The Dickinson press., 1897-09-11
rN ISLAND OF PEACE.


,,tS ISLAND OF PEACE.
rhs c.zssss Dsyslssas.s e q 1890
Cssse1 - Osavss1s
In the Pacific, midway between.
New Zealand and New Olledooia,
thsre IL an island whose histofy =
curious enough. It is Norfolk H.
land, discovered in 177s by the cele-
brated navigator Cook. It's coasts
are nearly inaccessible. Cliffs pre-.
vent landing on all sides except at
two points. on the north and ON tho
south respectively. which permit Of
access and which are utilized by
veasels. The sofl, which is of dark
tint. is very fertile. It produces
nearly all the tropical plants, as
we'll as those of temperate countries.
Besides coffee, bananas. sugar cane.
leguminous vegetables of all kinds,
oranges, lemons and citrons. the
grape, apples. ETC.. flourish there
marvelouely. As for the fora Pc
culiar to the island. it is necessary
only to mention the famous Norfolk
island pine (Araucaria e~xcelsa).
We have said that the history of
the island is very curious. In the
beginning Norfolk received from
Sydney, its sister colony, a popula-
ton Of convicts; then, abandoned
and again reoccupied, it became in
1926 a place for the transportation
of condemned habitual criminals.
Terrible and bloody scenes were en-
acted there, but at the suppression
Of transportation to the Australian
colonies the island was again aban-
doned. Now, there was at this date
in the Pacific ocean another island
whose inhabitants asked nothing
better than to be removed. The is-
landers were the descendants of the
mutinous crew of the English ship
Bounty, whose history, too long to
tell here and, besides, we'll known
doubtless to the reader, forms one
Of the most dramatic episodes of the
maritime annals of the eighteenth
century. The mutineers of the
Bounty, after taking wives at Tahiti,
settled on Pitcairn island, not less
inaccessible than Norfolk. They
were leading there a life unknown
to the rest of the world, with which
they had broken off all relations,
when long years after an English
ship, having by chance touched at
this unknown and supposedly de-
serted isle, was surprised to find
there human beings-compatriots.
The origin of this population was
not such as to recommend it, but
long years had flown, and the past
was forgot. Everybody in England
showed the deepest interest in these
new Robinson Crusoes when their
history became known. With time
the islanders had multiplied and
found their island of Pitcairn too
small for them. They asked that
England, which was, after all, the
euzerain of these subjects Of whose
existence she had SO long been ig-
norant, should cede to them the
abandoned Norfolk island, with all
its buildings, penitentiary and agri-
cultural. We see, then, the island
ers breaking up their homes to go
and settle in a place nearly 5000
miles away, where they debarked
on June 8, 1886, to the number of
100 persons of both sexes. These
1919 are today S32, living by the
whale fishery and by agriculture
under a government that is sim
plicity itself. The island is under
the jurisdiction of the governor Of
New South Wales. It is admins
tered by three functionaries, of
whom the principal or chief magis-
trate receives $125 yearly salary.
The chief postmaster has $40 and
the register of land $25. Perhaps
these salaries may seem small, but
it must be added that there is no
public revenue, since there are no
duties. The sole tax consists Of OBJ
ligatory labor, to which all the male
inhabitants from 10 to so years Of
age are subject, and which repre-
sents four days of work between
January and June, chiefly in road
repairing. The laws, which are few
in number and simple as the politi-
cal and administrative organization
of the island, do not fill more than
two sheets of paper. Police would
be needless. As nobody commits
any crimes, there are no prisons.
The climate being very healthful,
sickness is unknown. Nevertheless
there is, as a preoaution, one physi-
clan, who, like the chaplain, is an
official agent. Both of them are
paid from a fund administered by
the governor of New South Wales.
Revue Scientifque.
No artist at any time has taken his
work more seriously. A bundle Of let
tiers addressed by Collins to a London
editor, which now lies before us,
abundantly illustrates this point. From
the careful corrections in his proof and
his alarm lest any alteration should be
made by another hand, we learn how
thoroughly considered was every line
Of his stories and how significant every
syllable. The following passage (Which
has not hitherto seen the light, IN a
subject near the heart Of all editors
who cater for the family, 10 particular.
~ interesting:
"The other alteration, wrote Col
lina ST cannot conaont To mal;o Thu