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Show si Islam JS ARLY in the war Germany lost to the British some South Ya.-ft Ya.-ft cific island possessions that were jj valuable to the nation chiefly as coaling stations, but that are of interest for other reasons. Among these islands the most extensive are the Solomon group, of which a writer for the National Geographic society-says: society-says: When a man has learned to live without ambition and to turn his back on hope without regret, then the islands of the South Pacific are ready to receive him as their own. Yet to them turned Germany when its appetite appe-tite for empire led it forth upon its tedious quest for unclaimed places on the earth. It therefore happened that at the outbreak of the present war Germany had sovereignty over those two insignificant insig-nificant dots of land upon the endless expanse of the South Pacific, known as Buka and Bougainville, of the Solomon group. These islands were small, but, nevertheless, were an asset to a nation na-tion interested in the far East. The generation of Germans that followed fol-lowed the empire-builders of 1871 soon felt the need of colonial expansion, but, when they looked around it seemed that every foot of the earth's worth-while surface had been taken as a colony or a "sphere of interest." However, about 1884, the German New Guinea company was formed and Ger- the tropics, but the water wastes on every hand and the mountainous regions re-gions near the coast made these German Ger-man colonies very habitable for the whites. Mangrove thickets, sago and cocoanut palms and valuable woods abound. The natives cultivate yams, taro, unusually delicious bananas and an atrocious tobacco, the last so bad that not even a European accustomed to his home-grown product can enjoy the Solomon island smoke. Every effort was made by the imperial im-perial government to encourage the development of plantations here. The soils and climate are admirably adapted adapt-ed to the growing of rubber, cocoa beans and cocoanuts, and much of the German energy was expended in the production of these. Much was expected ex-pected by the Germans from a proper development of tropical farming upon these islands, and, small though they were, they were looked upon as important impor-tant future assets. Samoa's Strategic Position. The islands of the Samoan group acquired ac-quired some years ago by Germany and now lost to it occupy a position in the South seas which would make their permanent loss a serious blow to the Germans. These islands lie in the direct line of mail steamers between American ports, Hawaii and Australasia. Upolu and Savaii are the German islands, while Tutuila and its adjacent small splotches of green, are |