Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-17
GERMAN NEW GUINEA
Kaiser Wilhelm's Possessions in the
South Pacific.
QUEER HABITS OF THE NATIVES
But Little of the Country Has
Ever Been Explored.
ITS NJ NY r ES GU r G E S
Copyright. 1901. by Frank G. Carpenter1
,Dsctal Carrpsnondence of The Evening Star

Copyright. 1901 by Frank G. Carpenter)
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
THURSDAY ISLAND, Torres Strait.
Germany is rapidly spottinS this part OF
the Pacific with her possessions. She Is
giving new names to her different proper
ties so that one will soon need Teutonic
dictionary to know where he is. Just north
Of Torres Strait on the other side of Brit
ish New Guinea is Kaiser Wilhelms Land.
This is the German section of New Guinea,
the largest island of the world. The great
collection of islands to the eastward which
were once known as the New Britain Arch
ipelago is now the Bismarck archipelago,
and instead of New Britain and New Ire
land we have Neu Pommern and Neu
Mecklenburg. The Germans own the
Admiralty Islands. They have renamed the
Duke of York Islands, Neu Lauenburg.
They have long owned the Marshall Is
lands, and in 1899 they bought the Caro-
lines, the Pelews and the Ladrones of
Spain for something like S4oo0.0o0. They
would have included Guam in the bargain
had we not taken possession of 1t In our
settlement of the Spanish-American war.
and they are still looking about for every
thing loose. All the islands l have lnen-
toned are now governed in connection with
Kaiser Wilhelms Land, and altogether they
form what may be called Germany's CO.
lonal island empire of the Pacific.
Kaiser Wflhe1m's Land.
Let me first give some new information
about Kaiser Wilhelm's Land. The country
Is almost unknown and vast part OF
1t is yet UNEMPLOYED. The Germans have
their scientific parties and surveying expe-
ditions scattered here and there over it.
but the interior will long remain untrodden
by white men. The country Is better
Neyy Guinpa If forms
northeastern quarter of that island, having
been under the rule of the Germans TOR
the past seventeen years Up until 1893 its
government was In the hands OF the Ger
man New Guinea Company, but the adj
ministration was taken over by the imper-
rial government two years ago and all APP
pointments now come from the emperor
himself. The material developments are all
still in the hands of the New Guinea Com
pany, which controls the trade not only
of the mainland, but of the islands, and
which has steam and sailing vessels NOV
ing from port to port.
Kaiser WilheIm's Land proper is about
one-third large the whole German
empire and it's German population is just
fifty-three souls. 1t has In addition to these
about 10000 natives and five other Euro
peans, so you can see that the land is by
no means overcrowded. The seats Of gov
eminent at present are the town of Ste
phensort on Astrolabe bay. and Herberts-
hohe on the Island of Neu Pommern.
Resources of the Colony.
Not far back of Astrolabe bay are the
Bismarck mountains, which are now being
prospected for gold. and that so success
fully that mines have recently been opened.
although 1 am unable to say anything as
to the output Cocoanut groves to the
extent Of $4,000 trees have been set out,
and there are also plantations of coffee,
cotton, tobacco and rubber
One of the best parts of Kaiser Wilhalm's
Land is at the southeast, off Huon gulf.
Here there is a good harbor. and the
country is said TO be we'll populated The
land is wooded along the coast but further
back IT consists of rolling plains. which
are dotted with trees and are as green as
an English park. The New Guinea Com
pany has a station here, and the natives
raise horses and cattle.
Some of the land is irrigated by the
natives. who use tubes of bamboo to carry
the water from one level to another, and
TO distribute 1t over their little fields. They
are natural farmers. and grow vans sweet
potatoes and bananas, and of late Indian
corn. \ great deal Of the work is done by
the women, although both women and men
work on the plantations of the New Guinea
Company.
The best products so far have been cot
ton and tobacco There are several cot
ton plantations about Astrolabe bay enc
OF which. near Konstantinhafen, recently
produced $4,000 pounds of cotton from
twenty-five acres, or an average of $50
pounds per acre. The wages paid on the
plantations range from 81 to $3.50 per
month. The best workmen come from the
islands Of the Bismarck archipelago ard
the New Guinea Company is using some
imported labor from there. There are plan
tatfons also in the archipelago itself, the
largest being In Neu Pommern. where one
man has 500 acres in coffee and cotton and
where the Hamburger Plantation COMPANY
Is said TO be growing coffee successfully
Queer Subjects Of the Kaiser
The German emperor has some rare birds
In bis colonial aviary of the Pacific. The
natives of Kaiser Wiihelm's Land are IL
anything, wilder and more savage than
those of British New Guinea. There are
thousands OF them who go naked save for
breech cloth of bark for the men and a
short petticoat of woven grass for the
women. Along the extreme northern coast
there are some tribes which go entirely
naked, with the exception of a shell neck
lace and few bird OF paradise feathers
which they stick in their hair. Some tribes
paint themselves In stripes of white. red
yellow and black. and some scar them
selves with fints. and also by burning
scars, as the Japanese burn themselves
with the moxa-
1 have photographs Of native houses re-
Gently taken I'm Kaiser Wilhelm's Land
Many families live together, and many of
the houses are of enormous size. They are
frequently built upon piles, a platform of
poles being first constructed, a skeleton
framework built upon this and mats Of
woven leaf or grass fastened to It, The
mats are so arranged that they can be
raised or lowered so as to keep out the
mosquitoes and flies. which are exceedingly
bad. In other parts there are houses built
in the trees in which the people retreat In
times OF danger.
War and Cannibalfsm.
The different tribes are frequently at
war with one another, and the missiona-
ries tell me that they. have a system of
vendetta which goes on between tribes
and villages often lasting for years. Can
nibalism exists IN some localities, though
not to great extent. The British have
observed II among the people along the