The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1926-02-18

| lean cruiser, quelIed native upris-
| ing on the coast few years ago. He
also landed supply of rifles to en-.
able the Liberian frontier force, q
well-trained tiny army Of 800 native
! soldiers, to keep the peace thereafter.
In Liberia army rifles have ever
since been called "Schofeld rifles,
and the government forms Of the war
department list so many "Schofields"
as being in the possession Of each
company.
About as Large as Ohio.
Liberia occupies that corner of West
Africa which juts out into the Atlantic
as If in an endeavor to reach across to
the Brazilian shore, on the South
American continent Only fey
years ago the maps showed it to COM
prise large area, extending north
westward almost to the Sahara; but
the geographers themselves were I'M
able to place definite heavy lines for
Liberals interior frontiers.
Then came the dreams Of African
empires by European nations, and lit
tie by little the area accredited by the
map makers to the weak little repub-
lie has dwindled, until today its coast
line is only 800 miles in length and Its
frontier farthest in the interior is only
200 miles from the sea coast. Its pres
ent area, about equal to that Of the
state of Ohio, is one-third what tie
Liberians originally claimed, and th#r
claims were probably as good as tn Ase
OF many f-tlse- powers sttrisss4 u
took the colonizing of the Dark e y
nent.
Here and there along the coast be
original settlers-negro freedmen frVm
the United States-founded 1.-THE
towns and settlements. They w$re
sent from America back to the lands
of their ancestors by the American
Colonization society, in which such
men as President Monroe, Henry Clay
and others were interested, This
movement began in 1916 and the first
vessels, sailing schooners chartered by
the American government, set forth,
from New York in 1820-23.
Many of the first settlers succumbed
to African fevers others were killed
by hostile natives. Indeed, the early
efforts of these civilized Americo-Li-
berians to establish themselves on the
African coast were not unlike those
of the early colonists at jamestown
and the seekers of new homes who
landed at Plymouth Rock Finally
they acquired right to certain lands
by purchase from native chiefs.
In 1S47 the little settlements along
the coast united to form the Repub-
lie of Liberia, and published to the
|. world two documents their Declara-
Hon Of Independence and Constitution
boil, Of which take the form Of their
/ ipTI9t9f,yERR ssh II in American history.
AN oIniESo Ia; Hhe capital, has popula-
,tion Of abQRNtt 4 QQ4 Grand Bassa and
I, CAPE aln1a5SS I ia 4 next in order. Then
leaoS| gsllhH TIE, villages, and how in
II [eS S6a FNops&, A@efISans are t4elr
Il nati 6 fiang e SEgelhe2g ke iladeipnla' w
P L ~ "a eATgiafa Marshall, Bunker
sEaaiftf1.rd.Ia Bit they are like
n IllE S : Sg qPSSIy in name
In the TJRAdhs Bfgt Products.
knsT AAffa IfaTr8egsl devote them
1 e}eSieyesa barg iRRlEg al GoREe AgrowiAg.
{ aRPas,I4m6a 0jIes lJcAhsll hBHrope finds In
/ diSpeaa satPhee iBdkfnaoap manufactures,
lin %lSNgGierin M RF9dnAtdon, and in other
4 Geo rqgRed thde Btemand for which
Lis fARidl9wrgrefTtRgh In the United
55efegpJs6 pFHdugfhRy the natives
andE 9per qfe Ell Iherla's exports can be In
] fFeafsdn appgge ciahly rntil the interior
! degNiallRUsi na ara tapped. eEhe vital need is
Isse alffRbtSS1ga ya1 Americo-Liberians
| bare hold their own in the matter
! on .G1cEeasing population, the million
al AID .M6res natives are fiourlshing and
afptAg, ip numbers. These natives OF
[ I.gtbaT'ftaS may be roughly divided into
I the three principal races the Mandi-
d Cos the Krus and the Kpwesis.
t. lie foremost tribe of the Mandigo
race, is the Val. inhabiting the eastern
+ bari Iaidf of Liberia.
nTTe Krus inhabit the coastal re-
X gYiopns from Monrovia as far east as
| Cape Palmas. They are decidedly di1-
ferent from Val peoples, being darker
No color and not so tall in stature
3eThey are willing workers.
II The third element, the Kpwesis, and
kindred pagan tribes Of the Interior
of which the most important branches
are the Zawquellis and Buzis, are still
primitive '.bushmen." They are slen
1 der wiry. very BLACK in color, and q
low order-gf intelligence,