Some German Subjects in South Sea Islands
tan
WTlVi: UK TIIK Sii.().MiN ISLANDS
(Copyright, 1MI, by l'rank O. Carpenter.)
IH'ltSli.W ISLAND. Torres Strait,
July 17. iSpiclal Correspoiidenco
nf Tin1 Hoc.)-Germany Is rapidly
spotting thin part of llic Pacific
Willi Its possesions. It Im giving new
names to Its different it okti los. so that
ono will soon need a Teutonic illetlonury to
know where he Is. Just mirth of Torres
strait, on the other slile of Hellish New
(iulnen, Is Kaiser Wllholtu's Latiil. This
Is the German seetloti of New Guinea, the
largest Island In the world. Tho groat col
lectlim of Islands to the eastward, which
was onco known as the New Ilrltain
archipelago, Is now the Hlsninrck archi
pelago, mill, ItiM" ad of New Ilrltain and
New Ireland, we have Nc n I'oinmeru and
Neu Mecklenburg The Goruini s now own
the Admlraltv Man V. They h ive renamed
the Duke if Yt Hi Islands N. U Lunenburg
They havo h ng owned tin Marshall Island
i ml 111 IM'ii tlo bought the Carolins. Hi
I'rlnws and I lie Ladrnin et Stain for some
tiling 1 ke l no Til' ii u' 1 t i n
ments now eomo from the emperor hiins. If
The natettal developments are all still in
i he hand of tin' N'ew (In. Ilea ciiinp.iti .
wlili h controls the if. idi' not only if the
mainland. Inn of the l-latnls. and w'iMi
it.- s eam and sailing wssols moving from
port to port.
Kaiser Wllhelm's Land proper Is about
.ne-tlilrd as law as the whole Gorman
empire and Its German population Is Jusit
liftv-three souls. It has in addition to
these about llo.imo natlws and live other
lluropeans, so ou ran fee that the land s
by no meacs overerowded. The seats of
government at ptesent are the town ii
Stophensort on Astrolabe bay and Her
bertshoho on the Island of Neu I'otiimeni
Itoinirci'N of the iilin,
Not far back of Astrolabe bay are tho
Hlsmarek mountains, wbleh are now helm;
prospeited for gold and that so success
fully that mines hae recently been opened
although I am unable to say anything as to
the output. Cocoauut paves to the c
tent of 3'i.ui'O trees have been set out and
there are also plantatloin of coffee, cotton,
tobacco and rubber.
Ono of the best parts of Kaiser Wilhelm s
Land Is at the southeast, olf lluon guir
Hero there Is a good harbor and the coun
try Is said to be well populated. The land
Is wooded along the coast, but further back
It consists of rolling plains, which are
dotted with trees and are as green as an
Hngllsli park The New Guinea eompan
has n station hero and the natives raise
horses and cattle.
Some of tin land Is Irrigated by the na
tives, who use tubes of bamboo to carry
tho water from ono level to nnother and
to distribute it over their little Holds. They
are natural farmers and grow yams, sweet
potatoes and bananas and of late Indian
corn. A great deal of the work Is done by
tho w imen. although both women and men
work on the plantations of tho New Guinea
company.
The best products so far have been cotton
and tobacco. There are several cotton
plantations about Astrolabe bay, one of
which, near Konstatitinlinfi n. recently pro
duced 13,000 pounds of cotton from twenty
flvo acres, or an nveragi of n20 pounds
per acre. The wanes paid on the planta
tions range from $1 to ?2 .0 per im nth
The best workmen come from the Islands
snrs. .11 thi t.ipanese burn them". In -with
the no ,i
I ha. I'hnii iMMphs of tialle hollas lc
ieiitl t.ik. n in Kaiser Vllhelin-s Land.
Many f unities live together and imin of
the h. uses ate of enormous size. They are
freipn Mtly Lullt npeti piles, a platform of
poles being first constructed, a skeleton
frnnu w ik built upon this and mats of
wow n haf or grass fastened to It. The
mait. Me so arranged that they can be
ralsi 1 or lowered so as to keep out the
mosq "oeo and "les which are cxrccdltmlv
talnoii- .tulitr. Inning to 'lanoi
whit ti nr.- constantly active, and . ue meun
tain of an altitude of more than two mil.
aluie the sea. The natives lure are or
the same race as those of New Guinea, and
they are quite as savage. In most case
the men go naked, and in some of the
Islands the women do not wear clothliiK
until they are married, and after mnni ige
they have but little SHU both sews are
fond if ornament M"ti and women pierce
th-ir ..us. the holes 111 the lobes being
urii.lc.alh tr.t.bed until the ate as bin
i-i'' in: in-: mi:ii divkils khom tiih solomon islands
SOMi: SOfTH SKA "GKltM ANS
i liidel (iii.i'o in the bargain had wo not
t a L ( ii p '-. ssi'.n of it in our settlement of
'It Sinilli-nurii an war and they are
Mill looking about fur everything loose.
