The Hawaiian gazette., 1911-08-18

giti IAla srasINo8 af lhtfat tft
ifif toAplr with a barge water t.ttrlti
tnit end. Aul lhia ah|1 was loti. Nae
nei before natlssntio5g reading haa
lrrH ntiainei, which gave 1850 draftet
nlHnholl 81 lho leinrtfaiuIe 81 ihe
lava ~ iht lats from une a. isfee feet
ucloW lhc suffact. ny moana of llft
Cable on iron not was loucftd Tor ah
instant into lkt Old Faithful fountain
and a quantity 81 frcsh lava obtuiuu.i
for analysts. The two earthquake
shocks Of July ttth were not folt az
the crater, bui on the g5th at 1889 n.
M, shork Of the third 90 fourth mag.
nitude (Mcrcall ucale) was felt NJ the
station. and two distinct shocks were
felt at Volcano House August 9TH. The !
station was completed on tho 2sd and
Immediately occupied.
The south end Of the island began
70 sink on the 18th and the lake itself
began 60 lower IFS level on the 22d.
On che 23d the Cascade under Tho island
was reformed In n modified condition,
but after several alterations { ceased
forever. with the lowering of the lake
sublimations began forming around the
banks and at the spatter cones, and the
amount of vapor was greatly increased.
The lowest level--about forty feet be.
low its banks-was reached August 9TH,
when IL began rising, and eliminated
on the 9th Gull moon), having risen
nineteen feet. On the 10th il again
sank, but started rising rapidly on the
18th and was oscillating on the 18th
and 18th. With the falling of the lava
and the consequent withdrawal of its
support many sections of the banks and
of the lodges were dislodged and fell,
causing rock avalanches of considera-
ble~ size The heaviest of these were
from the north black ledge, July 26th,
and from the west and east on the 28th
and August LIST. The evening of August
4th large section of east black ledge
fell off and early on August 9th a large
landslide to the southwest. These
ceased on the 9th with the rising of the
lake, but began again on the 10th, n
large mass falling from southwest black
ledge in the evening. Banks from the
lake fell in from time to time and the
lake is being thus much enlarged The
sinking of the island has steadily con.
itiuued its progress, being photographed
daily.
The line of spatter cones on the
southeast bank have developed rapid
changes from the fame emitting to the
sofataric condition, all of which have
heen photographed. About July 2Sth
n large gas vent under the east black
ledge became very troublesome. PIE
venting a sight of the lake from the
operating end of the cable and neces-
stating line of signnl men around
the crater. Since August 9th all the
yGpors from this vent have developed
free acid which has consumed the zinc
cOating of the galvanized iron roof of
the station.
Lava stalaetites were found IN cave
near by and their formation is being
studied On the 18th the visible island
b reduced to fat floating area of
black lava crust contiguous to the east
bank of the lake.
The station is situated on the east
brink of the crater, commanding view
of the entire lake of lava. It's equip.
mept consists of a Zeiss telemeter for
direct measurement of distances to $50
meters, a portable transit for measur.
ing angles Zeiss telephoto camera, 32-
inch focus, working at f. 10; a "a
Zeiss lens kodak, stereo camera, piano.
ranic camera, thermograph, paragraph,
maximum and minimum thermometers,
iwfHdvaRe, field glass, pyrometers, etc,
sRerFetr seismoscOpe and micrOphones.
The seismoscope is set up for visional
observations and shows the ground to
be continually in movement The com
ing mp of every fountain in the lake
is clearly shown by movement Of the
indicator. An arbitrary decimal scale
has been adopted by which the average
seismicity for each day is recorded, the
normal being 5. This is indicated by
slow, continuous movement with
sharper quivers every fifteen to twenty
seconds. Shorter intervals or stronger
movements would be rated as 6; and a
quieter condition by 4, etc. Aug. 2,
seismieity 6; Aug. 3, 3; Aug. 5, g.; Aug
Z. g; Aug. 3, not observed; Aug. 9, IL
Aug. 10, 5 Aug. II, 6; Aug 10, 6, and
Aug. 10, 6. an interesting fact is that
the seismoseope shows strong fittings
in .north-south direction, l. e.. tangen
tial to the crater; on August 18th the
ground was tilted south to north, and
or August 18th there was a heavy tilt
north to south. The meteorological in
struments are awaiting installation,
Every visible change in the crater is
beng photographed.
-o.%. s.---