The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-08-02

miles away, their glare waxed and waned
on the clouds above them
1t was all perfectly safe. During eighty
years of frequent visiting. and thirty
years of hotel maintenance there, not
single casualty has occurred which was
due to volcanic action. Guests would
sometimes be foolhardy, but the expert
enced guides usually succeeded IN re-
straining them. knew of one young lady
(soon after married to son of a United
States PresidenD who climbed peak
a fire lake which peak Tell
in the next day. Occasionally there have
been narrow escapes in times Of high
activity from small lava streams sudden
ly breaking out across path common
~ one can approach close to openings IN
the molten pool. and gather lava on the
end of pole. fashioning 1t into cups, or
embedding into il coins or buttons while
soft Here and there. however, on the
great floor of the main caldron. seven
square miles in area, were vast black rag
ged foods of new lava, which had eVl-
IDENTIFY surged out of the lake in a resist
less torrent.
CAUSE OF SAFETY.
This entire safety Of Kilauea IS due TO
the fact that for more than q century this
volcano has remained in what may be
termed a tame condtion--that is, non-ex-
plosive. Eruptions are OF two general
classes explosive and non-exploSiNe Our
Hawaiian eruptions. both from Hilauea
and Mauna Loa. are habituaiiy OF the lat
ter class. The lava simply wells up from
it's deep plutonic sources. and flows abroad
with little violence or commotion The
eruptions of Krakatao and Martinique on
the contrary were violently explosive and
consequently destructive The greater
part of their elections were shot violently
aloft to a, height of many miles, falling
with absolute ruin over the surrounding
have
been extremely rare in Hawaii. In the
huge ravines which expose the inner
structure of our mountains we see them
to have been built up almost entirely OF
floods of flowing lava. The proportion rs
extremely small of cinders flung out by
explosions
Ny studies of this subject have led to
the conclusion that great and violent eX-
blossoms of volcanoes usually follow very
protracted periods of quiescence. during
which the outlets become thoroughly
sealed. and often large bodies oil water
accumulate in the ancient craters. When
the time of eruption arrives the merry
column encounters the water. and a vio-
lent explosion follows. Such was the case
at Mt Pelee At Krakatno III 1888 sue
cession of explosions blew the island TO
pieces, finally admitting the ocean INTO
the chasm in enormous force ana tle
final explosion followed which hurled Dill
lions of cubic feet Of matter from forty
to eighty miles aloft
our Kilauea. until last month, had been
ouiescent for more than six years Con-
seouentIy when this crater resumed ac-
ton q month ago there was very sllEht
explosive action No doubt considerable
moisture had accumulated in the debris III
the bottom Of the old pit, and the rising
lava encountering it, generated Iorce OF
steam which drove up a considerable Douy
OF ashes and cinders.. Since that first
lcornrnotion. a very slight one, the lava mas
been yelling up steadily and quietly, after
ire old-tiroe custom There seems every
reason to expect a repetition of the very
satisfactory exhibitions of former years
We feel entirely confident in inviting the
travelling public to see our unique Sho"
with an absolute sense of security. Ihere
are no explosions on the program Those
belong wholly to the preliminary e1er-
cises which are through with
PROCESS OF ERUPTIoNs.
NJ own observations and reflections
have convinced me that the generation OF
steam by the rising lava encountering
surface water is only an attendant cir
curnstance of eruptions. and not the cause
| of them The primary inpeliing force
which drives the lava or magma up from
the interior depths is the expansion OF
the gases originally occluded in the in
terror matter of the globe. The fiery in
terror of the earth is weighted down BY
the pressure Of twenty. or thirty miles In
idepth of solid rock. That enormous pres
| sure holds the gaseous constituents Of the
| fiery interior magma completely com
pressed and condensed. II any cause re
moves that pressure in any locality those
gases instantly foam up. just as the car
homie acid does when the stopper is re-
moved from a soda bottle. Long and FIRE
duent observations of the very uniform
| plav Of the fire fountains in Haleamau-
rnau lake has made it evident that no