The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-12-14


rounded by natures breakwater Of
m~angroves, tells the whole story Of
many of the smallest. Nobody knows
how many or how large they are. One
careful estimate is 1000 islands, with
a total area of go square miles.
SOwn in the form of an inverted Il,
the islands stretch 2,462 miles east and
west, just north of the equator, from
Lord North island, the westernmost Of
the Carolines, to Mile Atoll, the east
ernmost of the Marshalls; and ITO
miles north and south from Pajaros,
the most northern of the Ma%rianas, to
Greenwich, in the CarOlines. Small as
they are, they stake out about 100000
square miles in the North Pacific.
Resort of Many Kinds of People.
Men Of many nations-POrtuguese,
Spanish, English, American, French,
Russian, German, and now Japanese
have wandered through the islands
IN the past centuries. They came as
explorers seeking FL DoradoS, soldiers
to conquer new lands for their kings,
pirates TO recuperatc in the balmy
tropics, missionaries to teach and
trade, ~"blackbirders' gathering labor
ers for the plantations of New Yea
land and Australia, beach-cOmbers
drifting out their aimleSS existence,
and all the strange medley of human
ity that life's eddieS cast into strange
corners of the world.
Each has left q mark, a mere fleet
inc tnnch-tha name of an island. n
river, n mountain peak, or Il family.
But unconquerable nature is I'M
I changed and the tropical jungle has
covered the scars of their works, while
the white skins darken with each gen
Grafton and the family name is but a
memory of IN ancestor gone and for
gotten.
POnape is about the center Of the
Japanese mandatory islands. It's life
II customs may be taken as a stand
ard for all the others. Those who have
passed their lives along this border Of
the equator say it is the cleanest.
healthiest and happiest.
The extent Of American missionary
activity can be gagged by the length
Of the women's skirts. In zap, which
missionary influence has hardly
touched, the fluffy fiber uphOlstering
clings precariously on the fat hips. In
the Marianas and middle CarOlines
skirts start above the waistline. In
Kusaic, the easternmOSt of the Caro-
lines, they reach to the shoulders in
One-piece wrappers. In the MarShalls,
where the missionary work has flour
ished without interruption. the long.
trained wrappers, sweeping up the
dust, are further Ornamented with high
ruffle collars and wrist-length sleeves.
Tattooins Dying Out.
Formerly the natives were walking
pictorial histories. After the mission
aries came, tattOoing was discouraged,
and in recent years 1t has been pro-
hibited. 1t was considered Il sign of
courage, without which a young man
or young woman was not worthy to
marry.
The young people still practice an
effete modification Of all the old tests
OF courage by pricking cicatrices, or
! little raised welts, on their flesh. Most
Of the girls prefer the right shoulder
for the adOrnment, though some have
them IN their breasts. The boys adorn
shoulders and chests.
HOspitable, gOod-natured and easy
going. the POnape natives have a tenn
per which flames into wild revolt when
pressed too hard. The first Fourth of
July revolution against the Spaniards,
in which the governor and four others
were killed, a carpenter being the only
one able to escape to the warship
Maria Molina, was precipitated when
a road boss forced the natives to pick
up rubbish with their hands.
The next revolution, in 1891, started
over the rivalry between an American
mission church and q new one estab-
lished by the Spaniards neal Metala-
MIN harbOr, on the east side of the
island. The natives disposed of an Of
ficer and % soldiers who interfered In
the religious competition, and when a
larger force of two officers and fiftv
soldiers was sent from the garrison AZ
Ponape their worldly worries ended
with similar celebrity.
A transport with 5000 soldiers came
from the Philippines. 1t went ashore
on the reef outside Of Metalanim, and
in the ensuing melee. according to the
widow of the American adventures
VINO later piloted the transport of the
reef three natives and LOO soldiers
"ent :" another world to settle their
' religious differences