The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-09-10

is bringing various manufactures into
existence from wooden mills to
chocolate factories-to add another
extremely important phase to Tas-
manian activities.
The belt of rich brown soil along
Tasmania's northern coast has made
this region the vegetable garden for
southern and southeastern Australia.
Shiploads of fresh vegetables are sent
in season to help feed the concen-
trated populations Of Melbourne, sgd
ney, and Adelaide. These northern
plains are especially famed as pota-
to lands.
The most spectacular agricultural
development of the island, however,
has been in apple growing. 1t was
found that the region around Hobart,
the capital, produces this fruit to per
lection. Now great orchards owe
the countryside, and more than 2,000,-
600 bushels Of apples are shipped
yearly to Australia, Great Britain, the
European continent. and eve Africa.
Blue Gum It's Best Tree.
Heavy forests grow in Tasmania,
most Of the trees being of Australian
types. There are some, however, I'M
like those of Australia, which are ex-
actly like trees growing in TERRA del
Fuego, the southernmost tip of South
America fact that has made geolo-
gists wonder. The most important
tree of the island is the Tasmania
blue gum, a eucalyptus, which is one
of the strongest, densest and most
durable woods in the world. 1t is
twice as strong as English oak and
is used extensively for construction
in salt water for 1t is practically
immune from attack by the teredo
which soon destroys ordinary timbers.
Railroad ties of this wood last for
Is to 20 years.
The animals of Tasmania are mostly
like those in Australia. chiefly mar
supials, which carry their young in
pouches. The kangaroo and our own
opossum are the best known members
of this order. The queerest of the
Tasmanian marsupials are the Tas-
manian devil, somewhat resembling
a ferocious little bear, and the Tas-
manian tiger, in reality a marsupial
wolf. Both were exceedingly destruc-
tive to sheep in the early days and
have almost been exterminated by the
ranchmen.
Two slogans that have been applied
to ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Of Aus
traIia" and "Sanatorium Of the South"
speak of an industry" that is grow
ing more important every year. Dur
ing the hot season in Australia thou
sands of tourists cross the Bass
strait and make a thriving summer
hotel business in the towns and hill
resorts. So, too, the tonic climate Of
the southern island is being utilized
more and more at all seasons by con-
vaiescent Australians.
Hobart. the capital, like its sister
capitals, Melbourne and Sydney, has
an excellent harbor. The city lies on
the estuary of the Derwent river a
few miles from the sea. Ships Of ordi-
nary tonnage can tie up to the city
quays, and just outside the estuary is
huge, protected Storm bay in which
the largest b~attleships can find ample
water.
A~boricines Are Extinct.
Near Hobart in 1875 the last Of the
Tasmanian a~borigines died. These
people were among the lowest types
Of humans ever found, much more
backward even than the Australian
aborigines. The skeleton Of the last
Tasmanian is preserved in the Ho-
bart museum.
When Tasmania was discovered In
1912 by a Dutch navigator, Tasman. 1t
was named Van Diemen's Land, a
name which stuck to it for several CEN
turtles. The British hurrIedly estab-
lished the first settlement on the is
land in 1903 for fear the French were
about to ~colonize 1t.
The original inhabitants Of Tas-
mania were black and wo0lly-haired,
but differed from the Australian abo-
rhymes. They are said to have been
the most primitive people of modern
times, having the development Of men
OF the Stone age. Only about 1900
strong In 1903, they rapidly disap-
peared. Their going constitutes one
Of the most tragic chapters in the
history Of the white settlement of new
lands.