112 Naturalist at Large 



fulfilled the population's desire for adornment were 

 all to be had in ample quantities simply at the risk of 

 a little daring. To turn to the more solid things of 

 life such as greater creature comfort in the form of 

 homes, etc. was so remote from hope of attainment 

 that we could induce no individual in the community 

 to as much as attempt to struggle for same. It took years 

 of carefully planned control — control of lawless ac- 

 tivities while men were on shipboard, control of local 

 commodity buying and selling, control of living con- 

 ditions, and virtually the way of life before we had the 

 final satisfaction of seeing personal initiative, the 

 rudiments of self-respect, and something closely akin 

 to character begin to develop on the island. 



To counteract exorbitant local prices for food and 

 clothing, we found ourselves with a general store on 

 our hands, we bought in bulk at wholesale prices and 

 resold at a price just sufficient to defray overhead. 

 We found ourselves running a restaurant business, a 

 rudimentary housing project, a medical clinic, and 

 many similar organizations, all of which slowly and 

 painstakingly began to have their respective influences 

 on the wants and opinions of the public. 



New types of food were edged in at the store, were 

 sometimes given away as gifts with other purchases, 

 and ever so slowly new tastes were cultivated for 

 nutritious, healthful foods that had never before been 

 tried or tolerated on the island. In the same way our 

 restaurants provided meals in which our company 

 absorbed the major part of the cost, so that regard- 

 less of whether some of the dishes served were new, 



