European Efforts to Colonize New Guinea
(Cop)ilght, 1!J, t.) Ktunk CI. Carpenter i
IMISSDAY ISLAND Tun en Strait
.Inly 10. -(Special Correspondem o
"f Tliu lti'i. )- Some nf tlu most in
urostlng colonial experiments or
i lir 'iay att) taking plai'i' In New (iulnea
tip- ureal Island which Ill's on tin'
ntlii'i' -Idc of tlu strait. In which this
letter Is dated. The Islatul lias been ilivlilc.l
up among the llrltish. the Duuh anil tlit
Hermans ami each tuition Is now cstublish
i ii K Its settlements upon It a tul sending out
exploring expeditions to investigate its ma-ti-ri.il
ami sclontllle resources. Within tliu
past oiir thy North (iormaii I,lo)d Steam
ship eotnpanv has boon making Now (itiltH'a
in of Its logulnr potts of call. A bit;
s)iulleato, t iilH'il thi' (iermnii-Now (iulnea
tompany, lias boon fotmi'il to develop that
part of tliu Is, ,iik1 ami plantations of cotton,
tobacco ami ruhln r are being set out. The
company has already I lit re steamcis anil a
number ot sailing vessels engaged In Its
I l ade ami It is endeavot lug to build up a
little Herman) away down here In the Smith
I'm l lie ocean. The Dutch are governing
their territory thn ugh the sultan ami 1 1 1 .
native' chiefs Just as they rule the lest of
the Dutch Kast Indies ami the Hrltlsh tiro
managing their property on the same Hues
i hat they c h-ervo In their colonies the world
uvor.
in-ill' IIIkuosI Island.
Ileforo 1 tltscrilio what Is being iloue In
llrltlsli New (iulnea I want to tell you
something about (lie whole Island I havu
leal tied much i oncoming it at the capitals
f the Australian states am! lure at the
Thursday Island, where thole ate tunny
New (iulnea natives. More especially, how
ever, I am liidebud for my Information to
ltev. II. M. D.iuucey. a missionary of the
Church of Knsland, who has lived for leu
)oars In New (iulnea ami who hum before
this letter is published will bo back at his
home in the llrltlsli part of lite Island.
I have boi u traveling for several weeks
with Mr. Dauuccy ami It is through him
that I hac scented photographs of New
(iulnea and its people.
New (iulnea Is by far the largest Island
of the globe. It exceeds llorneo by over
10,000 square miles ami It is binder than
any country of Hurupo except Uussla. It
would make ten states the size u Ne
York and more than thlrty-Hovcii as big as
Massachusetts. From one end of it to the
other it Is us long as from Huston to
Omalt.i ami at places is as wide as from
Huston to Washington.
Look at It as it lies upon the map. It is
just, north of Australia and light under
the oimtnr. extending -or ten degrees
bouth of It. Its shape U that ot a gigantic
bird Hiinttlng on Torres strait and the
Arafltra sea, with Us Island-feathered tali
spread out on the Southern Pncllle ocean
and Its ragged head looking toward the
I hilippiucs and Asia.
What an enoimoits country and how lit
tle known! It Is wilder than A ft lea and
less explored than any part of South
America. Only the smallest part of It has
ever been trodden by white men. It has
savages of whom v.e know nothing and
plants and animals which are Just begin
ning to be pictured in the sclent Ulc Jour
nals. It is a laud of high mountains and low
iiilasinatlc plains. The tallest peaks be
tween the Himalayas and the Andes are
to be found In it. Theio nre mountains in
Dutch New (iulnea supposed to be over
17.100 feet high. They are cove od with
snow all the )ear aioitud ami have never
been climbed. The height of the lilsiuurck
mountaiin In the Herman p. s-esslous Is
estimated at 1(1.000 feet and In llrltlsli New
(ittinea the Owen Stanley range has several
peaks of over 13.000 feel Rack colony lias
one great river, the llrnlsh having the
Fly, which might be called the Mississippi
of the counuy.
llrltlsli v (iuliion.
Toil.i) I wilte cspoilall) ot lint, sh New
liulucn TliM is die southcisu in imimioii
of the cuuiiii). The Ditt.h own the most
bind. The) have (he eastern half ot (he
lil.iud, Including (he head and upper
pait of the bod) of the siiiattlng bird. The
northern section of the .--tnaltnli r belongs
to the Hermans, the southern. Including till'
tall, to the British.
