The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-01-14
THE BASEBALL MEN
AT The VOLCANO


back the guide pointed out cracks inl
the lava flows produced by earthquake |
which were so deep that
dogs and calves had fallen into them
and been lost II was noticed that
the players took pains to make mol
missteps when crossing one of these
crovices, the bottoms of which are still
unexpored
Upon returning To Volcano House
the guide announced that the boys
could rest an hour before setting out
for Halemaumau C'the house of ever
lasting fire }. Halemaumau is ,-e|
crater of KiIauea, and as the name
suggests it is out of this pit that real
live fire comes. Now the crater of XII
iauea covers an area of 250O acres in
round numbers. and it has a circum-
ference of nearly eight miles Its sides
are steep but not so much SO that
about half of the players could descend
to the bottom on sure-footed horses.
Jack Bliss Eastwood and Bill Heit-
muller thought the tramp too strenu-
Gus, as the greater part of the journey
wos over fresh flow of lava 1S9D,
and hires horses. The rest, headed by
Jimmy Britt and the guide, set out on
foot Before the party had fairly
commenced to descend to he bottom OF
the great crater DevereauX turned an
ankle going over a rough piece OF
ground The Red Dog was keen on
hiking to the volcano proper, but at
ter several attempts at walking Bill
Burns surrendered mis- pony to him
and Brick travelled the rest of the way
in ease. Crossing the great lavaAbed
was no snap, and in a measure 1t was
| like walking over a bed of coke. The
players who neglected to provide
| themselves with old shoes soon found
! that their footgear were faring badly.
The first halt on the narrow trail
was called at the Turkish Bath. What
a paying institution this would be il
located in San Francisco. Here, in
the midst of this sea of lava, we found
a cave which extended under the sur
| face say a hundred feet and full OF
! hot steam In their haste to beat the
rest of the party to Halemaumau Britt
and Hildebrand missed this sight, for
| both walked faster than the guide
| The hottest compartment of a Turkish
bath had nothing on this underground
1 oven 1t hardly seemed a minute be-
fore the players were hopping steam
| and perspiration from their heads and
| the cool air of the mountain top was
very refreshing when they returned tc
the sunlight.
The players stopped long enough al
the Devils Picture Frame" to have
another picture snapped. This was a
freakish fault in the lava which re,
minded one of a picture frame; hence
the name. Then on to the ovens, when
were but a snort distance from tho
main points of interest. The ovens
consisted of cracks about six inches
wide in the lava, out of which heat Of
very high temperature escaped
Friends and relatives of the player.
living in different parts of the United
States were sent postal cards scorchec
in these crevices. If a postal were
4 neld in an owen" longer than a few
minutes it would ignite and be value
less for mailing purposes; but thu
guide blackened most of them, so few
were destroyed. The guide informed
us that it was quite an easy matter u
cook coffee, eggs and other light re
freshments in these hot places; but
the Greek at the hotel thoughtlessIy
neglected to supply the players will
provisions, so no meal could be serv
ed.
When the guide remarked, "Oul
next stop will be at Halemaumau
which is just over that ridge anC
which is about 300 yards distant" ev
en- Silent Bill Burns, who appeared t.
| evince less interest in the wonderful
sights than the others, sat up and tool
notice. Those on horseback were OBJ
liged to dismount and tie their horses
in a corral built out of lava bricks.
In few minutes more one and al
were standing on the brink of Hale
maumau and witnessing one of tn
greatest sights of their lives. Hale
maumau, strictly speaking, is a Iavi
pit of the shape of a hopper. 1t ha
a somewhat irregular outline, but al
average distance across the top i
about 200 yards, and it's depth is be
tween seven and eight hundred feet
At the very bottom of the pit and t.
one side there we saw mother eartl
vomit real fire. From where we stool
one would casually estimate that 1
was ten feet across the furnace door,
but our guide assured us that it wa
four times this distance, and it nigh
have been more than this, for yol
must remember that we were between