Caroline Islands

# Caroline Islands

## Abstract

The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the central and eastern parts of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines, because they were part of the Spanish East Indies and were governed from Manila in the Philippines.

The Carolines are scattered across a distance of approximately 3,540 kilometres (1,910 nmi), from the westernmost island, Tobi, in Palau, to the easternmost island, Kosrae, a state of the FSM.

## Description

The group consists of about 500 small coral islands, east of the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean. The distance from Yap (one of the larger Caroline islands) to Manila is 1,200 mi (1,900 km).

Most of the islands are made up of low, flat coral atolls, but there are some that rise high above sea level.

## People and culture

The indigenous inhabitants speak a variety of languages, including: the Micronesian languages of Pohnpeian, Chuukese, Carolinian, and Kosraean; the Western Malayo-Polynesian languages of Palauan and Chamorro; and the unclassified language Yapese (possibly one of the Admiralty Islands languages). There are also a significant number of inhabitants who belong to non-indigenous ethnic groups and speak other languages, including Filipinos and Japanese. The lingua franca used for trade and commerce among islanders who do not speak the same language is English.

The indigenous people of these islands live mainly on horticultural products, fish, many different varieties of bananas, and taro (either the "swamp" or the "purple" variety). On some islands, housing is still built using local materials such as coconut-palm thatch. As a result of missionary work over the centuries, Christianity is the religion most commonly practiced in this region of Micronesia. Many of the indigenous people adhere to the traditional belief in a supreme being called "Yalafar" and an evil spirit called "Can." For the most part, however, they do not engage in traditional religious rites.

The inhabitants of Yap are noted for possessing an unusual currency. Besides the ordinary shell money, there is a sort of stone coinage, consisting of huge calcite or limestone discs or wheels from 6 inches to 12 feet in diameter, and weighing up to nearly 5 tons. These are all quarried in the Pelew Islands, 200 miles to the south, and must have been brought by native vessels or on rafts; later they were transferred on European vessels. The stones, which are rather tokens than money, do not circulate, but are piled up round about the chief's treasure-house, and appear to be regarded as public property. Some may not have been seen for some years, but the transfer of wealth is facilitated by a common understanding that a stone has a new owner.

The Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug (1932–2010) was originally from the Carolinian island of Satawal. He learned the traditional navigation techniques of the Weriyeng school, which had been preserved after other traditional techniques had been forgotten (due partly to the remoteness of the Carolinian Islands). In the 1970s, Mau shared his knowledge with members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. This led to a revival of the practices of traditional Polynesian navigation techniques, and provided anthropologists with a greater understanding of the history of the Polynesian and Micronesian peoples.

In 1985, a study was published that examined the origin of the sidereal compass used in the Caroline Islands.

## History

Different islands in the Carolines have passed down different legends about the origins and early histories of their peoples. For example, on Pohnpei, the islanders describe their history before colonial times as divided into three eras: the Mwehin Kawa or Mwehin Aramas (era of building or peopling, before 1100); the Mwehin Sau Deleur (era of the reigns of the Saudeleur, from 1100 to around 1628); and the Mwehin Nahnmwarki (era of the tribal chiefs, from around 1628 to 1885, when Spain colonized the islands).

According to Pohnpeian legend: the Saudeleur rulers originally came from beyond the islands; they were the first to bring government to Pohnpei; they imposed absolute, centralized rule on the islanders, which became increasingly oppressive over the centuries; and their arbitrary and onerous demands, along with their offenses against Pohnpeian deities, sowed resentment among Pohnpeians. Legend has it that the Saudeleur dynasty ended when another foreigner, called Isokelekel, invaded the islands, overthrew the Saudeleurs, and instituted the more decentralized nahnmwarki (tribal chief) system (which was maintained even during the later Colonial period, and still exists today).

### Spanish overseas province

The first contact that European explorers had with the Caroline islands was in 1525, when a summer storm carried the Portuguese navigators Diogo da Rocha and Gomes de Sequeira eastward from the Moluccas (by way of Celebes). They ended up reaching several of the Caroline islands and staying there for several months, until 20 January 1526. Soon after, on 22 August 1526, the Spanish explorers Toribio Alonso de Salazar and Diego de Saavedra arrived in the area and recorded sighting the Island of San Bartolomé (Taongui). About 8 months later, on 1 January 1528, the explorer Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón claimed possession of the Ulithi Islands on behalf of the king of Spain. He named them the Islands of the Kings (Spanish: Islas de los Reyes; French: Îles des Rois) after his patron and the Three Wise Men honored in the approaching Catholic feast of Epiphany. Spanish explorers visited the archipelago again in 1542 (Matelotes Islands), 1543, and 1545. In 1565, the islands were briefly visited by the first governor-general of the Philippines, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (in office from 1565 to 1572).

