Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1877-06-08
SANDWICH ISLANDS.
The Great Tidsl FWsEs <DsstTuctisa Of Life
and Property.

May lUlh ~ ILe D@siA 80 =
which occurred simultaneously % the
whole group, it. Grst appearance be-
ing about a quarter before 5 in the
morning. The waves ran very high,
varying somewhat on tie various
islands. Following is an account Of
the disaster at Hilo from All eyeswit-
ness:
Hilo, May 12th.-To w. O. Parke,
ESQ: Dear Sir-We have bad great
disaster at Hilo. On Thursday morn
ing, 10th instant, about ! \ n. the
sea 10 the bay was seen to rise ana
fall in an unusual manner, and at D
o'clock it swept in mighty wave,
washing up and into nearly all the
stores in frCnt of the town, carrying
off a great deal of lumber and all
the stone wall makai of the wharf.
The perpendicular height of the wave
is since ascertained by leveling to be
twelve feet three inches above the ord
mary low water mark.
At Waiakea the damage done was
frightful. Every house within hun
dred yards of the water was swept
away. The steamboat wharf and
storehouse, SpeDcer's stone house, the
bridge across the stream, and all the
dwelling houses were swept away ID
an instant, and now lie mass OF ru-
ms far inland Five lives were lost
and numbers were bruised and had
limbs broken. The body of a woman
was found by boats off Hoolii. The
boats of the American whale ship Pa.
cifc, Captain Smithers, lying in the
barbor, picked up six people who were
swimming for their lives in the bay.
The Pacific was lying in four fathoms
of water, but she grounded when the
water receded, and then would be
whurled round and round as the sea
came in again. All expected to see
her drag ashore Tie sea continued
to rise and fall all day. timed one Of
tire tides in the morning about I O'Clock,
and from its lowest ebb TO its full
food was only about foW minutes. II
rose about fourteen feet perpendicu-
lar height ia that time. Ia the after
noon in the space Of one hour the sea
rose and fell three times, with height
Iof seven, ten and a half and three feet
each time. The wave at Waiakea
must have had q perpendicular height
of sixteen feet to have taken the
bridge and wharf where they now lie.
The water swept completely over Co
coaDut island and the hospital there
has disappeared
Yours in haste, t. SEVERANCE.
The volcano at kileaa has been un-
usually active of late. The steamer
arrived at Hilo on Wednesday. the I'd
inst. As she passed down the coast
on the following night the light of the
crater was unusually brilliant. Fri
day at 2 45 in the afternoon several
pretty severe earthquake shocks were
felt, followed few minutes later by a
jet Of lava thrown up from the floor of
the crater. near the left bank, through
a crack which had evidently been
made by the earthquake. The lava
continued to spout at this place, grad
ualIy ascending steep bluff to its
summit, then moving along the 18TH
mus connecting the large crater with
the smaller one of Kilaneaiki, down
into the pit of which the lava ran.
This continued for six hours, the lava
being thrown up in numerous jets
along the line at different heights. al
times reaching one hundred feet. FIRE.
quently there would be at least fifty
of these jets at once, making a mag