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Show THE RICH COUNTY NEWS, RANDOLPH, UTAH Type of Cart Used in Sugar Cane Districts of Formosa. (Prepared by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.) One of the most important of the slices of China taken by outside nations, but one which there has been no mention of restoring, Is the island which the world knows as Formosa, but which the Japanese, since they gained possession of it through the e war, have named TaiChino-Japanes- wan. Ihla Formosa Beautiful Isle the early Portuguese voyagers called It; and never was a more appropriate name given to an Isle of the sea. If you care to confirm this In one of several pleasant ways, sail along the west coast of Formosa In a tek pal, or bamboo raft, on a clear day, and you will witness a pageant of mountain scenery that will haunt the memory for many a day. Beyond the fertile plain, with Its emerald paddy-field- s and Its picturesque little villages dotted here and there on the banks of meandering streams, foothills with unending variations of contour silhouette their d summits against the paler screen of more distant mountains. Of these, sometimes five and sometimes even ranges are visible at once, each a separate ribbon of color, shading from the deepest sapphire to the palest azure and extending In an unbroken chain of beauty from north to south. On the east of the Island you can see the highest coastal cliffs known, at some places rising abruptly to an elevation of about 6,000 feet, and affording an Impregnable wall of defense to the wild aboriginal tribes living In the mountains back of them. All Kinds of Vegetation. Formosan scenery Is unusual in its diversity of vegetation within such narrow confides the greatest length of the Island from north to" south is about 264 miles and 80 miles Is Its greatest width. From the palms and tropical fruit trees of the western plain It Is only a short step to the slopes of the lower exuberant mountains, with their jungles of various growths the bearded banyans, the graceful tree ferns, which in sheltered nooks attain the height of palms, and the ubiquitous bamboo grass. g Here, among trees, Is found growing the beautiful butterfly orchid, while In exposed spaces, nesazaleas tling among the rocks, rose-pin- k flaunt their gay blooms. A little higher are plateaus covered with camphor laurel, the largest tracts of these valuable trees In the world, while still higher grow the forests of coniferous trees the giant benihi, similar to the redwoods of California, the largest trees In the East and the second largest In the world; the valuable hinoki or Japanese cypress, and the pine cedar and spruce of the New England states; and higher yet the craggy peaks of the tallest mountains, but sparsely covered with vegetation of any sort, where eagles build their nests, arJ which for the greater part of the year He beneath a mantle of tree-fringe- JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN HE second National Conference on State Parks will be held May 5 Bear Mountain Inn, Palisades Interstate park, on the west bank of the Hudson river about 45 miles above New York City. The first conference, held January 1921, In Des Moines, la., appointed John Barton Payne, then secretary of the Interior and now chairman of the central committee, American National Bed Cross, chairman of a committee on arrangements for a second conference to be held in 1922. The committee membership Includes: Edgar It. Harlan, Des Moines, secretary of the Iowa Slate Board of Conservation. Mrs. John Dickinson Sherman, Estes Park, department off applied education, General Federation of Womens Clubs.-- : Uichnrd Lieber, Indianapolis, State of Indiana Department of Conservation. J. Horace McFarland, Harrisburg, Pa., president American Civic association. W. L. Harding, Des Moines, former governor of Iown. Mnj. W. A. Welch, Haverstraw. N. Y., general manager and chief engineer Palisades Interstate park. James Grafton Rogers, Denver, Colo. William F. Bade, Berkeley, Calif., president Sierra club, California Associated Societies for the Conservation of Wild Life, American Alpine club, Save the Redwoods league. Alfred Britt, New York. Chairman Paynes letter of announcement of the time and place of meeting also says: A great deal of constructive work has been done in the development of state parks, duly stimulated by the work of the past conference. Considerable legislation has been enacted and new parks created. The convention this year will be particularly illuminating, as it will give the delegates an opportunity of seeing the development In the Palisades Interstate park, which stands In the forefront of state parks. While the first nnd third days will be taken up with business sessions, the second will be devoted to a trip to West