Evening star., 1925-03-05
PICTURESQUE ISLE
CLAIMED BY MEXICO
"Pichilinque" Used by u. S.
Navy as CoaIing Sta
ton Since 1860.

Distance lends enchantment to
'.Pjchilinque Island" off Lower Cal
Herhia, reported 10 have been in the
possession" of the United States as
coaling station since 1859, and
about to be returned" to Mexico.
Close scrutiny of PichiIinque scales
the story down a Bit" says a bulle-
tin from the Washington headquar-
ters of the National Geographic So
Giety "PichilinQue is not an island.
Out a useful harbor, miles from
La Paz, metropolis of Lower Cali
fornia. 1t has fairly deep water, well
protected, and in II anchor ships with
800 great draft TO squeeze through
pa Paz Channel. The harbor lies be-
tNeen the mainland and q little sandy
Eland slightly more than a mile long
and about 500 yards wide. This is
Kepomezeino Island. On the south
eastern corner OF this Island the
United States Navy since 1850 has
Haintained a coal depot
Controlled by salt Company.
J Small as Nepomezeino Island is.
however the United States has not
Controlled it. All OF the islet except
the coal dump and a pier built to
"a cilitate coal handling is controlled
Ry company which harvests salt
from a lagoon which covers much of
xepomezeino. The Navy has main
tained six lighters in Pichilinque
harbor. for. owing to shallow water
ipshore. only the highest draft ves-
sells can be cosled from the pier
The coal and lighters have been in
charge OF the United States consul at
ga Paz. miles away.
s sheltered La Paz with it's white.
fat-topped mud houses. surrounded
fK desert, might almost have been
set down bodily from Arabia One
gains this impression especially in
the evenings. when many OF the
townspeople go to their roofs to en-
1pY the cool night air. La Psz has
he en- the place of Importance in Low
et California for many centuries
0ortez repaired his schooners there,
and, centuries later, Walker, the Yam
l%ee filibuster, raised r-s flag in the
town.
known as PenriinE Center.
But it is as a pearling center that
la Paz is most famed The first
Spaniards to visit the place were
about to sail away in disgust when
they discovered that the naked In
dians possessed pearls worth the ran
SONS of many kings. Since that day
pearl fishing has gone on in the La
Paz neighborhood with the white man
more or less in control of opera
tions
I'm time the pearl-oyster beds were
partially exhausted in the vicinity of
La Paz, for the Mexican government
has never compelled their proper con-
servation, and the pearIers were
forced to go farther afield.
s"Nowadays the pearlers cruise
when they cruise at all-on the Pa
c5tic Coast as far south as ManzanIllo.
but La Paz remains the center of the
Industry.
t"The mothkr-ships At out there. and
e is there that the pearls are brought
to be sold TO the experts, who in sea
sons of world prosperity gather in
the little mud walled. palm shaded,
dusty village.
S"The pearls of the Orient are most
IL white and pink. which are precise
ly those which can best be initiated
by the willy pearl counterfeiter. But
the waters south of La Paz produce
many black pearls, and brown pearls.
and golden and gray pearls. and
rearls of many another enticing tint.
They do not run as true in form as
those of Borneo. but their colors can
npt be surpassed.
S"During recent boom times La Paz's
story of a black pearl for which an
l9dian canoe crew-not one of whom.
pfrhaps. had ever possessed more
than a suit of white cotton and wide
kat-was paid $1,000