The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-08-09
Only FORTY FEET DEEP
THE SUMMIT LAKE AT MAUNA
KEA.
A Wonderful Water Supply Scheme al
The Great Mountain--How to Sound
Kilauea Volcano.


lake on the summit of Mauna Kea, 49,,
500 feet above sea level was settled re-
Gently by one of the most expensive
sounding parties on record, for such a
small trip. The lake has been popularity
reputed to be 1000 feet deep, or to have
no bottom at all and it's formation was
regarded as one of the wonders of the
great mountain, though not accessible
to the average sightseer The saunders
found that the lake is only forty feet
deep.
In 1892 Professor Alexander at the
head of a surveying party went to the
ton of the mountain and made the first
accurate surveys of the mountain that
had ever been made. A survey of the
lake was made but no soundings of it's
depth were attempted. All the pack
animals of the party were required to
carry the instruments for the very ac-
Curate surveys intended, so that it was
impossible to carry material for a float
or raft on which to go out and make
the soundings. One of the party pro-
posed to swim out and drop q
lead, but the others would not allow It,.
The water is intensely colo, and they
feared for his life. So the Alexander
party returned without finding out the
depth of the lake.
The mountain climbers who were sue
cessful went up, headed by II. b. Gehr
| to using the water of the lake, by
piping it to the lowlands on the 4Aohala
side. A lake a thousand feet in depth
meant an ineXhaustible supply of water.
The pressure from a drop of $1,000 feet
would have been almost incalculable
and the work of piping strongly
enough for such purpose would have
been no small job. 1t was thought
however, that a small pipe, of steel,
would stand the pressure, and give out
a stream that would be one of the won
| ders of the Islands.
The area of the lake g something
over an acre and it is fed by the melt
ing SHOWS from the top of the noun
| tain.
There was a good deal of trouble in
| getting a thousand feet of line to do the
| sounding, but by eXhausting about all
the stores in Hilo the line was secured.
! The saunders also secured lumber with
| which to construct a raft from which
| the lead might be sunk, and they start
ed for the beautiful mountain summit.
1t was five days job to get to the
lake and complete preparations for the
! sounding. The climb, carrying the lum-
Der, overcoming the sickness and pains
in the head caused by the rare atmo-
sphere of the high altitude, and then
fixing up the raft, took up the time.
A line was fastened across the lake and
| the sounding line was fixed to the CEN
! ter of the Inc, so that it could be operat-
ed from shore. The raft was hoated and
sent out to carry the weight and for the
purpose of making the necessary fast
enings.
Then the sounding began. 1t was a
keen disappointment. At forty feet the
! lead struck bottom. A party of weary
mountain climbers looked daggers at
one another, but they were too full
for utterance." They sadly gathered
their things together and started for
home. A big water-supply enterprise
had come to nothing, an interesting
geological phenomenon had been proved
to be a good deal of a fake, and Gehi
was out the price of thousand feet
of line, and the expense of the trip
Four hundred feet depth would not have
occasioned surprise, and it would have
been satisfactory but forty feet settled
the matter.
As there is considerable steady drain
age into the lake, it is thought likely
that there is an outlet somewhere in
the bottom, through which the water
runs into some of the underground
streams that are now tapped at Olaa
and other places.
1t has been suggested that the inge-
NOUS plan of stretching a line across
the lake, from which to work the sound.
ing, might be successfully adopted tC
sound the depth of the kilauea volcano
The task would be a difficult one, but
the result would be watched with great
interest. At the Mauna Loa lake there
is nothing like the same stretch, the
Lake being only about 200 feet across
out the scheme is thought to be prac.
ticable at Kiauea.