Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-01-16

but, as the event proved, not indigest
| ible."
The climate Of New Zealand, with
it's elastic air and perpetual motion, "
is more stimulating than the enervat-
Ing air of most Polynesian islands
food was not waiting to be plucked
from trees, and shelter had to be pro-
vided. Hence the latent instincts OF
these savage cannibals were developed
here as nowhere else and, even before
the English came, the Maoris had gable.
rooted houses, with deliberately carved
posts and lintels and interiors deco
rated with designs Of crude beauty.
Customs of the Maoris.
Women were needed in the struggle
| against harsher natural forces, so they
won positions of esteem and were rep
resented in tribal councils. They were
| ingenious enough to bake meats on
heated stones, but not too civilized to
roast especially tough cuts of human
flesh on this aboriginal fireless cooker.
Iney alone, among the Pacific island
ers, discovered how to weave. Yet they
knew not the use of minerals, and
their leViathan canoes, dashed together,
were constructed with tools of stone,
shell, bones and even of human teeth.
The English found that these tribes
men had a genius for war, showing
unusual ability in building, fortifying
and defending stockades. They titled
the soil with great care. Not only were
they skilled as carvers and decorators
but they also displayed great original
ity in the design and perfection in the
execution of rock paintings. Many Of
their art objects are carefully pre-
served in museums.
The Maoris also were noted for their
remarkable tattooing, which was de-
signed to clothe as well as decorate
the body. The Maori artist knew how
to give endless variety to the curves
of his drawings; the natural burrows.
the movements of the countenance, the
play of muscles-everything was made
to enhance the charm of the design /:
and hale young man certainly pre-
sented fine sight, draped only in this
decorative network of blue lines on the
ruddy brown of his skin.
There are now about $4,000 Maoris
These have retired to the northern
provinces of New Zealand, where GER
tain reservations have been set apart
as their exclusive property. Schools
have been established which the Maori
children attend regularly. 1t Is said
that such of them as continue into the
higher branches of learning are worthy
rivals of white students. Many have
risen to a position of eminence, to
seats in the legislative assembly and
the cabinet, while among them are
physicians, attorneys and other profess
sional men Of note.
How the Colony Has Grown.
European discovery of the islands is
attributed to Tasman, in 1642, but ex-
ploration did not take place until the
time of Captain James Cook, $50 years
| later, while colonization was delayed
until 20 years before our Civil war.
When colonization did take place, it
resembled the development of the
American colonies, In that settlements
were made i'll half a dozen places in
stead of being promoted from a central
base, according to the usual British
method The colonizers are said to
| have profited by a study Of the mis-
takes of England which brought about
the American Revolution, and so we'll
did they apply the lessons that the
far-away island today is one Of the
most loyal portions of the British en-
pire. The fact was attested by the
way New Zealanders far exceeded their
expected quota of troops in the World
war.
A chief figure Of the colonization
was Edward Gibbon Wakefield, as
| bizarre a character as his association
with such distinctive dominion would
imply. After serving prison sentence
in England for abducting an heiress
| by means of forged letters, he was de-
barred from the parliament upon which
| he later exerted an indirect but potent
| influence to aid in carrying out the
colonization plan now associated with
| his name A fundamental part of his
policy was to avoid great landed es-
tates, the promiscuous giving away of
land to ne'er-do-wells and adventures,
and finally, though his early disgrace
still drove him to work under cover of
pseudonyms and agents, he ranked as
| the foremost colonial authority of his
day, as a Jealous reformer and idealist.
1t was due to Wakefield that men
of substance gained a foothold in New
| Zealand, that industry rather than ex-
| ploitation became the motif Of the col
ony, and that the fundamental aim of
the government still is that of mo mil
lionaires and no paupers." The island
population, exclusive Of Maoris, now
exceeds million.