The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-11-04

."AIiITI lies far from the fever
!sh activities of modern indus
i trial life. 1t is more than 1,OoO
miles below the equator, in
longitude about $50 degrees west;
5000 miles from Australia, 5000 miles
from San Francisco, 1880 miles from
the Panama canal, 5000 miles from
Asia. By old trade rOutes-via the Suez
canal and Australia-it is nearly as
far from New York as all these dis
tances combined, but the Panama
canal reduces this 20 $500 nautical
miles, thus effecting a saving of TO-
600 miles.
Ever since it's discovery by Wallis
in 1867, the Otaheite of early explor-
alton days-or King George the
Thirds Island, as this navigator
called it-has been famed as an iso-
lated jewel remarkable in contour,
rich in verdure, blessed with pleas
ant, healthful climate, and inhabited
by friendly people of handsome
physique.
Tahiti is an extraordinary work of
creation-a jagged, fertile cinder
from volcanic pits, perhaps, or YER
dant fragment of sunken continent.
1t is indeed a steepled gem of won
drous green within teeming coral
ring.
This captivating heart of Polynesia
presents abundant evidence that in its
adornment nature was in a liberal
mood. Here the eye is delighted by
leafy luxuriance stretching from palm
fringed beach to loftiest mountain
crest; by the brilliant colors of land
and sea; by the high physical stand
ards of the natives, both men and
women.
Here the ear is soothed by the wash
of an inner sea by the flow of gentle
streams or of boisterous mountain
torrents. Here the tired or dis
tressed mind is composed and renewed
by lasting quietude, and by the knowl-
edge that madly competitive centers
are far away.
Overshadowing all are the noun
tains. In every colossal pile there is
distinctiveness. Here a mighty slab
rises high above a valley; there a
peak with triangle summit shoots
thousands of feet upward; beyond,
lofty columns hundreds of feet in
thickness stand in solitary grandeur !;
another turn and a shaft cuts the sky
with an edge like an enormous knife
an edge to which tree, shrub, fern
and vine cling tenaciously.
An Amable Country.
AS it's indulgent climate might well
suggest, Tahiti is an amiable country.
Along all its shores one sees smiling,
care-free faces, bright, liquid eyes ex-
pressing contentment and inviting
confidence, and generous hands out
stretched in welcome. Everywhere
one hears musical voices carrying
notes of kindness and sympathy
daily the visitor is gladdened by the
gracious ''Haere mai !" or the social
"Iorana !"
Tahiti is not an abode of savages.
1t still has primitive life, but of bar
barism it has none. There life and
property are safe; compulsory educa-
tor quickens the mind of the youth
full: and the church, the vernacular
religious press, and contact with the
Caucasian broaden, in limited way,
the intellect of the adult.
1t is most impressive to gain ones
Iirst view of Tahiti at dawn. To the
right and left strangely shaped noun
tains cleave the sky, and in their
dense wooded depths fit fantastic out
lines of crag, peak, and precipice. On
a coraI-strewn shore tall palms flap
a lazy welcome. In the distance rise
the green spires of La Diademe. Be
tween them and the jutting reef,
Papeete, drowsy capital and metrOp-
oils of Tahiti and its far-fung de-
Tendencies, gently rises and falls in
a mirroring sea.
AS the ship anchors inside the reef,
the sun is ready to surmount its lofty
obstruction. Shafts of gold shoot
over the island. Suddenly sunbeams
battle mountain summit and valley
floor. The great Ra of the Polynesi-
an is now well advanced on his daily
march across the sky. In the soli-
tudes of the interior, dark with luxu-
RANT foliage, vapor shadows fantasti-
cally fit about. In the burst of light
one sees more clearly the strange fea-
lures of rocky height, the palm-shel-
tered shores, and the secluded town
beneath leafy sunshades.