The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, precipitated the entrance of the United States into World War II. Gov. Joseph B. Poindexter, immediately turned the government of the Islands over to the military authorities, martial law was established under Lieut. Gen. Walter Short, Commander of the Hawaiian Department, saving confusion and delay in the enforcement of necessary precautions for the defense of the Islands. General Short was soon succeeded by Lieut. Gen. Delos C. Emmons. Territorial government continued only in name and as a cooperative agency for the military. Civil courts were discontinued. Aliens, blackout offenders, violators of liquor regulations, were dealt swift justice in military or provost courts and there was no appeal. Several months after Pearl Harbor, civil courts and trial by jury were permitted to resume on a limited schedule and subject to many restrictions, but habeas corpus proceedings were not reestablished, and infractions of military orders and offenses involving military personnel and defense workers are tried in military courts.
Military and Civilian Defense Preparations.
Civilians not essential to the war effort were evacuated from the Islands as fast as ships could be provided. Wives and children of Army and Navy men, tourists, and invalids were the first groups, followed by the aged and infirm. The last large convoys of civilians left the Islands in June, but evacuation is continuing. Those now living in the Islands are, almost without exception, occupied in essential war work or are old-time residents. As a result of the bringing in of men for war work and the evacuation of women, Honolulu is fast becoming a city of men and very few women.
An elaborate plan of civilian evacuation of the city of Honolulu is ready to go into effect on a moment's notice if attack seems possible. All residents living within a certain distance of the ocean will evacuate either to homes of friends on the mountain slopes according to previous arrangement, or will go to places as directed by the evacuation authorities.
Extensive bomb shelters have been built by the military authority, and civilians have constructed shelters in their own yards. Practice air raids ceased long ago. Beaches and waterfront are a mass of barbed wire and strategic buildings, such as Iolani Palace, the water works, radio and telegraph stations, are barricaded with sand bags as well as barbed wire and are guarded by sentries night and day. Golf courses and other large open spaces have been dotted with wrecked cars or lengths of huge sewer pipe to prevent enemy airplane landings.
Immediately after the attack Dec. 7 all large windows in downtown Honolulu were covered with a lattice work of gummed paper tape. This would prevent shattered glass from falling in the streets. Nightly blackouts have extended from sundown to sunrise since Dec. 7. This meant blackout at 5:30 P.M. in winter and, by benefit of daylight saving, at 8:00 in midsummer. Restaurants in the winter admitted no patrons after 4:15. When blackout was first put into effect, civilians were not allowed on the streets, either walking or driving, except by special passes and in pursuit of specified duties. In summer (1942) civilians were allowed to walk on the streets of the blacked-out city until 10:00 P.M. The few cars on the streets at night on defense duty are equipped with special dimmed-out lights and the drivers must produce their passes at the demand of guards stationed throughout the city.
Among the orders of the military governor put into effect immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack was prohibition of the sale of liquor. Violators were given severe sentences. One dealer, for a minor violation, had his entire $20,000 stock confiscated in addition to five years at hard labor. The military had little trouble with violators. Absolute prohibition was enforced for three months. Bars now open at 10 o'clock in the morning and close before sundown, but a dealer allowing a patron to become intoxicated on his premises is subject to sentence and fine by the military.
No movies or other places of entertainment, quite naturally, are open at night in Honolulu, though movies are shown for service men at military encampments. Waikiki is colloquially known as 'The Gay Black Way.' Those who can afford it, and can get a reservation, occasionally go to the few beach hotels still available to civilians to dance or play cards in the blacked-out lobbies and then stay over night. The great Royal Hawaiian Hotel, formerly the last word in tourist luxury, has been taken over by the Navy and made available to sailors on shore leave.
Food Supply.
There is plenty of food in the Hawaiian Islands, but varieties available to civilians are limited. Bacon, butter, Irish potatoes and other items have not been on the market for weeks at a time because of the uncertain schedule of ships. Ceiling prices have been set by the military on certain staple items to prevent the exorbitant prices which would result from natural processes of supply and demand. Truck gardens have increased since the war started, but it is doubtful if the Islands can ever be entirely self-supporting.
Fishing in local waters has been stopped for military reasons. The majority of commercial fishermen were Japanese and their fishing sampans proved to be high-powered sea-going craft. These sampans have been tied up for the duration. Hawaii was famous for seafood, but fish served in the Islands now is generally dried codfish. Inter-Island boats have practically ceased running because of the submarine menace and occasionally the only beef available in Honolulu is sent over by airplane from the nearby islands of Maui and Hawaii.
Automobiles.
Gas rationing went into effect soon after Pearl Harbor. Ten gallons per month was the first allotment, later extended to fifteen. Recognizing the danger of tire shortage, the military authorities set a maximum speed limit of 35 miles per hour early in the spring of 1942. Tires are good for less than half as much mileage in the Islands as on the Mainland due to the fact that roads are made of lava asphalt. 'Gotta-ride share-a-ride' plans are flourishing with the full backing of civilians and local newspapers. The transportation problem has become so acute that in October 1942 an elaborate system of staggered hours was put into effect in the business section of Honolulu.
Industry.
