The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-10-16

Yerely alone. so thought MI. lnurS-
ton, who suggested railroad tour Of
Puma. including the breakwater quarry,
until Pahoa should have recovered. So
as the result of a little accident, much
additional instruction and entertain
ment were obtained.
Travelling slowly through the lava
country, the visitors were able to OBJ
serve and learn much regarding this
land of contradictions. Here were sew
eral small volcanic cones, one of them
composed entirely of fine cinders piled
up symmetrically. On parts of this
hill, steam is at times seen arising,
showing that the internal fires are not
vet auenched. The crater of cone
adjoining this is occupied by little
lake, whose waters have bright green
hue as seen from the crest of the hill.
About mile nearer the coast, but
too far off for the party to visit on
this occasion, are warm springs, whose
waters have great virtue in the treat
ment of rheumatism and may also
prove to be beneficial in some skin
diseases. There is a possibility of
these waters being made available for
sufferers. The railway now goes so
close to them that it is believed If a
few cottages were built, and attend
ance provided, many afflicted people
would be glad to go there and be heal
ed. Even those who need no physician
would find at these springs place for
rest and contemplation, far from the
madding crowd.
Now the train is off on its journey
over an UNPUBLISHED track leading to
the quarry. Slow is its progress, and
it is well that it is so, for at sharp
curve the front wheels of the engine
leave the rails and the train is brought
to a stop so gently that one can hardly
believe it is off the line. While the
practical people of the party busy
themselves with getting the engine
back to the path of rectitude, the
merely curious division find something
else to wonder at. Very considerably,
the stoppage had been planned to take
place on the very brink of great rift
in the volcanic rocks. "The Bottom
less PITT it is called, because hitherto
no one has been able to sound it. The
curious ones gather around the mouth
of the pit and gaze awestruck into its
black depths. Large stones are hurled
to catch the sound or the echo of the
sound of them striking the bottom; but
not even the faintest reverberation
reaches the upper air from that mys-
terious vestibule of the Neither Re-
gions.
"All aboard" The cry is a welcome
relief from the contemplation of the
weirdlooking pit, and a short journey
lands the party at the face of the
quarry. This quarry is a natural won
der in itself. 1t seems as though
Mother Nature had made an effort to
supply material for the breakwater
ready for Contractor Metzger to haul
\ away and dump into the sea. For some
miles a section of country appears to
| have subsidized, leaving bank of solid
rock exposed, from 40 to 10 feet high
When the subsistence took place, huge
blocks were broken off, and they are
| lying around in large numbers. In the
main, however, the wall is intact, and
to get out the stone tunnels have to be
driven, in which charges of powder are
placed and exploded to dislodge and
| disintegrate the mass. The fruits of
one such explosion were to be seen,
and Japanese were at work driving
other tunnels for fresh blasts. This is
arduous and dangerous work, as the
men have to hew at the solid rock in
the tunnels, while the overhanging mass
is proped by timber to prevent it fall
ing prematurely.
In front of this natural wall the par
ty were grouped and duly photographed,
after which the back journey on the
train was resumed. AS they went along
the visitors had an opportunity of OBJ
serving how the stony country around
is brought into cane cultivation. The
larger stones are gathered from the
surface and built into huge circular
mounds, many of them having trees
ferns and other verdure growing on
them, giving quantity picturesque as
pect to the landscape. Then the cane
is planted and cultivation goes on
among the smaller stones and rich vol
sanic soil. The result is fine fields of
cane growing in stony land, where
there are no streams, and without irri-
gaton. Another of the peculiarities of
this region is that, while its tempera-
ture is higher than that of Hilo, the
air is kept refreshingly cool by the
rains and by the fresh sea breezes that
freely circulate.
So fertile is the Puma land that it
will grow almost anything. The coffee
plantations here were successful from n
cultural point of view, and they were
only abandoned because of the preva-
lence Of ruinously low prices, The
Puma sugar plantation, now in the
hands of a receiver, does not owe that
position to any fault of the soil or eli
mate. There we're formerly 2200 acres
under cane; now there are 1910; and
under the management of Mr.. John
Watt, of Olaa, the acreage will soon be
as great as before. Rubber grows well
in this district. The plantation is look
Iing very healthy; the flow of rubber
gives splendid promise; the only prob
lem in this Connection is whether sui,
ficient sr~nly of cheap labor can be OBJ
tanned to enable the industry to be
proftably worked.
On the way back to Pahoa, a halt
was called under the shadow of the vol
canic cones formerly referred to, and
the parlor car in which the party trav.
eled was for the nonce transformed
into dining ear. Host Panos of the
Hotel Demosthenes had purveyed quite
an elegant luncheon, and this was thor