The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-07-27
A WANDERER OF THE SEAS.
THE EVENTUAL LIFE OF A RUNA-
WAY JERSEY SAILOR BOY.
HOY, Dave" Parker Made "a Fortune
and Found u wife In samoa-Thc Facihc
r.,,uds and Their MANY Wonders De
.,.ihcd InfprtaiHinEly.

favetie house here, says special from
Forked River, N.J., TO the New York Times,
who. as sheriff Of Ocean county, decade
or so ago. created sensation by refusing
/ Ia execute the murderer Wainwright. IL one
of the best known men in southern New
Jersey. Although yergng on fourscorc
years. he is az hale as many man OF MY
and. except for his luXuriaDt gray beard
nobody would suspect that he had seen
more than half a hundred summers. Inc
sheriff has reared a numerous family, IN
Gliding several sons. all Of whom nave
followed the sea- at one time or another
/ one Of these, -. :. Parker or Dave, as
| he is Familiarity called by his friends mas
| had an Cycnttul career, anfwas gwen up
/ for lost by bis family for nearly seventeen
wears.
AT twelve wears OF age he ran away rom
home and went 10 sea. At first he sailed
. i'm a coaster, but eventually crossed me A.
lantic and aficrwaTd set sail from Europe
for the China seas. But in the southern
/ Pacific on "A reef ne came 10 grief Ike the
"cOok and Captain bold and the mate oi the
/ Nancy Bell" for his ship was stranded on
/ the Island Of Mangara or Mangeea, one ol
fine Cook group. Instead. however, OF eat
/ ing his companions like the sole survivor
IOftho Nancy Bell. he narrowly escaped
being eaten 10y the cannibals for when
/ those islands are Justly celebrated. foriu-
natcly, after stranding his ship did not 20
/ 90 pieces and the crcwwere saved the necos-
sitv Of landing. The natives sWarmcd out
/ i'm canoes anticipating sumptu0us r0uhd
of banqueting for days 10 come. but they
/ had learned since the days of Captain CoDh
the potency of firearms and goodly snow
of these persuaded them TO return TO their
island. although still hungry. In day or
4 81 az lrf f44It Al Is-
lance and took of all the stranded mariners.
I'm 1860 Mr. Parker landed on the Samoan
eroup and established his residence on
. polo. at Apia, the scene Of the hurricane
/ which somewhat more than year ago
proved so disastrous 90 the United states
and German war vessels. There ne entered
/ the service Of the famous Hamburg firm, D..
IC. GOdcnroy a son. and commanded vessels
/ plying between the islands. In 1871 he as
/ i0uishcd his relatives IN this quiet niue
village 10y suddenly appearing among them
like one from the dead. After few months
stay ne went % san Francisco and TOOK
command Of "a sailing packet 10 ply between
that port and the samoan Islands. Making
/ the round trip i'm ninety days, he kept this
vessel going until few years ago, when inc
/ STEAMSHIPS Of the line established between
/ san Francisco ana New Zealand began
touching al Apia. and thus broke up the
sailing packet business.
Before his return % this country, IN lN,l
/ Mr.. Parker married one of the daughters OF
am Englishman VINO had settled at Apla
and married into the family Of one OF the
native chiefs. lie was on a visit with hls
wife 90 his native home, where he had built
a handsome cottage when the recent trou-
hles in samoa broke out. Having amassed
considerable wealth he at once set out Tor
| the island, % look after interests there.
/ shortly after his arrival at Apia his wife
died. I'm time Dee married younger sister
of his first wife. and a few weeks ago ne re-
turned TO FOfkcd River with his bride a
/ handsome young lady of twenty or there
about.
Mi. Parker is hale, bronzed and broad
-h9uldercd. sturdy type OF the American
sailor. He is also a Wide-aWake and intel
lgent man. lie has been a close Obser' ar
of samoan character and customs. and pos
ee.ses am iucXhdustble fund of information
/ concerning the islands and their people.