Europeans did not visit the island again until 1686, when Francisco de Lezcano arrived in Yap. He called the islands Las Carolinas, in honor of Charles II of Spain. This name was later extended to include the Palau Islands and the archipelagos that British explorers, visiting them a century later (between 1788 and 1799), would come to call the Gilbert Islands and the Marshall Islands (Spaniards today call the Caroline islands Islas de las Hermanas, Hombres Pintados, and Los Jardines).

A Spanish royal decree, issued on 19 October 1707, authorized Spanish missionaries to make several expeditions to the Caroline Islands. However, in 1731, one such missionary, Juan Antonio Cantova, was killed. As a result, Spain ceased relations with the Caroline Islands. When they resumed relations in 1787, their emphasis was on trade and commerce.

In 1852, a Spanish colonel named Coello suggested to the Spanish government that effective Spanish occupation of the Caroline Islands would help the Spanish engage in trade and commerce with the Philippines, Australia, New Guinea, and the Americas. His suggestion was ignored at first, but, in 1885, a Spanish government representative called Butron signed an agreement with the tribal chiefs of Koror and Artingal establishing Spanish sovereignty over the Caroline Islands. At that point, Spain attempted to impose customs duties on commercial exchanges in the region. However, Spain's previous abandonment of the islands had allowed the establishment of German and British missions on the islands, and Germany and the United Kingdom disputed Spain's right to collect customs revenue. The European powers called on Pope Leo XIII to arbitrate this dispute. He decided that Spain would have these rights on the islands west of the 164th meridian east, and Germany would have these rights on the Marshall Islands. (He also assigned Germany the right to maintain a naval station in one of the Caroline Islands, but Germany never exercised that right.)

After the Spanish–American War of 1898, Spain sold the Carolines and the Northern Marianas to the German Empire in the German–Spanish Treaty (1899) for 25 million pesetas (the equivalent of 17 million goldmarks or nearly one million pounds sterling), while reserving to itself the right to establish a coal mine in the area. Germany governed the archipelago as the Karolinen, and administratively associated it with German New Guinea.

### A resort for whalers

The islands were a popular resort for whaling ships in the 19th century. The first such vessel known to have visited was the London whaler Britannia, which called at Ngatik in December 1793. Such vessels—from Britain, the United States, Australia and elsewhere—came for water, wood, and food and, sometimes, for men willing to serve as crewmen on the vessels. These ships stimulated commerce and were significant vectors for change (both good and ill). The islands most commonly visited were Kosrae, Mokil, Ngatik, Pingelap and Pohnpei.

### Japanese colony

Japan invaded and occupied the islands in 1914 during World War I, installing two naval squadrons. The Western Carolines were under the squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Matsumura Tatsuo (1868–1932); the Eastern Carolines were under Vice-Admiral Yamaya Tanin (1866–1940). In 1920, after World War I, Japan received a League of Nations mandate to control the Caroline and Marshall Islands. During World War II, Japan operated a large base at Truk Lagoon which it used for expansion into the southeastern Pacific. In the latter years of that war, during the Japanese withdrawal to the Japanese home islands, the Allies effectively neutralized Truk in Operation Hailstone. After the war, the islands (together with the Marshall Islands) became trust territories of the United States. The Federated States of Micronesia gained independence in 1986, followed by Palau in 1994.

### Colonial governors or officers

District officers (from 1889, styled Bezirksamtleute):

In the Western Caroline islands (Yap and Palau)

- 29 June 1886 – 18??, Manuel de Elisa

- before November 1897 – after November 1898, S. Cortes

- 1899–1909, Arno Senfft (b. 1864 – d. 1909)

- 1909–19??, Rudolf Karlowa

- 1909–1910, Georg Fritz

- 1910–1911, Hermann Kersting

- 1911–1914, Baumert

In the Eastern Caroline islands (Ponape, and including the Marshall Islands from 1911)

- June 1886 – 1887, Capriles

- 14 March 1887 – 1887, Isidro Posadillo (d. 1887)

- October 1887 – January 1891, Luis Cadarso y Rey (d. 1898)

- c.1894, Concha

- before November 1897 – after November 1898, J. Fernández de Córdoba

- 12 October 1899 – August 1901, Albert Hahl (b. 1868 – d. 1945)

- 1 September 1901 – 30 April 1907, Victor Berg (b. 1861 – d. 1907)

- 1907–198?, Max Girschner (acting)

- 1908–1909, Georg Fritz

- 1909 – 18 October 1910, Gustav Boeder (d. 1910)

- 1910 – 7 October 1914, August Überhorst

### Ecclesiastical history

Two Jesuits, Juan Antonio Cantova (also known as John Anthony Cantova) and Victor Walter, attempted missionary work there in 1731; the former was soon murdered and the latter obliged to flee. Two other Jesuits were killed later. In 1767, the Jesuits were suppressed in the Spanish dominions, and for the next 120 years there was no trace of a missionary in the islands.

