Show lord H island 0 ir e in M 14 hl ar pj y zw IL aua r 7 k e ae mil ir A 4 mount on lord howe island 1 prepared h b the lh Nat national lonal 0 ia P c s society washington D f V U FU S e arv lc 0 rc DECORATED with palms Doc j how often the phrase occurs curg in descriptions of social events wherever florists ply their trade and have a hand in beautifying public occasions palms play an important part without them hotel lobbies steamship salons dance halls and hurches churches F would lack their refreshing greenness often referred to as just florists palms they are taken for granted like many of our common blessings in reality they belong to a small group usually called pa palms alms found only in remote islands of the coral sea and their present widespread use throughout the civilized world is one of the romantic tales of horticulture A little more than half a century ago they became an important article of commerce and few people even today realize from what a tiny bit of the earths surface that particular commerce originates ates in 1783 henry ball en route from sydney new south wales to norfolk island discovered a remarkable pyramid of volcanic rock rising straight out of the tasman sea to a height of 1816 feet he descried land to the northwest which further investigation revealed as an island of unusual conformation and striking beauty in honor of richard howe the british adin admiral iral who played an important part in the war with the american colonies ball called his contribution to the british empire 1 lord howe island his own name was given later to the massive rock which first attracted his attention and balls pyramid is his enduring monument lord howe island lies miles east of australia and northeast bof of sydney it has the form of a boomerang with its length extending nearly north and south the concave side facing australia and the precipitous eastern coast arched against the surging pacific in an air line the northernmost part of the island is only seven miles from its southern tip and the greatest breadth is but a mile and a half formation of the island the northern half is hilly but the highest point is only feet above the sea the southern half is mountainous ta rugged and wild two peaks occupy most of this area the I 1 southernmost mount gower rising directly from the sea to 2840 feet while its fellow mount is but feet lower the mountains are thickly wooded so far as their precipitous sides permit and are separated from each other by a lush valley into which man rarely penetrates between the northern hills and mount is rolling country with fertile soil and a plentiful water supply extending from the northwestern tip of the island straight south to below mount is a broad coral berf notable as the southernmost coral reef in the world between this reef and the island itself lies ees the lagoon which it protects its eastern side bounded by a bathing beach of clean white sand some two miles long the reefs prevent vessels from approaching close they must anchor about a mile offshore and passengers and freight are then landed by means of motor towed barges at the jetty near the northern end of the lagoon when ball first landed on the island there were no signs of the genus homo he and his men were probably the first human beings who ever set eyes on its beauties the richness of the vegetation th the abundance of birds and the numerous rivulets of clear cold water indicated plainly however that here was a little paradise awaiting settlers nevertheless for many years the island lay neglected about 1833 or 1334 a small corn com pany from new zealand including several maoris laoris were brought tz to lord howe but in two years they were so discontented that they were taken back to their old homes in new zealand and nature on once cemore more was left in untroubled possession but not for langl american whaling vessels scouring the southern seas found that lord howe island was an excellent place to replenish their water supply there were no government officials to deal with no distractions to tempt deser desertion desernio tio n and no natives with whom the sailors could get into trouble by 1840 reports of these numerous visiting whalers chalers sydney and two families established themselves on lord howe to grow fruit and vegetables for the crews so well did the settlers prosper that others followed and by 1850 a small community was well rooted on the island excellent climate and soil the climate is delightful with much bright sunshine yet a plentiful supply of rain abundant breezes but no cyclones never a trace of frost but very little excessive heat the soil is fertile and nearly everything which grows in warm temperate or subtropical countries can be grown on lord howe the island has such a tropical appearance and there are so many palms that ahe the entire absence of coconuts is s striking t rik the explanation is that the mean annual temperature is not high enough for that heat loving palm with the discovery of petroleum the decline of the whaling vh aling fleet be gan and hard times caal came to lord howe without the whalers chalers wh alers there was no market for the produce both australia and new zealand being too far away but necessity often leads to discoveries co which prove epoch making and so it proved in this case there is no record of who first noticed the unusual hardiness of the palms growing so abundantly or who was first to offer them for sal sale e but a demand for the palms from lord howe gradually developed and long before the twentieth century dawned they were in use all over the world wherever there were florists four kinds ot of residents governmental machinery is is sim simple local affairs are handl handled edby by a local committee of three chosen by the islanders themselves the marketing of the palm seeds and relations with the australian government are handled by the lord howe island board of control composed of three new south wales officials in sydney the island being politically a dependency of that state the residents on the island are divided by two lines of cleavage I 1 into four natural groups groues grou es one line separates those born on lord howe and hence known as islanders from those born elsewhere and so known as non islanders this cleavage is not the basis of a social distinction distinction if the islanders look down on the non islanders they conceal their feelings perfectly the second line of cleavage separates participants from non participants an economic division of the islands income from the sale of the palm seeds to be a participant i one must be an islander cir or else married to an islander and a resident for ten years or more the degree of participation depends on age and sex all males twenty one years of age or more have 25 shares in the allotment women of like age have 10 shares but on marriage their holding is increased to 25 shares A married couple will thus have 50 shares when starting their home for each child born to them 10 additional shares come to them with a maximum of 35 shares for children at the present time the tha population of the island is less thi and jie ac number of participants scarcely aalf that thenon the participant non group insists partly of nf no i eni cm jyce in various cucui Lc cua |