Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-08-25
Facts About Island
Of zap, Which May
Be u. S. Naval Base

Washington, Aug. 25.--What about
the /. land OF zap. In the far away Pa
cific. which may become u possession
OF the United States as reparation Tor
the sinking of the Lusitania' Ever
since this little island was Nmenuonen
the oth,r day at tne Waite House coa-
ference bstw cen the president ana SEN
ate foreign relations committee, there
has been general demand for infor-
nation about this former German pos
session, which the American navy
wants for Il cable and wireless station.
The National Geographic society has
come forward with some Information
about the island, the existence OF
which President Wilson confessed ne
never heard until the deliberations
at the peace conference revealed IT,
Geographic Society to the Rescue.
"Yap" the geographic society says
the wcsternmost of the western Caro-
line islands. is situated about 500 miles
southwest OF Guam and 500 miles east
Of the island OF Mindanao OF the phil
ippine group. II has population OF
about 1000. and was the administra-
tive center for the western Carolines,
the Pelew and the Ladrone Islands,
Tho Germans had made plans to locate
wireless station there, but were pre-
vented when the Australian troops
captured the islands in October, 1914.
"Yap is strangely old and strangely
up-to- date. Its inhabitants are still II
the stone age of progress. The natives
are strict prohibitionists. Bachelor
clubs closed to the women dot the Is
lands. Food and dink and clothes all
grow on trees. In Zap wealth is truly
a burden. A single coin of their stone
money sometimes weighs hundreds o.
pounds. zap, or Zap, when Translated
means the land, and Is the only land
that many of the islanders know.
Club Life Void Of Scandal.
Married and unmarried men alike
belong to the club, which maintains d
fine faiiu. or bachelor house, the host
ess of which must be secured by force
or cunning from some distant tribe
There she lives under polyandrous
system where no man becomes jealous
and the wives of the village never Cd
iect to their husbands evenings at the
club.
",rhe chief decoration of the male Is
string of pink shells made into a
necklace, and since no man is rlch
enough to own such treasure 1ne
best ones are loaned out for such a
period as the fearer may choose to be
dressed in the height of fashion AS
there are no button holes. the man
NAV wear two bouquets in each ear, a
sort of corsage bunch in large mole
in the lower lobe and small bouton-
Mere in a smaller hole in the ear
higher up. Shell cuffs made of conches
add the finishing touch to the correct
attire.
No Place For MilIiner.
"Yap women do not wear the ven.
Their only dress is voluminous SKIRT
made of leaves of fiber and composed
of four or five thicknesses. Attic one
month is the average life Of a woman's
dress, the style does not change.
1.-THE large money of the island
consists of millstone-like disks of lime
stone from Babelthuap, 400 miles to
the south, and one Of these disks is
four feet in diameter. Such piece
of currency may be worth 10000 cocoa
nuts. The small change OF the island
is made of shells, which the natives
carry strung on fiber. as does the
Chinaman with his cash. For external
trade the cocoanut is the common
standard Of exchange"