Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-05-12
.0blo Statesman,
SANDWICH ISLANDS.

30 .
Terrible Volcanic Eruptfon-na-
{ una H.oa I'm nAction-Two a ThOus-
g and Earthquake Shocks Ina
: Twelve Days-Eearful Tidal
Waves-Entire Villages DE
strOyed-One Hundred Lives
Lost-The Greatest Volcanic
p Eruption of Modern Days.
HONOLULU, Hawaii, April Is, !
VIA SAN Francisco, May 8, 1868.
The greatest volcanic eruption record
ed in modern times has occurred on the
island of Hawaii, one of the group of
Sandwich Islands. For some time past
it had been observed that the crater of
Kilauea was very active, and that new
volcano had been formed. The volca-
no is the we'll known Mauna Loa, and
it has an elevation of 1873 feet. On
the 9th of March last the new eruption
commenced and has continued up to the
latest dates. During twelve days there
have been two thousand shocks of earth
quake, followed by fearful tidal waves
which have destroyed entire villages and
caused the death ofone hunhred persons.
For fifteen days the district Kona has
been the center of motion for the great
eruption. A gigantic stream of molten
lava is flowing from the summit of Mau-
ma Loa across the lands of Kakuka and
Poakini to the see at Kaaluala landing.
The slope and part of the summit of
mountain fifteen hundred feet high have
been lifted up bodily by the earthquake
and thrown over the tops of trees for
distance of over one thousand feet. At
Wahoinee, creek has opened, extend
ing from the sea. To as high as the eye
can reach on the slope of Mauna Loa
the lava is from one to seven feet in
width, and an eruption of moist clay
was thrown from the side of the noun
tain, between Lyman's and Richardson's,
distance of two miles and three-quar-
ters, with width of one mile, in the
space OF three minutes. This terrible
eruption overwhelmed houses, persons
and hundreds of animals, and scattered
death and destruction wherever the clay
fell.
A column of smoke seven and four
fifths miles in altitude was thrown out of
Mauna Loa, obscuring everything for
miles around, save where the bright
spiral pillars of fire flashed upwards
from the mouth of the volcano. The
sight was one of the grandest but most
appalling ever witnessed, and almost de-
fes description.
The immense tidal waves came rush
ing in with so great height that they
swept over the tops of the cocoanut trees
on the Kona coast.
During the severest shock of earth
quake, which took place on the I'd of
April, no living creature could stand up
for moment. Immense bodies of earth
were tossed about at great distances, as
if they were feathers waited from point
to point by a storm of wind. Not one
stone stands upon another as before in
this district. Immense precipices which
have hitherto been a terror to all who
have seen them, have been levelled to
the earth, and where the ground was
formerly smooth and unbroken for miles
around the earth has been rent asunder
and unheaved, forming gigantic chasms
and precipices.
The entire Typographical appearance
of the country has been so completely
changed that even those who have lived
in the desolated district all their lives
cannot recognize it or point out localities
with which they were formerly familiar
Luckily, this part of the island is but
sparsely populated, and the lands are not
in general cultivation.
The loss of life as far as can be as
certained is as follows: In the village
of Palinka, 80; at Mokaka, 13; at Pa
lalua, a; at Honah, 27; at Vanilo, 3.
This makes total of so persons killed
as reported up to the present time. There
are rumors about that the casualties con-
siderably exceed one hundred, but moth
ing definite on this matter has been re-
ceived. All of the unfortunate persons
who have lost their lives were native
Hawiians, not white person being
killed or in any way injured.
Expeditions are being fitted out here
to relieve the distressed.
At.the present moment the entire
group of islands is enveloped in dense
black smoke, and the indications are
that Mauna Loa is still in active volcan-
ic eruption.