Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whitney Laboratory of Seismology

The trustees of the estates of Edward and Caroline Whitney gave to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $25,000 for a memorial fund; the principal and interest were to be expended at MIT’s discretion for research or teaching in geophysics, especially seismology. Investigations in Hawaiʻi were recommended. MIT gave Thomas A Jaggar a leave of absence; he arrived at Kilauea on January 17, 1912.

Work then started on what would be the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. A cellar excavation on the north rim of Kilauea caldera started on February 16, 1912, marking the beginning of permanent facilities for the Observatory – the basement housed the seismometers; it was known as the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology. On February 11, 1940, the nearby Volcano House burned to the ground, and this led to the relocating of the Observatory facilities. (The present Volcano House opened for business in November 1941.)

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

19th Hole

A standard round of golf has only eighteen holes. The 19th hole is a code term typically for a pub, bar or restaurant on or near the golf course, very often the clubhouse itself. Golfer will say they are at the ‘19th hole,’ meaning they are getting a drink after the round.

For a while, Volcano House was advertising golf with a unique 19th hole. “The nineteenth hole of Kilauea golf course at Hilo, Hawai‘i, provides the worst golfer in the world a chance to record his hole-in-one. It is the Halemaʻumaʻu fire-pit of Kilauea volcano and is half a mile wide and 1200 feet deep.”

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Charlie Chaplin

“Charlie (Chaplin) in his honest-to-goodness self and personality today walked up the main street of Honolulu. So thousands of movie fans who have laughed themselves hoarse the antics and swagger of the jovial Charlie on the screen will have an opportunity for the next few week of occasionally bumping into that worthy the streets. … Charlie arrived on the Matsonia. In the Chaplin party also were Miss Eda Purviance, another well known screen star; Tom Harrington and Bob Wagner of the Saturday Evening Post staff…

“Charlie is here primarily for rest and to see the sights of the islands … “Charlie was asked what he thought of Honolulu. ‘Great,’ he exclaimed, enthusiastically: ‘I love every minute of it. I wish I could stay here longer. I’m tickled to death with the place. I was going to New York instead but, say, this has got anything I’ve seen beaten by a mile.’” When asked of Hilo, “You wish to write my impressions of Hilo. Very good. Here it is. I saw the volcano.” (Charlie Chaplin)

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‘And Now I Must Pay’

“Ten minutes to eight. Margaret died instantly. She did not suffer. And now I must pay.” … (So said the note found on the seat of a car at the edge of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at Volcano.) (The next day (June 3, 1932,) an 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Colima and Jalisco in Mexico produced a tidal wave which was recorded strongly at Hilo, Hawaii (little damage and no deaths were recorded.) “The tragedy had its inception when Nunes, a Portuguese, wished to take the young high school student (Enos) in marriage. She declined to consider matrimony.”

“The twenty-year-old youth (Nunes) was educated in American schools and had started a promising business career.” “About a year ago Sylvester met Margaret Enos.” “In the end Sylvester, with his spying, his letters and his jealous protests, became such a nuisance that the girl told him she never wanted to see him again.” “Taking Margaret to the volcano … it is presumed he again made his protestations of love and asked her to marry him. She evidently refused, for evidence indicates he shot her and, clasping her in his arms leaped into the fiery pit.”

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Hoʻopuloa

Edward G Wingate, USGS topographical engineer, was mapping the summit of Mauna Loa in 1926, changing campsites as the work progressed. On April 10, an earthquake wakened the campers about 0145; as they drifted back to sleep, a further series of quakes had them sitting up, talking, and wondering. About 0330 Wingate braved the cold and wind; with a blanket wrapped around him, he went outside and stood bathed in reddish light.

There was a brief summit eruption, followed by 14 days of eruption on the southwest rift zone. A flow from this rift zone passed through a South Kona forest, crossed the main road on April 16, and pooled behind the coastal village of Hoʻopuloa, it was 15-20 feet high and more than 500 feet wide. Between 0400 and 0900 HST on April 18, the flow buried the village, wharf and harbor and entered the ocean.