Ml tlio Islands I have mentioned nro now
governed In connection with Kaiser Wll
helm Land and altogether they form what
may be called Germany's colonial Island em
pire of tho I'acltle.
ICiiUoi' Wlllielin'N I, null,
Let mo glvo somo now Information about
Kaiser Wllhelm's Land. Tho country la
almost unknown nnd n vnst part of It Is
yet unexplnri d. Tho Germans havo their
sclent lib parties and surveying expeditions
scattered hero and there over It, but tho
Interior will long remain nntrodlen by white
mon. The country Is better known as
German New Guinea. It forms the north
east, rn quarter of that Island, having been
under the iiiln of the Germans for tho past
seventeen years Up until ISO'J Us gov
ernment was In the hands of tho German
New Guln.a company, but the administra
tion was taken over by tho Imperial gov
ernment two years ago and nil appoint
of tho Hlsinark an hlpelago, and the New
Guiina company Is using soinit Imported
labor from there. There are plantations
also In tho archipelago Itself, the livgest
being In Neu Pnmmcrn, where one man
has .MjO acres In colfee and cotton, and
whero the Hamburg riantatlon company
Is said to be growing coffee successfully.
(liieer Sutijei'tx or the KnlMer.
Tho German emperor has some rare birds
In his colonial nvlary of the Pacific. The
nntlves of Kaiser Wllhelm's Land nro, If
anything, wilder nnd nioro savago than
those of Hrltlsh New Guinea. There are
thousands nf them who go naked eave for
n breechcloth of bark for the men and a
short pett'eoat of woven grass for tho
women. Along the extreme northern coast
there nro some tribes which go entirely
naked, with tho exception of a shell neck
Inco and a few blrd-of-panullBo feathers
which they stick In their hair Somo tribes
paint thcmuelves In stripes of white, red,
yellow and black, and somo scar them
selves with (lints and also bv burning
bad. In other parts there are houses built
In the trees, In which tho people retreat In
times ot danger.
War mill ('iiiiiiIIhiII-mi.
The dllfercnt tribes are frequently at
war with ono another and the missionaries
tell me that I hey haw a systim of on
ditta which goi s on between ttlhes aid vil
lages, often hinting for yeais. Cannlli .Usui
exists in some localities, though not to a
treat extent. The Hrltlsh have obsi rved
n among the piople along the Gulf f l'apua
and It Is also found In northern New Guinea.
The i idlnary food of the n.itlxes Is about
i tin same as that of the S.iliioan Islnnds.
ih. Ir chief diet being yam, taro and
Italian,. s In Gorman New Guinea, strangely i
enough, the natives are natural In er drink- i
ere They make a liquor by chewing the
root of i he Uava plant and fei mcnting the
spittle oaked mixture. After nwhllu It In -coiui
s intoxicating and Is then used In cere
monial feasts. Until Boxes chow the In tel
nut, but. ns a rule, they do not d i In K In
toxicating Illinois. In Hilllsh New Gulmn
It Is against tho law to sell Intoxicating
1 1 1 1 ii rs to the natives and anyone who does
so Is subject to a fine of $KiO or more.
In (he IllniuirfU A roll I pclnuo.
The Islands of tho Hlsmarek archipelago
have Homo stranger tribes than this- of
Ni w Guinea Itself. On ono Island, accord
ing to my best niilhorltleo, the glrln aro
kept In cages from the age of f, or S ymrs
until they are tuarrlul. Tho rages, mado
of wickcrwork, nro set up inside larger
house made for the purpose. The girls
are only taken outside once a day to bo
washed, but otherwise they are not per
mitted to get olllflde the wicker. Their food
Is handed through the bats and they move
about nt limes like caged lions 'Ih'so
nigra are unili r the charge of the old
women of the tribe, who see (hat the girls
do not 111 rt with the passersby or Hid peepers-In
The young men havo the right to
look at the cages now and then and, pr ti
ably, after making proper presents to 'he
watch guards and the parents of the girl
they can woo the maiden through tho
meshes of bamboo.
I tim told the girls do not suffer In
health from their Imprisonment and Hint
notwithstanding their seclusion they make
very good wives and later on are by no
menus averse to having their daughters
cnged up as they were. The girls matur
very rapidly In thin hot climate. The mar
riageable ngn la 11 or 12 and at in a girl
Is nn old maid.
Ill Neil M i-cl.l en till i-K.
