Max Schlemmer Hawaii S King Of Laysan Island

The tale of Max Schlemmer is powerful, compelling non-fiction. Max is a "renaissance" man who survives the danger of whaling in the frigid North Pacific, works on various Hawaiian sugar plantations, captains sailing vessels, pioneers the guano business on Laysan Island, takes on the duties of mid-wife, is a Honolulu Police captain, and a motorman with Honolulu Rapid Transit Co., and always a man devoted to family and country. Max is also an entrepreneur. In his early years in Hawaii, he gained "squatter's rights" to Laysan Island. Later he established his home on this tiny, distant, and isolated island. Though many business ventures failed, he dreamed of a "kingdom" on Laysan Island. Perhaps he dreamed and schemed also about the vast riches to be gained in the bird plumage trade. Max Schlemmer, Hawaii's King of Laysan Island takes place during an interesting period of Hawaiian history. Max is involved in rioting which leads to the overthrow of the monarchy and to Hawaii becoming the Territory of Hawaii. Max is a constant gadfly to the local authorities; his actions often lead them into uncharted waters and reverberates finally in Washington D.C. Max Schlemmer, Hawaii's King of Laysan Island is also the story of the life and death of an island.

The tale of Max Schlemmer is powerful, compelling non-fiction. Max is a "renaissance" man who survives the danger of whaling in the frigid North Pacific, works on various Hawaiian sugar plantations, captains sailing vessels, pioneers the guano business on Laysan Island, takes on the duties of mid-wife, is a Honolulu Police captain, and a motorman with Honolulu Rapid Transit Co., and always a man devoted to family and country. Max is also an entrepreneur. In his early years in Hawaii, he gained "squatter's rights" to Laysan Island. Later he established his home on this tiny, distant, and isolated island. Though many business ventures failed, he dreamed of a "kingdom" on Laysan Island. Perhaps he dreamed and schemed also about the vast riches to be gained in the bird plumage trade. Max Schlemmer, Hawaii's King of Laysan Island takes place during an interesting period of Hawaiian history. Max is involved in rioting which leads to the overthrow of the monarchy and to Hawaii becoming the Territory of Hawaii. Max is a constant gadfly to the local authorities; his actions often lead them into uncharted waters and reverberates finally in Washington D.C. Max Schlemmer, Hawaii's King of Laysan Island is also the story of the life and death of an island.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was common practice for milliners to decorate women's hats with birds' feathers and plumes--and sometimes with the birds themselves. As many as 300 million birds per year were killed for this fashionable enterprise, causing the extinction of some entire species and the endangerment of others. Lawmakers and bird aficionados were slow to react to the effects of this practice, which went on almost unabated for a quarter of a century. Then, noted naturalists like George Bird Grinnell, William T. Hornaday, and President Theodore Roosevelt, who recognized the economic benefits birds provided, banded together to pass meaningful legislation to protect them and to curb the production of murderous millinery. This book explores the troubled history of millinery and its complicated relationship to birds and conservation. It explores why it took so long for the slaughter to end and how the efforts of individuals and groups brought about change.

This book asserts that the albatross was the reason for the advance of the Japanese into the isolated islands in the Pacific after the abolition of the Japanese “closed-door” policy that had been in effect from the seventeenth century to the latter part of the nineteenth century. The birds’ plumage was of high quality and sold at quite a good price in Europe. The Japanese realized the advantage of this global trade, and their desire to capture albatross motivated them to advance into the Pacific. The exploration of the uninhabited islands had become a fast-moving trend, defined by the author as the “Bird Rush”. As a consequence, the advance into the Pacific by the Japanese resulted in the expansion of Japanese territory. The author has interpreted this Japanese movement into the Pacific by making use of the framework of three distinct shifts: in the aim of their actions from birds to guano / phosphate ore, in the agents of action from individual speculators to commercial capital and then to monopolistic capital, and from the sea near Japan to the wider Pacific. This concept can be termed “a view of history centered on the albatross”.

In Isles of Refuge, the first book solely devoted to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, field biologist Mark Rauzon shares his extensive, first-hand knowledge of their natural history while providing an engaging narrative of his travels. Braving seasickness, bad weather, and biting bird ticks, he journeyed from Nihoa to Kure to study and photograph plants and animals for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: rare palms, sharks, turtles, seals, and thousands of birds--finches, terns, petrels, noddies, shearwaters, curlews, boobies, tropicbirds, ducks, and albatrosses, or "gooneys," famed throughout the Pacific for their flying prowess and bizarre breeding rituals. Isolation and access restrictions have led to the recovery of many of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands' animal and plant populations to pre-exploitation levels, but they have also resulted in the general public's ignorance of the islands and their ecosystems. Informative and enjoyable, Isles of Refuge invites readers to learn more about the history and natural wonders of this invaluable resource.

Conservation of Marine Birds is the first book to outline and synthesize the myriad of threats faced by one of the most imperiled groups of birds on earth. With more than half of all 346 seabird species worldwide experiencing population declines and 29% of species recognized as globally threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the timing to determine solutions to threats could not be more urgent. Written by a diverse team of international experts on marine birds, this book explores the environmental and biogeographical factors that influence seabird conservation and provides concrete recommendations for mounting climate change issues. This book will be an important resource for researchers and conservationists, as well as ecologists and students who want to understand seabirds, the threats they are facing, and tactics to help conserve and protect them. Outlines both threats and solutions in the marine and terrestrial realm Synthesizes information to provide a comprehensive strategy moving forward, especially considering climate change Created by a team of experts with the latest and most comprehensive knowledge of seabird conservation

A global environmental history of Japan's disputed desert islands since the mid-nineteenth century.

A beautifully illustrated history of modern ornithology Ten Thousand Birds provides a thoroughly engaging and authoritative history of modern ornithology, tracing how the study of birds has been shaped by a succession of visionary and often-controversial personalities, and by the unique social and scientific contexts in which these extraordinary individuals worked. This beautifully illustrated book opens in the middle of the nineteenth century when ornithology was a museum-based discipline focused almost exclusively on the anatomy, taxonomy, and classification of dead birds. It describes how in the early 1900s pioneering individuals such as Erwin Stresemann, Ernst Mayr, and Julian Huxley recognized the importance of studying live birds in the field, and how this shift thrust ornithology into the mainstream of the biological sciences. The book tells the stories of eccentrics like Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, a pathological liar who stole specimens from museums and quite likely murdered his wife, and describes the breathtaking insights and discoveries of ambitious and influential figures such as David Lack, Niko Tinbergen, Robert MacArthur, and others who through their studies of birds transformed entire fields of biology. Ten Thousand Birds brings this history vividly to life through the work and achievements of those who advanced the field. Drawing on a wealth of archival material and in-depth interviews, this fascinating book reveals how research on birds has contributed more to our understanding of animal biology than the study of just about any other group of organisms.