Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-24

Ak, 10 threatened with de-
| - vi struction. Hils has been
! * threatened in the same
| SAu& way before--many times
before-yet the dream
@.x- ing little town goes on
xSXS%& sedately smiling, part
&ES- ~ ing its lips into Byron
bay, showing its pearly white teeth as the COM
beers break on the sandy beach, while the wav
ing grace of its fringe of cocoanut trees fas-
cinates like the curling tendrils Of maidon's
hair on her brow and neck. The palms bow a
stately welcome and an invitation and whis-
per a lullaby to all care and all hurry.
That is the impression Hilo makes
upon the observer as he comes into the
| bay on the little steamer from Honolulu, 800
miles away-that is to say if he has not been
| too wretchedly seasick to care for notice
| anything beautiful or pleasant in the world.
The last time the great crater held its
| flaming fate over the little town was in 1887.
! But the narrowest escapeit ever had was in the
| great flow of 1850-sl. The writer of this was in
| Hiio during the continuance of that eruption
and some description of it may be interesting
in explanation Of the present condition of things
there.
At that time the landing from the Honolulu
steamer had to be made by means of boats.
| Byron bay is without the customary coral reef
or bar across its entrance. and is directly open
| to the waves of the Pacific, which have been
gathering force ali the way from the American
coast. So the steamer must anchor in the open
| roadstead while boats are rowed alongside
near enough, so that passengers can count on
hitting them with some degree of accuracy
when they jump from the companion ladder
and are caught in the arms of stalwart native
oarsmen. The scrambling out at the wharf is
almost as difficult and uncomfortable. But
there is the white canoe Of the bay sailing at
you. bordered below by the bright pea green of
the shallow water, and above by the dark luz
trous green Of the foliage, from
which peep the church spro and roofs
OF the town. The respective sides of
these islands distinguished as the wind
ward and the leeward. The trade winds blow
almost perpetually from the northeast, SO that
the northern and eastern shores are the wind
ward side. Where the interior mountains are
very high the passage of rain clouds is almost
entirely prevented. In such cases the lee
ward side of the island is bleak and
barren looking. But the windward side
seems 70 spring enough verdure for both
sides. That is why Hllo is supernally green.
| All that side of the island, rom the sea coast
| back across the smoking rise to the foothills
and up the rugged mountain side, scanned only
| by the baroness of occasional lava flow to
the timber line where the bald summit begins
| to lift u towering head into the region of eter-
| nal snow is covered with thick foliage. In this
month of May, 1881 there were pa .ches of snow
| on both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the twin
peaks which tower up Il, 900 feet out Of the sea-
There was snow in spite OF the tropical warmth
| OF the air we were breathing and in spite of the
| fiery and passionate heat which had torn an
outlet from the bosom of Mauns Loa, from
| whose summit arose thin wreath of smoke and
down whose side wandered the sinuous and de-
| structive course OF the lava flow.
FIRST SIGNS OF THE ERUPTION.
| Visitors to Hilo are met upon landing on the
wharf by the white residents, upon whom they
must depend for shelter and entertainment while
they in the little town. for hotel or inn there
is none A plunge bath in great cement-lined
swimming pool with natural stream of water
running drought it, followed by hot, plenti-
| full meal are wonderful invigorators after a
| stuffy sea voyage across choppy channels.
| nights sleep completes the work of refresh
ment and renewal Of a man and leaves him
ready to enjoy all the good the world has to
| give him. The eruption of 1880 broke out in
the fall of the year. 1t had been heralded by
| earthquakes and internal rumblings, such as
are reported in the dispatches of the last few
days by way of San Francisco to have occurred
on December and on the island of Hawaii,
| on which Hilo is situated. One night there
was a tremendous decorating report which
| shook the foundation of the whole island and
made the people at the Volcano House. part of
the way up the side of the mountain. think the
| crack of doom had sounded When thew
u
stream OF living fire gushing from the summit
Of the noun tain, only fourteen miles away and
pouring down the side. People in Hilo could
see the fiery burst, though they were sixty miles
from the crater. and could see the vast cloud of
smoke that lowered over the mountain
and then drifted away with the wind. Eruption
had continued now for many months, and the
flow had been eating its destructive way in an
overwhelming course down the mountain side
and toward the sea by way Of Hilo. And still
xxto
came slowly onward-always more slowly to be
sure, but still coming steadily forward, and not
much further to come to wipe out the pretty
little struggling town, with its sugar mills. its
few stores, its homes and churches. Hiio Is
practically the only seaport on that side Of the
island, nearly the whole coast terminating alb
| ruptly in q bluff. from which the streams that
flow through the plain above leap into the sea
The question Of the hour was: Would the srup-
| ton cease before the flow reached the sea- and
IL not, could anything be done to avert the flow
from taking u course through Hilo and wiping
1t out Of existence? In this condition Of the
public mind the first suggestion to visitors
was, Of course, to inspect the present terminus
| Of the flow. So we sought to procure horses to
| ride the few miles up through the woods.
INsPEcTINo TIE FLOW.
A Kanaka horse is one Of the most curious
creatures in creation only eIcelled in that respect
by q kalaka himself. A Kanaka horse is liable to
with the hoof Of his hind foet. A Kanaka is
not unlikely to call upon another member of
his family to perform this ONCE Of friend
ship and devotion for him. The appetite of
the Kanaka horse is closely allied to that of a
Shantytown goat. straw hat is not safe
within his reach, and he may tsmper with q
rubber rain coat. Sometimss it is cheaper to
| buy An outfit for . days trip than to hire IT.
that ia to buy saddle and bride. The horse
| is, in effect, thrown in. It depends entirely
| on what mood the KsnAka 10 in. II he happens
to want little more money than usual
he will charge you that much, whether for hire
or purchase. The Kanakas do not have a
clear conception Of the beauties of COM
petition as q basis for the social and
economic system. When one man charges too
much the energies Of all the rest are energeti-
| cauy turned toward trying to induce the Gus
toner to take at tina: price. Consequently one
pays pretty much what the first man chooses
to ask. Fortunately their ideas Of lavish pos
sibilities Of money supply extend little further
than their conception Of most other things
After tremendous amount Of chaffsring
and fierce gesticulations on the part OF
q group Of barefoot native men and women,
with saturnins monosyllAbles interjectsd by
our host. who was interpreter. cur party finally
made bargain for horses and started from
Hilo about o'clock in tho afternoon, in
tending to spend the night in the neigh
borhood OF the flow. Back of the