The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-09-11
COLLAPSE OF
molten LAKE
(staa correspondence.)


and that evening the boiling lava in
Halemaumau began to pour out in a
fiery whirlpool through the bottom of
the frepit. On Saturday afternoon
another shock came to the Big Island
metropolis and that night it was re-
ported from the Volcano House that
the volcano was again active and the
molten lake was rising. Whatever CON
nection there may have been between
the two shocks and the subsistence and
breaking out again of the volcano can
only be spoken of authoritatively by
scientists, but the two affairs were very
generally commented upon by Hiloites
yesterday.
At the time of writing, the reports
from the volcano are that it's activities
have recommended on grand scale,
but there was mourning here on Satur-
day night when the word passed around
that the volcano was pau. In Hilo
there are people who have never seen
the volcano, just as in Honolulu there
are many who do not know where the
Bishop Museum nor the Aquarium are,
and like many Honolulans again, there
were many here who intended to visit
the scenes at Halemaumau but who
were putting off the trip until some
other convenient time and the idea that
the volcano had not awaited their con-
venience and that Madame Pele has
gone into a hole and pulled the hole
in after her, with all her fires, came
as a shock. For this reason it is prob
able that the stream of visitors to XII
lauea will be large from now on, al
though the spectacle is not what it has
been for the past several weeks.
The sight of the sinking of the fire
in Halemaumau, as described by those
who watched, is said to have been ter
ribly magnificent. George Fairchild
and his wife are two of those who
stood awe-struck on the edge of the
pit and watched Madame Pele in her
fiery retreat. Mr.. Fairchild said:
"On Thursday night the level of the
lava had reached a point less than a
hundred feet l should judge below the
level of the main crater floor. Old
faithful geyser spouted it's fiery flow
to height of twenty feet and from
the edges of the lake score of lesser
fire fountains were playing continuous
| ly. At midnight there was strange
motion in the lava, which began sud-
denly to sink in towards the center.
The sinking continued until the whole
pit was maelstrom of fire and a
chasm appeared in the lava lake. Like
liquid pouring into a funnel, or like
the waters swirling out of bath tub
after the plug is drawn, the boiling
lava began to pour in cataracts of fire
into the chasm. From all sides the
lava flowed and as the torrents drain
ed away into the depths the sides of
the crater, cleaning red, began to
crash into the lake, splashing the lava
like surf into the air, while the dull
roar of the crumbling rock and the
sharper detonation as the colder rocks
heated and exploded was terrifying but
yet absorbing.
Gas the great slabs of lava peeled
off the sides, pieces hundreds and thou
sands of tons at time, the levels
streamed out cascades of liquid lava
which hung and cooled about the sides
like great golden stalactites. Deeper
and deeper the lava sucked into the
depths and on Saturday morning the
pit was dead. Everything that had
filed it with the bubbling, squirting
lava for nearly thousand feet hat
drained off in the opening far below
and there was nothing to be seen il
the depths of Halemaumau but clout
of smoke. All the fire had gone.
The news that there was renewa
of activity was especially welcomed
, here from the fact that the Elks ex
cursionists had arrived to visit the vol
cano and the second greatest regre
heard when the news was first tele
phoned in of the subsistence was tina
the Elks would have to return to He
. nolulu today disappointed. AT tn
J landing of the Mauna Kea yesterda
morning, when the report was circu
d lated that there was nothing doing a
n Halemaumau, there was great laug
9 from the visitors, who scented immt
y diately some joke prepared for then
d When it was finally borne in upon ther
f that it was no joke at all, there wer
f many glum faces.