The Coolidge examiner., 1933-01-06

Syria. the nearest Asiatic posses
sion, has been French by mandate
of the supreme council of allied
powers since 1923. Three million
Syrians, Jews and foreigners in
habit this area. Frequent uprisings
have tested the success of French
colonization in this region.
French India consists of five di-
minutive colonies; Maize on the
west coast short distance north of
Calicut; Karikal, Pondicherry and
Yanaon on the east coast. Chan
dernagore lying north of Calcutta,
is surrounded on the map by Brit
ish pink that geography student
could easily miss finding it without
an apology.
Summing up French India, the
five French "spots," if placed to-
gether, would cover a space no larg-
er than one and one-half times the
area of Philadelphia, Pa; and
Rochester, N. Y. could more than
house its population, most of which
is Hindu.
French Indo-China, which Is al
most mile for mile equal in area to
Texas, is perhaps the most progress
sive of all French possessions.
While counting nearly 20,OO0OOO ma
tives and foreigners here, the CEN
sus enumeratOr travelled through
one of the worlds great rice pro-
ducing areas and thousands of acres
of mulberry trees-food for silk
worms, the basis of a large Indo-
Chinese silk industry.
Off the northeast coast of Aus
tralia lie the Loyalty islands and
many smaller groups. and the New
Hebrides which are governed Jointly
by the French and British. Many
of the 47,5O0 inhabitants Of these
islands are pagan natives. Canni-
balism is not openly practiced, but
it is said the tribesmen eat the foes
they kill In tribal warfare. With
welts decorating their bodies. sticks
of wood stuck through their nos
trils, bushy hair and scanty cloth
ing. some of the tribesmen would
not be good subjects for collar ads.
South Pacific Islands.
Tahiti is MQre interesting and al
Turing. 1t as 9he center of the So
ciety islaIAL and not far off are
the Marquesas, the Tubuai group,
Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambler and
Rapa islands, where singing. dane
ing, feasting and all that suggest
happiness and romance permeate
the atmosphere.
1t is long journey from Tahiti
to GuadelOupe and Martinique of
the Lesser Antilles with their half
million white. mulatto. negro and
oriental inhabitants. Martinique's
people have not forgotten the erup-
tion of Mt. Pele in 1902 when the
city of st. Pierre was wiped out.
French Guiana. one of the "Eu-
ropean triplets" of South Americas
north coast. has less than 10000
Indians and blacks who live in the
fever infested coastal swamps and
torrid forests of the hinterland. AL
though diamonds. silver, mercury,
tin and copper have been found in
the colony, it is yet to be extensive
ly developed.
Devils island, famous French
penal island, lies off the coast of
French Guiana. Napoleon III called
Devils isle the DRY Guillotine" and
in recent decades writer's of fantas-
tic tales have painted terrifying
word-pictures of the island
With it's neighbOrs, Isle Royale
and st. JOseph's island. Devils isle
makes up the Isles du Salut isles
of Salvation). Tier upon tier of prison
buildings rise on Isle Royale to
which incorrigibles from other
French Guiana prisons are sent for
discipline.
Nearly the entire foreign popula-
tion of French Guiana is made up
of men and women who have been
convicted of crimes in the French
courts. In the coast towns and in
the hinterland farming and mining
are liberes-convicts whose days of
confinement have ended.
French North America, until the
Clipperton Rock award, consisted
of two rocky islands off the south
ern coast of Newfoundland which
are peopled by about 1000 sturdy
fisherfolk of Breton and Norman
stock.