Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-06-22
MAY Be QUEEN
OF LONELY ISLE
IN THE PACIFIC
Miss Emily Mccoy Is Descendant
Of Bounty Mutineef Who
Settled There.
FATHER IS PRESENT RULER

% Study MedselNs and Nursing to
Help Her Peopte-Anxious to
RstusW Now and Take
Up Her Work
Bridgeport, Conn.-Miss Emily Nc
Coy. q graduate nurse living here. has
announced to her friends that after
eight years study and tenderly caring
for strangers In their illness, she was
going home to her own people, the
Inhabitants OF Pitcairn island. Ear on
In the Pacific
Miss Mccoy looks to be twenty.
eight or thirty, though she. smilingly
refuses to testify as to this, has mid
night black hair. soft ~olive-white skin
that suggests SUMMER skies than Con-
necticut's. kindly hazel ayes and a
pleasant round face denoting serious
ness and intelligence. She is large
and competent looking, the kind Of
woman that y n~erveracked patient
likes to e enter the sickroom. To
Bridgeport she has been known as q
quiet. retiring, ministeri1g angel in
times of distress in prominent famt
lies.
When her friends inquired where
her home was and who her people
were. the romance of the South seas
came out, though q few of them had
known It all along.
A "Prineess Royal"
Miss Mccoy is the daughter Of
king ]. R Mccoy. president Of tiny
Pitcairn island. which is two and .
half miles ionE-a lot Of land in the
mid-eastern Pacific ocean. little known
even to mariners because Of its great
distance from other land. 1t lies south
OF the Paamotu archipelago and Ii 800
miles from the nearest member of this
group. 1t is sever miles in circum-
ference. Of volcanic origin. with shores
rising almost perpendicularly to groves
OF cocoanut. plantain, banana, orange
and breadfruit. In this tropical para.
disc Emily Mccoy was born, and des-
tined. according to local usage. to
become its queen" Her father and
her grandfather, had long ruled as
kings" the handful OF people.
A glamour OF romance hangs about
the island and its people from the
fact that 1t was originally settled in
1890 by the mutineers of the English
ship Bounty. consisting Of Fletcher
Christian. the. leader of the mutiny.
eight ErgIishmen. six Polynesian men
and twelve Polynesian women. 1t was
not until 1903 that the outside world
heard of the remarkable colony there.
In 1925 Captain Beechey found here
. colony OF sc people under the patri-
archal rule OF John Adams. the only
E~ngiishman left, who had risen to the
emergency and trained the growing
generation In education, religion and
h~usbandry. There were male and fe-
male descendants OF Adams, Edwin
Young. Matthew Mccoy and Matthew
QuintaI. which names. with those of
George HUM Nobbs. who later joined
the colony, alone exist today. The
right community since its discovery
in 1875. when Beechey was astonished
to find there a C Of people speak
ing and writing English. living in
Arcadian simplicity and devoting them.
selves TO agriculture. religion and
music. Only four generations have
grown from the founders. Miss Mccoy
is OF the third generation.
Women Vote There.
Our people are simple in their
lives" said Miss Mccoy. There are
only 1876 souls on the island. and ships
seldom visit us unless they need vege.
tables, and the only ship that we are
sure to see is the yearly visit of a Brit
ish warship, which is not allowed to
carry women, the island being within
the jurisdiction Of the British high
commissioner Of the Pacific. We have
our own little parliament and are self
elected yearly by the votes OF both
men and women over eighteen years
Of age. There is no competition for
public Office. and my father and grand
father have held the office for years.
There has never been q resident
physicisn on the island. for there II
little sickness among US. and the peo-
pie know almost nothing Of medicine
a. It il prscticed outside. 1t was be-
cause OF the suffering Of my mother
before her death that I determined to
90 away and study medicine and nurs-
ing that ! might be Of more use to
my people. Leaving everything. In
gliding the young man to whom ! was
engaged. / went IN . ship that hap
pened 10 touch there, to Samoa, the
home Of Robert Louis Steyenson. and
studied In the medical mission there
for q number Of years until ! felt that
I knew enough to really be Of serv.
ice. Thes arose the problem Of get
ting back TO lonely little Pitcairn
island. lost In the waste of the ocean
and seldom visited. h came to San
Francisco. expecting that from there
I should stand . better chance Of get
ting q ship that would touch there.
For nine months I was in California
waiting. and finally. seeing no chance,
I decided to improve my time by con-
tinuing my studies Of medicine, dem
tistry and nursing. and wrote to q
cow CHARGES BABY BUGGY
Annoyed Because Philadelphia Child
Was Wrapped In Red