The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-08-18

mer are from Thursday Island. There are
companies here which are engaged in the
business. employing hundreds Of men.
They use boats Of i've or six tons each.
ana travel from place to place gathering
the sea slugs and preparing them for the
market They arc caught by diving. the
pest divers coming from the various islands,
some from the Louisiade group. some from
the Solomon and some from New Guinea.
Some are men and some are women. the
latter being paid a. little as us q month.
The men divers often receive As high az
- . month. but on the average about SIS
The wages are often paid In tobacco and
clothing instead Of money.
The of the Sea.
The bechs Dc mer are called the cucum.
ners Of the sea because they look 70 much
Ike a. they lie In the water.
They range in length from one foot to
four feet and from the thickness Of your
wrist to that Of your calf. They are found
upon the coral rees and are picked OF at
low tide or obtained by diving down to :
depth Of from twelve to eighteen feet. The
nsnermen collect them In sacks and carry
them to curing stations. where they are
boiled. cleaned and laid in the sun to dry.
After mat they are carried to the smoke.
house and smoked for twenty-four hours.
They have now shrunken to the length OF
SIX inches and look like weil-cooked Frank.
furter sausages. They are next ba&ged up
and shipped to China The best Of them
VIII sell here for 800 q ton, and the exports
amount to many thousand dollars Q year.
Through the Queensland Government 7
nave been able to get photographs OF
these curious sea worms and also some
Information a. to their habits from the
Government Commissioners Of Fsherfes. W.
eaville Kent who has recently made .
special study OF them He says they live
on the foraminifera or microscopio sheIl
animals which are found In great ouanti.
Ties In the waters Of the coral rockS Each
slug has hundreds Of little feelery about
IL mouth with which Il brushes the rocks
ana draw the food from them into its
throat It might BE- better to say that each
sea worm has hundreds Of trunks CORE.
sponding to those Of an elephant, save that
they are Of infnitesimal size, and that
with each Of them It picks up it, food and
puts II In its mouth.
There are different varieties of beche de-
mer. the red and black bringing the high
est price. There are some kinds which are
not worth the gathering. and Of these one
70 known a. the cotton fish because 10
ejects . mass Of white cottony stun upon
anything that seizes 1t, the stun adherina
with extreme tenacity to all It touches.
The matter elected Is 20 strong tha the
making Of cement from It Is talked of. II
has also some of the properties Of rubber.
and It 10 . question whether 1t might NOE
BE- used for similar purposes.
Shark Fins At $500 a Ton.
Another Chinese delicacy which il found
In and about Torres strait Is sharks ins
The waters Of the Barrier Reef ana about
New Guinea are filed with sharks. ana
0sy can Be caught by the hundreds. Thsip
INNS are eagerly bought by the Chinese.
who VIII pay as much as 500 q tom for
them. A recent shipment here sold at Sseo
Q ton. and In the reports Of the Australian
Government ! see 1t suggested tina the In
0u0fYK n AnCn1lr1 god Tho AnS - 49,
In the sun and then bagged up for ship.
ment. In cooking them after the Chinese
fashion they are first boiled with wood
ashes In several waters and then scraned
and washed until perfectly clean. Aftse
this there 10 another boiling In sprfna
water to take out the ash taste. and they
are then stewed In . soup and served with
crab meat and . little ham.
The Prince Of wales Islands.
I am surprised at the number Of islands
scattered over this part OF the giobA The
South Pacific Ocean is peppered with them,
and ! shall be travelling In and ouu
among islands for weeks on my way %
Java. From the steamer a. Il lies In the
Thursday Island harbor . half dossn isIand
groups are In sight To the right b Horn
Island. where the Australians are now
mining for gold. Close BY and below 10
the Princ Of wales Island. which siveS
the name to he Torres Strait group A
little further over 10 BOBBY Island. ana 10
the northeast are Murray Island, DarnIsy
Island and others Each Of these islands
has tn own curious people. who In many
casos are not unlike thu aborfgines Of Aus
traliA ave hat they Seem to b more
siviissA. 9oms have huts Of straw thatch,
stacks followed out for houses. Murray
Island has Q Courthouse. whore the En-
Glish Judges mold forth. which the natives
consider Q wonderful structure. II n Q
mud building Of one story. rooted with
straw thatch.
The Aissi0As Of the oOuth Seas.
The missionaries are at work In al the
islands and also In British and German New
Guinea. In Dutch New Guinea thsro aFO
NO stations that ! know Of. but In Kalsoo
wnhelm's Land. three Protestant and tWu
Catholic missionary societies are at work
In British New Guinea the work has guno
on for twenty years. and there are now q
large number Of native svangslista Nh.
Dauncey. one Of the missionaries. who hAo
spent ten years there. tells M the peopIQ
are baing slowly but surely civilized.
missionary society has 1000 native Chf1D.
tians and LOO church MEMBER II hao
moro than 100 native preachers. ~ IN In
Sunday Schools there are 30 scholars. Whll0
In tbs common schools the scholar uumh0 :
1000 boys and Loo giriA
On one OF the is1ands q 0ouths1 New
Guinea the Roman Cathe,Sc0 arc 0oan0 =
great deal Of work. They have S1gnSsS
priestD and . number Of lay brothsfS: 49,
have tWenty-three chape1B ana . numboF a.
schools, I'm which there aro . tbouooH p
scholars. 30 Tar the O1nsiona are eat1U111t
Enslish and Ifsnch. II ADsEicans 1o9 -
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