The llrltlsli possesions ate altogether
about tht oc times as large as the state or
Indiana and they now have Just about as
many people ns Cincinnati, of whom onl)
J."'U are Kuiupeaus. The colon) consists or
missionaries, planters, gold minors, a stor.
keeper or two and government olllelals
The M'at of government is at the little town
of Tort Moresby, on the southern eoasi,
Just back ot an excellent harbor. I lute
there Is a government house, the store of
Hut ns, I'hlllp .v Co., a church and about
t.tl native houses. The eliulih is also us, d
as a school loom and Is attended by loo
native children on wick days.
The government uses native policemen
ami It has a force of IL'l native constables
I,) whom urder is kept.
Will lie a Valuable Colon).
Men who nro posted tell me that New
Hulnra will eventually be a valuable pen
session. The government Is vii) itiieful in
leasing or selling the lands, duly a shott
time ago It refusi ,1 to sell L'.'io.ooo aires to
the llrltlsli New (iulnea sndU'ale at DO
cents per acre, notwithstanding the abdi
cate nil i'i i'i to develop the property. It Is
now having numerous applied Ion for
tracts of f.n.ouo acres and upward and
among otlieis Mr. Hums of Hums. Philip a
Co. has oil ted to Invest $.Miii,ociii If he can
have loo. .'. i'i's ot land for his company
No land I. In lug Irrsed or sold without the
proviso that It ! developed and without
continued development tlio title does lint
pass. Th' government is (setting out cocoa
nut gravis ami rubber plantations ami there
is no douhi th it the colony will ivetitually
bo self -suppoi I lug. At present its exp lull
lures are about $77,000 ti year and Its reve
nues about $',S,000. The rcvonuoM are de
ilvid entirely from cmtnius duties and the
,-mallness of both expenditures and reve
nues shows that the colony is si III in its In
fancy.
(iulil Mines of New (iulnea.
There Is no doubt hut that there Is gold
in New Hitinea. hut the mountainous par's
of the cnuntiy liave not b en touched in r
pr. eh ,1 and the ipi.ut possibllltn s ,.u
unknown The most of the milling, so far
has beiu on some of the Wands about tin
coast ami especially on Stalest Island In
the Loulsade archipelago at the tall ot tin
biul, whole eonsldciablo placer mining In
done. Si, me geld his been found on Wl Oil
lark island and quart dip -lis exist n'nni;
th.' Fly river.
There H cousideiablo pea' I llshlug alioiii
the coast and also sponge llshlug. A re
cent Industry Is the cultivation of sponges
ami another, which is iptlle prolltahlo. Is
the gathering of trepan; or ticctio do mcr
morion n Tnlincco iin Money.
Itev. Mr. Dnuticey tells mo that American
tobacco Is Imported by New (iulnea and
that It forms the chief curieticy of tie
nativts. The tobaico Is made up In sticks
ns long as a load pencil and as big around
ns your little finger. It Is evidently well
soaked with licorice or glucose or miiih
other such mixture for It Is as black as
Jet. Such tobacco Is accepted in pay
ment for goods at the store In Port Moresby
and four sticks of It are the average pay
for n day's work Among the natives
themselves tobacco Is the must common
currency. So many sticks will buy a
hatchet or n knife, a set of pottery dishes
Hi
S'F.W (il INI'A CM II I10USH -TIIUY Alt R ()!' I.M.MKNSK SI.K AND WOMEN I J It 10 NOT II NT II It Til KM
PA PL AN RIIU.S HO IN I'OIt TATTOUINO
a llshtiet or a ncckl.ut The government
buys Its land of the natives where It is
owned by certain families. b) giving thim
hatchets, handkerchiefs and one half pound
of tobacco for a llxcd 'imoiiul of land, oc
casionally tlitowlug a shirt ami a knife in
as an extra.
Natives ol .Now (illllli'll.
The natives of Now (iulnea nro of their
own kite!. They are of the Papuan race,
which Is dllleieni from the Malays, from
the aborigines of Australia ami fiom the
inaiiy other lines of the Paeillc. The
Papuans are nf many varieties. They are
generally of a copper color and they range
from that to almost black. Mr. Datincoy
f, unci the smallest c.r the liatlv s in the
eastern end of the island and he tells an
they Increase In slo as you go south and
west, and at the same time glow d.tikcr in
1 1 1 1 1 1 and uior holsterum In disposition
rtii ) have wooll) hair, but not like that of
be negro Tlieir hair stands out from
the head, It is often ilinmlcd thi'Migh
bamboo lulus or pipes, cut of which it
slicks In great tassobi. It has a spring)
nature, so that if you put your hand down
"it it it will bo thrown up, nun b like when
. "ii strike a hair mattress.
