The Alaska daily empire., 1922-07-05
SOUTH ATLANTIC COMMUNITY TO NOW HAVE RADIO
Remote Section Without Com munication for Years, :, to Be Up-to-Date.


 Is island of Tnisitan da Cunha, in the middle of the South Atlantic, with its 120 odd siouhs, mostly descend lamts of Natpoleon's St. Helena guards, who hardly ihoar from ciwilization more than once in two years, is at la'st to have a missionary and radio comm unication.
 F For more than IS months an Eng lish clergyman manned Rogers and his wife have been trying to reach the island from Cape Town and finally fndnced the captain of the Japanese SteaIlnEhip Tacoma Maru. which left Care Town on March 26 for the River Plate, to dcv5ate from his regu- ler course and land them at Tristan de Cunffa
 Need Missionary
 w. Dertls inIye.r,1,, passenger on -he Tacoma Maru and a lawyer of Cape Town who has just arrived here, tells of the vessels call at the island with Mir. and Mrs. Rogers and thinks the population is truly in need of a mission~ry.
 The student of evolution, the psychologist as well as the mission ary. would find much to interest him in this curious. Forgotten commun- tty." says Mir Myers. "The settle, ment originated, 1t is said, when a deta chmept of soldiers who were guarding Napoleon at St Helena, ito the north. were despatched to Tristan tIa Cunha to forestal the remote pos sibilfty that Napoleon might attempt to escape thfther, Two of the sol diers remained, and. importing wives 1 from St. Helena, laid the foundations of one of the strangest settlements in the world.
 Hopeless Tangie
 From time to time shipwrecked mariners have added to the inhabit ants on the lisland, who have married and intermarried till relationship after a century has become hope less tangle. Nearly all the present pdurlatfon were torn on the island and have a 'coaored strain in their | blood. They speak English with a peculiar drawl, resembling West oi I England speech. 4 There is one old Italian among hhem. shipwrecked from a sailing vessel who appears to have Iforgotten his own name and in fact his mother tongue.
 I 'tContinaieds iiintermarItiage has ir this generation produced some pitifu children Some of them are idiots sorne lack limbs, some are deaf and l dumb The population does nothing ] agricnIltura1ly except to cultivate DO I tatoes. On this food together with \ fish and penguin eggs, they chiefly ! exist There are few wild cattle ! and a few sheep and out of the woo of the latter the womcn knit rougf wdolen stockings That is their only I rranaIfa cture They wear old cloth es lmoStly seamen's. begged from tht ships, usually wandering windjam mers. tIhat visit the island at rare in tcrvals There being no commerce there is no need for money. Il Attitude Curious
 "The islanders attitude toward wis itors is curious. As he stands be fore ono his head droops. bis arms fhH lithlessly to his side and he an swers 0imply and unintcrestedly ques *Sons as to his life and mode of ex fstence. He seems ito have no other interest than to trade a punquin, ar laabatros skin, or seals flapper flor an old shirt; iittle tobacco, oI l anything from civilization that would be useful He articulates slowly and with difficulty as if he had almost forgotten speech. did not see one smile.
 'erristan da Cumha is a mountain 1000 feet high rising out of the ocean wastes like an inverted pud ding bowl. and as we saw it, was wrcathed in swir1ings mists. The Ilitt1e colony Hives in stone huts on la green strip of pasture land at the foot of the mountain
 l Having no commerce and nc money, these people certainly cannot worship Mammon, but it is doubtful | II they worship God The two plucky missionaries who have eNiled them selves among them for at least two wears wifi try to teach them. They brought large quantitics of supplies and civilized comforts and a radio lset. so that henceforth Tristan da Cunha will not be cut off entirely orom the outside world"
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