The Ordway new era., 1920-02-27
T is very easy to enter Java. says
writer in the New York sun.
NJ. .....I.....,nI l...rli. La,

a writer In the New York sun.
Tourists are welcomed cordially
and the customs officials are eff
ficient about IL, so that the first i'm
preston of Java is pleasant. Some
say that 1t is just as easy to get out
of as into Java. limiting that the Dutch
resent misbehavior and unfair crlti-
cism and that undesirable visitors are
sometimes requested to leave forth
with.
Most visitors land at Tnndiong Pri-
ok. the harbor for Batavia. about sew
en- miles from the city. This harbor
WIS built between 1871 and 1856. and
was considered one OF the finest CO.
lonial harbors In the world until some
of the British harbors excelled, and
now the Dutch are re-establishing their
claim for this distinction with the
harbor construction at Soerabaya. De
spite the fact that there are two har-
bors, outer and inner, The commerce
of Batavia has really outgrOwn the
facilities offered by the present har-
Dor works.
The outer harbOr has depth of 2G
feet, and is protected by two break
waters. each G,OOO feet in length. The
inner harbor is some $500 feet long
and over 500 feet wide, with quays on
each side. The east quay has coaling
sheds. The piers are of concrete con-
structIon. with spur tracks from the
railway. The cost of this harbor was
over S1O,500,000.
Protected From Crocodiles.
About n quarter of an hours drive
from Tandjong In one of those funny
antiquated hacks drawn by ponies. Is
Petit Trouville," where sea bathing
may be enjoyed. The bathing pool is
incloscd 10 keen out crocodiles and is
probably perfectly safe. but ! have
seen fences on land give way before
rushing bull and convenient tree
provided the protection which The
fence failed TO give. So l refrained
from enjoying the security of the
fenced-in pool. A crocodile is fully as
powerful and ms fast as an infuriated
bull, and he Is just as immune to rea-
son. The Dutch have not provided
convenient trees as an extra safe
guard. but most OF them know the
crocodiles by name and do not seem
afraid OF them. II is different with
strangers,
The drive from Tandjong Prick to
Batavia is fitting prelude to n tour
of Java. In this short drive. seven
miles or so, Is found the happy com
bination of good roads, nm unsurpassed
mxuriance OF tropical vegetation and
Kaleidoscope whlrligig OF peoples,
native and foreign. dressed in their
own peculiar manners and going about
their business in their individual ways.
All the way 10 Batavia the road runs
along the canal, and along the canal
are rice fields, coconut groves. native
settlements and Il new surprise at ev-
cry turn of the way. Tall coconut
palms reach out over the canal from
the great groves along the banks.
Nestled among them are the pictur-
esque native houses with their bamboo
woven sides and matched roofs; over
head is the turquoise blue sky so pc
peculiar to the tropics, and to Intensity
its blueness are the cotton clouds as
moiionless as the palms.
The Goat an Institution.
All this beauty is shown both above
and below, for there in the canal is
the reflection of the whole scene, even
10 the cattle, the sleek bumped kind
the buffalo and the goats. We must
not forget the goats. They are as in
evitable as they are innuinerable
Goats are TO Java what dogs are 4,
America. They run at will-are ev
erybody's friend.
If there is fight or a fire, the,
scamper nbout on the edge OF the
crowd. II tire blows out, there the.
are. eagerly awaiting any scraps o
rubber or cloth which may be throw
away. They are the comedians o
metropolitan Java. In the provinces
there the monkeys are as funny as n
the 200.
Well. this finds us in Java-and wha
OF this land TO which we have come
Was II Stubbs who said something t.
the effect that we must know wha
the past was II we are to appreciate
1ae present? Java contains so man.
relics af the past that even driv,
through Batavia indicates past cen
turtles.
For hundreds Of years before Co