Show prepared by society D C service ROCK which wag clin recently awarded to france by the king of italy Is a desolate spot of land miles from the mexican coast and Is frances first possession oft the pacific boist of north america king victor emanuel was the arbiter to whom france and mexico had submitted their claims of ownership clipperton rock Is one of the lone liest and least visited islands on the globe it Is about the sime distance from the nearest mexican port of acapulco as the bermuda islands are from bew york like the bermudia dig this lonely island rises sheer from the bed of the ocean it Is surrounded by dangerous coral reefs marinero mariners Ma who have sailed near clip rock say that the island which Is about two miles in diameter and reaches a height of GO feet looks like a sail at a distance upon closer ap it presents the appearance of a castle rising from the waves most ship captains give clipperton rock a wide berth in fair weather it Is easy enough to steer clear of its encircling reefs but in times of fog a ship could be wrecked before the sounding lead could ghe any warning of land soundings les thin a mile off shore give no bottom at ato oms feet the island destitute of vegetation has been inhabited only by a small mexican garrison it was annexed by france in 1857 A party of americans next claimed it and attempted a set clement when france protested to this country in 1897 the united states recognized french sovereignty but the same year president diaz of mexico claimed and seized the Is land later adlaz agreed to submit the matter to arbitration of the king of italy and abide by his decision some time ago the mexican govern ment leased clipperton rock to the pacific islands company which expected to exploit the guano deposits of the bird breeding rocks A wharf feet long was built out to the edge of the reef but as the sea breaks beyond it the wharf will have to be extended before ships can use it the concession has not been 1014 french colonies lie in every innab cited continent except the north amer lean mainland and australia and french owned islands like clipperton rock are but a short sail from these A recent census show that the french flag flies over some people about less than the population of the united states although france Is the third largest national landholder in the world with aggregate holdings nearly double the area of this country big african colonies the largest slice of the republics domain covers almost half the area of africa including nearly the whole western shoulder from italian libya and the anglo egyptian sudan to the atlantic and from the mediterranean to the belgian congo this area con elsts of the fertile agricultural lands and mountains of the north the sindy sparsely settled wastes of the the french sudan and chad with their fertile plains thick forests and swamps and the aungie land of french africa the in of these regions run the amut of human color from the white berbers to the blackest senegal and congo negroes french Somal lland on africa s opposite shoulder Is about as large as con ticuL until recent ye irs it was hot desen country but irrigation hag made it for more than arabs and french men who maintain good trade and handle much of s commerce through its port the comoro islands madagascar and reunion off the coast of are also in eluded in the french group of posses alons their subtropical to climate fertile valleys and thickly wooded hills make them island garden spots where people live un der the tricolor counted among the reunion la the gamoua abd el iram the alfil in thorn in eu ropes side who Is spending an en forced lifelong vacation there aria the nearest asiatic posses slon has been trench by mandate of the supreme council of allied powers since 1023 three minion syrians jews and foreigners inhabit this area frequent uprisings have tested the success of french colonization in this region french india consists of ae the colonies mahe on the west coast a short distance north of calicut karikas Ka and rancon on the east coast lying north of calcutta Is so surrounded on the map by british pink that a geog raphy student could easily miss finding it without an apology summing up french india the five french spots it placed together would cover a space no larger than one and one half times the area of philadelphia pa and rochester N Y could more than house its population most of which Is hindu french indo china which Is almost mile for mile equal in area to texas Is perhaps the most progressive of all french possessions while counting the nearly natives and for eigners here the census enumerator traveled through one of the worlds great rice producing areas and thou sands of acres of mulberry trees food for silk worms the basis of a birge indo china silk industry off the northeast coast of australia lie the loyalty islands and many smaller groups and the new hebrides which are governed jointly by the french and british many of the 47 inhabitants of these islands are pagan natives cannibalism Is not openly practiced but it Is slid the tribesmen eat the foes they kill in tribal warfare with welts decorating their bodies sticks of wood thrust through their nostrils bushy hair and scanty clothing some of the tribesmen would not be good subjects for collar ads some of the older natives have holes in their ears which once held wooden disks but now are used for pipe racks south pacific islands tahiti is more interesting and al luring it Is the center of the society islands and not far off are the mar the group archipelago gambler and rapa islands where singing dancing feasting and all that suggest happiness and romance permeate the atmosphere it Is a long journey from tahiti to Gaude loupe and martinique of the lesser antilles with their half million white mulatto negro and oriental in habitants Martini ques people have not forgotten the eruption of mt pele in 1902 when the city of st alerre was wiped out french guiana one of the european triplets of south americas north coast has le than in and blacha who live in the fever infested coastal swamps and torrid forests of the hinterland although diamonds silver mercury tin and copper have been found in the colony it la yet to be extensively developed devils isle famous french penal island lies off the coast ot french gulini napoleon III called devils isle the dry guillotine and in recent decades writers of fantastic tales have painted terrifying word pictures of the island with its neighbors isle royale and st josephs island devil s isle makes up the isles du isles of silva S ilva alon tier upon tier of prison build ings rise on isle royale to which in from other french guiana prisons are sent for discipline on st josephs are hospital and alon buildings I 1 early the entire foreign population of french guiana Is made up of men and women who have been convicted of crimes in the french courts in the coast towns and in the hinterland farming and mining regions are convicts whose lays of confinement hae ended french borth america until the clipperton rock award consisted of two rocky islands on the southern roast of newfoundland which are peo pled by about sturdy of breton and nornan block |