The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1898-09-24


fore Really $4,000 Feet In HsiEht.
In acquiring Hawaii. the United
Ststes has gained besides one Of the
most fertile and rich islands in the
world. some CT the finest mountain
scenery presented anywhere in the
universe district which. could 1t be
transplanted with ALL its grandeur of
scenery and climate. would make the
fortune of an American hotel keeper
in a year. The mountains are all
volcanoes. They are a class by them
selves. They are not only the tallest.
but the biggest and strangest in the
whole world. Considering that they
reach from the bottom OF the Pacific
ocean (1S.OoG feet deep there) to over
$4,000 feet above sea level. they really
stand $4,000 feet from their suboceanic
base to their peaks. The active crate:s
on the islands number 300. but the
dead craters. the ancient chimneys Of
subterranean lava beds. are numbered
by the thousands. The islands are Of
lavic formation. Evidence of extinct
volcanoes care SO common that one
seldom notices them after a few weeks
residence on the islands. Ancient lava
is present everywhere. The natives
know all its virtues. and while some
ancient deposits are used as a ferti1-
izer for soils, other lava beds are BLAST
ed for building material, and for ma
cada0a'zing roads. Titanic volcanic
action Is apparent on every side. Every
headland is an extinct volcano. Every
island has its special center eruption,
which. beginning at the unfathornable
bottom OF the sea. has slowly built up
a foundation and then a superstruc-
ture OF lava. On the Island OF Hawaii
and on Molokai are huge cracks sew
eral thousands of feet deep and many
yards in width. which were formed by
the bursting upward of lava beds ages
and ages ago. The marks of the IT,
tanic force are plainly visible. Mark
Twain is authority for saying that the
two great active volcanoes, Mauna Loa
and Kilauea, are the most interesting
in the world. Certainly they are the
most unique. Mauna Loa Is $4,000
feet above sea level. Every six Or
seven years there is an eruption from
its sides. and several times the flow
of lava threatened the ruin of the
town OF Hilo, thirty miles away. The
crater on Mauna Loa is three miles
in diameter and 600 feet deep. Over
the crater hangs an Illuminated vapor
which may be seen at night over 200
miles distant. When Mauna Loa Is in
-io1ent eruption a fountain OF molten
lava spouts every minute over $50 feet
in the air. bursting into ten thousand
strous roman. candle pyrotcchnic. Then
there is kilsUea-a shorter and fatter
volcanic mountain. sixteen miles dis
tant. 1t has the greatest crater known
one nine miles across, and from 300
to 500 feet deep. And such a crater!
In it is a little lake OF molten lava
all the time. At times the lava IS
over 100 feet deep. and at other times
1t is over 200 feet deep. according 70
the pressure on it in the bowels of the
earth. Signs OF volcanic activity are
present all the time throughout the
depth of the molten mass in the form
of steam. rocks. jets OF sulphurous
smoke and blowing cones. The crater
itself is coEstan tly rent and shaken
with earthquakes. Nearly all the
tourists in Honolulu go to see the mar
velous eruptfons on Mauna Loa and
Kilauea. Hotels have been built on
the mountain sides for the accommo-
dation of sight-seers, and there are
scores Of guides about the craters.
One Of the many places of interest
in Oahu outside of Honolulu is the
Punchbowl. 1t is extinct volcanic
rising a few hundred feet above the
town. Another resort Is the Pail, the
highest point in the pass through the
range Of mountains that divides Oahu.
It is the fashion. and a very good
fashion it is to see the Pail and praise
it's charms. It Is the Yosemite II
Hawaii. The view from this height
sweeps the whole island from north
to south. In the direction of the cap
ital the land slopes to a level two
miles from the sea and then spreads
fatty to the shore. The hilisides are
not, as a r,'1e, in a state of cultiva-
ton, although the soil is fertile. the
land is now numbered with the Wild
guava, which bears fruit as big as the
lemon and with the lantana, the seeds
of which are scattered broadcast by an
imported bird called the minah. On
the lower ground small farmers, most
ly orientals. make their homes. and
these are several cane plantations.
Turning the other way the sight-seer
gets one of the famous views of the
world. Rrom the apex OF the pass
to it's northward drop is a sheer to-
bogsan-lilSe descent of nearly 1000
feet Far below the country spreads
to the eye like a relief map. It I'M
dulates with here and there a feath-
c~1I