The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-05-24

from the corn binder, for they say if
one inch of the cane stock is left
above the ground enough sugar will
be wasted to pay for cutting by hand.
AS the cane averages from rs to SO
tons per acre you may know it grows
pretty thick and heavy. This machine
is to be down from Frisco a week
from tomorrow and l am anxious to
see it work.
Now as to the loading of the crude
sugar as it is most all shipped to the
coast to be refined, there being but
one small refinery on the islands.
Some are fortunate enough to have
there mills in some little cove or bay
where the ships can come in and load
directly from the mills. Most of them
have two cars running by an endless
cable, on an incline plane, down to a
landing from where the sugar is let
down to the boats by means of a der
! rick. Others send out a tram cable
to the ships after they have been
anchored to the buoys placed for the
purpose, and the sugar is let down by
this directly to the ship. All of these
processes we were fortunate enough
to see in operation on our trip.
The sea is always rough and choppy
on the windward side and through
the channels, and many of the passen-
gers were too sea sick to enjoy all this
scenery, and we were all glad when
we arrived at the dock in Hilo about
five O'Clock on Wednesday, April 4th,
and proceeded to fill the bus for the
hotel up town.
! Some visited the places Of interest
around Hilo, among which l might
mention Rainbow Falls and Cocoanut
! Island. We all turned in early, /
especially, and were up early Thurs
day morning to proceed by rail some
Is miles on our way to the volcano.
April 20. Since writing the above
we received word on the morning of
the 18th Of the horrible disaster in
San Francisco, receiving only few
meager cablegrams, however, before
cable communication was destroyed.
Fifty hours of suspense until at 10
O'Clock this morning, then commune
cation was re-established, but only
meager accounts of the destruction as
yet and no detail People here are
almost wild, as many have families
and relatives there Of whom they can
get no word. San Francisco being
the chief city in the states with
which Honolulu is connected, in a
business way, as well as being de-
pendent on her for news from the
rest of the world, the suspense has
been, and is, great. Business is para
lyzed and all but suspended.
Arriving at the terminus of the
railroad after having passed through
sugar plantations, forests of Koa and
other trees, Fren forest and wild
banana, in fact it was more a jungle
than forest. We proceeded the re-
naming nine miles by stage, over a
rough, rocky road, which the govern
ment is rapidly converting into atine
macadam. We arrived at the Valcano
House at II a. m. thoroughly shaken
up. This hostelry is situated some
1000 feet above the sea on the brim
Of large crater, whose circumfer-
ence is some nine miles. Its perpen-
dicular walls rise, or descend rather,
$50 to 500 feet, whose bottom is com.
posed of lava formation, now cool only
in a few spots yet red from intense
heat. This bottom is not level, but
might be called an undulated plain
arising gradually toward the small
yet active, crater from which it came
TO the northwest rises Mauna Los
nearly 10000 feet higher, all of vol
canic formation, so vast and rising 81
gradual that although it is 1860 feet
above the sea, one does not realize il
is high until you note it's snow capped
summit end comprehend what thai
means in this semi tropical climate
where frost is unknown and sixt,
degrees is cold weather. Near the
.. hotel lies vast beds of almost pure
sulphur and all around are cracks ane
Take Time.