The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-09-16

OF melted Lava beneath the Snow.
Observation-Disclosures of It's Erup
tions-successive, Perils of tho
City of HiIo. 49,. ...e..
An exaggeration characteristic of South
Sea news seems to color the report from
the Hawaiian islands which says that
there is good ground for fearing that
the crest of Mauna Loa has been blown
off by volcanic forces, that the sea has
flooded the blazing crater and that the
Island Of Hawaii has been shattered ir
the wild CONFUSION of nature. Tt Is prob
able that things are by no means so BAG
as reported. Merely as matter Of worlc
physics there is nothing Improbable ir
| the news of the blowing to pieces of such
an island. as Hawaii. There is any guam.
tity of evidence to show that such
smashes were Of frequent occurrence in
comparatively recent geological periods
and that the shattering Of an island only
as large as the State Of Connecticut is a
trifle to volcanic forces. But to connect
the blowing off Of the crest Of Mauna
Loa and the flooding Of it's crater from
the sea shows mistaken idea of the
volcano. The crest Of the volcano COW
ers an area as large as Staten island
and even if that were blown off the cav
ity would still be at the altitude Of at
least 10000 feet above. the sea-, ~ ..... W..
The difficulty lies in the stock volcano
of the picture books. Any one attempt
Ing to draw his idea Of volcano would
make a sharp cone with very steep sides,
too steep to exist in nature and to be
found only on carefully sharpened lead
pencil. Top this cone off with thin
spiral of smoke and a dense cloud hang
ing overhead and that is the stock vol
cano. But it is not the Hawaiian vol
cano, aff1rms the New York Sun. In all
the islands there is nothing like this. The
Hawaiian volcano is. only big hole in
the ground and cannot be seen under
ordinary conditions until the traveller is
right at the brink. The smoke cloud is
seldom seen; never unless there, is some
great activity in the crater. The erup-
tions are never at the craters, but for the
most part miles. away from the blazing
pools of lava, and the craters have never
been known to cast anything into the air
above their rim walls. and the fountains
Of lava which they display are of scanty
height. These points are to be kept in
mind when there is activity in the Ha-
waiian volcanoes, for no ideas based on
Vesuvius and Aetna will help to an UNI
the. IN the group are Jagged
with extinct craters. the cinder heaps Of
dead volcanoes. Hawaii is the only enc
where the activity of the under world
yet finds its fiery way to a visible vent.
Earthquakes are common in every ISLAND,
and hot springs may be found even in
Nithau. which seems to have been the
first Of the islands to cool off, but lava
lakes and rivers and fire pits open to the
sight are to be found only on Hawaii.
There are three volcanoes on the island.
Mauna Kea at the north, Mauna Loa at
the south, and Hualalai, rising: to it's
minor eminence of about mile from the
northwestern flank of Mauna Loa. Mau-
ma kea, the white mountain has long
since ceased it's activity. Not even the
most dimly remembered tradition shows
it other than it is to-day, gaunt peak
rising from the unalterable summer at it's
foot to the eternal winter which keeps
its crest shrouded in, snowfields and
glaciers, whence the name Haula1ia
with no more altitude than S,275 feet
seems like hillock under the mass of
Mauna Kea, with 13, 800 feet, and Mauna
Loa, with 1858 feet; it has no crater and
has been but once in eruption. This was
the Kaupulehu flow in 1901, which arose
from an outbreak on the lower slope Of
the mountain and poured the melted lava
into the sea six miles away. The priests
of that period worked their best COM
b1nat1ons and charms to stop the flow
but all was vain until Kamehameha the
Great cut q lock of his own, hair and
threw 1t into the river of fire. At once
the lava cooled and the eruption ceased,
and Hua1alia has given no further
trouble. Ina zsyS ~ "a asyg.r.s@ sii3.r5
Mauna Loa has two craters in which
activity Is manifested more or less con-
n a .s11r to-
at an elevation Of 3,971 feet. This crater
is as we'll known as it is possible to make
any scenic abrasion which: may be
reached by stage or even by wheel. It
has it's years Of inactivity, when there is
little to be seen but. hot and yawning
pit, but in general Kila;!ea keeps a warm
corner Of its lava lake open for inspec-
ton. This crater has only recently re-
newed it's activity after several years Of
rest. During that period the crater was
by no means cold and silent. The lava
floor was scorching to walk on, even
though several years had passed since
It's period of incandescence the pit was
filled with swirling fumes of metals boil
ing in the subterranean crevices, and
strange rumblings and era cklings were
heard. But the fluid lava was withdrawn
into unseen abysses in the heart Of the
rocks. A few months ago the pit filled
once more with lava, an. the lakes and
fountains Of fire have shown fresh ac-
tivity.
The summit crater Of Mauna Loa has
different habit. It is only at rare inter-
walls that its fires are manifest, and then
only for brief and uncertain duration. It
is hard climb to the crater. There are
difficulties in the way to overcome which
restrain many who would like to scale
the height There is mountain sickness,
there is the necessity to carry all pro-
visions for the journey and to sustain
the shock of passing from tropical heat
to glacial cold. All these difficulties have
combined to make the summit crater OF
Mauna Loa a spot rarely visited by men.
From Hil0, Mauna Loa seems insignifi-
cant. Over to the north Mauna Kea is
majestic, and it's snow top hangs in the
heavens like some fixed cloud. The sister
peak in the south seems scarcely more
than a hill. There is little more than a
hundred feet difference of altitude in
favor of Mauna Kea, but the difference
to the eye is most misleading. Mauna
Loa has long, even slope in every direc-
ton from the summit to the sea, and
even the summit Is a part Of that long,
fat curve without prominent features
Mauna Kea never loses its SHOWS; Mauna
Loa rarely has enough snow, even at.
the same height. to be visible down be-
low. Some freak Of the winds discharges
the air OF its moisture before It reaches
the freezing attitudes. This same instg-s
5niffcance continues at higher points 4of
view. AT the Volcano House, on the brink
of the Kilauea crater, Mauna Loa rises
10000 feet within twenty-five miles, yet
the slope is 50 gradual and so devoid Of
the markings Of valley depressions that
the massive mountain continues to seem
no more than a hill. At the very top
of that hill is the crater OF Mokuaweo-
5WeO, and 1t Is a long and weary climb