The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1923-12-26

| prepared by the National Geographic so
| ciety, Washington, D. c.
Whatever may be the political futur
of the Caroline islands, over which
Japan holds a mandate, they ar
bound to be objects Of scientific inter
est for generations to come Their
has never yet been a satisfactory ex
PLANTATION of the origin of the massive
stone structures which give evidence
of high degree of civilization at som'
prehistoric time, and which extenC
from Ponape, an island toward the
east Of the group, to zap, on the west
The ruined city of Nanmatal, off the
east coast of Ponape, holds the mos
famous of the ruins, sort of Pacific
Venice. Storms through counties:
generations have filled the broad
straight canals until the sands are dry
at low tide, but the walls of heavy ba
saltic monoliths, in some places 30 feet
high, have withstood typhoons and
earthquakes, proof of a civilization for
gotten when Quiros came, In 1895, and
found the natives living then In f1imsy
houses of thatch and sticks.
Charles Darwin, F. w. Christian
and others of greater or lesser fame
have delved In the ruins near Metalan-
i'm harbor and evolved theories of their
origin. They do not agree whether the
patch of land, 1000 yards long and
half as wide, once was tropical Ven
nh hn
has been gradually sinking, swallowed
by the sea and smothered by vegeta-
ton. The waves still beat against its
massive sea-wall while hundreds of
little shell rings, used for money and
necklaces, can be found even today.
One incident chronicled by all the
scientists, like the fragment of bone
from which the archeologist recon
structs the dinosaur, Is that a metal
spearhead was once found In the
ruins; and another, less generally
known, comes from Capt. John J..
Mailman of Yokohama. that, 40 years
ago, he copied two Chinese ideographs
carved on one Of the big stones. How
ever, the whereabouts of the spear
head Is unknown and the letter. which
the English captain sent to Shanghai,
was lost and he never could locate the
stone again.
Some say modern buccaneers built
the city of stone without the natives
knowing it; others trace it to the cop
per age, and the present japanese
claim 1t was the work of their ances-
tors, who built the uncemented fort in
Osaka.
A similar deserted city stands in the
hills of the mainland of Ponape, back
Of the port of Ronkiti, on the south
west corner of the island. Near this is
the home of Henry Nanpei, remark
able native chief, who has Travelled ex-
tensively in Europe and America and
Is the bulwark Of the Christian work
on the island. He probably could tell
more about the ruins than any other
man; but the scientists have confined
their researches to Nanmatal, which is
more easily accessible.
Planter Used the Stones.
Kubary. a scientist who spent his |
life on the islands, first searched Nan |
natal for Godefroy's museum, and !
when Governor Berg was in the islands !
lnder the German regime he shipped |
10 many specimens to the Leipzig |
museum that the government sent an
expedition to clear away the jungle |
md study the city, and the slightly diff
erent ruins on the island of Kusaie.
The latter adjoin the settlement, and
IS soon as the expedition left, the ma
ives, directed by an unawed Ameri-
an planter, supplemented the visitors
abors by using a good portion of the
uncovered walls for building break
water and pier, greatly to the wrath of
he Leipzig students of ancient history
After his last visit to the Nanmatal
uins Governor Berg died suddenly.
ustifying the native superstition that
be gods punish intruders.
The present Japanese governor has
big white book in which visitors,
ither after exploring Nanmatal or dis
ussing it in the cool of his residence,
re requested to write their opinion of
8 origin.
The sight of the massive walls, ST.
mt and impressive, still surrounded
y the narrow. straight canals and
with jungle, is worth the
istered back
Life is easy and time drifts slowly
= on the little tufts of green in the ,
arm blue of the Pacific which now '
e under japanese mandate. The lar I
'st is less than Is miles in diameter. ,
lille a half-dozen coconut trees, sur r