Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-03

tiful town on the-bay. 1t was a long agony
for the people, as, month after month, the
terrible fire drew nearer UNTIL after thir-
teen months OF fears and prayers, it sud-
denly ceased, only six miles away. Again
In 1881, the terror was repeated, with a
swifter stream and longer flow. which al
most grazed the. town. Now a third time,
/ the same dread threat oyerhaugs them
and Hilo waits in suspense One fancies
some real estate will be held there at much
reduced rates Il the flow keeps on There
is just now no boom on
Since writing the above an old friend
waa IS a. surveyor. of noted accuracy. and
intimate with thS lay of the land. tells me
that the north side of Hilo is by no means
exempt from danger, as 1 stated above.
The flow is liable to enter and follow
branches Of the Waikiki stream, which
intersects the ndrth side of the town 1t is
now following the northwest side or left
bank OF the great flow of 1855, as shown
on the map, and4s in a position to do mis-
chef If it runs long enough
The photographs which L have seen are
Ineffective, not being taken under the most
favorable conditions. After examining them
l make and send the accompanying outline
sketch of the main cone, as giving a fairly
accurate notion of the thing. A succession
of such cones were built up along a crack
in the mountain slope above the main cone
here represented. The others speedily be-
came extinct. This large one Is about 200
feet high and 800 feet in diameter. 1t is
shown here as in the photographs emitting
showers of scoriae, with some large rocks
projected hundreds of feet aloft In the
lower side of the cone is a chasm from
the bottom or which escapes a stream of
glowing molten rock, GO feet wide gliding
down the mountain slope at an estimated
velocity of thirty miles an hour. Enor-
nous volumes of smoke are emitted The
sides OF the cone are rough and jagged, be-
ing built up from the falling scoriae. The
mountain slope is composed of ragged
Scoriae. ......-
The Volcano Described,
Maunaloa. which is 1855 feet high, and
over fifty miles in basal diameter is unique
among volcanoes for it's low grade of slope
AS seen from Hilo, forty miles away, it APP
pears to be a very long, low mound, smooth
and gently rounded over its summit, which
Is ordinarily capped with a snowfield. A
strong glass discloSes a surface ragged
with scorlae and warty with cinder cones.
Inc average grade of the mountain slope is
about GOO feet to the mile, or between eight
and nine feet of rise in one hundred The
neighboring Maunakea is slightly higher
anu very much sleeper. 1t is an older
mountain, and its volcanic action has long
been extinct, although it's TANKS are not
yet very deeply scanned by the ravines
which streams weather out. OF such ra-
vines the e, slopes of Maunaloa are wholly
oeVoid This mountain is still in the max
Ing, building up by outflows of lava much
faster than rains can channel it out
BY the same process of upbuildng by
ava ho"s WAS quit up every large island
In this group The strata on the sides of
every ravine testify Enthusiastically to this
volcanic origin Of the mountains Most of
the mountains on the leeward or western
Islands, Kauai and Oahu. have been wholly
despolied by atmospheric erosion of the
smooth dome form which they originally
possessed. like Maunaloa. Molokai and
Maui. being younger islands. though terri
bly, gashed and scanned, still exhibit the
dome form. So do all the great mountains
of the Island of Hawaii 1 do not know
that any attempt has been made to form
definite estimate of the lapse of ages need
ed to wear down mountains like these of
oahu 1t must run into hundreds of thou
sands of years. We dwell in the presence
OF great aeonic forces of the globe.
KAMEHAMEHA