The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-23
LONELY SOUTH SEA KINGS:
WHITE MEN THAT NAVE RULED
TINY, PARKWAY ISLANDS.
One OF Them an American Vegetarian Who
Are Seeking a New Ilfs-A Dynasty
OF scotch Rosses-kinsdom OF a Run
away sailor-Another Robinson Crusoe.

s"aN 'es'h H''e""s
POMONA. Cal, Sept. 1.-THE most inter-
estinR things ! find In my cruises In the south
Sea. said Capt. W. r. Bostwick Of Lima. Peru
are the little Islands that rear their heads
above the water In the South Pacific Ocean.
There are probably few Americans who
know that for more than forty-tye years the
Stars and Stripes have been flying over an
atoll island away down in the South Sea. IN
the northern part Of the Samoan group. and
that an ardent American lived there A. King
for twenty-eight years and founded a colony
Of Amerlcan-Samoan desce ndants on the palm
fringed lslet. The island Is Gente Hermosa,
and the lord and master there was a New Hamp-
shire man named Jennings. In 1865 or 1883, a
young Yankee skipper. Eli Jennings. was sail
Ing around the Horn on a whaler for the ha-
vallan Islands, The ship stopped at Genie
Hermosa for water and fruit. and Jennings
was charmed with the spot and the primitive
courtesy Of the natives. file sailed away to
Honolulu with pleasant memories Of the atoll
In the South Sea. At Honolulu he saw what
the Yankees had done in getting rich among
the Ilawaiians. 50 he quit the whales and was
back at Gente Hermosa in anothe! year.
The story Of Jennings's life on that bit
Of land far on In tho South Sea Ia almost
as strange rs anything in fiction. He
learned the Samoan language, married the
most beautiful samoan gHl III inc "h"Ie
archlpelaso and was the undisphted lord
OF All ne surveyed lie got several hhgINn
sailors to come and live on Genie Hermosa
English became the language of the island.
and the natives were taught industry and tenn
perance. But Jennings never gave ny his
contention that he had added Genie HernlOsa
to the United states and that all people there
were Americans. When he became rich In
the copra trade he procured American books
ana an American teacher ioh hono'u'u' ""u
all OF his many dusky-skiiihed chlldreh were
taughl American history, American Iueds
anu ,he eIlNcopahan renR'"" 'enni"s7 wa
io'eu a. much oy 'he oailoahS 'n"N !o"'
ago a. Robert LOUIS stevenson was years ia'eF.
lie maze ueU'e ierihoSa one o' 'ne 'n"o' m'"I"'
ana lhdu@'rlo'S NIUE communities W an '"o
S"nth sea. 'huer ms SKIN uo"Nn '"'se houS's
were puU' LOT me 'e""'"Ss 'an'hS ""u 9" Wv
hehdquatlerS oil 'he community s"Ne'uune".
ana BUSINESS OF the l-aha- "hen ne uIeu
he leIt eleNeh groWh-up chIureh ana 'hhtF
srahdchilhieh III, remains were 'hcloNeu VI
4 mammoth Sarcophagus OF oeihen' ana cora,
which stands on the spot where ne s"p' hrst
on 6ehte hermoHa -'l III lN''
An American colony OF Neee'arlai's are nv
ing on laSula IsIahd' q my o' Oh 'ahu III 'he
Du''h srchpelaeo ABOUT 'o "'ies Sou'heuS'
from Ne" uu'uea, una i'V' nl''S n"''"eaN'
from Aus'ral'a IhueF IN" IeHo"'sn'p i q
MelhouiS' ce'sEHah' 'ne new 'an'es Ne""no
ONO some seventy people saneo from Han
Francisco IN 1880 TOT ha"ali lhey oeleNeu
'ha' q hlsher pane OF 'hHs'ahl'E was = I've
reacheo oy n vegetarian o'e' ana lIeeu,ul rom
con'ainihau"h WIN degenerate nanKInu ."
theN gave up thelr Irlenus ana ho'hes III we
Eastern states lasuia lsshu was many
chosen Tor their colony There were aoout
nftN GOOd-nAturpn natives Tnefe VINO NtlCOTlfO
The new corners
visited lhe Ne"hmtes on 'he islanu several
years ago Ihey had lost by deser'on some
twenty OF Original members oi the vegetarian
colony. our they had a sood ne' increase IN
numbers by reason OF olrthS ana accesSlons OF
people from England Australia ana America
They had bulit roads ana homes ana n large
meeting mouse, lhey cameo 'helr nVeilhoou
by growing indigo and vans and other irhts Tor
We Ahstrallah ana Ne" Healahu markets.
Ihey seemed 70 De happy ana 'h'y oeieNto
ihey were the Pioneers IN u schehe 'na' "ou'u
become OF mlshtS importance II ano'he' WI
tlry' Inc colonlsts had very h'u' III common
with anything In the world OUTSIDE OF 'helr wee
Island A Few ot them wrote ahhutuly TO reia-
uves and friendsin America and Europe ana
some had entirely cut themselves on from a
KNOWLEDGE OF all tha' had once been GEAR 10
them In the busy world
The history OF w" Cocos group o' lsiahnS
and the lordshlp that q coupe oi fhglish an-
venturers' Ross ana Hare assumed over me
natives there Is unusual hare ana Moss by
coincidence settled simultaneously on ISLANDS
In the Cocos group and each proposed 10 b"
master there Ailer nVe years oi p"lty "arIaI"
Hare died From 1871 when the Original Ross
first settled in the tocos' a Ross mas rhled the
archipelago The hrst TWO koSses' me lalher
and grandfather OF the present proprietor
ruled the islands. as their Highland ance stors
had held their lands. There was a formal an
neXation Of the group In 1857 by a brl'lsh man
of-wsr' but until eleven years arc the Ross
dynasty was practically unmolested ny any OUT
side interference, Even now the British Colon
ial ONCE leaves the Ross family 10 govern IN"
islands by the traditional methods ana by past
experience.
The Cocos Islands are about 10 degrees south
latitude and ITO degrees east They are LEGO
miles southwest from Java and 500 miles from
Christmas Island, They number twenty-five
and thelargest ofthem has an average diameter
OF nine miles. The population Is about 100, OF
whom the greater portion are native born and
the rest are Malays- The Ross family are the
only Europeans inhabiting the group, and