Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-09-14


u BEAUTIFUL American girl
n is TO be the Queen of the
~ Cannibal Islands. She is Miss
Ella Collin, and her father,
P. Collin, is tailor in New York.
Miss Collin is uoS an heiress, and the
only dover she brings to her royal
husband is her matchless beauty OF
face and figure. Miss Ella will make
very acceptable Queen for the Can
nibals down in the New Hebrides.
That is not to say because she is as
pretty as they are ugly. She is only
eighteen years old and has the face Of
Juno. Her eyes are large aud
lustrous, and her hair, of which there
is er9at profusion, is of that warm
hue that Titan loved to paint.
The King of the Cannibal Islands is
himself not q bad looking man. He
was pretty stanch American before
he expatriated himself to rule over the
gorgeous domain in the great South
Seas, which he now calls his own. In
his Southern home he was known as
plain John Hobbs. Now he has q
title as long as his arm. He has dark
eyes, aud his expression is generally
frank and pleasant. King Hobbs is
not a pirate king, nor did he take
possession CT his islands by right of
conquest. He was born IN South
Carolina thirty four years ago. His
father is well-to-do practicing physl-
clan at Atlanta, Ga, and his grand
father was United States Senator.
When Hobbs was youth he conceived
q violent desire to travel, and for
many years he was wanderer on the
face OF the earth. At last he settled
in sydney, New South Wales, and
first met the natives of the New
Hebrides in 1890, when the Australian
Government sent him to Ilika, one OF
the South Sea group, to enforce the
law with reference to the return OF
Ilikan laborers. While on his way
thither the ship which bore him was
wrecked and young Hobbs conided
himself to the mercy of the waves,
clad only in cork jacket.
After drifting about for two days,
suffering unspeakable torture from
hunger, thirst and fatigue, ne was
picked up by two Ilikan fishermen and
taken to an island. When the king
heard OF his presence Hobos was or
dered before him. The American
reached the island ut critical time.
The natives were just about to go to
war with u nsighboring island, and
the king accepted Hobbs as divine
messenger. He at once adopted him,
ana explained to MIN the plans of the
campaign. BY clever bit OF strategy
Hobbs succeeded in defeating the
army Of tie opposition and the king
made him war chief. When, nine
months later, the king died the nation
met and chose John Hobbs to be the
successor to the throne. He IS called
King John by foreigners, and by the
natives "Oumalea.
King Johns people do not ask him
to work very hard. One-half the year
he spends in taking q vacation, during
which he travels wherever his desires
lead him. Last year he visited New
York, where he met Miss Collin quite
by accident. He fell madly in love
with her. They were engaged, and he
gave his word to return within six
months and make her his queen. II
is to fill this promise that he re-
turned. He says that his subjects
will look upon HE wife as a goddess,
and that the royal family will live like
the young people in a fairy story. Mr..
and Mrs. Collin, Elias parents, are
charmed with the prospects. They
have been invited to visit the king
and queen as soon as the royal pair are
"settled'' in the capital of Ilika. King
John has long and fat purse, and he
will see that his father aud mother
in-law will want for no comforts on
the occasion OF their visit.
The New Hebrides, over part OF
which King John Hobbs has absolute
sway, are pretty group of South Sea
islands, lying between the New Gale
donias and the Fijis. They are vol
canic in origin. About twenty years
ago one of them, thirty-fye miles
long and six miles wide, suddenly dis
appeared-wa swallowed up by the
ocean-and no trace OF it has since
been seen. The climate is, of course,
tropical, and too humid to be health
full. From May do October the trades
blow steadily. Heavy transforms,
and even cyclones, visit the islands
during the prevalence OF the western
gales. Owing to the abundant
moisture, the vegetation is dense, and
the mountains are mostly clad with
forests. The flora of these islands
comprises large number of forms
not found elsewhere. There is
species OF myrtle that grows to
height of forty feet, and gives ont
very pungent ordor. There is vAri-
ETY. of cedar that attains SO great
height that its timber may be used
for the masts of ships. Here ere CO.
coanut trees, sago, breadfruit, banana
trees and such fruit trees as are fund
in tropical countries. The yam con-
stitutes the staple Of food for the ma
tives. The indigenous nnimals in the
New Hebrides are rats and bats. Tho
pig has already been imported, and
seems to like the climate.