The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1894-11-23
ANOTHER ORIENTAL WAR
Imminence of a Struggle Between
Holland and Lombok. i.
An Island in the Dutch East Indies That
Is Contrasting the Supremacy of
the Fatherland-HistOry
of the Trouble.

Besides the war between China and
Japan the orient is the scene of an
other war. The sOvereignS who are
contending for the mastery are the
fourteen-year-old Queen Wilhelmina of
Holland and Balinese Rajah, who
claims sovereignty over the island of
Lombok, Dutch East Indies.
The contest, writes Thomas Parke
Gordon in Golden Days, is not as I'M
equal one as might at first be sup
posed; for the young queens troops
have met with such serious reverses as
to cast a gloom over the whole king
dom.
The queens birthday was to have
been celebrated on grand scale at
The Hague, August 81, but on account
of the losses sustained by her troops at
LOmbOk she gave orders to abandon
the usual festivities.
For over half a century the Dutch
have exercised sovereignty over Lom-
box, in trying to discipline whose orr
entail ruler their troops have met with
SO disastrous a defeat; but this SOW
ereignty has been merely nominal, the
real ruler being Balinese Rajah. The
latter-a strict Brahmin-has been for
some years trying to rid himself ent irely
of the Dutch influence in his countrys
affairs, and recently, with this end in
view, he tried to secure the support of
the British government.
That was about four months ago
When he found that his efforts were
Intellectual he procured small flotilla
of naval vessels, and made other war
like preparations.
The Dutch authorities protested
against such proceedings, but the raiah
paid no attention to them War was
then declared and three battalions of
the colonial army were sent against
him, with artillery, and five men-of-
war to support them, to teach the ORR
entail potentate a lesson. But the
Dutch, instead of teaching him a lesson,
met with overwhelming defeat, as has
been recorded in the cable dispatches
which have been received at this writ
ing. There had been bloody battles
before in the East Indies, but never
have Europeans been SO badly beaten.
natives and Selaprang by the Baiinese
is an island of the Sunda group, living
east of Java, with the island of Bali
intervening. 1t has an area Of about
zoos square miles, which is watered bv
numerous small streams, scarcely any
OF which are navigable, and dotted over
with many mountain lakes.
There no two toi o.oe H.
tween which is a well-watered plain.
wholly planted with rice, the hillsides
producing coffee and Indian corn. The
scenery throughout the island is beau
tiful-forest-clad mountains and thornv
jungles alternating with the rich allu-
vial plains, which are cultivated like
gardens under an ancient and elaborate
system of irrigation.
To the naturalist, Lombolz is of pc
culiar interest as the frontier island of
the Australian regions, with it's cocl1a-
toes and mOundbuilders and bee-eat-
ers and ground-thrushes. The popula-
ton is about half a million.
There can be but little doubt as to
the outcome of the war; While the
rajah may be able to keep off the
Dutch for months and years, sooner or
la ter Wilhelmina's troops must be vic
torious.
At best, the war can only cause her
the loss of that one island, although if
all the other Dutch colonies, encour-
aged by the outcome of the war in
Lombolz, should link hands and revolt.
their independence would probably re-
suit.
1t is interesting to call attention to
the colonies of Holland. This little
European kingdom, with an area of
but l., 648 square miles and a popula-
ton OF, 1869, 576-which is about the
area of Delaware and Maryland to-
gether, and half million less than the
population of the state of PENNSYLVANIA
rules colonial territory of 766. 1877
square miles, with population of 3d.
100000.
The colonial possessions fall natural
ly into two groups-the East Indian
possessions including Java, Madura,
Bali, Lombol, Sumat ira, the Molluccas,
CelebeS, TimOr, parts of Borneo, and
the western part of New Guinea-and
the West Indies, the chief of which are
Dutch Guinea and Curacao. Holland
once had considerable territory on the
coast of Guinea, but this was disposed
of by sales to Great Britain in 1872.
Queen Wilhelmina. whose birthday
festivities were abandoned on account
of the Dutch reverses in the East In
dies: was born August 81, 1880, and
succeeded to the throne on the death
of her father, King William I'LL, on
November 23, 1890.
She is now fine, tall girl of four
teen. Her birthday festivities last
year, by her special desire, took the
form of school treats on a very large
scale. Next winter the young queen
is to figure on d new issue of coins and
stamps, with her hair done up in a
n1x, 70