Hawaiian Boys Fly United States Flag Above Forgotten Isles
r:r.:. . . "I
Atolls May Become Haven For
Fast Australia Bound Airliners
PACIFIC air transport has an
nihilated distance!
For the flint time in half a cen
tury the Stars and Stripes are
unfurled over three t a o 1 a t e d
specks of land rt'n; from the
mid-Pacific on the equator fly
ing over the tiny islands of Jar
vis, Baker, and Howlaml
Many years ago these barren
isles, waterless, deserted by all
but huge crabs and bigger rats,
were valuable for guano dcpoait.1.
and were known chiefly to middle
western farmers of America as
the place from which came rich
fertilizer. Today each Island is in
habited by a skeleton guard of
Hawaiian boys preparing for the
most dramatic advance in avia
tion travel: four days to Aus
tralia via passenger airliners, sur
veying flights already having been
made.
Australasia will soon be within
a few hours of the Pacific Coast,
a brief jaunt of 9000 miles from
Oakland, California from one edge
of the Pacific to the other . . .
speeding toward the setting sun
at a rate of 200 miles per hour,
and saving 24 hours of interna
tional time by beating one revo
lution of the earth.
A vast amount of preliminary
work was necessary. Detailed
weather data is required for oce
anic airlines. Was the route via
Jarvis, Baker, and Howland, prac
tical? How did storms act, and
how frequently did they strike
that section of the Pacific?
The famous Kamehameha
school of Honolulu supplied a
group offcturdy Hawaiian boys,
chosen by special tests for disci
pline, responsibility, and ability
to maintain themselves on these
Isolated isles. Kamchamcha's stu
dents are trained In cooking,
varied manual arts and crafts,
and receive a thorough practical
education.
Today, on each little island,
rises a small village of tents,
located near the old workings of
the guano workers. Each island
supports four boys, twelve in all
adventurers who like the work
they do, the Isolation, even the
privations, and who refuse to be
replaced by "extras" who would
gladly supplant them.
Risks do exist, and loneliness is
ever present. These Islands have
no water. Several old wells have
been ruined by small animals fall
.ng In; all water is brought from
Hawaii and food supplies for
five months. Even this operation
is no simple task. Water goes
ashore through high surf in 55
gallon drums. Occasionally a boat
upsets, and the drums are rescued
galvanized tin, up which the fierce
animals cannot ascend.
On the beach of J a r v I a is
strewn the wreck of the old Ama
ranth, which went down on the
reefs in 1913. From this wreck
age th boys have built a one
room hut. In a pait of the ship's
hull they discovered several sets
of chinawave. a four wheel baby
carriage, block and tackle, table
chairs, and an ancient bottle of
haii tonic.
Sometimes their kerosene stove
breaks down, and they pick up
coal from the cargo scattered by
the Amaranth.
Detailed records are kept hour
ly through the day, and every
three hours at night. Special in
struments record the direction and
velocity of winds, temperatures,
and pressures, as well as cloud
conditions and rainfall. These
compilations, added to those left
by the first guano workers, are
proving of importance to naviga
tors and pilots who will fly this
previously little known part of
the Pacific.
In summer months tempera
tures in the shade (when there is
any!) averages between 75 and
80 degrees; the barometer reads
about 25:50, a low; rainfall is
practically non-cxistant; "ceiling"
for aviation is unlimited, as clouds
are scattered, and winds rarely
reach 28 miles an hour.
Rainstorms, curiously, are not
unusual in that section; but the
rain -does not touch the islands.
Due to radiation of heat from the
barren land, these storms split
like an apple and disappear.
Life is not dull on any of the
islands. Birds, island vegetation,
swimming, fishing, reading and
sleeping, occupy the boys' time to
excellent advantage. Collecting
and preserving equipment has
been supplied by the Bishop mu
seum of Honolulu, and several in
teresting specimens have been
secured.
