Phoenix weekly herald. [volume] (Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz. Territory) 1896-1899, 1898-09-29


subterranean lava beds, are numbered
by the thousands. The islands are of
lavic formation. Evidence of extinct
volcanoes are so common that one
seldom notices them after 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 fertil-
izer for soils. other lava beds are blast
ed for building material, and for ma
cadamizing roads. Titanic volcanic
action is apparent on every side.
Every headland is an extinct volcano.
Every island has it's special center
eruption, which, beginning at the I'M
fathomable bottom of the sea. has
slowly built up a foundatio and then
a superstructure of lava. On the Is
land of Hawaii and on MOlokia are
huge cracks several 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 Titanic force are plainly
visible. Mark Twain is authority for
saying that the two great active vol
canoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea, are
the most interesting in the world. Ger
tainly they are the most unique.
Mauna Loa is 1900 feet above sea
| is an eruption from its sides, and sew
eral times the flow of lava threatened
| the ruin of the town of Hi1o, 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 violent eruption a
| fountain of molten lava Spouts every
minute over $50 feet in the air, burst
| ing into ten thousand brilliantly col
ored balls like a monstrous roman
| candle pyrotechnic. Then there is
Kilauea-a shorter and fatter vol
canfc mountain, sixteen miles dis
| tant. 1t has the greatest crater known
| one nine miles across, and from 800
to 500 feet deep. And such a craterl
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
it is over 200 feet deep, according to
| 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 constantly rent and shaken
| with earthquakes. Nearly all the
| tourists in Honolulu go to see the mar
velOus eruptions 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 an extinct volcanic
,, rising a few hundred feet above the
| town Another resort is the Pail, the
II int in 10 orb no
range of mountains that divides Oahu.
| 1t is the fashion and a very good
| fashion it is, to see the Pail and praise
| its charms 1t is the Yosemite of
Hawaii The view from this height
sweeps the whole island from north
ftal the land slopes to a level two
miles from the sea and then spreads
fatty to the shore. The hillsides are
not, as a rule, 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,
mostly orientals. make their homes,
and these are several cane planta-
lions. Turning the other way the sight
seer gets one of the famous views of
the world From the apex of the
pass TO its northward drop is a sheer
toboggan-like descent of nearly 1000
feet Far below the country spreads
to the eye like a relief map. 1t I'M
dulates with here and there a feath
cry farm. then a rice field great sugar
ranches beyond. and in the distance
the ocean. its blue waters thrust back
by lava capes or sharp volcanic cones !
and cliffs Closer by the mountain |
crags pierce the clouds. He who has |
not been to the Pail on a clear day has !
missed half the charm of Oahu. Ma |
jestic scenery. zeStful sport, glimpses |
of the savage state and delightful
homes, surroundings which many
races have brought with them from
strange and distant lands or ages; an
easy life in which even revolutions are
goOd-humored: climate of Edenic
charm-these are some of the things
one sees and hears or passes through
in Honolulu and its verdant island
New York Dispatch.