The Island of Neu rommein Is :t".n milis.
lo.ig and Neu Meckb'iihurg perhaps inn
miles shorter, with a width on the averagi
of about fifteen miles. Ilolh Islands are
more or less rolling, Neu Mecklenburg
having the Schlelntz
rench a height of 7,000
In Neu Mecklenburg
village are divided Into two classes and
marriage hit ween the rlasses Is strictly
prohibited. If a woman marries outsldo of
her clnss the punishment Is death, and, If
a man, he suffers a heavy lino. The women
and men go inked. Cannibalism Is common,
and both human beings nnd pmk are
cooked for food, all other kinds of eata
bles, so It Is said, being rntrn In n raw
state. The proplo live In small huts, which
are of a beehive shape and surrounded
by bamboo fences. Tho young unmarried
men havo club hoilRes where they llvo to
gether, and tho girls, as I havo said, aro
confined tn the cages.
A Ilttlo to the east of the Illsman k an hl
pelago nre tho Solomon Islands, whbh until
IKfi'J belonged almost entirely to Germany.
Tho uppermost part of the chain. Including
somo of tho larger Island" aro still Ger
man, and they nro now under tho officials
of Kaiser Wllhelm's Land The principal
iBlnnd In this group Is H'.uualnvlllo, which
Is hipgor than I'orto Klco It 13 a moun-
around as a napkin ting. Wnotig some
tribes tho nose Is pierced nnd a long pin
of bono or bhell worn thmugli it. Neck
lncec of hhell are common and bracelets
and chains of beads and shell ate fie
qllenlly worn. There Is some Initialing,
and the seats made by buriiliii; the uioxa
nre considered line ornatneiits There are
lull housi'H here, as In New Guinea, but
the people generally llvo In hut of dlffei
"111 S7( s. those of the (ill. fi I. u I I rue
These people are also cannibals and head
hunting Is the pri.foM.ltm and phsmiro of
a part of Hie ouug men. Polygamy !
practiced and some of tile chiefs Imvo as
many as lot) wlw-s. They are to n certain
extent farmers and raise batiatiai, yam
and taro. They ale good llsherinen an I
gather shells and pearls for sale.
Ileehi" lie Mcr rixtifrlco.
Along the coast of these Islands and es
puially about New Guinea anil In Tone-
strait one of Hie chief businesses l gatb
cling and shipping becbe de mcr, tho gi
gantic sea worms or Hlugs. which are so
much prized by the I'hlncxc. ranking with
birds' nesl soup and sharks' tins as ono of
tho delicacies of owry celestial feast. A
largo part of the shipments of becbe dc
iner aro from Thursday Island. Then) are
companies here which are engaged In llio
business, employing hundreds of men. They
tiso boats of live or six tons each and travel
from place lo place gatheilng Hie sea slug,
ami preparing them for the market. Thev
are caught by dlxlng. Ihe best .livers com
lug from tho various Islands, somo from
the Loulslade group. Home from tile Solo
mon nnd some from New Guinea. Somo are
men nnd some are women, the latter being
paid as little as t -' a month. Tho men
divers often receive as high as n month
but on tho overage about J'J to). Tho wages
aro often paid In tobacco and clothing In
stead of money.
('iiciinilici'N of Hie Sen.
Tho becho do iner nre called the .-in uui
hers of tho sea because they look so mm Ii
llko eiiciiitiliers ns they lie In tho wal.r
They range In length ftom one foot lo four
feet nnd from the thickness of your wrist
to that of your calf. They are found upon
the coral reefs and nro picked off at low
tide or obtained by diving down to a depth
of from twelve to eighteen feet. The Usher
men collect tllem In sacks and carry tin in
to curing stations, where they uio boiled
cleaned and laid In the sun lo dry. After
that they are carried to the suiokeliolise
and anioked for twetily-four hours. They
bnvo now shrunken lo Hit. length of kIx
Inches nnd look llko well cooked Prank
furter sausages They arc next bagged up
(Colli iniied on Klghth !'"g- 1
A NEW ART SERIES
The lieu has beciircil u hci ies of beautiful repioductlons of famous paintings and
beautiful pictures la colors These plcturis are all suitable for framing and will
lool. handsome In an home 1 t i i f tho series will be
i
mountains, which
feet.
the people of each
PHARAOH'S HORSES.
This Is a copy of the painting of tho Kngllsh artist. John Kredern Ii Herring, and
Is ptolmbly the most f.m us pi.'uri of its lilud. The head-i of tin se nolile annual
nro executed with reiuarl ible vigor and the liingraphi copv I uiosi -ai I -ifaetor.v
How to Get Them.
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less than one dollar. Hy set urlng an Immense quantity of them we are ablo to offer
them
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