Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1899-10-17
MYSTERIOUS ISLANDS
Little Dots of Land in the Pacific
That Are Hard to Find.
C~lipperton, Whose Ownershfp Has
Been Claimed by Four CGun-
tries, at Last Definitely
Located.

Much attention has been given of late
to what we may call the strange case
of Clipperton island. 1t is not more
than three miles in circumference, and
it lies in the western Pacific something
like 500 miles west of MoE'.'0. In the
wide a of the PacI2c ocean it
shows like a mere speck, so small as
to be OF no value, seemingly, save as
a refuge for a few of the army Of beach
combers "whO have burst all bounds
of habit and have wandered far away
in the course of their downward prog
ress. But the ownership of Clprerton
island has of late been claimed by no
fewer than four countries-MeXicO, the
United States, France and Great Brit
ain; and when it is added that the is
land is a favOrite haunt of SEES birds.
and that many tons of valuaDl guanO
are waiting to be picked up, the reason
for this unwOnted sOlicitude, even in
an era of land-grabbing, will be APP
parent.
Clipperton island is of interest in an
other direction. 1t is one of those nu-
merous stretches of land set in the
midst of the seas, sunny and otherwise,
which, after their first discovery, for
many Years elude all endeavoTs to 10
cate them again. 1t has low been, as
it were, nailed down in n particular
spot in the ocean-that is TO say, its
exact position has been finally deter
mined by warships sent out for the ex-
press r of searching fer it and
II 49, -. - &c 10
and the only thing remaining now is
that the question of ownership should
be settled. 1t happens that there is
another island about 400 miles south
west of Ciipperton, and rich in the
same deposits that make that place
worth possessing, for which adventure
Gus miners are at this moment looking.
AS late as July last a vessel named
MOONLIGHT left Alfalfa, Mexico, on a
voyage in search of this latest mysteri-
Gus island. and spent 50 days of fruit
less labor toward this end. Her cap
tain failed to find the place, and, fear
ing thar his provisions and water would
run short, returned home to report that
either the rough charts Of old Capt.
Mai l. III MS
ror or else that some strange seismic
phenomenon had caused the lost isle
to disappear years ago, perhaps, for all
that mortal soul knows. Spice is add
cd to this romance by the fact that
another Frisco captain located the
place definitely a year or two before,
and found a small colony there, which
colnoy is still OIL the island, shipping
guano in their own s~chooners, manned
bv numbers of their own party, to the
leading ports on the Pacific slope OF
North and South America.
Quite a number of expeditions have
of late been made with the object Of
wrestling this valuable secret from the
handful of men in whose possession i
is, and of participating in the spoils
and one Of these days we will, no doubt
hear of a sanguinary fight for the su
premacy between the present colonist'
and a party of marauders. Although
the stories told about the unknown is
land vary considerably, they all agree
that it exists somewhere about 400 o
500 miles southwest of ~CIpperton, il
a low coral atoll covered with the rich
est phosphates. The place also has it
legends Of pirates treasures, whicl
may or may not have had any founda
ton in fact. One of the expeditions o
recent date, which have been fitte'
out to look for the island, was the Vim
expedition. That vessels owner claim
to have secured his knowledge of tn
place from the old sea captain name
Martin, above referred to, who die
some years ago, and who left an oil
chart among his belongings, which tol
, OF a small island in the south Pacific
\ not down on the regular charts, enol
= mously rich In guano.-New Zealan
Herald.