The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-12-15

pie, aloes and silk. Queen Elizabeth made
q treaty with its Sultan. and considerable
trading was done before the country came
into the hands Of the Dutch.
From time to time the different foreign
nations tried to subdue the Achinese. but
they fought them one after another and at
the end OF five centuries are still uncon-
Quered. Already the Dutch have lost
about 10000 men in trying TO control them
and have spent. It is said more than $50
100000. They now have an army in the
field against them. and although they pos
eess a part of the coast they are no nearer
c0nQuering them than they were a genera
ton ago. The country of the Achinese is
about as large as West Virginia. 1t con-
tains rich pepper districts. and has also. it
Is said, much gold and silver. Its people
are Mohammedans and they use the Arabic
characters in writing. They are said to be
treacherous. but of late years on account
Of the wars no one has been able to travel
among them.
Rich Sumatra Is Practically
An Unknown Island.
The greater part of Sumatra is practically
unknown. ana still 1t is one of the richest
islands Of the Far East. 1t has enormous
tracts of fertile soil. and it produces pep
per, coffee and rice in vast quantities. 1t Is
the largest island of the world, with the
exceptions OF Borneo, New Guinea and per-
haps Greenland. 1t is longer than from
New York to Chicago, and in one place as
wide as four times that Of Ohio plus that
Of Massachusetts,. 1t is a land OF noun
tains and plains. Along the west coast
there are peaks from two to three miles in
height, while on the east opposite this
town OF Singapore there is a vast plain,
much OF which is under water during a
part of the year. This is especially so of
the Lampongs. the Province nearest Java.
The word Lampongs means bobbing in the
water. Here you can travel $50 miles over
lands almost perfectly level. and then BY
going thirty miles further reach the tops
Of peaks which are two miles above the sea.
The very best of our Java coffee comes
from Sumatra. This statement l made in
my coffee letter on Java. and the informa-
tion came TO me from the coffee exporters |
at Batavia. There is q town called PadanS |
about the center Of the west coast of Su- |
matra which is surrounded by coffee plan |
~tations. and there are other regions in
which the berry grows well. 1t is culti- I
waited In the mountainous districts. the 1
Arabian plant being used. The exports are /
large, and the most OF them &c to the |
United States. The methods OF cultivation
are about the same as in Java
Land of Fine Tobacco
And Fiery Pepper.
The best tobacco lands are on the north
os0S ~ A"S thAAANs hhhSA 10 49, opoeS L
Dill. on the Straits of Malacca. The leaf
10 especially valuable for wrappers, the
best OF the product going to Europe, and
thence to Cuba. where 1t Is used for the
finest of the Havana cigars. The exports
Of tobacco amount TO about s15, e0.411 a
year. One company-the Dill Maatschappij
has paid a dividend of as per cent per
annum for twenty-five years. This IS the
leading tobacco company of Sumatra-
1t is along this same coast that pepper is
found. Sumatra raises more pepper than
any other island of the world, and It has
been raising 1t for centuries. 1t was the
trade in spices which brought the Dutch
to tho far East. and a large part of their !
nrst pepper shipments were from Sumatra.
although they got some from India They
lost India through the overcharges of the
Pepper Trust. About the time of Queen
Elizabeth they had settlements both in In
dia and In these islands and were doing
most Of the carrying trade of this part of
the world. They then sold their pepper Mt
q cents a pound. but. trustlike, as they
had the monopoly. thought they could
double their price. water their stock and
still declare big dividends. The English'I
however. objected to paying |
S1.50 a pound. and organized the famous
East India Company, which drove the
Dutch out OF Hindoostan and gave India to
England.
Here in Sumatra the Dutch still own
pepper plantations. The Sultan of Achin has
his pepper districts. and in the Lampongs
there are other pepper estates which yield
well. In a good year Sumatra exports in
the neighborhood Of 100000 pounds. or about
two-thirds Of all the pepper that tickies
the palafes OF human kind. /
Young Pepper Plants Are
Set Ont From Cuttings. |,
have made some Inquiries as to the
pepper business. and CO Tar as l can learn