Norwich bulletin., 1919-09-29
IN THE DAYS NEWS What kolchak Would Trade.

The report that Admiral Kolchak has offered the Russian portion of the Island of Sashalien to Japan in return for military and economic aid. lends timely interest to the following bulle- tin issued by the National Geographic Society:
 The island of Saghalien has been political perplexity both to Russia and Japan for many years. Soon after the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the east coast of America. Japanese feudal baron dispatched an agent to><his far northern island of the group that swings south from Siberia. at the mouth of the Amur. to Fornosa and Fukien on the China coast. Within twenty years after that the Russians had landed on Saghalien.
 "The Japanese subsequently, made several trips of inspection but a small ha ndful of Russian coIonists remained and today the ma jority of the per manent inha hitants of Saghalien are Russian while to the Japanese it is little more than a summer fishing resort
 Tn 1858. Russia sent an amba ssador to Nagasaki and a band Of troops to ducted negotiations, the troops built a fortress but, after repeated attempts tho boundary question was still un- settled
 sBv 1875 the sea going Japanese gave up all rights in Saghalien to the Russians in return for full rights in the Eurile Islands and this condition of affairs continued until the Treaty
 of Portsmouth which gave southern Saghalien up to the 50th parallel. to Japan.
 Japanese Saghalien has little agri- cultural land but has large forests of both dec:duouS and evergreen trees, amounting to more than 5000 900 acres. la apanese pa per mills are situated in Otomari and elsewhere and an effort is being made 10 develop the paper ma king industry.
 But it is on fishing that the ma iority of the Japanese inha bitants do- pend for living. As soon as the summer season is over the fishermen migrate to the southern island of Japan for the winter. Mauka. on the west coast of SaShalien. is the center of the crab fisheries and much of the crab flakes consumed in the Far East cores from this little town. A post road connects Mauka with Toyohara. which is the capital of Karafuto. the name which the Japanese have given to the southern nart of SaEhalien.
 "sashalien has less than sixty miles of railway and white. red or Hue lines are painted across the windows of the cars to prevent the people from trying to stick their heads through the glass.
 aThe average annual teope-a.ure of Saehalien is near the freezing point and if the Japanese aye ever to colon ize the island they will have to cha 11e their methods of dressing and tu'.d- ing.
 '1n summer. the streets swarm with Iapanese; the Shinto shc.u, on '. heights overlooking the '.'o@ohara plain is visited by thousands and nuro erous fishing boats ply rack apd forth from the ports ras ssin@ t'rn oa oh which is valued at about $3,600, 900 d year. Between Toyohara and tho shrine there is a race track and when man wins On the races he climbs
 
 i'1 recognition of the good luck he has had. ThouSands of the most talk ative crows in the world line the road way and scold at the passera'v.
 'tBut in winter. the scene is differe"ot L Then the Japanese section of the city, with it's light fra ame houses with nov able partitions. is almost deserted and only an occa sional Japanese woman ankles con be seen in the snowy streets. The scene of greatest activity then shifts to the Russian part of the town where heavy log huts and Russian church give an air Of per'nan- ence to what would otherwise be a toy village Of thin walled villas
 Kara frlto has n,ucl, coal and there fs considerable gold, but in the past the Russian residents have largely confined their efforts to farming and the Japanese to fishing.
 "The northern portion of the island has an area of 14.ess square miles and population of about 34000 per sons. who live there throu9hout the | wear The summer populat ton of | Karafuto is bout 50.000. hut in win | ter the population dwindles to half that number. those who remain being 1 mostly Russian.
 "Saehalien has not been developed i 10 any great extent. but what natural | development has taken place has been 1 done more by the Russian exf1es whose permanent homes were there | than by the Japanese whose fishing camps and trading centers have dotted l the shorelfne."
 His Winter Supply.