, 1870-04-21
THE FEEJEE ISLANDS.

frnMcisco. y
Frp7. The San Fronei*-o Eullesin, Apra - d
An informal meeting Wis held at o'clock L
Yesterday afternoon, il the room OF tho Cham +
her CT Commerce, to listen to some statements
and suggestions regarding the Fee|ee laianas' =
! No public notice had been gwen OF tne Meo. y
ing, aud therc we're, Of eonfSe' 10" III a'A''o /.
| Mr, Otis called the rucetinG to ORDER, AN :
stated that the meeting had been called hy per !
| sonally notifying few members u tne CnAa
ler Of Commerce and othera, for the purpose 7
I of listening to some statements from George I
! W;nfrr. resident OF the Fecjee Islands, VINO !
had lust arrived in tho city, and who WAS thea
present ,o,.,,, ~ !
conssaer,ble length. Ho had been reaiden!
durnc thc nast eight yoszs Of tho island Of
VIII Lew, ono Of tho largest OF the r. re3ee 53so
esrrer az iand on That Island, and had been eut-
t cc4sfu1 in woo}-ralsing and otne5 ouslnoss eh y
te5pEscs lie believed the Inducements 70
settle on these islands 70 b. greaseI taan a any
, It Melbourne, had taken preliminary measures
} to pay on tie debt Of The islands due @ the
/ | United States, about s40Ooo and 70 take
. | in retnrn tho title 70 200, GOV acres q lana
= confined we're prepared to secure. This so
q cietv desired tho Luited Stats4 to ralse tho
= Stars and Stripes over the Island, and to
e either annex them or establish an Anaet,-
Il sent 10 Washington, signed By several
la hundred Of the rraidents OF tho lslanda-aA
70 Of which, with einGlo exception, I've were Eng
10 l;ah.ucp. There was general feeling IN favor
a. Of annexation although this feeling Wa not
"a Universal. Tho apeaEer thought th.. ii all
the facts were known in this city regarding the
be character Of the Islands, N enoIt would 10
n rnade to urge Congress to favorable Acdon-
e5 The group Of islands consisted Of two Or three
nd large ones and nearly two hundred small ones,
Is, with mn aggregate area Of between 1000, ,ooo
-. and {, ,0o0,Oo0 acres. The ent1e % populanon
alout 1000 are whites. Tie Islands arc a.
ready resoried to By whaess, and as ship.
=. ! piug station they must become Of the greitest
II II importance to the United States. 4 com
vi u,aeiou had once been sent out BY the Dsatish
~ Government, which reported agninst the policy
~ ! OF the government assuming any control oset
~ the iblanaa, but it Was believed thAt tho agent
~. ~ had instructions to this effect in Advance.
ing 1Iiucipsi island had ia Chief who exercised
se' limited authority, and tho English and A1nela
can CopsuIs controlled official business Il
.ns .ss some extent. The climate was the mos
nnr aor cornsered, and ths soil The most productive
ano ,a limited cost, and was destined to become
Of very profitable crop. The cotton tree produce, @
~ Of loss OF tic cropif it Was not gathered !
ne at opce. This year The entire crop woui
beT amount to about ooo bales md It a,I Mss y
30 creaHing every year. L,bote1s Nv weEe esoagi r.
Nd IS rer year, and tsEcn home agai
ana Hhero waa no difficulty about q
In saining labore1s, who worked shee
,,rIr fully and contentcdly. sugar ana
sumption, but AZ get but little had been rails
w. for cx, ort. Wool Was raised to Erest adva
,t ~ taEe. Tropical fruits Of every variety We
The aouhohnI n lug naa,." ,.nr uo r,r;art;sa ~ hs
.a,5 wood md woods which would 10 valuable I
Carr export. Aoc faoNi1ss 49, ~ +l,a ;.1,rd - Z
can r Lew and sent to Melbourne, about ~
H., tic authority Of the United States Was est;
1ndor nsneu 'nc'eI .h5m s..h tt.+ .nthnritv. In
,,,r;o. principal town the1o were nov ten ho.e
oaixto Nleu land WAS purchased a deed was obtaiI
'of from the Chief of tho island, and recore
:. a. With the American or English Consul.
