<Begin Segment 3>

TI: Now why did they choose Hilo?

HH: I don't know. I think it was because it was far, far from all the... [Laughs]

TI: Yeah, probably.

HH: It's not that easy to travel during that time.

TI: And so what did he do when he got to Hilo?

HH: I think he did sales work. You know, take grocery orders around the island and stuff, did all that until he got hired by Nippu Jiji, because he knew the guy and the guy hired him.

TI: Do you know about what year he came to Hilo?

HH: I don't know. Let's see, she was eighteen. I don't know how old...

TI: Okay, well maybe we'll, it'll come up in the next interview. So he started working for the Nippu Jiji. What did he do with them?

HH: Well, he solicited subscription for the bilingual newspaper, and those newspapers, they subscribe for a year, the whole year, not month to month, for the whole island, so it's quite a job to go and get subscription. Then you have to follow up and collect a fee, and you need to have enough advertisement and things of that sort, so that the thing would be economically feasible.

TI: Oh, so he covered the whole island.

HH: Whole island.

TI: So he would travel on the Kona side and do this. How about delivery of the newspapers? How did they deliver?

HH: I think by mail.

TI: Okay, so he didn't have to worry about that. He just had to get the subscriptions and, you mentioned, advertising. How about news? Did he ever cover the news?

HH: News, too, yeah. So he was a newsman, collector and subscriber.

TI: And so your father must have been a pretty good writer for him to also be a news writer.

HH: Oh, yes. Yes.

TI: And do you recall what kind of news articles he wrote?

HH: Oh, no. I wasn't even born. [Laughs]

TI: So this, but this would be general news, like things happening on the Big Island.

HH: Whatever happened he, he submitted.

Off-camera voice: He's right there. We were right there.

TI: And then that way, then the people on Oahu and everything would know what's happening on the Big Island.

HH: Yeah.

TI: Okay, so it was an important job.

HH: Yeah, because that newspaper covered all islands.

TI: And when your father was doing that, what was your mother doing?

HH: She was housewife. We had eight children.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.