On Baker the water supply has
been aided by discovery of a
brackish water obtained by dig
ging about 13 feet down in the
sand; although unpleasant for
drinking, it is used for washing
dishes, pots and pans. It has been
responsible, too, for a fine plot of
radishes, in the village's "back
yard."
Rights to work the three is
lands were given to the American
Guano Company of New York In
December of 1856. The first voy
age to the islands In the Hawai
ian schooner Liholiho was laughed
at as Impractical, but when the
ship returned with 100 tons
(which sold for from $30 to $50
a ton) people began to take the
islands seriously.
Later the workings were aban-
Mil. I
or
The Hawaiian Boys W ho Live on Baker Island Are Shown
Grouped Around an Old Cannon Used by the Guano Traders
to Salute Approaching Vessels.
by expert divers. Stores have gone
to the bottom in many feet of
water, to be laboriously pulled on
the beach by swimmers.
The ltaxca calls at regular in
tervals, bringing canned meats,
fruits and vegetables a diet pre
scribed along strict army lines,
which includes onions and pota
toes. Fish, of course, is on the
menu, caught by the boys. Fishing,
or more properly, spearing Is as
simple as walking a block to mar
ket. One of the boys goes out on a
coral reef, spears enough mullet
and other edible fish for a meal.
During the first few weeks, fish
was enjoyed three times a day;
but this ratio has dropped to
twice a week.
Their unpaid servants arc large
hermit crabs, scavangers of the
Islands, which wander about pick
ing up crumbs from tables, keep
ing the village clean.
Rats as long as six Inches
abound everywhere whole ar
mies, fighting among themselves,
and attacking the hermit crabs;
the crustaceans, however, put up
a good defense. To keep food
from the rat family, table legs,
benches and chairs are fitted with
PAGE EIGHT
A:
i 1
'4
who manes decisions and takes
full responsibility for measures of
hygiene, discipline, and the com
munity activities.
On Baker Island live William
Kaina, A. Ching, Sam Kalama,
and A. Piianaia; on Howland Is
land are J. C. Kamakaiwa, Killar
ney Opiopio, William Toomey, and
William Anuhu; on Jarvis - situ-
birfnW- t--.
7 rJ-i U ill Sfx 1 it A
(Left) The Equipment Tent on Jams Island. (Center) Living Quarters and Office Made
From Salvaged Lumber of the Wrecked Amaranth. (Right) Once Again the American Flag
Flies Here.
ated about 1000 miles from Baker
and Howland are George West,
Henry Ahia, Daniel Toomey, and
Frank Cockett.
Their day's work is vitally im
portant to American aviation, to
the spanning of the Pacific; pos
sibly these lads are not heroes in
the generally accepted sense of
the term, but their names will
long be remembered, and their
work serve a real need.
Again, after half a century, the
Stars and Stripes fly over these
a 1 moat forgotten American pos
sessions. Soon. American planes
will circle Jarvis, Baker, and
Howland. each in turn perhaps
dropping to the sandy beach for
supplies, then winging once more
southward toward Australia.
Four days between two continents!
doned through the misrepresenta
tion of an official, who wrote that
the guano was exhausted. Cer
tain interested capitalists wanted
the concessions for themselves.
According to an old record, the
report was acted upon, though
untrue :
"This, despite the fact that
there were several thousand tons
already dug on the islands, higher
In phosphates than much that had
been sold at a high figure."
The new company did land and
take one cargo to Australia, but
on the second trip the ship struck
the rocks and sank; no further
work was started. American in
dustry came to an end on the Is
lands, the American flag flew no
more from the flagpole. Remnants
of early activity remain ruins of
buildings, an old tram line and
trucks used to move guano from
the middle of Baker to the beach,
and other relics. A heavy cannon,
used to salute approaching ves
sels, was removed by the Hawai
ian boys to a surf boat of t he
It asm, and Is now in the Bishop
museum.
Each group of boys on these
Islands Is In charge of a leader.
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