Newport daily independent., 1903-03-31
IDYLLIC ISLAND LIFE.
No Drunkenness, Crime, Police or Jaiis
 in Cocos-Keeling.


 ands, in the Straits Archipelago. Their history is as strange and TO- mantle as their present life is curious and unique.
 In 1895, says the Pail Mall Ga- zette, Scotch sailor named Ross landed, and, seeing that the isles were very good, he took possession and settled there with his family. The natives were gentle and teach able, so that Ross had no difficulty in making himself their ruler. In 1851 he hoisted the union jack as a precaution against the visit of a wan dering French man of war, and six years later the isles were formally annexed by the Britishgovernment. With rare tact and wisdom Ross de- voted himself to governing the peo- pie over whom he had so quaintly established himself as king, and on his decease he bequeathed his mis- sion of government and proprietor ship of the Cocos-Keeling to his son. The present owner and ruler of the islands, J. G. Clunies Ross, is the third in succession. He was studying engineering at Glasgow when his fathers death called him to the fore 15 years ago. Abandoning his Eu- ropean ambitions, he settled in his kingdom, married Cocos wife and devoted his life to the welfare of the natives, who are his children rather than subjects. The work of the Roses in thus ordering these East Indian islands forms a fascinating story, and the Cocos-Keeling group, though generally unknown, IS per haps the most picturesque in the 1 British empire. The little horse shoe-shaped cluster of islands, three days steaming south of Java, are blessed with perfect climate, luxur- iant soil, and man here is seen at his very best.
 The inhabitants number about 600, of whom 400 are Cocos born and the remainder coolie laborers from Java. Under the rule of the Roses, the only white residents, schools have been established and all the islanders are well educated, the schoolmaster- in-chief being A. Ross, a master of arts of Glasgow university. Every male is also trained to work in brass, iron and wood, and is a skilled arti- san. Every Cocos girl similarly serves a term of apprenticeship in Clunies Ross house, learning sewing, cook ing and the whole round of domestic art under the tuition of his wife. Formerly the Cocos' parents used to arrange their children's marriages, but under the new order each man and woman Is free agent, and chooses a partner according to Flu ropean usage. Marriages are cele- brated according to the Mohamme- dan law, but polygamy is prohibited, and there have been only two di- vorces in the last 50 years There is neither jail nor policeman, for crime does not exist in these islands. Opium and alcohol are forbidden, and the willy Chineseis also excluded. Vaccination Is compulsory, and all sales are made by barter, for MT. Ross will not allow money, holding it to be the root of all evil.
 l The industries of the island con- sist in gathering cocoanuts and pre- pairing their oil and copra. Beche de mer and bark for dying are also exported by chartered vessel, which calls annually for the purpose. Pro visions are fetched once a month from Batavia, but rice is the only food largely imported, for fruit abounds in the islands, poultry is plentiful and the sea teens with fish. The gentle and handsome native leads life idyllic in graceful con tent and happiness under the parent al eye of Ruler Ross IT. He care fully guards his little Utopia against the introduction of European GUS toms with their attendant ills. Christmas island, close by, is similarly ruled by his brother, Andrew Ross. Coffee fourishes there, and so do rats and cats, almost to the extent of a plague. Hitherto these atoms of Britain have enjoyed serene isola- ton, but the new electric cable from