Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-08-15

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington, D. CO
Easter island, rumored to have dis
appeared beneath the Pacific ocean
last autumn when tremendous earth
quake shocks and tidal waves devas-
tated parts Of the shore Of Chile, has
only just been definitely proved to still
exist, by the return Of a ship sent to
Its far away possession by the Chilean
government. Situated more than 1000
miles west of South America and al
most as far from other inhabited Pa
cific Islands, Easter island is one of
the MT isolated Inhabited regions of
the globe. 1t Is remote even from
steamer lanes, and often year or
more passes without it's handful of in
habitants sighting ship.
If Easter island had sunk beneath
the ocean as it was rumored to have
done, this final dropping of the curtain
on the island might have gone some
way toward solving its mystery; for
this tiny bit of land with it's unique
gigantic statues is shrouded in mys-
terry and has remained since its dis
covery one of the worlds unsolved
riddles. One theory, once popular but
now about discarded, was that it
represents the last pinnacle of an
ancient Pacific atlantis" which dis
appeared beneath the waters many
centuries ago-a theory to which
disappearance Of the island might OBJ
vfOuSIv have Innt cI1pnort
The islands greatest length is less
than Is miles and its greatest width
about seven, and It's triangular shape
gives it an area of only so square
miles. Many an island as small has
gone practically unnoticed but former
Inhabitants unwittingly advertised"
Easter island by setting up the huge
Images along its beaches; and to geog-
raphers and students of human in
stitutions and activities it is as IA
nous as any island of the Seven seas.
Gigantic Stone Figures.
The mystery of Easter island be-
came recognized when Dutch naviga-
tors discovered 1t on Easter morning,
1922, and reported that hundreds of
strange stone figures of men more than
30 feet high stood everywhere about
its margins, their backs to the sea.
The natives had only the crudest of
tales to account for these images,
which evidently had been fashioned
ages before.
Recent study seems to show that
the images were mounted on terraces
below which the bodies of the dead
were exposed 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 ma
tives, have proved battling 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
remaining horizontal, others placed in
an upright position. Some were
moved-the natives say they were
f1oated through the air by magic-for
miles across the island. Altogether
nearly 200 Of the huge figures are now
visible, and others are believed to
have been buried in landslides. The
largest standing statues are 80 feet
high, but one still reclining in it's
quarry measures Ga feet in length.
The mystery of Easter island is
deepened by the fact that no statues
of the sort have been found on other
Pacific islands, though here the land
scape is literally strewn with them.
The workmanship shows a consider
able degree of skill They are almost
exactly alike, showing that a definite
form or pattern had been worked out,
and was accepted by the workmen of
new generations as additionally cor
rect. All, too, were shaped in such
a way that they were perfectly bal
anced and would maintain their up
right position Hammer-Iike and
chisel-like tools of hard stone have
been found in the quarries, and with
these the softer volcanic stone was
worked into the desired shape.
Crude But Impressive.
To the eye of the civilized artist the
statues of Easter island are rather
crude, with their huge, coarse profiles-
and conventional features. Especially
is this impression gained from viewing
the towering specimens in the Ma
tional museum at Washington or in
the British museum in London. But
1t must be kept In mind that they were
not constructed for close scrutiny.
Those that stand on the mountain
slopes of Easter island gazing off to