Point nnd a new state highway around Storm King overlooking the Hudson, while the fourth day will be given over to an. Inspection of the Bronx parkway and will mean an especially Interesting motor trip from the Bear Mountain Inn across the Hudson to Lake .Kensico and from there down the Bronx River parkway to the New York Zoological gardens in the Bronx. "I especially urge that all organizations interested in the preservation of our native scenery arrange to have delegates attend the conference. Many slates have taken the forward step la the development of a state park system, and 1 firmly believe that this can be extended to include all of the states, so that close can he carried out between all the states and the slogan of a state park every hundred miles from Maine to California will, become an actual fact in the very near future. The first conference was held In Des Moines because Iowa has a state park law that comes pretty near being a model. The state hoard of conserciitioii has power to select and acquire parks it ml make them accessible and has funds to work with. It Is and membership Is an honor. The state lias already acquired eleven parks and Is steadily adding acceptable areas. Tlie second conference is held in Palisades Interstate park because it Is the finest object lesson In' (he world of efficient state park management on ii large scale and of the benefits to the public of Hitch a recreation place. There is no space These points, here far a detailed description. however, stand out: The park along the historic Hudson had Its beginning tn a movement to shve the f'alisades Largely through tho perfrom the quarrymen. sistence of the federated club women of New York aud New Jersey the legislatures of these By 22-2- 10-1- Colo-chairm- nt n an two states created Palisades Interstate commissions in 1900 and Governors Theodore Roosevelt and Foster M. Voorhees each appointed five commissioners. The commissioners are unpaid and Politics have been kept out of the park. The development work has all been done by the commission's own force aud all park activities are conducted by this force. The commission expects each separate activity to be The funds appropriated and contributed to date are thus summarized: By New York, in cash, $5,793,525, in lands, $170,000; by New Jersey, In cash, $727,983 ; by private contributors, tn cash, $4,735,144; in lands, $1,692,705; total, $13,119,420. The park now contains 1,000 acres in New Jersey, extending for 12 miles along the Hudson (the Palisades) ; 550 acres In the Blauveit tract west of Nyack; 780 acres in the Hook mountain-Rock-lan- d lake section, and 33,708 acres in the Bear mountain-Harrimasection. Mrs. E. H. Harrimun made one gift of 10,000 acres and $1,000,000. Over one million people visited the Bear arriman section last summer; every summer 50,000 poor children spend an average of ten days In the camps. Every possible facility for every sort of recreation is provided. There are even medical service, religious exercises and cooked-foo- d distribution. As to tlie people who used the strip under the Palisades, their number can only be guessed at.. The Des Moines conference was attended by 140 delegates from 50 organizations in 25 states. The coining conference will he larger. This park question is of interest to a great variety of organizations. Here are a few samples : Save the Redwoods League of California; General Federation of Women's Clubs; American Society of Landscape Architects; Wild Flower Preservation'' Society of America; American Bison society; American Alpine club; American Committee oil Preservation of Natural Conditions; American Civic k association; National Highway association ; National Pipit, Service. The scope of this second conference is perhaps best suggested by tlie report of the committee on resolutions, Dr. Henry C. Cowles. University of Chicago, chairman, which was adopted at the first conference. This report includes the following: Tlie National Conference on State Parks, assembled In Des Moines, January 1921, upon the call of the governor of Iowa, and at tlie suggestion of the secretary of the Interior, and in with tlie national park service, declares its belief: That the public parks, local, county, state and national are necessary for tlie best development of patriotism, of efficient manhood and womanhood, and of business and civic life In the Uuited States. That such parks should Include not only ample and organized provision for recreation, but also for the preservation in their natural state of liberal areas embracing the varied types of prairie, forest, lake, river nnd mountain scenery of America, as well us the natural wonders that distinguish our country. That It is incumbent upon our governments, local, county, state and national, to continue to acquire sites