Norwich bulletin., 1922-12-06
IN THE DAYS NEWS
EN~ Island.

Easter Island, rumored to have dis appeared beneath the Pacific at the time of the recent destructive earthquake shocks in Chile, is the subject of the fol- lowing bulletin from the Washington, D. C.. headquarters of the National Geo graphic society
 If Easter Island had sunk beneath the ocean as it was rumcred to have done'' says the bulletin. this final dropping of the curtain on the island might have gone some way toward solving it's mystery for this tiny bit of land with it's unique gigantic statues is shrouded in mystery and has remained since it's discovery one of the worlds unsolved riddles. One the ory has been that it represents the last pinnacle of an ancient Pacific 'Atalantis' which disappeared beneath the waters many centuries ago-a theory to Uhich a disappearance of the island might obyi- ously lend support
 Situated 1000 miles west of South America ard almost an equal distance from other Pacific islands, Easter Island is one of the most isolated inhabited re- gions on the globe. Its greatest length is less than IS miles and it's greatest width about seven, but it's triangular shape gives it an area of only 50 s0Iare miles. Many an island 50 small has gone prac- tically unnoticed but former inhabitants unwittingly advertised Easter Island by setting up huge images along ks beaches, and to geographers and students of hu- man institutions and activities it is as famous as any island of the Seven Seas.
 "The mystery of Easter Island became recognized when Dutch navigators dis covered it on Easter morning, 1722, and reported that hundreds of strange stone figures of men more than 30 feet high stood everywhere about it's margins, their backs to the sea. The natives had only the crudest tales to account for these 1 images, which evidently had been fash toned ages beiore.
 Recent study has shown that the images were mounted on terraces below which the bodies of the dead were ex- posed and often buried. But whence came the idea for such statues on this | isolated island, and how some of them weighing many tons were moved and set | in place by the natives, have proved baf- l fling enigmas.
 'The statues were carved from vol canic lava on the slopes of an extinct
 volcano. Scores of them remain still | in and near the quarries. Others have been moved various distances, some re-
 maining horizontal others placed in an
 upright position. Some were moved
 tne natives say Dy ndSlc-IOr miles 1 across the island. Altogether nearly 200 Of the huge figures are now visible l and others are believed to have beer buried in landslides. The largest stand. 1 ing statues are 32 feet high. but one
 still reclining in its quarry measures 6l feet in length. On the heads of many
 of the figures were placed great cylin.
 drfcal hats of a different coIored
 stone, each weighing several tons.
 Easter Island, discovered by tn,
 Dutch and for a while possessed by tn,
 Spanish. now belongs to Chile, but fol
 long periods there has bene no civi
 Chilean representative in residence. 4
 Chilean company operates a cattle ant
 sheep ranch on the island which suo
 ports luxuriant growth of grassea
 About once a year a ship calls, leave
 supplies and takes away wool an, hides. The cattle are killed for thei hides alone, and the surplus meat l thrown away.
 '-Only about 200 natives. Kanalzas now live on the island, but it is sup posed to have supported several thous . and inhabitants in the past PeruYta'