The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-08-14

VOLCANO HOUSE, KILAUEA, (Ha-
waii), August 9.-The Frank l.. Hoogs
personally conducted excursion to the
Volcano of Kilauea was not bowling
success from Il numerical point of
view, out the ladies and gentlemen
who went along have no cause 10 re-
gret making the trip as one and all
had an outing that for strange sights,
cannot be excelIed in any other land.
-Four days were spent at the Volcano
House, more time than is usually
allotted to tourists, and each hour
passed away as pleasantly as possible.
1t is now almost time for our depart
ure and we all regret to leave this cool
spot with its many attractions.
Our departure from Honolulu will
always be pleasantly remembered,
thanks to Professor Berger and the
many people who crowded the wharf.
The steamer trip here was uneventful.
We made frequent stops at ports on
the Maui coast and when Mahukona
was reached, number of passengers
went ashore to hear all about the fire
that wiped out the store and ware
house of Wilder & Co.
A large pile of charred ruins is all
that marks the place where the store
once stood. Nothing was saved from
| the fire, with the exception of the
office books, and they were badly
| charred when removed from the safe.
| The exact cause of the fire will never
| be ascertained, but the suppOsitiOn is
| that the blaze started in corner of
! the building where paints and oils
! had been stored.
The store and office had been closed
about 5 O'Clock in the afternoon by
Charles J. Falk, the book-keeper.
| Everything was all right at that hour.
| About O'Clock flames were seen issu-
| ing from the rear of the al" shaped
building and a few moments later the
| entire structure was in flames. For
| tunately there was but little wind at
| the time, otherwise the result would
have been more disastrous as piles of
| lumber were stacked in the imme-
! diate neighborhOod, besides buildings
| that the flames could have easily
reached. 1t is estimated that the loss
will reach $4,000 outside of insurance
amounting to twice that sum.
G.. l.. Wight, the manager of the
| Mahukona branch of Wilder & Co.'s
| business, was q passenger on the XII
nau. He heard of the fire at Lahaina,
! the news being telephOned from ka
| hului by G. z. Wilder, who received
| the information written on a small
| piece of tissue paper, which was fas-
| tened to the tiny leg of carrier pig
con. The pigeon was sent from Hama
to Kahului by Purser Kibling of the
| Il hi
| the message ran:
Steamer Claudine, Friday, a. N.
TUESDAY evening at O'Clock the
! MahukOna store was discovered to be
| on fire and was burned to the ground,
| taking all the lumber lire M kai of
| it also. Mr.. Falk has no idea what
! caused the fire. Mr.. Wight will come
up on the Kinau, and Mr.. Falk would
| like you to send him this message to
| Maalaea. We are just arriving at
Hama. G. a. X"
| We got off at MahukOna to see our
very good friend Mr.. Smithies, who is
respectively Collector-General, Port
! Surveyor, Deputy Port Surveyor, and
| Postmaster. He has a temporary
custom house in the warehouse near
! the landing place, and the said Gus
! tom house consists of one queer look
! ing UeSk, DeulIu WHICH, sat MI.
| Smithies, trying to make the best of
nothing. His office was in the burned
! building, but he saved nothing but
! the desk and his stock Of stories. His
| latest tale is that he has stopped
| raising strawberries for export and is
now devOting his time to pineapple
! culture. This story will be amusing
| to people who have ever placed their
| feet on the IahukOna shore, as it
| seems that nothing thrives there but
! Mr. Smithies and rocks and rocks and
! rocks.
Quite contrast to MahukOna is
! the beautiful green spot on which the
town of Hilo is situated. We had but
one hours stay on our trip up, and
that hour was spent in q vain attempt
to get something to eat. We reached
q hotel where the food was dealt out
on the instalment plan-that Is, you
got some coffee first, then, ten min
utes later, you were handed a piece OF
rubber steak, and then. ten min
utes later, you We're handed
something else, and finally,
when everything was placed
before you tn driver calls out "all
aboard" and there you are. In justice
to the hotel man, it must be said that,
according to his story, his cooks and
walters all left him the night before,
and, il my memory serves me right,