Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-09-14

still ahead and the thin coil o. smoke
rises still just out IF reach Ap-
preached from whatever side it may be
| the actual crater comes as a surprise.
One draws back as though just caught
in time from topping over a preclpice.
1t is altogether negative In the heart
OF the summit waste of gigantic blocks
! the bottom has dropped out The
mountaineer discovers it by coming
around the corner of lava block and
finding himself on the edge of sheer
descent Of 500 feet Standing in
snow bank he looks down on lake
| just below him in which rocks are
melted and flow like water
This the crater of Mokuaweoweo. 1t
! is hole in the ground nearly ten
| miles around, not quite two miles in
| breadth and little less than four
miles in length. When the crater is
active the crust of the lava floor melts
| irregularly and lakes of fire arpear,
| from which cracks radiate in every di-
| rection. In the fire lakes fire foun-
tains are internationally at play. Some
have been measured by the officers of
the Hawaiian survey and have been
found to spout 200 feet into the air.
Even when the crater is active it is
feasible to descend to the lava level
and to advance some distance in the
direction of the spouting jets. This
is not so dangerous a feat as it NAV
seem, for the heat of the surface is
such that the soles of ones boots
would be burned off long before there
was any risk of dropping through the
crust Yet there is nothing to he
gained by such foolhardy exploration,
since the better view of the fountains
is had from the solid margin. Mokua-
weoweO much resembles Kilauea. They
are Of approximately the same
dimensions, the lower crater being
about 200 acres the larger Neither
has ever filled with lava and overlooked
the rim. Ions before such a thing has
happened the mountain has given way
at lower level and by the discharge
of the lava the pressure at the crater
itself has been reduced This is shown
very clearly in the flow of 1910. which
broke out on the flank of the mountain
below Rilauea and flowed into the sea
for three weeks.
The great Mauna Loa flows are easily
to be traced along the bare mountain
side from any place which will afford
an extended view. The flow of 1859 is
one of the very few which have been
emitted from the western side of the
mountain. 1t is about sixty miles long
and took eight years to reach the sea.
1t flowed for seven months. The two
flows of 1868 and 1887 are close to-
gether at the southerr point of the
island, one coming from a vent ten
miles inland, the other from one
twenty miles inland. The former had
a speed Of ten miles in two hours.
which seems to be the record. The
largest and most menacing flows have
broken out very close together and
have followed almost the same course.
The flow of 1852 was the first of tAis
group. 1t was headed in the direction
OF Hilo, the second city in the islands,
but cooled off and stopped a few miles
outside of the town. Three years later
another flow broke out on the same
flank Of the mountain, followed the
same course, threatened Hilo once
more and stopped after flowing unin-
terruptedly for fifteen months; it's edge
was only eight miles from Hilo when
it CONCEALED. Again in 1880 HiIo was
attacked. For nine months this
stream rolled along. Every day it
made some advance, every week IT. was
mile or SO nearer anditnever swerved
in it's direction. 1t was aimed di-
rectly at Hilo and there seemed no
hope for the city, from which the peo-
pie began to move in terror When
that flow stopped it was only three
quarters of mile from the populous
part of the town. 1t is not unusual to
hear people say in Hilo that the vol
cano has just been trying to get the
range and that the next time the Lava
will engulf the city. The present out
break of Mauna Lea may be the next
time. There are three outbreaks to-
gether in this eruption, each on a diff
ferent flank of the mountain. But one
of these outbreaks, and the largest one,
is at the same place where three others
have broken through and aimed at the
city below. There will be people SUI
perstitious enough to believe that the
mountain has at last got the range
The old Hawaiians have been expect
ing some such thing ever since the first
settlement Of HilO.