Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-27
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT Is DOING

ANAs MAAOAt M - ~ AL ~
turers that they ara to furnish no ma
terfal for road building until the prof.
The oflcials Of the council are urging
that new highway and street construce
ton be confined to most essential
needs, and announce that they will
give hrst consideration to the MAIN
tenance Of highways already COM
pietsd; Reeonstrnction is to be IA
clear that maintenance is no longer
possible except at prohibftive cost.
The council Is soon to begin, in CO.
operation with the bureau Of public
roads of the Department Of Agricul-
ture and the state highway depart.
road and street construction, recon
struction and maintenance throughout
the United States for the working sea-
son of 1919.
The purpose is to approximate the
character and amount Of work deemed
essential for 1918. with the amount
and character of financing and mate
rial involved, and the probable demand
on rail and water transportation and
labor supply. The preparation of the
program in each state is to be in
charge OF the state highway depart
ment.
New construction, officials Of the
council announce, will be given con-
slderat1on In the following order:
First, highways and streets OF mill
tary value. used regularly for the
transportation of military supplies in
considerable quantity; for the move-
ment as an established practice OF
Army truck trains, or essential to the
efficient operation of a military canton
ment post or plant: second. highways
and streets Of national economic value.
serving directly to promote the ma
tlonal welfare and not merely local
welfare; third, unfinished contracts in
volving contractural obligations which
may not be disturbed without serious
consequences: fourth, streets and high
ways which. although not Of national
economic importance, are of extreme
of which has progressed to such
point that serious hardship would be
caused II their construction or COM
plet1on should be postponed.
X
Experts of the geological survey, in
cooperation with the territory of
Hawaii. have for
Water Resources several years been
er studying the water
1CSOuTCCS VI lu0
islands with a view to increasing the
amount Of water available for use in
irrigation, and therefore In the output
Of sugar and other crops. ..
The entire group of Hawaiian
Islands. twenty in number, extending
in chain for hundreds of miles, is of
volcanic origin, though some of the
islets and reefs are but the wave-bat-
tered remnants Of volcanoes whose
fires died out long ago. The Island
of Hawaii has been formed. SO the
biologists tell us, by the coalescenSe
Of many recently formed volcanoes.
The walls of the crater of the active
volcano Of Kilauea. on this island. are
broken down on one side, giving access
to its lake of fire." This volcano has
not always been gentle in its ways,
but 1t is now so well behaved that the
visitor can stand safely on the edge
of it's fiery pit and, if the volcano is
active. watch the molten rock boiling
and Spouting 100 to 800 feet below.
Sometimes many fountains throw up
Jets of glowing sulphurous lava and
light up with CHASTITY glare the froWn-
ing cragS that rim the crater. Then,
suddenly and with deafening detona-
lions, the jets rush together and con-
vert the lake into a burning, seething,
roaring mass, making scene to which
few others in the world are compar-
able, according to our survey experts,
who have studied this and many other
volcanoes.
Mauna Loa, on the Island of Hawaii,
and a neighboring volcanic cone,
Mauna kea, both nearly 1900 feet
above the sea, are among the highest
island mountains in the world. On
the other islands Of the Hawaiian.
group there are volcanic mountains
scarcely less interesting. The crater
Of Haleakala, in the summit Of East
Maui. 10000 feet above sea level, is
one of the largest extinct craters in
the world, and is as well preserved
as II its fires had been extinguished
but a few years, instead Of perhaps
several hundred years ago.
The active volcanoes Of Hawaii give
a wonderful demonstration of the
tains have been built up from the
days Of Capt Cook. biologists and
others who are interested in the
problems Of volcanoes have visited
the Hawaiian Islands and written
about them.
Near the base Of these mountains OF
igneous. rock lie fields Of sugar cane,
which are just now Of special inter-
from mountain streams and from
wells and drainage tunnels that tap
underground supplies. It is the study
Of this irrigation problem that the
survey officials are most interested in
at this time.
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Tho education system of the Army,
beginning with the Military Academy