Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 146, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1920 — Fire God Diverts Flow of Lava. [ARTICLE]

Fire God Diverts Flow of Lava.

During the recent lava flow down the side of Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii an ancient Chinese farmer looked out of his doorway to see the molten mass making straight for his hut. Panic stricken, he called upon all the gods he had ever heard of to spare his home and his farm, but to no avail until an old Hawaiian helper screamed, “Pray to Pilll” —the Hawaiian God of Fire. The Oriental fell upon his knees and prayed loudly and earnestly. To his great relief the flow changed its course just in time by making an almost right angle turn without apparent cause, flowed on past his home, and then made a sharp turn back to its original course. Proof of this freak of the flow is furnished by the now solidified lava which surrounds the farm on three sides.