Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-06-04
LAVA lake IS
2S FEET FROM
rim OF CRATER
Most Spectacular Since 1894:
Volcano May Overflow
Into Main Crater

Not since the year 1894 when the
: lava lake al kIlaTea came C:ea" over
the top OF the pit. and flowed down
into the nam crater. has such a spec
taCular and aWelnsIlrIrg display been
seen as IS going on at the present
time
|. " de US Norton made this
statement TO a Star-Bulletin man. on
his return from the big crater
You must try and visualize what
! il means, Mr.. Norton continued.
The surface OF the great molten lake
! is now only IS feet below the rim on
! which the people stand, and not only
that, but the lake Is exceedingly
active and the overf)ows which are
! taking place every few hours are
surglnC FLOODS Of raging lava, drown
ing the many spouting cones. roaring
! round the wall benches and tearing
| the crags and islands TO fragments
Get this too: Eot only are all these
| crags and islands clearly visible from
the lanai Of the Volcano Eouse, but
the fountains playing in the lake are
throwing heavy sheats Of spray fifty
feet above the rim of the pit and.
therefore, are clearly seen from the
hotel as we'll. That hasn't happened
since 1894 either, and | shall never
forget the sight from the lawn In
front OF the hotel just before | went
to bed in the wee sma' hours Of Mon
day morning
professor JagCar SAYS that he very
much doubts whether kilauea has
been in so spectacular or angry z
mood as this since the old days when
it was an explosive Volcano. He 10
going down inside the pit every day
and working away, taking all kinds
of risks with the utmost Calmness,
but using every possible moment OF
this wonderful chance to get even
more wonderful work than that Of
last January, completed.
Il had a fairly large party for this
weekend conducted trip, continued
Mr. Norton, and | am bound to say
they were in the very best Of luck.
There was so much excitement at the
hotel, that we did not do the usual
program, but went straight down to
the pit. We got there as the lake
was rising and the cones were begin
ming to blow heavily; the rise went
on all afternoon, and there was a
small overflow about six o'clock.
Most of US went back to dinner then
and returned to the pit Immediately
afterwards. The lake was still ris |
ing and was overlooking the benches |
in four places; two of the great cones |
were roaring like ten thousand fendS, |
and were flinging jets Of lava fully |
100 feet in the air, and the heat on |
the rim was intense.
At a quarter to eight a tremendous |
surge began in the lake, and it climb
ed several feet in few minutes. The
south bench is little lower than the
others, or rather, its spatter rim is
not quite so high; the lava reached
the edge, hesitated. and then went
over IN an enormous wave $50 feet
wide, rushing down the outer slope
and dashing against the main wall Of
the pit. You never saw such a sight
in your life, and for the next two
hours there was a ten ring circus
going, with fortv-eleven things doing
all the while A quieter spell came
for an hour after that, with some
UIS!IdyS VI
and a terribly savage bombardment
of the islands. Most of the people
then went home, but about twenty Of
US stayed on the chance of another
sudden rise. We had splendid luck,
too, for at five to eleven another
surge took place. 1t didn't look as
big as the former one at the start,
but it hadn't been in progress more
than five minutes before we saw
really huge was going to
happen At eight minutes past the
hour, the whole lake stood up on its
hind legs and fairly jumped over the
starting gate, and a minute later it
was roaring over the benches the
entire way round"
my goodness! 1t gives you
creepy sort of feeling down your back
hair, all right, and you don't feel very
big in the face Of show like that
1t certainly far exceeded anything
have ever seen or even imagined to
be possible, and l shall never forget
it. We were down there again bright
and early on Monday morning, and
found the lake a few feet below the
benches, but all the crags and islands
were much higher than on the even
ing before, and when we tore our