The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-01-11
Christmas Island: Where The Sun
May Yield Secret.


Island. in the Indian ocean, one
of the several bits Of land that
lonely voYagers have come upon
in the holiday season and have
named accordingly, may play an
important part in the further
! checking up of the Einstein theory,
according to press reports frorl
London. The Royal Observatory
at Greenwich is planning to send to
the tiny island shortly after the
first OF the year an expedition
equipped with good-sized tee
I scopes to observe next Septeno5ers
total eclipse Of the sun. a Dutch
astronomical party may also install +.
its Instruments there.
The island is the subject o.. the
I following bulletin from the Wash
ington, D. c., headquarters of the
National Geographic Society:
Christmas Island has been de-
scribed by travellers as at once one
! of the lonlicst and loveliest spots in
the world. And its possession OF
tree-climbing crabs and super !,
scented tree gives. il right to be
classed as one Of the quearest-
Java, its nearest nGghbor TO
the north, is 250 miles away, the
little Cocos Islands lie more than
500 miles to the west, Australia
is 1000 miles 10 the southeast
! ward, while to inc south the waters
of the Indian ocean are unbroken
! by even the smallest islands until
the lands around the South Pole J,
are reached at distance Of nearly 2
4.O06 miles. The island, y rifles
long by 9 miles broad, is in real
ity made up Of the slopes and top J.
of a huge nlountain peak. Sound
ings show that if the waters OF
! the ocean We're drained away a
rough pyramid $4,000 feet high
would stand alone in plain, the
present island forming the last =
600 feet Of its s.opes.
The island is believed TO be
unique in that it is probably the
only tropical island capable of sus-'
tanning OF considerable population
which had never been .peopled until
after its discovery by Europeans.
! Except where sheer rock walls oe-
+; cur it is heavily wooded from the
waters edge to the summit. Co
conuts and sago palms as we'll as
many other tropical trees grow IN
profusion. Beneath them is a tan
gle of tropical underground, but
! in this jungle are no wild beasts
and only few harmless reptiles.
But one pestiferous creature is
omnipresent-a wicked looking red
crab. Some Of these creatures at
tain a size Of 9 inches across the
back. They do not confine them
selves to the shore sands, but range /,
all over the island, and always in
groups. Sometimes armies of
! them march along. They even
climb the trees and feast on the;
succulent nipa palms. AS an off
set to the crabs the islnad, unlike
practically every other tropical
| land, is mosquitoes. This boon
it owes to its porous soil and steep,
slopes Even in the rainy season
there is no standing water
For one of its features Christ
mas Island may be said to- be in
famous rather than famous. 1t is .
a tree, believed not to exist else
| where, which is described by one
| disguised visitor 10 the island as
emitting the most disasreeable
odor in the world With trunk
as sturdy as an oak and leaves as
graceful as those Of an aspen, 1t
gives to the eye no indication Of its
true character But it's scent per-
meates the air for hundreds OF feet
/ in every direction; and if one is un-
fortunate enough TO so much as
touch its, bark or leaves, nothing
short of repeated scrubbings with
! strong carbolic soap will make him
again fit for human society.
Rich deposits OF phosphate OF
| lime occur on Christmas Island.
a fact to which it owes. such i'm
portance as it possesses III nona
eclipse years A phosphate COM
pany regularly takes sfiploads OF
the, mineral from the is and to.Sin-
gapore where il is marketed as fer
tilizer.-,. More than 1000 coolies,
mostly Chinese. are engaged in the.
thinning operations. and with the
overseers. Sikh police and COM.
pany agents. constitute the is 4
lands made-to-order population.
The island is British possession,
having been annexed in 1888 after
the discovery Of the rich fertilizer
deposits
"Christmas Island has been
chosen Us. the chief observation
point for the 1922 eclipse Of the
sun because it is not only in the
bel, OF totality, but the sun will be
obscured there at time when it
is high in the heavens. The pencil
Of shadow in connection with which
scientists are basing high hopes
will be touched to the earth in
Abyssinia. Will be drawn over mar
row Italian Somaliland. and from
there onward Will trace its way al
most entirely over landless portions
OF the Indian Ocean several hun
dred miles south of the Asiatic
mainland. It VIII cross Australia
mainly in the unsettled northern
regions ard Will be lifted in the
neighborhood of Norfolk Island
northwest of New Zealand