After the 1886 dispute between Germany and Spain over possession of the Carolines was settled by Pope Leo XIII in favour of Spain, the king of Spain directed Spanish Capuchins to go to the islands. The royal order was issued on 15 March 1886, and the Propaganda Fide officially established that mission on 15 May 1886, dividing it into two sections, named the West Caroline's and the East Carolines. Until that time, the islands had belonged ecclesiastically to the Vicariate Apostolic of Micronesia. The Spanish Capuchins caused a catechism and prayer book to be printed in the Ponape language, and Father Anthony of Valentia wrote a small grammar and dictionary of the Yap language in 1890.

In 1899, after the Spanish priests had laid the foundations of the mission, the islands passed by purchase into the hands of Germany. Spain had contributed more than $5000 a year towards the mission, but Germany contributed no support. Spain had compelled the indigenous people to send their children to school; Germany allowed people to choose to send their children or not. As a result, many people stopped attending church and sending their children to school, and the mission's fortunes suffered. In response, the Propaganda Fide decided on 7 November 1904 to replace the Spanish Capuchins with German missionaries, and on 18 December 1905 to erect a single Apostolic prefecture in place of the two separate missions. The Very Reverend Father Venantius of Prechtal, Germany, was appointed first prefect Apostolic at that time.

In 1906, 24 missionaries (12 Fathers and 12 Brothers) were working in thirteen stations, and several Sisters of St. Francis left Luxembourg to take charge of the ten primary schools, in which a total of 262 children were enrolled. The missionaries boasted 90 adult converts that year, and reported that there were 1900 Catholics, a few Protestants, and 11,600 inhabitants who had not converted to Christianity.

On 1 July 1905, the United States sent a Jesuit from the Manila Observatory to the island of Yap to erect a meteorological station there, and appointed the Capuchin Father Callistus as its director. The station was able to identify that the East-Asiatic typhoons were originating in the Carolines. The station still makes weather observations twice a day, and sends advance notice of severe weather to Manila.

## Postage stamps

During the period of German control, Germany issued postage stamps for the islands.

## Transportation

Transportation within the islands is either by boat or air (if in close proximity of an airfield).Air travel is mostly domestic as most facilities cannot handle large aircraft. Caroline Islands Air is a chartered and the only domestic airline.

## Flora

Palau and Yap are the only places outside the Philippines where Callicarpa micrantha is native.

Campnosperma brevipetiolatum was first named and classified by the German botanist Georg Volkens while carrying out research on Yap. He described the species in 1901 in the article 'Die Vegetation der Karolinen, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der von Yap' in the periodical Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie (Leipzig).

Crinum bakeri is endemic to the Caroline and Marshall Islands, and was first described by Karl Moritz Schumann in 1887.

Psychotria hombroniana is endemic to the Caroline and Mariana Islands, with five subspecies being found on the Carolines, and three subspecies on the Marianas.

Three of the four species in the genus Ponapea are endemic to the Caroline Islands.

For a further list of flora found in the Carolines, see Flora of the Caroline Islands


Thurman v. City of Torrington

# Thurman v. City of Torrington

## Abstract

Thurman v. City of Torrington, DC, 595 F.Supp. 1521 (1985) was a court decision concerning Tracey Thurman, a Connecticut homemaker who sued the city police department in Torrington, Connecticut, and claimed a failure of equal protection under the law against her abusive husband Charles "Buck" Thurman, Sr.

## Case

In 1982, Tracey Thurman left her husband, Charles "Buck" Thurman, after a brief but violent marriage. She took with her their only child, Charles Jr. For eight months, the couple lived apart while Buck harassed Tracy and verbally threatened to kill her.

In November 1982, Buck forcibly entered the home Tracey was staying at and removed Charles Jr.. Charles Jr. was returned to his mother, but the police refused to accept a complaint of criminal trespass from the homeowner.

Four days later, Buck stood in front of Tracey's car on a public street and verbally threatened her. Although there was a police officer nearby, he did not intervene until Buck broke the windshield of Tracey's car with his fist. Buck was convicted of breach of the peace and received a six-month suspended sentence with a two-year conditional discharge. He was ordered to stay away from Tracey, but within weeks, Buck resumed threatening Tracey. Tracey reported the behavior to police, but no effort was made to arrest Buck.

Between January and May 1983, Buck made numerous threats to Tracey, violating the court order. She reported these threats to police, but no action was taken. On five separate occasions in May 1983, Tracey appeared at the Torrington Police Station to request the arrest of her husband because of his repeated threats of violence. The police gave Tracey various excuses for their inaction including "the officer who has your case is on vacation."

