The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-12-15
.HAtHNAUNA9P|T
|. ENfARAtLlNG IN
PRESENT GRANDURE
. 80 -L-- ~
Opportunity of Generation To
See Volcano At Best De-
clares Professor Jaggar
MARVELLOUS TIME NOT ~
LIKELY TO LAST LONG
fGfe", Ef@f .-ii!.s. }E
Fifteen Fountains Playing As
Lake, Of Fire Mounts Closer .
To crater's Brim

The lava lake of Halemaumau ap.
peared to have reached its highest level
by December 2, and period of quies'
cence had apparently set in. but dur
ing the seven days following, strong
rising has again commenced accompan'
led by. the usual sinking spasms, the
net rate of rise being about three feet
per day.
This has brought the level of the lake
TO within l40 feet of the rim of the
Dit, and II is doubtful whether there
has been so spectacular an appearance
In the Halemaumau pit at any time
during the last twenty.three years as
the one which is to be seen there at
the present.
"Many of the dramatic events of the
early SOS are being re-enaSted, such
as the piliug up Of greet crags, the
building of huge driblet cones and the
formation of circular ramparts, re-
ports T, A.. Jaggar. 1.-THE fumes are
very thin and are growing thinner ev'
cry day, and it now appears certain
that the Christmas season at Kilauea
viii lie one Of unparalleled interest.
ut is very probable, in the ordinary
course Of events, that there will be
subsistence in January when the pit
may become smoky and less interesting
and as the activity Of the Volcano ID
more or less matter of course in the
newspaper reports, readers are not al
ways apt TO realize that this is q
marvellous time and one Of the rare
opportunities of generation.
Fifteen Fountains Play
From the second to the fourth of De.
cembcr the lake was sluggish and com
baratiVely low, but on the following
day tremendous activity was apparent
with brilliant lava flows pouring over
the floor and with many fountains in
action. On December 6, fifteen fom
tains were playing and during the af
t6rRoon heavy OVERLOOKING started. the
molten streams rushing in both direc
tiohs nlong the base of the pit walls
and almost traversing the complete
circle. There was one magnificent cas-
cade rushing down steep slope into
the valley under the northern wall
This cascade was at least thirty feet
wide and exceedingly hot, and crePt
east and west in a long series of minor
cascades.
The northwest pond was also very
high with small flows over its banks
at intervals. The south island was
seen to have united with the southwest
peninsula, and for the first time fOl
many weeks, although there are many
great crng masses in the lake, there
are now no islands.
Benches Steadily Rising
The benches surrounding the lake are
still steadily rising, possibly as re-
suit of the intrusion of lava during
sinking spells. That they are also con
tinuing to tilt is shown by the noise
of rock falls among the crevasses. This
continuance Of fitting would probably
be caused by the weight of the new
oVerfiows along the inner sides of the
benches.
The lake was very hot on December
7, the temperature at the southeast sta
ton being almost uncomfortable. Great
quantities of Pele 5 hair were rising
and majestic molten stream was pour
ing southwark over the lake surface
The northwest pond on Friday Sth, ap
peared to be much higher than the
lake which was fairly quiet with only
a few fountains in action, mostly round
the borders, but strong action was re
sum"d towards evening.
There have been four earthquake,
registered during the week, two Of
which were strong enough to rattle the
windows of the Observatory. Micro
Seismis motion and volcanic vibration
have been larger than usual