The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1902-06-10
LAVA IN
A FIERY
STREAM
kilauea Said to
Have Burst
Bonds.

ernE steamer Noeau which arrived
from iiamakua ports yesterday
= morning brought news that the
volcano Of Riauea burst forth at 10
o'clock Tuesday night. The steamer
Helene, which arrived yesterday after
noon from Mahukona brought the still
more startling intelligence that the cra-
ter had filled up and that the lava had
commenced To flow down into Kau.
Waterman Mason of the Wilder
Steamship Company said last night
that he had heard the news from the
chief engineer and crew OF the Helene,
who alleged that telephone message
to that effect had been received at Ma
hul<ona from Manager Waldron of the
Volcano House. The message said that
the lava had just commenced to over
How from the Hooded crater.
While the report may be true. yet II
seems exceedingly improbable that
such Is the case, for no flow has occur
red at Kilauea since 1910, when the
lava welled up and bursting through
the side escaped into the Puma dis
trict and flowed in stream to the sea.
Definite news a. to the exact state of
affairs viii surely arrive by the Kinau.
due here about noon today, and that
vessels arrival will be awaited with al
most Unprecedented interest.
The Helene left Mahukona late on
Thursday afternoon. The Noeau sail
ed from kukuihaele for Honolulu about
3 D. m. on Thursday, at which time XII
lauea was still flaring up with every
indication of a great eruption. The
crater, however, is of such magnitude,
being five miles broad in places and 500
feet deep, that il almost passes COM
prehension how IL could have filled up
50 quickly as to have overlooked. The
truth Of the matter probably is that
the rising lava has found vent in some
weak spot in the vast cup of the crater
and not that ii has welled up to its
rim.
captain Mosher of the Noeau said
that on Wednesday night he anchored
at Waipio Gulch, about IS miles from
the volcano, and that he could dis
tinctly see the reflection of the flames
in the sky. News of the outbreak was
received at every port at which the
Noeau touched, and doubtless emanat-
ed from the Volcano House.
The outbreak was heralded by two
or three slight earthquake shocks i'm
the Hamakua district on Tuesday
night. Shortly afterwards flames and
dense smoke burst forth and continued
until the time of the NOeauS departure.
That vessel brought no news of any
lava flow, however
There were rumors on the street yes
terday that the lava had flowed down
into Olaa and was destroying cane
fields. The impossibility of the story
was recognized by many but to some
who did not know that such a condi-
ton could not exist it was a story
worth taking up, and so was being re-
peated and augmented. There was alb"
solutely no foundation for such a story
and ii soon took it's proper place among
the rOorbaClls.
The crater of Kilauea is 1874 miles in
circumference ana is different from
Nesuvius, Etna and Stromboli in that
the craters of these volcanoes are
cones. The abyss, which is 1000 feet
above the sea level, has the appear
ance of a great pit. At the further
extremity is enclosd a smaller crater,
which varies in depth from being level
with the larger crater when the molten
lava is in great activity, to 1900 feet
when in a quiesCent state. This lake
is called by the natives 'Halemau-
mau," or the abode of everlasting
fire" A canopy of vapor hangs day
and night over kilauea beside which
VesuVius, Etna and Stromboi sink into
comparative insignifcance. Kilauea is
the largest active volcano in the world.