The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-03
By G. L. Harding

the Malay archipelago was being lit by
OIL from the Cocos palms Like his
grandfather also, he set a pace in the
arts of strength and seamanship no ma
tive could follow. and his court never
heard the murmur Of a mntiny
Surely Sidney CInnies Ross is going
back to land. tiny and barbarous, but
hoary with brave traditions and thrill
ing memories. He remembers his father
as the stoutest heart he ever found. and
| nothing is so lumiDously mirrored on
his mind as A great trip taken, when
he was q little lad, from Cocos TO Eng
land His father had the wealth Of
an Indian prince, and he determined to
use. 1t to give his children good edt!
cation So he and the Cocos men built
a tight little snip OF rs tons, chris
tened her the James G. Cluoies- Ross.
manned her with his own mon. and
sailed for England. After six months
trip, with long stops along the way, the
brave little vessel sailed up the Thames:
was pronounced by l<ioyds Shipping
agency to be class I'A-l,' and insured
for record period of eighteen years!
Sidney C)un,cs- Ross went to famous
old Edinburgh university. and during
the period OF his "rrown princeshipp
! Travelled over F:urore and America exl
tensivelv. so that when desired, az row
IN London. he can appear in public as
Il polished and 7Tell l,equipped modern
man of the world soon. however. he
will be Il nan OF the western world no
more: but patctral sutocrat ove7 the
hanoiest people on carth.
Needless TO say. he welcomes his des.
tiny. For Cocos has not only an event
full past, bu@ n very absorbing present
as well, The handful Of Chinese and
| Papuans wbo happened to be among
fhe original settlers. hare submerged
the other races of the island in their
respective almond eyes and fuzzy hair
The reli~-ion remains Moha mmedan. as
| in other Malay rcoions bu! there is a
fairly deusclv populated world of spirits
TO he Generated, too.
Ideal foc Research.
Tor the biologist rs veil rs fhe eth!
uolog,st. the plare shoud be ideal for
! -esearch. tn consider how the crowds
Of animals ever gained foothoId on,
| 2 bt Of coral so completely isolated
from civilization Is y problem indeed
IT seems rs though I'll the enemies Of,
m2n have done the incredible. while
none ~ his friends have survived the
pest. Rats from the ships, insects from
the air end the water. unbelievable
voyagers like "ock coaches. ccntipedcsI
scorpions, beetles. and ono staggering
but we'll authenticated uonhey-alI
have assisted in demonstrating the life,
Of thc outer world. The invaders have
moi hhen welcomed, however. The ma
tives have exiled the rats for instanceJ
to an island of their own. hut some
have escaped 10 The inhabited islands
and have developed curious capacity
for climbing trees and chewing of the
cocnanuts for food.
With the planting of every vegetable
springs a new parasite as though from
the empty air. Whence it comes, no,
BODY knows: it is nature con iuring'
trick. But it gets right down to work
at once on the food provided for it by
mother earth. For studying the prob,
lens of the survival of the httest and
variation of species, Cocos has many
advantages.
Think Of this realm The most per-
feet coral island in the world. ranged
like necklace of pearls round a still,
blue lagoon. Outside, stiff south
east trade wind preserves an even tenn
perature. Green palms wave over the
huts of the stately. curious natives, over
the prosperous. unsweated factories.
where labor unions or wage scales are
as vet undreamed Of, and over the
broad, comfortable palace of the mon
arch Of this new Eden. Over the peace
full shores passes cable which is never
tapped for news. but clicks onward with
the ceaseless clattcr of the work a-day
world past dreaming unconscious Co.
cos
The orderly populace Us menaccd by
no police or military forces. No agita
ton brujts about to revise the tariff,
for there is no tariff; no reforms nre
set on foot to extend the franchise,
for there is no franchise. No sensR-
tional writer cxcites the ingoisn Of
the "Cocans.' for there is no press;
no man pines to get into societr. for
there is no society such as a democracy
reveals. only elemental aristocracy.,
There has been but one crime in the
history of the island. and no divorce
case. Typhoons are much more COM
mon than discontent-and there have,
only been four of those upheayals. Said
I not ut the beginning that Utopia had
been fouud1