Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1910-02-01
SAYS VOLCANO.
BEST IN WORLD
Mr.. Buffum Claims Descriptions Of
Kilauea by Tourists Have Never
Done the Sight Justice Backs
Up His Story Of Near Accident.

Up His Story Of Near Accident
e IL have Just returned from the Vol
cano. which was In a state of very &C
tive eruption. The night before oul
party left, the lake fell about ten feet
but the display was II anything more
startling than before" said Jesse II
Bun,im. the correspondent OF ths
Louisiana Planter. "A long stretch
Of the spatter rim had become top
heavy and had broken of when the
lava receded. There had been, dur
Ing the previous night, a considerable
flow on the north side into the pIt
proper. The entire spectacle is one
Of infinite grandeur, and surpasses al
descriptions I have ever heard Of
Kilauea; and assure you some elo
Quent tongues have told the tales as
best they could. Probably the mos
realistic delineation have ever listen
ed to is the lecture given weekly a,
Los Angeles by the Promotion Com
mfttee's able representative, Franci,
King Headlee. s,
There is one feature OF the Volcano
trip that feel is worthy of especia
recognition, and that is the priceless,
records on file atothe Volcano House
These volumes have frightened many
a rainy day and furnished a rare
treat to those whose admiration fol
Natures formulative performances
goes deeper than the merely super
ficlal. II Ia a source OF great pleasure
to pore over those records, dating
back to the ante-bellum period. nnd
derive therefrom an accurate knowl
edge Of the manifestations OF Kilauea
during half century. The VISITING
public should be particularly grateful
to two or three gentlemen who have
contributed cautiously to those rec
ords from time to time, and supplied
the most accurate information and
observations. Those whom I noticed
In particular are: Mr.. Z. ID. Baldwin
Mr.. l.. A. Thurston. Mr.. Lydgate, the
Rev. Westervelt. and Prof, Bryan.
Great pressure should be brough,
to bear In Frank Clark to induce him
to include Kilauea in his tour timer
airy, on the very next excursion tha'
he sends out. II is to be supposed
that he desires to give his tourists
the cream Of the world. The testi
nony Of world-travelers who have
sought Nature and man at their hest
Is overwhelmingly In favor Of thi,
volcano as the earth's most majestic
and most startling spectacle or scene
Clark plans to stop here anyhow; he
could do nothing better on his entire
itinerary than to spend a few days II
giving this great feature to his travel
ers. ,}..
II think 1t is great mistake to tr,
to keep tourists on this Island. They
do not give as glowing an account 81
their visit, OH returning to the main
land. as they would II they had beer
encouraged TO take In Maui and Ha
wall and Kauai. It would be good
thing for everyone II tourists couIt
land first at Hilo. The volcano ant
the few attractions about Hilo woult
create a keener desire to see ALI
that the Islands hold. | can name t.
you tourists In Honolulu today who
are not planning to visit the volcano
at all, thus missing the very bes'
thing down here. And they are the
kind who are spending months, MOI
days, here. too. I fear they find very
little incentive here in Honolulu t.
make the volcano trip.
NO" said Mr.. Buffum, speaking Ct
his experience In the volcano pit, "l
am not at all surprised that the re
port Of my adventure was received
with incredulity In some quarters
There would have been no Mutations
from the bystander II the story had
been handed to his paper, of course;
that's a neat little principle perfectly
familiar to the newspaper cult. But
1t matters not one whit to me. There
Is not one particle OF scientific value
to my experiment; and no one is Il
profit by the experience. It was 9
risky thing to do, and any man is q
fool who will assume such risks.
myself did not know what was get
ting into; but usually see a thint
through when once undertaken. Had
placed any value on witnesses, OF
cared one whit for proof. l would have
waited for an audience, Of course. and
moreover, would have sent for rep
resentative Of a morning paper. jus
to be sure of perfect plausibility.
"As to description of the volcano
adequate and fitting-it Is impos
sible. Is there an alphabet Of tn,
universe? From whence shall on,