More on the beginnings of Sugarcane on the Big Island  Old Plantation Days, October, 2010

In my last article I talked about the beginnings of sugarcane cultivation and milling in the Hilo area.  A friend of mine, Jim Waugh, wrote to me about some research he had done on “Aiko” the sugar master at Amauulu Plantation.  In his research he states that Aiko’s name was actually Lum Jo and was a “Tong See” from China.  A tong see is a Sugar Master.  I had always questioned the name “aiko” in reference to a Chinese person…it just didn’t match.  Well now it can be deciphered that Aiko was actually a Hawaiianization of Lum Jo’s mill… Ai (to eat) and Ko (sugarcane)  Aiko=”Eats sugarcane”= A Sugar Mill!!

Several tong sees came to Hawaii to help start plantations.  All of their equipment in those days came with them from China as well.  From Mill Stones, to iron, to copper pots, all from China.

In addition Jim states that Lum Jo was a very good business man, who in addition to helping start sugar mills in Kohala, Papaikou, and Waimea, he also owned a “Bowling Alley” in Hilo that catered to many passing sailors on the whaling ships.   Apparently, the term bowling alley was inferred to have meant more than just bowling! 

Thanks, Jim, for providing more history on this early period of the sugar industry.

How did many of these mills change from Chinese operation and ownership to American operations?  I am not sure, but I will conjecture that the Great Mahele and land ownership in Hawaii had a prominent part.  The land was either sold or leased to American ship Captains or businessmen.  The tong see’s were operators of the mills under Chief Kuakini and the Kingdom.  Did they get squeezed out of management, maybe.  In our early records of the start of the mills like Pepeekeo and Onomea, we see deeds by Afong selling their equipment to the early American capitalists.  A story was told to me by one of the archivists at C. Brewer many years ago.  She stated that Afong was very bitter towards the new prospective owners of Pepeekeo Sugar Company.  He refused to sell his equipment and interests to them.  Instead he sold out to the owners of the Hilo Sugar Company.  However, his actions did not meet with his intended smite…because soon after the sale to Hilo Sugar Company, the owners then sold everything right back to the Pepeekeo Sugar guys, oh well.

Moving on from the 1840’s, 50’s, and early 60’s we now move into the days of the 1870’s when sugar plantations exploded across Hawaii.  This was the period of the Reciprocity Treaty that King Kalakaua signed with the United States.  This treaty allowed sugar to enter the United States duty and tax free.  In addition the treaty allowed the U.S military the use of Pearl Harbor.  Many of the plantations had incorporation dates in the 1870’s and 1880’s.

Some plantations were called Civil War mills, those were mills that started in response to the Civil War South stopping all exports and sales of sugar to the North.  Northern business interests came to Hawaii to start mills in order to replace the lost sugar from the South.  The “Metcalf Mill” in Pepeekeo was one such mill.  There is nothing left of the mill to speak of today.  It was in the ahupua’a of Kaupaku’ea.  The mill was near an old large banyan tree about the 12 mile marker on Highway 19.  On the coast near there is a spot called Keawaiki Landing, this is a natural breakwater cove that the lighter boats would moor to load the bags (barrels) of sugar.  To this day, old metal mooring rings and the mule path are still evident at this location. 

This brings us to the late 1870’s in Hawaii’s sugar industry.  In the next article we will move on to the 1880’s, the immigration of many races and cultures to Hawaii, and the beginning of the twentieth century in Hawaii.