The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-30

Pomona. Cal-"Tho most interesting
things / ind In my cruises IN the South
Sea-" said Capt ". o. Bostwick Of Lima
Peru. ARE the little islands that rear their
heads above the water ia the South Pacific
Ocean
There are probably few Americans who
know that for more than forty-hvc years
the stars and Stripes have been 1ying over
an aton island away down in the south
sea. in the northern part OF the samoan
group and that an ardent American lived
there as king for fwcnty-ciEht years ana
founded colony Of Anne ric iu- Samoan de-
pendants on the palm-fringrd lsict. The ISL
and Is Genie Hcrmosa. and the lord and
master there was a New Hampshire man
named Jennings. in 1876 or ls5s a Yam
kee skipper. Eli Jennings. was sailing
the Horn on whaler for the Hawaiian
Islands. The ship stopped az Gcnte Her
rposa for water ana fruit, ana Jennings
was charmed with tho spot and the print
tive courtesy OF the natives. Tie sailed
away 20 Honolulu with pleasant memories
OF The atoll IN tho South Sea. At Honolulu
be saw what tho Yankees had done So
getting rich among the Hawaiians. So he
quit the whales and was back az Genie
Herusosa in another wear
The story Of Jennings life on that bit
OF land far on In the South Sea Is almost
as strange as anything in fiction. BE
learned the samoan language married the
most beautiful samoan Cirl in the whole
archiptagO ana was the uudisuutcyi lord
OF all he surveyed He got several English
sailors 10 coma aud live ON Gcnte Her
Fnosa. English became tho language Of she
island. ana tho natives were taught indus
Try and temperance. But Jennings never
save Up his contention that he hal added
Gente Hermosa 20 the United States aud
that all people there were Americans.
When he becaus rich To- the copTa trade
he procued American books ana an Ameri-
can teacher from Honolulu. and all Of his
many dusky-skinned children were taught
American history. American ideas and
the Episcopaiian religion. Jennings was
loved o. much by thc Samoans thirty ycars
ago as Robert Louis Stevenson was years
later Tie made Gcnte Hermosa one OF
the most moral and industrious little com
munites in all the South sea. Under his
skill a dozen large houses we're built for
the Jennings family and as tho headquart-
ers OF the community government and
business Of the island when he died he
ieft eleven groWn-up children ands thirty
grandchildren. His remains were incioscd
an mammoth sarcophagus OF cement and
coral which stands on the spot where he
slept frst OF Gente Hermosa soil In 1851.
An American colony OF vegetarians are
living on Tagula Island a tiny biz OF land
IN the Dutch archipelago. about 80 miles
southeast from New Guinea. and 100
miles northeast from Australia. Under
she leadership 81 a Methodist clergyman.
the Rev James Newnn Of Ohio. some
seventy people sailed from san Francisco
IN 1880 Tor Hawaii They believed that
higher plane OF Christianity was 90 be
reached By a vegetarian diet and freedom
from contamination with degenerate man
kind. So they gave up their friends and
homes in the Eastern States. Tagula Is
land was finally chosen Tor their colony.
There we're about nifty good-natured nat
ives there who welcomed the new comers.
Il visited the Newlimitcs on the island
several years ago. They had lost by
desertion some twenty OF the original
members OF the vegetarian colony. but
they had "a good net increase In number
by reason OF births and accessions Of
people from England. Australia and
America. They had built roads and homes
and a large meeting house. They gained
their livelihood by growing indigo and
yams ana other fruits for tho Australian
and New Zealand markets. They seemed
20 be happy and they believed they were
the pioneers "a a scheme that would be-
come OF mighty importance in another
century The Coionlsts had very little IA
common with anything In the world out
side Of their wee island. few OF them
wrote annually Is relatives and friends ia
America aud Europe. and some had "n-
tirely cut Themselves OF from knowledge
Of an that had once been dear TO them
IN the busy world.
''The history of the Cocos group Of Is
lands and the lordshlp that couple OF
English adventures Ross and Hare. as
sumed over the natives there Is unusual.
Hare aud Ross by coincidence settled
simultaneously on islands in the Cocoa
group and each proposed 90 be master
tnsre. After i've years 81 petty warfare
Hare al a. From 1877 when the original
Ross frst settled iu the cofos Ross has
ruled the archipel go. The hrst two Rossos
the father ana grandfather Of the present
propgiefors. ruled the island. as their
Highland ancestors had held their lands.
There was a formal annexation OF tho
group in 1857 hy British man-of-war.
hut until eleven years ago the Ross
dynasty was practically unmolested by
any outside interference Even now the
British Colonial Office leaves the Ross
family 90 govern the island by the
traditional methods and by past ex-
perience.
's'rhe Cocos Islands arc about 10 degrees
south latitude ana 40 degrees east. They
are 80 miles southwest from Java ana 20
miles from Christmas Island. They NUM-
Der twenty-five ana AHN taAAtet OF tNtm
has an average diameter 'of nine miles.
The population Is about 100. Of whom the
greater portion are native born ana the
rest are Maiays. The Ross family are
the only Europeans inhahiuug the group
ana though an the male members OF the
third generation wore educated in Scot
land aud are described as weii-ciucated.
quick aud intelligent. they have almost
all contracted native marriages, ana
thrown their LOT ia with the people whom
thcy rule. Their sons and daughters
with few exceptions. neither speak nor
understand English. and George Clunies
Ross she head % the family, ana a man
az remarkcbie force Of character, was at
one time eighteen years without hearing
English spoken. ana confesses 20 being a
iii'le rus in its use.
IAN punlshm are meted out hy one or
the Ross family upon the advice Of com
tnlttee consisting OF Georgc Clunios Ross,
and q native and Malay citizen These
three men have the power % innictius thc
death penalty. but they have not exercised
the right IN a dozen years. When a law
Is made Mr.. Ross writes it and posts 10 on
the front OF his house IL takes effect
twelve hours after its posting. The people
are very orderly.
Another queer BIT OF land In the Pacific
s. Cristmas Island, near the equator and
nearly due south OF the Hawaiian group.
II is about thirty-1ve miles long. The
aHsHH