The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-23
HOUSE OF FIRE

Cbarles owens, artist and frea 1Ya,,,e editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times, have Just re- ui 4,teir nI1 from Hawaii, where they spent '1ie'l yacations on the rim of an eruplin7 r,a1oano watching the play Of ever ,.;,,lr ,ol1ai1o firs" down in the creater ot Tiianea MT. owens brought pack 11o slxetches and MT Hougue certaih facts. which will prove of great lii- terest to geologlsts. r,o
 Picture to yourself this scene: The Island of Hawaii, rising out oi .ne sea. gorgeously green on the "es. eide and utterly barren on the east sido with peak near the center l3,-
 sT5 feet high, called Mauna Loa-the volcano which built up the island now serenely silent. On the slope side of this silent volcano. 4,O4o rect above sea level, picture deep pit about one-half mile across, with walls like the Palisades, at the bottom ol which lies a lake of red-hot lava That is Halemaumau. crater With- in the larger crater of Kilauea. called the House of Everlasting Fire. some of the strange things the trained op- servers have to say about this actlVe volcano are:
 The lava lake, at the bottom of the alf-mile-across pit, is continually changing level. One, day the lake rose to within 225 feet of the rim; the next day it dropped down 725 feet and stood at 950 feet below the rim. If the lake should rise higher than the rim, the lava would, of course, overflow and stream down the noun tainside. Looking down into the pit. as if into the Hudson, from the Pal isades, one beholds a fiery and tenn pestuous scene-a seething, raging storm of gases, molten matter, chem istrY and fire. Never for two mo- ments is the surface the same. One moment the darkling tides turn black, then a fierce fountain of fire erupts, dies down and bursts forth in another place. Besides the rising and sinking of the lava lake as whole, the sur face undulates like ocean tides, while jagged, crimson?red lines run across the lurid waves like chain-lig ightning across a stormcloud.
 Does it not change your ideas of volcanoes to know that a human being can look down into this in- ferno and live? From the pit, as from the chimney of a foundry, violent draft of poisonous gases and air ascends; so you cannot lean owed the rim, but you can cling to rocks and look over" "A blind man." says MT. Hogue, standing on the rim and feeling the rush of outside air into the chimney of gases, would think himself on the seashore. When the fountains of fire erupt, the roar is the same as when ocean tides | beat upon the beaches"
 A stranger fact is that the tempera- ture of the lava at the surface of the lake is 1900 degrees above zero, | whereas at depth of thirty feet it is only 1,400 degrees above zero. The | temperature was taken with special | thermometers inclosed in steel cases | (The melting point of steel is said to | be higher than 5000 degrees above | zero.) The steel-inclosed thermome- | ters could not be sunk deeper than | thirty feet in the lava because the | lava becomes thicker the deeper one | goes. These facts seem to contra dict the theory that the deeper one | goes the hotter becomes the temper | ature. so the interior of the earth | may not be molten after all. MT. Hogue says the surface of the laval | lake is hotter than the depths, be- cause the lava is raised by gases which ignite upon meeting the air. | ana that the superheating of the sur Face is caused by the burning gases.
 Thls is indeed a revolutionary sur. Eestion respecting the internal con ultlon of the earth which should be carefully considered by geologists. The temperature tests were care fully taken and the data is avail able.
 With the surface temperature as high as 1900 degrees, bottles and cans thrown into the pit burst into flames before striking bottom. Thou- sands of sea birds are attracted bv the lurid light, like moths to a flame. and disappear in the glare. Mr.Hogue says one flock of big birls, having a 1ive-foot wing spread, flew down Into the pits mouth, where thev Iioated Tor some minutes without Tapping a wing. apparently asphyxi- ated by the sulphurous fumes, then Suadenly burst into flame and smoke.
 One Fifth avenue shop is featur- Ing new accessory sets that would make practical gift which the we'll dressed woman might appreciates The Jet consists of novelty gloves in either ruede or glace, and stockings to