The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1920-08-26

kau flow. There were two cars fror
our hotel. and one from the Volean
{ House, making at least twenty in tn
] entire party We motored twelv
miles and then left the cars The vet
. ersn guide Alec, who knows thi
country well, led the party along th'
four mile walk During the tremcn
dous activity Of kilauea last year n
Underground fow began TO push south
ward. II finally forced lis way TO th'
surface, about six miles in an air lin,
from the active crater; from thu
opening the lava poured out and GOV,
erd acres Of land. AS Il flows along
the lava 'freezes" over; in other
words il eools quickly and forms q
crust. This crust thiekens in time SO
that it can bear up persons, but as no
one knows exactly how thick the
crust is, il is unsafe for a tender
foot" to go about without guide. At
times the underground flow is OBJ
structed and the pressure causes an
uplift OF huge mounds OF lava, that
often burst open because Of imprison-
cd gases, and the result is a mound
with wide cracks dividing IT,
For about three miles our party
walked across the ancient eruption Of
1892. During our tramp we came to
footprints Of bare feet in a smooth
part Of the ground We could trace
the footprints and see the marks Of
the toes. The evening before, we were
told Of these footprints by the assist
ant superintendent of the Volcano
Observatory. He said that about 1892
a heavy eruption Of volcanic ash COW
cred that region and that the ash con-
tanned some percentage OF gypsum;
that probably natives had crossed this
ash during a rain or soon after a rain
when the ash was softened The ash
became solidifed, preserving the foot
prints. 1t is a historical fact that a
company of native warriors, marching
through this district to join the army
of Kamchaneha, were overwhelmed
by this volcanic eruption and persisted.
We found quantities Of petrified ran
drops at this part of our tramp; the
rain falling through clouds Of ash coli
leeted the particles Of dust and rolling
around on thc surface became little
balls of moss ash, which solidified on
evaporation. | give this as it was told
by the asst ,.ans superintendent. We
picked up some Of these petrified rain
drops, which Afe as large as pens.
After time we came to tho edges ~
the new lava, which is very black and
shiny, ami the surface is friable as
we walked over It, Our guide said il
was not owe ten days old. II was
quite warm SO that we felt the heat
through our shoes. and | wondered
sometimes hoS thick the crust was,
and whether some red hot lava was
running underneath. After a half
mile over tho new lava, we came to
pool, about twenty feet square that
was open; the surface was erusted
over but we could see that there was
motion underneath. All around the
overhanging edges we saw the red and
white hot lava glowing. We could
stand about fourteen feet from the
edge of the pool; but it seemed risky
to do so, for this pool has the repu-
tation Of suddenly fountaining and
throwing spatters of lava around the
banks. Our guide told us the pool was
rising, and If we stayed long enough
We would see something Sure
enough, the pool suddenly blew up and
sent spatters of lava all about the
Dcnks Most Of the party had pru-
lently withdrawn from the near
but one man stayed rather
hear and in his haste TO get away
stepped on a hollow tube with thin
rust and broke in Fortunately there
vas not hot lava in the tube, but be
Ell forward onto his hands and cut
hem in many places on the sharp,
glass-like slivers
This Kau flow is still slowly push ,
ng its way over the country. The ,
.uide told Us the extreme end was two /
niles father south, and that il was
.nsafe to try to reach il. because Of .
be many streams Of lava thinly crust 7
d over. On our four-mile walk back [
o the cars a heavy shower came up Z
ud gave as q soaking. We had wraps
Z the car. which protected US some &
hat on our ride back in the wind; but I
3 one took cold The tweniy-four :
1ile ride and eight mile walk over e
ourh trail made some of us Feel stiff. {
The rs. day 81 june We left Crater Z
Iatei. to s.ay two days n Hi'o July
VIC took the scenic railroad trip /
lone the Hamakua coast This road (
forty miles 'in length and runs for ,
acs along the edges of high bluffs ,
descend - p.tous.y q the sos. +
crosses over deep gorges on tre.le- !
-ork bridges II has hair-pin turns. Z