Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-04-02

tract are not among the missing when
the final count is made. For every
one lost the first mate is personally
fined, about fifty gulden; but if he
brings a certain percentage safely to
their destination he receives a liberal
bonus.
Arrived at a Samaritan port, the
coolies pass single file down the gang
way between two officers and a con
tractors agent, who check them as
they go-men, women, boys and girls,
with folded mats under their arms and
their possessions tied up in long cloths
slung around their necks and resting
on their hips. Only those with babies
are kept apart and counted last, lest
one tiny head should be overlooked.
They are picturesque lot in their
gay-cOlored clothes. Most Of the wom-
en- go bareheaded, their black hair
brushed back and knotted behind, with
strings of coral beads hanging around
their necks and big buttons of gold
ard silver, jade, amber or ebony ex-
tending from their pierced ear-lobes.
Brilliant scarves half conceal their
fresh white corsages, and leather belts
with massive silver buckles encircle
sarongs of many hues.
Around the heads Of nearly all the
men one finds twisted the universal
brown kerchiefs of Java, Haunting
starched corners; and in addition to
their sarongs and a few short coats
and pajama tops, there is a noticeable
Partially for white undershirts and
long pink drawers.
Fine Rubber and Tobacco Land.
The entire east coast of Sumatra Is
low and fiat, an alluvial plain formed
by silt washed down from the noun
tafns by an extremely heavy rainfall.
In this way the whole of the broad
plain between mountains and sea,
which, behind its mangrove fringe,
forms the splendidly rich lands of rub
Der and tobacco estates, has gradually
been built up and is steadily being ex-
tended.
The mangrove plays a considerable
part in this extension because of It's
remarkable powers of reproduction.
Growing partly in the shallow water
of the littOral, these trees spread out
labyrinth of surface roots that act
as a framework for the accommodating
mud, which in the course of time rises
above the surface and forms land.
The shallow water and shifting mud
banks of the coast make the location
Of ports unreliable and frequently ne
cessitate their removal or abandon
ment after they have once been estab-
lished
Although large steamers now dock
in the port of Deli like most other Su-
matran ports it is but broad, mud
colored stream winding sluggishly
through dense equatorial swamps. A
railroad enters this port, largely on
stills, and carries one some miles be-
fore he is really on solid ground.
Medan, capital of the government of
the east coast Of Sdmatra, is IA miles
inland from Deli. 1t is modern
town, created by the Dutch and laid
out in an attractive manner.
There is an airy appearance and a
cheerful white mans" atmosphere
about the official buildings around its
spacious square and the cool, shaded
streets Of it's European quarter.
The white bungalows are extremely
attractive in their green and well-kept
grounds, shaded by tall royal palms,
rubber trees, bamboo, banyans,
flames Of the forest" travellers trees
and other tropical growth.
The huge buildings of the Deli COM
pany, with European hospital and a
well-appointed asylum for native Inn
migrants, are almost hidden in the
dense verdure of park filed with
beautiful shade trees. Farther out
are the native compounds and various
Asiatic quarters.
Medan's prosperity and Importance
are due to its location in the center Of
the rich tobacco lands and. owing to
this, with the consequent demand for
labor and to the scarcity of native Su-
matrese, its population Of about 14,0OO
Is very mixed one.