LIFE IN THE EAST INDIES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27, 2 February 1915, Page 3

LIFE IN THE EAST INDIES

THE EFFECT OF THE WAR PEARLING AND OTHER INDUSTRIES SOME INTERESTING FACTS. Java with its teeming millions, and the various islands which go to form the Dutch East Indies, have all been affected by the war, and somewhat seriously at that. These Dutch possessions have a strange interest to New Zealanders, and because of 'their neutrality they have come into greater prominence since the outbreak of hostilities. Batavia proved a safe harbour for many a German Bhip, notably the Wismar, which concerns so many consignees in the Dominion. A gentleman now in Wellington, who left the islands a few weeks ago, gave to a Post reporter some idea as to how the islands are concerned with the war. i PBO-GEBMAN FEELING. "In the first pjace," he said (and this will come as news to many), "there is a distinctly pro-German feeling, which is reflected in the news which is circulated. We were never told the truth of the J Allies' victory — everything was in favour j of the enemy. We had. to await the arrival of the Australian papers before j we knew the position. The Dutch seemed to welcome the war, and were more jubilant over it {han anything else." The visitor could advance no reason for the pro-German feelings, but as far as the Dutch he came across , were concerned, it undoubtedly existed. HARD HIT BY THE WAR. Java and the neighbouring islands had been hard hit by the war. One notable example was the closing down of the Celebes Trading Company's works connected with the pearl shell industry, and employing between 800 arid 900 men. Of course, business had fallen off a great deal, though the trade between Australia and Java had not slackened to any great extent. At any rate, the steamer service had not been cut down. Commodities were increasing in price, and all things were dearer. Even rice — the principal native food — had advanced with the rest, and it was likely that the pinch would be felt very severely before 1 ' PEARLING OPERATIONS. The visitor also had some interesting things to tell of the pearling operations of Aroe Islands, a coral group where some of the best pearls have been found. The Celebes Trading Company owned five fine steamers and one hundred luggers. Attached to each steamer were so many luggers, each containing a diver, a diver's tender, and a crew of six. These were either Malayans or Japanese. The divers will go to practically any depth up to 35 fathoms, but the latter is exceptionally deep, and the divers cannot remain down long. They use the ordinary diver's outfit familiar to those who frequent the Wellington wharves, but at the maximum depth a machine air pump driven by motor is used. The best shells are obtainable in deep water. It must not be imagined that the diver's, task is by any means an easy one. He does not merely walk along the bottom of the ocean and pick up a shell. These shells have to be hunted for, and the diver must be conversant with many signs to show him where the treasure, or. prospective treas-. ure, is. All the shells do not contain pearls, and only a few contain very valuable pearls. But the pearl-shell itself is valuable, fetching from £150 to £600 per ton — according to grade. THE FASCINATING HUNT FOR GEMS. Some pearls again are much more valuable than others. The pearls most valued are the pure white and the steel black, but they must be of brilliant lustre and perfectly shaped, either round, double- bottom, or drop (egg shape), and quite unblemished. Such gems find a ready market in London, because pearls never seem to go out of fashion. The war has, of course, affected the sale to some extent. The search in the shell for the pearl — the double shell sometimes weighs as much as 51b — is quite as fascinating aa the hunt for gold, and it would be quite easy for the inexperienced to miss the pearl, even after a long search. Pearling is full of disappointments, just as much as the prospecting for valuable minerals. A thousand shells may be examined without the discovery of a really good pearl. The little seed pearls can. be found in abundance on the reefs, and The Post's informant has with him a fine assortment collected by way of diversion on Sunday afternoons. THE DIVERS 1 PART. The divers have by far the most unenviable work of all connected with the industry, and are exposed to all sorts of risks. They are liable to be paralysed if they come too quickly out -of deep water, and they may or may not recover. If they do recover they invariably return to diving. Then, again, they are exposed to the danger of an encounter with an alligator or a shark, but providing the divers are not in very deep water these can be frightened off by the sudden release of air from the end of the sleeve. But by far the most dangerous enemy is the diamond fish, a huge species of stingaree, which sometimes stretches as much as 20ft. It has two powerful, long feelers, and if they foul the air-tube and life-line they pretty soon break them, and the diver is never seen any more. Some of the natives in the Aroe Islands dive in comparatively shallow water-— up to five fathoms — on their own account, and they do fairly well. They dive without any fear, and are able to remain under water for as long as three minutes. The principal divers working for the company receive £25 per ton for pearl shell, and the yearly average for one man is between four and five tons. In addition he is found, so he makes good wages in a portion of the globe where payment for labour is on a very low scale. In fact, it is asserted that but for very cheap labour the industry, could not exist. SOME INTERESTING POINTS. Those who do not live by means of the pearl industry — and there are millions upon millions who do not — find employment in the coconut, sugar, tobacco, rubber, and fruit plantations. All" the islands are thickly populated — Java contains 30,000,000 people— and there are many halfcaste Malayans, which is bad for the Dutch. All the dwellings, including those in the native quarter, are kept spotlessly clean, and, as most Europeans live in elevated positions, the climate is satisfactory. The Isle of Banda is described as by far the most picturesque in the group. "It is difficult to realise how beautiful Banda is," so the reporter was informed. "Every part is perfectly planned, and streams run down each side ol the roads, while there are beautiful marble' drinking fountains at intervals. Banda was the home of nutmegs and spices, and is still noted for these products, although they are cultivated in other parts now. There is a wonderful system of irrigation." It was a remarkable fact that the Dutch refused to grant concessions to outsiders, and any area on which coal, gold, copper, or tin was found was declared an Admiralty Reserve, despite the fact that application had been made for a concession. It took one ftueenslandor eighteen months to secure

a concession for_ planting coconuts. However, a change in this connection is confidently looked for at the conclusion of the war.