The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-08-24

sice-bound during many months Of the
year. It'll # u IS {955 # FL e a
only Here and there L. the soil ht$nlll
fertile, #and even thor YOU must content
yourself with raising fnarNot truck and
expect to get malaria while wedding
your. garden. st,ch ut least has been the
experience Of russian penal colonlsts who
have tried 10 wfnst n living from the,
soil. Moreoyerssth country looks every
whit ns inhosnltable MS experiment has
proved It TO be. They shy that when
Russian cxilcs. get their first glimpse
Of that rocky coast and those grim, cloud
capped mountains they often burst Into.
tears for very despair. When such OF
them as are not life prisoners have served
theft term and become free colonists,"
they are almost certain to leave sax
ahallr and settle In Siberia. They call
the country Of their sinpfl sonmcnt $"rhe
Isle Of the LOST ig H. IA \.
But for ali that i D 49, III valuable. pos
session. 1t has vast deposits Of coal, not
easily mined. but abundant, and the oil
regions are said to qbe richer than those
OF America. #
Subtcrrancnn laltcs--soiie Of them With,
MI area Of 5000 square feet--llc SO close
to the surface that natural gushers cn1
be easily established. The oil regions lend
themselves readily to exploitation, for
the cast const Is only from twonty TO-
twenty-five miles away, and there nature
has provided harbors that boats drawing
twenty feet Of water can safely enter
Under Government auspices tho RUS
sian salhalin OIL Company came. suddenly
into existen n glorious monopoly that
proposed to employ cheap Russian, Cll'i'-
csc and Corean labor, turn out from
100000 to 100000 tons Of oil n year and
drive Mr.. Rockefeller out of business
In tho Far East. !.
Mcnnhile another sort Of game Will
fall to tho Jnpnnese-in the north fine
Emcnngcric at large; composed Of boar,
foxes, sable, antelope and reindeer; IN tho
south an occasional tiger; on tho coast
d rem,,nerative profuslon Of seal, sea
lions and dolphins, not to mention a
species OF pleDclaN WHalO HILLS p1lAcu w
sblubber8 hunters. Fly &
But tho chief source Of wealth in the
Salshalln Of to-day s.the fisheries. Tho
rivers teen with salmon, the waters along
the coast with herring. In a single year
salehalln yielded sl,5Oo,O00 worth Of fish,
and this In spite of tho most discourag-
Ing conditions Every year salthalin
sends a million dollars worth OF Ash
fertilizer to the rlcenelds Of Japan and
everything which tends to make more more
rice for the Jnps Is a thing OF vast ms
portnnce It is for this reason moro than
any other, we are assured, that Japan
is SO bent on getting tho Island IN the
agreement for peace She and Russia
formerly held the island Jointly, but
In 1875 Japans part was coded to Rus
sia undor circumstances not oil pleas
ing TO Japan. Indeed, she has al ways
claimed that she was swlndled out OF
this valuable possession, and has all
ways been very sore about It, 1t is an
old score, and Japan Will not. be apt to-
yield on this point, however, concila'-I
tory she may be In other objections.
Tho latest rumor Is that compro-'
misc viii be effected BY Russia's paying
japan for tho island which is now IN
possession Of Japanese troops.
t. ~ d V