A 841,355 "; 1f AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS AND SPHERES OF INFLUENCE. BY MARGHERITA ARLINA HAMM, A uthor of "Mfanila and the PhiliPPines," "Porto Rico and the West Indies," "Dewey the Defender," ec., etc. FULLY ILLUSTRATED. F. TENNYSON NEELY, PUBLISHER, LONDON. CHICAGO. NEW YORK, a~; -~ ~ee Oopyright, 1899, by F. TENNYSON NEwLY in United States and Great Britain. All Right Reserved. -.4 CONTENTS CONTENTS. CHAPTER 1. PAso Introductory and Explanatory............................. 7 CHAPTER II. Alaska-The Land of Glacial Gold........................ 15 CHAPTER III. The Aleutian Archipelago.................................. 33 CHAPTER IV. Hawaii, or the Sandwich Islands....................... 42 CHAPTER V. Porto Rico-The Carib Eden................................ 70 CHAPTER VI. The Philippines, or the Treasure Islands of the Pacific..... 100 CHAPTER VII The Sulu Sultanate........................................ 127 CHAPTER VIII. The Ladrones, or the Mariana Isles........................ 135 CHAPTER IX. Samoa-The Garden of the South Seas...................... 147 CHAPTER X. W ake Island.............................................. 157 CHAPTER XI. Navassa, or Bird Island.................................... 160 CHAPTER XII. Cuba-The Pearl of the Antilles.................... 166 CHAPTER XIII. Nicaragua and the Canal................................. 197 CHAPTER XIV. Sonora and Chihuahua................................211 iv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. PAGE Hong-Kew, or the American Concession at Shanghai........ 222 CHAPTER XVI. The Amoy and other American Concessions in China........ 235 CHAPTER XVII. American Possessions in Japan............................. 246 CHAPTER XVIII. Uncle Sam in the Hermit Kingdom......................... 249 CHAPTER XIX. Jamaica-The Land of the Maroons........................ 253 CHAPTER XX. The Bahamas..........2.................................. 262 CHAPTER XXI. St. Kitts-The Presidency of the Leeward Isles............. 268 CHAPTER XXII. The Danish West Indies................................... 271 PREFACE. MANY of the lands described in this book I have visited as a newspaper and magazine correspondent, and a traveler, or both, more especially the islands coming under the head of the West Indies, Mexico, the Pacific Isles, and the Asian mainland. To a certain extent my opinions are unavoidably colored by my impressions. I find that although my reason tells me that the temperate zone affords the best environment for the individual and the race, my feelings are strongly in favor of the tropical countries. The hottest equatorial summer is pure delight compared with the New England winter, an Atlantic coast blizzard, or a heavy thaw in New York City. So far as health is concerned, the tropics have no terrors to people who observe hygienic laws, and who live in Rome as the Romans do. Those holding other opinions, and possessing a differ. ent physical nature are requested to make due allow. ance for the personal equation of the author. M. A. H. I t ". I LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Honolulu, Hawaii Harbor-A Bird's-eye View of Honolulu, Hawaii......................Opposite page 8 The Punchbowl, Honolulu, Hawaii-The Road to Mount Tantalus, Hawaii................ " " 12 The National Palace, Honolulu, Hawaii-The Palace Grounds, Honolulu, Hawaii........ ", 18 The Government Building, Honolulu, HawaiiThe High School, Honolulu, Hawaii....... " " 25 LunaliloHome for the Aged,Honolulu,Hawaii A Typical Hawaiian Home................ Ex-Queen Liliuokulani of Hawaii - The Traveler Palm of Hawaii................ The Wine Palm, Hawaii-The Country About Honolulu................................. The Queen's Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii-The Hawaiian Railway to Pearl Harbor........ Watering a Mule Team in Porto Rico-The U. S. Dynamite Gun at Porto Rico........... Porto Rico Boatmen-Another View of Mount Tantalus, Hawaii......................... Kanaka Aquatics-An Hawaiian Roadway.... Hawaiian Royal and Cocoanut Palms —Hawaiian Riding Party............................. A Group of Samoan Boatmen-A Samoan Warrior in Full Dress......................... (i c< I 34 (s I C " 43 i 52 ' 61 " 70 " 79 " 88 97 cg $$ 4 C " 124 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. A Party of Samoan Insurgents-Samoan Dancers and Musicians...................Opposite page 133 Specimen of Samoan Tattooing-A Samoan D iver................................... t' " 142 A Samoan King of Chief with Retinue-A Samoan Chief in War Dress.............. 151 Portrait of Samoan Chief or Prince-A Samoan B elle.................................... 160 Crossing the Line-The Sailors MasqueradeA Lifting Crane at Havana, Cuba........ " 169 The Valley of Yumuri, Cuba-The Road Back of Matanzas, Cuba...............1........ " 178 A Witch Dancer of Samoa-A View near Apia, Samoa............................. 187 A Samoan Family and Home-The South China Coast............................ " 196 Chinese Ladies-The Foot of a Fashionable Chinese Lady............................ " 205 The Castle of Chapultepec, Mexico-The Dome of the Cathedral at Guanajuato........... " 214 A View of a Small Mexican City-An Approach to a Mexican Town................ " 223 A Chinese Fort-Hongkong................... 234 The First U. S. Consulate at Amoy-U. S. Consulate at Amoy, 1885-1895................ 242 The Hongkong Race Course-Chinese Punishments.................................. 251 A Japanese Girl-A Poultry Peddler in Nassau, N. P. -The Bahamas..................... " " 260 )ate Palm Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii-A Lily Pond, Honolulu, Hawaii.................. 269 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY AND EXPLANATORY. THE object of this volume is to present in condensed form the more interesting facts respecting the growth of the Republic beyond the boundaries of the United States proper. Long before the late war with Spain our country, acting under the invincible laws of national growth, which include territorial and commercial expansion, had taken possession of outlying lands. The first chronologically was Navassa Island, which we gained by the right of occupation. The next were Alaska and the Aleutians which we purchased in 1867 from the Russian government. The fourth was Wake Island, secured by either discovery or occupation. The fifth was the Pago-Pago station in Samoa. Here for a moment the nation paused, like an animal which has eaten a substantial meal and rests when it is over. In the meantime years of peace brought about a development and organization of industries and resources such as had never been known before. Even the most sanguine American did not realize the swiftness of his country's growth and the enormous power and activity which it acquired in the seventies and eighties. Atten 8 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. tion was first directed toward the fact by the great English statistician, Mulhall, who astonished Americans as well as Europeans by declaring and seemingly demonstrating that the United States was the richest, strongest. and most resourceful of the great powers of the world. Yet this condition had already begun to express itself in public speech and writings. Discussions upon the annexation of Canada, of Mexico, of Central America, of the West Indies and of Hawaii appeared in the press and excited comment both at home and abroad. Annexation parties were formed in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Canada, Manitoba and Hawaii. In the nineties the tendencies began to formulate themselves in action. Revolution broke out in Hawaii and in Cuba. Both political parties and their platforms, State and National, expressed a strong desire for the liberation of Cuba from Spanish rule, and in some instances for the expulsion of Spain from the Western Hemisphere. Looking back over the events of the present decade it may be questioned if the entire Cuban movement was not as much the result-of the law of national growth in the new world as it was an endeavor to secure freedom or to change onerous political conditions. Nor should it be forgotten in examining this chapter of modern history that the United States government had already proposed to purchase Cuba from Spain and St. Thomas from Denmark. Neither measure had gone through, but each had been supported by the ablest thinkers both in and out of American political life. HONOLUL U HAWAII HAR ORA ', ~~~ i ~~: . ~il~,c:%~.~i;. ~ ":~; ~',~i:~ r. ~/ ~.~~ - ;8:;"~~~~;i i~~.~;l~;i'.;x~ - ~' ~2i ~:; i~;~~,~~;;~;~ ~~~ 11 ~:fai.: "~ '~~; E' ir~,~;~ ~~; ~ I ~ ~, ~/~ c ~ ~;i' i '" g;r ~ ~ ~ I ~~~ ~ ~r , ~ ;~ ~~ rli~; ~ ~~;;:~:;~ w~ 8 ~~ ri~ a 4 H ,;~ ~~.~;% ~a(I I 41 ii r $( BIliiil;I;;~F 1 E "~i ~~ (~ ~ ~i~, i~i~ ~;C. ~9. ~4~~*!~6 ~~~~.~s~~~ ~ ~ ellBB. ~a ~I R: B" "~~.~";. "" 1~ I~l~~yir~ "a~~ I"; ~~~r ~n~ia II~ P I -d.,.,.,,,:I:~I~":: i.,~ 6;~i ~a iiiljls ia I~I 'I~" i~~I ~~i i~- a~ kr~.~~~-i " 1 811"~";&1;~1~Ui i~ I~.~ 'I til~;ll~ ~i ii" ~""' i ~I~ i~t ~,rr ~~ ~ ' ,i.. ~E ~8.ia~~ il ) 3~ ii ~iS::iiiEi~.I r ~~:;jka~E~l~ZZZ i, ""~~'"~ Y ~a ~rr 111 ~~ ~; iar ~;a~; ~a e ~ ~Bi' 41 ~~'f, ~ ~ ~L i~:~ ~i ~ i~~;l~ isrr ia,E4" .". ~I~;i~ r.,:ai~,,:.a~ ~ra 91 )i ~i$i.l ~ ;~ilA "; anuP;~'.l!l' iil~I L+ C ~~~iii:iii~i """""" 11~1 Z '"g~~,' j:.i iB' ~I;"" iB ..s~s t aBi ~i2 -"'" W ~;;1.115t ~*siS; ~ ~~a;: Ft ii -~1 ~;i ~ ~iili~.;I~ ;~:~~~r~ '~"' i,~i I~~aa~ - B I I" i"r:IAi ~ ~~~ a~ rn ~~ i~~~l~;is;r~ I:ii5r~~i~ iLiar' I" it 4E r R ~r "1 Ei i. I ~i ~~b~ i:~'; ~E:~~ii~ i;I ~.~i.~ig p I ~ ~~~~;~~ii -r 61 a;~ la~.. cii~'br';;i ~ ~(~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ll';i~'~:p~E~li rr a~;~;i;~ ~ R."'~.'i ~; ~ ~i; ~:~ ~i;(~ ~;ri ~~~ ~~ ~ I~ " Y~~l;;~"?~~a~a~;~ iil ~j~ ; rj ~r~ li~ ~~ ~~ ~~ I~~,~.j'I"i 8~'c~~;i~' ~~ ~~;- ~:~ ~~ ~~ ~ai~' '~Iii~,R~i; rl'ili ~I'~il I~ ~;i" ~~~ ~S 15 11 ~'~~" I~~ I~ ~:* ~j~ ~~~ : ~~ ~~ a ~Si, E '1 ~~ I~.,%~~ ii~ ~ ;:r ~~r e ~ %~ i i kki~, ~I ii i:'j s ~i~ ~~;i~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ C"`.r; i~..I'.~ ~:dllE ~~'~, j-~r:i ~ ~,.~ ' oir %~~ ~jja~',~i~ j; ~ L;'.~I,~~ I (~;;~ ~ ~ I~ $i;.il~;ii~.ll';I ' ~i~,I.~xI.~81,:~ i; ~;~ ~9~ ~ ~ ~.:ri9': ;i ,, a, I' I g iB~, ;L; I~ ~21 ii' k Plia~l; ilf; ~r;.,,..~ ir:r~~~r~~ ~;~~r~ ~ii.:~i ~i~ n: ~.~~ ~i~ ~i,'8:lii.. ~s~niiiaiil~iai ri ~ i; ~;P~ *a a -lii ~ + IB83A~airis~ 1'. r ~;'~k"'~,,E'.iai:l; ~:1~: j~~ AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. g The war with Spain brought things to a focus. The first result was the annexation of Hawaii. The second was the caption of Porto Rico, Culebra and Vieques, as well as Guam in the Pacific. Then came the liberation of Cuba and the establishment of an American Protectorate over that beautiful island. Last, and most unexpected, was the involuntary ownership of the Philippines and the Sulus, as a consequence of one of the greatest naval victories of history and of the termination of a successful war. This series of swiftly occurring events bore fruit in the American mind. It changed to a fact what before had been a thought. It converted an aspiration, or it may be a want, into a reality. Above all, it aroused discussion and set the American public to reading and to study. It was a liberal education which extended over the twelve months of 1898. In one year public opinion moved further forward than it had done in any preceding decade. One of the results of the study was to call attention to the vested rights of the United States in various parts of the world, and another pointed out where the laws of political and commercial growth were working changes which would inure to the benefit if not to the territorial expansion of the nation. Under the former head the public came to know for the first time that it owned property in Japan, Korea, China, Formosa, and Nicaragua; under the second that at least three members of the British West Indies were eager for annexation to the Republic, and that there was a gradual but continuous Americanization of the north 10 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. western States of the sister Republic of Mexico. In the succeeding chapters these territories are treated separately. Pursuant to the point of view just laid down they may be divided into three classes. First. The new possessions of the United States, including Alaska, the Aleutians, Porto Rico, Culebra and Vieques, Navassa, the Philippines, the Sulus, Guam, Hawaii, and Samoa. Second. The lands which on account of trade conditions desire to be consolidated with the Union. This includes Jamaica, St. Kitt's, the Bahamas, and the Danish West Indies. Third. Those places where we have vested interests or exercise legal autho ity. This includes Cuba, Nicaragua, Sonora and Chihuahua, Japan and Formosa, Korea, Shanghai, Amoy and other districts in China. Prophecy is an unsafe steed for any writer. Nevertheless the trend of events indicates that the West Indies, in whole or a large part, and Northern Mexico will in the course of time be added to the national domain, that if the Nicaragua canal be built the same destiny will await the little Central American Republic, that Samoa, the Ladrones, and many other Pacific isles will follow in the footsteps of Hawaii; that the American concessions in China will expand into a zone or sphere of influence, and that those in Japan, Formosa and Korea will revert peaceably to the Japanese civilization. The writer has but little patience with the doctrines of what is termed anti-expansion and anti-imperialism. The stronger the tree the larger it is bound to grow. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 11 The greater and nobler the civilization, the wider will be its expanse, and the more numerous the peoples gathered beneath its banners. There is no Chinese wall which will shut in ideas, much less institutions and governmental conditions which mean the greatest good of the race. Government is a business as much as is the conduct of a small shop. It is a conflict of moving agencies in which the resultant motion is along the line of the least resistance. The tendency of the age and of civilization is toward either the democratic monarchy of Great Britain or the democracy pure and simple of the United States. The latter is the higher type and is bound to supplant other forms whenever it comes into contact, and especially into opposition, with them. The growth of the nation may be accepted as a counterpart of what will happen in the next century. In 1783 it was a long narrow belt of land, reaching from the Penobscot to the Georgia frontier. In 1800 it had grown to the Mississippi. In 1803 it purchased Louisiana, which at that time extended from New Orleans to what is now the Dominion of Canada, and westward from the Mississippi to Colorado, Oregon and Washington. In 1819 we bought from Spain what is bnow Florida and a slice of the southern part of Alabama and Mississippi. In 1845 we annexed Texas, then an independent Republic for nine years. In 1848 we took California, Nevada, Arizona and a part of New Mexico and the Indian Territory from Mexico. In 1853 we bought from 12 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. that Republic another great belt of land, known as the Gadsden purchase. In 1867 we added a golden empire to our holdings in the shape of Alaska and the Aleutians. What we gained in 1898 is, so far as land is concerned, a mere bagatelle compared with the enormous operations of the first century of American existence. Each addition, far from weakening, has strengthened the American people and their institutions. There is more national brotherhood between Oregon and California and New York and Pennsylvania in 1899 than there was between Massachusetts and Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia in 1799. The processes of growth and of education have merged the New Yorker, the Yankee, the Virginian, the Texan, and the Californian into the American. The chaotic and discordant feelings and conflicts engendered by State individuality have disappeared in the love and respect for the great undivided nation. In the beginning of the century expansion had meaning and distance meant difficulty and difference. American enterprise and intellect have destroyed distance. It has no political significance. The telegraph enables seventyfive million human beings to read the same news the same morning at the breakfast table, while an unparalleled railway organization makes the Atlantic and Pacific closer together than were the Kennebec and the Hudson in the beginning of the century. In point of time, the United States is a smaller country than was Grenada under the Moors, France under Napoleon Bonaparte, and England under George II. rn -4 -4 -4 -4 0 -4 -I0-4 -4 -4 -4 — 4 ~w;~i~ ~Ad ~:1 ~ ~! ~. i AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 13 Measured by these standards the term expansion has only a microscopic meaning, comparable with the creep: ing of an iron bridge during the heat of a midsummer afternoon. In the crucible of liberty and education all nationalities are melted into a common manhood. In the late war the descendant of Yankee and Creole, Russian Jew and Northern German, Italian and Dane, Caucasian and Ethiopian marched forth and died together the same as if they had been the sons of one household. No race can be revolutionized in a moment nor can evils be eradicated immediately by legislation. The great processes of nature are slow, but they are sure. In one generation it will be possible to Americanize Cuba and Porto Rico as thoroughly as it has been done in Louisiana and Florida. In two generations the brown men of the Philippines can be put upon the same high plane of law and order as their cousins, the Japanese. If the same divine laws apply to nations as to individuals, there are altruistic as well as egoistic duties for the nation. If it be right for the citizen to protest and even to oppose the cruelty or wrong-doing of a neighbor, it is the same for the nation in regard to the misconduct of another great power. There are signs upon the skies that altruistic actions will play a larger part in the twen. tieth century than ever before. The world is ready to see nations change from the soldiery business to that of the schoolmaster, from destruction to construction and instruction. The country that is to lead the globe is that wvich 14 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. will apply its energies, its intellect and wealth not to the crushing of neighbors nor the impoverishment of faroff communities, but to the upbuilding of the race. There is no longer room for barbarism, for ignorance, for tyranny and for misrule. These are to be stopped by national activities and forces. In that work the United States is yet to play a great part, if not to be the leader of the nations........ >: - I. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 15 CHAPTER II. ALASKA-THE LAND OF GLACIAL GOLD. ALASKA, once known as Russian America or Russian North America, is situated in the northwest corner of the North American continent, and is the largest territory owned by the United States. It has an area of more than 570,000 square miles-that is to say, it is equal in its size to all the land of the Union lying east of the Mississippi, excluding the Gulf States. The surveys of the past four years have changed its outline, but thus far, in nearly every instance, have increased the extent of the province. Accurate measurements of the shore from Prince of Wales Cape in Bering Strait, around to Demarcation Point in the Arctic Ocean, will increase the enormous figures mentioned by at least 5,000 square miles. An ingenious geographer asserts the contour of the territory to be that of a bullock's head, the main part of the land being a rough, truncated wedge, the Aleutian Peninsula and Archipelago being one horn, and the long strip of land running from Malaspini Glacier down to Dixon Channel being the other horn. He suggested that its name should be accordingly changed to Bucephalus. But there is no danger that 16 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. the present name which, is a modification of the Aleutian word Aliashka, will be changed. Alaska is a country which is like the city of Washington in being marked by magnificent distances. It contains the third largest river on the continent, the Yukon, a fine body of water flowing 2,050 miles, and navigable to river steamers from the Bering Sea to Dawson City, far up in British North America. Other rivers of importance are the Kuskokwim, the Tanana, the Copper, the Porcupine, the Noattak, the Colville, the Koyukuk and Birch Creek. The topography is very uneven, being broken by huge chains of mountains rising here and there into enormous peaks. One range, the St. Elias Alps, is said to be the most majestic upon the globe. It culminates in Mount St. Elias, whose height is between 18,000 and 19,600 feet. Other notable peaks are Mount Wrangell, 17,500; Mount Logan, 19,000; Mount Drum, Mount Blackburn, Mount Tillman, Spirit Mountain, Mount Augusta, Mount Natazhat, Mount Vancouver, Mount Hubbard, Mount Fairweather, Mount Trillon, Mount Edgecombe, Mount Lansdowne, Mount Lorne, Mount Kimball, Mount Marr, Mount Greenough, Mount Bendeleben, Mount Olaf, Mount Chiginagak and Mount Iliamna, which is an active volcano. Besides these the explorers of 1898 report sixty or seventy other peaks, one of which at least is more than three miles high, ten which are two miles high, and the remainder between one and two miles high. With an incomplete knowledge of the topography of AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 17 the territory it is evident that Alaska surpasses Switzerland, and is second only to the Himalayas in the height, size, grandeur and variety of its mountain scenery. Equally notable is its water line. No other coast can compare with the southern coast of Alaska in beauty, safety and protection from storms. At the very end of the territory a steamer can enter Dixon Channel and sail through deep mountain walled passages to Juneau City, Dyea harbor, or the foot of Muir Glacier. Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet, Shelikof Strait and the Aleutian Archipelago present other bodies of water which are equally favorable to navigation. As the more dangerous winds come from the north and northwest, the advantage of this physical configuration is apparent to a tyro in seacraft. A remarkable fact in regard to the surface is that in spite of the wonderful mountain formation the country offers no great obstacles to railway building. Before the opening of the Klondike the general opinion was that the interior of the territory could only be reached during the summer by means of the Yukon and possibly the Copper River. But since the discovery of gold various routes have been found and developed, and in 1898, government and private expeditions mapped out at least six proposed lines for railways whereby the interior could be reached in the dead of winter from the southern frontier at Dyea, Chilkat, Chilkoot, the Copper River and Cook Inlet. The snowfall is not as large as in latitudes much further south, and the problems of engineering, such as marshes, gorges, rivers, quicksands and steep mountain 18 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. chains, are of comparative insignificance. Already these discoveries have been acted upon, and surveying parties are now at work preparing for lines that will be in operation within a year or two. The formation of Alaska, so far as it has been studied by geologists, is of great interest. From the Arctic Ocean running south toward the Yukon country is a great plain, broken here and there by hills and occasionally by low mountains. The remains of tertiary animals, such as the mammoth and mastodon, have been unearthed and still earlier types, tending to show that in the geologic past the country had a warmer climate than it possesses at the present time. Approaching the Yukon the surface grows more uneven, higher hills and larger mountains becoming frequent. All of these, so far as is known, are of the older formations and not of volcanic character. In one or two schists, gneiss, and other metamorphic rocks are exposed to the air. From the Yukon south the land becomes a mountain country, culminating in the St. Elias Alps. This coast range may be a continuation of the Sierras of California, although from the moment they enter Alaska they present more evidence of volcanic action and of more recent formation than they do in California itself. The climate varies to an almost extreme extent. North of the Yukon and south of the Yukon to the coast range it is of a purely Arctic character, and presents no differences from that of the Hudson Bay territory or of Siberia. On the southern coast it is mild and even THE NATIONAL PALACE HONOL N U, HAWAIL 1. ~5:. I~ ~, ~~1 ili .$8~;'" :181 ~-~ 1 i iia ilil Ii~~Iw ~rIi" ~1; i~;xl II~: a r ~B -:'"" ~il ~iE *I~ P~ I~ ~~?8; ?. ii~ti '""~~~"i~~ ~~;iiii tRI ~~ ~.- '''".~ s~i I s8. ~;~ ; ~. I ra.,I:8xe ~,8~,.,~,.l;ld;bib~ "o~ a; ~s. r~ 'I; ~~~;:~~ ..Bi, ~~~i:.i: ~gii % ~:ar ~i~:: " ~,E ''1"' r Bi~ 1~,,.,,, ~B ~aar e r H pi i;l.i 5 ctl.,i. lii/ I.I "a r 8~$ i is IEEH! xii I ~i biril ~( 'i " "ii'i "W"B" 8~ Ip i, i~ r~i I.ir.. I. : i"r~ ~ ~-~ ~ga ~"~i~;8IPa i/i ~E~ "E I ~s~ "ER;,:i,,i ~-, prii ti ilr ~ii. ~~. ~ ~:~ ~~~~,,.;,~ r;,.;, r, ~~,,;, ~p::~~n"" i-9 i%. ai 1_:i:::r: ~1I~I 1 IX.I a~ s.. ~i~ ~~ a.,~ ~ ~.~ ~i~ ii" 'ii ~i ~ 'I ~ ~ ~~, ~~~~;~ 11:,~,. ~;:;~ ~.~ '~ ~ ~'I "s~l 13 ~~ ~~i ~ ~~,~~ ~r;~: ill :i~~~~ I. ~;~;~ ~P, i.~:if ~iX1_ ';lr le AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 19 warm and moist to great humidity. Fogs are of frequent occurrence, and all the forms of life, animal and vegetable, which accompany a large amount of moisture, manifest their existence very disagreeably. This is particularly the case with mosquitoes, flies, gnats and other predatory insects. In the northern districts they either hibernate in winter or else their eggs retain vitality in spite of the intense cold. From the middle of May until September the entire territory is filled with insect life, making human comfort an impossibility. The Yukon district itself is said to be infested by more mosquitoes in the summer months than the Canadian marshes between Windsor and Suspension Bridge, or the swamps on the coast of Colombia. In the colder districts vegetation is very scarce, consisting of moss, lichens, and other small and low vegetable forms. There are trees, but they are all dwarfs, and so gnarled and modified by the intense cold that they look more like effigies than like real vegetable forms. On the south there are great forests, although the variety of trees is limited, being confined to the conifers. On the coast itself there are good cedar, pine, and hemlock. In regard to the healthfulness of the country accounts are conflicting. Experience with mining camps throws light upon the subject, and tends to teach that many ailments are the result of the cheap vices and low dissipation which prevail in such communities. Those who have lived many years in Sitka, Juneau, and other settlements, speak very highly of the salubrity of the territory and corroborate their opinion by their own 20 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. personal condition. It takes time for people settling in a new land to find out the true mode of living, and to conform thereto. In high northern latitudes animal food, fats and oils are much more necessary than in the Middle and Central States. A vegetable diet within the Arctic circle means disease and death. Captain Nansen, in his last circumpolar journey, found that after a time his system craved blubber, whale oil and other Esquimo food, of which the mere sight in Sweden before he undertook the journey would have made him sick at his stomach. The experiences of traders in the Yukon bears out these views. The articles for which there is the largest demand include fat salt pork, lard, fat bacon, fat corn beef, sausages, and pemmican, while the demand for vegetables, and especially for thin and watery ones, was scarcely enough to pay the expense of transportation. There are almost no herbivorous animals within the archipelago. The few which are found there, of which the reindeer is the best type, have a specially organized set of teeth, stomach, and intestines. Ordinary herbivora die of starvation long before the first winter is over. The natives of Alaska belong to different races. They have been divided into three classes: the Esquimos, the Redmen, and the Aleutes. The Esquimos are coast and island dwellers, depending almost exclusively upon the water for their food, clothing and fuel. They number about twenty-five thousand. The Redmen appear to be a branch of the American indigenes and AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 21 include at least two distinct types: one the Tlinkits, and the other the River men, who have small communities upon the banks of the leading streams. The Aleutes appear to be halfway between the Esquimos and the Northern Mongols. They were quite numerous at one time. Tribal differentiation is carried to an extreme among all three races, due probably to the harsh and cruel conditions of life. The Esquimos form small village communities, each one of which appears to be a political unit. The Indians are split into many tribes and sub-tribes, such as Chilkats, Stickeens, the Taanaas, the Kaltags, and the Shageluks. The Tlinkits are estimated at 10,000, and the River Indians at about the same figure. The white population is growing steadily. In 1885, it was put at 3,000; in 1890, at 4,300; in 1898, at 30,000; and in 1899, at 50,000. The growth is along the lines representing the development of the gold mining industry. This includes the older settlements, such as Sitka, Juneau and Dyea; the new mining settlements, such as Circle City and those on Cook Inlet, and the ports where commerce comes from the outside world. There are quite a number of Russians, Mongolians and Chinese in the territory, the number in 1890 being 4,000, and at present being about 7, 000. The census of 1900 will probably find 100,000 souls in this newest territory on the American Continent. The resources of Alaska have been a series of extraordinary surprises to the civilized world. When it was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867, the 22 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS, sale was denounced by ignorant politicians on account of what they wpre pleased to term infamous and corrupt extravagance. The price paid was $7,200,000, and many were the arguments set forth to demonstrate that the frozen Sahara would never pay that sum in a thousand years. The first- surprise was from the fur trade, which paid the government nearly $100,000 a year for many years upon seals alone, and which, with seals, otters, and other valuable skins, are said to have brought over $20,000,000 to American dealers. The whale fishery leaped forward from 1867 to 1875, and paid American whalers as high as $1,500,000 in a single year. The coast and deep-sea fisheries received no attention until 1875, and then were started on a small scale. At present they are confined to the herring, cod, halibut and salmon, and are estimated to be worth $1,000,000 a year. Although Alaska had been under Russian administration for many years, it does not appear that they ever paid any attention to its mineral resources. The first recorded announcement of gold in the river bottoms was made in the fifties by some officers of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1873 American prospectors found considerable gold dust in the Yukon valley, but not enough to pay for the enormous expense of working under the local conditions which prevailed. In 1880 other prospectors made important discoveries in the neighborhood of Juneau. Gold mining then started upon a small scale, while mining experts, allured by rumor, poured in from the Western States and began AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 23 tomakea carefulexamination of every district. In 1886 a party of four men opened Cassiar Bar on the Lewes River, just below Lake Labarge. They took out $5,000 worth of gold dust in four weeks. Their success attracted others, who worked the other bars of that river with equal if not better results. Stewart River was also exploited, and in 1886 the bed yielded over $60,000 in dust. The same year coarse gold was found on Forty Mile Creek, a small stream running west of the Yukon in Alaska. A rush of men followed the discovery, no less than four hundred miners being at work there before the summer was over. Their success was moderate, the gold secured amounting to about $140,000. In this year they found gold nuggets and auriferous quartz of considerable value. The news spread abroad and attracted adventurers in every direction and led to the establishment of the place known as Forty Mile City. Soon gold was found at other points, especially along Birch Creek, the Porcupine River and Sixty Mile River. There are no official records of the output of gold at this time, but the returns show a steady increase and a larger number of mining claims from year to year. In 1889 the product was estimated at $500,000; in 1895 the entire output of the Alaska and Canadian fields had reached the million mark; in 1896 came the big Klondike discovery. It was made by an experienced miner, named George Cormack, who had tired of prospecting and had settled down to keeping a store near Five Finger Rapids, where he traded with the Indians and U AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. worked upon a large vein of coal which he had discovered. He married an Indian squaw, and eked out his subsistence by catching, drying and smoking salmon. He was fishing at the village of Klondike when his trained eye noticed float-gold in a bar. He knocked together a crude washer, and attacked the soil where he had noticed indications of the yellow metal. His success was extraordinary, no less than $1,200 worth of gold dust rewarding his first eight days' work. The richness of the find was soon bruited abroad and claims were staked on Bonanza Creek, at whose mouth Cormack had made his discovery. This was followed by the other streams being prospected and claimed. This work of exploitation has gone on ever since and has revealed the existence of a seemingly inexhaustible supply of the precious metal. In 1896 the city of Dawson was started on the right bank of the river named by Dr. Dawson, who first delimited the boundary line between Alaska and the British possessions. That year the amount of gold extracted was not less than $4,000,000. The news was brought to the United States in practical form by the steamer Excelsior, in July, 1897, when it produced the story intangible form in a ton of gold dust worth a half-million dollars. Three days later, on July 14th, the steamer Portland came into Seattle with $1,000,000 on board. The Associated Press flashed the news all over the world, and soon an army of adventurers was on its way to the land of the Yukon. They came from every part of the ItJS1( '1;'-11 1IIII "'"'"'IElil I"'"'" '"": IREllli""j"?:':IIUlll'i~~~~~ ~U~~ ~ YI(?iI PII! 11I1 11 Ti i -' eii- bl~ I:1 Y ii- x- ym B "."! ra 8. l.r3 I as E r ~" 1 ~i: ""~r- ~i";:~ a I$ B F E sr B I I,i; r~ I~~.; E"~,~ r ~E _,,, I;iii 'F L r"~ sr~~ a, iii -" I" aB: !i "RE 1' in~ NI iill f~~:;~ij~'~~";iFT:~~~~;l.li~~.ra,i iQ" a;i.~ I ' ~XI.,~ ~ 15.r:rr ii,I~ EA ~1 ~a~ ~I: 'I~~~,~ \1 I~i~., ~~~~,g, a. la.. ~id.P.. F, r I lla I d Li~ i* / i iiB i- ~~ "" s;l; ~I' ~i~ ~5; ii: gg. II:L ~ji;,p.~ p~ ~iB I ~' '5;ii..., l.t. ~ sa 'Bi~ "'. i, _li ''~' ~ 1:';II,, ~ill'' '~.. Li '~:~ '.` ~ili ~ ~: iB: ~'.~ ~ ~ ~ ~~' '~ -,~, ii". si~:~ a ~~1' ~~i~';:l'~,;.~ ~ ~fik ~, :' ~s~~'~ s,~ F .. .i... (. 1..j i.i. i.::... .i......j....I..:.ili "I ~~.i . 