= i' m natives we're becoming civilized They c3te
hasg creat many fish. and live with but little lat
,o1-s iley cook their food, md nave usea eooA
: s.to | utensils for many years.
=. ~; 4 member OF tho audience inquired Z
Y ny conk thcir missionaries before eating th
aaI,t1 but the question not heard By tho apeai
In describing the climate Nr. Winters
u. u t1,c thermometer ranged from 70 10 81 degr
ID not ahq Fa43eu wv ~ s1o vra1c generally :
regular though there were stormy seasons
a.a occasionally terrible hurricanes IN one
3e5s. e:o,, lie found it necessary to lash hsmse!
second 3lc e'oAIp ~ ~ es...;o, nrtrv n,yticle of
,,an.I uus Eouso and its contents we're carneu ava
N Esx. tl,c wind, e1cepta bag Of shot AZ 81
~ ~, over euu feet above tho seA WAS kept mois
ln ss .ne the clouds. Below that altitude there
W.. 1 sorus times = lack Of moisture Tho nattScs
.n';n almost entirely ceased TO eat human ec1nss
.trsnt Chief, with whom lie Lad often taken a.neal
-, ti,at in former timcs eaien great many OF lis
~ mics, but that practice bud become ncara!
he side soletc.. They had mover eaten men IS res
princi. food, but they regarded it as especial
= ~ Tia | grading and huuli1iating to an enemy t
= ~ ~ tho lin afte1 he WAS captured and 6lled
oa1 Jennings, formerly OF this city, had settl.
the islands With very flattering prospects
nearly all whito men who settled thero
oo,.. became land holders and capitallsts-
~ 800 to 500 pounds Of cotton per acre con!
has VII ted years crop. no ecal, OF soao' VI
r.tnr An had yet bcen discovered.
". neNA g. III. Winter exhibited map OF the is
Nv tha | md several specimens Of Feetee cotton.
Il shors During his REMARKS Mr. Winter WAS
/ ! IL nm. toned On various snbjccts BY Mz. Otis
ri rois Lowe, Mr. Stowe, Mr. Dibblee, J. ".
"a nver | mond, and others, the substance OF h
washed sronses being embodied in the above rept
side Of Mf hesson stasea lhas ne nau la 'lAtc
ne1 HAT quantcd with tho cub jcct under consider
;nto thc Great britain bad had moro expozienco
onsf]crs the United States in tho annexation Of Ii
,yncnrcd islands. That government undertook TO
izc New Zealand, and the effort cost sl0
81, -1,..t 600. and was still unsuccessful The d
~ 80 were saynges, snd could not be sub5us
~ nn;ta So it woul1 10 with tho Fee}eo Islands.
nv Am. britain had refused to take charge Of
Islands, although reQucetc1 to do 60
|,o,i, .ra | white inhabitants, Tho Commissioner
~ Tnuni IN elaborate report aeainrt the rroFos
town. It vas true, the iela1ds would produce
through OF superior 4uhty.
he Grcat CEited States would be for tho csta
r,fnt OF co2ling station in cate the
,een con- trnlian line Of steamers is established.
va ware att in tree. lnc between this port ant
tahe on tralia and for that purpose tho occupanc
Tho en-. smnn locality would he Of great service.
ling par- few acres only would he needed for this
b water pote. As to the natives, tho most Of
drels Of we're still wild, and were fond Of eatiu
vsrI. ia e.onarics as ever. About $1,000 out c
and the 2o0, 900 had professcd 10 embrace the Gu
round Il. religion. The remainder were neye1 II
rict Isnd white men; they retired TO tho wilder r
40 fasten OF the Islands. A ship -of-war would bc
%, in the cient to control the eoass; put me Z
misas In would at once retro out Of reach OF the
: eonnec Nj. Winters replied briaAy to Mr..
sight en- reiicfatins TIC views pfeslonats e1ps
thxt have and giving ASSURANCE that no difficulty
steamer BE- experienced in controlling the island
,r nm tha After further consultAtinn among thoe
Wort viii cnt, tho meeting adjourned without epo
atcr goes ton On tho subject onoee eons1oe1Aaon-
that tho -A&--