Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1929-01-04

LIN rSucTdtSu Mdldy SLdCcS,
on Asia's southernmost penin-
i sula, have been literally
snatched from an all-covering
wild vegetation. Where once the
choking jungle crowded men back, a
jungle SO thick that man swimming
In stream could hardly land because
vines and plants Rugged so close to
the waters edge-broad fields have
now been cleared, and Malaga plan
tations are among the richest In the
world.
Forty-five years ago few para rub
Der plants struggled out of Brazil
fruited here. Today, three fourths of
the worlds rubber comes from this
region. And in this magic develop
ment Americans have played a lead
Ing role.
This Malay peninsula. stretching
hundreds OF miles from the Siamese
frontier down toward the equator,
forms vast humid region Of dense
forests Of jungle, wild elephants,
snakes. and naked people. rice fields,
rubber plantations, and tin mines.
There Is a governmental mixture in
this region. Singapore, built on tiny
green isle of the same name, which
lies just off the end of the peninsula
and nearly on the equator. Is the cap
ital of the British crown colony COM
monty called the Straits Settlements.
This colony embraces the Province of
Wellesley. the bindings and Malacca
on the mainland, and the islands Of
Penang and Singapore.
The Federated Malay states, on the
peninsula and adjoining the Straits
Settlements, comprise the States Of
Perak, Selangor, Pahang, and Negri
Sembflan. Kuala Lumpur Is the cap
ital.
Just opposite Singapore, on the
mainland, is the independent native
state of Johore, which has its own
sultan and government, but which is
under British protection. The British
governor of Singapore is also high
commissioner for the Federated Malay
states and Brunei, and British agent
for north Borneo and Sarawak. thus
linking up British possessions and
spheres of influence in all Malaga and
establishing close contact, through one
man, with the colonial Office In Lon
don.
Many Races There.
'The Melting Pot of ASIA" they call
this prolific, potent peninsula, because
Of the babel of races, colors, and
castles which Its wealth of rubber and
tin has drawn to it. But In all this
Industrial army of Europeans, Chinese,
Japanese, Tamils, Hindus. and assert
ed South Sea islanders, the Chinese
are the most numerous and powerful.
The Malay himself is too lazy even
to be a good fisherman. He grows
little rice, few coconuts, and nets
the fish he needs; but nature Is so
kind that it Is said one hours effort
a day will support him and his family.
It Is the Chinaman who Is the tin
miner, the farmer, shopkeeper, artisan
and f1nancier. The Tamil
and the Hindu add to the stock Of
local labor and own small farms and
herds, but the many milllonaires made
IN Malaga have mostly been Chinese.
The palatial homes of the rich Chinese
BOSSES in Singapore and Penang, in
contrast with the miserable shacks Of
he natives. afford proof enough Of the
singular commercial superiority Of the
Yellow race.
Here, indeed, Chinese immigration
las worked modern miracle In the
magic reclamation of this once reek-
ng, fever-cursed, jungle-grown wilder
hess. The Chinese 1t was who first
,raved the poisonous darts Of the Turk.
ng savage, the perils of tigers and
.eptiles. the flames of fever and the
Hanger of dysentery, to conquer these
ungles and dig the tin that put Ma
ava on the map Of the trading world.
Chinese say that tin 'grows" and they
Use the divining rod to locate 1t.
Singapore is both great trading
.enter and fortress of the Far East.
L is a shining example Of how Great
Britain has "muddled"-as the British
put it-into possession Of
some Of the worlds most important
'trategic gateways. Singapore Is an Is
and q miles long by Ia wide, and
lust misses being the southernm0st
point of the continent of Asia by
lalf-mile water channel. 1t is at the
tunnel point Of the Strait Of Malacca,
which extends between the Malay
peninsula and the island of Sumatra,
the great water highroad between In
liz and China.
How Raffles Made Singapore.
Little more than hundred years
ago the island. owned by the sultan
of Johore on the nearby mainland, was