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I went back to San Francisco to take the steamer for Honolulu on the island of Oahu. I fell under the dreamy spell of the climate just like in the West Indies without the constancy of the trade winds. The superintendent, Mr. Tinkham, had come to this port from the Middle West and was enthused by the wonders of the islands. He supplied me with a history book which was hastily read and made our trip together immensely interesting.
Detailed trips were made to all the islands by the lighthouse tender Kukui (named after a native flower) and to the lights and lighthouses by the Inter-island Steamer, in the track of tourists and far removed from regular travel; to the Barking Sands; the blowhole geysers; the gorgeous Waimea Canyon; to Hilo, where a car was hired to Kumukahi Light Station built on a lava flow still warm near a great split in the earth’s crust from recent earthquake shocks; to the Volcano House overlooking the pit of the crater Kilauea, bubbling and spitting up stones as high as the rim; around the Kona Coast visiting light stations where native keepers staged impromptu hula dances and had us sample “one-finger” and “two-finger” poi while we sat around and partook of a “luau” feast of roast pig eating with the fingers. I noted in the guest book at the Volcano House the inscription left by Mark Twain, “Hawaiian Islands: the most beautiful fleet of islands anchored in any ocean.”
All light stations were inspected except Moloka’i in the Leper Settlement and nearly all had native Hawaiian keepers. On the second trip, a new superintendent, Mr. Edgecomb, had been appointed who insisted that I visit Moloka’i. A commercial amphibian plane made the trip to the high plain near the center of Moloka’i Island. Here, Edgecomb had arranged for a guide with horses to meet us. I quaked at riding down the 2000-foot zig-zag trail of the “Pali” (cliff) to the Leper Settlement on the coast, thence to the Moloka’i Light Station.
The officer in charge of the leper hospital received us and conducted us through among the lepers and explained the cases, treatments and cures. It was a heartrending sight. The keepers of the nearby station often played cards with the inmates of the hospital – not for me. Captain Bill Seikemeyer of the tender Kukui became a life-long friend of mine and for years kept me up to date on the news of the Islands until he died.
It was high time I returned to the Bureau to report my findings . . .
This story appeared in the
May/Jun 2019 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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