Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-19

toms of the Bismarck archipelago
This man says the inhabitants are
principally Papuans, The men are
frequently over six feet In height
they are Of a dark brown complexion
have thick, black curly hair, large
fiat noses and symmetrical bodies. In
the Island of New Britain, which the
Germans know as Neu Pommern, the
natives have a custom of combining the
girls In cages from the ages of six or
eight years until they are married.
The cages are made Of the sprouts of
the palm tree. They are sometimes
built inside the houses. The girls are
never allowed to leave the cages ex-
cept once a day when they are taken
out to be washed. The girls are said
to thrive under these conditions. They
grow as fat as the penned-up geese
used for making pate de fots gras.
They mature early and are ready for
marriage at eleven or twelve years of
age. A girl who is not married at
fifteen or sixteen Is an old maid.
The island of Neu Pommern is the
principal one Of the Bismarck archi-
pe1ago. 1t is $50 miles long and about
fifteen miles wide. 1t is more or less
rolling. The natives are among the
widest Of the South seas. Both women
and men go naked and cannibaiism Is
said to be common. Most of their eat
ables are consumed in the raw state,
cooked. The people live In small huts
of beehive shape, surrounded by
bamboo fences, and the young UNI
married men have clubhouses, where
they live together. The girls are con-
fined in the cages.
Both New Guinea and the Bismarck
archipelago have been exploited by
the Germans. They have been in
creasing their cocoanut plantations
and the export of cocoa and dried co
coanut meat has now reached value
of one or two million dollars year.
In 1912 phosphates to the amount or
more than q million dollars were eX-
ported, and skins Of the bird Of para
disc valued at more tfan 100000
were sent to Germany. The imports
then amounted to more than three or
four million dollara. all from Ger
many, and the trade was increasing.
x
AZ soon as the war broke out. the
northward to capture New Guinea.
They landed men In Neu Pommern
and put the wireless station there out
of commission. They took the town
Herbertshohe, notwithstanding the
Germans had network of mines
along the shore and had built
trenches from which they fought the
Australians. The Germans" had also
native soldiers hidden in the jungle,
and these Aired on the invading party.
Within less than week, however,
the various settlements were cap
tured. and the Australians took pos
session of New Guinea and the othe +
islands about. 1t looks now as though
they had come to stay. They have
begun to reorganize the administra
tom and are building roads through
out the territory. They have taken
over the little fleet that belonged to
Germany, and have their officials NOV
ing about from island to island. keep
ing order. I understand that trade Ia
already increasing and that the gov
eminent revenues are rising. AT the
time that the Australians came in, the
German authorities made a wholesale
distribution of the public moneys
They destroyed much of the property
and attempted to wreck the colony.
Notwithstanding the change in own
ership, the German settlers have con-
cluded to stay. They are buying and
selling and increasing their holdings
The development of the Bismarck
archipelago and German New Guinea
was largely due to an American girl
This was Emma l.. Coe. the daughter
of Jonas M. Coe, a former Amer ca n
consul to the Samoan Islands Coe
married a Samoan princess and Emma
was the result of the marriage. She
was born in Samoa aud married an