An Uncrowned King

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20137, 5 January 1940, Page 5

An Uncrowned King

! Besides calling at Pitcairn Island, j the North Star, the United States Anj tarctic Expedition ship, dropped ! anchor at another interesting ishtiiQ !in the Pacific—Rapa Island, the : French colony. .Members ot the expedi- : lion were welcomed by a French vicomte, who is the only white man ! living on the little island, which, i however, has a population o! i Polynesians. The Frenchman is prac- ! tirally king of the island, and, in fact,

| |ic is even more than that. He is the j island doctor, lawyer, judge, posti master, and school teacher—to men- ! u o n bill a lew of his varied tasks. I Some years ago he was an accom- ! plished civilian air pilot, but he left his native France to take up coflee- ; planting in the Pacific. He was very ! much surprised and even more inter- | ested to learn that France and | Britain were at war against Germany. : u was the first news he had had ot j the war, and he told the Americans how dearly he would like to light for his country. “But,” he added wistfully, “I think the Government believes I am too useful on this island ever io let me return home to join the Air Force.”