Pago Pago Makes
Ideal Naval Base
Port in Heart of Extinct
Volcano Crater.
Washington. -Pago Pago, visited by
United States naval vessels, on I heir
return from Australia ami New
Zealand, is th* capital of American
Hamoa, which I* the only blt of Amer
ican soli that Iles south of the <qua-
tor, according to th* bulletin from th*
Washington headquarters of th* Na-
tlonal Geographic society.
"l’ago 1'ago practical!) fell Into th*
lap of a none too willing America,
while varloua power* ware seeking Is
land territory In the Pacific," con-
tlnuea th* bulletin; "but If th* entire
South **aa had been combed, with »11
the other nation* »landing deferential
ly by, a better location tor a naval
base hardly could have been chosen.
Most Houth Sea harbors ar* little
more than crescent bays, protected by
pendent on th* direction of the wind
At l'ago l'ago ahlpa sali Into th* heart
of a hug* extinct volcano crat*r, only
a narrow entrane* open to the sea.
Furthermore, there Is a »harp turn In
side, th* whole harbor being »bap*d
much Ilk* the ankle and foot »f
stocking.
Baautlful
"Th* United State* naval atatlon
situated on the 'Instep,' It* back to
ward th* sea, but with high mountain*
Intervening. Pago Pago town lie* at
the 'to*.' Moet of the anchorage Is
entirely out of sight of the sea. and
the ship* He In deep placid water even
when destructive gale* are blowing
outside.
"Giving Pago Pago the premier place
among Houth Sea I.avens doe* not do
It Justice. Many famous harbors are
mor* commodious; but If I* hardly too
much to »ay that Pago Pago la at <m> *
on* of the aafeet and most beautiful
harbor* In th* world. A narrow atrip
of level land rima the harbor. Imme
diately beyond this strip the *ldr* rise
up steeply to mountainous heights, the
•loping walls covered with varying
shade* of green, tropical vegetation
In addition to th* naval station und
town, three or four vll-
lages nestle close to the water's edge
around the harbor, their thatched
but* half hidden by coconut palm*.
"Th* harbor of Pago Pago a I moot
cute th* Island of Tutulla In two. Thia
la the largest Isle of American Sai >oa.
17 mile* long and about five wide.
The other American Island* He about
alxty mile* to the east.
Only one.
Tau, about five miles in diameter. Is
of Importance, though two smaller
Isles are Inhabited.
Altogether the
population of American Samoa Is
about 8.000, aome 6.000 residing on
Tutulla.
little
“American Samoa has
spoiled by the civilisation of the
mother country, or that of other
whites Few whltes reside In the Is
lands besides the small group of mis-
stonarle* and the officers, men and
nurses nt the naval station. Only one
plantation Is owned by u white man
and only three or four whites have
leaseholds.
Practically the entire
surface of the Islands Is owned In
■mall tracts by Individual natives. The
United States even bought from Indi
vidual landlords the 40 acrea needed
for Ite naval establishment.
"In the past the lava-lava, a sort
of short skirt or kilt, waa the only
garment worn by both men and worn-
en. Now slight concession* are tunde.
In Pago l'ago or In the presence of
whites the men add a sort of under-
•hlrt und th* women a sort of Jacket
or •mock. Among themaalv*«, how-
ever, and In the outlying districts, the
native* still let the lava-lava, tucked
about the waist, serve In place of the
whit* man's and whit* woman's mor*
complex costume.
Nativ** Largely 8*lfQ*v*rning.
“In governmental matterò, too, th*
United States has practiced laisses
falre to an extent highly appreciated
by the native*. Th* system employed
so succesafully by the Dutch In the
Fast Indies ha* been adopted.
An
American naval officer stationed at th*
Pago Pago depot la appointed gover
nor, but all offii Inis under him actual
ly exercising supervision over the na
tive* are native hereditary chief*. The
Island* are divided Into three dlatricte
(ancient native divisions) with a na
tive governor for each.