until eventually there shall be public parks within easy access of all tlie people of our nation. Tlytt this conference, recognizing the fundamental value of forest recreation, recommends the establishment of further national, state, county and municipal forests and that tlie recre- - , utional use of such areus he correlated with similar activities In other publicly owned areas." At the first conference a special committee was appointed to study the park laws ot tlie several States and to coufer with tlie executive committee of the N&Honai Conference a of Commissioners on view to the prepara Uniform State Lwt . uo n mountain-H- Iark-to-Par- I tion and presentation of model drafts. This committee will report to the coming conference. Its ' membership follows: Everett L. Millard, Chicago, chairman; president Municipal Art league. Charles G. Sauers, Indianapolis, Indiana State Department of Conservation. Judge Asa K. Owens, Phillips, Wls. . Chancey Hamlin, Buffalo, N. Y. E. W. Allen, State of Washington. The attitude of .the coming conference on questions of policy Is probably pretty accurately indicated by a list of recommendations formulated at the first conference by the Round Table committee. This informal committee was made up of delegates actually engaged In the construction, supervision and development of existing parka The recommendations Include the following: It ip recommended that any legislation for the establishment of state or municipal parks or forest preserves provide for the development and improvement of such areas in such a manner that they be freed entirely from all political in. fluence. ' That all moneys given, appropriated or accruing to such bodies, including those moneys earned by the utilities and facilities Inside the areas, be placed at the disposal of such boards and ej y pended by them without the further formality of legislative appropriation, but accounted for In accordance with the state's or municipalitys finance laws. "That wherever the necessary capital is avail- able, all tlie utilities be operated directly by the controlling boards, and all construction and maintenance work be done by their forces without contracts or concessions, but if such capital is not available, that these utilities be let as concessions to concessionaires with sufficient capital and ability under proper restrictions and regulations by , tlie board. Tlml all buildings in such areas be the property of tlie board, nnd that no privately owned structures of any type be permitted except In the case of large forest preserves, where this policy does not. interfere with some of the higher type of utilizations. leases of clubhouses, That no long-tercamps, or other buildings be made, and that a strict limitation be placed on private residences, even in large forest reservations, and that these should be permitted only with due regard to future public use." Inasmuch as tlie new interest in state and local parks Is largely an outgrowth of the discovery by tlie people of , the national parks, the nntlonal park service Is giving Us heartiest through Director Stephen T. Mather. The connection between national parks and state parks Is often close, since It is sometimes difficult to decide the destiny of scenic areas ambitious for national park honors. Mr. Mather is likely to ask the opinion of the conference concerning a dozen or so nations' park propositions which raise the question Are they not best fitted for state parks? These propositions Include: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; Petit Jean, Arkansas; Grand Coulee, Washington; Bryce Can'Wisconyon. Utah; Mississippi vnlley, Iowa and sin Okelinokee swamp. Georgia; Yakima, Wash; Sand Dunes, Inington. Blue Ridge, Georgia South Bad Dakota. Lunds, Roosevelt diana; Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall, In whose charge are the national pnrks, of course heartily endorses tlie coming conference. He 1921 annual report to says, in referring in his the Des Moines conference and the increased activities In the state pork movement: It Is Imped this will in time result In n state park being available every hundred miles or so along the chief traffic nrterte to the national parks which will contribute much to the pleasure camping."' at m . moss-strun- snow. The usual approach to the island Is the port of Kelung, in the extreme north. Almost any time one arrives In Kelung the rain will be found Comd ing down In sheets, obscuring the harbor. Board a train for Taihoku, the capital city, which on most maps still bears its old Chinese name of Talpeh, and In about ten minutes you will pass through a long tunnel, under a mountain ridge on the other side of which you will In all probability find the landscape flooded with sunshine. Rain seems as out of place In this new world as