Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-09
Beef Steers, Yuma Ranch
ST. HELENA AS 1T is TODAY

in the most isolated dependency of
the empire, Colonel Gallwey, the gov
ernor of st. Helena, has gone to Eng
land for a short holiday. At the same
time he is anxious to arouse the in
terest of Englishmen in his island,
which has steadily declined in pros
perity since the opening of the Suez
canal, but which, in a naval war and
the blockade of the canal, would at
once become vitally important to the
empire.
"I can warmly recommend st. Hele-
ma for nervous people" said Colonel
Gallwey There are no motor cars,
no thunderstorms, no earthquakes, no
fogs and no snakes"
Colonel Gallwey, who had most
distinguished career as soldier, and
afterward in service under the foreign
and colonial offices in West Africa,
speaks indeed very highly of st.
Heena-as a residence.
"It is not a bare rock" he said. 1T
is, indeed, only forty-seven square
miles in area, but there are ideal spots
and the climate is really perfect,
thanks perhaps to the southeasterly
trade winds The death rate is prob
ably the lowest on record. Six per
thousand, after ALL beats Hornsey.
From the anchorage the island has
perhaps a somewhat austere appear
ance, but it's highlands are truly beau
tifgul.'
But" l added, "there are no thea
terS, no concerts, no libraries, no mu-
seums, no"
The colonel interrupted me. you are
going to say that life in ST. Helena
must be unspeakably dull. 1t is GER
tainly not lively. I admit, of course,
that I know every single blade of
grass on the island, while the faces OF
the $500 inhabitants are becoming
somewhat familiar, after my seven and
a half years sojourn. But 1 have my
duties and even my recreations. There
is the routine work of the island, the
furthering and control of the new in
dustries, among other items, and l am
also the chief justice"
"Tell me about your recreations,"
said, and to my surprise Colonel Gall
wey replied: 1--WE have plenty. There is
excellent pheasant and partridge shoot
ing We have a nine-hole golf course,
horses for riding and driving, tennis
courts, and the islanders are keen and
good cricketers. Every month a Union
Castle liner brings us budget OF
newspapers, and the only trouble is
that the most recent one is always
seventeen days old. But we receive
every day a Reuter- message giving in
brief the most important news OF the
whole world. 1 may add that ST.
Helena boasts a local journal, the
Guardian. From time to time we have
a visit from British warships, for our
admirals know what such visits do to
the islanders. 1 need hardly say that
whoever lands on the island flies to
Longwood, where the vanquished of
waterloo resided and was buried. AL
most nothing remains but the house
ITSELF" he said. "It is partly stone and
partly wood, a simple one-storied bun
galow, which looks very much like
humble farm building. In Napoleons
days there were trees around 1t, but
now the place is bare. There is not
a stick of furniture in the whole house.
His bedroom contains a good bust of
him, but at Government House we
have few relics, including bookcase,
a cabinet and the famous billiard table
of Napoleon. For one year this table
was at Longwood. Napoleon used to
play billiards with his hands and twist
the balls about nervously. At the
end of twelve months he became SO
tired of the game that he had the table
sent back to his 'gaoler.' The billiard
room became a map room, and Tor
hours at time with little flags in his
,.;oo ood VVafar10Olp