News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1917-08-08
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
By John Wesley Carter, PHI. d.

\
roads of the Pacific. No pen can ade
quately picture the beauty of these mid
sea dots on the map of the world. 1t il
six days steam from either Seattle OF
San Francisco, and five days from Sar
Pedro, over the two thousand miles o.
incompatible Pacific to this Giving
fairyland. These happy islands, famed
by the soft breezes, are their own Eden
There are no Seasons as we speak OF
them. in this paradise of the Pacific
1t is always perfect June. With neither
chill nor heat. you feel delightfully."- lazy
amid this Hawaiian comfort with
J beauty.
| There are eight inhabited islands in
| the Hawaiian group. Six of these may
| be either seen or visited in the voyage
| from Hilo to Honolulu. Hawaii, the is
| land which gives the name to the Ha-
| waiian group, is twice the area of all the
rest of the islands combined. 1t is about
the size of Connecticut Hilo, the prin-
cipal seaport, is beautifully located on
the Eastern coast. Behind the city the
island rises from the sea in three volcan-
&c peaks that more resemble mighty
domes. Yonder, as the farthest visible
hinterland, is Handicapped Mauna Kea,
nearly fourteen thousand feet above the
sea.
The valleys around Hilo are tropically
luxuriant, with cane fumes spanning
the gulches. Out in the harbor is Coco
anut Island whose fringy palm silhouette
is noted piece of tropic scenery. Tiny
Hilo, itself, is a quiet town and most
tourists stay just long enough to motor
to the Volcano, thirty-six miles away.
The drives round about, however, are
among the best exhibits of tropic foliage
in all the world. The short drive to
Rainbow Falls, four miles away, or to
Onomea, twenty miles away, where you
look through the natural arch upon the |
surf breaking white upon the black vol
canic sands below, is an experience
never to be forgotten. Another longer |
trip is to drive to Kalapana through the
depse forests of bread-f fruit, bananas and |
palms, and occasionally into the sitting
heat of the paths through the sugar
cane.
On higher elevation from the bana-
ma and sugar cane lands, about Hilo, is
the coffee belt. Higher, still, grow the
plneapples. Then comes pasture lands,
and finally the lava fields around Maui
ma Loa and Mauna Kea. Mauna Loa,
two and half miles high, sixty miles in
circumference, two hundred miles
around its base and seven miles high
from the bottom of the ocean, is the
greatest active volcano in the world.
But because of its easy access, Kilauea,
which is older than Mauna 1.oa and
nearly ten thousand feet lower, is "the
Volcano" most tourists visit.
Kilauea is the spectacle par excellence
of Hawaii. 1t is the most accessible vol
cano in the world. The trip has been
freed from all hardships. Because of
this easy approach, the lava beds of this
decadent volcano is one of the most in
teresting and remarkable sights the
world has to offer. In fact, no other
volcano can parallel the sight of the
molten lava bursting through the bot
tom of the crater. This is a spectacle
worth travelling around the world to see
ind cnce seen can never be forgotten.
1t is seven hundred feet from the rim
IF Kilauea down to Halenianmau-tEe d
inner pit, which contains twenty acres i
If seething, boiling lava that lifts an ;
lcre at time only to fall back again to
,e remolten. When the darkness of a {
hawaiian night covers the scene then
he lurid glare and the Kissing of Hale t
nanmau makes an impression that can e
lot soon be erased from memory. y
Among the channels. half way from r
lilo to Honolulu, are the four central :.
stands of the Hawaiian group. Maui is !
ext in size to Hawaii Here sugar is
he main industry and at Puunene is one r
the largest sugar mills in the world, =
aving capacity of FIVE hundred tons
day. Maui, which is one sixth the
ze of Hawaii, and about forty by thirty
lilies in extent, is really two islands, or
Vo mountains connected by a sandy,
w lying isthmus. The great sugar and
ce plantations are at the foot of the -,
fountains and border the sea. A
West Maui is a cluster of Jagged =
rising nearly six thousand IL
ct above the ocean. Opposite Lahaina, IL
lie leading seaport and ancient capitol a
the islands, is Lanai, a little gem of il
! island off the lee of Maui. Most tour II
IS go straight on to Waikiki, except /,
ose transferring to Molokai, because -
is ancient seat of learning has long
nee lost both its looks and fair youth W
Id has even renounced its past East r.
au1 consists of Hale-a-ka ten thou CT
nd feet high and the largest extinct T
'lcano IL the world, with crater twen- h,
seven miles in circumference and two
ousand feet deep. The lao Valley :.
out the size of the Yosemite, running Id
ok from the isthmus near Wailuku IS al
e of the most enchanting regions in b
the islands. CT
The island of Moloksi, which is about bi
rty by ten miles in extent, is one of VI
e most scenicly beautiful in the Ha. he
allan group and enjoys a climate al he
Ost perfect. The island is fifty miles -,
1m Honolulu and is the first one III
,hted from San Francisco. A single co
midway along the lee-ward tn
ore, facing West Maui, reveals the fO
cation of Kaunakokai, the only port. a
'ss than dozen miles away, over the ca
If Thousand foot mountain wall, on Dc
wlndward side, is Kalau papa, the 90
Der settlement. Vi
Dur prejudice against Molokai is this 10
'er colony. But the whole island of orr
'lokal is not, as is generally supposed, bu
zen over TO lepers The colony oc-
pies tiny isolated spot on the wind
ird shore, on low lying peninsular
llnd a great mountain wall. The
u Is that Robert Louis Stevenson in is
open Letter." describes Molokai in
ID SUCH a master hand, in picturing die