The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-30

by the abundance and quality of the
produce that on his return he recon-
mended the island to the government as
a suitable place for emigrants The ne
riod at which these unhappy peonle
Strayed from the beaten paths of their
ancient religion is lost in the mists of
antiquity. Suffice it to say that MANY
many years ago the inhabitants of a GER
tam islands in the South Pacific became
1althless to their religion, which for I'M
told ages had been the worship of the
sun.
A BANE FELL ON THEM
for some reason, probably because Ma
80 <lDilolS SaHenesS, the SUM- weary of
perpetualy rlpen1ng fruit ami heinz n
! pstiaoise LOT those who love to bask and
10y u III us GENIAL warmth, surrendered lie
nv lpoii11Is u the wind, rain and waves
10 people grew SO frightened and even
Iuat1y SO olsguSted at contemnlatinoy CIT
Oh l1Ny plaekness. and Hstenino 70 49,
moving OF the winds and the roo 80
Tue ocean, that they flew into n roerio -
anu reFlilng the sun they had for,,,o,.,-,
SO aoofed, commenced carving hya,1S
new set Of gods out Of stone Wbay5. 49, ~
hlhg demonstrated they killed him ono
oafk night shortly after an awfuI voice
rang through the little island.
Inc pane was proclaimed: ''Whereve,
they went, whatever they did. famine and
ruin and decay were to doc tbafr So 60
steps. To escape the horrors of So draad
VISITATION the Islanders took counsel A
year later little expedition put orr r.
sea. The leading boats contained +be
islanders, the hinder the gods of their new
religion. After much hard work they sue.
ceeded IN reaching the islands which
form FORM the subject of this article 1t is
hlghly probable that on arriving the isl
anders congratulated themselves on thei,
escape, but, If they did, they acted 2 Iitt1e
prematurely, for when the adventurous
spirits who century or so ago took In
exploring the world and discovered Easter
island the people were already in the Ia ST
stages Of decay.
The most interesting feature of this
wonderful island today are the statues.
All round the coast there are numerous
platforms in ruins on which statues
numbering 545 stood. The platforms nIIm-
Der 113. The majority are 20 feet to 20
1eet nigh. and 300 feet to 400 feet long.
me Tongarik platform Is $40 feet long.
including wings. Before the statues were
thrown down it boosted Is.
WORK SUDDENLY STOPPED.
An examination Of the work shops stil1
IN existence makes It clear that for some
reason the work in progress was sud
denly stopped, there being no fewer than
ton. What. makes the matter stfll
stranger IS the fact that although the
statues remain. the tools of the work
people have all disappeared
A sort of stone chisel was found some
years ago by an exploring party, but taxi
ing into consideration the highly in
genious drawings of mythical animals
which adorn the walls of the hundred
houses, once the abode of the giants, the
wooden tablets covered with hieroglyphics
pictorial Wr1ting), 1t is extremely I'M
well should have worked with stone
chisels. The inscriptions confirm the
idea of Easter island having been within
distinct races. They show that they were
the work Of a people who understood
reading and writing. All accounts agree
that the present race know nothire- If
either accomplishment, all of which
shows what bane can do.