The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-12
ST. K|LDA bEGGARS
SCARE bR|T|SHERS
Send Letters to Manned Tell
ing of Alleged Destitute
Condition +


An islet in the Atlantic-tiny, re-
mote and gale-swept--the very loneli-
est of the lonely group known as the
Hebrides. off the west coast of Scotland,
where the isolated Inhabitants drop
their letters into the sea, where greed
and ingratitude flourishe, and the wo-
men are the workers and the men are
the shirkers.
Such is the island of st. Kilda whose
10 inhabitants annually make it their
business to scare a sympathetic British
troubles. which they contrive, generally
land.
Usually the periodical scares have
taken the form of starvation and pow
erty, but the latest story from the dis
tressful isle, which only became known
a week or two ago. was that the poor
St Kildans had contracted the influ-
enza.
So, in spite OF previous cries of
wolf" the Scottish oftrce In London
rightly got busy and induced the ad-
miralty to dispatch Immediately the
and nurses and the necessaries for re-
lief. When the cruiser got there, the
relief party found that the islanders
had been very. very i'll, says an ex-
change.
Chopped Up Their Boat
The peculiar part of this last appeal
lies in the epidemics having risen so
suddenly. The purser of the steamship
Lockmaddy. which left st. Kilda on the
18th of June, has made no mention of
any illness on the island. Neither has
the Rev ID. Il. Mackay, who, when he
landed later to conduct communion
service, was asked by the islanders to
postpone the service on the score of
urgent business. 1t was very soon
after these two visits that the news
came of the outbreak.
A few years ago the islanders were
presented with a boat by charitable
people in the south of England. Later
1t was found that, the boat had been
chopped up and used for firewood, the
reason being given that the boat did
not exactly suit their purpose. So they
burned it In order that their charitable
friends might give them another and
better one
1902 King Edward sent a special mes
sage through DR.. Forshaw to the
islanders. DIR. Forshaw took with him
pounds of tobacco and sweets. corona
tion medals and mugs, beautiful artis
tic photographs of their ma5esfies in
their coronation robes, numberless
bound volumes and magazines.
The st. Kildans showed their appre-
citation of the gifts in the most peculiar
Thaxr icIo oixf trll SIal
the coronation photographs, which cost
half guinea each. and eagerly
grabbed at the tobacco and the sweets
The coronation medals. which cost half
crown each, were afterward sold to
visitors to the island for a penny. The
books and magazines were thrown into
the sea.
other story of starvation, and a daily
paper organized relief expedition to
st. Kilda. They We're supposed to be
starving, but the Macleod of Mocleod
the owner of the island. wrote to the
London Times that only tea and sugar
had run out
The press was full Of the wSes of ST.
Kildans. although the islanders not
only had meal and potatoes and flour,
but also HOO sheep and cattle.
The sea was also full of fish to be
had for the catching, while swarms
of sea birds. good to eat. whitened the
cliffs and countless numbers of eggs
could be fresh gatherd.
Since the habit of soaring" has be-
come common to st. Kilda ships touch
the lonely isle just little more fire.
puently, but formerly it was isolated
from the outside world for periods of
six, seven. eight. nine and even ten
months.
Even now If the natives want to send
a message to their friends they enclose
q letter in tin, with a bladder at
tached throw it into the sea and when
a northwest wind is blowing the letter
goes on its way. Strangely enough, ten
oit of twelve of these unique postbags"
reach their destination safely. being
picked up by passing ships. =
Even in these letters the st. Kilda
characteristics of begging is to the
fore The primitive instinct OF possess
ion is active in the St. Kildans. Wis.,
itors to the island are surrounded by
clamoring beggars. who ask for any
thing that the stranger has about him,
and do not rest until they get 1t.
The popular food is the petrol Dur
fAe AugustSevery person goes hunting
for the birds, climbing dangerous cliffs.
The birds are afterward collected and
plucSed by the children and cleaned
salted away for the common uses
About 500 is the customary allowance