel—The Disaster Is Said to be Due to a Mates Negligence—No Lives Lost By the Unfortunate Accident.
On last Tuesday, about midnight, the steamer Mikahala and the schooner Mary E. Foster collided in the channel between Kauai and this island. The bow of the steamer struck the port side of the schooner, near the stern, and cut off the end as neatly as if it had been done by a saw. The schooner began to settle at once, and at the end of three-quarters of an hour she sank completely out of sight. Captain Hipa and the crew of the Mary E. Foster were taken on board of the Mikahala and carried as far as Koloa, where they were picked up by the Iwalani and returned to this port.
The particulars of the disaster are about as follows: The Mikahala left this port for Kauai and Niihau. The…
THE I. I. S. N. CO.’s STEAMER MIKAHALA.
(From a Photograph.)
…weather was favorable, and the moon was shining. At midnight Captain Haglund came on deck, as it was the hour for changing the watch. He went aft first, and when returned forward he noticed a sail right ahead of the steamer. He jumped into the wheel-house and turned the helm in order to avoid a collision, but the vessel did not answer her helm quickly enough, and the bow of the steamer crashed into the vessel. The second mate was on watch at the time, and it will be a difficult matter for him to prove that the collision was not his fault. His excuse is said to be that the foresail was up and interfered with his sight. Then another story is, that he thought the vessel which was bearing down on him was the James Makee or some other island steamer, and he did not think it was necessary to shift the helm. As soon as the schooner was struck, her cabin and hold rapidly filled with water, and it was but the work of a few moments to drop a boat into which the crew bundled and pulled for the Mikahala. Captain Hipa remained on his vessel until the last moment, and did not leave until Captain Haglund assured him that his schooner would go to the bottom of the sea.
Captain Hipa made an effort to get out of the way of the steamer but the wind was not heavy enough at the time, and while his vessel was sailing at an angle with the steamer she was struck. If he…
THE MARY E. FOSTER.
(The cross marks the place where the bow of the Mikahala struck the illfated schooner.)
…had had thirty seconds more time he would have cleared himself and the collision would not have occurred. The schooner had 1400 bags of sugar on board which is said to be insured.
The Mary E. Foster was built in 1877 at Port Ludlow. She was ninety tons register and was valued at $5000. For years she has been running between here and Kauai taking coal to different plantations on that island and returning with sugar. Her captain is considered a good seaman and no blame is attached to him for the disaster, as a sailing vessel has the right of way on the high seas, and it was the duty of the second mate in charge of the steamer to steer clear of the schooner. Captain Haglund will return to port tomorrow morning when a full account of the collision will be obtained.
(Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 5/26/1894, p. 3)
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Volume XIX, Number 3698, Page 3. May 26, 1894.
The picture above illustrates the scene that cannot be forgotten by the crowd of thousands of Honolulu nei, as it goes on its ocean path to the Golden Gate of San Francisco. This is a regular festivity here in Honolulu. The men and women are decorated with lei of this and that variety, and it is glorious to see, the beauty of everyone. It is so very beautiful.
[The Australia was one of the many ships that took Hawaiians to and from this Archipelago. One of her famous passengers was Sweet Emalia, Emalia Kaihumua, the composer of “He Aloha Moku o Keawe,” which is a song composed in far away San Francisco during a time of great turbulence, where the writer yearns for her homeland.
Don’t forget to tune in tonight to the 94th annual Kamehameha Schools’ Song Contest! Its theme this year is Songs of World Travel!!]
(Kuokoa, 3/23/1900, p. 1)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XXXVIII, Helu 12, Aoao 1. Maraki 23, 1900.
O Kuokoa Newspaper; Aloha oe:—Perhaps you and your Editor can be tolerant and include this in a Column of your entire stout body, about a crisis at sea, like this: Several skiffs left Niihau for Kauai, in Hanalei, to peddle goods; they did not face the crisis during this trip because the winds were calm on the sea, however, the next week they made ready to return, that being Thursday, the 12th of May, but because the wind was growing stronger, it wasn’t appropriate to continue the travels, therefore they landed at Nualolo that day, and stayed there for those days; and on Saturday, the 14th, they made to return here to Niihau while knowing the activity of the wind was bad; perhaps it was because they felt that the skill of the Niihau youth would not be acclaimed should they return in the calm, so they were worked up to sail, but after leaving and reaching the middle of the deep seas of Kaulakahi, one of the skiffs was pounded by a billow, and it overturned, and they were in dire straits. And when the second skiff noticed that this one had sunk, they threw their belongings into the sea and went to save the lives of the people overcome by calamity. The number of people aboard that vessel that had sunk was 13 including a small, young child who wasn’t yet crawling; I felt sorrow when I heard of this tragedy.
I strongly believe that if it wasn’t for the second skiff, and there was but just one skiff returning from Kauai, and they ran into this trouble, then they would be all gone, being swallowed by the belly of the ocean, and which of them would have escaped to be the messenger, the one to tell us of this sinking? I don’t think any one of them. And here is another thing; should none of them have lived, then we would have imagined something that was not true: “They are there living on Kauai;” but when some people from Kauai came and heard of them: “They left a long time ago.” Then what would we have then? Just this, the word that they had died, while accepting that fish, an alamihi.”¹
Here is another thing; being that I believe they have relatives on Kauai, along with other places of these islands, who are full of wonder, asking, “who are these Niihau people who were in trouble, and were they saved by the second skiff” So your friend will give each of their names, and here they are: Kaaukuu, Kalana, Kepuoiki, Kawala, Kaika, Mahuiki, Puni, and Kaikuahine, who are men; and Kamupoloula, Kamakahuilama, and Puuiki, who are women; and the small children and a man named Limaiole; those are the names of each of them in the skiff that sank. These are the names of the people aboard the skiff which saved them: Moopuna, Kamalikehakeao, Kaoku, Kaneiolouma, Kehau, and Kalauakaino, who are men; and Kewa and Niihau, who are women. The total number of them all was 22. And with this saving of these people from death, I recall an old saying: “Life is blessed through God, your snicker was almost fitting for me. [?? “Pomaikai ke ola na ke Akua, mai ku no ko aka-iki ia’u.”
As for the skiff that sunk and all of their cargo, it is all gone into the depths of the ocean, and all that was left are their lives, and what they had on; and God was patient with them and they landed on the east side of Niihau nei, in the place called Kii.
These people, some of them were of the Catholic faith, and some were Protestants. These people nearly grabbed onto the club of Kekuaokalani, “Hoolehelehekii,”² along with my father-in-law, “Laumihi,”³ as they set off in strong winds; what’s wrong with staying put until it is calm and then get up and come back. It is in man’s nature to show off, thinking that he will be famous for his prowess at sailing. You are competent facing a fraction of the wind, but should the ferocity of the wind be greater than your skill, then I believe that your intelligence would not leave you victorious. “Praise god in the high heavens, peace on earth, and good will towards men.” With aloha,
P. R. Holiohana.⁴
Kihalanui, Niihau, May 21, 1864.
¹A play on alamihi crab which can also sound like “path to repentance”.
²A play on the name “Hoolehelehekii,” meaning to be all talk.
³A play on the name “Laumihi,” perhaps meaning much remorse.
⁴P. R. Holiohana is most likely also known as P. R. Holi.
[On a related note, please don’t drive if you have been drinking. It isn’t worth the risk you are putting yourself and others on the road in.]
(Kuokoa, 6/18/1864, p. 4)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke III, Helu 25, Aoao 4. Iune 18, 1864.
nupepa 