The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-05-05
MADAME PELE
IS INDUSTRIOUS

1
has there been such wonderful activity
| in the pit of Halemaumau as has de-
veloped during the past ten days. and
as a result the favored residence Of
Madame Pele has been visited by large
numbers of wondering tourists. Hilo-
mans, people from all parts of this
| island, as well as from others of the
group.
| There had been fire in the pit ever
| since the lava flow of year ago last
, January, but the fire was fiuctuating
and uncertain. 1t would blaze bril-
| fantly for day or two, just long
enough to encourage many to make
| the trip. but would then shrink away
| coyly. People have waited on the
brink of Halemaumau for hours with
out seeing any of the splsndors, and
have then returned to the Volcano
House to see a sudden burst of fire
| from the place they had left.
There has been nothing of this kind
for some time past, however. The pit
has been gradually filling up by the
| well-known process. The molten lava,
forced from below by titanic force, has
squirted in a dazzling white stream in
half dozen places through the floor
of the pit. As it cooled, cones would
be formed, and through the center of
these the torrents of fire would spout
until. literally melting themselves. the
cones would collapse with roar into
a crimson lake of flame. SO the proc
ess has gone on repeating itself in
the full view of hundreds of awe
stricken people unable to tear them
selves away from the sight of nature
working in one of her angriest moods.
A visitor to the volcano last week
was Rev. Father Aloysius of the
Catholic Mission in Hilo. Although
he has labored here for over des
cade. Father Aloysius had never been
able to spare the time to get even
glimpse of the volcano, but this time,
being in need of a change after the
rigid duties of the lenten season, he
went up. for a couple of days.
Il have heard many descriptions of
the Volcano of Kilauea'' said the
Father on returning, but descriptions
are quite Inadequate to convey any
idea of the immensely, the awfulness
of the scene. The roar and rush of
the torrents of lava, the wonderful
changes of color the knowledge that
one is standing directly over a force
so overwhelming that it can not be
estimated, the explosions, the sudden
eollapsing of the lava cones into the
seas of fire below them-all these i'm
pressions crowd on one at the same
time. ] never expected 70 see anything
like it.
H. e. hnpt oN
night, but to me the place is even more
impressive in the daytime, though
doubtless many will not agree with
me. Somehow in the daytime the vast
ness of the desolation in the crater and
the pit is much more to be wondered
at. 1 think the best way to do is to
go down in the middle of the after
noon and literally make a night of it,
so that the volcano can be seen in
every stage"
Father Aloysius, despite his gray
hair, is a famous walker, doing all of
his parish work afoot, so it was moth
ing to him to reel off eighteen or TWEEN
ty miles a day while upon the noun
tain
Il had an idea what things were
like" he said, "but 1 did not realize a
fraction of it all. The koa forests, the
tree ferns, the sight of Kilauea-iki,
these have been familiar terms to me
for years but I am an enthusiast now"
Many who have had experiences with
Kilauea agree that the pit is rapidly
filling up, though the word rapidly"
must not be construed as meaning that
there is any likelihood of a sudden
boiling over. The pit is so vast that
it would be difficult to compute how
many millions of tons of lava have
been forced up from the bowels of the
earth since the activity began but
about a year ago the depth
Of the central pit was variously esti-
mated at from 800 to 1000 feet, it is now
not more than IT'S or 200 feet, and the
work is still going on.