(2 of 2)
So far, Kaiser has made little money on his projects, which have been financed by loans and vast transfusions from his industrial empire. But he is confident that profits will come, is gradually paring down the traditionally high cost of Hawaiian construction by buying in large quantities, adopting efficiency techniques, using such local materials as coral (for cement) and volcanic cinder (for building blocks).
Trouble in Paradise. But not all has been smooth in paradise. Besides taking on the Dillingham family in what Hawaiians call "the Battle of the Millionaires," Kaiser has had a go at almost everyone. His pressure (usually successful) in pushing through zoning laws to suit his projects has angered many residents. He has tangled publicly with the doctors in his hospital (over their salaries), the Coast Guard (his $225,000 catamaran, since turned in for a smaller one, could not pass inspection for commercial use), the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation (Hawaii Kai will replace large crop areas), the Hawaii Yacht Club (he wanted to call his club the Hawaii Kai Yacht Club), the airlines (he threatened to start his own airline to the mainland), and his radio station's disc jockey, J. Akuhead Pupule, Hawaii's most popular disc jockey—whom Kaiser fired last week. Asked the Honolulu Advertiser in an editorial: "Who's running Hawaii?" The paper indicated that Kaiser was—and it did not like it.
Despite the squabbles, most Hawaiians look on Kaiser with the same mixture of awe, fascination and affection that they accord their smoldering volcanoes. His capacity for work is enormous. He is up before 5 a.m., begins inspecting his projects almost immediately, keeps an active hand in his widespread interests by daily telephone calls to the U.S., where his son Edgar has taken over the main direction of the Kaiser empire. He is putting the finishing touches on a $1,000,000 house for himself on Maunalua Bay. It has a YMCA-size swimming pool, a restaurant-size kitchen, built-in movie equipment and wallpaper covered with the HJK monogram that Kaiser puts on most of his possessions. In true Kaiser style, even his poodles live like kings, with a covered exercise area in their kennel of gold-anodized aluminum, a trophy room, a maternity ward and a beauty salon—all soundproofed.