568 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph from Mrs. Rosamond Dodson Rhone 



A NAURU "TOPER" 



After the coconut has attained full size, and long before it is 

 ripe, it contains a pint or more of delicious juice, called in the 

 different languages of the islands, wine, water, or milk, and what 

 could be more refreshing in the blistering heat of the tropics 

 than this cool drink, with its bit of a tang! 



established upon Ocean 

 Island, the company ex- 

 tended its operations to 

 Nauru. Application was 

 made to the German 

 Government for a con- 

 cession, which was 

 granted on condition that 

 the Gennahs were taken 

 into partnership. A fine 

 plant was built on the 

 lines of that at Ocean 

 Island. There was a 

 British manager and a 

 German manager, each 

 with his own staff. 



A white settlement was 

 bttilt, the Germans bring- 

 ing knock-down houses 

 from Germany, which 

 were set up in rows and 

 named "Berlin," "Stutt- 

 gart," "Cologne," while 

 the British houses were 

 named for British and 

 colonial cities. Each 

 house had a garden of 

 flowers, the walks edged 

 with white coral ; in the 

 German gardens the 

 walks were bordered 

 with inverted beer bot- 

 tles. 



A German governor 

 was sent to the island. 

 A two-story house was 

 built for him (the only 

 one on Nauru) and a 

 full - length portrait of 

 the Kaiser hung on its 

 wall. The grounds w r ere 

 planted with beautiful 

 tropical trees and shrubs, 

 and the flag with the 

 two - headed eagle was 

 hoisted on a tall pole on 

 the beach. 



On the hilltop was 

 erected one of those fine 

 wireless stations which 

 Germany placed at each 

 of her strategic points 

 in the Pacific. This was 

 a triangular mast of 

 structural steel 420 feet 

 high, resting upon glass 

 disks and guyed to mas- 