1, ~i i81~ O~i 1 aa 11~ ~~ "~ ~~ ii s~9i '~ ~~~ L?. ~i~ ai:~il;o' i ~ie _,,, (18 i:Z r~ "" ~E xi:~ ~" 1. LIETHUlm AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 25 civilized globe, even from South Africa and Australia. The output in 1897 from Alaska and the Klondike was estimated at $7,000,000, and in 1898 at $10,000,000. The estimate for the present year is from $15,000,000 to $30,000,000, and the prospects are that, with the opening of railway communications and the increase of river navigation, the production of the metal will increase in the same swift ratio as it has done in South Africa. According to the investigations of the Dominion surveyor, O'Gilvie, there are at least 5,000 square miles of placer mining in British territory and the same area in American. In addition there are huge veins of goldbearing quartz ranging from low grade ores paying $3 and $4 a ton, like those of the great Treadwell mine, to high grade veins carrying as much as $250 to the ton. The region now so much in evidence is about 150 miles long and 40 wide at its widest part. This district is cut almost in half by the Yukon, which greatly facilitates locomotion and transportation. In regard to the seasons, the ice leaves the river in June and begins to form again in the latter part of September. There are two months of summer weather and three months of open working weather in the winter. Several routes are now open to the public. The longest and most comfortable is by steamer from San Francisco, Portland, Seattle or Vancouver to St. Michael's Island, a little north of the mouth of the Yukon River, and thence by river steamer up the Yukon. At its mouth the stream is very wide, ranging from eight to twelve miles, according to the height of the water. On either side there 26 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. is a low flat delta, which during the spring freshets is often overflowed. The waters are shallow. At the bar it is only eight feet deep and for 100 miles up stream it ranges from eight to twenty feet. River steamers run all the way to the mouth of the Pelly River, which joins the Yukon nearly 200 miles above Dawson. With launches the Yukon can be ascended 300 miles further into either the Pelly River or the Lewes. The latter runs through a chain of lakes, at the head of which it is separated from the Pacific Ocean and Lynn Canal by a great wall of mountains. The main stations on the Yukon are Fort Yukon, Circle City, Forty Mile City, Dawson, Cudahy, Fort Reliance, Six Mile City, and Fort Selkirk. From Seattle to St. Michael the distance is 2,500 miles, and from St. Michael to Dawson City up the Yukon River it is 1,700 miles. The other routes, which are shorter and open a larger part of the year, are overland. They are by the way of Juneau and either the Chilkoot, Chilkat, or the White Pass. The White Pass appears to be the best, and upon this an immense amount of labor is now being expended, to convert it into a simple, short and safe route from Juneau to Lake Lindeman. From here there is water communication through the lakes and Lewes River to the Yukon and the sea. The distance from Seattle to Juneau is 725 miles; from Juneau up the Lynn canal to Dyea is 75 miles; from Juneau to Klondike, 650 miles. In the past two years valuable mining properties have been found at other points in both the British Northwest territory and in AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 27 Alaska, more especially on streams flowing into the Yukon in the center of the province and in the districts of the Copper River and Cook Inlet. In the past year valuable veins and ledges have been discovered in southeastern Alaska of the same character and apparently larger value than those of the Treadwell mine. Not alone is Alaska marvelously rich in gold, but also in silver, copper, platinum, iron, coal and petroleum. The reports of mining engineers show that it will soon be possible for the territory to supply all its own fuel and illuminating oils, and even to provide enough steam or caloric power to conduct many manufactures, more particularly of goods now imported from the United States and Canada. In 1897 the conditions of living were very onerous and there was great suffering and destitution. Since then there has been a general change for the better, and this year will probably see social relations on a par with those of the larger mining camps of the Pacific States. Board has gone down from $20 and $25 a day to $10, $8, $5 and $3, according to the place. At Juneau this year board and lodging cost $2 a day; at Dyea, $3 a day; at Dawson, $5 a day, and at the smaller points, where the expense of transportation is great, $8 and $10 a day. Wages are commensurate with the board bill and in a general way may be said to be fifty per cent.. larger. As between the Canadian and the American side of the Yukon, each has its advantages and disadvantages. The Canadian district is better known and the social... AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. conditions are far more comfortable. On the other hand the best claims are already located, and only land considered worthless is now open to the newcomer. There are of course many valleys in which large amounts of gold dust will be found, but it is the same on the American side, and in either case involves days, weeks, and even months of weary search and labor. The experience of the successful men shows that cooperative is more remunerative than individual effort. Groups or partnerships of men have discovered more deposits than single individuals. After the location of a claim, a group of men work more rapidly and produce a greater amount of dust than the same number working each for himself. Of the miners who have returned with more than fifty thousand dollars worth of bullion apiece, over twothirds have been members of partnerships or groups. Wage-workers have a slight advantage in the Alaska gold fields over their colleagues at home. If they live economically they can accumulate a sum of money which, while it will not buy much in the gold country, will have three or four times its value in the United States. They are in a position to run across valuable claims or to encounter opportunities offering wealth to the first comer. Many successful Klondikers have begun as day laborers, put by a little money, formed partnerships, bought claims on their own account, or located new ones in idle hours, and then realized a handsome competency for their labor. As the district grows older and more populous these AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 29 opportunities become smaller. Wealthy mine owners increase their holdings, and corporations by degrees crowd out individual workers. It is fortunate, therefore, that the twenty districts thus far discovered are still comparatively undeveloped, and that the latest researches indicate that the twenty are but a small percentage of those which exist between the south coast and the Arctic Ocean. There are many business opportunities in Alaska outside of mining. A small mill which will turn out beams and boards for house building, which will cut and shape timber for boats, which will make strong, cheap furniture for the mining camps and cities, will pay very handsomely for many years. The field for mining engineers is beginning to open, now that individuals and corporations have started work upon large foundations. There is a fine opportunity for machinists, blacksmiths, carpenters and builders. The law of progress in all mining camps is simple. With the increase of wealth men tire of hovels and want houses. They tire of shanties and want neat offices. They tire of houses and offices in time and want palaces and magnificent office buildings. This law will be as effective in Alaska as it is in San Francisco and New York. It rises superior to climate, excepting in those respects where climate compels a modification of institutions appropriate to milder climes. The fishing industries are but in their infancy, and promise almost as large a return as the mines themselves. 30 AMERICA'S NEW FOSSESSIONS. The natives are skillful fishermen and work faithfully at very cheap rates. Canning factories would cost no more on the Alaskan coast than they do in California or Oregon. Smokehouses and salteries can be established and maintained in the new territory at a very small cost. The demand for canned, salted, and smoked fish is ever on the increase, and the places to be benefited by the demand are those where there is the largest and cheapest supply of fish and of cheap labor. In the former particular the Alaskan coast surpasses any other in the world. The coal industry is destined to have a very large development. Such veins as have been discovered in Alaska crop out from the surface of the soil and can be exploited at a minimum of expense. Another advantage is the cold climate which will render perpetual pumping so common to mines, especially deep mines in temperate zones, unnecessary nine months of the year. The beds in the neighborhood of the Lewes River will afford an inexhaustible supply to Dawson and the other river cities, as well as to the growing flotilla of steamers upon the Yukon. Heretofore they have employed wood, which is bulky, expensive and awkward to work, or else coal brought all the way around from Vancouver. With the railroad connecting Dyea with the Klondike it will be possible for the Klondike coal operator to supply Juneau, Sitka, and the ocean steamers and to prove a formidable rival to the miners of British Columbia. These are but a few of the opportunities which suggest themselves to a student of Alaskan resources, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 31 Along the southern coast and on the lower half of the western coast the sportsman will find much recreation. Caribou, wild geese, wild duck, owls, hawks, sea eagles, and ptarmigan are plentiful, as are many varieties of marine birds. The rivers abound with salmon, but it is said they will not bite at a fly or other artificial bait. Alaska salmon are the kings of their race, running frequently over fifty pounds in weight and one or two holding records of a hundred pounds each. The Indians spear them, and also catch them with the hook as well as the seine. The botanist and geologist have wide fields in which to pursue their interesting studies, and the ethnologist has a fascinating subject in the native races. The Esquimos, though sullen in appearance, shy and nervous in their demeanor, are very attractive after you have once secured their confidence. They have many queer customs and a fund of interesting anecdotes concerning the wild animals, the ice floes, the storms and the other features of Arctic life. They have also many odd myths and superstitions, which they will not speak of to strangers nor even to mere acquaintances. They differ much among themselves, those of the American continent being far superior to their Asiatic brethren. Their favorite food is the flesh of seals, and next to that salmon, cod and halibut. The seal meat tastes something like a combination of mutton and codliver oil, but it is purity and sweetness compared with other dishes with which these children of the North regale themwelve, 32 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Rotten eggs, especially those of marine bird are a royal luxury. Another awful compound is kamamok, which is made of decaying fish roe mixed with marsh berries and fish oil. Most frightful of all is a putrid mass known as triplicherat. It consists of raw salmon heads, which have been exposed in the summer season to the sun for ten days or two weeks until some of the heads are infected with living parasites. Upon this is sprinkled a little fish oil, and the viand is ready for the guest. It is the favorite dish of the Esquimos, and the mere announcement that it will be served at a festive gathering will bring visitors fifteen and twenty miles across the sea. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 33 CHAPTER III. THE ALEUTIAN ARCHIPELAGO. IF an orange is squeezed with a pressure quite uniformly applied over all its surface, the skin will finally break in a rough, circular curve, and the line of fracture will be marked by a saw-like edge. It is so with that bigger orange we call the world. The pressure of its own solidification causes it to crack in long curves, whose edge becomes a line of mountains. The Spaniards, with a keen sense of fitness, call such chains sierras or saws, and the term is as applicable to a chain only half-emerged from the ocean as to one high in air upon the tableland of the continent. One of these curves, a fracture or upheaval, starts in Alaska, runs obliquely across the Northern Pacific, swings slowly southward and passes on until it meets another curve coming from Australasia, in the neighborhood of the equator. It takes in the Kurile Islands, Japan, the Loo Choos, Formosa, and the Philippines. The irony of history or fate gave us the northern half of this great chain, or axis, by purchase from Russia in Alaska and the Aleutian Archipelago and the southern end of the chain by the arbitrament of the sword in the Philippine and Sulu Islands. It is the greatest volcanic or fire axis on the globe, and there may be a cer 34 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. tain appropriateness that it should belong to the greatest Republic. So far as the globe is concerned, the Aleutian Archipelago begins at the promontory or isthmus forming the west shore of Cook's Inlet, in west longitude 153. Cartographically it begins with Unimak Island, in west longitude 164. The former place is at 60 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, and the latter at 55 degrees north latitude. The archipelago runs southwesterly, westerly and west by northerly. Its lowest southern point is Anatignok Island, in west longitude 179, where it runs as far south as 51 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. It terminates at Attu Island, in 172 degrees,30 minutes east longitude. This gives an island chain about 2,500 miles longlong enough to reach from Massachusetts to Ireland or from the interior of Canada into the Gulf of Mexico. At its western extremity it is only about 1,300 miles from the end of the Kurile Islands, belonging to Japan, thus making the land of the Mikado a nearer neighbor than any country in Europe, excepting Russia. The islands are a series of volcanoes, living or extinct. Some, like Shishaldin and Pogromnia, are symmetrical and majestic cones, snow-covered and cloud-wrapped. Others are fiery and gloomy peaks, like Akootan. A third class consists of rugged and ragged elevations, whose craters have fallen in and whose sharp lines have been worn into broken and irregular surfaces by snow and storm, wind and ice. These islands are not elevations upon a submarine plateau, but peaks which rise from the deep bottom of the sea. LUNALILO HOME FOR TOE AGED; OAHU; HA WAI AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 35 Some of the narrow channels separating the archipelago are a: mile and two miles deep, and at several places the mountain side slopes straight down into the water for a mile below the surface. Though very far to the north the islands are not as cold as regions in the same latitude on the eastern coast of the continent. Just 'as the western coast of Europe is warmed by the Gulf Stream, so the Aleutians and west coast of the United States are heated by the Japanese stream, the Kuro Siwo. Beside this thermal influence, the volcanoes themselves appear to radiate a certain amount of caloric to the soil. On the sea level many plants grow the winter through, and a temperature of a few degrees below zero, familiar enough to New Englanders and to people in the Middle and Central States, is comparatively unknown to the Aleutes. There are about fifty islands and one hundred and fifty islets in the group. The archipelago is one of the most beautiful panoramas in the world. The depth and rich coloring of the sea, the wonderful variety of land and mountain, the majestic presence of active volcanoes, the surpassing beauty of the cloud effects in the clear skies of the northern latitudes, combine to make a series of pictures of unequalled beauty and sublimity. The commercial resources of the territory are few, but of considerable importance. Thanks to the Kuro Siwo, there is the same enormous animal life below the surface of the water as on the banks of Newfoundland and off the coast of Europe together. The ocean is so full of fish that it is a breeding ground and a favorite haunt 36 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. of all the larger marine creatures which depend upon a constant food supply. It is this wealth which brings the seal and the sea lion from every quarter, which nourishes sea otters, whales, cod, herring, salmon, and other valuable creatures of the ocean. Thus far almost nothing has been done to utilize and enjoy these resources. A few salmon are caught in Alaska, but the trade is less than insignificant. Of the cod fishing not enough is done to load a single fishing smack for the nearest civilized market. Establishments could be erected upon many of the islands which would pay a superb return to every person engaged in the enterprise. At the present time the Pacific Coast, American and Canadian, draws nearly all its supplies of cod, herring and mackerel from the Atlantic Coast and pays for it a heavy freight demanded by a transcontinental railway freightage. It could secure all it desires from Aleutian fisheries without this heavy tax, and even then pay a much handsomer profit to the persons engaged in the fisheries than is now received by the corresponding class on the Atlantic Coast. The climate of the Aleutians is very healthful. The few diseases found among the population are the result of innutrition and careless living, and not to any local or climatic cause. The low temperature of the air six months of the year acts as a bar to all germ growths, and the strong ocean wind and salt air are a further preventive of dangers in that field. The natives, where they have not been mistreated and abused by our own race, are healthy, happy and lightbhrted. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ay At the present time the islands are peopled by an inoffensive race, known as the Aleutes, who belong to the great Esquimo family. They are of middle stature, or short, are less hairy than our race, are plumper and more awkward. The shape of their skull points to a Mongolian rather than an Indian, European or Malay ancestry. They number at present about two thousand, but in the early part of the century are said to have been some twenty-five thousand in number. They were terribly treated by Russian officials, adventurers, and by American and European whalemen, and but for the decadence of the whale trade they would undoubtedly have been extinct before now. At the present time they enjoy the special protection of the American warships and cutters which patrol those seas for the benefit of the seal fisheries, and they seem to be slowly increasing in numbers and prosperity. The Aleutians, like the mainland of Alaska, have received considerable attention, especially in the last five years, and have given many interesting results in return. It has been found by actual exploration as well as by the legends and traditions of the natives, that the volcanic activities of the district have been going on from time immemorial, and that frequently they have been so vast in scale as to be cataclysmic in character. Mountains which have emerged from the sea have made islands, and then have vanished below the surface of the water almost as rapidly as they appeared. Volcanic peaks, seemingly dead, have broken out in fierce eruptions and Jhave poured a stream of liquid fire out 38 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. from the crater, which doubled the size of the mountain within a month. Islands have split or separate islands have grown together into one. Mountains have fallen in, collapsing like the empty shell of a poorly built house, and tidal waves, generated by some local disturbance, have swept across the Bering Sea, bearing disaster and death in every direction. The Aleutes are merely one of a number of separate tribes, speaking not different dialects of the same language, but different languages. It begins to appear that there is the same racic variety among the dwellers of the Arctic zone as those of temperate plains or tropic countries. Some whaling captains claim that there are valuable minerals upon Unalaska, Unimak and in the Aleutian mountains, but the statements are to be received with considerable suspicion. Not until a good geological survey has been made by either the government or by learned societies, is it worth while to give the matter serious consideration. There is practically no timber upon the islands, all that is used upon them being brought from the mainland. The home life of the Aleutes is quite curious, and illustrates how men take advantage of their surroundings in order to bid defiance to nature's cruel laws. The hut of an Aleute is half a house and half a hole in the ground. The best site is on sloping ground, so as to escape the danger of water. A pit is dug from ten to fifteen feet square, and from three to five feet deep. It is framed and lined with wood roughly hewn, and it is AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 39 said that in the old days before ships brought lumber to the islands, the materials used for framing and lining were taken from wreckage, flotsam and jetsam, whales, jaw bones, pieces of slate and stone, and even bones from the larger animals of the sea. The earth from the pit is thrown up on the sides so as to form a rough wall or fence. It is sodded, so as to serve as a protection against both wind and water, and the excavation is covered with a thatched roof with enough slope to carry off any rain or melted snow. The entrance is through a low vestibule, to which access is had by a narrow passage sloping downward from the outside. The ventilation is of course bad, but apart from a vile, fishy odor the little hut is wind and weather tight, and is very comfortable during the long winter season. With the better classes there will be two huts with a door between, so as to make two rooms. Occasionally a window will be inserted in the framework just below the thatch. The well-to-do lay down a board floor, but the majority use an earthen floor, covered with weeds, brushes and decorated with cheap rugs, or with the skins of animals. Since the United States owned Alaska many American ideas have made their way into their primitive life. The small cast iron stove is now found in one Aleutian hut out of two, and gorgeous tenement house bedspreads, made out of highly covered cotton prints, are very common. Of late years so-called graniteware cooking utensils have become very popular with the inhabitants. Formerly they employed iron or copper, when they could 40 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. afford it. Tinware, strange to say, cannot withstand the Aleutian climate. The great humidity attacks the metal, and causes the iron to rust through the tin within a week. A neat tin teakettle, which will last several years in the Northern or Southern States, with reasonably good usage, will change to a mass of rust in five months in the Aleutians. A kerosene lamp is everywhere, and the oil stove impresses the traveler with its existence in unmistakable malodorous style. Much of the clothing now comes from San Francisco and Seattle, so that through commercial agencies the poor Aleute is being raised from his primitive savagery into a relatively advanced state of civilization. The archipelago will undoubtedly be utilized when a submarine telegraph cable is laid from the United States to Japan. The great circle of shortest distance from Puget Sound to Japan runs within thirty miles of the Aleutians. As a matter of economy and efficiency it would be far better to have the line run from the State of Washington northwestward with two stations in the archipelago, and then over to the Kurile Islands, and thence to Japan, than it would be to lay it from Honolulu to Yokohama direct. The Aleutian Islands were purchased with Alaska by Uncle Sam in 1867. The entire purchase before that time was known and marked in the old geographies as Russian America or Russian North America. Under the Russian rule the islands were the prey of a group of Siberian and Cossack traders, who for one hundred years did their utmost to exterminate the inhabitants. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 41 A number of good Russian priests endeavored to undo the wrong, and by their upright living, gentleness and generosity managed to convert the entire population to the Greek Church. Although the United States has been in possession of the islands over thirty years, the Aleutes remain true to their old faith and are sincere members of the Greek Church. A number of American missionaries have attempted evangelical work in this territory and have had some success with the natives of the mainland, but thus far they have not made any deep impression upon the inhabitants of the archipelago. 42 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 'CHAPTER IV. HAWAII OR THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. THE ex-kingdom of Hawaii which became a part of the American Republic, August 12, 1898, is situated in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,000 miles southwest of San Francisco. It consists of a group of twelve islands and many islets running northwest and southeast, and is situated just within the Tropic of Cancer. This makes its position in the Pacific analagous to that of the Greater Antilles in the Atlantic. If under the head of Hawaii be included the reefs, shoals and islands which are found in the Pacific to the west of the larger islands and along its axis, the group would run from 155 west longitude to Morell Island, 175 east longitude, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles. All the larger islands, eight in number, are inhabited. The archipelago seems to be a series of volcanic peaks which emerged in some geologic age from the deeps of the Pacific and accordingto various scientists, is governed by the same volcanic and seismic laws as the Japan Archipelago to the west and the Aleutian Archipelago to the north. Although considerable work has been done upon this subject by Rear-Admiral Belknap and other eminent THE TRAVELER PALM~ TAWAIL ilXMVH 0 \V ~1 0 1 Jf075X N I AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 43 navigators, the information accumulated is not yet sufficient to warrant any decisive judgment in the premises. The formation has advantages and disadvantages. The many shoals and reefs which lie be- tween the larger islands and Yokohama are a menace to navigation, but on the other hand they would enable the government or a telegraph company to establish a station between Honolulu and Yokohama and so reduce the distance 3,400 miles, which is a practical bar, or at least a cause of enormous expense in the laying of a cable between the ports mentioned. Although the skeleton of Hawaii is volcanic, the rocks have been exposed to the air so long a period that they have been broken down and converted into a soil of phenomenal richness. Upon the land beneath the water the coral polyp has built his home on a huge scale, and the coral rock thus formed has been beaten into sand or thrown upon the beaches or raised into the air in long-gone periods of upheaval. The combination of volcanic and metamorphic rock on the one hand, and of coral rock on the other has produced beneficent results. It has given a variety to the soil which enables the agriculturist to grow nearly every fruit and vegetable, tree and flower, and has added a charm to landscape, and especially to the waterfront, which has earned for the island the title of the paradise of the Pacific. On the other hand the lithological conditions have not favored mineral resources. There is a small amount of iron ore distributed through the soil, but not enough apparently to justify exploitation. There seems to be 44 AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. no metalliferous veins or beds and no coal measures or deposits of petroleum. Small quantities o,' lignite have been found. Volcanic products are numerous, including lava, pumice-stone, tufa, obsidian, traprock, lavawool and scorie. There are deposits of excellent clay and coral rock, which makes a poor building stone but a very fair building lime. The climate is marvelously uniform and delightful. The humidity varies from sixty-five to seventy-nine degrees, and the heat from a minimum of sixty-two in February to a maximum of eighty-five in August. The cloudiness the year through is but five per cent.; the wind varies from a mile and a half an hour in the winter, when it is the least needed, to four miles an hour in the dog days, when it is the most desired. The rainfall is about forty-five inches a year, of which more than one-quarter falls during the month of March., Nearly all of the islands vary in climatic conditions, so far as their north and south sides are concerned. The northern side receives more rain than the southern, and the southern more wind. In the center of each island, especially on the hills and in the mountain passes, the cool breeze seems actually chilling, although the thermometer shows that the temperature is nowise different from that of more protected districts. Under these favorable auspices human comfort attains a maximum; but little clothing is required and the dangers and diseases incidental to extreme heat or extreme cold are unknown. No Hawaiian has ever experienced the weather changes so familiar to Ameri AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 45 cans, who dwell upon the Atlantic Coast or in the great Mississippi Valley. It is just as easy and safe to live out-of-doors as it is beneath the roof. The hammock is everywhere, and the veranda, with its easy-chair, rattan lounge and bamboo couch, is universal. The men wear light woolen, linen and cotton suits, and the women equally light and porous attire. The native women use the holoku, which resembles a dress once popular under the name of the Mother Hubbard. It is not a graceful gown, but it is exceedingly comfortable and convenient. It is nothing more nor less than a long robe, like a nightgown, with a full yoke. It falls so far in the back as to give the effect of a train, and it is so loose that it conceals any angularity of the wearer. As a matter of fact, there is no necessity for concealment. I have seen several thousand Hawaiian women and not one was attenuated. The most slender was as round and plump as the proverbial partridge, and from that they ascend into larger and larger masses of healthy, and somewhat superfluous flesh and blood. The women of our own race yield to the charm of the climate and fall quickly into Hawaiian ways. Many use the holoku as a house frock, others the graceful Japanese kimono, while nearly all modify the style of New York and Paris so as to give some freedom to the muscles and tissues within. There is comparatively little dust and very little mud, even in the rainy season. The natural drainage is superior, and after a heavy rainfall the ground is dry within an hour or two. There arQ no marhes worthy 46 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. of the name, little if any decaying organic matter, and almost no malarial or tropical fever of any sort. For people subject to rheumatic and neuralgic troubles, for disorders of the stomach, liver, kidneys and nervous system, Hawaii is a noble sanitarium. In the past twelve months the means of communication between Hawaii and the outside world have increased largely. It is now the midocean station for nearly every line of steamers between the United States and Canada, on the one side, Japan, China, the Philippines, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia on the other. In 1897 the number of steamers calling at Honolulu was 427, of which 286 were American; 84 British and 41 Hawaiian. The number in 1898 cannot be used for purposes of reference and comparison, because it included so many warships and transports. Even if these be subtracted the result would not be representative, on account of the United States government having taken by either purchase or "charter party" so many vessels belonging to the Pacific fleets. The number, however, was 700, of which 600 carried the American flag. The strategic importance of Hawaii which has gained for it the title of the "Cross roads of the Pacific" is illustrated by a table of ocean distances, compiled by T. G. Thrum, of Honolulu. The number of miles from Honolulu to the following ports is: San Francisco, 2,100; San Diego, 2,320; Portland, 2,460; Victoria, 2,360; Panama, 4,620; Tahiti, 2,380; Samoa, 2,290; Fiji, 2,700; Auckland, 3,810; Sidney, 4,480; Hongkong, 4,920; Yokohama, 3,400; and Maxila, 4,890, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 47 Of the eight islands the largest, which is Hawaii, lies at the southeast end of the group. It has an area of 4,210 square miles or two million acres, and its highest peak is 13,800 feet high. The population in 1896 was 33,285. Twenty-six miles to the northwest of Hawaii is the island of Maui, which is the second largest of the group. Its area is 760 square miles, and its acreage is 400,000. Its largest mountain is 10,032 feet high, and its population, in 1896, 17,726. Six miles to the southwest of Maui is the small island of Kahoolawe. Its area is 63 square miles, acreage, 30,000, maximum, height 1,450, and its population about 40. Eight miles west of Maui is the unimportant island of Lanai. Its statistics are 150 square milesarea, 100,000 acres, 3,000 feet height, and 105 population. Eight miles northwest of Maui is the beautiful island of Molokai, more familiarly known as "The Leper Island of the Pacific." Its area is 270 square miles, its acreage 200,000, its tallest peak 3,000 feet high, and its population 2,307. Twenty-three miles west, northwest of Molokai, is the capital island of Oahu, on which is situated the metropolis of Honolulu. It has an area of 600 square miles, 360,000 acres; its highest point is 4,030 feet above the sea level, and its population is 40,205. From Oahu it is 61 miles to Kauai, which is almost the same size, the figures being 590 square miles, 350,000 acres, 4,800 feet height, and 15,228 population. Fifteen miles west of Kauai is Niihau, the second smallest of the group. It comprises 97 square miles, 48 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 70,000 acres, has a maximum height of 800 feet, and a population of 164. The total area of the eight islands is 6,740 square miles, and the population, according to the last census, 109,020. If to these figures be added the area of Kaula and the other small islands of the archipelago, the total is over 7,000 square miles. The population on January 1, 1898, as estimated by President Dole, was 117,281, and on January 1, 1899, 123,050. The islands are connected by sailing craft and small steamers, nearly every one having daily communication with the outside world. Fares are reasonable, the average rates being a trifle less than those charged for the same distances in the United States and Canada, but are not so low as those charged in Mexico. The islands are noted for possessing the largest volcanoes, both active and extinct, in the world. Alongside of them such famous shafts of the Plutonic world as Vesuvius, Stromboli and Popocatepet] sink into insignificance. On the island of -Hawaii are two which are monsters, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Each is over 14,000 feet in height. Kilauea, which is situated on the mountain of Mauna Loa, is the largest crater in the world. It has an area of 4.14 square miles or 20,650 acres, and in the hot and boiling center a number of conical jets, varying from twenty to eighty in number are forever discharging steam, smoke, noxious vapors, ashes, mud and molten rock. On the same island, almost at the very summit, is the crater of Mokua Weo Weo. It has an area of 3.70 square miles, or 2,370 acres, f. