The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-07-18
.PRANKISH LADS
FROL|C ON edge
OF HALEMAUMAU
Publicity Man For Volcano Com
plains Of Fool Stunts
Played At Crater

persons during the last few
days" said l.. w. de Vis.NOrton yes
terday, "have spoken to me about a
rnmor to the effect that the edge of
Halemaumau is in an exceedingly dan,
gerous condition. o.. "
"These rumors are difficult TO track
down, more particularly when they
have n certain substratum of truth in
them, but am far from agreeing that
the edge of the fre-pit at Kilauea is
NJ dangerous rs 1t is said to be- Dur
ing the recent collapse, when the lake
fell from about the 300.foot level to
nearly 1000 feet below the rim, prac-
tically all the lower benches were pull
ed down, so much so, indeed, that at
one time the lake was practically chOk
ed. The falling of the lower benches,
OF course, dragged down few of the
upper ones, as, for instance, the broad
shelf under the south station, where
the old sheer-legs are. A portion of
the extreme edge of the ledge, fifty
feet below the rim, to the right of the
shclter-hOuse, also fell in, but these
really are the main changes affecting
visitors who do not know the locality
well.
Sections That Are Safe
,ff'I consider the sunken gap at the
south station quite the safest place on
the edge of Halemaumau now, but Wis
itors should not climb up on the south
side Of that gap, as the wall there
~ leaning and very badly cracked, as
well as having an oyerhang which is
very deceptive! The section immedi-
ately around the shelter-house is per.
yfeetly safe, but notice that there are
several new cracks near the rim be-
tween that point and the south station,
and would like to suggest to visitors
that they keep back as far as the
gravel trail which is provided for their
safety and which leads to the two
points mentioned above.
Il often wonder why il is that a Ger.
tain youthful class of tourist is so ut.
tcrly careless of himself at Halemau-
mau. Only week ago / saw three
boys, who were certainly old enough to
have better sense, standing on a pro-
jccting lava slab, about three inches
thick, and daring each other to stand
on one leg on the extreme edge while
the others counted twenty-five. They
did not know any better, l guess, but
that was about the one spot on the
whole rim Of the pit, where the
angels would have feared to tread.
expect i am devoid of a sense of hui.
NOR, for can never see anything fun.
ny In trying to pull off fool stunts on
the edge of an active volcanic. The
performer only needs to slip, or to lose
his balance for one second, and he
would be dead so quickly that he prob.
ably wouldn't know what had struck
him.
Fool Antics Are Hair Turning
The personally conducted trips are
mostly enjoyable for the conductor,
but when 1 see these fool antics going
on, begin to wonder why my hair
hash Z gone white The big crowd
that visited the fre-pit on July 2 was
the most sensible aggregation I have
ever seen, There were so manv of
them that / wished | had been built
like the great beast in Revelations.
full Of eyes both before and behind
you know, but after one quiet sugpes
tion from me as to the best seeing
places, they kept most sensibly to
L
whatever"
Speaking of the personally conducted
trips, Mr.. de Wis Norton said, Eyes
tne weekend tours have been a tire.
msndous success, and Judging by the
letters L am continually receiving from
the mainland asking questions concern
ing certain formations on the crater
no0r, or about the islands which were
recently visible in the fire lake, the lit
tie talks / have been able to give about
the volcano have not only been ap-
preciated, but have aroused much in
terest In the volcano. Halemaumau is
the most wonderful thing in the world,
BAR none, but | have come to the CON
cinslon that many people would look
~ " Tor hours aud then go away with.
out In the least understanding lust
what II Is and what it means to the
rest Of the world.
Plain Talk Always Interesting
A lot of good information can be
conveyed in a simple but interesting
way. the majority of persons hate to
have highly scientific or technical
terms slung at them, anyway, and r
nave found hat plain talk as to the
why's and the wherefores of the chang.
e. and peeuliarities of the crater floor
and HalemaUmau, have been followed
with the closest interest"
~ am afraid ! shall have TO diseon
tinne the conducting business, at any
rate, for month or two. have a
great deal of old and new work to
tackle right now, and cannot afford TO
give the time the trips require. 1 am
going over next Wednesday with the
Santa Claras, by special request. and
viii conduct another trip on the TWEEN.
ty-seeond,, for which there are already
several applications. But think that
date will be the last, so far as I per.
sonally am concerned, though ! hope,
the present low rate will be kept in
force for some while yet The general
coneensus of opinion about these tours,
10, that for thirty dollars time. they
are as cheap ms the volcano is wonder
full have travelled pretty nearly all
over the world, but don t hesitate
70 say the volcano trip at this price is
the cheapest and best have ever
known. ,Esl..
sfIf anyone particularly wants to 20
with me before the present series of
tours ends, they had better book either