The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-30
IDYL1C ISLAND LIFE
No Drunkenness, Crime, Police, JaIIs or
Courts Have Ever Been Known
h H In Cocos. keeIinq.

Courts Have Ever Been Known
!. In Cocos- Keeling.
Pail Mall Gazette.
Away from the ordinary track OF ships
and blessed with splendid climate are the
Cocos- Keeling. islands, in the Straits
archipelago. Their history is as strange
and romantic as their present life is curl
Gus and unique.
In 1925 a Scotch sailor named Ross land
ed, and, seeing that the isles were very
good, he took possession and settled there
with his family. The natives were gentle
and teachable, SO that Ross had no diff
Guilty in making himself their ruler In
1851 he hoisted the union jack as a pre-
caution against the visit of a wandering
French man of-War, and six years later
the isles were formally annexed to the
British government With rare tact and
wisdom Ross devoted himself to governing
the people over whom he had so quantity
established himself as king and on his
decease he bequeathed his mission of
government and proprietorship Of the CO.
cos-Keeling to his son. The present own
err and ruler of the islands, j. G.. Clunies
Ross, is the third in succession. He was
studying engineer at Glasgow when his
fathers death called him to the fore fif-
teen years ago. Abandoning his Euro
pean ambitions. he settled in his king
dom. 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 thusyordering these
East Indian islands forms a fascinating
story, and the Cocos- Keeling group,
though generally unknown, is perhaps the
most picturesque in the British empire.
The little horseshoe shaped cluster of ISL
lands, three days steaming south of Java,
are blessed with a perfect china tie, lux
uriant soil, and man here Is seen at his
very best.
The inhabitants number about 900, Of
whom 400 are Cocos born and the re-
mainder coolie laborers from Java. Under
the rule of the ROSES, the only white
residents, schools have been established,
and all the islanders are we'll 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
artisan. Every Cocos girl similarly serves
a, term Of apprenticeship in Cluntes Ross
house, learning sewing, cooking 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 a, free agent. and
chooses a, partner according to European
usage. Marriages are celebrated accord
ing to the Mohammedan law. but po1yg-
amy Is prohibited. and there have been
only two divorces in the last fifty years.
There is neither jail nor policeman as for
crime does not exist in these islands.
Opium and alcohol are forbidden. and
the willy Chinese is also excluded. Vac
cination is compulsory. and all sales are
made by barter, for Mr. Ross will not
allow money, holding it to be the root
of all evil.
The industries of the island consist in
gathering cocoanuts and preparing their
oil and copra. Beche de ner and bark
for dying are also exported by chartered
vessel. which calls annually for the pur-
pose Provisions 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 a life idylic, is
graceful contented and enjoys hap
piness under the parental eye of
Ruler Ross III He carefully guards
his little Utopia against the in
PRODUCTION of European customs with
their attendant ills. Christmas island
close by, is similarly ruled by his brother
Andrew Ross. Coffee hourishes there, and
so do rats and cats, almost to the extent
Of a, plague. Hitherto these atoms Of
Britain have enjoyed serene isolation. but
the new electric cable from Durham to
Adelaide touches at the Cocos Keeling
and Christmas islands. so that they are
now linked with the greater world, not.
1t is to be hoped, to the spelling of their
arcadian character.