Bridgeton pioneer., 1885-09-10
GERMANY AND SPAIN.

There is a war cloud on the Euro
pean skies no bigger than a mans
hand, but it may enlarge to tremen-
dous proportions Prince Bismarck,
since his great success in the Franco
Prussian war, appears to have adopted
policy or desire for the requirement
of additional territories. Not content
with Alsace and Lorraine, he now
turns his attention to the Spanish pos
sessions in the South Pacific known as
the Caroline Isles. On Saturday
German man-ofwar seized Yap, the
largest of these islands, and landed
troops there This act aroused great
indignation in Spain. At Madrid, the
capital, the German consulate was de-
stroyed by a mob, the German colors
hauled down, and the Emperor Will
liam and Prince Bismarck loudly his
sed. Similar outrages took place in
all the large cities wherever Germans
were found. Spanish merchants have
cancelled all their orders for German
goods, and have sent to Paris for ar
ticles which they used to get from Ger
many. The Spanish nation is an ex-
citable one, and unless, Bismarck backs
down bloodshed may be the result. If
Spain takes up fight with Germany.
she will probably draw FranceInto it,
because the Frenchman is waiting for
revenge on his German foe. He has
not forgotten Sedan. IfFrance should
join hands with the Spaniards, Austria
too may be embroiled, and thus a war
of nations be brought on. Spain is a
third rate power with barely sixteen
millions of inhabitants, and an army
of one hundred thousand men. but
with the assistance of other powers
she might make warm work for Ger
many. Looking at the matter in this
light Bismarck may deem it best to
concede Spain's prior claim to the is
lands.
The Caroline Islands, about which
the dispute has arisen between the
two great nations, are Il group of
coral formations, several hundred in
number, in the Pacific Ocean, 10 de-
grees north of the equator, and due
east of the Philippines. They are di-
vided into forty-eight groups, and are
known as the Pelew Islands or Western
Carolines, the Central Carolines. and
the Eastern Carolines or Mulgraye
Archipelago. The latter group is sub
divided into the Radick or Marshall
Isles and the Gilbert Isles. The most
important of the Carolines is Yap. the
chief of the central group, and an idea
OF the amount of the territory covered
may be estimated from the fact that
the Pelew division alone covers 346
square miles. 1t is estimated that the
native population is close upon 200 900.
These aborigines are fine race of the
Polynesian family, possessed of consid-
cradle intelligence and a certain
amount of civilization. At YaD there
is a we'll lbuilt native town, where the
inhabitants are largely shipbuilders.
The climate is generally agreeable, and
bread fruit, cocoanuts, sugar cane.
oranges and bananas are grown in pro-
fusion. The lagoon are filled with t,lr-
tie and pearl oyster, and sandal-wood
can be procured in very large quanti-
ties from the forests. The earliest dis
coverers were English navigators, but
Spaniards We're the explorers who first
took deliberate possession of the Arcbi-
pelago in 1886. There has, however.
never been any recognized settlement,
although merchants of several nations
have for many years had trading treat
les with the natives and small colonies
on the Islands. From an archaolo-
glst's point of view, the Carolines DOS
sess exceptional interest, as a series of
wonderful ruins are scattered over the
group, indicating that they were once
inhabited by an unknown race, who
must have possessed many of the arts
of the ancient nations.