Norwich bulletin., 1921-09-02
IN THE DAYS NEWS
SAMOA

Reported desire of Samoans for merly under Germany to be assigned to Great Britain rather than to the Mandate of New Zealand, as provided in the Peace Treaty, is of interest to Americans since the other half of these far away Pacific islands belong to the United States.
 The romantic glamous more recent | ly cast about the Marquesas has been attached to Samoa ever since Robert 1 Louis Stevenson penned his Foot
 note to History and 'Vailima Letters"
 says a bulletin from the Washington l D. C., headquarters of the National | Geographic Society.
 1 Other visitors than Stevenson sing most extravagant praises of Samoas s 1 charms. A New Zealand soldier pie lures one of the archipelago as an is- land where a heavy odor of green fol- iage pervades the air, where there is | laughter at the bathing pool, and mel low harmonies at the meeting places,
 where at every turn the eye meets the glint of the sun of magnificent 1 brown men and women.
 Unusual physical features have
 much to do with the happy first inn pression Samoa makes upon its guests
 The islands are surrounded in large
 part, by coral reefs. These mark out
 the ribbons Of placid water-canals oi i amethystine blue-which skirt the
 shore lines.
 "On Savii, largest island in the group, is volcano which began ar i eruption in 1905 and continued fol four years. Volcanoes are responsible
 for the queer syhon effects along tn, exposed coast of Tutuila and the sou
 thern shores of Savii. Liquid law;
 cooled in masses overhangs the oceaI , forming caves with vertical Assures
 Giant pillows beat upon these caves
 forcing water and air to emerge il
 soda fountain fashion, through tn
 upright tunnels.
 Jet black rocks mark a part of tn . Tutuila coast, and the white foam o | the breakers against thesd afford.
 another striking natural spectacle. 'The first enemy territory to be oc cupied by the British in the Worl
 l War was Samoa. Upon arrival of Ney
 | Zealand forces the Germans announce they would neither surrender nor re a sist. Announcement was made in th a l Reichstag that the pearl of the Pa T, cific' had been invaded.
 h The people of the island add t 6 it's lure-whether it be the native s pure Polynesians of splendid physiqu
 and character unspoiled by alien stoc n or the beach combers, those Twin n story books of the South Seas. t New Zealand's rigid enforcement ( ,- prohibition is cited as one reason fc if the agitation of European settlers fc
 British rule. The United States was n party with Great Britain and Ger If I many to the treaty of 1889 which mad r the islands dry
 70 But neither treaty nor the eigt e teenth amendment apply technical n 10 the Samoan national drink, Xiv
 which is non alcoholic, but intoxicat E. ing. Its effects are discernible, how u ever, only from the waist down. F : who imbibes too freely may lose tf
 use of his legs, but retain his wit - Wherefore sailors mixed the Kiva wit " gin to insure a 100 per cent jag .+ Curious, too, is the method of con sa pounding this beverage. The roots of
 sort of pepper plant are chewed l ,a young girls and deposited in bowl r- where male youths may pour in wat a to the proper dilution. The chief Xiv in chewef in a native village is a so " of permanent Queen of Love and Beat r. ty.
 ic The liquor leaves an enamel d. s. posit in the bowls which is suscept le ble of high polish. The natives b Sc lieVe a similar encrustation occurs lv the stomachs of consumers Indee e. one visitor was told that a native a,
 dict died because he sneezed too vii h. 1 orously and his stomach had becon vs so brittle that it cracked.
 he Dainty Miss America daubs h yn nose with a powder puff when sl u- goes forth to conquer, the Samoan bel CT oils or greases her head and body fro CT the waist up when she appears in e al ening dress. A closer likeness arise
 however, when the latter bleaches h