Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-10-18
Observation-Disclosures.
ERUPTION IN jttl8RY0f 1918

! Mf. "OOa mas mace SpeclaI STUDY
OF the theoretical effects OF. the decli,
nation of,the sun and moon, north and
! south Of the equator. From all these
studies OF records OF the past, records
of the present and the processes Of
4 physics and astronomy, 1t became
! possible to foresee that Mauna Loa
| wcuid, have. a. summit outbreak be-
tween 1911 and 1915, that It was most
likely to come, near JRne. or Deem
Der, and this much has been verified
in 1914. BY. similar reasoning there
! remain as yet unverified expectations
+ % as very, low level Of the lava, Of
! KIlauea; ~. a lava flow from Mauna
Loa. probably, within four, years and
most probably in not less than three
years; 81 the occurrence of a short
lived summit outbreak before the
flow; "a the time of this outbreak
probably near June or December, this
| combination making January or July
of 1918 likely. times for the eruption
to. culminate; and lastly, 81 the lava
;tlow should break out from vent, on
the north side Of the mountain. prob
ably somewhere above the Dewey
crater of 1899. All this sounds IKE
unwarrantably precise prediction, but
the basis for it has been explained
above. To such extent as such pre-
.dictfon proves useful and leads to
proper preparation and precantion. it
Is justifable,
station, on Mauna tLoa.
In. expectation of coming erup-
ton IL was desirable for the Obserya-
tory to have, a. station on Mauna Loa
occupied frequently for the purposes
of recording temperatures. Of fumar.
oies, local earthquakes, weather con.
ditioas and any other phenomena that
might bear on the approaching, out
break. But 1t early became, evident
that this idea could not be- realized
with the funds at the disposal of the
Research Association. Mauna Loa is
a vast desert. waste without water and
rising to an Immense height. r..
Every expedition to the summit ex.
hausts the energies of the men and
animals enlpi oyed< and the animals are
frequently crippled and have their
legs, ent by the rough, block lava. Con
sequently the ranchers will not rent
good animals, and as there is no shelf
er,on The summit, little waite, no feed,
violent Winds and sJ1w Temperatures,
the men who can With difficulty be in
duced to go and act sas guides or pack.
ers. object to remaining over night.
The wages paid them and the hire of
the animais are high. 49, 80. Ii.
Each Trip rs Costly. =, 49,. -
Ian OF this means that it costs sew
eral hundred dollars In order to make
an upsatisf factory trips to the summit,
see, the crater. and; return before any
real scientif dc .WorkS can be done. and
even before the party is aoelimated to
the unusual altitude - I'm the winter
time there Gis4 deep SNOW on the sum.
nit deal and snow fiurries or sTto.
lent thunder storms with heavy gales
Of wind may occur at any season and
make havoc IN a. camp Of tents = :. .
Z There Is. no. soil. 50, ordinary tent
pegs cannot be used. and there Isl no
Hat ground yon ], which to. sieen, There
is no fuel of any sort and heEes are
no. hi locks or va lleys to offer shelter:
The crater MoknaWepWeo Is. surround
ed by vertical nrecipies. from 300. to
800 feet high and tho floor Ii. accessible
only, by afduons climbing. The area. of
exploration for proper study OF hot
vents whence lava. flows may issue
and of the seven sors eight summit
vents g(pitsI and coneS1 Including the
great crater is fully 90 miles long by
three wide. not Including the separate
area Of flows in Kau to the south 80
miles away,
- Difficult ProhIsm- 80. ,.v 4
1T will be seen from this that MaFl.
ma Loa presents a problem Of eSten-
siye exploration under difficult condi-
tons and is not like ,Kilanea in pos
sessings "a single lava pit conveniently
accessible.
The most that the Observatory has
been able to do, therefore, In dealing
with Mauna Loa during its repose was
to send an expedition to the. summit
once each year and to record the OBJ
of other travellers whenever
such was available. Observatory ex
petitions vfsited s, MoknaWeoweo in
August, 1912, and October, 1918, and
no unusual phenomena were noted.
the only activity being very slight va
pCring from cracks both in the, bot.
tom of Mokuaweoweo and in the out,
lying assures extended both northeast
and south from the crater. the direc-
tons in which large riffs trend down
the mountains along Zines Of historic
Lave vents
TOR Crises.
The Observatory has a difficult and
expensive task before it II it is, to
make adequate record of the spectac.
ular closing stages of this eruptive
period Of -Mauna Loa. We have
learned a useful lesson of the ,futility
of attempting 4 scientific. siege of the
: atcr fortress In winter-time without
houses built in advance to shelter men
and auimals. Such houses ought to
re built Of stone. both at the summit
and on the north flank of the noun,
a In noar tho nroha hle Sjto If tho ox. |