stars In the broad daylight. Here and there the train passes the low, mud, thatched dwelling of some Chinese homesteader with a pool of Water by way of front yard, where d buffaloes take their huge noonday siesta. Taihoku Is a Fine City. The distance of 20 miles to Taihoku is. covered in a little more than an hour, and there the traveler is sure to be. amazed at the westernized appearance of the city the broad streets, the beautiful parks, and the Imposing public baildings. Only the gateways of. the old wall, which surrounded the ancient Chinese city, remain, looking as out of place In their rejuvenated setting as the Egyptian obelisk in Cen ra) park. Even Daltotel, the Chinese ection of Taihoku, Is unnaturally iian Cal Chinese city. slate-colore- The Japanese Insist upon two official house cleanings a year, and as they are executed under a policemans vigilant eye, there Is nothing slipshod In the undertaking. All a mans chattels, his lares and penates, his wives and children, even to his cherished opium pipe, are heaped unceremoniously In front of his dwelling, and the work of scouring begins. During the summer months Daltotel presents Its busiest face, for It Is then that the tea season is In full swing. The colonnades of the tea hongs, lf such an imposing architectural term as colonnades can be fittingly applied to such unimposlng structures, are ahum with the staccato accents of chattering tea pickers. These are generally young girls, as old hands are too numb for the deft manipulation of the tea leaves. Seated on low stools before wide wicker trays, these bright-eyemaids. . d their peacock-blufront hair clipped in smocks, their bangs, and with a gay posy or two stuck in the braided knots at the backs of their necks, In e are in animated contrast ' to their rather drab surroundings. Everywhere one sees cooties packing the gayly flowered lead-lineboxes that carry their sensitive freight of tea to America. About 90 per cent of Formosa Oolong goes to the United States. The population of Formosa is mainThe cultivation of ly agricultural. rice, and more especially sugar cane, is encouraged by the government, and these are grown In great quantities. Monopoly in Camphor. However, the most Interesting industry Is the production of camphor, and It can truly be said to be peculiar to the island, when It is remembered that Formosa holds a practical monopoly in the worlds market of this valuable drug. Shortly after the Japanese came to Formosa, 25 years ago, the camphor industry became a government monopoly. Before that time there had been a great deal of ruthless waste, both in the cutting down of trees and in extracting camphor from them. At first the Japanese, too, were careless in this respect, for the supply of camphor trees seemed practically limitless, but the great increase in the demand for the product In late years has made scientific afforestation necessary. Now large tract of land are given over to the cultivation of' the camphor laurel. The oldest of these cultivated trees are now some twenty years of age. In point of view of value, few trees can rival the camphor. An average tree, say with a basal circumference of 12 feet, will yield about 50 piculs of camphor (approximately 6,660 pounds), which, at the present market price, is worth several thousands of dollars. Native stills are scattered here and there throughout the districts where crude camphor is collected, packed In tins and carried down precipitous mountain paths on coolies backs to the nearest railway line, whence It goes to the refinery at Taihoku. Ever since, we have any Authentic record, Formosa has been peopled with wild tribes of probably Malayan and Polynesian origin. They arg nearest In point of resemblance to the Dyaks of Borneo and, although their origin has never been proved beyond a doubt, they are sufficiently like certain of the South Sea tribes to justify us In to them a common ancestry. They are found on the Island today In all stages of development. The raw? savages, as the Chinese term them, live much as their ancestors did centuries ago, while the ripe savages, living on the borderland between their wild kin and Chinese settlers, have more or less assimilated Chinese ways of life. The savage population of Formosa is estimated at about 150,-00d 0, At present Formosa enjoys greater freedom from savage attacks than ever before in her history. This Is due to the fact that the Japanese have Ine barrier from Karen-kstalled a about midway on the east coast, to Plnan, in tbe south, a distance of about a hundred miles, to serve as a protection against savage raids. Tbe future of Formosa under its present benevolent paternal govern-melooks bright indeed. Never before has this Island, so beautiful to the eye, enjoyed such a degree of jprra perlty. live-wir- o, nt ...... ' |