I'm the course of long talk with him few
DAYS ago. the writer ascerlained a number
/ of facts that will prove of interest % read
/ ors of the Times. As everybody acqu1lhl-
cd with samoan history knows, the ISLANDS
were first definitely made known TO the CIV
| iliZed world by the French Gisc0yerer bou-
| raiuyille. who called them NaYigaiOre
| handling their canoes. subsequently the
/ ~Im0ans showed that they dad not take
/ kindly 90 STRANGERS bN mas-dcrlng boat +,
/ crew 'Of la PcrOusc'S expedition. but ln
/ 1850 John Williams landed there and intro
duced Christianity. They are Warlike
people, though amiable in times OF peace,
and "a series of petty wars, which began I'D
/ 1865 reduced the population, which was
/ above $4,000 M 1910 90 $1,000 IN $50. Ii Is
on ...fr d.
/ liarly destructive from the fact that they
/ take no prisoners. and thetcust0m prevails
of dccapitatng enemies and presenting
/ their heads 90 the King. \ warriors I'M
pOrtanco is dependent on the number oil
/ heads hc has rcckOned. Their tdNOritc
weapon is hr0ad-bladed knife, somewhat
/ like the machete, or sugar-canc knife, Win
! a turned mp point.
The natives live in matched huts or
! houses. built Of the leaves Of sugar cane.
which grows wild ON the Islands ID great
| great Insurance, and they sub7l7t mainly
ON fish and bread fruit They are not
| hunters. as no large game exists on the
! island, though wild pigeons are abundant.
| Although aycrse to industry. they take rath-
er kindly 20 education, and Mr.. Parker
makes the remarkable statement that every
man. woman ld child, can read and write
! They are also exceedingly clever at bdrg'
aiming. and this fact has given rise To- the
/ snpp0sitiOn that they are descendants OF one
! of the sO-called ''lOst tribes Of Israel Tat
/ to0ing is in great favor among the men,
! who have themselves decorated from the
/ knees 10 the loin5, and the most lucrative
/ of the native Offices is That of tattoOer.
The industries and commerce are eNclu-
| siycy in the hands OF foreigners, Amerl-
cans English and Germans, the latter being
predominant i'm numbers. The principal
/ Industries are the preparation of coppra. or
dried cOcCanut, and cotton planting. Inc
cotton. which is OF an intermediate grade
! between the short staple and upland and
| long staple. or sea Island, does not require
/ free planting every year, as i'm this country.
/ The plant grows into a tree and bears FRUIT
probably for five years, and yields two
! crops every twelve months. The top
most branches are cut of once year.
! for the double purpose OF preventing
/ the plant from growing too nigh ana Tor
/ increasing its yield. While the cotton plant
! is growing during its first season, the CO.
cOanut trees are planted in On: same neld
al the requisite distance apart, and these
! BEGIN 10 bear in the fifth year when the cot
/ ton falls. After that the cotton stalks are
cut on the Gotten field becomes 4 cocodnut
/ field. and the coc0luut trees continue 20
| bear fruit IN paving quantities for the ensu-
/ ing forty or i9rty-iiNc years. No attempt
| mas vet been made. ON cOmnerclal scale
/ 10 utilize for sugaT-uaking purposes the
cane which grows wild luNuuantly ON the
| islands. though Mr. Parker says that it is of
the hncstQualty. On the Fiji Islands, how
| ever. which are only a few hundred miles
distant, am English company has built the
/ largest sugar-producng mill in the world.
As the ~amoans are aNcr~e 90 sustained
industry there is "a scarcity Of labor for
agricultural purposes. and Fiji Islanders
are brought over i'm large numbers for field
hands. Occasionally bands OF these become
/ tired Of working for living and retire TO
/ the mountain Businesses, where they relapse
| into their barbarous mode of life. The FIJI
/ Islanders were notorious cannibals until
English control Of the Islands repres-ed
the propensity. and these wild bands in the
samoan mountains devoid Of restraint,
may yet make the neighboring low
lands unsafe places Of residence. The
islands are stretched ont along the parallel
of IA south latitude, and are therefore in the
zone of perpetual summer. the thermome-
ter seldom falls at any time of the year
below - deg. Fahrenheit, and averages
about 30 deg Fishing and swimming are IA