“Crusoe’s Island.”

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 25, Issue 40, 26 May 1914, Page 2

“Crusoe’s Island.”

AS A WIRELESS STATION. The relentless march of civilisation is responsible for some curious anomalies, but it is difficult to conceive of a more strikingly incongrous fate than is at present overtaking the romantic island of Juan Fernandez, the picturesque and secluded spot famous as the scene of the adventures of ‘Robinson Crusoe,’ The habitual quiet of this oldworld island of ca.Mades and coral is being sadly disturbed by the sound of hammers and saws. Beneath the picturesque fig trees a workman’s camp has sprung up, where employees of the Chilian Government are busily engaged in the erection of a wireless station. The site chosen is the summit of a hill, a thousand feet high, called “La Centinola "—and appropriately so named, seeing that the lofty eminence dominates the ocean from south-east to north-west, guarding sentinel-like, the approach to the Cumberland Bay and San Juan Bantista, the island’s only port. The plant, will have a working radius of 500 miles, so that ships provided with wireless apparatus could be picked up within 1,000 miles westward of Valpariso, while ocean wanderers out of reach of the Coquimbo or Talcahuano stations may be communicated with. Last year the Chilian Government disembarked the materials and men for the construction of a concrete building—armed against unwelcome attentions from natives and the work is now fast nearing completion.

There will be little fear in future of any modern voyager • sharing Crusoe’s fate !