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Eric Schlemmer is the former 
superintendent of the general 
maintenance division of the Dis¬ 
tribution Department. The fasci¬ 
nating story of his early years 
was told in capsule form in the 
first issue of the Distribution 
Neivsletter, but because of its 
limited circulation, we include a 
lengthier version here. 
There are undoubtedly others 
in the Company with interesting 
backgrounds. If you know of 
someone let us know. We'd like 
to publish these Personality Por¬ 
traits frequently. 
In the Anglican Church Chronicle 
printed by the Hawaiian Gazette, June 
6, 1903, there appeared this notice on 
page 108: 
“The infant son of Mr. and Mrs. 
Max Schlemmer was baptized on May 
27, and received the name, Eric Lay- 
san Schlemmer. The little fellow is 
the first boy born on Laysan Island, 
the most distant of the Hawaiian 
group/' 
Eric’s father had bid farewell to his 
native Bavaria in 1870 and headed for 
the New World. But apparently the 
new life was too uneventful for the 
adventuresome Max. When guano was 
discovered on Laysan the North Pa¬ 
cific Phosphate and Fertilizer Com¬ 
pany began to look for a manager to 
oversee operations. Max Schlemmer 
volunteered. And so, in 1892 he and 
his wife landed on this lonely, wind¬ 
swept island. 
Eric and three sisters were born on 
Laysan without benefit of doctor or 
midwife, and there they spent their 
early years. 
A ship arrived twice a year with the 
necessities of life but for the most part 
they lived on fish, birds and eggs. The 
only “vegetable” was a native weed. 
Eric recalls the time his father found 
some green ambergris, but not know¬ 
ing what it was or its value, he mixed 
it with seal oil and painted the roof 
of the house because he liked the 
color! 
Rabbits brought in to augment the 
food supply proved an unfortunate 
mistake. They multiplied to a point 
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The year—1903. Remote and windswept Laysan Island; birthplace of Eric Schlemmer. 
where they were decimating the 
growth and had to be destroyed. 
When chemical fertilizers were de¬ 
veloped in the early 1900’s the guano 
mining on Laysan came to a halt and 
the family moved to Oahu. As they 
left, poachers arrived to begin their 
slaughter of the thousands and thou¬ 
sands of birds on Laysan—all in the 
name of Fashion and the fad for 
feathered hats. 
The area was ultimately set aside as 
a bird reserve and so it was that in 
1915 Max Schlemmer returned to 
check on the poachers. Eleven-year-old 
Eric went along and thereby hangs 
another tale. 
Max Schlemmer, Eric and another 
young crew member left Honolulu on 
their 35-foot sloop, the Helene. After 
17 days at sea, land was sighted, but 
highlights from the ship’s log tell the 
story best: 
July 13: At 5 a.m. we made sail for 
the island and at 7 came to anchor. 
It is a horrid sight to see all the dead 
birds. It seefned a different Laysan 
from what it used to be and for some 
time 1 could not speak. 
Aug. 3: The day we finished the well 
and I thank God we got some water 
for washing and cooking . 
Aug. 25: The day we boiled the seal 
and got four gallons of oil. (Used to 
refinish mast and boom of sloop.) 
Sept. 28: At 5 a.m . we sighted a life¬ 
boat at the S.W. point of the island. 
I sent Eric out to meet them. They 
were the captain and crew of the 
Schooner, O. M. Kellogg from Apia, 
Samoa, bound for San Francisco which 
got stranded on the night of the 25th 
of September at Maro Reef, and aban¬ 
doned. As we are very short of provi¬ 
sions I made Captain Lunn the offer 
of my boat to go to Honolulu. 
Oct. 4: At 5 minutes to 11 o'clock 
the yacht Helene, with Captain Lunn, 
wife and crew left her moorings and 
sailed away for Midway Island. (This 
left the three men virtually aban¬ 
doned.— ed.) 
Nov. 4: (One month later) The day 
we had great hopes of seeing the 
USCG ship, Thetis, but all in vain. 
We have a pretty hard time of it as 
we have had to live on water and 
flour only for the last two weeks which 
makes it very hard for the boys. My¬ 
self, I keep courage up and hope for 
the best. We have done lots of work 
here but now we can do very little as 
it makes us feel very weak . 
———*—- 
Eric's passport photo taken prior to signing 
on the John Ena as an apprentice in 1916. 