On May 6, 1983, Tracey filed for and was granted a restraining order against Buck.

On June 10, 1983, Buck arrived at the house Tracey was staying at and demanded to see her. Tracey remained inside and contacted the police. Fifteen minutes later, with no officer in sight, Tracey exited the house to speak to Buck. It was 25 minutes after Tracey's call until a single officer arrived, who sat in his car while Buck chased Tracey, grabbed her by the hair, and stabbed her 13 times.

The officer eventually exited the car and took the knife from Buck but made no effort to arrest him. While the officer watched, Buck kicked Tracey in the head several times, breaking her neck. Buck then ran into the house, grabbed Charles Jr. and took him outside. Buck dropped Charles Jr. on Tracey's limp body and once again kicked her in the head.

Roughly 40 minutes after the police arrived, Tracey was loaded into an ambulance. Only after Buck attempted to enter the ambulance and attack both paramedics and Tracey again was he finally arrested.

Buck was convicted of assault and sentenced to 20 years but served less than eight years in prison.

Tracey Thurman spent eight months in the hospital. She was partially and permanently paralyzed.

The case was brought by attorney Burton M. Weinstein, who is well known for his work involving police misconduct, and his associate Judith A. Mauzaka. When the lawsuit was filed in 1984, Tracey Thurman became the first woman in America to sue a town individually and its police department for violating her civil rights, claiming the police had ignored the violence because she was married to the perpetrator.

The case was allowed to proceed in a ruling by Senior Judge M. Joseph Blumenfeld, who had been appointed to the bench by President Kennedy in 1961. The claim survived a motion to dismiss, which asserted that it had not asserted a constitutionally-based claim of a violation of equal protection. The claim was that by practice and custom or by the custom over months of failing to address the complaints of a single victim of domestic violence, the plaintiff as a woman and victim of domestic violence was being afforded differential treatment than other victims of violence, which made a viable constitutional claim for damages. The motion to dismiss was denied, and the case was allowed to proceed.

The district court found that "a pattern of affording inadequate protection, or no protection at all, to women who have complained of being abused by their husbands... is tantamount to an administrative classification used to implement the law in a discriminatory fashion."

Tracey Thurman was awarded $2.3 million but eventually settled for $1.9 million when the city agreed to forgo an appeal.

## Legacy

The Thurman lawsuit brought about sweeping national reform of domestic violence laws, including the "Thurman Law" (aka the Family Violence Prevention and Response Act) instituted in Connecticut in 1986, which mandates police make arrests in domestic violence cases even if the victim does not wish to press charges.

The large financial penalty against the City of Torrington in the Thurman case was widely reported in the popular press and in academic journals. Police departments were forced by financial fear to change how they handled domestic violence.

Tracey Thurman's story was later made into a 1989 television movie, entitled A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story, starring Nancy McKeon as Tracey, Dale Midkiff as Buck, Bruce Weitz as Tracey's lawyer Burton Weinstein, and Philip Baker Hall as presiding Judge Blumenfeld.

## Similar cases

- Scott v. Hart

- Bruno v. Codd


Tamaki railway station

# Tamaki railway station

## Abstract

Tamaki railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand.

Tamaki railway station was opened on 16 November 1930 and closed on 13 October 2003.


Matarawa railway station

# Matarawa railway station

## Abstract

Matarawa railway station is a small single-platform railway station on the Wairarapa Line that serves the small rural community of Matarawa in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand.

## History

This station opened on 1 November 1880, when the line between Woodside Junction and Masterton was officially opened. Initially it had a shelter shed, loading bank and crossing loop and was used to cross trains until the introduction of signalling at the larger Wairarapa stations. In its early years several sawmills flourished in the vicinity, with timber making up a bulk of the goods loaded. The crossing loop and private sawmill sidings have been removed.

The station was closed to all traffic on 1 February 1981. It was re-opened 17 days later to passenger traffic only.

In 2006, with the introduction of the SW-class carriages for the Wairarapa Connection service looming, it was proposed that this station be closed due to its low patronage and the cost involved in building a platform so that passengers could safely board and disembark from the new carriages. After vocal opposition from local residents, this proposal was rescinded.

This station was temporarily closed from 17 May 2007 to 4 June 2007 to enable construction work to proceed on preparations for the new carriages. The station was reopened on 7 June 2007 with a new platform (prior to the upgrade it did not have a platform).

## Services

The request stop is served by the Wairarapa Connection has five services each way on Monday to Thursday, six on Friday and two on Saturday and Sunday. Trains run to Masterton and Wellington.No bus routes serve the station.