Iliilli Women mill Men 't ill Inn,
In the far east thn men tattoo their fines
.lid bodies In a hideous fashion The
women also tattoo, especially the upper
p.i r I s ,if their bodies III sumo places this
tattooing Is the only chess. In others the
vvi.lin ii wear petticoats of long leaves, fro
I i nth placing one layer upon another, m
II,, in,, s These loaf skirts extend from th,
wui-' almost to the knees and in c otiiiei
Hon with n liockliii'o of sin lis or beads
form tlio entire clothing, S, , met lines (he
skirts are made nf the liber of bark.
The tattooing of the vvounn often covers
Hi whole body and among Homo tribes this
'ai'oolng firms thn enmlng-nut suit of the
in. miens. The gelling of sin Ii a suit Is ex
ec dlngly painful, hut Mr. Datincey says
ha1 the girls are anxious to be In the
fashion and gladly submit to It The girl
to he tattooed lies down on the ground
when the Ink Is pricked undi r tier skin m
the various patterns Thorns are used for
the pricking, and the thorn, dipped Into the
Ink, Is driven under the skin with a little
mullet. Such ill cfHinakii'i is slow, but a
suit once made lasts a lifetime.
Mlllllcil Wi ll Vie All llllhl.
In some pints of the Island It Is possible
to tell wiielher a woman I- ingb i r mar
lied by hei b ur "I latin t Hie lack of It,
The married women nro nil hald-licad"il
an, I tin sensible man doey 'int attempt to
llit'i with a haul s: f, ni.il, niilden
PHOl'IM': OK A PM'l N DANDY
Nvears In r natural mi l un ii the wedding,
but after that hhaves olf i.iry bit of H
i lose to tlio sculp ami kei - It so shaved
fur the rest of her life Tt first shaving
and iinle d all shaving ot 'hi- kind, Is a
serious matter I at ii Hie f'lcignoiH enmo
the raoiH wore shaip Mint- hut now the
natives use broken glass ,n, l there is a
steady demand for soda an ' beer bottles
'o break up for shaving u'c ds.
'Ibrro nrr ninny Now (!" ra trlhos, n
Missionary Dnuncoy lolls me, In which tlio
men laco themsclvcH in with ropo In ordi r
to reduce the sl7 of their waists and
stomachs. They bind bark bolts from two
lo ten inches wide tightly about the body,
compressing themselves ho Hint the full
grown men nciiiiirc waists as small as the
most tightly Inced of our women. It Is
said that the chief reason for this ctiHtnm
Is that the men wish to poimindn thn"
women that they have small stomachs ami
am Iheri'foie small eatets. In New (Iulnea
the women are the chief providers anil the
voiing wiinati who Is looking about for a
Inn-hand Is supposed to prlo highest th
mini who will be most cnsllv fed. A buy,
on being asked why he Ii himself so
tightly, said'
"I shall have lo get a wife sumo day and
if I have a big stomach no one will have
me."
For this reason mi u seldom eat In tin
proKoiiee of women ami they prefer their
meals In their club houses. The New
(iulnea unlives do mil believe In much fat.
II is a disgrace to ho Meshy and I he man
dread extra adipose Hustle as much as do
our society W'oini'ii Indeed, Hie iintl-fat
cpiacks could do a thriving business In New
(iulnea.
As lo food, the people are chlelly vego
tariaiis Tiny live on yams, hamulus ami
Bvvoei potatoes Thev nio not particular
howevir. ami when I hoy can get them will
eat kangaroos, pigs, dogs. snakoH and 11
anlM. Tliey are f I of giubs or larvae
and the women dig these mil of the trees
ami c ook them.
New HiiIim-ii I'luli HiiiiNCN.
In many of the New (iulnea tribes Hie
men nnd women live apart. The men have
club linuses In which Ihoy sleep ami eat
The women live In hills off bv themselves
a number of wives often being In one hut
Thev conk their husbands' fool In their
huts or on the gimtml outside aiuI bring
It to tlio club house, laving It on the
veranda ami calling to their husbands In
conn' and onl Mr Dnuncoy says that It
would bo donlh lo a woman to enter one
iCnutluued on Sixth Page i
