Evening star., 1902-07-30
MAUNA L0A IN 1868
REMINISCENCE OF HAwAu,s
VOLCANIC ERUPTION.
Fine Spun Threads of Silica From
Crater-Called Pelee's
Hair.

From the New York Times.
The following graphic reminiscence of a
| volcanic eruption in what Is now an Amerf-
can possession is from a letter by Charles
| u Williamson, which originally appeared
In the London Times 1t is a curious scien-
tine as well as pathological fact that after
an eruption of Mauna Loa the crater gives
forth finely spun threads of silica, which
the natives call 'Pelee's hair" after the
name of the supposed goddess of the crater.
In 1858 l was an eyewitness OF the
| great eruption Of Mauna Loa in the Island
! OF Hawaii. At the present moment a few
| details OF that appalling circumstance may
be Of general interest. Mauna Loa uhe
long mountain) is the highest peak between
| the Andes and Himalaya mountains. and
| its great summit crater Mokuaweoweo had
been cold and extinct for ages The first
| lhulcatlon OF what was going to happen
was an earthquake at a. m. on March g.
Flashes in the Sky.
On March &c 1 observed after sunset.
| many bright flashes in the sky which could
not be accounted for. as the air was per-
fectly clear and no cloud was visible in
any direction. The following morning my
| native servant came calling me with the
| cry or fire. Looking out. l saw heavy
| column OF smoke rising from the mountain
summit, and it spread out like huge fan,
widening and widening until the whole
vicinity was enwrapped in murky sulphur
Gus Vapor. totally obscuring the sun, and
causing all vegetation to shrivel up When
night came there was no appearance of
nre on the mount but the dense atmos-
phere remained
Next morning at about 1915 there be-
gan series of most alarming earth
quakes. which eliminated in an awful
shock on Thursday, April ., at $40 pm
The earth rose and fell like waves of the
sea: and the large native kukui trees with
trunks from two to three feet in diameter
swayed backward and forward like bram-
bles in storm, though not breath of air
was moving.
Stone Walls Leveled.
every stone wall was leveled in an in
slant as the seismic wave passed under
them. and when it reached the sea the con-
cussion caused the cliffs to fall in huge
masses. and the waters rose and fell six
times in twenty minutes, overwhelming the
palm trees and the picturesque grass
houses of the natives, resulting in the de-
structfon of more than 100 houses and loss
of forty-six lives, in a very thinly popu-
lated district.
The earthquakes, 1 may say, continued
for days after; indeed, the whole island
seemed to rock about continuously and il
was months before the earth ceased 10 vi
brate. In my diary of that year there is a
record of 157 distinct shocks personally ex-
perienced in the week before the great
earthquake of April 2, and 122 shocks in
the six davs Immediately after it. but al
most every day until the end of 1868 there
was one or more slight, but perceptible,
earth tremors.
Liquid Fire.
Shortly after the terrible earthquake
there was an eruption of an extraordinary
character. It is marked in my diary as on
April Z. when at about ) pm. the earth
burst open with a tremendous crash on the
mountain slope at a distance OF about ten
miles from the sea. Here was the residence
of an Englishman, at whose house l had
been Hospitality entertained a short time
before. The earth opened with terrific
explosion. pouring out streams of liquid
fire, which in an incredible short space of
time covered the most beautiful grass
covered plateau of the island. The house
and gardens Were completely submerged,
and the Inhabitants only escaped by racing
in front Of the pursuing flood of fire, which
was about half a mile wide.
A fine horse, belonging to the owner of
the buried residence. was tethered in pas
ture, and made frantic efforts to break his
halter: but when the rushing lava reached
it the rope shriveled up and the beautiful
creature bounded away without any hurt,
but a herd of 200 cattle was overtaken and
in a moment disappeared. Thirty-seven
houses were swept away by the lava fiow
but no lives were lost. There was a house.
containing three persons, which was en-
tirely surrounded by the flowing lava,
which, piling Itself UP above the roof level,
left the building untouched, and the in
mates were found to be alive and unhurt
when the lava had cooled sufficient to al
low any one to succor them.
Landslides and Upheavals.
But this was only an incident of the pc
riod. The great earthquake shock previ-
ously spoken of was caused by the blowing
up of another part of the mountain. On this
occasion great masses of shattered rock
were hurled through the air to a consid-
cradle distance, and streams of hot mud
poured over the land to a distance of three
miles from the source Of the explosion. 1t
may not be scientifically correct to speak
of it as a mud flow; il was probably ter
rifle landslide caused by the violent up
heaval but in It's way it carried away mag
nificent trees and cyclopean blocks of rock
Ten houses We're destroyed in its course
and thirty-one lives were lost. Needless to
say, the whole neighborhood was rent and
cracked by the volcanic convulsion. Had it
happened in any thcky populated district
the loss of life would probably have been
as appalling as it is in the Island of Mar
Unique.
Volcanic phenomena are an experience
WHICH, OliCt itIl CSI never be weakened Dy
time. Possibly these few details of my own
experience of violent seismic disturbance
may be of service to those who make a
study of such subjects. L should not ven-
ture to trouble your readers with these re-
marks If had any reason to suppose that
any other person in London was residing
in the Islands Of Hawaii during the great
eruption of 1868.
Kilanca. the permanent active volcano of
the island. is known to many and has often
been described. 1t is about forty miles dis
tant from the scene of the volcanic erup-
tion / refer to. The older crater was sin
gularly inactive at the time; indeed, the fire |
within it began to recede on the memorable |
April 2, and Pelee (the ancient name of the |
supposed goddess of the volcano) departed |
from Kilanca.
EVOLUTION OF THE WHEEL