The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
AN ARCTIC KING

adoption by the American or some other nation. He has made investments in min ing lands in spitzbergen, near neigh teetion of a flag, having, however, already hoisted the Stars and Stripes.
 An interest of a romantic sort attaches to the individual who hits upon some way Of acquiring independence, or, better, creating a profitable industry, on a re- mote island Perhaps, it is survival of our days of absorption in the story of 'Robinson Crusoe" To think of be- | ing able to declare
 1 I am monarch of all I survey;
 | My right there is none to disputei l From the center all round to the sea am lord of the fowl and the brute, is to surround the most prosaic industry with the glamour of sovereign independ- enee.
 Of course. there are very few islands the ownership of which carries with it
 internationally conceded sovereignty. A small number however, of men of differ ent nationalties have estabnsned them selves in the copra trade on South Sea islands and achieved practical sover- eighty North America offers one con- spicuous. example. The purchase of Anti costi island, in the Gulf of St. Law renee, by M Menier Paris chocolate king" is a peculiarly attractive subject to dwell upon. It is but a few years since discouraged Englishmen, after years of failure, sold the island, with twice the area of the state of Rhode Island, to the Parislan for modest sum.
 The island is given few scant lines of description in the average geography or gazetteer as a bleak and barren spot M Menier has found there a vast timber and mineral domain. and this spring is ready to furnish the American market with an enormous output of pulp wood from his new rossing mill the largest in the world That he will shortly have a railroad line with a main line of over 100 miles long all on his own land affords one some ink ling of his undertaking, in which he has invested several millions. His do- main. wherein he has erected a castle, to
 which he brings friends from France in l his yacht is under the jurisdiction of the | Dominion of Canada, but NJ. Menier owns Anticosti in fee simple, appoints the gov ernor and other administrators, and is the real controller of the destinies of a land larger than some of the old world prin- cipalities.
 Island independencies of this general sort are scattered from Greenland's icy mountains to Indias coral strand" al- lItr Ia fn mi n view is a neighbor of Greenland's icy mountains It is the Spitzbergen group, only 10 degrees below the north pole and due north from Norway. The king of Spitzbergen is John NJ. Longyear of Broollline, Mass who has developed val nabe coal mines. Mr. Longyear is so bent on getting out 100000 tons of coal a year from this time on and shipping to northern Europe, that he has no time to play at being king His present anx- iety is to unload his kingship onto some nation that will give him property title and local administration of law. AS ne is an American and flies the United States flag over his ice-capped possession he desires the government at Washing ton to take cognizance of his citizenship and sole ownership of the mines there The islands, however, are variously as- signed to Norway and Russia by geog- raphers. Neither country, it is said, has done anything to support sovereignty. Russian citizens, fishermen. have been in the habit of making brief sojourns for many years. The Spitzbergen group is annually discovered" by the midnight sun'' cruising excursionists from this thest north" trips.