The state herald., 1920-12-03
A VOLCANIC BARNUM AND
BAILEY

1Oun8 Amertce Will 0fOp o0ytDlnk
to run to 4 nre. In some parts OF the
worid-Hswaii. for example-one also
drops everything to run to 4 volcano
eruption. unless he already Ii too close
for comfort. Then he runs from II.
Have you ever wondered what a vol
cano. In action, looks likef Here Is
description. not by a scientist. but BY
young Washington woman who went
to Hawaii to live Just before Aauna
Loa's terrific eruption last year:
ut seems as II Hawaii, though small.
must have Just 20 much attention. and
so ever % often she explosively projects
herself into the arena Of the worlds
happenings" wrote Ars. Shirley Fos-
ter Allen. "Not content with her share
In the Big Show In Europs. she de-
cided to stage q nrst-class side show
all her own-and the two volcanoes,
Mauna Loa and Kilauea, have certain.
ly done their best to make Il the big.
gsst show on earth
"Just a word about the geography
Of the place. In the nrst place 70
many people seem to think the word
Honolulu embraces all there 10 to the
Islands; and In the second place, the
general conception seems to be that
the volcano IL located in HoooluIu's
back yard. as II were. and that
We Honolulans take our daily
exercise by running up to the
crater every morning before break.
fast. Honolulu Is located on the
Island OF Oahu. third island In size
In the group. while the volcano, or
rather volcanoes. are located on Ha.
wall. the largest and youngest island.
with an area OF more than 1000 square
miles. which lies nearly 200 miles
southeast OF Oahu.
THE first Indication Of volcanic ac-
tlvity was the presence OF = peculiar
cnullhower-shaped cloud hanging over
the mountain. Three days later. on
September 20. the whole heavens were
III up with an apricot glow when. from
a huge vent In the mountains side. n
flood Of molten lava was beiched forth.
Spreading out Into great shallow
stream. II came roaring down the
mountain slope. burning forests. car
rying huge trees and immense b0nld-
crs on It's surface-sweeping every
thing before II. With speed varying
from one to twenty miles an hour. &C.
cordlng TO the country II was passing
over, 1T broadcned ont until II was
nearly mile In width. After wipng
out the government belt rond, razng
telephone poles md destroying q vast
amount Of property, the rcd.hot Lawn
tuinbled over II high preclpice and
plunged hisslng into the sen.
"A number Of excursions were made
In October from Honolulu. md, 10 ap.
pronchlng the fiow from the sen In the
early evening. the glow from the lnvn
was visible for many miles before
AlIka was reached.
Drifting within 200 yards OF the
point where the liquid rock was rush
Ing into the sen, the scene stretching bc.
fore one was nwcInsplring. Slowly
the smoky hnze. from the burning for.
esis. which hung over the source 20
miles away. lifted and the river Of
hrc stood ou, In Its full glory. holding
one spcccllcss mud spellbound. Leap
Ing from pail TO valley. rushing M.
hill and roaring down. the fiery food
Numbered down the mountain slope,
carrying on its bosom rocks M biz ns
houses TINT were tossed about ms "
they were mere pebbles. A. ths
stream Of blnzing inyn neared the
constiinc. II nppenrcd TO gnther more
speed. linking hnnl plunge over 100.
foot clifr NJ n terrific rnte. md look.
Ing for NIL the world like n fiery NJ.
ngnrn. As tho red.hot lnvn cnme In
contact with the wntcr. grent columns
Of steam md gns. like huge wn'er.
spouis. were forced hundreds II Zee,
Into the mir. Huge bouldcrs. hurled
Into spacc. exploded with thundcrous
reports into aurns of red and green
lights. while flashes of what looked
like lightning added 10 the chnos."