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

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, washington, ID. CO
Whatever may be the political future
OF the Caroline islands, over WHICH
Japan holds Il mandate, they are
bound to be objects Of scientific inter
est for generations to come. There
has never yet been a satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION of the origin Of the massive
stone structures which give evidence
Of a high degree of civilization at some
prehistoric time, and which extend
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 most
famous Of the ruins, a sort Of Pacific
Venice. Storms through countless
generations have filed the broad,
straight canals until the sands are dry
at low tide, but the walls of heavy ba-
saltic mOnOliths, in some places 80 feet
high, have withstood typhoons and
earthquakes, proof Of a civilization for
gotten when QuirOS came, in 1898, and
found the natives living then in flimSy
houses Of thatch and sticks.
Charles Darwin, +. w. Christian,
Rev. Macmillan Brown, Doctor Amberg
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, 1900 yards long and
half as wide, once was n tropical Ven
Ice, or whether, through the ages, It
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 ever today.
One incident chrOnicled by all the
scientists, like the fragment of bone
from which the ~archeologist recon
structs the %dinosaur, Is that n metal
spearhead was once found in the
ruins; and another, less generally
known, one from Capt. John j.
Mailman of Yokohama, that, 40 years
ago, he copied two Chinese ideographs
carved on n 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 ii to the cop
nor 600 and thn npncnnf Ianonncn
claim it 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, a 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 Nam
natal for Godefroy's museum. and
when Governor Berg was in the islands
under the German regime he shipped
so many specimens to the Leipzig
museum that the government sent an
expedition to clear away the jungle
and study the city and the slightly DIFF
ferent ruins on the island Of Kusaie.
The latter adjoin the settlement, and
as soon as the expedition left. the ma
tives. directed by an unawed Ameri-
can planter, supplemented the visitors
labOrs by using a good portion Of the
uncovered walls for building q break
water and pier, greatly to the wrath of
the Leipzig students of ancient history
when they heard about 1t, a year later.
After his last visit to the Nanmatal
ruins Governor Berg died suddenly,
justifying the native superstition that
the gods punish intruders.
The present japanese governor has
a big white book in which visitors,
either after exploring Nanmatal or dis
cussing ii In the cool of his residence,
are requested to write their opinion Of
Its origin.
The sight OF the massive walls, ST.
lent and impressive, still surrounded
by the narrow. straight canals and
Overgrown with jungle, Is worth the
blistered back
Life Is easy n time drifts slowly
by on the little tufts Of green in the
warm blue Of the Pacific which now
,est Is less than IL miles in diameter,
! Mile Z .lalfILo2ep cocclut trees, sTr-