Evening star., 1925-08-13
BY CARROLL BINDER.
Correspondence Of The, Star and the Chicago
Daily News


KILAUEA CRATER. Hawaii Cby
maip.-Perched on the edge of the IA
nous Kilauea crater and overlooking
the even more famous fiery RED lava
is a little outpost in which man is
fighting one of his great battles
against nature.
AS a physician seeking mastery over
some dread ailment watches cease
lessly every development of the pa
tient suffering from the disease, so
from his watch tower on a Hawaiian
summit Prof. Thomas A. Jaggar
worldfamous volcanologist, studies
every movement of Kilauea crater. of
Mauna Loa, Mauna kea and other
volcanoes looming on the horizon.
Prof. Jaggar does not restrict his
surveillance TO the volcanoes and
craters. of which Hawaii has such an
abundance. Disturbances miles under
the sea or in far-off Japan Chile, Mon
tana or Martinique are faithfully re-
corded by the delicate instruments of
the Hawaiian volcano observatory,
which rests on the solid rock of the
bluff overhanging Kilauea. All these
Prof. Jaggar patiently studies and re-
ports upon to fellow students of earth
movements in other parts of the world.
Would Master Eruptions.
Man has met and conquered the
West India hurricane. the typhoon of
the Philippines. the flood which men.
aced great communities, DIR. Jaggar
and his colleagues reason. Whv
should he not master earth move
ments such as earthquakes and vol
canoes? No one expects 10 reach
down into the bowels of the earth
and, halt or modify those mighty
movements of gas, heat and other
forces of nature which give us a San
Francisco earthquake or that produce
NeSuVluS eruption. 1t is possible
however, say these seismologists, to
learn how and when such manifesto
tions come and TO minimize the injury
done through such disturbances
In that service DIR. Jaggar aban-
doned his teaching post at the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology and
"A years ago took up his abode at
kflauea, where are TO be found the
most active pair of volcanoes and
the most active crater in the world
A group of Hawaiian business men
financed the pioneering studies made
by DR.. Jaggar and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology paid the in
Vestigator's salary for a time. Con-
gress was finally prevailed upon to
support this invaluable scientific re-
search to the extent of $4,000 a
year and DR.. Jaggar and his as
s1stants are now on the staff of the
United States Geological Survey.
Hawaiian business men contribute an
additional $4,000 annually to help ex-
tend the work, which is still handi-
capped by a lack of funds.
Distinguished men of science are
studying earth movements in observa-
tories all over the world. The unique
function of DR.. Jaggar, in addition to
recording the 90 to 40 earthquakes
felt each week at the observatory is
TO keep a diary of these active vol
canoes, showing just what takes place
before. during and after a movement
of the earth. Scientists used to make
extensive Investigations of the results
of a volcano eruption or an earth
quake. DIR. Jaggar's observatory is
on the job day and night, measuring
movements of the earth. air. live lava
when it is visible and changes in the
temperature at the vents pouring
forth heat from Subterranean fur
naceS.
There has been no fire in Halemau-
mau pit since the great lava flow of