The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1916-06-26
FALKLAND ISLANDS

recently found a haven after the hard
ships Of perilous antarctic expedi-
ton. have figured seldom in world
news since 1888, when the British flag
was firmly planted over the land
which, together with South Georgia,
constitutes the empires 'farthest
south insular possessions. The Falk
land group is described in bulletin
issued today from the Washington
headquarters of the National Geo
graphic Society, which says;
Except when some unfortunate
skipper is compelled to cast anchor inI
the harbor of Port Stanley. where the
damage wrought by the fierce storms
Off Cape Horn can be extensively re-
paired the Falkland Islands are sell
dom visited, save by the monthly mail
boats from England. IL must have
been a sensational news event, there
fore, when the nine hundred Port
Stanley inhabitants and the eleven
hundred other people distributed over
The mere than hundred islands OF
,Ec Falkland group learned that on the
asst day &C May the intrepid explorer
Sir Ernest Shackleton, had arrived at
,his town With FIVE companions, after
raviug lost his ship. the Endurance, in
hc antarctic ice last October
net since the thrilling na,a: en-
agcmcnt OF the Falklands in Deem
err. lSlI. when British squadron
ndcr Vice Admiral Surdee, sank the
Germ an cruisers Scharnhorst, Gnei.
snnau and Leiusic, and captured two
Golfers have these islands figured so
prominently in the news OF the day as
now.
The Falklands are among Great
Britains colonial possessions which
cling to the very fringe # civilization
They comprise an area somewhat
larger than the Bahama group and lie
25O miles east Of the mainland of
South America and more than 1900
miles south of Buenos Aires. Only two
OF the islands are of considerable size
Fast Falkland which is about five
sXths as large as Porto Rico, and
West Falkland. with an area some
what less than that Of the state OF
Delaware. y
while the climate of the Falkland
group is comparatively mild, the rig
ors of its winters in no degree ap-
preaching the cold Of the southeast
coast Of Labrador, which lies in the
corresponding parallels of latitude in
the northern hemisphere, yet the is
lands are not an agreeable place in
which to live. as a penetrating, driz-
zling rain is experienced here during.
$50 days OF the year.
Except for the palm-resemblinP
tussock- grass. which furnishes excel
lent forage for the herds of cattle,
flOcks OF sheep and droves of wild
horses, on the islands, there is little
vegetation. The commerce. which does
not reach million dollars a year, con
sists chiefly OF the expectation of wool,
hides, tallow and frozen mutton. En-
tcnsiye peat boys supply the Scotch
shepherds with a satisfactory fuel
During the last quarter of the
eighteenth century Spain laid slain
to the islands and for time threat
ened to go to war with England over
their control The territory belonged
IL the British empire by right of dis
coyery, however, for just a hundred
years after Columbus reached Ameri-
can shores John Davis. one of the most
dauntless naygiators of the Elizabeth
an era, sighted this land while in his
return voyage from the Strait of Ma
gellan, where his superior, Thomas
Cavendish, had met with disaster This
is the Davis who is reputed to have
been in command of the Black Dog
during the memorable overthrow of
the Spanish Armada, and who ranks
with BafIin and Hudson as the great
triumvirate of early Arctic explorers.
Nearly a century and three quar-
ters after aDvis' discovery the eplorer
De Bougainville raised the standard
Of France over these islands, and the
latter government coded the territory
to Spain i'm 1867. II was upon this
cession that Spain based her claims
which she seemed to enforce with
arms until l77l. The reassertion of
British rights in 1888 marked the with
drawal of the colonial claims of the
pannIn nF n,,,Ya. Aafr,g