FANNING ISLAND.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1427, 30 April 1912, Page 2

FANNING ISLAND.

CENTRE OF PACIFIC. IMPORTANCE TO THE EM TIKE. Public attention has been recently at» traded to a small group of wind-banko and reefs in the Pacific, callrd Palmyra Island (snys the London "Graphic"). It was elicited in tho House ol Commons on March i lost that in 1860, in view of tho laying of tho British Pacific cable, proteeloratcs were declared over all tho islands near the Equator in the ir.i.i----1 nunc. Palmyra alone, beiiiT small, rerfniigcd and almost unapproachable, wos allowed to revert to the native kingdom, Hawaii, which has since passed under tho jurisdiction of tho United States Tho true pearl of that locality, and tho real strategic point, in regard to the coming opening of the Panama Canal, is Fanning Island, the mid-ocean station of the Pacific cable, .situated in latitude 3.51 N„ and in longitude 159 W. This "nll-red cable" is entirely liritish-owiied, and i 3 subsidised by England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Buildings valued at ■£40,000 for tho accommodation of tho instruments and a staff uf over twenty men, have been put up on Fanning Maud. Tho superintendent in charge, who, with his wife and daughter, occupies a substantial concrete bungalow surrounded by broad verandahs, holds magisterial powers upon tho island from the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific.

When (lie Panama (.'anal is open, Miipa from Panama on their way to China, Japan, Australia, and Now Zealand, must pass it. All tho trade routes imningo upon it. It will lo the Colombo of tlio Pacific; and Colombo is tho Clapham Junction of the Orient.

The island is a coral ring, 32 miles in circumference. In the lagoon which it surrounds and shelters is a noblo port, which, by a happy augury, boars the name of "English HaTbour." This port is entered from the leo side of the island by a deep passage, which provides a smooth entrance from the heaving ocean without; to tho still waters of "the lazy, locked lagoon," where, after a narruiy. bar as been cut through, it will be possiblo to anchor the British fleet securely in fifty feet of water. As it is, vessels drawing twenty-five feet can be accommodated without removing a cubic yard of material.

English Harbour has been ilesciibpil by a high naval nuthorily as the roost important strategical point in the Faoifio Ocean. Its geographical position and configuration make it an ideal naval b:\*=p or rendezvous. A store ol' coal is idroady kept there in case come cruiser or ocean tramp should need to replenish hev hunkers in those latitudes. Hitherto, the mail boats from Vancouver to Australia ln\v« coaled at Honolulu; but Fannin? Island is nearer their direct course, and it does not suiter, like Honolulu, from the narrow policy which our American cousins show towards international shipping.

Some sixty years ago two British seacaptains, tired 01 roaming, settled down on Fanning and Washington Islands, and agreed upon a joint ownership. "While thev lived life ran smoothly, but their dusky descendants quarrelled over tho inheritance, and appealed to the Supremo Court of Fiji, which ultimately ordered a sale of the wjiolc property, and a division of the proceeds. A German syndicate negotiated for the islands, and thero was sonic discussion whether, in the event of their completing the purchase, the sovereignty would pass to tho "Fatherland." Japan is also understood to hnve made efforts to obtain 'the property. An Order-in-Council finally settled that in any case tho possession must remain British. At the rale a Frenchman made tho highest hid, and secured both tho islands by becoming a naturalised British subject. He holds them by the gracious permission of the King, anil he is unable to make any transfer of them without Kins George's consent, as signified by tho Secretary of State for tho Colonics. This French gentleman, who is, by tho wav, an enthusiast about the South Sea Islands, soon realised that it was beyond tho capacity of any one man to develop Fanning Island.and English Harbour to tho full. Ho is, therefore, transferring .his ownership to a London syndicate, who recently sent Mr. J. W. Hay ward, F.R.G.S., of Montreal, to examine the estates on their behalf. Mr. Hayward is now in London. He reports cxtensivo and valuable bods of phosphate aggregating over two million tons, and 7000 acres covered with shady groves of the coconut palm, rich in fruit, enlivened by tho flight of g«y paroquets, and haunted hr so manv crooning pairs of creamy-col-oured "love-birds," that but a small stretch of the imagination is needed to picture this tinv island in the mid-Paeifio as the paradise' to which true lovers go. •>