Under the
governors are chief* of 'countie*’ (*l*o
ancient dlatricte) and under the coun
ty chief* are th* village chief*. The
village chiefs have council* composed
of the heads of families.
"The United 8tate* practice* a cer
tain measure of paternalism over its
Houth Sea Island wards. Copra, the
dried meat of coconut*. I* practically
the only article of export. The gov-
eminent handle* thia crop for the na
tive*, so assuring them a fair price.
Free medical attention I* furnished
through naval medical officer», dent
ists. nurses and hospital corps men.
The health of the Samoans Is excel
lent and their numbers are Increasing.
During th* 21 year* of American con
trol the population ha* grown 41 per
cent."
Oldest Man in
World Is Now 140
London.—A man who claims
to be on* hundred and forty
years old and to bo the only
living person who saw Napoleon
was described to the Royal Geo
graphical society by II. St. J. B.
Phllby, former British represen
tative In Transjordanla.
His name Is Hajj Tahir, and
he atates that h* was born In
Mecca, and went to Paleatln* at
th* age of twelve or thirteen, In
1700. when Napoleon was In
Syria.
"He la sound enough In wind
and limb." said Mr. Phllby, "and
has an enormous appetite, and,
strangest of all. an Indisputable
power of mastication with th*
aid of what purports to be a
newly sprouting, but still Invis
ible, third set of teeth.
"The only serious weakness In
his claim is that his offspring
afford no relevant evidence of
his age, as he declares that h*
commute«! matrimony for the
first time at the age of seventy
or thereabouts, and he has re-
ceotiy marrle«! again."
Mr. Phllby added that, while
• Hajj Tahir claims to be one hun
dred and forty, he «aya that he
wa* born In the year 1215 of the
Mohammedan era or A. D. 1801.
which would make hi* age one
hundred and twenty four.
Heiress Elopes
Los Angeles, Cal.—Promptly upon
turning eighteen years old, the legal
marriage Umit In California, Miss Olive
Procter Van Heusen, heiress to part of
a 14,000.000 fortune, eloped to River-
aide. Cal., and was married to Harold
John Belden, twenty-two, a broker's
employee her*. The bride la the daugh
ter of Charles Van Heusen.
Oligocene Fossils Are
Found in Montana
American Museum Men Get
Choice Specimens.
New York.—Dr. Charles C. Mook and
Coleman S. Williams of the American
Museum of Natural History have Just
York with tn my
returned to
choice fossil specimen* gathered in a
three months" Investigating
tour
through western Montana and Idaho.
Their particular object was to search
for fossils of the Tertiary uge and
they were very successful.
"Our first camp," said Doctor Mook,
"was near Pipestone Springs, where
we coyected quite a variety of the
smaller mammals of the Ollgocene
age.
Included In this list, are the
Meschlppua, a small three toed horse;
various artlodactyl*, the primitive an
cestors of the modem sheep and cat
tle, and numerous small rodents and
ln*ectlvore». We also found some
fragmentary remains of the giants of
those days; the fleet-footed hyratodon.
a cursorial rhinoceros, and the enor
mous Tltanothere. twice as large aa
an elephant, with a brain lesa than
three Inches In length.
Important Work Don*.
The next stop waa nt Salmon, Idaho,
where few foaalla were found, though
Important work win done In determin
ing the age of the rocks In that vicin
ity. In going to Salmon from Butte
we took the Lemhi Pass, an old stage-
Fall of Holy Sepulchre Feared
coach road formerly used to carry in
gold-mining machinery and supplies,
but long since abandoned. In the last
two miles to the summit the road as
cends 4.000 feet and was pronounced
Impassable, but we made It without
Incident In spite of u load of nearly
3,000 pounds.
“In the Madison River valley, near
Three Forks, Mont., we secured a rep-
reaantatlve group of the Miocene
mammals. Among the»« were camels
and rhinoceroses, of various kinds;
merycolus, a primitive antelope; more
three-toed horses, somewhat larger
than their Ollgocene ancestors, and
some of the smaller carnivores and
marsupial*. In this section we also
got some good fossil fish and turtles
of considerable size,
“Our last camp was near Fort
Logan. In former day* a famous out
post against the Indians. There we
collected Miocene fossils, and dug out
some of the best specimens of our col-
lection. For the most part the anl-
mala ere the same as those in the
Madison valley, though much better
preserved.
