Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1886-03-20
THE VOLCANO OF K1IAuEA,
The Bottom Drops out Of Halemau-
man and the Now Lake y
Reports OF Tourists Fright
of the People OF Hawaii
-Rumors Etc.
[FRoM LAST MONDAYS PRESS. |

changes which have lately taken place
in the volcano of Kilauea on the Island
of Hawaii was cleaned from rumors
which rapidly spread over town yester-
day morning after the arrival of the
steamer Kinau. The excitement ex-
tended and the wonder grew as the
rumors ran apace, and it was soon diff
cult to tell whether the whole Island of
Hawaii had sunk into the vasty deep
or still retained its place rent and riyen
by volcanic forces
The first reliable information that
could be gained by the PRESS reporter
was a communication from our Hilo
correspondent, who wrote under date of
the eleventh instant: "It is reported
that on Sunday night, the 9TH instant,
there were many earthquakes at the
crater. The manager of the Volcano
House, Mr.. ]. H. Maby, had his furni-
ture packed and horses ready for a
start, as he thought the bottom of the
crater had dropped out, and there was
no light to be seen at the Volcano
The opinion seems to be that there
will be another flow from the Volcano
soon, which has been anticipated for
some time"
Captain King, of the Kinau, was i'm
mediately interviewed, who gave an ac-
count of the phenomenon substantially
as follows: On the night of the 9th of
March at about half-past nine o'clock
the whole bottom of Halemaumau
dropped out of sight, lava and all. At
the same time in the smaller crater, the
''New Lake." the lava all disap-
peared as if it had run off down an IN
cline, which left the bottom of the lake
visible at depth of about five hun
dred feet below the usual level The
| phenomenon was accompanied by at
least forty shocks of earthquake, some
of which were very severe. The peo
lple of Hawaii generally we're very
much frightened.
Mr.. E. Finley, tourist, on being
interviewed, said Both Halemaumau
and the New Lake have disappear
ed. The ledge of hard lava called the
'bridge," which existed between the
two lakes, was swept away by an over
flow of red-hot lava before the lakes
disappeared Between halfpast nine
and ten o'clock, during the night of the
9th inst, after the "bridge" had been
swept away, there was general up
heaval in both lakes, after which they
suddenly disappeared. For more than
three hours after the lakes disappeared
an immense quantity of steam and va
por arose from the crater, SO that no
one could go within three hundred feet
of the edge of the cavity The last
general upheaval filled the vicinity of
the crater with numerous heat cracks
and puf-holes. On the road from the
Volcano House to Keauhou, and about
two miles from the crater, large, ir-
regular hole was found, which COM
pletely demolished the thoroughfare,
SO that people we're obliged to go a
considerable distance around in order
to reach Keauhou, where the steamer
landing was. For two days after the
disappearance of the lakes large por-
tions of the edge of the crater fell con
tinually into the terrible gulf with
thunderous sounds. The cone in the
New Lake fell in when the lake dis
appeared, and can nowhere be seen.
The people at the Volcano House
stated that even after the steam and
vapor had passed away, they could not
approach nearer the place than three
or four hundred feet, owing to the con-
slant breaking up of the trcacherous
lava crust. There is now hole about
four miles in circumference where the
two lakes were. The bottom. of the
New Lake can be seen about five
or six hundred feet below the usual
tleyel, but the bottom Of Halemaumau
cannot be seen at all and it is supposed
that 1t has fallen entirely out.
Another tourist says: | was at the
Volcano House at the time it hap
pened. All the people at the Hotel
packed up their effects and repaired
to Wilder's Landing, where they waited
for the steamer. Just as the Kinau
was leaving some natives came to the
wharf from the Volcano and said that
the big crater (Halemaumau) had not
fallen in at all.
A witness of the disappearance of
the two lakes gives the following de-
scription Of it On the evening Of
March 9th, at 7 P. NJ, both the old
lake, Halemaumau, and the new lake
were quite full Of boiling, surging lava,
and very brilliant, as seen from the
veranda of the house, and continued
to remain SO up to 9;3o P. NJ, at which
time there commenced a series of earth
quakes, forty-three in number, and last
ing until 1880 A. NJ. After the third or
fourth shock, in looking out upon the
crater, there was nothing to be
seen of the new lake and only a
slight reflection from the old lake.
Between the hours of and 3 A. NJ. of
the 9TH all fires and lights in the crater
had disappeared excepting a few
sparks here and there from pre-
vious flows on the floor of the
main crater or lava bed. At 8A. NJ.
after the mist and steam had cleared
away. il was discovered that all the