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Kahuku
Ranch Marker and the Pink Buoy
Excerpts
from a letter written by Mrs. Guy N. Rothwell to her daughter,
Mary Louise Lloyd, dated October 29, 1956
[For
pictures and the newspaper account of the marker, click
here.]
You
said I had not written abou the placing of the monument. You
know, I think my letter went down with that plane. The Spencers
left on Sunday morning. And I wrote the next day, and that mail
I am quite sure was on the ill-fated plane.
Anyway,
I’ll tell you again about placing the monument
in case you never got that letter.
We, (Spencers,
Father & I) went over to Hawaii on the Saturday,
and went first to Kona. It was lovely there at the new Waiaka
Lodge, right on the shore
just beyond the old courthouse. We hired a car and drove to Hilo via Hamakua
Coast. The roads along that side are very much improved and
it is no longer a frightening ride. Well we got to the Nani loa hotel for
dinner & the
night. The next day we went to Puna, saw the site of the recent lava flow,
Kalapana, etc. and then to the Volcano House for dinner & night. They
showed marvelous (movies) pictures of the Puna eruption in action. Then Tuesday
early
we left for the 1868 flow. Frank had arranged with a Hilo contractor to set
the bronze tablet in a concrete block, and to have it taken to the spot in
Kau where it was to be placed. Frank & Blair did not get over, as they
could not get seats on any commercial planes for the early flight, and Frank
couldn’t get the small plane he wanted to fly over.
[note:
The newspaper account mentions that Frank & Blair
Rothwell were there and gives photo credit to Frank. I asked
Blair, and he has no recollection of the event.]
Well,
anyway, the timing of the contractor with the monument, and
us, and
the truck with the crane on it was perfect. We all
met at Waiohino at 10 A.M. and proceeded to Kau. We were going
pretty fast, Rhodes driving, and finally reached the tourist
sign of the 1868 flow, but could not find the old original sign.
(We had passed it.) We went back & forth and then decided
that time was getting short (the Spencers had to take a plane
for Maui at 3 P.M.) so we selected a likely spot and had the
thing set. (It weighted 1300 lbs.) The concrete foundation was
spread on the lava, the crane lifted the stone up and set it
down in place, and we draped it with orchid leis and took pictures.
The crane
truck departed for Waiohino, and we were still standing in
the road admiring the thing, when the crane man dashed up
in a little old jeep station
wagon driven by the Portugee foreman of Glover’s ranch. They said “Hey
you guys! You got da wrong place! Dis not da place !!! Da sign one mile half
over odder side !” Well! So the crane truck came back, lifted the plaque
off its bed of wet concrete, and we all went a mile & a half towards
Hilo, and there was the original sign. But anyway, it was a simple matter
to lay
some more concrete, and lift the thing off and place it where it belonged.
I’d send you some pictures except they are in Father’s office.
[Here
the letter lapses into some social comings and goings,
including brief mention of the growing membership of the
Waikiki Yacht Club.]
One
more last item. It seems that Henry Kaiser has had a channel
dug to enter his lagoon, beach, etc. and got
federal
permission
to get a buoy placed at the entrance – a black buoy.
Well, the yacht harbor can’t get a buoy & people
are mad. Kaiser’s catamarans and a lot of his equipment
are painted pink. So last night after the cocktail party (this
was all planned
well in advance) a bunch of WYC boys, including your esteemed
oldest brother, went over to the Kaiser buoy in a little boat
and painted it pink. Well! What a to-do – Kaiser has
the FBI on the trail of the culprits – the whole waterfront
thinks it is a huge joke – so we don’t know how
it will turn out. According to federal law, the fine for defacing
a buoy is $500.00.
This is absolutely all.
Love to you all –
Mamo
Descendants of