LIFE IN HAWAII

Southland Times, Issue 19333, 27 August 1924, Page 8

LIFE IN HAWAII

MR VICKERY’S OBSERVATIONS INTERESTING IMPRESSIONS PAN PACIFIC CONFERENCE. The attractions of Hawaii as a tourist resort and appreciation of the American methods of administration in those Islands were spoken of with candour by Mr T. W T . Vickery to a representative of the Southland Times, who interviewed him yesterday afternoon on his leturn from a combined business and pleasure trip to the Hawaiian Islands. At a recent meeting of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce Mr Vickery was asked if he would represent the Chamber at the Pan-Pacific Food Conservation Conference which took place in Honolulu from J.uly 31 to August 14, and it was while acting as a delegate to that important function, and at the same time enjoying a brief respite from his business responsibilities, that Mr Vickery was able to learn a great deal concerning the affairs of those fair Islands of the Pacific, which to many are only known as the place of origin of the many tuneful melodies which are frequenly heard on the stage and per medium of the gramophone. During his three weeks' stay in Honolulu, Mr Vickery spent a very enjoyable holiday and at the same time was keenly interested in the important matters discussed at the Conference. GOOD ROADS. “Honolulu is a real object lesson in good roads,” he said, “and for a radius of 15 miles in and around the city there are either concrete or bituminised roads, while on the main highways into the country there is a similar state of affairs. During the whole of my visit I did not see as much as an egg cup full of dust, so that you can readily imagine how clean the city appears to a visitor. Then again it means a considerable saving to shopkeepers as their merchandise does not deteriorate so quickly as it would locally, for example, and that means a considerable saving to every shopkeeper or merchant. Judging from what I was able to see in Honolulu, I feel certain that the decision of the Invercargill ratepayers in sanctioning a loan for street improvements is a very wise one and will be very much appreciated by all concerned when once they have experienced what benefit good roads really confer in the life of a community.

“One thing that we can learn from their experience in the Islands,” continued Mr Vickery, “is that on the hills there, they found it necessary to construct their roads with a roughened surface on account of them being very slippery when wet. They also found it expedient to finish off the smooth bitumen roads with fine screenings in order to prevent the possibilities of skidding. Another very noticeable feature of the roads was that they were constructed with a decidedly good crown in order to allow the rain water to get away quickly, and that is a feature of road construction which could be introduced on our roadways here with considerable advantage.” AN ATTRACTIVE CITY. ‘The city of Honolulu, which is the capital of the group, is a very attractive place and is the headquarters of the leading Territorial officers as well as of the Federal Departments of State. Its electric tramway service is remarkable in many ways, but principally because of the system of fares. Five cents, or 2id. in English money, is the standard fare charged, and by means of a transfer system the passenger is enabled to travel in one direction only for a distance of seven or eight miles on the one fare. Such a system encourages the people to live further out from the city, and my observations convinced me that the

system adopted is a very good one. The cars are roomy and specially adapted for sight seeing and their management, which is in the hands of a private company, appeared to be absolutely of the best. Motor cars are also largely availed of for transit purposes and with such good roads as they have around Honolulu and the Island of Oahu, on which it is situated, travelling is a matter of extreme comfort. 'The organisation of the tourist traffic throughout the Islands is an object lesson of American methods, and the publicity available in this particular branch alone leaves very little to be desired. On the principal mail steamer trading to Honolulu, the Inquiry Officer on board gives all the information required by the visitor and for every copy of the pamphlet describing the advantages of Hawaii as a hohday resort that he distributes he is subsidised to the extent of five cents.by the Tourist Bureau. One has no difficulty in securing all the information required, and as an example of the manner in which the various tours are organised, I will first quote one instance. The trip to the Volcano of Kilavea, which costs approximately £l2 in English money, occupies a period of three days and from the time that you step on the boat to leave Honolulu on the Friday until you return on the following Monday morning everything as regards fares, hotels, motor transit, and a trip on the scenic railway to view the crater, is perfectly arranged and the visitor is not required to walk during the » hole of that time more than 200 yards. Suufi is a typical example of the organisation obtainable, and yet I am convinced that interesting and enjoyable as the trip to the volcano is it is not comparable with Rotorua for example. “The attractions of Honolulu are particularly pleasing and the place with its wonderfully even climate, beautiful bungalows, one harmonising with the other, make a most spectacular showing and cannot fail to please the beholder. No ugly fences are allowed to spoil the landscape and in their place one sees lovely green lawns with neatly kept gardens with flowering shrubs in profusion. It is a sight that is not readily forgotten and demonstrates the fact that private capital allowed full sway can secure very efficient results. “Hawaii has been described as the melting pot of America and a cursory glance round is sufficient to convince the visitor of its cosmopolitan population. There are upwards of thirty distinct races and race combinations that go to make up its population, which according to the latest returns available is composed of the following nationalities: —Hawaiian, 41000; Japanese, 120,000; Chinese, 23,000; Filipino, 36,000; Portuguese, 26,000; American and British, 35,000. Other races are also represented to the extent of 18,000 and no small part of the interest and charm of a visit to the Islands is in the observation or study of the characteristics, customs and dress of the different peoples.” EDUCATION ESSENTIAL. “The American strength in Hawaii is education,” continued the speaker, “and on every hand one sees evidences of this fact. Every kind of school from a private kindergarten to a public university is to be found and incidentally the laws are very rigid in enforcing attendance at school of all children ip to 14 years of age. The necessity of a gooa education is recognised by all classes and the Native population especially is intelligent and well educated, and many of them are holding important public positions as well as being freely represented in the different professions.” NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. “New Zealand butter, lamb and apples are said to be marketed in Honolulu,” said the speaker, “but I saw very little evidence of them there. The butter though, was represented to be of New Zealand manufacture, but it did not taste like it and gave every indication of having been adulterated with margarine as it had a distinctly nutty flavour. I made an inspection of the markets but could see no signs of New Zealand butter with its own marks on it, the wrappers all bearing local names. This is a pity because I believe a market for this commodity at least could be developed considering that half of the population have a high standard of living and are sure to require butters as an article of diet. As,

