The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-27
NEW GUINA

| " dohAtA6 lOilr AukuSL So."kGpbClGls| The huge island of New Guinea Is probably the most 'unspoiled' savage country In existence today" says a bulletin issued by the National Geographic society in regard to the island the former German portion of which recently has been placed under the control of Australia by the League iof Nations.
 Holland, Great Britain and Ger many. who divided the island among them-on paper-in 1885 have done little more than place a tenuous fringe of outposts and missions along the coast. The spacious interior has been left largely to the numerous wild tribes whose chief outdoor sport lis collecting human heads and who not infrequently make cannibal feasts off the remainder of their enemies anatomy.
 This out-of- the way island. with it's thousands of square miles of un- explored territory, has been and con- tnues to be an interesting field to the seographer, the naturalist and the anthropologist as we'll as to politi- clans, statesmen and traders. Count ing Australia as a continent, New Guinea is exceeded in size among the islands only by icy Greenland; and 1t may therefore be said to be the larg- est island in the world which sup ports a considerable population. Tho number of tho inhabitants is not definitely known, but Is believed to be close to 1000, 900. The island Is 800 miles southeast of the Philippines and in the latitude of the eastern bulge of Brazil. The equator lies only about 20 miles off it's northernmost point.
 This huge island of the tropic seas covers a greater area than half dozen or more commonwealths of the United States. If it could be laid down with it's southeastern point at Norfolf. Va, 1t would extend across Virginia, West Virginia. Ohio, h. diana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minne- sota, and most of North Dakota, it's northwestern point resting near the Canadian border not far from the Montana line. And at it's greatest width it would extend from near the northern end of Lake Michigan to a point south of Terre Haute, Ind. The area Is close to 3o0,000 square miles. | Australia has keen interest in miles to the north, and the strait separating the two lands is dotted with small islands. Since 1908 the southwestern quarter of the island government of Australia, and the re- cent action of the League of Nations now gives the commonwealth jurisr diction over more than half the island.
 l The coastal regions of New Guinea E-practically the only portions well known-are typical tropical lands and, as might be expected. are not | nCdltntui. IhO of the interior reach a considerable height. one peak in tho Dutch DOT ton of the island being more than 500 feet higher than Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the United States proper.
 | Where the Papuans, the natives of | New Guinea, originated is an un- settled point among ethnologists. The islands are relatively fair. straight haired Malays, but the Papuans are black, woolly- haired negroes like those of the far-away Guinea coast of Africa. It was because of this simi- larity that the name, New Guinea, was given to the island. Some of the Papuans have become mixed with Malays so that numerous raclai gradations exist.
 ''The Papuan seems to demand an elevated home. Throughout the north ern and eastern portion of the islands the houses--many of them vast com munal dwellings--are erected on piles. In the southwestern section many of the native tribes live in rude huts built in trees.
 l Though on the whole as savages as any people in tho world, the Pa puans are not devoid of good traits. Some of the tribes have a passion for cleanliness and believe that the spirits of their departed tribesmen love to bathe. They therefore carefully con struct paths leading from each grave to the sea. Some of the communities near the northeast coast are literally
 villages beautiful They are clean swept, with streets sanded and plant ed with ornamental shrubs. In the center are little 'plazas' or 'palaver spots where conferences are held. These are paved with flat stones be- sides which are erected stone pillars to serve as back rests.
 ''The animal life of New Guinea, like that of Australia. is queer to western exes and represents the fauna of ancisnt geological ages. With the exception of the pig. which was Iprobably introduced from Asia, all the beasts are either marsupials hay ling pockets like the opossum, or else lay eggs like birds. But in the num- ] Der and beauty of its birds New Guinea surpasses many other por- tions of the earth's surface. It is the home of the gorgeously colored bird-