HONOLULU’S LIFE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 243, 11 September 1934, Page 2

HONOLULU’S LIFE

HOLIDAY IN HAWAII. MR S. K. THOMSON'S IMPRESSIONS. Impressions of a twenty days’ day which he recently spent m Honolulu were recounted by Mr S. R- < son in an interesting address to the Palmerston North Rotary Club yesterday, when he outlined some iif the principal features of that city’s life. Mr A. rWander, the representative of the Kew Zealand Manufacturers Federation, was to have been the speaker but owing to indisposition was unable to rumi .his engagement. Mr W. S. Carter, presided over a good attendance. JAPANESE POPULATION. The immigration laws of the United States Government w;ere an impressive feature of one’s arrival at Honolulu, said Mr Thomson. Ho was asked 48 questions, including one __ whether he agreed or not with the United States Government. Unless he did, he *as informed, he would not be allowed to land, so lie deemed it prudent not to disagree. The city was completely Americanised in its appearance, business, life and spirit. There was splendid co-opera-tion with the mainland, of the United States, whence nearly all the newspaper cables came. He never saw in the Press a single reference to the Test cricket, and the only foreign news was a brief message dealing with the birthday of the Prince of Wales. The Hawaiian islands had a population of 300,000, some 38 per cent, being Japanese, the speaker added. Over 50 per cent, of Honolulu city’s population of 148,000 were Japanese. There were practically no Japanese children attending the public schools in 1900. Now, in the space of 34 years, there were 10 to every other child. The Orientals had their own schools, theatres, churches, parks, etc. The white population of Honolulu was barely 15 per cent, of the total.

The tourist traffic of the Hawaiian islands was most extensive, being estimated at present at 2000 people a day. The cost of living was fairly high, accommodation at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel costing from 10 to 20 dollars a day. The hotel had its own shopping street. Both the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. possessed magnificent buildings, the former occupying a blpck as large as that on which the premises of the C. M. Ross Co., Ltd. stood in Palmerston North. It had its own swimming pool, and recreational facilities for all pastimes. The pay-roll for the United States Army and Navy forces per annum in Honolulu was 12,000,000 dollars, exclusive of provisions and equipment, for which another 6,000,000 dollars was provided, Mr Thomson continued. The large Schofield barracks accommodated a permanent force of 15,000 men, and 2,500 civilians. There were four other army barracks. Eighteen ’planes were stationed at the air base. The naval base at Pearl Harbour provided _ for 14 warships and 12 submarines. When dredging was completed in two years’ time it would be able to take the whole of the American fleet. There were tremendous dry docks, capable of taking simultaneously three or four ordinary lineis. The base possessed a long-range gun which could throw a half ton shell 38 miles. SOURCES OF INCOME.

The national income of the Hawaiian islands was “bottled up” in sugar, the pineapple industry, and tourist trafric, continued the speaker. They exported 1,035,000 tons of sugar, valued at 66,000,000 uollars, in 1933. Some }2,000,000 cases of canned pineapple were also exported annually. One large establishment, manned almost entirely by Oriental labour, employed 8000 hands. Mr Thomson took tour hours to make even a casual inspection of the premises, over which he was shown by Mr Norman Nash, formerly of Palmerston North. From an examination of the meat situation in Hawaii, Mr Thomson was surprised to find an enormous tariff of 14 cents per lb. (7Jd) against the New Zealand , product. The United States provided almost all Hawaii’s requirements. The annual value of her imports from the mainland was 86,000,000 dollars, and of her exports 100,000,000 dollars. Hawaii’s foreign trade amounted only to 9,000,000 dollars. It was estimated that in Honolulu there were motor cars at the rate of one to every 4$ persons. The vehicles could be purchased for half the landed cost in New Zealand. Petrol was obtainable at 7|d a gallon. Telephones and electric light were fairly dear, the rental for the former being 50 dollars per annum. Milk commanded the exorbitant price of 3s 4d to 3s 8d a gallon. Some 440 cows were carried on one dairy property of 75 acres, all the stock foodstuffs, except green feed, being imported. The latter consisted of elephant grass which, six weeks from the time it* emerged from the ground, grew five or six feet high, owing to the remarkable humidity of the soil. Fertilisers were used extensively. Sugar production in 1933 was double that of ten years ago, though no more land was under cultivation. Butter was retailed at Is 9d per lb. New Zealand dairy butter made in the Waikato had an excellent and steady business with the Hawaiian islands, the quality being much higher than that from the mainland. Californian lamb was fairly cheap, but would not bear comparison with the product of New Zealand, the speaker continued. Beef, mainly grown in the islandsj was comparatively dear. Mr Thomson said he found the American meat packers and others very ready to impart information concerning their businesses. Liquor in the main was vended by liquor shops and petrol service stations. The latter had their own restaurants, soda fountains and bars. Chemists’ shops sold liquor also. There were no retailers’ regulations and there was no Shops and Offices Act.

Museums and art galleries in Honolulu -were some of the finest in the world, and were thronged by visitors. The aquarium on the beach was marvellous. Most of the meat marts and fish shops were situated in the Chinese section of the city. There were 310 barbers’ shops in the city, only 10 being conducted by Europeans, and there were bootblacks at every corner. There were at least two Japanese doctors and dentists to every American one. It was the same in the legal and other professions. Mortgage arrangements were broadcast through the Press. Debts owing by those about to depart from the island were also inserted for general information. Honolulu, Mr Thomson added, was not hot. but possessed a beautiful warm climate. The variation in the atmospheric temperature in summer and winter was not more than five degrees, and in the water at Waikeke beach not more than four degrees. There was no twilight. Darkness descended almost with the setting of the sun. The streets were kept scrupulously clean, and the beaches were patrolled and swept twice daily. There was no prettier place than Honolulu, with its flowers (particularly hybiscus) and foliage. In the better-class residential quarters there were magnificent homes. Golf was the principal sport, and there were numerous courses round the city, green fees ranging from 1J to 5 dollars a day. During his stay in Honolulu, concluded Mr Thomson, he had

not a single dull moment. The speaker was accorded a vote of thanks on the motion of Mr James Wallace. Messrs J.. Gordon Davis (Timaru) and A. M. Davies (Palmerston North) were welcomed as visitors. Messrs D. Bell and W. H. Dawick were inaugurated as new members of the club, the inaugural ceremony being performed by Mr J. Murray. Messages of goodwill were brought by Mr L. H. Collinson, who recently returned from abroad, from overseas Rotary clubs and from the commander of the trans-Atlantic liner Bremen.