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 49 It was undoubtedly the parent of the mountain itself, and assisted in building up the mighty fabric until it grew so vast that the subterranean forces were unable to expel matter from the summit, and took a new course to make the later crater of Kilauea. But the two together would not make one-half of the giant crater of Haleakala on the island of Maui. It is the largest crater known to geographical science. It has an area of over 19 square miles, or about 12,160 acres. Its circumference is more than 20 miles. The elevation of the summit is more than 10,000 feet, and of the principal cones in the crater 8,032 and 7,572 feet. In the floor of the crater is a huge cave or cave-in produced by the liquefaction of rock far beneath the surface, its discharge through other channels, and the falling in of an enormous floor of lava, which formed the roof of the cavity. The famous hollow, or circular valley, known as the Punchbowl, back of the city of Honolulu is another extinct crater,,and upon the islands more than 200 extinct craters of various geologic ages have been pointed out by scientific investigators. It is claimed by the heads of the Meteorological Observatory at Honolulu, that the volcanic fires exercise a beneficial influence upon the climate. A huge column of heated air is forever ascending from the craters, and to supply this the atmosphere moves in from every direction, causing a pleasant breeze, where in similar latitudes there is absolute calm for days and weeks at a time. The opinion is borne out by several facts. All sailing vessels approaching tho 50 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. island usually find favoring winds, no matter the point of the compass from which they come. This volcanic formation lends a strange beauty to the Hawaiian landscape. Out of a fertile meadow may rise a wall of vitreous rock a hundred or thousand feet into the air. These wonderful rock effects find their culmination in the world famous pass of the Pali, a few miles back from Honolulu. The approach from the city is through a valley with a sharp incline, which is so covered with vegetation as to suggest an infinite carpet of green velvet. On either side gray and brown rocks project like cyclopean walls from the vegetation or the sloping farms, and rise upward to terminate in towers, pinnacles and needles of fantastic kind. The pass grows narrower and steeper, but continues to rise until it is more than a thousand feet above the sea level. It leaves the valley and scales the mountain side upon the right, with a wall of rock on one hand and a precipice on the other. It curves around a projecting bastion, and then a view opens which has no equal upon the globe. Beneath the traveler's feet the mountain falls away vertically, so that a stone dropped travels a fifth of a mile before it reaches the ground. - From the foot of the line of mountains broken by the pass what seems a painted floor reaches northward for miles until it fades into the blue ocean and eastward and westward until it is blotted out by the rocky frame on eitherhand. This flatland is a mass of plantations and farms, and here and there can be seen the houses of owners, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 51 the huts and cabins of workers. Far away upon the sea are ships and steamers looking like little dots, and on either side close by the mountains rise into sharp battlements of ever changing shape, color and luster. Upon the horizon the skyline is broken by subdued conical shapes, which are all that is left of volcanoes that blazed in some pre-glacial age. If the Pali is magnificent in its beauty, it is terrifying in its historical associations. Here in early centuries the savage kings of Oahu hurled their enemies from the top of the pass over the precipice to the rough talus at its foot. Here in the last century the great warrior, Kamehameha I., fought the King of Oahu, and drove that luckless monarch's armies up the pass and out over the precipice, where more than seven thousand met a terrible end. It is said that even to-day the husbandmen occasionally turns up a thigh bone or a skull belonging to some hapless victim of that tremendous tragedy. The population is a strange mixture of races and complexions, and will probably increase in complexity for many years to come. The climate is so mild and balmy, so conducive to indolence and idle pleasure, that few of our own race ever succeed at any labor, excepting that which is purely mental. Manual work must be done by some one other than the Anglo-Saxon. The natives themselves are equally incapable of physical labor. It is this rather than any other cause which is swiftly exterminating them. A hundred and fifty years ago they numbered at least 400,000, while at the present time they are not more than thirty thousand, not 52 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. one-fourth of the entire population. The planters of the islands and the mercantile classes have tried all sorts of experiments in regard to supplying themselves with labor. At large expense they have brought out shiploads of laborers from the United States, Mexico, Peru, the South Sea Islands, Germany, Portugal, the Azores and Cape de Verdes, but of all the Indo-European workingmen only the Portuguese proved a success, and these the moment that their contracts expired went into business on their own account, and only once in three times continued to work for their former employers. The Malay men worked well for three or four months, and then became listless and more than lazy like the Kanakas. Only the Japanese and the Chinese resisted the enervating environment and gave permanent satisfaction upon the big plantations. Thus they have grown, and to-day form nearly one-half of the population. The composite effects of these conditions are well illustrated in the last census. The natives were 31,019, the halfbreeds, 8,485; the Japanese, 22,329; the Chinese, 19,382; of foreigners born in Hawaii, 13,733; Portuguese, 8,232; Americans, 2,266; British, 1,538; Germans,:912. In 1897 the excess of the arrivals over departures from China and Japan was about 4,000, and during the past year it was equally large. It is therefore probable that the Mongolian race is now a slight majority. In religious matters things are equally mixed. About ten per cent. are agnostics, four per cent. Mormons, forty Il1~1I|111~1 ~~ i i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i~~ 1111.; |ii1 11i1|1 h.. ............~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i'~ VI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l;Yl AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 53 per cent. Buddhists, twenty-four per cent. Roman Catholics, and twenty-two per cent. Protestants. As the American law does not allow the immigration of Chinese laborers, it is clear that the demands hereafter will have to be supplied from Japan exclusively, and that in the course of twenty years the islands will become Japanese in character. The standards of education and intelligence are quite high. Of the Hawaiians eighty-four per cent can read and write, and of the half-breeds ninety-one percent.;of the Americans eightytwo per cent.; of the British, ninety-five per cent.; of the Japanese, fifty-four per cent.; of the Chinese, forty-nine per cent., and of the foreigners born in Hawaii sixtyeight per cent. The large number of illiterates is due to the many sailors, stowaways and beachcombers that drift to the port of Honolulu. At the same time it must be admitted that public education under Hawaiian rule did not receive the attention which it does in America and England, and which it will receive hereafter under the existing administration. The mortality tables are very satisfactory. The death rate in general is about 22 to the 1,000. Among the Hawaiians proper, it is 29 to the 1,000; the Asiatics, 18 to the 1,000; the Portuguese, 16 to the 1,000; and Americans, 15 to the 1,000. These ratios are not altogether fair. Of the Asiatics, Portuguese and Americans, the vast body consists of adults, families being small and only a minority being married. According to physicians the death rate for Americans under normal circumstances would be 21; for Asiatics,, 54 AMERICA S NEW POSSESSION;, 22; for Portuguese, 23; for other foreigners, 24 and for Hawaiians, 29 per mil. Among the causes of death old age and consumption hold the first place.. Next comes heart disease, due chiefly to high living.. Pneumonia follows, and after that the infantile complaints, cholera infantum, convulsions, diarrhoea, fever, whooping cough, and inanition. Epidemics are comparatively unknown, and an effectual administration by the boad of health has kept nearly all contagious diseases to the narrowest limits. Of leprosy there is much more smoke than fire. It has been studied with great care, and the conclusions arrived at by the faculty in the islands are about as follows: First, that it is not contagious or infectious, in the ordinary sense of the word; second, that it is hereditary or that the tendency toward the disease is hereditary; third, that men are more liable to it than women; fourth, that a fish or shell-fish diet tends to aggravate the disease, and to bring it out when it is latent; fifth, that inhaling miasmatic or earth vapors in hovels, built on wet ground or in decaying soil, is conducive to, if not productive of, the disease; and sixth, that insufficient food, the use of raw food, the lack of personal cleanliness, and the violation of other sanitary laws are always concomitants if not causes of the disease. Minor but equally interesting conclusions are that the leprous tendency may be transmitted to one or more of a sufferer's children, without attacking all. Second, that after three or four or five generations, especially where the family lives in comparative comfort, the AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 55 disease may disappear of its own accord; and third, that by careful treatment, hot bathing, sulphur baths, and the use of generous food, the disease may be held stationary for many years, and if taken in its first stages -may be suppressed, if not cured. While the terrible disorder is not contagious in the ordinary sense, yet if a person lives in a leper community, and more especially if he comes into daily contact with the miserable victims of the malady, he is more than liable-in fact, almost certain-to contract the disorder himself. Many heroic Hawaiians and Europeans have consecrated their lives to ministering to the lepers on the island of Molokai, and in nearly every instance they eventually became lepers themselves. Of the many Hawaiian cities and towns Honolulu, the capital, is the only one of great importance. It is situated on the Island of Oahu, and is of extraordinary beauty. The harbor is a roadstead and not a bay, so that the prospect to the inhabitant is a broad expanse of the blue Pacific. A large part of the shore is a coral beach, which expands to the east of the city into the:famous place known as Wai Ki Ki, said to be the most beautiful bathing resort upon the globe. The water is -never cold, and is as warm in winter as in summer. The surf is handsome and almost devoid of any under-tow. There is no sewage and no flotsam and jetsam. 'The only thing ever thrown up by the sea is a dead fish or a small bunch of seaweed. The city is built upon a small plain, which ascends into hills, and these into a noble line of mountains. 56 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. The streets and roads are wide and very well made. Vegetation is rich beyond compare, and nearly every tree known to the tropics and many others grow luxuriously. Wealthy inhabitants have imported various kinds of palms-the Norfolk pine, and other beautiful members of the vegetable kingdom-all of which seem to prosper as well as the native vegetation. The people are great lovers of flowers, and not alone the gardens but even the field and roadsides are masses of blossoms. A string of tube roses, five feet long, can be purchased for twenty cents, and a basket of flowers a foot in diameter for a dime. The houses are mostly two stories in height, and are made of wood in bungalow form, or of brick or adobes, or broken stone set in cement. The government buildings are good pieces of architecture, and nearly all are set back in yards or gardens, filled with trees and flowering plants. Vines and creepers are popular, and are grown upon the trees in the private and public gardens. Of these the wisteria and bougainvilla are the more notable; the Virginia creeper, trumpet flower, clematis, woodbine, honeysuckle and running rose are so common as to be regarded more as weeds than as flowers. The supply of water and gas is good, the sewerage a1 modern, and the telegraph and telephone services are models. So energetic is the management of the latter that any steamer coming to the port which de'r!es it can be connected by telephone with the central office at a very reasonable cost. This enables warships to be in closer touch with the people and officials of the city AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. 57 than if they were tied up to a wharf in a navy yard without a telephone, as is the case in most of the navy yards in the United States and Great Britain. The leading buildings are the government building, which was formerly the palace of Liliuokalani, the Hawaiian Hotel, the Royal Hospital, and the Bishop Museum. This museum is of exceeding interest and value. It was founded in 1889 by the Hon. Charles R. Bishop, and was endowed sufficiently to insure its preservation through the coming years. The building is appropriately made out of blocks of dark lava. It would be somber in appearance, but the surface is so richly draped with vines and flowers that only here and there can one catch sight of the stone beneath. The main hall, when I visited it, was finished with native koa woodwork. There are several rooms and a picture gallery. In addition there are a great hall with storerooms, a library room and a reference library. It is already well supplied with collections of various classes of objects. It is intended to show every bird, insect, animal, fish, shell, coral, plant, flower, soil, rock and seaweed which grows in the archipelago or in the waters round about. In addition there is a collection devoted to the archaeology and history of the Hawaiians, as well as a collection illustrating the development of every industry. There are hundreds of wooden bowls, dishes, plates and other receptacles, ranging from a poi bowl, nine feet in circumference, down to the little handleless cups used by children and babies. There is a series of articles representing the fish in 58 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. dustries, including nets, seines, traps, fishhooks, bits of tortoise shell, mother-of-pearl, fish scales and fish bones. One section is devoted to native toys and games, surfboards for the water, Ihes or war spears, Ulus or huge balls, feather cloaks, stone tools, stone hammers and toboggans for hill sliding. Other sections are set aside to Maori implements and manufactures. The Fiji islanders have a section to themselves, Micronesia has another, as have New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the native Australians. In the picture gallery are portraits in large number, ranging from kings and queens down to farmers and boatmen. The history of the Polynesian race is well illustrated in these attractive rooms. Some tend to show that in some early period the ancestors of the Hawaiians were cannibals, and that the development of the race has been a slow growth from a level as low as that of the Papuan up to the civilization of to-day. The other cities of the archipelago are small, and, comparatively speaking, unimportant. They include upon the Island of Oahu, Ewa, Honouliuli, Waialua, Kahuku, Waianae, Laie, Punaluu, Waiahole, Kaneohe, and Heeia; on Molokai: Pukoo, Kamalo, Kaunakakai; on the Island of Lanai, the town of Lanai; on Kauai Isle: Kapaa, Kilauea, Kekaha, Waimea, Hanalei, Lihue, Koloa, Makaweli; on Maui: Lahaina, Wailuku, Makawaoo, Hana Hamoa, Spreckelsville, Ulupalakau, Honokohau, Kipahulu, Kahului, Paia, Haiku, Huelo, Honokowai; and on the Island of Hawaii: Hilo, Kawaihae, Mahukona, Kukuihaele,Waimea, Kohala, Paauilo, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 59 Hookena, Laupahoe-hoe, Ookala, Honokaa, Kailua, Keauhou, Kealakeakua, Napoopoo, Hoopuloa, Pahala, Hilea, Homuapo, Waiohinu and Naalehu. All the cities of each island are connected by roads, and in addition many coasters make the circuit of each island. The chief industry of Hawaii is that of sugar. This has grown astonishingly in the past thirty years. In the sixties the manufacture was small and the output worth not more than a half-million dollars. A number of enterprising Americans and Englishmen foresaw the future importance of the traffic and began investing capital in what to many seemed a foolish speculation. Land was comparatively cheap in those days and they bought large tracts. They imported the best varieties of cane and they developed the cultivation of the plant to the highest possible extent. It was slow work for many years, and then it began to grow by leaps and bounds. In 1875 the output was 25,000,000 pounds. In 1880, 62,000,000; in 1885, 171,000,000; in 1890, 259,000,000; in 1894, 306,000,000; and in 1897, 520,000,000. The total value of sugar and molasses rose in thirty years from $500,000 to over $15,000,000. The other exports of the islands are comparatively few and small. They include rice, bananas, hides, wool, coffee, pineapples, awa, goatskins, tallow, guano and canned fruits. The imports are moderately large. The chief items are machinery, groceries and provisions, hardware and tools, lumber, tobacco and cigars, grain and feed, flour, textiles, clothing, dried and salt fish, animals and birds, le0o AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ale and porter, light wines and liquors, building materials, furniture, leather, jewelry, naval stores, coal, kerosene, railroad material, saddlery, shookd and bags. Commerce is in a very healthy condition and shows a steady increase. In 1867 the imports were $1,900,000, and the exports $1,600,000; in 1897 they were $7,000,000 and $16,000,000, an increase of more than 700 per cent. Upon the basis of a population of 100,000 this would give a per capita commerce of $236 per year, which is nearly ten times as great as the corresponding figures in the United States. It cannot be said that the social and industrial conditions of Hawaii are commendable from an American point of view. They represent a plutocratic organization totally at variance with American institutions. More than one-half the population consists of contract laborers, and of the remainder a large number are day laborers. The latest report of the secretary of the Bureau of Immigration, December 31, 1897, shows that upon the plantations there are 1,497 Hawaiians, 2,218 Portuguese, 12,068 Japanese, 8,114 Chinese, 81 Polynesians, and 675 others, giving a total of 24,653. If to this large number be added their wives, their mistresses, concubines and children, the total is 40,000, for whom there is little or no hope of ever rising above their present conditions. Of the remainder as many more are small farmers, servants, city laborers, dock hands, boatmen and fishermen. Three-fourths of the land is owned by capitalists or rich corporations, and nearly all the fields of commerce are in their control, if not ownership. The result C a m ~.... --- 7~ 5 5 55 I '- -6` ( I I I I A\iNLJI E 1 l ^~1 di.1|W 1 I Nili ~ ii i i~~ i ~~'l~i.;~. a' LI lD ~ Cn l~P~`k7~~l I ~ 9 ~~~~1.~~-,;~R YAL PAL AVENU AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 61 is the enrichment of a small circle of able men and the perpetual poverty of at least nine-tenths of the population. Before annexation contract labor was not allowed, but encouraged by the Hawaiian law, Chinese, Japanese and others were brought from their native lands on long-time contracts, and if they refused to work or idled or shirked, they could be beaten by their employers, locked up or otherwise punished. During the term of the contract their condition was but little better than slavery. After their contract expired they could become day laborers upon the plantations at about the same pay, or else they could start some little business of their own, as the case might be. In regard to opportunities there are very few, so far as the sugar world is concerned. Nearly all of the available land is now owned or controlled by a few wealthy merchants, and it would not pay any one to enter the same business without a large estate and a complete plant. Neither can any American afford to compete with an Asiatic in field labor. While the sugar industry will continue to grow, the growth will be slower now from year to year, especially if importation from the Philippines is encouraged by the Washington authorities. There is a small future for the preservation and canning of tropical fruits, more particularly the pineapple, guava, mango, lichee and mangosteen. The distillation of essential Qils and the manufacture of perfumes and toilet waters seem to offer a fair future to a business man. There will be a very profitable opportunity for all industries related to ocean 62 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. navigation, including ship and boat building, floating and graving docks, ship stores and supplies, coal and oil, boiler works and machine shops, foundries and forges, ropes, cables and chains. There will be a small field for those industries which supply luxuries or expensive necessities. This will include electrical engineering and manufacture, the decoration of buildings, external and internal, the working of iron for architectural and similar purposes, fine upholstering and cabinet work, carriage making and repairing, and the raising of live stock, poultry, and fine vegetables for hotels, steamships and well-to-do people. There will be many clerkships to fill, so that a slow exodus of young men from the United States and Canada may be predicted. The territory is so rich in its food resources that it will stand a population four times larger than what now exists. Life being easier and cheaper it will necessarily attract many who are unable to withstand the higher pressure and expense of American cities. Most important of all will be the popularity of the islands as a health resort. At the present time there is only one drawback, and that is the mosquito; but even in the worst districts and season that unpleasant insect is never so offensive in Hawaii as in many parts of the United States. Besides this, it will be comparatively easy to exterminate the pest in a few years altogether. The natural drainage favors the process and a liberal use of crude petroleum upon the flat fields, where the rains accumulate, will soon put an end to the mosquito's career. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 63 The history of the islands has been uneventful. They seem to have been peopled by a Polynesian race in some very early period, and to have been invaded by ancestors of the present natives between the tenth and the sixteenth centuries. In the sixteenth century they were seen by a Spanish navigator, named Gaetano, and by one or two other sea captains. They were mapped by some Spanish cartographer some years after that time, but in so vague and inaccurate a manner as to show that the discovery was not appreciated by either the navigators or the geographers. The date of this discovery is given variously as 1542 and 1555. As Gaetano was in these seas between 1540 and 1563 or 1564, the discrepancy is of no particular significance. The natives have a legend that a ship, manned by white men, was once wrecked upon one of the islands, and that the captain and two ladies were saved from drowning by the islanders. The people became friendly and finally married into the natives, and their descendants were known as late as the time of King Kamehameha. The true discovery of the islands was made January 18, 17.78, when an English navigator, Captain James Cook, who was on his way to Tahiti, came to the island of Kauai, and afterward the other members of the group. At the time of Captain Cook each island appears to have had its own little king or chief. They had a rather complex social system, in which there were class if not caste demarcations. In 1796 a strife arose among the various sxb-chiefs in the Island of Hawaii as to 64 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. who should fill the throne of King Kalaniopuu, who ruled the place during Cook's visit. These tribal wars were fought with great bravery, even ferocity, and resulted in the uplifting of Kamehameha, chief of the Kona district, on the Island of Hawaii. This famous character was not only very intelligent, strong, brave and ambitious, but he appeared to have a genius for fighting and warfare. One of his first actions was to enlist sixteen foreigners, armed with muskets, in his army, and to secure two or three cannon. He made himself master of Hawaii, and reorganizing his army and making new sub-chiefs, he passed over to Maui in a great fleet of small boats. He met the king of the latter island, defeated him, and slaughtered hundreds of his warriors. The people of Maui retired to the strongholds of the mountains, raised another army and also a navy. Kamehameha reinforced his own army and secured some American schooners with which to strengthen his navy. There was a great battle on the sea, and Kamehameha was again triumphant. The following year, with a much larger army, he invaded Oahu and beat the king of that land somewhere near Wai Ki Ki, and drove the defeated army up the valley of Nuuanu and over the precipices of the Pali. Thus he went from island to island up to 1810, when the King of Kauai, seeing the futility of resistance, submitted to the conqueror. Kamehameha proclaimed himself King of Hawaii, and has been known ever since as Kamehameha I. Christianity was introduced March 30, 1820, by seven AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 65 noble men from the American Board of Foreign Missions. These consisted of Hiram Bingham, Asa Thurs. ton, Samuel Whitney, Samuel Ruggles, Dr. Thomas Holman, Elisha Loomis, and Daniel Chamberlain. King Kamehamea I. was succeeded by his sons, Kamehameha II. and Kamehameha III. The lines of descent in the Hawaiian jurisprudence are very extraordinary, depending chiefly upon the female and not the male side of the house. Kamehameha IV. and Kamamehameha V. were the sons of Kinau, daughter of Kamehameha I. Kamehameha V. died in 1872, and was succeeded by William Lunalilo, who was the highest of all the Hawaiian chiefs. He was succeeded by David Kalakaua, better known to American readers under the soubriquet, given to him by sailors, of "King Calico." King Kalakaua died in San Francisco in 1891, and was succeeded by his sister, Queen Liliuokalani. Her reign was the most troublous in the history of the kingdom. As a queen she was a curious mixture of good and bad qualities. She was affectionate, kind and generous on the one side, irascible and cruel upon the other. She believed in the manners, accomplishments and amenities of Western life, but in the autocratic rule of her savage ancestors. Within a month after her proclamation she dismissed her cabinet and appointed a new one of her own selection, in which she seems to have been guided purely by personal feelings and not by the least regard for the interests of her people. This cabinet was corrupt, selfish and inefficient. 66 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Protests were made against it in the press and in private conversations of merchants. The result was the arrest of eighteen prominent citizens, chiefly of American birth or descent, on thecharge of conspiracy and treason. In September, 1892, a new cabinet was appointed. In November still another cabinet was appointed. A week afterward the same change again occurred. In January, 1893, the cabinet was again voted out of office. The next day the queen appointed a new cabinet of her own personal friends. On January 14th the queen attempted to abrogate the constitution and proclaim a new one, giving her much larger powers. The same day the citizens of Honolulu organized a Committee of Safety. On January 16th the committee held a mass meeting, and that evening a squad of marines from the United States man-of-war Boston landed. The next day the Committee of Safety abrogated the monarchical system of government, and established a provisional government in its stead. On February 1, 1893, Minister Stevens proclaimed a United States protectorate over Hawaii, and the American flag was hoisted over the government buldings. On February 14th an annexation treaty was sent to the senate by President Harrison. On March 9th President Cleveland withdrew the treaty from the senate. On April 1, 1893, Commissioner Blount ordered the Stars and Stripes to be lowered and the naval forces to return to their ships. On November 4th Minister Willis arrived, accredited to open negotiations with Queen Liliuokalani, with the object of restoring AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS, 67 her to the throne. On November 25th the citizens of Honolulu held a mass meeting, protesting against the president's action. On December 19th Mr. Willis submitted to the Hawaiian Provisional Government a statement that President Cleveland proposed to arbitrate in the matter, and recommended the Hawaiians to restore to the queen her former authority. On December 23d President Dole replied to Minister Willis, declining to accede, and denying any right on the part of President Cleveland to act in Hawaiian affairs. On May 30th a constitutional convention was held at Honolulu, which held session until July 3d. On July 4, 1894, President Dole issued a declaration of the new Republic of Hawaii. The royalists during the fall elaborated a conspiracy and imported arms and ammunition, which were smuggled ashore not far from Honolulu. On January 6, 1895, there was an uprising of royalists and an exchange of shots. The next day there was a battle, in which the royalists were defeated and thirtythree taken prisoners. January 9th there was another battle, in which the rebels were dispersed. January 16th the queen was arrested, and on January 17th a military commission was appointed to try those implicated in the insurrection. On January 24th Liliuokalani signed and gave in her abdication and took the oath of allegiance to the new Republic. On February 27th the queen was found guilty of treason and placed in constructive custody. On September 6th she was released from all custody, but prohibited from going beyond cer 68 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. tain points. On February 7th all restrictions of the queen were removed. On June 16, 1897, a new annexation treaty was negotiated at Washington. On September 8th the senate ratified the treaty of annexation. On March 16, 1898, the treaty was withdrawn from the senate. On May 5th an annexation joint resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives, which passed it on June 15th by a vote of 209 to 91. The senate confirmed the same on July 6th by a vote of 42 to 21, and on July 7th it was signed by President McKinley. The man-of-war Philadelphia was sent to Honolulu to carry out the annexation and transfer, and on August 12th the Hawaiian flag was hauled down, and the Stars and Stripes hoisted upon the government buildings of Honolulu. At present Hawaii is under a military government, and is attached to the military district of California. Whether it will be made into a separate Territory or whether it will be joined to the State of California, is a question for the future to decide. Both courses have warm advocates, and neither has any pronounced enemies. In the many months which have elapsed since Hawaii became a part of the great Republic, its prosperity has been greater than ever before. So far as the official records go, every industry is busier than ever. In every island there have been improvements of various kinds; there has been a steady flow of desirable immigrants from the United States, Canada, the Portuguese Islands in the Atlantic, and Japan. Railroad and telegraph enterprises have been AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS.. 69 started upon a firm financial basis. and an ocean cable has been arranged for which will connect the islands with the American continent on the one side and the Asian on the others What Malta is to the Mediterranean Hawaii will be to the Pacific. Strategically it is the greatest possible protection of our Pacific Coast from naval attacks by any European power, excepting Great Britain. In this respect it is worth an entire squadron of battleships and armored cruisers. Its greatest value, however, is that it is a stepping-stone from the West to the far East. Trade and commerce across the Pacific are soon to be as large as across the Atlantic, and in this growth Hawaii will be indispensable to the argosies and the merchants of the world. 70 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER V. PORTO RICO-THE CARIB EDEN. PORTO RICO, the smallest member of the Greater Antilles, lies southeast of Florida, facing the Atlantic on the north and the Caribbean on the south. The West Indies may be likened to a letter L, of which the longer side runs east and west, and consists of the Greater Antilles, and the short side north and south, / consisting of the Lesser Antilles. Anguilla, or Snake Island, is the point of the angle, St. Thomas and Porto Rico the next places on the longer leg. If it be measured from its eastern most points on Culebra Island its site is geographically 65~ 20' west longitude, and 17~ 50' north latitude. This makes it further east than Quoddy Head in Maine, and a little south of the latitude of the Hawaiian Archipelago. If on a line running north and south the limit latitudes of Alaska, the Aleutians, the United States, including Key West, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the Philippines be set down, it would be seen that Porto Rico fills up the gap in the line ranging almost all the way from the Equator to the North Pole. The late war with Spain transformed the Columbian WATERING A MULEA TEAM IN PORTO RICE. W. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. ~ I g l l I 1 I I 1ils I g 0 I II 1 i -- -;-E M. i I ~ ~ i~~ I | IX S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,: I I = I ma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. fS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 1 Republic into a tropical as well as a northern civilization! The Antilles are well named. The word is the plural of Antilla, which was the name of a mythical island belonging to the same geography as Atlantis, Eutopia and Avalon. Antilla was a land where snow never fell, where there were no wild beasts, where the trees were full of fruits and birds, and the fields of flowers and peaceful creatures, where a summer sea lapped the beach, and balmy breezes carried ease and comfort to every sojourner; where every landscape was of infinite beauty and where nature showed only her kindly aspect to the children of men. Porto Rico is one of the few lands of which this description holds good. It is a small territory about 96 miles long and 35 broad, with an area of about 3,600 square miles. If to the island proper be added Culebra and Vieques, the district is 135 miles long and 42 miles wide. It is 960 miles away from Florida, 1,200 from Panama, 1,400 from Nicaragua, 1,580 miles from New York, 3,000 from Spain, 24 miles from San Domingo, 450 from the eastern point of Cuba, and 14 or 40 from St. Thomas, according to whether the measurement is taken from Porto Rico proper or from Culebra. It is the strategic key of the West Indies. In its harbors a fleet could await in safety and comfort the approach of a hostile squadron from Europe, and intercept it before it could replenish its stock of coal, water and provisions. At the same time its harbors are so strong naturally that a few modern forts, equipped AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. with high power guns, could hold off the largest fleet for an indefinite period. What with San Juan, the capital, upon the north coast, and Ponce, the metropolis upon the south, it occupies a wonderful coign of vantage in what may be termed commercial strategy. No other island owned by European powers, with the exception of Jamaica, can be compared with it in mercantile potentialities and probabilities. On the southern side it commands the Caribbean, and in case of necessity would enable an American force to descend upon Guiana, Venezuela, Colombia or Central America, without a word of warning of its approach. The insular possibilities have been, developed, though to a small extent. Porto Rico, even under its former rule, enjoyed a large commerce with the other West Indies, the North and South American continents, and with Europe. It was connected with the United States by two regular lines of steamers and with Europe by four. With Cuba it had almost daily communication, and with San Domingo, St. Thomas, Jamaica, the French and Dutch Islands, steamers not less than three times a week. It is evident that this commerce, large indeed for so small an island, will increase rapidly during the next decade. The island forms a part of an axis of upheaval, of which Cuba is the eastern end, and Hayti-San Domingo the middle part. The land which composes these three big islands rises precipitously from the sea. In long past ages, the shores must have been steep, and AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. in many cases nearly vertical, but the wearing of the waves, the growth of coral and the coral rock, the erosion of rains and streams and the destructive influence of vegetation, have changed this condition very noticeably. They have formed alluvial plains, marshes, lagoons, coral reefs and coral beaches, and so changed what must have been in the beginning a savage and rocky mountain landscape, sharply defined upon the bosom of the sea, into rounded hills, fertile plains, romantic gorges, coral spits, sandy shoals and salt marshes. This process is going on very rapidly and, according to the naval authorities who have made soundings in the adjacent waters, -it has been helped by the silt brought down by the Mississippi from the Northern continent and the Orinoco from the Southern. While the Porto Rican harbors are silting up the shore line is being moved by the same process further out into the sea. At Ponce it is possible, by the building of a few breakwaters, to reclaim several miles of land now submerged by the Caribbean, and to create an artificial harbor of large capacity at a comparatively small cost. This growth is toward the east and south. On the north the ocean currents are too swift to permit the deposition of any perceptible amount of silt or detritus. The only extension of the shore line is accomplished by the upbuilding of the coral reefs and the filling in of the space between them and the shore. On the west the tides and currents of the Mona passage scour that 14 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. channel and will probably keep it clean, as far as can be foreseen. On the south the silting process goes on without any large interference by ocean currents, and on the east the corals and the silt are working together in happy harmony. The Virgin passage serves for the tide-flow, so that one is justified in looking forward to a time when the eastern shore of Porto Rico will extend out to and include Culebra and Vieques, and the Cordillera reef will be a part of the northern coast line. The wearing down of the primitive mountain range has not destroyed the original character of the territory. It is still hilly, and through the central districts mountainous, but the mountains are rounded off and the hills smoothed down into sweeping and curving sides, which permit the husbandmen to cultivate the soil from the valley to nearly the final peak of the highest prominences. It is this peculiarity which makes the Porto Rican landscape so beautiful. It has the grandeur of all mountain effects, but not the savage and cruel expression which marks the sharp-cut and angular contours of mountains in colder climes. The angles are replaced by flowing curves, and hard and harsh surfaces by green slopes, waving underbrush and jungle, and tall and stately trees of every type. From the sea there is always a succession of waves in green growing higher and higher as the glance moves further away, until they culminate in bluish mountains upon the distant horizon. The steepest rocks and the wildest chasms are so upholstered in mosses and vines, in plants clinging to / AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. -5 niches high up in air that the eye is never fatigued nor the mind oppressed by the monotony of dead stone walls or jagged rocky surfaces. No small territory in the western world displays such a variety of surface. In the western districts one can see the salt marsh where the sea is slowly being reclaimed into habitable land and the fresh marsh broken by hummocks, tangled thickets and rounded green islands rising above the level of the marsh grass. The damp meadow is another step forward in the chain of progress, where cattle graze and where here and there the farmer can raise fruits and vegetables from the soil. Next is the typical tropical meadow, then the level farm, then the hillside garden, then the terrace, and then the cultivated slope. On the northern side in Arecibo province is a limestone district, more specialized and characteristic than those of Virginia and Kentucky. Here are sharp gorges and deep sinkholes, gloomy caves and magnificent caverns, decorated with stalactites and stalagmites or incrusted with glittering crystals of calcspar. At one point there is a lime spring which whitens the soil about it and leaves a tell tale mark of where its waters flow. At another is a hot spring where the natives repair in search of health and where the poor Caribs years ago found a remedy for their ailments. In the eastern district, you run across outcroppings of sedimentary and stratified rocks, and in the chasms and valleys and river beds bowlders, gravel, sand and silt, which have been torn by rain and wind from rocks high up on the valley side or from hills far away. i6 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Nearly everywhere the years have clothed the rocks with a thick rich red soil, which supports vegetation with a princely generosity. The same changing character marks the vegetation. Near the cities are kitchen gardens and flower gardens, further away are sugarcane fields and maize plantations, tobacco and coffee farms. Then come long reaches of underbrush, which at some points is as thick as the Indian jungle, and again are wide expanses of virgin forest, where the trees are so close together and the foliage so thick as to make perpetual gloom even at midday. The Spaniards have a love for nature and appreciate the beauty and utility of trees. They are wiser in this respect than the citizens of many parts of the great Republic. Every garden in Porto Rico and every road is dotted with some beautiful representative of the forest. It may be a fragrant cedar or a stately palm, a stocky guava or a grateful coffee tree, a slender cocoanut or a sightly palmetto, a huge gum tree or a chinchona, a gnarled and clumsy logwood and a towering ciba, a fairylike bamboo or a rugged bread fruit. The botanical lists show more than a thousand varieties of useful or beautiful vegetable forms, and of others the list is probably longer. Porto Rico was originally a colony of Spain, but for the simplification of administration it was converted, at least 'nominally, into a province of the home country with direct representation in the Cortes. The change was but nominal, as the government went on just about the same under provincial as under colonial rule. San AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 77 Juan Baptisto was the capital, and the territory was divided into eight departments. Two of these, Bayamon and Arecibo, were on the north coast; two, Aguadilla and Mayaguez, were on the west; two, Ponce and Guayama, were on the south; and one, Humacao, on the east. The eighth was the Isle of Vieques, of which Isabel Segunda is the capital. Of these, Humacao is probably the roughest in its topography, and Ponce the most level. The leading products of the eight districts are as follows: Bayamon, sugar, cattle, hides, lumberi and cabinet woods, fruits, a little coffee and dyewoods; Arecibo, sugar, tobacco, coffee, cigars, fine cattle, hides and skins; Aguadilla, sugar, molasses, rum, coffee, cocoanut, copra and fruits; Mayaguez, coffee, honey, bees-wax, cocoanuts, sugar, fruits, chocolate, drugs and spices; Ponce, sugar, coffee, tobacco, maize and woods; Guayama, cattle, sheep, goats, sugar, coffee; Humacao, sugar, cattle, sheep, horses, hides, skins, woods and fruits; Vieques, a few cattle and agricultural products. Originally each of the seven provinces had for its provincial capital and metropolis a city of the same name. This holds true to-day with the exception of Bayamon, of which San Juan is the capital, instead of the city of Bayamon. The harbors are few and have not been improved by their owners. On the north coast the best is that of San Juan, which has five fathoms of water over its bar at low tide. Arecibo has really no harbor at all, vessels being compelled to anchor in the roadstead, and cargo being discharged and taken by ?8 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. lighters, which reach the shore by means of a small river. AguadilIa and Mayaguez use the roadstead the same as Arecibo; Ponce has a miserable little harbor; Guayama has none, and Humacao is hardly worthy of mention. There are, however, several fine harbors which could be utilized without excessive trouble and expense. The Bay of Jobos could scarcely be improved upon. Guayanilla is another excellent bay. Guanica could be easily converted into a splendid harbor. The roads of Porto Rico upon the Spanish maps run everywhere, and are of the best class. This is what the Spanish officials intended, and promised both the public and their own consciences. They started carrying their plans into execution and here and there did excellent work. Thus the routes from Ponce to Adjuntas, from Ponce to Yauco, and from Ponce to Coamo, merit high praise. Large parts are macadamized or telfordized; the bridges are substantial and well-built structures of stone and iron. The hill-cuttings are well designed and executed, the viaducts display sound engineering, and the sewering and drainage of the roads in districts where they are liable to be injured by water is in the main commendable, but the good roads and even the passable roads are but a small fraction of all the roads. The most important thoroughfare of the island is the one which crosses more or less north and south from Ponce to San Juan. It taps a number of important communities, including Juaa Diaz, Coamo, Aibonito, Cidra and Aguas ,,,,,, ~xs i-x(l I~~''I" ~P~ I~ " "; "i ~~ i~.~ ai W;o ~I' g;r ~8c ~~U; I; X8,"5 8;,,i ii. I ~,;, 111 I, ~~,a ~iPi II.i.;b ~iBri, ~II.~~i itii~ -Iri li~~,~ "~,~ ',rE: ~~8~ ~~i; 1 liB,1,:ii i —i O.,,,,,~,i,,~,,,, I -~I ii,, EI[II ~'" :~,,, t r,, ..i. i,l"""' sr.I iilllll di~, "ir rrl;I~;~~ii~~,:, 'l"~~lili;: ~e ~r:;.,,-li~~ i;tl~ ~Aitli ~~;rl ,i.,,,,,, I;rr n~~ """ ~r;,;;irZ: ~~~~ i~,~xrr i' I i"ii~~~:' ~~~';,, ea: i~~i"B ~illl,~il~~'~;. ~s, ~i~i rli ac: s~ii "' ~iC'1'""""' l!i 15Eil:~~~ ]18111:,,,,,;, ria-i~rCZ Pli, sC" " "; ~i 108i811:~~'~l'n; ~il _~~i;~;,,~~~;~i~ alii:,~~~:$RI;~B sl* iUii r I~: ~~~85^;;~-1BEliE~ ~-* ~ ~68.. ~B:i, d?~ ~~.., 'Li~ -)h li~ ..i. i.. ri li~ n~~~;-~ _ii..~.. 1~.~ ~ ~.i. P;i ~21 `iiPis ' ~II; I~~:',,:;~~II x, 1~~ " : *r 'C"I~.I i;l~i~rzEl is~~~~,;; a:,,:i~~ ixi ~~ r;sii ~~::I~ g;I"i"l~~,g sr...s:s~..~~~t Iii r e AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 79 Buenas. Yet even this road is still unfinished, and one of the incidents of the late war with Spain was its improvement and extension by the American soldiery, and the utter amazement of both Spaniards and Porto' Ricans at the sight of soldiers performing labor upon the public thoroughfare. No attempt has been made to make air-line routes and so save time and labor. The roads follow the rivers and the outlines of the hills, and frequently take twenty miles, as the Irishman would say, in going ten. Thus although it is scarcely 90 miles as the crow flies from Guayama to Aguadilla, the shortest road is 140 miles long. It is about 65 miles between San German and San Juan, and the road requires 115. In many cases the thoroughfares are mere paths, and sometimes rocky slides. Probably the worst road in the world is that between Mayaguez and Las Marias. It is less than ten miles, and it is so steep and gullied that it takes a team of horses more than six hours to make the journey, and in the rainy season the time required is often nine and twelve hours. During the rainy season one-half of the roads of the island are impassable. They become quagmires, into which a horse will sink to the girth and at points vanish altogether in a pool of reddish ooze. As a matter of fact the people are so accustomed to the shocking condition that they depend more upon water communication than upon land locomotion. The small coasters run from port to port, and trim little sloops and schooners are a feature of every coast community. The substitute is not unpleasant.' Both the 80 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Atlantic and the Caribbean are delightfully calm and smooth around Porto Rico. The only danger of magnitude is during the tornado season, and this bodeful storm almost invariably gives twenty-four hours' notice of its coming by the barometer. In addition the WestIndies are well knit together by telegraph and cable, and the authorities of every nation in that part of the world make it a special duty to transmit at the earliest moment the news of the birth and the progress of one of these revolving tempests. It may be noted at this point that the mountainous conformation of Porto Rico protects it to an astonishing extent from these storms. They come over the Caribbean or from the Lesser Antilles, and while they often do considerable damage in Humacao and Southern Guayama, it is rare that they injure the other five provinces to any appreciable extent. This physical peculiarity is shown in the social and industrial conditions. Humacao and Southern Guayama are the least populous and prosperous of the provinces of the island. At points there are buildings going to ruin or in ruin, through their owners having been frightened away by the tornadoes. Such places as Fajardo, Naguabo, Ceira, Yabucoa and Maunabo, are scarcely any larger or more important than they were a hundred years ago. The population is not less than 800,000, nor more than 900,000; it has been estimated by the officials to be 820,000. The consuls, who are usually better authorities, however, than the Spanish officials in such matters, estimate it at 830,000. Of these 330,000 are AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 81 of colored or mixed blood. This statement must not be understood the same as if it were made in regard to a Southern State or community. The Spaniards have little or no race prejudice. A Porto Rican may marry a quadroon, mulattress, or negress, without losing social caste whatever. The process of amalgamation has gone on since Ponce de Leon landed upon the island and took unto himself a Carib concubine. At first the race blending was between the Spaniards and the Caribs. Nearly all of the conquestadores followed the ancient practice of dividing the young women captives among their soldiers, and although the good monks and brothers who accompanied the expeditions endeavored to have the relations sanctified by the marriage ceremony, it was not for some years that this was done upon a noticeable scale. The blending between the white and the red, legitimate and illegitimate, went on through at least one-half of the sixteenth century. It ended only because there were no more Carib maidens to be captured on Porto Rico or the other islands. The descendants of these unions must be very numerous, and in fact some students have declared that there is Carib blood in at least one-half of all the families on the island which have been there more than two hundred years. As Carib labor grew scarce the rich mine owners of Hispaniola, which is the former name of Hayti-San Domingo, and the planters of Porto Rico began to purchase and afterward to import African slaves. Although the slaves were of a lower type than the Caribs, the Spaniards apparently admired them equally well: 82 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. The amalgamation with the Africans started almost as soon as slave women and girls were brought over from Guinea. Along with the blending of white and blacl there was another of black and red, and a third of black, white and red. To-day it is very difficult to determine the race purity of any Porto Rican of ancient descent. The census classification is based entirely upon the color of the skin, and not upon the features, the skull, the hair, the finger-nails, or the relation of the bones of the feet to those of the ankle and leg. Nearly all of the Jibaros, who are peasant farmers, are of mixed ancestry, but each claims to be of a pure Castilian or else Carib origin. Yet nearly all are included among the whites. As if to add to the composite character of the population, the Madrid authorities in the old years supplied the labor market with other types. Among these were renegade Jews, or recalcitrant Jews, Moors and Moriscoes, Canary Islanders, Algerian, Moroccan, Turkish and other Mohammedan captives and criminals or heretics. This racial variety is best seen in the shape and proportion of Porto Rico heads, male and female. They range all the way from the oval face and dolichocephalous skulls of the old Visi-Gothic conquerors of Spain to the square, flat face, flattened nose, narrow eyes and brachycephalous skull of the low Ethiopian. Taking these facts into consideration, competent observers have asserted that not more than four hundred thousand Porto Ricans are of pure Castilian or even Indo-European blood. Some have gone so far as to make it a hundred thousand, and all the rest mixtures AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 83 and blends of varying proportion. The matter has not been helped by a low sexual morality, which began with the conquest of the country, prevailed up to 1850, and prevails to a pitiably large extent to-day. The Church records would be funny, if they were not pathetic and tragic. At the present time it is not uncommon for Porto Ricans, especially Jibaros, to live with two and even three women in true patriarchal style. It should be said, however, that while the men have been very immoral, the women have been very moral, making due allowance for existing conditions. It has been common for a man to have two establishments, or to have two or three marital partners in the same establishment. On the other hand it has been very rare that a woman has been guilty of infidelity to her polygamous lord. This has been the case with the concubine as well as the wife, and in its own way it is a compliment to the women of the island. To an American visitor it is as shocking as it is surprising to enter a native household and find two sets of children, one white and the other mulatto, playing together, living together, cared for by their respective mothers, and yet calling the same man father. It would occasion no astonishment in a Mohammedan country because such things are a part of the Moslem civilization; but in a Christian land it strikes one for a moment with a feeling of hopelessness as to the moral elevation of the race. Owing no doubt to the low morality, as well as to the warm and enervating climate, there is a 84 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. certain immodesty throughout Porto Rico which makes a Northerner somewhat ill at ease for a week or so. Children play around absolutely nude. Lusty boys of seven and eight, pretty little girls of six and seven, wander about as did Adam and Eve in Eden; Jibaras lounge in their doorways with a single thin garment about them, so unfastened and opened as to disclose a large part of the anatomy within, the remainder being half-visible through the flimsy fabric of the dress. Well-to-do and well-bred women go about their houses in the morning with a light wrapper and a pair of slip pers, a costume well calculated to reveal every physical peculiarity. The American officers now — in charge are endeavoring to introduce a reform in this respect, and have succeeded in inducing a few thousand parents to put some raiment upon children between three and nine years of age. How far the experiment will prevail is a nice question. It is but fair to state that, in other respects, the Porto Ricans are remarkably good and moral people. Although the use of wine is universal, drunkenness is exceedingly rare. Assaults, cruelty, wife-beating, are almost unknown, and good order prevails in every community. The people are notably polite, thoughtful and considerate. Their family life is beautiful, and is marked by a deep affection and a sunny self-sacrifice seldom witnessed in American or English homes. The father may be a millionaire, the son the honor man of a university, and the grandfather old, poor and but hblf-educated, but in every cae it will be the grand AMERICA'S NEW POSSSiONS. 85 father who is the head of the family, and in every case he will receive the respect, the obedience and the filial affection found in colder climates only among the little children. It is the same on the mother's side. The grandmother is the head of the family. She dresses in bright-colored silks and laces. She uses a little rouge, she sings, plays some musical instrument, dances, tells stories, engages in cards, and is the youngest among the young. When the family breaks up in the evening everybody kisses everybody else good-night, and an atmosphere of love and kindness seems to pervade every home. In their business relations they are slow and somewhat indolent, but absolutely honest. Their tradesmen are exceedingly courteous, almost obsequious; their professional men urbane and dignified to the last degree. They are conventional in some respects, but natural in most of their actions. - They are hospitable and generous to a fault. The poorest home keeps an open door for all relatives, neighbors and friends. Commercially Porto Rico is of great importance. Its average imports during the present decade have been about $17,500,000 and its average exports $16,500,000, making a total of about $34,000,000. On a basis of a population of 800,000 this would give a per capita share of $42, a larger amount than that of the average Briton, Frenchman, German or American. Of this one-seventh is with the United States, and three-sevenths with Spain. Cuba was third and Germany, Great Britain and France together had one-fourth. Of this commerce at so AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. least two-thirds should belong to the United States. Former conditions were almost entirely artificial, having been created by Spanish laws, regulations and customs. Thus at least one-half of the articles sent from Spain to Porto Rico were obtained by that country in the beginning from the United States. Through discriminating tariffs it was cheaper for many years to send flour, wheat, corn meal, hams, bacon, dried beef and salt codfish from the United States to Barcelona, and thence back again across the Atlantic to Ponce or San Juan, than it was to send them direct. Other goods went from European countries under special tariff rules into Spain, and were thence forwarded to Porto Rico, a prohibitive tariff preventing manufacturers and merchants from any competition in the premises. A careful scrutiny of the imports of the island will show where it is possible for Americans to increase their trade with the new colony. This can be done in respect to cereals, provisions, codfish, mackerel, herring, salmon, sturgeon, oatmeal, cerealine, flaked wheat, buckwheat, extract of beef, fresh vegetables, northern fruits, electrical, steam, and other machinery, agricultural implements, boots and shoes, leather goods, ready-made houses, clocks, watches, bicycles, baby carriages, vehicles, good road horses, railroad equipments, trolley furnishings, belting and shafting, hardware, petroleum products, cheap lamps, and articles of personal wear. For men with capital there are a number of opportunities for profitable investment. Among these may be mentioned trolley roads, ice machines, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 87 steam railroads, land improvement companies, wharf, pier and dock building corporations, improved sugar refineries, coffee establishments (where the grains can be dried, cleaned, sorted and bagged by machinery, and if necessary roasted, glazed, weighed and put into packages), hotels, mineral water concerns, drug stores, book stores, winter resorts, brickyards, terra cotta works, fruit canneries and small coasting steamers. At the present time, when we are exporting cattle from the Western plains, one or two thousand miles by land and a thousand by water to Cuba, a good business could be developed by raising cattle in the Porto Rican hill country, and sending them to Santiago, Nuevitas, Manzanillo and other eastern and southern ports in the Pearl of the Antilles. I do not share the feeling that the exports of Porto Rico can be very largely increased. While 800,000 is not a great population for a State, it is for a mountainous island, containing not more than 3,600 square miles. It is denser than that of Massachusetts, but not so dense as that of Rhode Island. So far as the soil is concerned, not more than twenty-five per cent. of that not in use can be put to profitable employment. The chief improvements to be effected are in methods. Agriculture can be made scientific, manufactures can be raised from their present primitive condition, and the waste occasioned by poor tools, bad roads, insufficient commercial facilities, can be done away with. But all this will take a long time and a heavy outlay. Tens of years of progress would not increase the out 88 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. put of the island more than fifty per cent. The chief field therefore for American enterprise is in large investments, such as those described, in transferring the trade with Spain and European countries to the United States, and in establishing American methods and systems, which find their profit by reducing or minimizing the waste and the unnecessary cost of old-fashioned modes of procedure. The Porto Rican habitations are of but few kinds-those of the simplest. The older houses in the cities are of the Spanish or Moorish type, with small windows, wide and windy verandas, a courtyard or quadrangle in the middle, called a patio, and heavy walls to shut out the heat of the summer afternoon. The newer houses in the cities, and two-thirds of those in the suburbs, are more or less of the bungalow style, made with wide verandas, low ceilings, projecting roofs, and covered with vines and vegetation. For the tropics this style of building makes an ideal home. Here and there are specimens of that curious architecture found upon the China coast and in many of the cities of Hindustan. It is a one or two-story building with thick walls in brick or stone, with verandas wide on all sides. The verandas. themselves are shut in by strong arches so as to suggest a section of the medieval cloister. The rooms within are large and high-ceilinged, and the windows are so arranged as to be doors whenever desired. This style of construction combines the good points of both the Moorish casa and the bungalow, and, taken all in all, is the best possible for climates ranging from the equator up to thirty north or south latitude, OI U 2 liC CC3 _-, i:i:irx:i:~,::i:::::~::rx I j dir. r.Isair ~~ e'. ~I ~.,I c r iii AMERICA'S NEW. POSSESSIONS. 89 The working people and the peasantry live in huts, hovels, cabins, or thatched cottages. Among these buildings there is a bewildering variety and not a single attraction. Many of them have only one room, which is used alike for sleeping, eating, cooking and bathing. Not that there is much bathing in Porto Rico. Bathrooms are exceedingly rare, and,bathtubs are regarded as a symptom of Anglo-Saxon insanity. The very wealthy have little bath-houses in the gardens, just as the Moors did in the days of the Abencerrages, but these are luxuries and belong only to the rich. There are bathhouses where the public can perform ablutions for a few cents, and these add considerably to the health and comfort of the populace. Under the circumstances the reader will not wonder at the rarity and scarcity of soap, especially in the rural districts. The climate is hot and a large part of the year quite moist. It is remarkably healthful, especially for a country lying within the tropics. The temperature varies greatly according to the altitude, the elevations of two and three thousand feet being frequently ten and fifteen degrees cooler than the low-lying meadow district. This difference at one or two places is even more marked. Between Ponce and Juana Diaz, on the one side, and the upper part of Yunque, the difference is sometimes thirty-five degrees. The mountain and hill districts are rendered still cooler by the large number of running streams and the active growth of vegetation. Even in northern latitudes the refreshing coolness of a forest is proverbial. It is due of course to the shadow, 90 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. and to the slow and uniform evaporation of water which the trees convey from the soil to the ends of the pores in the leaves and buds. In tropical forests this action is much more extensive and its effects more perceptible. A livelyrsea breeze, blowing through a Porto Rican forest on a hillside in July or August, makes a traveler feel as if he were in a New England meadow in the month of May. Of course it is hotter, as a matter of truth, but the sensation, the comfort and delight are the same. In most tropical countries the seasons are divided into wet and dry. This does not apply with accuracy to Porto Rico. The side exposed to the Atlantic receives much more rain than the Caribbean side. On the northern coast it will sometimes rain every day of the year, while on the southern coast there may be many clouds and little or no rains for a long time. This is due to the mountain chain running east and west. The clouds charged with aqueous vapor coming over the Carribbean do not cool enough to precipitate the water until they reach the mountains. Here beside meeting the land they also touch a colder current of air moving upward from the land on the northern side of the elevation. Rain is the immediate result, which continues far over the island into the Atlantic. On the east coast there is more regularity, as is also the case on the west coast. With these qualifications it may be said that the year shows about the following sequence: January, dry, cool and bracing; February, the same but a trifle warmer; March, the same but a trifle warmer and windier; April, warmer and a little AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. 91 rain;- May, heavy rains, occasional hot spells, and a good deal of steam from the ground. June and July warm in the day time. quite calm, rather dry and very beautiful The air is extraordinarily pure at this season, and the nights deliciously cool. In August the heat and discomfort reach a maximum, and even the nights are unpleasant. During this month there are heavy clouds, occasional rains, and now and then fear-inspiring tornadoes. September may be called the rubber-boot month. It pours every day, and the country at times looks like a huge lake. October sees the thermometer fall rapidly, and the rains grow less in volume and duration. In November and December the northern winds set in, and the days and nights are royally enjoyable. On the north coast in this month there are heavy rains, while around Ponce it is clear, calm and beautiful. The range of the thermometer at any one place, excepting the higher mountains, is very small. Its daily average is ten degrees, and only once in a decade does it attain fifteen degrees. The tornado or hurricane season appears to move in a rough cycle. Few are recorded in October, January or February. The largest number have occurred in August, being one-third of all; one-fifth in September, one-tenth in July It is on account of these terrific storms that the Porto Ricans are so conservative in their building. Although the danger, as a matter of averages or probabilities, is not great, yet they always bear it in mind in the construction of the home. The houses AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. have very thick walls, and the timbers which support the floors and roofs are tree trunks rather than beams. In the olden times the roofs were flagged or bricked. Afterward they were covered with terra cotta, but of late years they have been of corrugated or galvanized iron. Just as the Kansas farmer has a cyclone pit, into which he and his family vanish at the approach of a whirlwind, so the Porto Rican has some cave, cellar or other place into which he repairs the moment the barometer gives warning. One sensible refuge is a small building made of brick and stone, sunk partly in the ground and roofed with blocks of stone set in cement. Within are settees, a lamp, a supply of oil and shelves, on which can be placed dishes, foods, wine and water. Upon a burrow of this sort, a house might fall or a ten-inch shell explode, and without doing any special damage. Many of the houses, especially those of the last century, which were raised just after several catastrophes had occurred, are more like fortresses than ordinary homes. The walls are nearly three feet thick and the beams are a foot in diameter. Allowing the highest velocity to the hurricane and giving a direct application of the air pressure to the weakest side of the structure, the building would still have a safety factor of twice the force of the storm. It may be stated in general that the health conditions of Porto Rico are fair to medium and perhaps better. They will compare favorably with those of New Orleans and Mobile. The most unhealthful city is San Juan, and the most healthful is Ponce. The smaller cities range AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS 93 between the two Nature helps humanity in a sloping earth's surface and more than copious rains No street cleaner can equal the August and September rainfall in Northern Porto Rico. No matter how filthy the thoroughfares or how large the piles of decaying organic matter, within a week nearly everything has been swept into the sea, and only smooth pavements or gullied roads filled with clean stones and bowlders remain. Rain produces no disease, although it may try the patience. In summer the Northerner is liable to have sun fever, tropical fever, or calentura, as it is called by the Spaniards. It is weakening but not dangerous. There is considerable enteric trouble, caused by the careless use of raw fruits. Fruits are the most valuable gifts of nature to man, and also the most perilous. Hardly any tropical fruit grows but whose skin or shell is the abiding-place of microbes and germs. Many fruits contain these unpleasant organisms in their pulp. The safest rule is to follow the example of the natives. All fruits should be washed and dried. The skin should be removed with a sharp knife. Plantains and bananas should be cooked, guavas should be made into jellies, jams or pastas. The orange, lime, lemon and shaddock should be squeezed, and only the juice consumed. The ripe cocoanut should never be eaten raw. The green cocoanut, which contains the most wholesome and delicious fluid in the tropics, should be used regularly. Fruits are best when taken early in the morning. The principle is well summed up in the old Spanish adage, tiat fruit is gold at morn, silver at noon, and lad at 94 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. night. There is some malaria, which comes from decaying organic matter, and of which the germs are transplanted by mosquitoes. Typhoid fever germs find a vehicle in shellfishes and in raw fruits, as well as in the clothing of the attendants of sufferers. There is considerable smallpox in Porto Rico, the Spaniard being too lazy to get vaccinated. Under the new administration a vaccine farm has been started by the medical department, and vaccination is now being done wholesale. Unless something unforeseen intervenes within a year, the disease will be stamped out. Yellow fever was formerly common in Porto Rico, but of late years has been a rare visitor. It thrives best where there is filth, as there is in Cuba, and as there used to be in Jamaica; but with the removal of the filth, the sewering and disinfection of cities, such as was done to Jamaica, the yellow fever specter goes away to more congenial communities. With care and a little common sense, a Northerner can be just as healthy and happy in Porto Rico as he can at home, and at the same time never suffer from frost and cold. The history of our new possession is a brief chapter in the annals of the Spanish conquest in the New World. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus, November 16, 1493. He noticed its remarkable beauty and commented upon the valor and physical attractiveness of its Carib inhabitants. It was visited first by that famous and romantic warrior, Ponce de Leon, who landed on its shores in 1508. Unluckily for the natives he saw some gold, which had been obtained, according to their AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 95 accounts, from the river bed of a neighboring district. This inflamed his cupidity and on his return to Hispaniola, he organized an expedition, consisting of sailors, soldiers and settlers, and returned to the island in 1510. He coasted along the northern shore and picked out the pretty place then known as Pueblo Viejo, now called Caparra, situated not far from San Juan. The site, though picturesque was unhealthful, and many of his forces were taken sick and disabled. From the time of his second landing in 1510, he and his followers waged relentless war against the poor Caribs. The Indian warriors were put to the sword or sent to the mines, where they were worked to death by merciless armed guards in a few years. The same wretched fate was allotted to able-bodied women who did not find favor in the eyes of the soldiers. The younger ones were divided among the troops; the officers being allotted two women to one for each soldier. This course had but one result: the extinction of the native population. Even the unwise Spaniards perceived the fact, and early in the sixteenth century began negotiations for the introduction of slaves from Africa. The settlements prospered, and soon there were small towns or villages established at different points on the island. In 1519 English ships made their first appearance in these waters. In 1595 the English sea rovers, Hawkins and Drake, appeared off the coast and frightened the citizens. Hawkins was soon forgotten or else his exploits were transferred to the credit of Drake. At any rate the latter became one of the figures in Spanish 96 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. colonial history. Some old monk found out that Drake was the Saxon word for dragon, and soon the admiral's name was translated into Francisco Dragon, or Francisco El Dragon. Now when a great sea rover, who would doubtless be called a pirate to-day, comes to be known as Dragon and,The Dragon, there is no limit to the myths which will grow up around him. Every Spanish crone made Drake the hero and the villain of her household tales, and every village story teller increased the grandeur of some Spaniard by making him fight and escape from this monstrous English creation. In some of the old tales Drake was said to spit fire, and to be covered with scales that would resist the stoutest Toledo bladc. In all of the tales he was drawn as a man of anywhere from eight to twelve feet in height, and with the strength, voice and ferocity of a lion. They were extraordinary men, those old sea dogs. When there was no money in piracy, they went slave-hunting. And how they did harry the Spaniards in the Caribbean! When they made their first appearance Spain owned all the West Indies, but before the close of two centuries they had taken every island, excepting Porto Rico and Cuba. It seems strange that after another two hundred years these two islands should have been taken away by the western descendants of the same victorious race. In November, 1595, the English, under Drake, made a fierce attack upon San Juan, in which they inflicted tremendous damage upon the enemy. After that Drake amused himself by burning some thirty towns on thq slughters of the Pa lb sa teunLe cots at hhh ~~i 1..A^. u' e o _ ___a ofon * 1......... AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 97 southern side of the island; and getting a vast amount of: tribute, estimated at a half-million dollars, from the terrified population. In 1598 another English squadron attacked San Juan, and in 1615 a squadron of Dutch made a descent on San Juan. In the seventeenth century the English buccaneers harried the Porto Rican coast almost continuously. In the eighteenth century there was a long period of peace, but in the end there was another period of war. In the present century Porto Rico has had an uneventful history. From 1802 until 1898, little occurred to disturb the tranquillity of its authorities. There was a little trouble with the Americans at San Juan during the days when the American government was suppressing piracy on the Spanish Main, and also at Fajardo. In 1898 the history of Spain in the new world came to an end. War broke out between that country and the United States, and on May 12th, an American fleet under Admiral Sampson, bombarded the fortresses of San Juan. On July 25th General Miles, at the head of an expedition about four thousand strong, landed at Guanica, on the southern coast. On the 26th it captured Yauco, and on the:28th Ponce. Capture is hardly the right word; in fact, there is. no word in any language which will sum up what did occur. There was a Spanish garrison in Ponce which, according to the Spanish authorities, was supported by a heavy contingent of Porto Ricans, all of whom were prepared to yield'up their lives in fighting against the "American hogs." An officer telephoned to Ponce, demanding the sur 98 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. render. The authoritiesltelephoned back: "With great pleasure. Come, you are welcome." The Spanish garrison about the same time started running toward Coamo, and was never seen again. The American troops marched in and received a welcome unique in the history of warfare. They were bombarded with'flowers and cigarettes; they were embraced by men and women; they were cheered to the echo, and when they broke ranks they were entertained in the most enthusiastic manner. In August the peace protocol was signed. Peace commissioners were promptly appointed, and in a short time the island was evacuated by the armies of Spain. On October 18, 1898, the Spanish flag was hauled down, and the Stars and Stripes hoisted to the top of the flagpole of the Morro Castle at San Juan. Since that time the island has been under American administration, and already a perceptible change has been brought about in its condition and in the habits and conduct of the people. Schools are being established in every place. Children are being taught to use clothing. Roads are being made, improved and extender. An administration, clean, honest and capable, has been established. The English language has been introduced at many points. Trade relations are being created with the United States, and in every way the Americanization of Porto Rico is being carried on with strength, ability and success. The government is military, but in its administration local matters are being performed by native officials as fast as these can be ap AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 99 pointed in a proper way. The same thing is being done to Porto Rico as was done to Florida and Louisiana in the beginning of the century, and the same results may be expected by any one who knows the strong organizing and absorbing genius of the American civilization. N\ 100 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER VIL THE PHILIPPINES, OR THE TREASURE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC. THE Philippine Archipelago lies east of the continent of Asia, and in rough figures is 11,000 miles west of New York and 14,000 miles east. Since the late war with Spain they have become easy of access. Eight lines of mail steamers across the Pacific and nine lines from Europe to the far East, give the traveler an extensive list of routes to choose form. As soon as the islands recover from the shock of war and insurrection they will be the objective point of a multitude of small steamers running from Singapore, Saigon, Hongkong, Amoy, Foochow, Shanghai, Tai-Wan Foo, Tam Sui, Nagasaki, Kobe and Yokohama. With all of these ports there is already some commerce, and, under a wise and progressive administration, that commerce will be multiplied tenfold within a very brief period. At the present moment the fare from San Francisco to Manila is $225, the fare from Hongkong and Amoy is $30, and the fare from London to Hongkong varies from $200 to $400, according to the ship selected. The resident of the Pacific slope has an advantage over his fellow countrymen in other districts and over all Europeans, so far as expense is concened, in AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 101 reaching the Philippine capital. The advantage in freights is even greater. It requires no gift of prophecy to predict a huge commerce between Vancouver, Tacoma, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego, on one side of the Pacific Ocean, and Manila, Iloilo and Cebu on the other. The archipelago consists of twelve large islands, twenty medium-sized islands, and hundreds of small islands, islets, rocks and reefs. Our geographic knowledge on the subject is far from complete. The Spanish administration for three hundred years apparently considered coast surveys and cartography as a foolish extravagance, and left nearly all the work in this line to foreign governments. The charts which are supplied to navigators represent chiefly the work of British, American, French, Dutch and even Chinese surveys and maps. For this reason all the Spanish information on the subject must be received cum grano salis, especially statements respecting the areas and the location of islands and even the existence of many of the smaller islands, reefs and shoals. Two of the islands are small kingdoms in themselves: Luzon, with an area of 41,500 square miles, and Mindanao, 37,500. These are followed by Samar, with 5,300 square miles; Panay, 4,600; Palawan, 4,200; Mindoro, 4,100; Leyte, 3,100; Negros, 2,300; Cebu, 1,700; Masbate, 1,300; Bohol, 950; and Catanduanes, 4,050. Of these larger territories, Luzon, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Negros and Cebu may be said to be civilized. Mindanao is as savage as Borneo or New Guinea, and the other islands range between the two extremes. 102 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Of the medium-sized islands, which range from 100 to 250 square miles, the list, as given by the Spanish official records, consists of Basilan, Busuanga, Culion, Marinduque, Tablas, Dinagat, Sulu, Guimaras, Tawi Tawi, Siquijor, Balabac, Sibuyan, Panaon, Romblon, Ticao, Camiguin, Burias, Biliran, Siargao, and Polillo. Of the smaller islands the estimates range from 600 to 1,500, and even 1,800. The discrepancy is due to the fact that many islands at low or ordinary tides are cut into two or more separate bodies of land at high or spring tides. Many rock shoals and coral reefs are classed as islands by some cartographers and dismissed as shadings on the map by others. What with volcanic action on the one hand, and coral formations on the other, the number of islets is slowly increasing, and the general contour of the archipelago changing correspondingly. The entire area is not less than 110,000 square miles, nor more than 130,000, and may be set down at 125,000 square miles with comparative accuracy. Those of the islands which have resulted from volcanic or seismic action, are either mountainous or else marked by mountain ranges or a few peaks. Those of coral origin are flat and low lying. A few, of which Cebu is the. best type, have been produced by both causes. Throughout the district the process of worldmaking is still going on. The seismograph Indicates movements of the earth's crust. Almost every day of the year more than a dozen volcanoes are in active operation, and at least a hundred hot springs, mud springs AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 103 and sulfateras, show that the elementary forces are busy at work beneath the surface of both the soil and the adjacent waters of the sea. Investigations by the Jesuits have disclosed several interesting facts. One is that the volcanic forces are active along an axis running more or less north and south, which is a part of a larger globe axis running through Formosa, Japan and the Aleutians. The axis is not altogether straight, being deflected in the Visaya Islands and also in Mindanao. The earthquake axis does not run parallel with the volcanic axis, but is nevertheless connected with it. The inference is that a large portion of the archipelago is still passing through a more or less active stage of subterranean movement incident to equilibration or final equilibrium. Thus the movements of the great earthquakes of Manila have, so far as is recorded, been transverse to the north and south axis, and in the main have moved southeastwardly and rarely if ever southwestwardly. The inhabitants of the western part of the Sulu Archipelago and the reach of islands running from Balabac to Calamianes have almost no knowledge of earthquakes, while the communities living along the axis mentioned are always in dread of these cataclysmic events. This axis has been well called the fire axis of the Pacific. From the Philippines it passes to Borneo, Java, New Guinea and Australia. Along its course there are nearly always rich mineral developments, more especially of metalliferous character. This does not apply to iron, but it does to gold, silver, tin, mercury, platinum, -7 104 AMERICA S NEWp POSStSSIONS. arsenic and antimony, all of which have greater or less value in the arts and industries of the world. Were there no other evidence this fact would ensure the existence of mineral deposits in several of the Philippines. The archipelago lies entirely within the tropics, reaching from about four degrees, forty seconds north latitude, to twenty-one degrees north latitude. The climate varies considerably according to the district and the elevation. The hottest districts of which we have information are some of the low lying valleys in Luzon, while the coolest are among the mountains of northern Luzon and those of Mindanao. On the islands which are comparatively level where the surface is swept by winds from the ocean, the temperature is lower than upon those where hills prevent the free movement of the air. According to the natives, many districts are perceptibly hotter on account of subterranean heat and supposedly chemical action. In spite of the heat the country is not unsalubrious. There is a heavy rainfall, a fair natural drainage, and an inordinate amount of vegetable life. Disease germs appear to be fewer in number and variety than upon the mainland. The mortality is about the same as the lands bordering upon the Mediterranean, and much smaller than in China. There is considerable consumption, but this appears to be due Mmore to false modes of living than to climatic influences. Strangely enough, although the Asiatic cholera is epidemic throughout Southern China, Cochin-China, and Siam, it is almost unknown in the Philippines. In AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 105 the present century it has invaded the islands only once, and even then it could have been repulsed if there had been any board of health worthy of the name. The Bubonic or Black Plague has been epidemic in China and India ever since April, 1894, but it has never yet appeared in the archipelago. Smallpox rages, as it does in all Spanish colonies. Although vaccination is known, yet its employment is confined to the educated and wealthy classes, and no attempt has been made in the past to protect the community from the loathsome disease. The deaths per annum from this malady are well up in the thousands, and the number of scarred, pitted and maimed sufferers is shockingly large. There is some leprosy, but not as much as in adjacent countries. Now and then the traveler sees cases of beri beri, of elephantiasis, and a curious tropical disease, named filaria sanguinis hominis by Dr. Patrick Manson, of Hongkong. This disease, as the name indicates, is caused or occasioned by germs which get into the circulation, and there grow by segmentation into long threads rather than into little clubs or other shape. There is little or no pain to the ailment, the victim growing weaker by degrees and showing an ever-increasing desire to sleep. Death usually comes painlessly, and beyond a slight fever there is nothing to indicate morbid or abnormal action of the human system. The infrequency of leprosy has puzzled the physicians in the far East engaged in the study of that disorder. The Tagals and Visayas, especially o10 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. on the coast, are fish eaters, as much as are the Chinese on the mainland. In China, India and Hawaii, the medical faculty is of one mind in pronouncing an exclusive fish diet as being 'conducive to leprosy, and in increasing its ravages when once started. If this were an absolute rule the Filipinos should show at least as much leprosy as the Chinese. That they do not seems to indicate that the accepted theories upon the subject are still far removed from the truth. Measles and cutaneous diseases are common, especially the latter. Besides the skin pests known to our northern latitudes, such as the itch insect and the barber's itch insect, there are five or six other organisms which attack and Lurrow in the epidermis and dermis. The commonest of these is the washerwoman's itch, which is a microsocopic organism, living upon low shrubbery. When linen and clothing have been washed, they are thrown usually over the nearest bushes to dry and bleach in the bright sunlight. The organisms get into the interstices of the fabric, and when these are worn by their owners the little creatures transfer their attentions to the wearer. They produce an intolerable itching and a slight inflammation. They are treated the same as other parastic organisms and are destroyed by a week's medication. There are chigoes, ticks, scorpions, stinging ants and cockroaches, which have an abnormal appetite for the finger and toe-nails of the sleeper. But in matters of this sort the Philippines are neither better nor worse than the other tropical countries of the globe. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 10o The water supply varies in quality, but taken altogether is better and purer than in many other lands. Mineral waters are very common, and many of them are reputed to be of considerable hygienic value. Among these are white sulphur, yellow sulphur, red sulphur, and brown sulphur springs, iron springs, magnesian, soda and lime springs, mud springs, boiling springs and carbonic acid springs. There are at least a hundred places which enjoy popularity in this respect, and which could be converted into popular and profitable sanataria at little expense. Any person careful in his habits and willing to live upon the wise principle of doing in Rome as the Romans do can live as healthful and enjoyable a life in the Philippines as in any part of the United States. The food supply is large, varied and satisfactory. It is of course different from that of home, its nearest approach being that of Florida and Southern California. It takes a little time to become accustomed to the novelty of its features, and to the feeling of loss at not having many of the more familiar dishes. After a time, however, this feeling fades away, and then it is always easy nowadays to get canned goods, which are nearly the same as 'the raw articles, and also to secure raw articles themselves from the refrigerating rooms of the great mail steamers. Of the meats, the beef and mutton are poor, being lean and scraggy, oftentimes devoid of flavor and delicacy. Lamb and pork are about the same there as in America. On the other hand they possess buffalo meat, various 108 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. kinds of venison and wild buffalo beef, which is about the most delicious of all the bovine tissues. They have edible lizards, whose meat is nearly halfway between partridge and green turtle, wild fowl of many kinds, and an extraordinary variety of fish and shellfish. Vegetables are inferior to those of northern climes. The potato runs to leaf and flower, and the tubers are poor little apologies for the home product. The sweet potato, on the other hand, is admirable. There are several varieties of yams, some of which grow to very large size. There are many kinds of beans, gourds, brinjals, and curious forms which look like a watermelon on the outside and a turnip or parsnip in the interior. There are many water plants of great delicacy and wholesomeness. These came originally from China, where every pond and slow-running stream is utilized for the purpose. The Chinese brought this kind of agriculture, if the termimay be employed, to Luzon, and taught it to the Tagals. It is worthy of commendation as well as of comment, because it adds largely to the variety and pleasure of the meal. There is an endless list of fruits, many of which have but little flavor, such as the carambola, or Chinese gooseberry, the pumelo, or giant shaddock, and the lungngan. Of pleasant flavor are the lichee, the loquot, the giant yellow plum, and the black peach. Where the American has three kinds of bananas, no less than ten varieties are found in the Philippines. There are several kinds of limes, lemons and oranges. Lemons are AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 109 very much inferior to those in the American markets, while the oranges are more varied and if possible more delicious. But the king of all the fruits is the Manila mango. It is king not only in that part of the world, but in every part. It is the idealization of all fruit possibilities. The Manila mango is of a soft and intense golden color. It ranges from four to seven inches in length and from two to four inches in diameter. It is shaped more like a pear than any home fruit. The skin is thick and strong, and when cut open by a sharp knife it discloses a flat stone, and between the stone and the skin a solid mass of golden pulp ranging from light sulphur into a pale yellow pink. Its flavor is superb, its perfume overpowering. Two mangoes make a handsome dessert, and six suffice for a meal. The West Indian mango, coarse, stringy and turpentiney in taste, bears the same relation to its Manila cousin as the poor pariah dog of the slums to the magnificent high-bred St. Bernard of the dog fancier's. If the fruit world is large and praiseworthy, it is poor in comparison to the floral kingdom; To say that flowers thrive in the Philippines does not express the fact. It requires no labor to cultivate them, but it requires the hardest work to exterminate them. Blossoms which are difficult to raise in northern latitudes are sturdy and intrusive growths through the archipelago. The geranium, verbena, portulacca, opopanax, heliotrope, oleander, tube rose, gladiolus, calla lily, Japan lily, serpent lily, rose, and hydrangea, behave and are treated just like weeds. If you dig them up and throw 110 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. them on the road they will take root, unless you shake every particle of earth from the trunk and rootlets. So far as the laws of trade are concerned, flowers have practically no place in the market. A florist would starve because nature holds a monopoly. The population of the Philippines is a strange mosaic. It represents the mixing of many races, tribes and nationalities. In the earliest period the archipelago was inhabited by a very degraded race, of whom the Aetas are the surviving representatives. Even these were not homogeneous, if popular belief is to be relied upon. Some of the Aetas suggest the Bushmen of South Africa, others the dwarfs of Central Africa, others the black men of Australia, and still others the hairy men or Ainos of Japan. Then as if to increase the muddle, there are many instances of Albinos among them and the other types of the islands. Next to the primitive Aetas are the Negritos, who correspond to the Papuans, and whose best representatives are the Igorrotes of Northern Luzon. Still higher than these are three or four Malay types, represented by the Tagal, the Visaya, the Moro and the Palawan. For at least two thousand years there has been commerce of some sort between the islands and China. The Chinese settled and took wives or concubines among the Filipinos and raised half-breed families. Of these a common and numerous class exists in Luzon, known as the Igorrote-Chinese; but other mixtures can be found upon nearly every island. There is a dark-colored demisang on Luzon and Panay, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 1 said to descend from Hindu and Lascar soldiers and sailors who came to the islands in the last century. The different native races have interbred to a certain extent and produced various hybrids. To these must be added the tens of thousands of half-castes between the various native types and the Spaniard. So many are these human blends that even the wisest natives are unable to determine and identify each particular example. The half-breeds make a very important element in the population. They have more intelligence, energy and ambition than the native bloods. In the insurrections in two hundred years and the last war with Spain, they took all the foremost part and in every case showed an ability rare if not unknown among the Malays proper and the Negritos. Of the leaders in the late Kguinaldo insurrection every one, so far as known, was a half-breed of some sort. That they should be revolutionists speaks well for them. It indicates that they are more than beasts of burden, and that under proper auspices, such as education, moral discipline and political liberty, they can be developed into a high type of manhood. At the present time, however, they are suffering from hereditary influences, ancient superstitions and three centuries of Spanish oppression and misrule. It is impossible for a people to adapt itself immediately to a new and higher environment. Education in the Philippines is backward. Although the Spanish law says that the State shall educate its subjects, the budget tells a very different story. 112 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. For years the annual budget of the islands called for an expenditure of $10,000,000, of which only $200,000 was devoted to education. This in turn was so applied as to insure the largest benefit to the politicians who had charge of that department of the government. Of the entire amount not more than $100,000 was honestly employed upon the instruction of the common people, not as much for a population of 8,000,000 as is spent in most English and American cities of 25,000 inhabitants. Credit is due to the Jesuits for establishing and conducting schools at their own expense at various points of the larger islands. But if all be added together, the instructional force was scarcely a drop in the bucket to what was required for the purpose. It may be questioned if five per cent. of the population above the age of five years can either read or write. There are a few so-called colleges, especially at Manila, but their curriculum is not as high as that of an ordinary high school or village academy. The religious world presents an interesting study to the careful observer. The Chinese population is Buddhistic, with scarcely an exception. The Chinese half-breeds are Buddhistic or agnostic, and the people in the southern islands, including Palawan and Samar, are fierce Mohammedans. Many of the Negritos, most of the Aetas, and some of the Tagals and Visayas, are heathen, in the sense of being idolaters or nature worshippers. The rest of the population is nominally Roman Catholic, but of them it may be questioned if more than one. half are sincere in their professions of belief. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 113 In the past three hundred years superstition has had full sway, and many are the miracles and saintly apparitions which have occurred upon the islands, according to the declaration of the ignorant natives. These have grown into a positive cult and though not recognized by the Church at large, constitute an important fact in Philippine life. Much abuse has been heaped upon the Roman Church for the evils which prevail in the islands, but a careful scrutiny will show that the causes were more complicated than appear upon the surface. The Spanish government used the hierarchy and more especially the brotherhoods, for the subjugation and the management of their savage subjects. Even at the beginning its motive was but half-religious, the other half being political or, rather, mercenary. In the course of the years the religious element vanished, so far as the officials were concerned, and the desire to obtain revenue and fees became the sole basis of the regime. A good conscientious priest or friar, who did not send enough money to satisfy the grasping politician was removed from office and a successor of poorer moral and spiritual fiber appointed. In many instances where a truly devout representative of the church refused to do what he considered wrong and also to be removed he was assassinated or made the victim of a savage uprising. In many recorded instances soldiers and politicians who had served in the colony and returned to Spain reappeared within a brief period as being in holy orders. The trouble lies with the tendencies of Spanish civilizx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..s... 114 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. tion rather than with the natives on the one side or the church on the other. Two-thirds of the islands are still covered with virgin forests. The most of them would have been cut down long ago but for the exactions and extortions of the administration. In this respect Spanish greed has preserved a source of incalculable wealth for their successors. These forests are more valuable than those of temperate climes. They consist largely of hard woods, splendidly adapted for the construction of ships, for wharves and pilings, for house construction, for furniture manufacture, and for the finest kind of cabinet work. Even under the cramped conditions of to-day more than one hundred woods are offered for sale in the timber market of Manila. Every one is what would be called a hard or cabinet wood in the United States. Most of them are of great strength, durability and beauty. Many of them are of extraordinary character. The bullet wood is one of the oddest. It is so hard and elastic that when cut into slivers it can be driven like a nail into pine, and fibers of that class. When made into planking it will turn an ordinary rifle bullet, and when used in the framework of a large building it will carry a heavier load than the best oak or hickory. There are several varieties of iron wood, and a number of trees whose fiber is colored and patterned in exquisitely beautiful designs. Yellow and black and dark green, gold with black dots, and saffron with olive spots are a few of the more striking chromatic combinations. There is an enormous demand for lumber of this class AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 115 in China, which at present is supplied from far up in the interior of the Empire, from Borneo, and even from Oregon and Vancouver. It could be supplied by the Philippines, only six hundred miles away, at smaller cost and at much larger profit. The mineral resources are immense and almost untouched. There are lignite and coal, limonite, hematite, and magnetite. There is excellent limestone for fluxing and an inexhaustible supply of ordinary and fire clay. These are the raw materials of the iron and steel industry, and could be utilized to-morrow by any energetic business man with even a small capital. Gold is widely distributed, having been found in more than sixty places. There are deposits of silver, quicksilver, platinum, lead, tin, zinc, antimony, arsenic, cobalt, chrome ore, sulphur, gypsum, selenite, calcspar and petroleum. Every mineral found in Formosa, in Java, Sumatra, and the Straits Settlements has also been found in the Philippines, and nothing has been done to utilize this uncountable amount of natural wealth, except to dig a few tons of lignite coal and sulphur. Many native speculators mine gold in the most primitive fashion and, without any tools excepting stones and a fire, manage to obtain enough bullion to support themselves and their families. Chinese speculators travel throughout the islands buying gold dust and gold filaments from the native miners, and shipping their purchases back to Canton or to Amoy. For at least two hundred years there has been a steady flow of the yellow metal, although in small quantities, across the China Sea to the mainland. 116 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. With a good geological survey, so as to determine the various ore fields, and with a limited amount of capital wherewith to start the work a mining industry could be built up in a single decade that would turn out several million dollars, worth of products every year, and pay a profit of at least twenty-five per cent. per annum. Locomotion upon the islands varies in quality. In the neighborhood of Manila, and in several districts on Luzon, Cebu and Panay, the roads are excellent and the facilities for travel satisfactory. Outside of these the roads are of all sorts, chiefly vile. Some are mere blazes through the woods, others are trails in the hill country, and still others bridle paths through marshy fields and fenny bottoms. Communication is conducted by coasting steamers of light draft and small tonnage. The coastline is very irregular and hundreds of bays, harbors and river mouths enable vessels of this class to run up some distance inland, and thus do a large and profitable business in both travel and traffic. As water carriage is the cheapest in the world, this branch of commercial activity will undoubtedly be extensively augmented from now on. At the same time there must be a vast amount of road building and bridge making before the islands can be said to be in good, industrial condition. There are no difficulties in the matter. There is an abundant supply of good rock for macadamizing and an endless amount of cheap and moderately effective labor. Even if the crushers and road rollers have to be imported from the United States and Great Britain, the AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. i7 expense of road making will not be one-fifth of what it is in civilized countries. A macadamized road once made is a permanent investment, so far as the community is concerned, just as much as a stone dock or a public building. Until these roads are put through the Philippines will not be truly civilized communities. Only through their instrumentality can law and order reach the idolatrous tribes and savage communities in the interior and the wilderness of Luzon, Negros, Panay and Mindanao. The commerce of the islands is fairly large, when their surrounding conditions are taken into consideration. The imports amount to about $10,000,000 a year, and the exports to about $22,000,000. Nearly all the balance of trade has heretofore inured to the benefit of the officials and the Church. The three chief industries are hemp, sugar and tobacco. Articles of less importance are timber, shells, dyewoods, hides, pineapple cloth, banana cloth, grass cloth, fiber cloth, essential oils, cigars and cigarettes. A few fruits are shipped to other countries as well as a small amount of conserves and food products, of which the edible birds' nests and the beche de la mer are the chief items. The entire commerce, upon a basis of population of eight millions, amounts to but three dollars per year a head, about the smallest of those of all other civilized countries and dependencies. The reasons are found in maladministration. Inordinate taxes-personal, local, general, ecclesiastical, military, import and export-have so tied and bound the wheels of,industrial activity that they can scarcely 118 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. move much less revolve with proper rapidity. So terrible was the burden imposed that whenever the prices of export goods fell a small per cent. in the markets of the world, it meant untold suffering to the Filipinos. Under good government there will be a memorable revolution in all mercantile affairs. There will be room for hundreds of great importing houses and exporting houses, for factories large and small, for manufactures in at least a hundred lines of goods. Among these opportunities may be enumerated saw mills, planing mills, sash and door factories, molding mills, furniture works, turning shops, forges, foundries, canneries, essential oil works, soap and candle works, iron works, steel works, copper works, coal mines, gold mines, trolley roads, steam roads, ship yards, boat build - ing establishments, engine works, repair shops, carriage works, rope walks, twine factories, paper mills, cotton mills, tanneries, boot and shoe factories, straw hat works, oil refineries, sugar houses, confectioneries, printing houses, binderies, press works, electrical depots and repair shops, wagon works, saddleries, nail works, sulphur refineries, brickyards and potteries. Of the cities Manila is not only the largest, but it may be said to be as large as all the rest together. While Cebu and Iloilo are ports doing a large business they are towns rather than cities, and the other places marked as large cities upon the map are straggling towns of no importance. There is little or no tendency toward urban growth, as in more highly developed AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 119 nations. Not until the industrial and commercial conditions have been revolutionized will cities appear outside of the capital. Under the Spanish law the system of centralization was carried so far that Manila was the Philippines. The shopkeeper came fifty miles by land or a thousand by water to purchase his goods. The poor schoolmaster had to trudge from the town where he was stationed to the capital to draw his monthly stipend, and even the village priests and friars were obliged to visit Manila to secure their supplies, verify their accounts, and obtain instructions in regard to the questions which arose within their jurisdiction. Not even the overwhelming superiority of Rome over the other cities of the Latin Empire could equal the monopolizing and paramount authority of Manila in the great colony of which it was the capital. Manila is situated on the west coast of Luzon, about midway between the north and south. It faces the Bay of Manila, a body of water some forty miles in width. It is built upon a plain intersected by the River Pasig, which connects Bay Lake with the sea. The old city is on the south side of the stream, and is surrounded by a stone wall and a moat, built according to the ancient rules of warfare. It contains many fine buildings, public and private, is fairly well paved and is kept in tolerably clean condition. The new city is on the north side of the river. It started as a suburb and grew until it became equal if not greater in importance than the old city itself. By residents it is commonly referred to AMERICA'S NEW P6SSESSIONS. as Binondo, although this name was originally one of many small districts in which there were native settlements. In the old city the streets are narrow and rather gloomy. In Binondo they are wide, bright and cheerfil, and many of them may be regarded as boulevards. In the bay and the river there is always a goodly array of shipping; and everywhere are the mrks of commercial prosperity. There are handsome churches, wellequipped clubs, hotels, restaurants, elegant stores and huge factories. The hotels are not up to our standard, only one of them being what we would call first-class. The restaurants are not overinviting, although the cooking is exceedingly good. The stores are attractive from an artistic point of view, but the stocks are small and the opportunities for gratifying special tastes or wants very limited. The bookstores are a burlesque upon the name. The press censorship is extended to literature as well as to newspapers-at least it was under Spanish rule. No book was allowed in the colonies which directly or indirectly taught or suggested anything contrary to the State or the Church, or which cast obloquy, satire or doubt upon either. All books in English were suspicious, because Spanish officials seldom have the slightest knowledge of our language. Under these conditions the average library or bookstore contained a few hundred copies of novels, poems and other works in Spanish or in French, with the worthless or vicious novel largely in the majority. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 121 Iloilo, the capital of Panay, is situated on the southern coast of that island, on an arm of the sea between Panay and the island of Guimaras. It is located upon a marshy plain, and on one side is shut in by a stream which in the dry season is chiefly mud and slime, and in the wet season is a filthy torrent. Back of the plain the land rises into hills and mountains, and becomes a country remarkable for its beauty, fertility and salubrity. Cebu is the capital city of the island of that name, and is smaller and less important than Iloilo. When the coal mines of Cebu are opened and are connected by railways or trolley roads with the port, it will become a prosperous and thriving community. The mines are situated very conveniently to the port and the grades are so favorable that it is possible with the proper facilities to run the coal by gravity from the mouth of the pit to the hold of the steamer. As the cost of mining the coal is not more than forty or fifty cents a ton, the future of the industry is bound to be marked by enormous profits and success. Puerta Princesa is the capital of Paragua, a fertile island lying to the southeast of Luzon. It does a small business in agricultural products, minerals and lumber. It contains no buildings worthy of mention. The history of the Philippines is a monotonous tale of Spanish rule and misrule. The islands were discovered by Magellan in April, 1521, who took possession of them in the name of the King of Spain. In 1563, Legaspi, one of Spain's greatest generals and organiz 122 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ers, started from Mexico with a large expedition, and took possession of the Ladrones, and in the same year conquered Bohol and Cebu. In 1569 he conquered Panay, and in 1571, Luzon. In 1573 the Spaniards in Manila were attacked by a Chinese fleet from Canton and Amoy, but repulsed the invaders. In that year, and in 1574 and 1575, nine or ten attacks were made by the Chinese, who endeavored to drive out the newcomers and re-establish their old commercial right. The most important of these attempts was in 1574, when the Chinese general, Li Mah Ong, appeared at the head of a numerous fleet and a large army on transports. Of his army and navy scarcely a twentieth returned to Canton; the soldiers and sailors were slain or else driven into the mountains back of Manila. From these soldiers, according to tradition, descended many of the Igorrote Chinese in northern Luzon. In 1603 the Spaniards, becoming suspicious of the Chinese, who had built up a small city near the present site of Binondo, attacked the latter and massacred 23,000 out of 35,000 population. In 1639 there was a similar massacre, when no less than 35,000 Chinese were put to the sword. In 1665 there was a third massacre, in which between 3,000 and 5,000 were slaughtered. In 1709 there was a fourth, but this time only 500 Mongolians were put to death. Between 1628 and 1751, the Spaniards made nine essays to conquer tbe Sulu sultanate, but in every instance were defeated. In 1762 the Philippines were invaded by the English. who captured and pillaged Manila, under the command of Gen AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 123 eral Draper. The islands were restored to Spain by treaty the same year. In 1820 the Philippines were visited by the Asiatic cholera. It began at Sampaloc, spread to Manila, and thence to every town in Luzon. One-half of the population was said to have perished. During the epidemic the natives and lower class Spaniards became seized with the belief that the disease was part of a plot to injure them by the foreign residents. The mob rose everywhere and massacred all the Chinese, then the French, finally turning their weapons upon the Americans, English and Spaniards. The rioting was at last put down after vast numbers of people had been slaughtered and nearly all the houses of foreign residents had been looted and burned. But for the soldiers, who proved as brave as they were faithful, the country would have relapsed into its original savagery. In 1823 a fierce revolt occurred, led by two Spaniards, Novales and Ruiz. It lasted only a few days, but during that time cost five thousand lives. Between 1823 and 1896 there were many riots and insurrections, but all were crushed by the Spanish authorities with equal promptitude and severity. In 1896 a rebellion, occasioned by cruelty and injustice on the part of the local administration, broke out in the islands and became very threatening in Luzon. General Blanco was in command at the time, but as the rebellion spread he seems to have lost the confidence of the Spanish cabinet, so that he resigned the governor-generalship. He was succeeded on December 9, 1896, by General Polavieja. 4 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. While the insurgents had a large army, they were very poorly equipped with weapons. The Spaniards, aided by loyal troops, marched upon the rebels, and on January 2, 1897, defeated them in a battle at Bulacan. The insurgents lost their leader, General Ensebro, and eleven hundred men killed. On February 18th the rebels were again defeated, this time at Silang. On March 9th the Spaniards won at Salitran. On March 23d General Polavieja was succeeded by General Primo Rivera. The new governor brought diplomacy to bear upon the rebels as well as arms. An agreement was finally entered into between the Spaniards and Aguinaldo and his colleagues. It involved the payment of a large amount of money and the granting of amnesty to all parties involved in the uprising. Most of the leaders emigrated to Hongkong, while a few went to Singapore. In March, 1898, there was a small rising in Luzon, which was crushed without much trouble, and another one in Panay, which met a similar fate. Immediately after the declaration of war between America and Spain, Admiral Dewey, then Commodore, sailed from Hongkong, and on May 1st destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Bay of Manila, captured the fort at Cavite, and made himself the master of the situation. Aguinaldo and the other rebel leaders were brought over from the mainland, and soon organized their old forces. The Spanish garrisons in Luzon were overpowered one after another, and on June 3d the CaptainGeneral proposed a surrender, but finding that his staff AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 125 would not support him in his actions, he resigned and left the island. In July and August Aguinaldo began to make trouble by assuming autocratic power throughout all the territory from which the Spanish arms had been drawn or driven. In the meantime an army had been dispatched from the United States and landed at Cavite and the mainlands of Luzon. On August 13th Manila was captured by the American land and sea forces acting together, and at about the same moment as the peace protocol was signed at Washington. In August and September the insurgents kept up their war against the Spaniards until they controlled all of Luzon, excepting Manila and Cavite. They made their headquarters or capital at Malalos, and appointed or elected an assembly of delegates, which met there on September 13th. The friction increased between the American forces and the insurgents, which culminated in a small engagement on October 19th. Finally peace was declared between the two countries. On February 4, 1899, the Filipinos made a night attack upon the Americans at Manila, and were driven back with great loss. The next day both the American army and navy renewed the fighting, and drove the insurgents several miles inland, killing about 2,000, wounding 2,000, and capturing 4,000. On Monday, February 6th, the United States Senate ratified the treaty by a vote of fifty-seven to twentyseven. On February 10th the American army captured the town of Caloocan. On February 11th the Amer 126 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. icans, under General Miller, captured Iloilo from the insurgents. The same day the army, under General Otis, attacked the insurgents north of Manila and drove them a mile into the interior. On February 12th General Miller captured the town of Jaro. On February 14th the insurgents were again routed near Manila. From that time up to March 29th the forces under General Otis moved gradually but irresistibly outward from Manila, driving the insurgents before them. Nearly every day there was a conflict, ranging from a skirmish up to a battle. On March 28th Aguinaldo moved the insurgent capital from Malalos to San Fernando, some twelve miles back. On the 1st of April the insurgents were manifesting every sign of collapse. The losses in the campaign up to that time were, on the American side, about 360 killed and 1,600 wounded, and on the Filipino side about 6,000 killed, 6,000 wounded, and 9,000 captured. On May 1st this war had become mere guerrilla fighting. s. ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~.; AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 127 CHAPTER VII. THE SULU SULTANATE. WHIT E the Sulu Sultanate is commonly regarded as an integral portion of the Philippine Archipelago, it is, historically, politically and internationally, a different territory. In fact the differences are even deeper, the Sulu peoples being ethnologically distinct from the varying types of the Philippine Islands, and their religious faith and governmental systems being those of the Semitic lands, and not of the Malay and Polynesian Islands. Politically the sultanate includes a large fief in British North Borneo, just below Sandakan, the islands ranging from Sibutu and Tawi Tawi, lying east of Cape Unsang on the Borneo coast, to the Province of Zamboanga, on the Island of Mindanao. It also includes a fief known as the Sultanate of Buhaten, in the Provinces of Cotta Batto and Mindanao, upon the Island of Mindanao, and several smaller fiefs in the Provinces of Sibuguey and Samis. The leading islands of the sultanate are Sulu, Basilan, Tawi Tawi, Tapul, Pata, Siassi, Pangutarang, Bilatan, Mantabuan, Olutanga, Minao, Simisa, Lugus and Lapac. The latest charts give about one hundred and fifty islands, of which ninety-five are inhabited. The popu 128 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. lation is in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand. The climate is very hot, and excepting where sanitary improvements have been introduced by European engineers, unhealthful to Americans. Vegetation is luxuriant even to rankness. The resources in tropical woods are very great and the fisheries in the neighborhood of the islands are very profitable. Only in the past decade can the sultanate be said to have come into civilized control. Up to the introduction of steam navigation and of steam-propolled men-of-war in the China seas, the Sulus were a proud, cruel, piratical nation. They were the Ishmaelites of the East Indies. They were at war with every neighboring community. As pirates they viewed all flags as their proper prey, and as fanatical followers of Mohammed they took an especial delight in killing Spaniards. There was war between Spain and the sultanate from the advent of Legaspi up to the present year, and although the Sulus have been crushed by the pressure of civilization so that they are but a shadow of their former selves, they were nevertheless a constant menace to the Spanish government in the Philippines. As late as 1851 their war prahus attacked and capttred ships in Manila harbor, and made descents upon the towns and villages. The first great blow at the Sulu supremacy was delivered by the united navies of the civilized world, led by the gunboats of Great Britain. In the days of sailing frigates and corvettes the Sulus in their swift prahus nearly always managed to escape when on the open sea, and when prowling among AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 129 the shoals and islets of the Philippine waters they were perfectly safe from the heavier and deeper ships of Europe and the United States. The introduction of steam soon showed them that their supremacy upon the high seas was gone forever. Within ten years the large sea-going prahus disappeared altogether. England, France, the United States, and Spain then tried the experiment of light-draught gunboats. In this field the English took the lead, and with small but strong craft they would follow the prahus no matter where they went, and unless something extraordinary intervened always managed to destroy the latter. With their sea power annihilated they could no longer cope with the Spanish arms. Expedition after expedition was sent from Manila, and finally General Arolas conquered their capital on the Island of Sulu itself. The British, who are wonderfully diplomatic in their dealings with the semi-civilized races, had but little trouble, so far as possessions in Borneo were concerned. They made a special treaty with the Sultan of Sulu, recognizing his feudal ownership of Borneo Territory, and paid him a certain annual stipend in lieu of all other charges. In this way they managed to open up North Borneo to settlement and cultivation, and are now reaping a golden harvest from their skillful negotiations. The Spaniards relied upon brute force, and up to within a year exercised no authority excepting beneath the guns of their forts and military stations, At the present 130 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. time there are practically only two towns in the sulatanate which are civilized in character. One is Jolo, upon the Island of Sulu, and the other Zamboanga, on the Island of Mindanao. Were these lands put under cultivation they would prove as rich as those in Java. Tobacco, sugar cane, coffee and hemp, find in such soil and climate the best possible conditions for their growth. Basilan would rival Sumatra for its tobacco, and Zamboanga and Cotta Batto would equal Java in the quality of coffee. But even under the wise Arolas no attempt was made to utilize the vast possibilities of the soil. The people of the sultanate present many inexplicable features. Thus, while they are undoubtedly Malays, they have evidently absorbed enough of alien bloods to make them different in character and tendencies from Bornese, Dyak and Javanese, on the west and south, and from Visaya, Tagal and Igorrote on the north. They are more muscular or enduring, and more ferocious. In religious matters they present equal differences. The Tagal is superstitious rather than religious, but he is not marked by much intolerance. The Visaya is more religious than the Tagal, and also more stolid. He is not particularly intolerant and does not apparently allow his religious concepts to interfere with his rules of conduct toward third parties. But the Sulu, or Moro, as the Spaniards call him, is about as bigoted and intolerant as an Afghan or a Kurd. He believes in the most sanguinary teachings of Islam and takes a pleasure in dying in an attack AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 131 upon infidels. It is among the Moros that the juramentados, or oath-bound assassins, are found. They are usually young men of a high morality, measured by Moslem standards, who deliberately dedicate themselves to destruction. - They go into training-religious, athletic and military-to prepare themselves for the culminating exploit of life, and when ready for the ordeal oil their bodies, discarding all clothing, and with a weapon in either hand plunge into a Christian community, killing or wounding until they are dispatched by their foes. They are polygamous, and, like all piratical nations, hold large numbers of slaves. Mohammedan slavery is not unkind, and seems to be well suited for communities upon the moral and social level of the Sulus. The problem of their government is not a difficult one. Their chief objection to the Spaniards was on account of the latter's intolerance and bigotry. The mere fact that the Americans vanquished the Spaniards will make them respect the Stars and Stripes. When they learn that the Americans have suppressed the Philippine insurrection with great slaughter, and that in religious matters the sultanate will be permitted to practice its own religion without fear of punishment for heresy and treason, they will accept Western rule without trouble or demur. There may, and indeed there probably will be, disaffection at those points where the Spaniards have never effected any permanent lodgment. But this trouble comes in the pacification and subjugation of every bararout community. 132 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. The name of Moro, given to the Sulu by the Spaniard, is a fair example of Castilian carelessness or ignorance. Just as they insisted upon calling the Antilles the West Indies, and redmen, Indians, even after they found that they had made a mistake, and that they had not discovered India and the Indians by going west, so when they encountered the Moslem Malays of Sulu they said, these are the Moors we drove out of Spain in the fifteenth century, and even after they had learned the full nature of their error, they still clung to the appellations they had bestowed. While the Sulu language belongs to the Malay family and is marked by the same processes of duplication and agglutination, yet it has a larger and more varied vocabulary and, strangest of all, contains many words of Hindu and even Sanscrit origin. According to their own legends they came from Borneo, and before that from other islands lying toward the south, presumably Java or Sumatra. Where they picked up these words, some of which belong to northern India, others to the Afghan frontier, is a puzzle over which the philologist may find material for long study. In the practical arts they are greatly in advance of the other Malay tribes of the Philippines, and in some respects of the civilized Tagals in the smaller cities of Luzon. Thus they are capital blacksmiths and metalsmiths, and often turn out creeses and bolas, barongs, spearheads and shields of great beauty as well as strength and utility. Travelers who have lived in the sultanate and have had access to the palaces of the sultan and his chiefs, speak in high SAMOAN D)ANCER AND MUSICIANS. I "I',"",',,' ',............ r AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 133 terms of the jewelry, robes and even the decorations which came under their notice. It may be said that at one time there was quite a high civilization in Java, and that these arts are survivals of olden years. On the other hand it may be claimed that they were derived from the inhabitants of the Malay states on the mainland, which for many centuries had commercial and often amicable relations with the rajahs, maharajahs and sultans of Hindustan. Their Mohammedanism varies slightly from that of Arabia. In Islam proper the priest, as we understand the term, does not exist. In the mosque the worshipper is face to face with God. There he is on a par with the Imaum and the learned theologian. Even the sultan, the visible head of the Church, is no more and no less than the humblest follower of the Prophet. But in Sulu the tendency toward the development of hierarchy has gone further than in the Semitic countries. There are holy men at Jolo and Maibun, who serve as advisers and teachers, and who hold special services and perform odd ceremonies, unknown to Moslem communities on the Asian mainland. In their moral character the Moros are on a lower plane than either Tagal or Visaya. This may be due to their faith, with its concomitant disregard of human life and neglect, if not contempt, for women. A Moro thinks nothing of abducting a young woman for his harem, wounding a worthless slave, drowning an unpleasant wife, or of engaging in a savage duel with any one who incurs his resentment. He takes more pleasure in a blood feud or vendetta than a Corsi 134 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. can, and has a thirst for revenge which at times seems insatiable. His leaders and rulers are marked by the same vices, and many of them, especially those who are held up as models, are monsters of cruelty and lust. In this combination of qualities and their action may be found the secret of much of the difference between the Moro and his cousin. Centuries of piracy and polygamy have mixed or adulterated the blood so as to hybridize the original stock. Hybridization, when carried on upon a low plane, brings out the vices of both the parent races. The Moro pirates captured men and women upon a large scale, and in general selected the youngest and best for their harems. Among their captives were Igorrotes, Tagals, Visayas, Spaniards, Demisangs, Chinese, Tonkinese, Annamites, Cambodians, Bornese, Siamese, Dravidians, Lascars, and it may be even Arabs as well as Negritos and Papuans. This was the combination through the centuries out of which the present population of Moros is the resultant. AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. 135 CHAPTER VIII. THE LADRONES, OR THE MARIANA ISLES THE Ladrone or Mariana Islands, are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,300 miles east of the Philippines and 3,500 miles west of the Hawaiian Islands. They extend from about 13~ north latitude to 21~ north latitude, and from 145 to 146~ east longitude. While to a certain extent they are peaks rising from the sea, yet the peaks appear to start from a lofty plateau in the ocean and not from the sea bottom proper. They lie entirely within the tropics, but are nevertheless quite cool when compared with other archipelagoes, such as the Philippines, which lie in the same position with relation to the equator. There are ten islands of importance, and some thirty or forty islets, reefs and rocks. The area is about 300 square miles, and the population about 8,000. The natives are of the Malay-Polynesian type, and in general appearance occupy a place halfway between the Kanakas and the Visayas. They speak a language called Chamorro, which bears so many points of resomblance to the Cebuan that many Spanish writers believe the two islands to have been originally settled by the same people. The similarity may be explained 136 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. in another way. Up to within a recent period the group was ruled with great cruelty and inhumanity. In order to relieve the Spanish army of outside work the island garrisons were made up of Visaya soldiers, enlisted at Cebu. These troops were allowed almost unlimited authority in their dealings with the natives, and took for their consorts during their term of service the Ladrone women and young maidens. Through domestic ties, as well as through their official position, they would impress some features of their language upon the islanders, and in the course of three centuries might have brought about the linguistic peculiarities already mentioned. The islands are rough, rocky, and very poor. While there are forests, there is no market for the timber, neither are there any mills to convert logs into beams and planks. So far as is known there are no valuable mineral deposits, and the soil is poor measured by the standards of the Carolines and the Philippines. There are good fisheries, and these at one time afforded remunerative employment, and even a little wealth, to the people, but under the grasping military rule everything was taken away from the natives, and finally, as their boats wore out, they did not have the tools with which to build new vessels or to repair the old ones. The rainfall is too heavy for much agricultural success. It washes out sprouting seed and young growing vegetables, and converts plowed fields into impassable marshes or else carries away the loose earth. In consequence it is difficult to obtain more than one crop a year, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 137 and then only of such vegetable forms as are adapted to the wet seasons. There are many plants which would thrive under such conditions, and a wise administration would have imported them from other tropical lands, but so far as is known, no action of this sort was ever taken by the Spanish authorities. On the contrary, they took so much of the poor little crops of the natives that the islanders finally wearied of the exactions, and neglected the cultivation of the fields until agriculture had nearly become a long-lost art. The chief crops produced are rice, sago, yams, cocoanuts, copra, and a little sugarcane. There are a few native fruits found in the forests, but none are cultivated in the settled districts. The most important island is Guam, upon which is situated the capital Agana, anciently known as San Ignacio de Agana. It has rather a pretty situation upon a small stream, known as the Apra River. The harbor is a mere roadstead, and on account of shoals and spits, ships are compelled to lie about two miles from the shore. For many years local officials and the captains of the Spanish warships have recommended the change of the capital from Agana to some other polt, but their recommendations were filed in the archives of state or else dropped into the waste basket of oblivion. Agana has a number of buildings which show how hard the Spanish officials worked the luckless islanders. There is a customs building made of hewn stone, with a tile roof, a government house, quite large and comfortable, a commodious military hospital, an artillery 138 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. depot, such as was in vogue in 1710, strong military barracks, which could be used as a fort in case of a mutiny, a still stronger prison, a courthouse, an administrator's building, and a very nice church, built of stone with a corrugated iron roof. Nearly all of these edifices were constructed by forced labor, and a significant commentary can be found here and there in the ruins of former public buildings, that were torn down and destroyed by the population, goaded on to madness. In the other islands there are some eight churches and chapels, all built of stone, but roofed with a strong and durable thatch peculiar to the archipelago. The Ladrones enjoyed under Spanish rule an ecclesiastical as well as military government. The central authority in each case was at the capital, while upon every island was a head priest with full spiritual power, and an administrator or sub-administrator, who reported to the superior at Agana. The natives are quiet and inoffensive, like most of the Polynesians. They are semi-civilized, and wear a costume consisting of a shirt or coat, short trousers and a flat straw or felt hat. Their homes are exceedingly simple, being made of bamboo reeds and tree branches, and thatched with heavy rushes. The native fauna and flora are very small; the chief animals are derived from imported ancestors, and include the pig, cow, goat, monkey, chicken, duck, turkey, and pigeon. Many of the natives speak Spanish, and some three or four hundred have a smattering of English. This arises from the AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 130 visits made to the island years ago by the whalers who frequented these seas. The Ladrones were discovered in March, 1521, by Magellan. He found a large population, and was astoniabed at the aquatic skill of the natives. They employed many kinds of prahus and canoes, and excelled in the curious kind of Polynesian racing in which, by omitting all stays and having the mast or masts set firmly in a special framework, a long, narrow boat can be sailed either forward or backward with equal ease. An outrigger took the place of ballast, and a narrow board held downward edgewise from the outrigger frame enabled the ingenious craft to sail very close into the wind. A On account of these boats he named the island the Islands of the Sails (Islas de Las Velas). They were next visited in January, 1565, by some or all of the vessels in the expedition commanded by General Legaspi, which was to subjugate the Philippines. The captains complained to him that the natives had stolen many small articles from their vessels, and Legaspi immediately named the archipelago the Robber's Islands, or the Ladrones, by which title it has been known ever since. In 1580 the Spanish and Mexican navigators, finding that the title of Ladrones was not merited by the natives, bestowed on them the name of the Islands of St. Lazarus. Why this name was selected is a question among Spanish historians. One explanation is that a nervous captain saw a leper among the natives, and immediately 140 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. named the place after the saint who is supposed to cure that disease, St. Lazarus. The other explanation is that it came from a good Spanish monk, who had promised to start a mission, dedicated to St. Lazarus, at the first place he should arrive at after leaving Mexico. But the title was long ago forgotten. In 1662 a Spanish ship, journeying from Mexico to Luzon, stopped near Guam to procure water and fresh food. There was a missionary monk on board named Brother Diego, who went ashore and was deeply impressed with the innocence and helplessness of the islanders. On reaching Manila he undertook to start a mission, but did not receive much encouragement. He then applied to Madrid, and four years later, in 1666, received a decree or charter sanctioning his plans. He started work again to carry the plans into effect, but not until 1668 did he obtain the means with which to lead an expedition from Mexico to the Ladrones. He reached the place and began work. It was very hard at first, but his letters home produced so deep an impression that the Queen, Maria Ana, who was then regent, bestowed a pension of three thousand dollars per annum upon the good brother, and after his death upon the mission itself. It was not until 1673 or 1674 that this occurred, and then, or shortly thereafter, the grateful missionaries renamed the islands after the queen, and the Isles of Mariana they have been in most books and geographies ever since. To the rough and unpoetic Anglo-Saxon mind is due the continuation of the use of Legaspi's AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 141 name of the Thieves' Islands. It would be far better to take the poetic title of stout-hearted Magellan, the Islands of the Sails, or of the good monk, the Mariana Isles. It is to be hoped that when our commission makes its final report, that they will select one of the kinder and pleasanter names for tie archipelago. As the missions progressed the news got to Manila that the islands were very rich, and that the padres were making too much money for their own good. The rumor brought about the usual result. The governor-general of the Philippines immediately made the Marianas a military sub-district, and sent out a garrison, consisting of a commanding officer, twelve Spaniards, nineteen Filipinos, of whom nearly all were from Cebu, two cannons, and a large supply of ammunition. Within a year the exactions and extortions of the soldiery brought about a riot, in which the good Brother Diego exerted all his personal power to protect the soldiers from the enraged natives. Some years afterward Brother Diego went to the Visayas, where he died, and the mission, in the hands of less competent men, soon excited another uprising. In 1778 a new military governor was sent from Mexico, with a Mexican garrison, in the hope that they would do better than the officials sent from the Philippines. Under the rule of the former there had been riots every three or.four years, during which priests and soldiers had been slain, buildings destroyed, and the natives slaughtered en masse. Between these periods of conquest the troops, and occasionally traders, wou4l 142 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. run things with a high hand. Young women were dragged from their poor homes to the barracks, and comely wives torn away from their husbands and children. Any resistance by father, brother, lover or husband, was punished with immediate death. Even words of protest were taken as treason, and the utterer treated accordingly. Under such auspices the population diminished, the settlements reverted to the wilderness, young women sterilized themselves, and mothers and fathers threw their children into the sea. By 1725 the islands were no longer self-supporting, but a drain upon the Philippine treasury. The Spaniards were compelled to ship food from Manila and from Mexico for the use of the garrisons and the priests. The natives lost all interest in farming, stock raising, hunting and fishing, and only did enough to prevent themselves and their families from starving. The Mexican governor-general proved a kinder official, but after a short term he resigned, reporting the territory to be worthless, the people hopeless, and the colony unworthy of retention. From that time up to the capture of G.uam by an American man-of-war in 1898, there was little or no change for more than a hundred years. The place had no pecuniary or social attractions, and only the smallest Spanish official would accept the appointment as governor. Common soldiers regarded the place as being more dead than alive, and exercised all their ingenuity to avoid being detailed to the post. By degrees it became a sort of a military "Tower Hamlets," for tho Spanish authorities in NMailt H.. X;.xl....... ~z z ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~:i i i i iSPECIMN OF SAMOAN TATOOING| ., | | | 11 | | _ |~~~~~~~xlsj r ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~n I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~~~i~ I II| _i.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~E~;~ '. ~i,0 lS 7i~i 11 _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I roii;,~ I, I.