for New Zealand meat and fruit I did not see any indication of them at all being offered for sale.”

THE FOOD CONFERENCE. IMPORTANT MATTERS DISCUSSED. Speaking of the Conference, Mr Vickery mentioned that some very important matters had been brought forward for discussion and said that they had created a great deal of interest among the delegates of the various nations resident in the Pacific who were present. The matters chiefly discussed were those relating to food crop production and their improvement, fisheries, marine biology, plant quarantine, and the animal industry. ‘The Hons. G. M. Thomson, M.L.C., and Mark Cohen, M.L.C n of Dunedin, officially represented New Zealand at the Conference,” continued Mr Vickery, "and as the Conference was only half way through when I left on my return to New Zealand by the Niagara they will not yet have returned. “The most noticeable thing to my mind is the co-ordination in American commerce of their scientific investigations with their commercial activities. As an example of this I need only mention, that in Hawaii the Planters’ Association which is a very strong and influential body taxes itself on a percentage of its turnover to endow a research institute and laboratories in Honolulu and an enormous sum of' money is provided annually for this purpose. During our stay in Honolulu Mr H. P. Agee, who is President of the Association, conducted the delegates to the Conference over these fine laboratories and briefly explained the work in hand. For instance we saw one sebtion of the laboratory working on a series of soil analyses while another was investigating matters in connection with insect pests and their natural enemies. Not only is the work carried out by the laboratories but they are repaid a hundred-fold as it enables the individual planters to know what means to adopt to secure an increased production or to eradicate a certain pest which is destroying their crops. The result of this scientific work, in one respect alone, has enabled the sugar planters to increase their production to 18 tons of raw sugar per acre as against a world’s average of two tons per acre. This is a phenomenal increase and while it means increased returns one must not lose sight of the fact that they go to an enormous expense to obtain such a high production, particularly in the matter of irrigation and the use of manures for the land.

“Some very interesting facts were made known in the course of the addresses given by the many noted scientists and authorities who took part in the deliberations and time will not suffice to give more than a brief resume of what took place,” he said. “Among the most distinguished scientists present was Dr Ahlsberg, of the Food Research Institute of the Standford University, of California, and he in his address stated deliberately that if statistics could be procured showing the production of copra which was used for the manufacture of margarine it would affect the Danish market and no doubt the New Zealand market as well. He further stated,” continued Mr Vickery, “that this margarine was equal in good value to butter and that contention was supported by Dr White, of the Otago University, with whom I discussed the question during the return journey. That being so it is very evident that in the near future margarine must be a serious competitor with our butter and I certainly think that it should awaken our primary producers to the necessity of marketing their produce on the markets of the world under its own labels for delivery to the consumer in a New Zealand wrapper.” Dr Merrill, of the University of California, led a very important discussion in regard to the production of rice and in the course of his remarks he mentioned that rice was the best food for tropical and subtropical countries and that at the present

time it formed the diet of several hundred millions of people. Thirty years ago sufficient rice had been grown in each country for local consumption but with the increased production of tea, rubber, etc., there was nowadays less rice cultivated. The speaker also expressed the opinion that it was impossible to change the food of the people inhabiting the temperate zone to grain, such as wheat,, and that being so it was essential to devise means of increasing the cultivation of rice throughout the world.

-Another topic that was keenly interesting.” continued the speaker, “was the discussion led by Dr Marlatt, Chairman of the Federal Horticultural Board of the United States, in regard to inspection and regulation for keeping out from the Pan-Pacific countries many of the pests which affected the grain, fruit and potato crops at the present time of European countries.” “I should just like to say in conclusion,” said Mr Vickery, “that the part which Ain eric an scientists take in commercial matters impressed me very much and during a brief conversation that I had with Professor Elliott Smith, who is one of the leading scientists of the world, he stated definitely that scientific investigations could produce a baccilus which would destroy the rabbit and repay New Zealand many times over for the outlay involved. io show the interest that Australia is taking in this matter I may mention that Sir Joseph Carruthers who represented Australia emphasised in his speech that the Commonwealth desired assistance in eradicating the prickly pear pest and in exterminating the rabbit, though he made it clear that whatever means were introduced they would require to be assured that the remedy would not in its4f have a detrimental effect in other directions.”