Us* Touring Car.
“Mr. Williams then drove the car
down through the Yellowstone Na-
tlonal park, across Wyoming and to
Agate, Neb., to have It stored with the
Thomson ex¡>edltlon of the American
museum. The trip from Cody to Cas
par, Wyo., was about 250 miles, and
was accomplished in six hours.”
On their fossil hunting trip, the
museum investigators drove a new
touring car, which was taken at the
Detroit factory.
“The performance of the car was
excellent throughout.” sttld Mr. Wil
liams. "in all our travels over un
tracked wilderness, we did not have
the slightest mechanical trouble. Two
tanks having a capacity of 30 gallons
of gasoline were fitted, but apart from
these and magneto Ignition, the car
was mechanically the same as any
standard car.
"W* carried tools necessary for ex
cavation, block and tackle, tents, bed
ding, cots, cooking utensils, provisions
for two months In the field, as well
a* several bags of flour, and quantities
of plaster, cheesecloth and burlap for
preserving the foylls."
London’s New Waterloo Bridge Gets Severe Test
The new Waterloo bridge across the
Thames at Ixmdoo has Just been
opened to traffic. To texj it* strength
a great number of motor busse* load
ed with sack* of flour were run onto
th* structure. This Is a temporary
bridge to be Used while a new and
greater bridge 1* being constructed.
Cure of Sleeping
Malady in Sight
Missionary From Congo
Holds Out Hope.
New York.—After 12 year* abroad
with but one Interruption. Dr. Arthur
L. I'lper, a medical missionary of the
Congo mission conference of the Meth
odist Episcopal church, has Just re
turned for six months' furlough, ac
companied by his wife and two daugh
ter*. Both daughters were born In
the Congo. The family come* from
the moat remote mission station of the
Methodist church at the village of
Mwata-Yamvo of the Paramount chief
of th* Luutida tribe, at Masumba. near
Kapanga, Belgian Congo. All are vic
tims of malaria contracted In th*
tropic*.
Doctor Piper corroborated reports
of cruelty In the Portuguese posses
sions of Angola. He explained the
difficulties he bad experienced in fight
ing malaria, sleeping sickness and
leprosy among the Bantu natives.
Mwata-Yamvo, where the Pipers
have lived for 12 years, with but one
brief furlough five year* ago, Is 1,200
miles from the coast. It is reached
by a 2,600-mile rail Journey from Cape
Town to Elizabethville, the Congo
capital, followed by another railway
Journey to the railhead of Bugama.
From Bugama to Mwata-Yamvo is a
21-day Journey by caravan.
Ar* Only White*.
It is 500 miles from the northern
Rhodesian border, and 100 miles from
the border of Angola. 9 degrees south
of the equator, and has an altitude of
3,000 feet. W|th the exception of two
officials at the government post at
Kapanga, five miles away, the Pipers
are the only whites in a native popu
lation of 45,000.
The entire family were yellowed
and listless from the malaria which
attacks all white men in the Congo
Jungles. Taking five grains of quinine
a day ha* been tbeir custom for years
and the children were fed quinine
from the age of two weeks Drainage
of compounds, and mosquito-proof
houses are powerless to protect them
from this scourge, they said. Of the
children. Ruth, born In 1915, was the
first white baby born in that section
of the Congo. On her birth she re
ceived the name of Mutuba and the
gift of a bull calf from the local chief.
The baby, Margaret, born In 1920, is
making her first trip to civilization.
