The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-05-12

II SdilS lis - iSkS ~ iiiOoas
The Japanese insist upon two Off
Cial house c~lcanings Il year, and as
they are executed under Il policeman's
vigilant eye, there is nothing slipshod
in the undertaking. All a mans chat
tells, his lares and penates, his wives
and children, even TO his cherished
opium pipe, are heaped unceremoni-
ously in front OF his dwelling, and the
work Of securing begins.
During the summer months Daitotei
presents it's busiest face, for ii is then
that the tea season is in full swing.
The colOnnades of the tea hongs, If
such an imposing architectural term
as c%Olonnades can be fittingly applied
to such unimpOSing structures, are
album with the staccato accents of
chattering tea pickers. These are
generally young girls, as old hands
are too numb for the deft manipula-
ton Of the tea leaves.
Seated on low stools before wide
wicker trays, these b~right-eyed maids,
in their peacock-blue smocks, their
front hair clipped in bangs, and with
Il gay pOsy or two stuck in the braid
ed knots at the backs Of their neckS,
are in animated contrast to their
rather drab surroundings.
Everywhere one sees coolies pack
ing the gayly lowered lead-lined
boxes that carry their sensitive freight
Of tea to America. About 90 per cent
of Formosa Oolong goes to the United
States.
The population of FOrmOsa is main
ly agricultural. The cultivation OF
rice, and more especially sugar cane.
is encouraged by the government, and
these are grown in great quantities.
Monopoly in camphor.
However, the most interesting indus
try is the production Of camphor, and
it can truly he said TO be peculiar to
the island, when it is remembered that
Formosa holds a practica! monopoly in
the worlds market OF this valuable
drug.
Shortly after the Japanese came to
FOrmOsa, - years ago, the camphor
industry became a government monop-
oily. Before that time there had been
a great deal of ruthless waste; both in
the cutting dowm Of trees and la eX-
tracing camphor from them.
AT first the Japanese, too, were
careless in this respect, for the supply
of camphor trees seemed practically
limitless, but the great increase in the
demand for the product In late years
has made scientific afforestation neces-
sary- Now large tracts Of iand are
given over to the cultivation of the
camphor laurel. The oldest of these
cultivated trees are now some twenty
years of e
Ian point of view Of value. few trees
can rival the camphor. An average
tree, say with a basal circumference
Of II feet, will yield about 80 piculs
of camphor Approximately $500
pounds), which, at the present market
price, is worth several thousands of
dollars.
Native stills are scattered here and
there throughout the districts where
crude camphOr is collected, packed in
tins and carried down PERCEPTIONS
mountain paths on coolies backs 10
the nearest railway line, whence it
goes to the refinery at Taihoku.
Ever since we have any authentic
record, .FormOsa has been peopled with
wild tribes of probably Malayan and
Polynesian origin. They are nearest
i'm point OF resemblance to the Dyaks
Of Borneo and, although their origin
| has never been proved beyond a doubt,
they are sufficiently like certain of the
South Sea tribes to justify us in as
cribing to them a common ancestry.
They are found OH the island today
in all stages OF development. The
"raw' savages, as the Chinese term
| them, live much as their ancestors did
| centuries ago, while the ripe" saw
ages, living on the bOrderland between
their wild kin and Chinese settlers,
have more or less assimilated Chinese
ways of life. The savage population
Of Formosa Is estimated at about 1oO,-
600.
At present FOrmosa enjoys greater
| freedom from savage attacks than
ever before in her history. This is due
TO the fact that the Japanese have IT.
stalled q live-wire barrier from Karen
ko, about midway on the east coast, to
| Pinan, in the south, a distance OF
about a hundred miles, to serve as a
protection against savage raids.
The future of Formosa under its
present benevolent paternal govern
ment looks bright indeed. Never be
fore has this island, so beautiful tt
the eye. enjoyed such q degree of pros