On 8/10/2018 7:34 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "dsi1" wrote in message
> ...
>
> On Thursday, August 9, 2018 at 1:28:16 PM UTC-10, GM wrote:
>> Pretty cool, I did not know this:
>>
>> https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-histo...me-electrified
>>
>> Why Hawaii Got Electricity Before Most of the Rest of the World
>>
>> In 1881, Thomas Edison convinced King Kalakaua that electric streetlamps
>> were superior to gas
>>
>> 'In 1881, King David Kalakaua of Hawaii went on a world tour, the first of
>> its kind for a sitting monarch. He circumnavigated the globe, stopping in
>> Asia, India, Egypt, Europe, and the United States. Among other things, he
>> sought to encourage immigration from the Asia-Pacific region, as Hawaiis
>> dwindling population had created a labor shortage on its sugar
>> plantations. But the king also wanted to introduce the culture of Hawaii
>> to the world, and he was curious about modern science and technology.
>>
>> When he arrived in Paris in August 1881, the International Exposition of
>> Electricity was just getting under way. The exposition showcased the
>> latest advancements in electrical technology, such as dynamos, batteries,
>> and lighting. The first International Electrical Congress also convened
>> during the exposition, with participants presenting papers, discussing
>> research, and deciding on definitions for the ampere, the volt, the ohm,
>> and other electrical units.
>>
>> King Kalakaua visited the exposition and was eager to learn more. George
>> Jones [PDF], cofounder of The New York Times, met the king in Vienna and
>> promised an introduction to Thomas Edison. That meeting took place on 25
>> September 1881 in Edisons New York City office. According to The Sun (New
>> York), the king and the inventor discussed not only the technicalities of
>> electric lights but also the business of selling power.
>>
>> As described in The Sun, Hawaiis attorney general, William N. Armstrong,
>> told Edison that the kingdom had a volcano €œthat burns a thousand million
>> tons of coal a day.€� He jokingly added: €œYou could put your boilers on top
>> of the volcano and get power enough to supply the country.€� Apparently,
>> Edison didnt get the joke and asked if that was where Hawaii mined its
>> coal. Armstrong replied that in fact Hawaii imported its coal from
>> Australia, but the volcano was their great hope. Some people have since
>> speculated that Armstrongs remark indicated an early interest in
>> geothermal power, but it was more likely a failed attempt at humor.
>>
>> In any event, Kalakaua explained to Edison that he was keen to upgrade the
>> kerosene lamps that lit the streets of Honolulu but couldnt decide
>> between gas and electricity. He wanted to see a full and practical trial
>> of electric lights before deciding. For that, the king had to wait another
>> five years.
>>
>> On 21 July 1886, Honolulu businessman Charles Otto Berger organized a
>> demonstration of electric lights at Iolani Palace. It drew a crowd of
>> 5,000 spectators and included a Hawaiian band and a military parade.
>>
>> A few months later, the royal residency and palace grounds were fully
>> illuminated for the kings birthday, on 16 November 1886. [An original
>> chandelier from the throne room is pictured at top, although these days it
>> uses LED lights.] Electric lighting extended to the streets of Honolulu
>> when Princess Kaiulani threw the switch on 23 March 1888.
>>
>> Two of the greatest challenges to the electrification of Hawaii were
>> getting equipment to the island nation and establishing an appropriate
>> fuel supply. Machinery for the power plants came from the United States,
>> including a turbine manufactured by Leffel & Co., in Springfield, Ohio,
>> dynamos from the Thomson-Houston Co., in Massachusetts, and piping and
>> valves from Risdon Ironworks, in San Francisco.
>>
>> As for the second challenge, hydroelectric power seemed a natural choice
>> given Hawaiis terrain and wet climate. The Nuuanu stream, about 6
>> kilometers northeast of the palace, fed the first electric light station
>> that powered Honolulus streetlights. But its water flow was uneven, and
>> so the next station to be built was coal fired.
>>
>> Interestingly, the electrification of Iolani Palace was not the first
>> demonstration of electric lighting in the Hawaiian Islands. That
>> distinction goes to a sugar mill on Maui owned by sugar magnate Claus
>> Spreckels. On 22 September 1881, Spreckels demonstrated electric lights at
>> Mill No. 1 on his plantation. He realized that artificial lighting would
>> allow his workers to process sugar cane around the clock, thus avoiding
>> the expense of any downtime during peak season. King Kalakaua and members
>> of the royal household inspected Spreckelss mills numerous times. Dowager
>> Queen Emma, the widow of King Kamehameha IV, reportedly exclaimed that the
>> electric lights were like daylight.
>>
>> At the time, Spreckels held a near monopoly on the sugarcane industry in
>> Hawaii, thanks to his close ties to King Kalakaua. Spreckels had bought
>> political influence by making personal loans to the king and €œgifts€� to
>> the kingdom. When he was initially establishing his first sugar
>> plantation, for example, Spreckels sought water rights for irrigation, but
>> the Hawaiian cabinet balked. After the businessman made certain monetary
>> donations, however, a new cabinet was installed, and they promptly
>> approved Spreckelss water rights as well as the construction of a
>> 65-km-long irrigation ditch, the longest in the kingdom at the time.
>>
>> By 1886, though, Spreckels and the king had fallen out. Kalakaua, looking
>> to diversify his kingdoms business base, viewed electricity and other new
>> technologies as a way to encourage investment. After the successful
>> display of electric streetlights, the Honolulu company E.O. Hall & Son
>> began installing generators in homes and on sugarcane plantations. By
>> 1890, almost 800 Honolulu residences were enjoying the luxury of
>> electricity, at a time when most people in Europe and the United States
>> still did without. A year later, several officers of E.O. Hall formed the
>> Hawaiian Electric Co. (HECO).
>>
>> The king didnt live long enough to see the completion of all that he had
>> set in motion. In 1891, while visiting California, he died of kidney
>> disease. His sister Liliuokalani succeeded him, but her reign proved
>> brief. Five days before the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in 1893, in
>> one of her last official acts, the queen approved legislation for the
>> Hawaiian government to provide and regulate the production of electricity
>> in Honolulu. HECO, the only bidder, was granted a 10-year lease to supply
>> power to the people of Honolulu. The provisional Hawaiian government
>> retained control over the original Nuuanu Electric Power Station to power
>> the streetlights.
>>
>> On 23 March 2018, the 130th anniversary of the illumination of Honolulu,
>> an IEEE Milestone was dedicated to €œthe electric lighting of the Kingdom
>> of Hawaii 1886€“1888.€� Spreckelss sugar mill on Maui no longer exists, but
>> Iolani Palace is open to the public Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to
>> 4:00 p.m.
>>
>> An abridged version of this article appears in the April 2018 print issue
>> as €œEdison and the King.€�
>>
>> Part of a continuing series looking at photographs of historical artifacts
>> that embrace the boundless potential of technology...'
>>
>> About the Author
>> Allison Marsh is an associate professor of history at the University of
>> South Carolina and codirector of the Ann Johnson Institute for Science,
>> Technology & Society there.
>
> Interesting article. The Royal Hawaiians were an oddly progressive lot and
> were eager to learn the ways of the English and Americans. In the end, they
> got more than they bargained for. In the scant 115 years after Captain Cook
> landed on these shores, the Hawaiians lost everything and the Kingdom of
> Hawaii was gone. Some people still feel raw about that.
>
> ==
>
> Understandable Has that independence been recovered at all? Pardon me
> for my ignorance, but I knew nothing about Hawaii till I came here.
>
>

They are better off than if they had been wiped out by the Japanese
during WWII, which surely would have happened if it was not a US base.