Sugar production, long the leading industry in the Islands and now second only to war, totaled 850,000 tons of raw sugar during 1941, 10 per cent lower than for 1940. The pineapple crop, second Hawaiian industry was approximately normal. Under present conditions the canning factories are seriously handicapped because of labor shortage and blackout regulations which interfere with necessary 24-hour operation of factories during the peak of the harvest. The Army and Navy have cooperated in every possible way to facilitate harvesting and canning. One-fourth of the 1942 pack has been purchased by the Federal government for supply of troops.
Shipment of raw sugar and canned pineapple products to the Mainland has not been curtailed by the war because the great number of troop and supply ships, which come to the Islands heavily loaded, welcome ballast for the return voyage.
The tourist business, third industry in economic value in peace times, was entirely missing after Dec. 7, 1941. Tourists were among the first people to be evacuated to the Mainland. However, every able-bodied person in the Islands is working and earning good money. Defense workers imported to the Islands have more money than they know what to do with and consequently, private business is booming. The principal trouble local merchants have is to obtain goods to sell. During the period between January and August 1942, private business showed a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
Internal Affairs.
The Japanese population in the Hawaiian Islands is still, admittedly, an unsolved problem. The Japanese comprise the largest racial group, 157,905, including approximately 35,000 aliens, according to the Federal census of 1940 or approximately 27 per cent of the total population of 423,330. Other races in diminishing percentages include Caucasians, Filipinos, part-Hawaiians, Chinese, Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, and others. To intern so large a percentage of the population as the Japanese represent, much less to use valuable space on ships to transport them to the Mainland, is impossible. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, the FBI rounded up some hundreds of Japanese known or suspected to be active in espionage. As soon as possible, these Japanese were sent to the Mainland for internment and the FBI is doing an admirable job of keeping an eye on the rest. The melting pot population of races in the Hawaiian Islands, on the surface at least, is getting along amicably. Admittedly, there was plenty of espionage before Dec. 7, but according to an official announcement there were no acts of sabotage the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The first evacuation of Japanese on a voluntary basis took place in November when 107 alien and native-born Hawaiian Japanese, brought over from Honolulu by the Army, arrived at the Jerome, Ark., Relocation center. The group consisted primarily of women and elderly men unable to hold essential war jobs.
All residents of the Hawaiian Islands have been registered and fingerprinted. This task was accomplished by school teachers during the period after Pearl Harbor before schools were reopened. As a precaution against epidemics, all residents have been vaccinated against smallpox and inoculated against typhoid in what is regarded as the largest mass immunization ever undertaken in the United States.
Gas masks have been issued to civilian residents of the Islands under the supervision of Col. Charles Unmacht, U.S.A., Department Chemical Officer. Every man, woman, and child in the Islands whether civilian or military has a gas mask. A 'bunny mask' which is made of layers of chemicalized flannel and linen and has attractive floppy ears and fits over the head and snugly around the waist has been prepared and issued to 23,000 babies. This mask was tested on an army officer under ten times anticipated gas concentration, and he survived. For children and adults too small to wear the ordinary-sized mask. Col. Unmacht has designed a mask with an adjusting layer of spongy rubber around the face. Bunny masks and children's masks were prepared in the emergency by high school students. For new-born babies and for cripples, Col. Unmacht has prepared respirator boxes.
Gas alarms consisting of an iron brake drum and a mallet have been installed at 1,500-foot intervals throughout the city. A certain percentage of the city's air raid wardens and 400 public school teachers have been put through a definite course of training as gas sentries.
Schools were closed after Pearl Harbor and opened on a limited schedule the middle of February. Many school buildings had been taken over entirely or in part for hospitals, offices for war activities, or dormitories for workers brought in from the Mainland. More than 5,000 students stopped school to take defense jobs or to join the National Guard, in addition to the number evacuated to the Mainland. Schools were put on a six-day week with shorter hours. Children assisted with harvesting of crops, preparation of gas masks, and other defense tasks in addition to school.
In April 1942, Mauna Loa, volcano on the Island of Hawaii, staged the first serious eruption since 1935. A fissure opened on the side of the mountain which spurted lava, ash and smoke to a height of 2,000 feet. Lava flowed in the direction of the city of Hilo, and for a time the city was believed in imminent danger. The eruption continued for approximately three weeks but for military reasons news of the occurrence was not released to the world until after it had completely died down.
All United States currency in the Islands was called in on July 15, 1942. In its place script, good only in the Hawaiian Islands, was issued. This step was considered necessary in the possible event of a Japanese invasion. A $200 fine plus confiscation of the money involved, is the penalty for taking any of this Hawaiian script off the Islands for souvenirs at the present time.
On Aug. 24, Ingram M. Stainback was appointed Territorial Governor to succeed Governor Poindexter. Gov. Stainback, a Democrat, had been United States Attorney in Honolulu and a Federal Judge. Since Pearl Harbor, he had acted as legal advisor to the Military Governor.
In the November 1942 elections, Joseph Rider Farrington, Republican, was elected Territorial delegate to Congress succeeding Samuel W. King. Delegate Farrington is president and general manager of Honolulu's evening newspaper, the Star-Bulletin.
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