Doctor Piper said that sleeping sick
ness and leprosy were the scourge of
the district, 4 per cent of the popula-
BEING INITIATED
Old “Washington Elm”
Is Saved by Operation
British official* in Palestine express apprehensions leal the Holy sepulchre,
shown above, cave In from the gradual weakening of the walls due to ag*
and to the Innumerable offerings of pilgrims. Th* church is legally possessed
by th* local authorities of almost all of the branches of the Christian church
I Abyssinian», Armenian*. Copts, Greeks, Latins, etc. This multiple control
makes It extremely difficult for the British authorities to persuade the owners
1 to undertake and carry through any effective repair.
Newark, N. J.—The old Washington
elm tree at Ho-Ho-Kus Is resting com
fortably after an operation on Its
trunk, and. the tree surgeons predict.
Is good for at least twenty or twenty
five years more.
The tree, which was long past the
sapling
stage
when
Washington
marched his troops under it bound
from For: i.ee to the revolutionary post
at Ramapough. was suffering from an
old wound, and It was said the op
«ration was performed Just In time,
i The wound was made when road-
; builder* cut away a portion of Its
roots to make room for a concrete
base, and was never properly treated
First one branch and then another
fell away. Then the trunk became
scaly, and It wns feared ths old tree
was done for. Tre* surgeons were
called Into consultation, and the op
eration wa* decided on.
Th* dead
parts were cut away »nd the exposed
parts covered with • tar substance.
Hole* were filled with concrete and
painted over.
At the opening of the academic
year of Columbia university the fresh
men wer* given the usual fantastic
Initiation by upper class men. One of
them Is here seen perched on a huge
marble sphere on th* campus, reading
aloud from a book.
tlon being lepers. No attempt was
made to segregate the lepers, be de
clared, and only sporadic effort* were
made to relieve them.
G*rm Now Known.
"Although the germ of sleeping
sickness I* known." he said, "hitherto
no great progress has been made in
fighting the disease. The government
trie* to see that the natives do not
live In th* sleeping sickness belt along
stream* and river* where the carrier,
the teetse fly, breeds. For the same
reason attempt* are made to keep the
villages clean.
"The two ^rug* we have used have
not been successful. They don’t cure,
but merely delay death. They are
atoxyl, Injected inter-muscularly, and
tartar emetic, which is given intrave-
ously.
“Three cures are now In existence
and give definite hope for the future.
They are the German preparation
known as Bayor 208, a Rockefeller
Institute preparation called trypanar-
samide, and a French specific. These
ar* not yet in general use, but I hope
to adopt them when I get back.
“Last year I made my first attempt
to treat the lepers in the district. They
are not segregated, as the disease Is
of a comparatively mild variety, and
they constitute 4 per cent of the popu
lation. I gave them chaulmoogra oil.
Mile« of Flying Ant«
Invade Adirondack«
Saranac Lake, N. Y.—A great
column of flying ant* recently
passed down the Raquette River
valley section of the Adiron
dack*. A cloud of insect* esti
mated to be four miles long re
quired an hour and a quarter to
pass given points. Amazed resi
dent* at first believed the cloud
wa* amoke from a forest fire.
The ants flew in great sections,
but the sections were never mor*
than a few feet apart.
After the passing of the col
umn, the river surface wa* cov
ered with the bodies of thou-
sand* of insect* that had flown
too low. The ants were about
a quarter of an ineh long with
the exception of the queens
which measured a half Inch. Fly
ing ant* are new to' the Adiron
dack*.
by mouth and Injection, and the re
sults were not satisfactory.
“The taste« of the oil Is disgusting
and lingers on the tongue for hours,
while injection* are so painful that a
man is Incapacitated for days. A new
treatment with sodium morrhuate is
reported more satisfactory and I hope
to try it out."
Bears Thirtieth Child
Madrid.—At the age of sixty-eight,
Camille Lorenzo, a resident of the
town of Valladolid, has Just given
birth to her thirtieth child.
