Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-04-15

not vet acquired fOndneSS Tor the
ruinous brewings OF the white man.
They have, however, a substitute OF
their own called kava, a deCoction made
from the augona root, on which they
manage to get mildly but never effen-
siyely drunk. | have seen white men
who professed a fondness for Kava, but
As It IS prepared by first masticating
the root cannot for the life OF me see
how a civilized man could touch 1t
after witnessing the process OF manu-
facture.
IN ever the day comes when the com
mercial flag of tbs United States shall
be- seen again in these waters 1t will
find In the Fiji group a market for very
many articles of American manufacture
and return cargoes Of sugar, sea island
cotton, cobra, pearl shells, coffee, tea
and vegetable oils. English firms that
have invested money in sugar planta-
tions here have, am told, invariably
prospered, though till OF late they have
had to depend on the Chinese and i'm
ported Harvey Islanders for their
labor. or the eighty Islands In the
group, there is not one that is not
suited TO the growth OF sugar cane, and
so extensive has been the cultivation OF
late wears that capitalists in Sydney and
in Louka are now planning to establish,
refineries here so as TO send the per-
fected product Of the cane into the mar
kets of the world. One company already
established, which grows sugar here
and refues it in New South Wales, has
over s., 1000, 900 invested in the enter
prise. and on this it has been paying
dividends, l am informed, OF over II
per cent.
am told by those who are competent
to Judge that the coffee grown in Fiji
is far superior to that Of Rio. Not only
is the article finer, but the production
per acre is nearly twice as great, from
500 10 LOCO pounds being considered an
average crop, the cost of production
being about 81 cents per pound. Ten
wears q ago there were only about l, 800
acres in coffee in all Fiji. To-day
over 90, 900 acres are under cultivation,
and this will be doubled within the
next two years, promising an out
put of al least 10, 600 tons per annum.
In additian to sugar, coffee and sea
island cotton, the latter the finest In
the world, cocoa, tea aud chincona have
heen introduced with success. These
products should soon enrich the FIJI
islanders, for the people will not need
to import much OF their food-none,
indeee, that is actually necessary to the
natives. Indeed corn, rice, tapioca,
sweet potatoes and many Of the garden
products Of the temperate zones grow
here in abundance. The surrounding
seas TEEN with fish, and although
horses, cattle, pigs and domestic fowls
OF all kinds have been imported, they
are found 10 succeed here as we'll
as they do on the neighboring CONT
nent of Australia. Bananas, cocoanuts
aud pineappes abound everywhere;
indeed, / know of no land under the
sun where good food is so abundant and
so cheap. Never a child goes hungry
to sleep in the fair land Of FIT.
Australia and New Iceland now mon
opolize the trade OF Fiji and Of many OF
the surrounding island, but as neither
Australia nor New Zealand is manu-
featuring country the articles they
send 20 for trade are exclusively Of
English manufacture. With the pro-
uer enterprise California and Oregon
could soon get monopoly OF the bust
nefs, for the market is there and Amer
lean goods could be provided to tilfit.
The coffee and sugar of Fiji are within
eaiser reach OF San Francisco tbaa are
the teas and silks Of China and Ja1an.
I have Just completed a four weeks
tour of the principal Fiji Islands 5h one
of the half-dozcn inter-iusular stsamers
that are now found necessary Tor the
local trade, and, with all due respect 10
all other lands | have travel6d, | must
confess | have never seen . country
that comes nearer to the pets notion
OF an Earthly Paradise" On the laFg-
est island one is not seldom oct OF
sight OF the sea. The coast lines are
broken By exquisite BAYS and harbors,
and tortuOus but navigaOle straits
separate the many islands OF the group,
eusuring through their tides q constant
brseze and climate never too not Tor
work nor for repOSe. Springs are
abundant, aud one cannot 90 nall
mile without crossing a stream that
comes hurrying down with all us vest
ed power from the hills.
The forests, while not so dense as are
to be found on the neiehboring conti-
nent, have a parklike appearance that
is fascinating. Wild flowers flourish
on every side in perpetual bloom, and
native birds, like winged blossoms, NIL
the air. To all these glories there Is
but one drawback, and that is the
mosquitoes, though do not think they
are so bad here as 1 have seen them
for months at q time In New Jersey.
If from this description any working
man might b. tempted 20 try his for
tune. in Fiji, Jet me say that there is at