Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-05-09
HAwAur,s VOLCANO.
THE bottom Drops Out or shs Crcser OF
ktIauea.

That wonder OF natures hsndiwork,
the volcano Of Kilauea, whose marvel
lous eccentricities have attracted tho at
tention Of so many tourists to the
Hawaiian islands, has lately taken upon
itself another freak, which has dis.
turbed the equanimity Of even the Oldest
inhabitants Of the little archipelago,
and those who are most familiar
with it's history regard this last action
as the precursor Of more wonders
to como, and predict that within six
weeks there will be the greatest erup-
ton which has ever occurred in the
known world. The news, says the San
Francisco Alta, came by the last steamer
from Honolulu, and the advices received
state that on the morning Of the 9th
instant both HGemaumau and New
lakes, the two active lakes within the
large crater, were unusually full and
demonstrative, and continued 80 until
9:30 z. NJ. Of the same day, when
series of earthquakes was com.
menced, which lasted until past I
o'clock the following morning. During
that time forty-three distinct shocks OF
an unusually heavy character were
counted. After the first four or fivs
shocks the fires in New lake had all
disappeared, and about 3 o'clock in
the morning the great light from Ha-
lemaumau's boiling food also went out.
The situation of the people in the vol
cano.h house was indeed precariou'
one, and all night long they paced tn,
sitting-room floor in an agony Of sus-
| pepse, not knowing what would occur
next or what moment would be
their last on earth. When the
morning dawned, however, and the
smoke and mist had cleared away, the
frightened men plucked up courage and
started out on q tour Of inspection. The
bluffs, or mammoth piles Of cold lava,
which had surrounded the two lakes
had vanished from sight, and the floor
of the crater for some distance around
the places where the lakes were seen in
active operation the day before had all
caved in, forming one vast chasm
or bottomless pit, in which no
sign Of fire was visible. The great
black hole seemed to extend into the
very bowels Of the earth, aud
when clumps of lava were thrown
down no answering sound or echo
arose to indicate that they had struck
the bottom, if bottom there was. Sew
eral rents were also discovered in the
earth outside of the crater, and on the
| road to Keauhou were found three great
assures of remarkable breadth and
depth. Two of these extended right
across the road, and had to be bridged
over before travellers could pass. The
other was o large hole, where there had
formerly been cave, and the rOadbed
was entirely caved in, compelling the
cutting Of new path around it.
This sudden extinction of the great
fires of Kilauea is looked upon by the
lIawailans as being ominous of q ter
Iible eruption from the volcano on the
summit Of Mauna Loa, the large moun-
tain which towers some five or six
thousand feet above Kilauea. This
crater has long been considered almost
extinct, but the startling action OF
Ki)auea would indicate that the inter-
ninable fires beneath had found some
other channel, and the most likely out
let would be through the crater oil
Mauna Loa. The contemplation ofany
other possibility would be terrifying In
deed for the inhabitants Of that endan-
gered island.
Being DESTROYS Of gaining some fur
Their particulars regarding this wonder
full action, a reporter called at the office
Of the Hawaiian Consulate and inter
viewed Mr.. G. r. auckland, gentle
man who is thoroughly posted upon al
matters pertaining to Hawaii.
"How do | account for the phenom
enon?" said he in response to the re
porter's inquiry. "Well, that Is
pretty difficult thing to do, but | should
think it was due to the enlargement o
the underground caverns, or rather thu
breaking away of the walls separating
Two or more Of those caverns and thu
flow of the fires into them. There Il
10 reason, however, to think that thi:
would make Kilauea extinct, as 1t ha'
not been an unusual thing in the pas
for the lava to disappear for several day
and then return again. Unless ther'
should be an outbreak and heavy hos
somewhere else | an almost certain
that Kilauea's fires will reappear in
short time and furnish no end OF phe
nomena for all tourists who possess tn
courage TO make the trip.
Ills it not rather dangerous to g.
there Just at PRESENT.
mot a bit, The crater acts only q
a sort of salety-valve to let of the &C
cumulating gases, and have been In
formed that during the great lava ilo'
Of 1865 the people living on the coas
nocked there for safety. But here Is
clipping from The Pacific Commercial
4drertiser containing an extract irot
captain c. Z. buttons report ON III
waiian volcanoes. 1t will give 20
more information on that score than
sossibly can
".The lava pool called New lake wa
formed in 1882, and became enlarge
by the gradual clearing Oft aud engdl'
ment Of successive slices Of its enci'
cling wall. Lava lakes do not, as
rule, maintain any constant position
Five or six lakes were known III tn
floor of Kilauea in 1853. In 1878
large open lake existed near the mort
end of the pit, but its location Is n
longer discernible. There was also
large southern lake. In truth, the Hoe
, of the caldera is liable to open and o.
: come lava pool at any point, aud tn
. changes have been very great IN ~
, toric times. Ilalemaumau seemsto
what remains of the great central lax
: of Kilauea as seen by Ellis in 49,
, As we pass from the new lake to Hal
4 maumsu, we have abundant eviden(
: that we are treading on the thin cru
=, of o slumberipg volcano. Numero'
/, cracks on either hand emit steam az
: sulphurous vapors. A stick plunge
!, into one Of these cracks is soon charre'
}. Signs Of instability, such as shatterif
= and heaving movements, are seen
(. o..I .cd fha thnu1hfc of cata