AURORA BOREALIS CAUSED BY
BUGS, SAYS CHASE S. OSBORN
-----------------
♦-----------------------
“There is a slight warmth accom
Former
Governor
Explain« panying
them, but not as much as one
Cause of Northern Light*.
would expect of electricity. Also they
are silent, except for a- low singing
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.—Northern or swishing sound. Also they show
lights or aurora borealis are not, as some of the prismatic rays and elec
has been represented by many au tric light does not, so far as I am
thorities. manifestations of electrical aware.
“The magnetic terrestrial disturb
activity, nor are they reflections of the
sun shining on icebergs. They are, or ances do not always attend the auro
at least may be, the Incubation of mil ra. Very often, too, there are severe
lions and trillions of phosphorescent magnetic disturbances when there la
no auroral.
insectlvorae.
“A causation that appeals to me
That is the theory advanced by
Chase S. Osborn, former governor of and which is original so far a* I know
Michigan, who for 50 years has ob is that they may be the Incubation of
millions and trillions o’ phosphores
served and studied the phenomena.
This would ac
The skies In this vicinity have been cent insectlvorae.
brilliantly illuminated several nights count for the swishing, for the colors
recently with the aurora borealis, and for the wavy motion in the atmos
flaming streamers sweeping the skies phere and for the light without heat.
“It is notable that whenever the
in spectacular displays. This "sky
writing" caused many inquiries to be northern lights occur In good volume
there Is a warm spell following them
directed to Mr. Osborn.
Pointing to the fact that the aurora within 48 hour* ; very often. In fact
borealis is but one of the mysterious almost always, accompanied by pre
celestial Illuminations in addition to cipitation.
"In this connection it may be re
the sun, moon, planets and stars—the
others being the aurora australis and called that In the Arctic and sub-Arc
the zodiacal lights—Mr. Osborn said tic regions there are vast incubations
that the cause of these are not known. of aerial insects and that they often
He was definite, however, in stating fall to the ground and cover it. Some
that the northern lights are not a re times they are red and are called ‘red
snow.’ These may be related to the
flection of the sun from icebergs.
"The most popular theory of the colors as shown In the aurora.”
causation of these lights is that they
are magnetic or electromagnetic,” he More Orange«, Fewer
said. “It would seem that this Is Illy
Grapefruit, Tangerines
based, for there is little heat accom
Washington.—A preliminary esti
panying them. They are light with
mate of the orange crop in Florida
out heat, such as the firefly emits.
by the United States Department of
Agriculture Indicates 10,900.000 boxes,
■I I Illi IH I I I I I I I H’+’H’-H-H-;; excluding tangerines, for 1925-26, or
about 600,000 boxes more than the re
;; Flyer Is Attacked
vised estimate of the crop last year.
in Air by Eagle ” Tangerine production Is placed at
"
New York.—Lieut. James M. .. 600,oO0 boxes, or 100,000 less than Inst
• • Bovard, who completed his an- '; year, and grapefruit, 7,500,000 boxes,
;; nual 15-day training period as a .. or 700,000 less than last year.
The total preliminary estimate for
reserve aviator at Mitchel field ”
J recently, told a story of an ae- • > citrus fruits Is 19.000,000 boxes, com
•• rial encounter with an eagle, in ;; pared with a revised estimate of 19,-
“ which h* emerged the victor • ■ 200,000 boxes last year. These esti
mates are of the commercial car lot
• ■ with one of the eagle's tail featb- ’
: ers as a trophy. While 3,000 • • and express movement, and exclude
•• feet over Long Island, he said. “ the usual loss from drops.
I: a great bald eagle swooped down ■ ■
Decreased production of grapefruit
;; and fastened its claws in his I is attributed to light and spotted set
: leather helmbt. The propeller •; ting of fruit, and to the fact that there
;; blast carried th* bird away.
i
will b* more over-sized fruit than
.
Bovard exhibited a character- ■ • usual. Unless market conditions are
' ’ Istlc barred eagle feather and ! such that the large sizes can be
• • scratches on hl* helmet to the •' shipped and sold, they will either
' ‘ doubting ones.
.. move by truck or be lost from drop
t l I I I I W I I I ! I I l t- Hi l"! l -l l' ’ ping, the department says.