The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 7, 1906, Page 14

By Mabel Beeson. K ( rge B. Greig, the fisa.)“" v sere lived sixty- ou must, perforce, be tves strictly contem- g S S £ ot 2 Wy A THE "PRODUCTION OF r inuninhabited let of soll where were groves of anui palm and considerable depos- Immediately ‘the spot " th eves and, there emselves to consult, ai- : sov- natives were nds of the actory for the it oil was es- ture of .cocoan rs of more or less tion Wilson bought the ghts of his two partners and in Sep- t 5 i enjoyed sole 1, he sold Henry Eng- was 11 t to here formal- Captain William and George Bicknell were ad- d to partnership, the former pay- g $6000 for re: ed him b Bicknell s have e fortunes of the bitation who soon by ‘the sale of rm of glish named Ow: ts to retire m property was so materially i sold to the Grm for $10,000 FIRE PROOF CAPLE STATION™ .« ‘ further sum, a fifth as large, be- a i y for the ‘main- e of the orpl children of s Wilson, one of the first own- of Fanning. he succeeding twenty years ex- emplified w the old adage that se people are happy whose annals are brief. i guano beds were thor- oughly worked and regular shipmcnts of copra added ‘to th the operators, whose days were uneventful, e Gilbert Islanders, brought to Fanning to attend to the practicul part of its development, throve mightily, learning besides their appointed tasks out it was presently discovered that provided as part of their food supply more easily turn back the tide with much that was not nominated in the they had established a ‘“still” for mak- and Captain Zreig himself is our au- a.pitchfork than keep a Kanaka from THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL - I g bond. None could name their teacher, ing a whisky of sorts fom the molasses thority for the statement that one could v, % [T O % bl AU SN ) thievery and lies. YATIVES IN Bicknell died in 1834, leaving to his brother James, a resident of Honolulu, all profits and emoluments of whatever sort accruing from his half interest in the estate. Henceforth the Greigs were the only landed gentry of the realm, and when, in 1892, George (rels suc- ceeded his father as head of the fam- ily, he continued his residenco amon their “people,” remitting one molety of all revenues to the absent co-partner, who seemed well content to “take_ the cash and let the credit go.” But at length the guano deposits were exhausted and the company en- gaged in their exploitation removed to new flelds. This reduced the wealth of the islands to the year's output of the cocoanut groves and seems to have suggested to the resident owners the misfortune of having to divide with one who was far away. For there were seven Greig helrs, entitled to one- half of the earnings of the property and but one Bicknell, to whom the other half was due. The manifest in- justice of this division induced In the minds of the Grelgs the theory that though James Bicknell was in truth TOLL DRESS 4 s half owner of the islands the owner- ship did not extend to any share in the income yielded. So convinced were they of the right of this view that their attorney made point of it in court, a pronouncement which caused the chief judicial commissioner to reflect that for ways that are dark and tricks that are vain more than the heathen Chinee are peculiar. His Honor also listened unmoved to the plea of defendants’ counsel that it was most undesirable to order a sale of the islands, since, in the event of such sale, his clients, who have always lived there, will be compelled to move, and in August of last year judgment was rendered as follows: That James Bicknell Is the owner in fee simple of one undivided half of the contested estate ‘and the seven chil- dren of Willam Greig of the other half, and that the islands should be sold so as to make possible a full accounting for all profits. And this is how it happens that in April of this year will be given to all men a chance to take a flier in Pacific Ocean real estate. There is no direct connection between San Francisco and Fanning Island, no steamship line making stop there from this port. You have vour choice of routes, however, in journeying there; for You may go to Victoria and take the Ca- nadian vessel which will land you at your destination In dge course, or yYou may travel from San Francisco to Pago Pago, in the Samoan Islands, and catch a boat returning from Australia for doubling back to Fanning. In any event, the first thing to greet your eye will be a wind- mill that seems to rise from the sea's self, so low is the land on which it stands. ¢ When your friends i you letters or papers of interests that once must go to Samoa first ning, which means that will elapsp between argivals. That and you will pany adhere to the schedul fervor now expended fn dema: our local vostoftice deltvery of mail from East, North and South as nearly tele be entirely dependent 1902 Fanning has upon the mail c been bie nds in possessing a regular sta e Canadian-Aus- tralian cable. Thais the greatest mn:‘-l vation the litie place bas kmown in T history, and great things pected of it by the King of who communicated to his San I agent In the first message sent over the longest cable in the world (34 miles to the British Columbia station) fidence that prosperity would re His hopes were not realized, cable has given a definite Fenning, has fixed its nationa may say, In giving to the Br ernment a lasting Interest in its owner ship. The fireproof buildings fn which the offi- cials are housed, the work of a San Fran- cisco construction company. contrast strangely enough with the palm-thate! cottages which are their only architec ural rivals, iIf we except the Greig home- stead, and will stand for the new owner as important as for the natives who watched them grow to completion. This city has for years felt an acquaint- ance with Fanning Island, partly because the present head of the Grelg family— himself a haif-breed, married to a ka- naka, and identified throughout his life with the islanders whose destinies he has controlled—sent his eldest son to San Francisco to learn from one of our busi- ness colleges something of American methods. Also, he brought his wife over that they might together observe how the social and commercial wheels go round in another land than their own. San Francisco remembers this visity members the so evident enjoyment of pative woman in the wonderful rangw of vivid colors possible from local stocks and the striking effect of unrestricted se- lection from these same with adaptation to the need of her personal adornment, for which purpose she conceived they had Jbeen evolved. But this was long ago, and now these people, once so sure of their establish- ment, so reasonably confident that the years could contain Httle of surprise for them, are to be dispossessed of all they have known, to make a place for—whom? In recent years the copra crop has amounted to something between 200 end 300 tons, worth in this market from 315,000 to $18,900. At the islands it is, of course, worth much less, and the shippers have to bear all costs of transportation, in addition to expense of production. These expenses will. it is estimated, amount to one-haif the selling price, from which you may figure your nrobable profits, in case you take possession. As a business proposition, there seems no doubt that Fanning and Washing- uds are worth more to their pres- ent holders than they will be to others, and, recognizing this, the commissioner most urgently recommended that the par- his con- ign. ties to the sult arrive at some compromise which wo obviate a partition of es- tate. But cven as no man was ever con- vinced by argument, so no anger, no ob- stinacy, was ever softenad by litigation. and his Honor's suggestions were not en- tertained for a moment by either side. The man who first opined that hal loaf was better than no bread at al doubtless forgot his pailesophy when It camé to a question of his grasping the whole loaf on chance of making off with it, and remembered what he had taught only when his adversary of strongsr grasp had left him desolate. It will be hard for the inhabitants Fanning (o believe there are as good lands In the sea as ever were claimed and haps mere difficulties will be set them in their quest than encompassed Wilson, Luccett and Coilie sixty-two years ago, but that is the price they must pay tor change. For their successor there is no question of clearness of title. All the dispute is be- tween the present owners, and the inves- tigaticns, auditings. expert aeccounting and charges of dishonésty will affect only them, except as the reports of the strug- gle serve to create in the mind of the new lord the impression that he is living through’ another of the municipal regen- €rations now become So common in this repubiic. Do 1 hear you mutter that this appeais to you Al argument against? T your main hope In golng to Fanning w: to escape from the tide of expert criticis: turned flo-d-like against both public and private enterprises which has made you aweary of this great world? Be ussured, then, that the battle wh! Jbe fought away from Fanning, most ifke at Fiji, where the courts meet, and if you don't want to take ane or another of the Suva dailles you don't have to.