The Foolhardy Expedition to Cannibal Island
An Aberdeen man is organizing a heavily armed, 100-man expedition to invade a remote island in search of gold, despite warnings of violence.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Aberdeen, Nov. 14—What is to be the most daring, venturesome and hazardous trip ever made by Aberdeen men is to be started as soon as necessary permission can be obtained from Washington. It has been learned that the famous 'Cannibal Island' on the Mexican coast is full of virgin gold. The island is difficult of access, and the inhabitants have killed and eaten every white man who has visited their shores within memory. R. A. Falconer of Aberdeen is determined to proceed. 'I have already secured the necessary papers from the Mexican government, with the offer of a bonus for subduing the island,' he said. 'I shall organize with 100 men; we need 47 more who can stand exposure and who have nerve. I do not regard the trip as extremely dangerous, as we shall go equipped with two maxim rapid-fire guns and one gatling gun, which are capable of terrible execution.'
“I do not regard the trip as extremely dangerous, as we shall go equipped with two maxim rapid-fire guns and one gatling gun, which are capable of terrible execution.”
This expedition highlights the extreme era of 19th-century colonial adventurism, where local boosters and dreamers felt empowered to organize private military 'subjugations' for mineral extraction.
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