The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-17
SURROUNDED BY LAVA.
A CHICAGO MAN ESCAPES ON A
PAIR OF Stills.
Fire leo Feet Wide and Escaped
an Awful Death.

Fire leo Feet Wide and Escaped
Awful Death.
San Francisco Cor ST. Louis Post-Dis-
patch.
a. R. Watson. a grain dealer from Chi
cago, sightseeing in the Hawaiian Islands,
was curious to know what a big volcano
looked like when ia a state OF furious
eruption.
Mr.. Watson is in San Francisco, under
medical treatment for the burns upon his
face hands and feet He is gradually i'm
proving, and has an oculists assurance
that the injury to his eyes viii not be PER
manent His feet, which he says resem-
bed the hoofs of came!s. are assuming
natural proportions under the influence of
! lotions and absorbent cotton.
When Mauna Loa commenced her pyro-
technics in honor of the Fourth of July,
Mr. Watson was in Hilo, killing time in
the customary tourist fashion. He was
charmed at the timely occurrence. which
| gave him an opportunity to view what he
considered the most impressive sight in
nature. He resolved at once to ascend the
| mountain. Several other tourists VINO
| happened to be similarly inclined made up
party, which started by noon of that
day, with two pack mules. a teamster and
a week 5 supply of provisions. BY night
they had covered the first fifteen miles of
| their journey over broad, macadamZed
road and camped In grove of palms and
| ferns
All through that palpitating night TIE
| great peak of Mauna Loa showed weird
and wonderful beneath its crimson fire
| crown, and the sky above 1t was flushed
and everchanging. So tragic was the as
| pect of the entire summit that none of the
| party slept with soundness and Mr.. Wat
| son spent mucn of the time watching with
his telescope the fingers of flame reach
| out from crevices in the crest.
TOrtuOus Journey.
| On the following day they reached Vol
| cano House, on the edge of the quiet era
| ter of Kilauea, and on the following
| morning started out on the final stage OF
| their journey They were then twelve
miles from the Mokuaweoweo crater.
which is on the crest of Mauna Loa. The
| path lay, however, over fields of lava,
| the coolings of Old flows occurring during
| the eruption of 1881, and these were crew
assed with great splits which in places
! gaped apart so that it was impossible 10
stride them. Some were very deep, es-
| pecially swhere the lava had accumulated
] in basins, the breaking being due to the
mass contracting in cooling. Some of
| these deposits apparently lay over old
! craters, whittier they were evidently NOV
| ing to find an outlet.
The walk over this sheet of lava which
was about four miles wide and extended
upwards to the lips of the old crater, was
/ very tiresome and perilous. Its surface
was filled with ducts covered by film of
! the hardened Substance this would break
beneath slight pressure, and there would
| be opened a cavity from a few inches to
| a foot or more, and of diameter In ac-
| cordance with the depth. The larger of
! these the men could avoid but the mules
were constantly getting their hoofs in
! them, to be only rescued with peeled hide
and bleeding hooks and sensations which
| started them to baking until they were
dashed under control.
Separates From His Party.
Presently the new flows came into sight
| The strongest of these ran about two
miles south of the old flow and came from
the lowest down and most violent of the
| craters There were three other flows
which aimed to the north, and though the
vents from which they issued were higher
| up on the mountain, they were much near
er the party and perfect view of them
was more readily accessible than was that
of the slightly larger one to the south.
| Two of the party, much fatgued and de-
string to reach place of rest. concluded
TO turn north, while Mr.. Watson, filled
with the idea that the southern cone was
| the most interesting, separa ted from his
companions and moved in that direction.
1t was then about O'Clock in the after
| noon. and IL was agreed that the parties
would meet on the opposite. or Kona side.
of the mountain, where camp would Re
pitched for the night. On the 70 lown ?
morning Ii was proposed TO proceed down
the mountain on Inc return via the Kcna
side. The respective parties, after hava 2
! viewed the craters would ascend the crest
| nj q nd
| instead of being a steeply pitched apex as
| IL appeared from the lower distance. wa
found to be a bread mound grown to dry
| grass, over which one might walk with
comparative ease.
The two tourists. the teamster and the
donkeys, therefore, went by the north
route and over the crest, while Mr.. Wat
son continued South. moving towards a
| promotory of rock and earth which pro-
| jected from the surface of the mountain,
on the top of which grew about a dozen
| small trees Close upon the far side of
this knob the great river of lava was
| bounding in straight line down the
mountain while about 500 feet above on
the slope of the hill the crater, like the
mouth of some Internal monster. was
pouring forth melted stone.
A Forest of Lava.
Mr.. Watson sat for hours and gazed up
on this vast estuary of rolling. flowing.
| bursting fire rushing down the side of the
| mountain. Some thousand or more feet
below the stream entered a thiCket of
trees, seemingly of the same variety of
| those which clustered above him. Here.
| as he could plainly discern with his glass
the mounting process of the lava was re-
peated, only instead of mounting lava Up
on lava il mounted on trees, formed cones
about them and ran up to their very tops.
These cones, however, did not burst and
| fall over as did those in the flow beside
| him. but stood there erect some thirty
feet in hight, converting forest of trees
into forest of stone.
In this process of attacking the trees
! MIR. Watson remarked with wonder the
resistant powers which the wood seemed
to possess against the heat of the lava.
The tree did not catch fire; a little smoke
surrounded it. and this only when the
lava had reached the area of its branches.
Toward night Mr.. Watson arose from
his seat below the rocks to go over the
| summit down the hill and walk out be-
| eli a, 4.1. 1.