The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-04-01
DISAPPEARANCE OF
 EASTER ISLE [ IS. BELIEVED UNTRUE.
Little Credence Placed in Story Told by French
 Sea Captain

SAN FRANCISCO. Cal, March 21. - Easter Island, that remote strip or land In the Pacific ocean, 2,300 miles off the coast of Chile, and famous for it's ancient gigantic statues, is no more, if the word of a French sea captain is to be accredited. The cap tain reported that he found only water where the quaint little island should have been, and this only goes to confirm the runsors that have been prevalent in the South Sea Islands to the effect that Easter Island had sunk into the sea following the Chilean earthquakes some months ago.
 If this is true Che of the most romantic of the distant isles has been lost to the world, and it's picturesque inhabitants have been swallowed up. Explorers and seafaring folk have frequently visited the isle, and in q number of instances many of the able bodied men of the population were Kidnapped by Peruvians to be used to work the guano deposits or the Chincha Islands and the planta- tions of Peru.
 Conflicting Reports.
 Conflicting reports as to the char acteristics of the natives have been brought back to civilization. One Of the explorers described them as tow ering giants measuring 12 feet in height. others denied this repoIi and declared tha in no instances were they taller than six feet. The women were conceded to be beautl- ful. on the whole, with dark, straight hair and fair skins.
 Animals were virtually unknown, although rats of great size were found in the caves and ruins. while a few cats freduented the country, wild tt nd c1a In n their having been descended from feline pets landed by some passing vessel At one time a herd of 600 cat tie and flock of sheep, 1S,000 strong, all of Chilean stock, reamed about the island.
 The stone statues which dotted the island have caused a great deal of comment among travellers. They were rude masses of tufa-crowned human shapes mounted on platforms along the edges of the cliffs. These were in all stages of execution from the partly hewn block in the quarries tq the finished me nument erected on Its pedestal. The natives attributed the work to their forefathers and some were inclined to believe them pre- historic in character. The statues represented human forms upwards of 20 feet in height, and wide in propor- ton.
  ited to Roggeween and his Dutch fleet on Easter Day, April 6, 1722 hence it's name. Others call it Rapa- nui after a visitor from the distant island of Rapa whC had found in il resemblance to his own island, SC the name Rapanui, or Rapa the Great, was applied to 1t. By others 1t is known as Te Pfto tie Henau but this name has never been so com mon as the other two.
 The early Spanish voyagers sesti- mated the population between two and three thousand.
 "sinking ImprobabIe..
 Prof J. P. Brpwalda of the geology department, University of California commented recently on the report oi | the islands disappearance. Such situation is not an inn possibility" declared Professor Bru- walda, "as many small islands have dropped from sight in the past
 island the size of Easter Island disappearing and therefore I am in hclined to believe it is improbable unless the land was very low"
 Professor Bruwalda is in charge ot | tie seismograph at the university. | Very skeptical of the report thai Easter Island has disappeared be- shipbuilder. of Papeete, Tahiti. Easter Island has so often been reported missing that doubt Il this time," said he. "Rumors to the same effect as the report in this news have been heard in the South Sea Islands. but they had not been corroborated when I left. I guess the next authoritative investigators to go there will find the island where it always was, stone gods and all.'