Evening star., 1939-02-13

forth farther up the mountainside,
as she did In December, 1885, when
she 80 seriously menaced the city
Of Hilo. about IS miles distant, that
the army was summoned to duty
and the pathway of the goddess was
blocked by some man-made fire.
works in the form OF bombs dropped
from ariplanes.
Her Domain Is Vast.
That duel between Pele and man
Is one of the most dramatic chapters
In Hawaiian history. I hope to do
Ii justice in the course of a later
contribution. For the present it
must stand as an incident in the
immeasurable career of this CAPRI
cious goddess of fire. I am now
merely seeking to give an idea of
the vast extent of Pele's domain at
kilauwea, or more properly, to use
the broader and more inclusive term,
Maunaloa.
She is an erratic goddess, Pele. AS
have noted, she used to make her
headquarters at Maunakea, a few
score of feet higher than Maunaloa,
situated about 80 miles to the north.
Nobody knows how many times she
manifested her wrath there. There
are lava flows upon lava flows in all
directions on the f1anks of Mauna-
kea. and now the great vent is
closed, evidently for all time, and It
has been closed, probably, for MANY
centuries. The lava flows have IN
large measure been covered with soil
and grass and today cattle in great
numbers feed on the flanks of this
mountain that once were scaldin2
torrents of molten rock. AssuredIv
say the scientists, Maunakea Is
ished."
But Pele is not pau" She is still
a very definite factor in Hawaiian
lie. No matter how well educated
the Hawaiians may be in present.
oay affairs and knowledge of nature
Pele remains definite force with an
unknown number of them. To her
are attributed all the great disturb
ances OF the earth. To her is allo-
Gated a home. And whenever she
turns over in her sleep and the earth
trembles and the seismopraphic
needle jiggles back and forth across
tne tape IN DR.. Jaggar's laboratory
on the edge of Kilauea such a
trihing little bit of mechanism com
pared with the titanic forces down
below the eruption-scarred surface
-tnere is excitement in the islands
real excitement and not such as that
Whlch was manifested the other day
Wnen reports of the coming of a
tloai wave were received.
Volcano Force Needs Study.
Pele and her resting places and
ner works constitute too big sub
Ject Tor a comprehensive treatment
al present. The literature" of the
volcano is an extensive one and II
is constantly growing. In fact. how
ever, the subject is not adequately
studied. although it is of vital i'm
portance to mankind. The other
Gay at Volcano House, on the edge
o! the vast crater, I met DR.. Jappar
whose name is almost synonymous
with Kilauea and Halemaumau
he talked at some length on the sub
Ject OF volcanology. with the tech
nlcal terms of which I was and still
am only very slightly acquainted
But there was no misunderstanding
MS protest against the lack of some
means of adequate study of these
great forces which constitute the
motive power of the earth.
Nearly every other branch of
learning and research has been
richly endowed for study and
analysis. But for the study of the
earth itself there Is no proper ano
sumcient provision. And yet we
live upon the earth, draw our sus.
tenance from the earth, utilize the
forces OF the earth in our activities
and our industries, and we depenc