~ ~:~~ I 1 -~i;; 11 SAMOAN IIVE AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 143 When a man was good for nothing else he was sent to Guam. Three or four times a year a subsidized steamer carried supplies from the Philippines to the Marianas, or else took a new governor and a new garrison, and brought back their predecessors. Even in 1897 the military budget showed that the expenditure upon the district was about five times the receipts. The end of Spanish rule in the archipelago constitutes one of the drollest bits of opera bouffe in the history of warfare, and at the same time throws a light upon Spanish methods. According to the official schedule a steamer should have called at the Ladrones in January and also in April. As a matter of fact the steamers had called there officially, but not actually. They had been cleared from Manila for the voyage, and undoubtedly drew their pay from the government for having made the trip. They had also carried and delivered munitions of war and food supplies. All this had been done upon paper, but not in reality. The governor of the Marianas and his redoubtable army were in thorough ignorance of everything going on in the world, having had no news from anywhere since 1897. In the meantime war had broken out; Dewey had destroyed the Spanish power in the Philippines, and men-of-war, transports and supply ships were hurrying across the Pacific. On June 21, 1898, the Governor of Guam was smoking a cigarette and enjoying a cup of coffee with a glass of wine in the government building at Agana. His officers were enjoying life in the same 144 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. quiet and harmless manner. The troops were engaged in the military pastime of cock-fighting, when the United States cruiser Charleston, commanded by Captain Henry Glass, steamed into the bay and fired a gun. To the officials this was an incident of no moment. They were rather glad some one had come, because they would get some news of Europe and their own beloved Castile. About this time a second gun was fired, and a projectile landed not far from one of the government buildings, making a noise which, according to the garrison, was "most exceedingly inexplicable and mysterious." They were soldiers who had served only three years, and during that time they had never fired off a cannon nor even a rifle. The novel style of salutation roused the entire community. The second in command reported to the governor that an American ship was making a frightful hullabaloo, to which the governor undoubtedly replied: "A very queer people; they are always in a disgusting hurry, and never seem to enjoy doing nothing." Being a polite old fossil, he dispatched his boat to Captain Glass with a humble apology, regretting that "he could not answer their salute, because he hadn't ammunition for his cannon, and, through the forgetfulness of someone at Manila, hadn't had any for several years." The boat went away, the apology was made, the officers were notified that they were prisoners of war, and that Captain Glass would be honored by transporting the governor and his motley retinue to Manila. The boat returned, and the officer for once in his life AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 145 actually ran from the boat landing to the government building. What occurred in that memorable interview will never be known, but it must have been irresistibly delicious. The officers on the Charleston reported that the prisoners behaved very well, and did not seem at all cast down by being taken away from their post of duty. One or two went so far as to intimate that they would rather be in jail in Manila than be governor of the Marianas. After the first day they displayed a fine- appetite and an insatiable curiosity. They reached Manila just in time to receive the news of Sampson'sevictory at Santiago, and then they concluded that the world was about Lrv ome oJ. an d LLT. LLL J'When aai V aI ail aL a. he left an able-bodied English-speaking native in charge of the archipelago, and, according to the latest reports, the islanders are happy and more cheerful than they have been before in the memory of the. oldest inhabitant. Under a wise administration the resources of the Marianas could be largely developed. The territory once sustained a population of seventy or eighty thousand; seven or eight times as many as now live there. It would need a little help at first, more especially in tne introduction of crops suitable to the soil and climate. There are many tropical vegetables, such as the yam, the sweet potato, the millet, the matai, the Chinese squash, the edible gourds and the Cochin Chinese yam, which thrive under similar conditions in that part of thQ wo9rl3 Goucm will be one of the stepping-stones in 1.46 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. the new routes across the Pacific, and will be able, if properly managed, to do a good business in supplying ships with fresh food, in growing copra, for European and American markets, and in catching and utilizing the beche de la mer, the edible tropical clam, the shark and other marine delicacies demanded by Oriental markets. In the laying of trans-Pacific cables one of the Ladrones will make a convenient station between Honolulu and Luzon. The best route, according to the naval authorities who have studied the matter is, from San Francisco to Honolulu, thence to Wake Island, thence to the Ladrones, and thence to Luzon on the coast east of Manila. The extension of commerce in the next twenty years will demand not one, but many transPacific telegraph cables, and the Marianas hold a remarkably excellent position with relation to the Philippines, the Asian Mainland, the Carolines, and the other important insular countries lying to the south. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 147 CHAPTER IX. SAMOA-THE GARDEN OF THE SOUTH SEAS. THE Samoan Isles, or the Kingdom of Samoa, are situated in the Pacific between 168~ and 173~ west longitude, and 12~ 15' south latitude. They lie northeast of the Fiji group, and on the line connecting Honolulu and Auckland, New Zealand. They consist of ten inhabited and two uninhabited islands, with an area of 1,701 square miles, and a population of about 36,000, including 200 British, 120 Germans, and 60 Americans. The largest island is Savaia, or Savaii. Next in importance is Upolu, followed by Tutuila, on which is situated the harbor of Pago-Pago. The fourth is Manua. Most of the islands are of volcanic origin, but the territory formed by the plutonic rocks has been modified and enlarged by coral formation. The rest are of coral, like the other islands in that part of the world; their chief importance arises from their strategic value, their commercial worth being small There are no manufactures, even of the most primitive sort, and the only export is copra or the dried meat of the cocoanut. Their total exports in 1896 were about $260,000 and their imports about $300,000, making a total commerce of $560,000, or about $18 per capita of the population, The balance of trade is always 148 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. against the islands, so that as a colonial possession it is simply a source of loss to the country which owns it. The islands are of extraordinary beauty and salubrity. Their charms have been sung and they themselves made famous by no less a master of the pen than the late Robert Louis Stevenson. He went there an invalid, awaiting death- at almost any hour, but the balmy climate and the noble surroundings preserved his life for many years. The people are Polynesian rather than Malay, and bear considerable resemblance to the Kanakas of Hawaii. The men are large, muscular and well-proportioned. The women are graceful, shapely and well-featured. Both sexes are amiable, peaceable, domestic, affectionate and indolent. They are not warlike although their legends or annals recite many wars in the past in which are displayed great heroism and considerable military intelligence. Today, however, there seems to be small martial spirit in their character. When excited beyond a certain point they become combative, belligerent and then desperate and cruel. They make fine sailors and many of them have made invaluable harpooners and oarsmen upon New England whaleships. They would be in greater demand by ship captains but for their curious inability to withstand the cold weather. In nearly every instance where they have been taken by whalers into arctic or antarctic latitudes they have lost their strength vitality and health with the advent of the first cold day. When they stay too long in cold zones, they contract pneumonia and other pulmonary diseases- and di9 off almost as quickly AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 149 as Esquimos do when transferred to warm countries. In this respect the Samoans, like nearly all the Polynesians, offer a strong contrast with races living upon the mainland. No matter whether white, yellow, brown or black, the latter show an adaptability which enables them to face the rigors of a northern winter with the same strength and courage as the extreme heat of equatorial realms. It is believed that this delicacy of the physical organization is the result of living for many ages upon small islands in the middle of the ocean. The struggle for existence is not so fierce and strong as upon larger territories, and there is less weeding out of the weak and unfit, and less surviving of the stronger types of life. If this view be correct it would tend to show that the Polynesians have been island-dwellers for many thousand years. The religious nature of the Samoans offers many odd features. Originally they' were cannibals, idolaters, nature worshippers and polytheists. They have been subjected to missionary work for many years, and all of them are nominal Christians, and some of them true Christians in apparently all that constitutes Christianity. But, owing to surroundings or heredity, the changes in belief have not been accompanied by changes in conduct or in ideals. They are indolent and cannot be made to understand the necessity and value of labor. They love song, dance, chatting and chaffing, and will not or cannot subordinate these to the sterner duties of life. 150 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Their opinions upon sexual morality are still somewhat primitive. Indelicacy and even indecency are a matter of everyday speech, and a staple subject for jest and laughter. Worst of all they betray a spirit of mendicancy, which shows that they are but little more than undeveloped children. Everybody from babyhood to old age expects gifts, asks gift, begs for gifts, demands gifts. If refused they become indignant, and pour the vials of their wrath upon him who denies. Even their best friends admit their lack of moral stamina, but believe nevertheless that one or two generations of education and just government will develop them to the normal standard of human excellence. The history of Samoa is a pleasant chapter in the chronicles of missionary endeavor. The islands were discovered by Captain Cook and other explorers, and named,theoNavigator Isles. The native name was not adopted until many years afterward. The people were then savages, but displaying about the same characteristics as at the present day. In 1830 they were visited by the Rev. John: Williams, one of the noblest missionaries who ever carried the light of the gospel into the heathen darkness. He visited the various islands, settled, and lived among the people and made many converts. In 1835 he was reinforced by five missionaries from the London Missionary Society. Under their administration the islands passed from paganism to Christianity, and in 1845 there was not a native who professed openly any belief in the old idolatrous doctrines. xx ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 'i i... S...E.;rlli. il i SO CHE W _I ' ' xf i ixt ~ 1 X.X ~ *xxi i j 2 X iiX ii~~; ll i jl~; 8iXX t~~s~;~;:~~ x4i' * w i X jxr~; l g - XX _; XX ux -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 151 The political troubles of Samoa are no new feature in their history. In the heathen days there were always fierce struggles as to who should be the head chief, and the substitution of Christianity made no particular change in this respect. In 1875 Colonel A. B. Steinberger, who had been sent out by President Grant as a special commissioner, obtained a concession for a coaling station. His ability so impressed the native chiefs that they engaged him to draw for them a Constitution and code of laws. Four years later, 1879, the chiefs, acting in unison or under the advice of the British representative and the German consul, established the municipality of Apia. The same year a treaty was made at Washington between the United States, England and Germany, agreeing mutually to respect one another's rights in Samoa. Shortly after this the royal election came off, in which a chief named Laupepa was elected king, under the name of Malietoa, and two others, Tamasese and Mataafa, were elected vice kings. Troubles had arisen between the natives and the German traders, in which Malietoa took the part of his people. In return the Germans dethroned Malietoa and finally deported him to the Marshall Islands, following up their action by making Tamasese the king. Shortly after the deportation Mataafa gathered his followers, defeated Tamasese, and also defeated the detachment of German marines which had been sent on shore to protect the new monarch. Twenty Germans were killed and thirty wounded. Germany declared war against Samoa and bombarded 162 AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. some of the coast villages. England and America protested, and Bismarck with customary promptness called off the dogs of war. This was no more than done when a cyclone occurred which, on account of the heroism displayed by its victims, has become immortal. It began on March 15, 1889, and destroyed six of the seven men-of-war that lay in the harbor. The ships might have been saved, but neither American, British nor German would leave the post first. The three German war vessels, the Adler, Eber and Olga, were beached or stranded, as were the three American, the Trenton, Vandalia and Nipsic, while the British Calliope managed to get out to sea. The total loss was one hundred and sixty men. The three nations now held a conference, resulting in the reinstatement of Malietoa as king. The nations agreed to respect Samoan autonomy, and made provisions for nearly all questions that might arise. In 1893 Mataafa made war upon King Malietoa, but in July was badly defeated. The warships appeared upon the scene and deported Mataafa to the Marshall Islands, and imprisoned one hundred and eleven of his leading followers. The following year the natives revolted on account of the heavy taxes, and again plunged the luckless kingdom in war. The struggle ended as usual with the defeat of the natives by the government forces, and peace was again restored. In August, 1898, King Malietoa died, and the consuls of-the three powers, with the chief justice of the island as president, took into their own hands the administration of the kingdom. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 153 Mataafa was brought back to Apia, and on his return was received with wild delight by natives of all classes. At the present time there is trouble in Samoa, in which the German consul appears to have been the front of the offending. The facts have not yet been reported, all that is known being that Admiral Kautz, of the American navy, bombarded a district in which there were armed insurgents, supposed to be acting under the directions of German traders or German officials. What the future will be is hard to determine. The United States owns a valuable rendezvous and coaling station there at Pago-Pago, and it would be worse than a crime to relinquish it under any circumstances. It is our only coaling station in that part of the world, and is indispensable in any campaign wherein the American navy is compelled to visit and to fight in the waters of the South Pacific. The political wars in Samoa have revealed several pleasant traits in the character of the natives, showing that their Christianization has gone deeper than might have been expected. None of the native pastors took any part in the strife, and of the students in the college only one took arms. Very few of the church deacons and clerks manifested any feeling rearding the struggling factions. On the other hand the soldiers or warriors respected the churches, the houses, and even the gardens of the ministers. Oddest of all, women were shown greater respect than they are by armies in civilized lands. So remarkable was the immunity they enjoyed, it was no uncommon sight for women to go 154 AMtRICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS., from one camp to that of the other side, exchanging salutations, carrying fruit, and behaving as if the whole affair were a social function. The only savage feature had a ludicrous side to it. When the followers of Mataafa killed the Germans, they cut off a number of heads. When reproached for the inhumanity of the action they answered: "It was purely a matter of religion, and that they had humbly tried to follow the example of King David, who after he killed Goliath cut off his head to show how good the Lord had been unto the children of Israel." The wars also disclosed the fact that some of the ancient social customs still had a strong hold upon the Samoan heart. Before they were civilized the property system was something like that which prevailed in the early village communities of our own race, and of which a modified form is seen in China at the present day. Ownership pertained to the family and not to the individual. The family was in one sense the wife or wives, and the descendants of one man treated as a group. In another sense it was the entire tribe or clan. Thus it was impossible under the system to alienate land, and it was almost impossible for any individual to have an absolute and exclusive right to property not worn nor carried about the person. A man would take his brother's boat, his cousin's spear, or his neighbor's chair, with as much right as if it were his own. They have this feeling to-day, and in dealings among themselves still practice the old forms and ceremonies. They are beginning to realize that AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 155 civilized methods are very different, and the discovery has already made much trouble, and will certainly make more. Thus the Germans of Samoa secured grants of the best land upon the island. One tract alone contains twenty-five thousand acres. To the German mind the grant was absolute, and to German law the rights of the grantee are sacred. Nor does the German law differ from the American upon the subject. When a savage made the grant he was conferring upon the German, as a matter of friendship, the right of the family. He could not give the land, because the land was not his to give. When the times got hard the natives entered the German's plantation and helped themselves to cocoanuts, bananas, yams, and other foods, the same as they had been doing from time immemorial. To them it was not even a courtesy, but a matter of right. When therefore the Germans filed a claim against Samoa for damages amounting to more than twenty thousand dollars, the native indignation knew no bounds. It was this which occasioned one of the wars already described more than any political fight or rivalry for kingship. The prospect is not a happy one. It looks as if Samoa were obliged to go through the same experience as the luckless Hawaiians. They, in similar fashion, gave away their fertile acres to missionaries, traders, to ship captains and speculators, and only when it was too late-when they were starving and were objects of charity-did they realize the organic difference between the real estate systems of the untutored savage and of the civilized Christian,. - AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Nine-tenths of the area of Hawaii belong to strangers, and the thirty thousand Hawaiians who have descended from the three hundred thousand at the beginning of the century, are merely squatters and tramps upon their ancestral lands. Two more decades will witness their extinction. In Samoa at least one-fifth of the territory now belongs to strangers, and over the remainder hangs the invisible hand of legal indebtedness, liable at any moment to descend and sweep away the children of the soil. It matters not into whose hands the islands may pass, the result will be the same. It must be strange to the mind of the Polynesian to hear the same lips praise honesty, fair dealing and righteousness, and in the next breath express sentiments that to his unlearned consciousness involve a dishonesty greater than anything known in his calendar. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 157 CHAPTER X. WAKE ISLAND. THE little piece of American territory known as Wake Island will never cause any international trouble. Indeed, if the future is to be judged from past and present, it will never excite human interest. It is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 2,500 miles west of the Island of Hawaii It is situated in about 19~ north latitude, and 166 east longitude. It is east of the Ladrone, or Mariana Islands, from which it is distant 1,400 miles. The island is a mere dot on the waste of waters, being less than a square mile in area and having an elevation of less than fifty feet above the level of the sea. Around it, at a varying distance from the shore line, is a massive coral reef, which serves as a breakwater and within which the lagoon is always smooth and calm. The few ships which had passed the place reported that there seemed to be a break in the reef, through which there was a channel whereby vessels could enter the peaceful lagoon. The war with Spain taught the necessity of a telegraph cable from the United States to the Philippines, and as the best result arQe obtained from gables not 158 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. more than 2,000 miles in length, a theoretical route was laid out, connecting San Francisco, Honolulu, Wake Island, Guam and Luzon or Samoa, and involving four cables, whose respective lengths would be 2,100, 2,400, 1,500 and 1,400 miles. This route seemed a model-on paper. It was admirable so far as San Francisco, Honolulu and Luzon or Samoa were concerned, because of these there was satisfactory information. Of Guam less was known, and of Wake Island practically nothing at all. The navy department, with commendable energy, made inquiries immediately. Guam, or in truth any one of the Marianas, was found perfectly available. The experts recommended Guam because it was the capital of the group, and would therefore be of greater convenience to every interest concerned. The report as to Wake Island was published April 2, 1899, and disappointed all those who had come to regard the place as one of the stepping-stones of the Pacific. The island was well suited for a station; the climate, soil and other elements of the environment were of the best sort; the lagoon would accommodate the largest steamers and warships; but the coral reef was a solid wall around the island, and a channel would have to be excavated before a station could be established. To make this channel would require the transportation of workingmen, tents, tools, mining materials, explosives, and would consume a year or two in the work, costing anywhere from $500,000 to $3,000?000. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 169 The experts'recommended any one of three alternatives: First, to find some uninhabited island in the ocean between Hawaii and the Marianas; second, to purchase a small island for a cable station from Great Britain or Germany; and third, to employ one of the small islands in the extreme west of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Patrocinto and Morell Islands are examples of this class. They lie to the west and north of Honolulu about 2,000 miles away, and are about 2,400 miles northeast of the Marianas. .o60 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER XI. ' NAVASSA, OR BIRD ISLAND. A GLIMPSE at a dozen school geographies fails to reveal a small but valuable portion of the United States which lies in the Caribbean. This is the island known officially as Navassa, but at one time called Bird Island, from the vast population it had of the feathered children of the sea. The place lies between Jamaica and Hayti in 75~ west longitude and 18~ 25' north latitude. It is about two miles and a quarter long and a mile and a half wide in its widest part, and contains about three square miles of territory. Soundings in the adjacent sea show that it is part of a submerged promontory or isthmus connecting the two large islands named. It is very steep and mountainous, being practically a great block of rock, ranging from three hundred to four hundred feet in height, covered with shrubbery, mosses and vines. It has no harbor worthy of the name, and most of the shore is unfavorable to navigation. The rock. formation is of the same class as the higher peaks of Hayti, being stratified rocks superimposed upon metamorphic strata. Its value rests entirely upon the enormous beds of guano, which are found in nearly every part of the iEland, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N - IT OF SAMOAN CHIEF OR P & 1111 I g. ~~~~~~~~~~i_,~~~~~ ' ~~;. r~. i..Ij i fix~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~li I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~" l __ _IIXillill//f/ffitfffff -s ~" ''1' ai~ i;R ~" i" il~s a ii~i,,,,,s;n,, ~i~. ~.~si,, ~Iri.,.~~i~a ii" ~ilrr~ _rr: ~,,x~p,~,,..p;~.:~~ ii lxli~!~ i g.. ~iil:i;i niir:~i.i ill" " a.iRli '" ~ix" ~i;" Bi ~m " ~I ~ ~r ~ I~ s~ 1 xxli:i:g: ~" ~~~ii;.i7~i~l'~~~~ii ~-,i::~'~~;~~lr: Ia:'" """ "."" ~n:i "^ ~;;in~lix, '" n~; ~..:. -""i: "";: ai 11 ;i *i~l ri'"i ii~ ~I;i~i~le"r; 8.8 """"' s:i,'~"~"?Ir """"""11216;l[,[11ilrl rla 1:-"" ggr% ~.-~1 Ra;i;i:~~o:;l:"I '.a iiaxini ~ ~~$- rr. aialai li r"ri"" _,b;n~I:in.Illi::.,:: , ~~ii": ~ili'~" p1 18 ~: -Ibi a1111 n111~,%i~~ ~r;r ~~li~.,,.~ps ::8~ii:r.:B~,l~~#l i: ill I:ai,,gUII;7irl _,,,,,, e;ilidi;l~~R~A: rr..ErE;iiili ra" aa~s!a, Ti~,I sle s;r* ~~:lln B"" i,;~:ix"~:;~lapl~~~AiiU.,i,,~r~ain; n, * i;,.~~,is, 1.,,, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 161 For untold centuries the place has been the home of sea birds. who have here raised their little broods and passed their short lives. It is also a favorite stoppingplace of the migrating birds in the fall and spring. The WestIndies are the Mecca of the bird population of North America. The millions of creatures that fly southward every autumn make the Greater Antilles their destination. In December and January these latitudes see the wild turkey, wild goose, wild duck, the rice bird, and other species familiar to the North. While more than nine-tenths stop at Cuba, Hayti-San Domingo, an- Porto Rico, a great many find their way to Jamaica, of whom at -least a half formerly stopped and rested at Navassa. It was a very safe resting-place, as it was uninhabited by man, the mammalia and reptilia, which prey upon birds. Since its occupation by Americans the visitors of the air have become much fewer in number. Scarcely one stops there to-day where a hundred did forty years ago. The isolation of the place and its freedom from enemies made it an ideal home for the bird world.- The result is a mass of guano, broken shells, the debris of food which, in some places, made small hills containing thousands of tons of valuable fertilizing matter. The guano of Navassa is not equal to that of Peru, or of other places situated in dry climates. The value of guano depends of course upon the amount of the phosphates, nitrogenoids, soda, potash and lime-salt and dissociating organic matter, which produces through 162 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. decomposition the soluble or semi-soluble substances demanded by plant life. Most of these are soluble or partly soluble in either fresh or salt water. Where guano is exposed to heavy rains the soluble parts are washed out, and although the residue is still useful for fertilizing purposes, it is not to be compared with the Peruvian article, which is mined chiefly in districts where rain seldom or never falls. Not that all the guano of Navassa has undergone this washing process. Birds select protected places, where it is possible, in order to defend their little ones against the storm and possible enemies. Through this peculiarity the guano and bird debris accumulate in caves and under the brow of projecting cliffs and similar places. Formed under these auspices it grows rapidly and through the growth hardens and consolidates, which still further protects it from the action of the elements. Thus large quantities of the Navassa deposits are intermediate in quality between the washed-out type found on the sloping hillside and the rich Peruvian, found in a rainless district. It is strange that with so much fertilizing material lying around loose there should not be a heavy growth of trees upon the island. But what with the rocky formation, the elevation of the cliffs, and the very excess of fertilizing wealth, the tree world is insignificant, and the plant world is poor and straggling, compared with that of less fertile territories in the same latitudes. The island looks very handsome from the sea, and the landing-place is rather pretty than othQrwis, The e - 'AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 163 istence of the place was known from an early part of the sixteenth century, but its inaccessibility and its apparent worthlessness discouraged any attempt at claiming and much less using it. As early as 1840, the existence of guano upon Navassa was known to the commercial world, but the few samples which had been taken from the place by enterprising navigators were of so poor a quality that no merchant dealing in such goods saw a profit in exploiting and developing the place. In 1857, Peter Duncan, a shrewd and thrifty American, made a more careful examination of the place, and found several deposits of comparative richness. He made a rough survey and upon the figures estimated the amount of guano upon the island at about a million tons. To the credit of the man's accuracy and judgment it may be added that his calculations were singularly just, and that the amount found by experience has been larger than the figures which he published to the world. As soon as Duncan found the deposits, he raised the American flag, put up a notice of ownership, and returned to the United States, where he interested capital in the island, and also made application in Washington for the registration and recognition of his claim. The government was surprised at first, and seemed inclined to deny any official action upon the ground that the place belonged to some European power, more particularly Spain, and also upon the ground that it.had no authority to ten4d its jurisdiction into theCaribbean. 164 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. There seems to have been anti-expansion feeling at that time, as there was forty-one years afterward. A careful search of all the records, American and foreign, however, showed that the island had never been claimed by any power, and that it was a genuine case of No Man's Land. The government finally acquiesced in Duncan's action, and entered the island in the office of what is now the land department. The action of the authorities at Washington was promptly reported to the foreign offices of Europe, and they in turn approved the judgment of the American government. The fact is an important one, because it was the first official step taken toward the extension of American territorial ownership and jurisdiction outside of the North American Continent. By a strange coincidence it was found that in 1855 a bill had been introduced in Congress, which became a law in August, 1856, providing whenever a citizen shall find a key, rock, or island containing a guano deposit not owned or occupied by any other government, and shall take possession and occupy the same, then such territory so taken shall in the discretion of the. president become American territory. Whether the originator of the bill had a clairvoyant knowledge of Duncan's discovery, or whether he was expressing a tendency in American institutions, will probably be a vexed- q-estion-for-years-to come, Duncan succeeded in his venture, and the island was soon the scene of industrial activity. It has been worked from that time on by a wealthy corporation, and AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 165 has paid the stockholders a very handsome return upon the original investment. The place is not attractive, although it is healthful enough, and the treatment of the laborers employed by the corporation owners has been at times so cruel as to occasion riot, bloodshed and murder. Of late years the owners seem to have behaved with a great regard for decency and right, but in all those parts of the country where they secured their workingmen their reputation is black indeed. On account of these troubles the West Indies squadron usually sends one of its ships to call at the island at regular intervals, and to inquire into the condition of the laborers. The genius of our institutions is utterly opposed to any contract labor system, and views them all with suspicion and antipathy. Such a system nevertheless seems to be necessary to the exploitation of property like Navassa. Under the circumstances a wise statesmanship prompts that a labor inspector of high character and moral courage should be appointed to take charge of the place, and see that no cruel overseer or brutal foreman makes the laborer's life at Navassa a hell upon earth, as has been the case eight times in the past forty years. The population consists of the employees of the corporation, and at last reports were about one hundred in number. They were chiefly colored men, and were drawn from the poor, ignorant negroes of the Atlantic seaports of the United States. \ \?' ~ * * 1.66 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER XII. CUBA-THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES. CUBA, the largest of the West Indies, lies south of the State of Florida, between longitude 74~ 5' and 84~ 55' west longitude, and 19~ 15' and 23~ 15' north latitude. It is of very irregular shape, the general outline being that of a scimetar. On account of this contour, as well as of the innumerable promontories, capes, islands, islets, rocks, reefs and shoals, it is very difficult to give its superficies. Spanish official estimates differ widely among themselves, ranging from 43,180 square miles to 48,000 square miles. A glimpse at many points of the coast explains this discrepancy. The marshy district south of Matanzas, known as the Cienaga de Zapata, is a great marsh, where the land and vegetation are taking away the empire of the sea. At very low tide hundreds of square miles of territory are exposed which are covered by water at high tide, and on the other hand a strong spring tide will submerge at least another two hundred square miles of what is ordinarily terra firma. A fair estimate under all the circumstances is 46,000 square miles. If the island proper be taken into consideration, the most authoritative estimate is that of the Century Atlas, 41,655 square miles. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 167 The island serves as a sentry to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, dividing it into two parts the northern lying between Key West and Cuba, called the Straits of Florida or the Florida Channel, and the southern lying between Yucatan and Cuba, called. the Yucatan Channel or passage. The former is 86 miles wide, and the latter, 110. By the former the Gulf is connected with the Bahama Archipelago and the Atlantic Ocean, and by the latter with the Caribbean Sea. Its strategic value has given it a greater political importance than its resources would merit. It commands the Gulf of Mexico, the lands bordering the Caribbean, and the important island of Jamaica and Hayti-San Domingo, it being distant about 92 miles from the one and 55 miles from the other. It is but 100 miles from Andros Islands, which are the largest of the Bahama group. Cuba has long been accessible from every direction. Its commerce is large and well distributed among the commercial nations and communities. It is connected by steamers with Florida, New Orleans, Galveston, Vera Cruz, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, the Windward Isles, Jamaica, Porto Rico, Hayti-San Domingo, the Bahamas, Canada, Nova Scotia, Denmark, Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal. Havana and Matanzas are two of the one hundred great ports of the world. The topography of the island is in some respects quite unique. Upon the map it looks like a vast mountain chain, with irregular branches from Cape San Antonio on the west to Cape Maisi on AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. the east. The map only conveys half the truth. There is a main elevation, or axis, composed of roughly parallel steps from one end of the territory to the other, which is occasionally broken by valleys of erosion or districts of depression, and also by peaks and massive mountains. This formation has been compared to a backbone of terraces, and the simile conveys much truth. The river system is small and insignificant, there being hardly a stream, with the possible exception of the Cauto River, which is worthy the name of river. This watercourse is navigable sixty miles for light-draft steamers, and, the upper part is utilized for floating logs and rafts from the forests Lin the interior of Santiago de Cuba to the sea. In many parts of the island the streams are employed for irrigation-not that the land is ever troubled with drought, but that many crops thrive best when they have a superabundant supply of water. The coast line is broken by any number of bays, harbors, the entrances to land-locked lagoons, and the mouths of creeks and small rivers. These would be an extraordinary boon to the navigator and to local commerce but for the coral beds, reefs and shoals, which crowd two-thirds of the coast. So numerous are these obstacles to navigation that the south coast, from Cape Cruz around to Point de Piedras, is about the most dangerous in the new world, and is-avoided by all steamers, excepting-the light- draft local boats steered by pilots who have passed a lifetime in this wilderness of reefs, keys and banks. On the north side it is not quite so bad, the formation ii...... i........ AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 169 starting a little west of Matanzasandrunningto Nuevitas. This formation is not without some advantages. It makes many land-locked or reef-protected channels and passages, where vessels drawing little water can travel safely in all seasons. When in the future this wilderness of land and water is treated scientifically by engineers it will be made into a wonderful convenience for travel and traffic. A channel deep enough for large ships will make navigation on both coasts as secure as it is on Long Island Sound, or in the still waters between the coasts and banks, and the mainland of North Carolina. Nevertheless the number of harbors on the island which may be considered first-class is large. Among them may be mentioned Santiago, Guantanamo, Baracoa, Tanamo, Nipe, Naranjo, Jibara, Nuevitas, Remedios, Cardenas, Matanzas, Havana, Mariel, Bahia, Honda, Guadiana Bay, Batabano and Cienfuegos. Altogether there are fifty first-class harbors and two hundred ones of inferior character. Of these only fifteen were open to the world under the Spanish administration. Spanish policy is always in favor of colonial centralization, and in matters of commerce endeavors to confine navigation and exchange with the outside world to the colonial capital, or if this be impracticable to as few treaty ports as possible. One of the problems of the future is the marsh question. On the coast are hundreds, even thousands of square miles of marshes. They constitute a large part of the Provinces of Pinar del Rio, Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago de Cuba and the Island of Pines. iro AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. They result from the gradual encroachment of the land upon the sea, and are salt, brackish or fresh, according to the extent to which the process has gone. Vegetation is a powerful factor in this work of reclamation, and the heavy xainfall is another potent agency. It brings down silt, sand, clay, living and dead organic matter, and the flotsam of the up-country. If these were swept into the sea they would of course build up in due season, and the organic matter would be devoured by the marine life; but where a wilderness of vegetation extends out from the land, oftentimes for miles into the water, this matter is thrown down in masses at the roots of the plants, and as it accumulates it slowly decomposes, giving off mephitic and diseasebearing vapors. Many of the Cuban marshes are so unhealthful and malodorous on account of these causes that a single breath of the air in their neighborhood is sufficient to make a foreigner sick, while to live among them means. disease and death to the hardiest native. Much of the land, which is now worthless and dangerous, can be reclaimed at a small expense. A larger part will require careful engineering and a heavy outlay, but until this is done some of the best portions of the island will have to remain a reeking wilderness. Some of the salt marshes are utilized for salt-making by poor natives and half-starved peasants. The industry would not exist but for the heavy tariff on salt which makes that necessary comparatively unattainable by the very poor residing in the swampy districts. Another interesting AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. m1 geologic, rather than geographic feature, is the large development of limestone formations at various parts of the island. Limestone rock is slightly soluble in water, and quite soluble in water charged with carbonic acid gas. Water in this condition cuts passageways to a depth even below that of the sea level, eats out caverns, makes subterranean rooms and halls grotesque, grand, ridiculous or beautiful, carries the lime in solution to marshes, low lands and the sea, and where it is evaporated it deposits calcareous particles in stalactites or crystals, oftentimes of matchless beauty. For two hundred years the cave crystals sold as curios in Havana, Matanzas and Cardenas, -have been famous for their purity and splendor. Ai I have seen stalactites three feet long and eight inches in diameter, which seemed made of diamonds and white sapphires, so clear was the mineral, so sharp the angles, and so perfect the refraction and reflection of the light which fell upon them. This formation adds curious features to the surface of the earth. Among these the commonest is the sink-hole, which looks like a well, carved in the solid rock by skillful stonecutters, and the disappearing river, where a broad stream suddenly vanishes into one or more holes in the earth and cannot be found again within miles in any direction. Then there is the opposite of this, in which a great stream surges from the ground, suggesting a broken water main in a big city more than an ordinary spring. Many of the limestone caves in Cuba are as large as 172 AMERICA'S NEW jOSSESStONS. those in Kentucky, and in them can be found all the things of wonder which are so familiar to visitors of the latter commonwealth. There is considerable variety to the geology of Cuba. Although the authorities themselves have given the matter little or no attention, American, English, German and French scientists have explored a larger part of the territory and investigated the more prominent features. In the western half of the island the basework appears to be of schist and other metamorphic beds. On this are strata containing gypsum, clay, rock, sandstone and limestone. In the eastern half the general formation is limestone and dolomite resting on metamorphic rock. In the eastern, central and western parts there is an outcropping of syenite, and other semi-plutonic rocks, with here and there small masses of volcanic nature. The island has a covering of tertiary and post-tertiary formation, in which the bones and other fossils of the eocene, miocene and pleiocene periods have been discovered. In the eastern part are large deposits of iron ore, manganese and manganese-iron, and at various points have been discovered copper, silver, gold, lead, quicksilver, zinc, coal, lignite, oil, natural gas, gypsum, selenite, statuary marble, decorative marble, dolomite, guano, phosphate rock, and it is said nickel and chromium. The soil is of remarkable richness. It varies but little from the seashore to the tops of the highest peaks. It is a rich red loam, containing silica, lime, iron, magnesia, alumina, soda, potash, phosphoric acid and organic matter. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 173 Its nearest counterpart is the soil of Porto Rico. So far as is known it has no equal in the North American Continent. When rotation of crops is pursued by the husbandman, a Cuban farm seems to retain its original fertility no matter how large the crops taken from it every year. Only in those districts where the same plants have been grown and harvested year after year through generations has the earth grown poorer and needed fertilization. To this richness of the soil is due the agricultural wealth of the territory. All of the gold mines of South Africa together have not produced as much wealth as have the Cuban fields and farms year in and out since the beginning of the century. In the past they have not been used to their fullest advantage, nor in fact has more than one-third of the arable surface been put to complete use and enjoyment. When the whole island is devoted to industry by an intelligent people, under the direction of modern science, its yearly output will be eight times as valuable as what it was in the best year of its history. To one visiting Cuba or beginning to study its geography, a word of advice may be of great aid. It is, beware of Spanish maps, guide-books and official records. No people are more careless than our good Castilian cousins in matters of this sort. Just so long as a name sounds well they will apply it to a place, regardless of appropriateness or of duplication. In the same district there may be two towns, two rivers, two hills, two swamps, two lakes, two beaches and two islands with the fame name, for both nembers of each 174 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. couplet. Or they make two towns, give them each the same name and distinguish them by adding Viejo (old) to one, and Nuevo (new) to the other. Where an old town is practically extinct and the business, public and private, transferred to a neighboring settlement, both places will be referred to under the same name. Thus the map may show that your destination is on the border of a lake near a large swamp, and when you arrive there you will find that it is on the top of a tall hill. Geographical muddles are bad enough in the United States, but most of them arise from the duplication of names in different and not the same States. In Cuba, which is about the size of New York, and where there should be none of these evils, they are so numerous as to cause considerable annoyance and mistake. Cuba is divided into six provinces, corresponding to our American counties or to the English shires. They are Pinar del Rio, at the western extremity, Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba at the eastern extremity. The province in each case bears the name of the most important city. In fact the division is based upon municipal rather than geographical considerations. It is essentially arbitrary, and has been changed two or three times for political purposes. The popular division of the territory is into four districts; from Havana to the westward is one district, called Vuelta Abajo (the lower turn or the down turn). This is the district from which com es th famous Vuelta AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 175 Abajo tobacco, the finest in the world. From Havana eastward to Santa Clara, taking in one-half of the Havana Province and all of Matanzas, the district is popularly known as the Vuelta Arriba (or the upper turn). Still further east, including Santa Clara, Puerto Principe and a part of Santiago de Cuba, the territory is known as Las Cinco Villas (the five cities). The quintette referred to consists of Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, Trinidad, Remedios and Sagua. The rest of the island lying to the east is known as La Tierra Adentro (the interior country), or as we would say colloquially (up-country). The Cuban insurrectionists made a division in 1895, to express their plans of territorial government. They divided the island into four parts. The eastern quarter they called Oriente (or the Orient), and the western quarter Occidente (or the Occident). From Oriente to the Moron-Jucaro trocha, the district Camaguey extended; and from the trocha to Occidente, the fourth country, Las Villas or the cities. The last division is the most objectionable of all. It makes Occidente larger in power and influence than the other three divisions together, and probably was part of a plan looking toward a centralized Republic in which Havana politicians would have a minimum difficulty in controlling all the communities of the island. All three systems of division embody names employed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The five cities, for example, were then the four cities or towns. Camaguey was an Indian district, Oriente was the Qast 176 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ern settlement, Occidente was the western settlement, and the Tierra Adentro was the hinterland of the coast settlements near the bays of Santiago and Guantanamo. Another name for Las Villas is Cubanacan, which is a variation of an old Carib name. Of the six provinces Pinar del Rio is the most western. It has an area of 5,760 squaremiles, and a population of about 226,000. Its chief industry is high-grade tobacco, but in addition it raises cattle, sugar and coffee. The proportions borne to one another by these industries is shown by the number of establishments in each. There are 6,000 tobacco plantations, 600 cattle ranches, 70 sugar plantations and 30 coffee plantations. These figures were altered greatly by the war. Twothirds of the farms and plantations were thrown out of employment, some being converted into the primitive wilderness, while the remaining one-third was not worked to more than a half of its ordinary capacity. Nearly all the tobacco plantations are again in cultivation, the coffee farms are doing nicely, but the sugar plantations are not yet in satisfactory condition, while the cattle ranches have very few herds to care for. The graziers and drovers were killed or scattered during the war, and few of the survivors have any money wherewith to stock their ranches. Havana and the other cities are now supplied with meat from Venezuela on the south, Mexico on the west, Texas and New Orleans on the northwest, and even by New York upon the north. The leading towns are Pinar del Rio, which is nota AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 177 ble for its dirt and wealth, San Cristobal, San Luis, Candelaria, Cayajabos, Guanajay, and Mariel. The Province of Havana is next to the smallest of the six. It contains4,100 square miles and a population of 452,000. It has a large commerce, many manufactures, and a valuable agricultural establishment. Before the war it contained 7,000 farms, 1,200 cattle ranches, 250 tobacco plantations, 160 sugar plantations, and 24 coffee plantations. The province is well supplied with railways and macadamized roads, enabling the farmers and planters to ship their goods without trouble and at reasonable expense. Before the first revolution it was one of the richest districts in the world, and even to-day the signs of former opulence are discernible in every part of the community. It was one of the few districts in the new world where there was an appreciable number of millionaire planters. These sent their children to the United States and Europe to be educated, and every summer visited the Northern summer resorts, where their lavish expenditure occasioned surprise and comment. The figures quoted are a little misleading. While the plantations, farms and ranches were small in number, they were large in extent. They were cultivated with great skill and with the latest and best implements and machinery. For many years there was a large importation of plows, mills, steam engines from abroad, and especially from New York. Upon many of the plantations were huge refineries known as "Centrals," and several had 1-78 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. private steam railways for carrying the cane from the fields and the sugar, molasses and rum from the "Centrals" to the nearest public railway. -Many plantations employed several thousand hands, including slaves, free laborers, white, black and yellow. The account books show debits and credits of millions upon a single plantation, and profits that often reached five and six hundred thousand dollars a year for a single planter. While the good old times will never come back, and while the sugar industry even in Cuba will have a precarious future just so long as European nations are taxed to pay sugar bounties, yet it is clear that under the new conditions which obtain in Cuba a happy and prosperous future waits upon the peopleof this province. The district is known to be very rich in mineral wealth. It contains excellent marble, white and colored, superior slate and good building stone. Far beneath 'the soil are great deposits of petroleum, some of which comes to the surface on the land and in the waters of Havana and- Cardenas Bays. Asphalt has been found at least at ten different points, well separated, and a fair quality of coal has been mined at three outcroppings. To the province belongs the large island known as the Isle of Pines. In this island there is an abundance of hard wood, as well as deposits of mercury, iron, copper and silver. The leading city is the capital Havana, whose name in full is San Cristobal de la Habana. It is spelled with a "b" and is pronounced as spelled by the edu i~~p~WB,;~I I~~~~r~;~.:,, ~1;1 HN H...~m~~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ m liN 0 l S 11 1111.... 1!~~~~~~~~lllrlr~F11 |''}-|' 1''' l *1 C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,,.,|,,s'' l,.',. l | l 1|: *1!; S11|!E:~~~~~~~~n Z..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"' _~~ I | wir g,. Sg. I__ _ a, or si, =~! " A _i' i il!_1|il' ~_ W~l............................ Y. j.. Yogi i_ C E i, ia~ _. _i r!emi e_ " ll~g |, i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1; YW~lsllc" _,,, _, a~in~.....; Tim VALLEY OF vjjUHIJEI cMhO -7 i!iiiii:I ~ ii ~iiiii ~ ~!ii~iriiiiiiiiiii~iiii i i i i i ii i i ii!!!!! 5i ~ i~iiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiii!iii~iiii~i~ uiiii i ~i ~ ~ii!~ii8iiii~ii i~~~!iiii~i~ ~~ii~i~~~iiiii~ii iiii~U iiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii i iii i ~iii ii i ii iii iii iiii i iii iiiii iiii0 ~i~ ~ i i iii~ii~ iii ii iiii i i iiiiiii~;iii iiiii: ~ "I~: ~I~:11~ si;~;i~ i:; i iir-~;;~ ~ ~; ~ ~. ~~.~~jU ~ii'~:~~~;~~~, ~~ ~ i ~~ i~~l~ l 0 ~r~~ii~~~ ~I~~.~ il~~ ~:;~~ i~ ' ~~~....'. '~ ' '. ~ U:i~~~~ ~i ii:il ~i~ ~~i ~~ i~ ~i: ~:~ ~i ~,~~~I CfU f AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 179 cated classes. Uneducated Spaniards seem to be unable to discriminate between the "b" and "v," and use the two interchangeably. In this respect they may be compared to Mr. Tony Weller, in his use of the "ve" and "we." Strangely enough both Americans and Englishmen have adopted the vulgar pronunciation for the official spelling. In reality there is no excuse f6r it, and the name of the beautiful city should be both spelled and pronounced Habana. The city is the most Spanish city outside of Spain. Up to the present year the adult population was certainly two-thirds Spanish to onethird Cuban, and the proportion has not changed greatly since that time. In respect to its population much depends upon whether we confine the enumeration to the city proper or include with it its suburbs. In Spain and the Spanish colonies civic pride is a very strong factor in social and political life. The man who lives within a city looks down with mingled pity and contempt upon his suburban friend and neighbor. The feeling is not accidental, but comes from the years when every city was a walled fortress, and when it was the refuge of every soul living outside its gates. Americans who have never known what a walled city was do not possess this feeling. They even go further and rather envy the suburbanite who has gardens, flowers and trees around his home, while they have naught but brick walls, chimney pots and uncomfortable hot streets. Havana started as a walled city, and even to-day the old fortifications can be discerned. ArxQun4 it have grown up many pretty suburbs, includ 180 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ing Regla, Casa Blanca, Cerro, and Jesus del Monte. If these be included the population is not less than 300,000. The harbor is a model. It has a narrow entrance, and within opens into a landlocked basin, large enough for all the navies of the world. The city proper is on the west side of the harbor entrance. It is thickly built, as is the case with most Spanish cities, the houses being continuous on every street. While it is very neat from an artistic point of view, the architectural effect is not to be compared with that of other municipalities. Of 17,000 houses which make the city proper, over 15,000 are one-storied, 1,500 are two-storied, 180 are threestoried, while the highest allowed by law, four-storied, are about 30 in number. The effect is pleasing and displeasing. The streets are bright and the shadows are not enough to protect a pedestrian in the hot days, but nearly every street looks poor and impresses the spectator with the feeling that business is so unprofitable as to prevent any one from building a house suitable to his wants and desires. The houses are very substantial, having walls of brick and stone seldom less than two feet in thickness. To an American contract builder there is an enormous waste of material, but to the eye of the fire insurance expert it is a model style of construction. When a fire breaks out it usually runs its full course and reduces everything within the walls to a pile of rubbish and ashes, but only when there is a strong wind blowing, or when thereareexplosives or hazardous inflammables within AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. l81 the building does it go from one house to another. The stores are of medium size, cool and comfortable. The houses have a sort of jail-like effect, through the use of open spaces set with iron bars upon the ground floor. Behind these bars may be seen members of the family, and the first impression is like that had in a jail when the inmates are looking through the bars at the visitors. The house lots are about the same size as those of the American cities-25 by 100 feet. Taxation heretofore has been enormous and rents have been incredible. A one-story house, suitable for working people, commanded from $30 to $100 a month. The enormity of these figures is best understood when it is remembered that workingmen in Havana seldom get more than $1 per day. In order to live therefore each house covers nearly the full lot, and is cut by partitions into a long hall, and anywhere from 6 to 12 miserable little dens. This brings the rent for each den down to $2.50, and for reasonable quarters anywhere from $4.50 to $16 a month. Even then the burden is terrible. There are many government buildings old and new, but all constructed after ancient models, so that their appearance is so old-fashioned as to be quite romantic. The factories are usually strong stone buildings, with plenty of space for the operative. It is not that the manufacturers are really interested in their employees, but that crowding in the tropical climate produces sickness, and lessens both the quality and the quantity of all work done. The handsomest street in Havana is the Prado, which corresponds to Broadway in New York. % \ 18m AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. There 'are many hotels, theaters and an army of churches. The streets in the older part of the city are narrow and foul-smelling. Some of them are so narrow that vehicles are allowed to drive in only one direction. On such streets arrows or signboards are placed on the house walls near the corner, indicating the direction which is permitted by law. In the newer part of the city the streets are as wide as those in the United States. The water supply is copious and of considerable purity. It is brought by an aqueduct from the interior and seems to be well managed by the authorities. There are some well-run street railways and an omnibus system similar to the stage lines common to the United States. The lighting is good, being by both gas and electricity; the sewerage abominable. The docks are handsome and convenient, but the sanitary management is a disgrace to civilization. Other cities of the province are Aguacate, Alquizar, Arroyo-Naranjo, Batabano, Bejucal, Guanabacoa, Guara, Guines, Guira, Jaruco, Marianao, Rincon, San Antonio and San Felipe. East of the Province of Havana is that of Matanzas. It is the smallest of the six. Its area is 3,270 square miles, its population, 260,000. It contains 3,600 farms. 430 sugar plantations, 220 ranches and 3 coffee farms. Beside the industries indicated, several plantations grow rice of good quality, others produce Indian corn, while honey and beeswax are collected in large amounts. Matanzas is the great sugar province, and has exported as much as $28,000,000 worth of sugar in a single year. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 183 The chief city is Matanzas, which has a population of between 50,000 and 60,000. It is situated on one of the most beautiful harbors in the world, which is doubly protected from storm by a convenient coral reef separating it from the ocean. The bay is five miles by two and a half on two sides, and eight miles on a third. The commercial facilities are outrageous, there being no wharves or piers worthy of the name. Though smaller than Matanas the city of Cardenas is already becoming a dangerous rival. It is one of the newest cities in Cuba, having been first settled in 1828-1829. It is located on a good harbor, and when equipped with good wharves it will be able to double its present foreign trade. The plan of the city is ambitious, the streets, being wide and the houses good-looking and capacious, but there are no sewers and the marshes in the neighborhood have never been drained. Other cities of importance are Alfonso XII., Cervantes, Colon, Cuevitas, Guana, Jayabo, Bemba, Macagua, Macuriges, Sabanilla, and San Miguel. The Province of Santa Clara lies east of Matanzas, and has an area of 8,880 square miles and a population of 354,000. It contains 4,800 farms, 1,200 ranches, 310 tobacco plantations, 330 sugar plantations, and 46 coffee farms. So far as soil is concerned it is the richest province in Cuba. Besides the industries enumerated smaller ones prosper, such as fruit culture, cocoa rais-.ing, lumbering and wood manufacture, cigar-making, bides and horns and fat, wax and honey. Its mineral 184 AMERICA'S NIW POSSESSIONS. wealth includes placer gold, copper, silver, iron ore, marble, building slate, writing slate, manganese and iron ore, asphalt, bitumen, talc, asbestos, quicksilver, coal, lignite and petroleum. The leading city is Santa Clara, popularly known as Villa Clara. It has 20,000 inhabitants, and is well laid out and neatly built. On the south side of the province is the port of Cienfuegos, which played so important a part in the war with Spain. The bay is admirable, being landlocked, eleven miles long and four miles wide. The streets are wide, the narrowest being forty feet across. The natural drainage is good, which is very fortunate for the people of the city, as the Spanish authorities never thought of furnishing the place with sewers. The population is 27,000, while in the suburbs are 10,000 more. The exports of Cienfuegos may be put at $9,000,000 per year. Other important cities in the province are Sagua La Grande, Trinidad, Caibarrien, Guines, La Isabela, Palmira, Remedios, and Sancti Spiritus. Puerto Principe may be called the wilderness of Cuba. It has an area of 12,400 square miles and a population of 68,000. It possesses 1,100 farms, and 400 cattle ranches. Over 11,000 square miles are lying wild. Its old Indian name is Camaguey, which is still used by the natives. It is hilly and mountainous and is marked by magnificent forests containing the most valuable woods. - Cattle raising is the chief industry; the mineral resources are very large, the deposits of iron ores being inexhaustible. Among these ores are hematite, limonite, chrome-iron ore, manganese-iron AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 185 ore, pyrites, iron glance, and magnetite. There are also gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum and plumbago. The leading city of the province is Puerto Principe, with a population of from 4,000 to 5,000. The city itself is antiquated, unpaved, and almost feudal in its appearance, but the site has a wonderful natural drainage; the winds keep it cool in the hot season, and the surrounding forests impart a purity and stimulating influence to the atmosphere which makes the city a sanatarium. Of other important places only one is worthy of mention-Moron. Santiago de Cuba is the largest of the six provinces. It contains 13,530 square miles, and has a population of 272,397. This is distributed so unevenly that more than 12,000 square miles are unutilized. There are 5,300 farms, 2,200 tobacco plantations, 85 coffee plantations and 93 sugar plantations. It is the least developed province in Cuba, and has the largest natural resources. Geologists pronounce it unspeakably rich in iron ores of the most valuable kind, and also in copper, quicksilver, manganese, gold, zinc, lead, plumbago, asphalt, coal, marble, alabaster, gypsum, rock crystal, precious stones, slate and sandstone. The capital and leading city is Santiago de Cuba, with a population of 40,000. It is finely situated upon a noble harbor, and is the center of the richest district in the province. Under proper development it is bound to become in a few years a close competitor to Havana for the commercial supremacy of the West Indies. It 186 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. has many interesting historical associations, having been founded in 1514. Its first governor was De Soto, and in its early annals are the names of many of Spain's greatest generals, admirals, explorers and writers. Other cities of importance are Manzanillo, Guantanamo, Baracoa, Jibara, Bayamo, Cobre and Holguin. It is difficult to ascertain the exact amount of the commerce of Cuba. The Spanish custom house officials had a cheerful practice of allowing importers to bring in silk under the name of cotton cloth, and flour under the title of ballast, and the exporter of shipping sugar as iron ore, and tobacco as kindling wood. The merchant paid largely for this practical exercise of the imagination, and both the Spanish treasury and commercial statistics suffered in consequence. A fair estimate is $100,000,000 exports and $70,000,000 imports. As the country was always in debt to Spain, this would indicate that the latter country took the $30,000,000 balance of trade every year, and four or five millions to boot. Its chief articles of export, in the order of their value, were sugar, leaf tobacco, cigars, molasses, bananas, fruit, iron ore and other minerals, woods, hides, horns, hoofs and skins, honey and beeswax, sponges, asphalt and coffee. While Cuban coffee has rarely been seen in the American market, it may be compared with the best brands from Venezuela, Mexico, Manila, Porto Rico and Ceylon. According to experts it is not quite equal to Mocha or Java, but stands next to them in flavor and other qualities. The imports of Cuba were taken VIEW NEAR API& SAMOA. A W ITCHIDAN CER OFzz SAzzzNIOAzz~~~zzz~~~zzz~~~zzz~~~zzz~~~zzz~~~zzz~~~zzz~~~zz~ AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 10 largely from Spain, through the pressure of tariffs and special legislation. They varied from $20,000,000 to $28,000,000 per annum, and averaged $25,000,000. The imports from the United States were about $10,000,000, from Great Britain about $6,000,000, while the rest came from Belgium, France, Holland, Denmark, Portugal, Mexico, Porto Rico, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Hayti-San Domingo and the Windward Isles. Of the commerce with Spain one-half at least should be credited immediately to the United States. With thought and endeavor three-fourths can be so changed. With freer laws, our own commerce-that is to say, that which we have enjoyed heretofore-can be quickly doubled. On the other hand the exports of the island can be increased to almost any extent. With light taxes and an honest administration the output of the Vuelta Abajo can be dou bled, while that of the Yara dis trict in the Santiago province can be increased to almost any extent. Coffee culture will stand an indefinite expansion, cocoa growing can be made into an enormous industry, and a thousand mines can be worked at profit where only one is now in operation. The commercial opportunities offered by Cuba are greater than anywhere between the Mississippi and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is a tropical country and has two seasons, the wet and the dry. The rainy season begins in June and ends in November. It varies from year to year, and in different parts of the island. Its earliest is the first week in May, and its longest duration is' six months and a half. In general the western end of Cuba seems 188 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. to be wetter than the eastern end. Havana, Matanzas and Santiago, the three leading cities of the island, have more rain than New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago, but less than New Orleans or Mobile. The distinction between the rainy and dry seasons is not well marked. One passes imperceptibly into the other. Even in the dry season there are showers, which cannot be called infrequent on the one side, nor numerous on the other. The best adjective to describe the fact is occasional. Thanks to these rains drought is unknown and vegetation thrives to the highest extent. On the other hand the destructive freshets and the dangerous floods of the temperate zone are unknown. Thunder storms are common, cyclones, hurricanes or tornadoes are very rare, and never as strong and destructive as in Porto Rico. The atmosphere is always in motion, the average wind the year through being over five miles an hour. Most of the island is swept by the northern trade wind, or monsoon, which is always cool and refreshing. The humidity is never very small nor is it as large as in the northern latitudes in July and August. While the extremes of heat or cold are not as great in Cuba as in New York or Chicago, the mean heat of the year is much higher. In Santiago, it is 80 degrees; Matanzas, 78; Havana, 77. In Key West it is 77; in Washington, 54; and in New York, 50. Barring the swampy districts of Cuba and the yellow fever infested cities, it is a very healthful territory. Among the hills and forests of the interior it will com AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 189 pare favorably with the Adirondacks and the health resorts of Colorado. It is true that a Northerner must conform to the conditions which prevail in the land he is visiting. He must give up his heavy hot meals and his large use of meat three times a day. He must employ more fruits, vegetables, and also more spices and seasonings. He must satisfy the craving of his system with vegetable oils instead of animal fat. He must use thinner clothing and change it more frequently. He must keep out of the fierce heat of the sun in the dog days and out of the cold damp and dew of the night. When he has done all this he will enjoy a health and comfort which cannot be surpassed. The diseases of Cuba are about the same as those of Porto Rico, with the exception that there is more smallpox and much more yellow fever. There is absolutely no excuse for either disease. The one can be stamped out by vaccination and the other by scientific sanitation. Their presence anywhere is evidence and even proof of a mental incapacity and an indifference to human life, pertaining to a savage and not a civilized man. The people of Cuba, in 1887, numbered about 1,600,000. The growth from that time to the present year, 1899, may be considered as equal to the destruction of life under the martial regime of Weyler and his compeers. Outside of this there has undoubtedly been a reasonable increase from Spanish soldiers and settlers, as well as from immigrants and other points. The population to-day cannot be less than 1,700,000. Of this number 1 150000 are white, 500,000 are black, and 190 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 50,000 Chinese, Japanese and Lascars. Of the Chinese little need be said. They are the same quiet, gentle, industrious, plodding and peaceful workers in Cuba that they are everywhere else. They give no trouble and make a very valuable class in the industrial life of the island. A curious fact in respect to Cuban life is the preponderance of the male sex. For many years it has been fifty-five per cent. to forty-five for the female. This is not due to war, but partly to the Spanish character and partly to the Spanish law. Male immigrants leaving Spain are usually young men without any domestic ties. Those who are married live from hand to mouth, and seldom have the money to pay their own fare, much less that of a family. Another class of the population consists of clerks, who are brought out under indenture by Cuban merchants. They come usually at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and have no domestic ties whatever. When their apprenticeship expires they become clerks or junior partners, and marry in the social circle where they have changed from boyhood to manhood. Of the slaves brought over from Africa and of colored laborers hired and brought over from adjacent islands, the larger part was young bachelors. In regard to the Chinese and Japanese the Spanish law prohibits the incoming of Asiatic women. It is true they come in, but it is only done through the lavish bribing of the customs house official. The Chinese coolies and laborers are domestic and affectionate, and in default of women of their own race, soon enter into domestic relations, legitimate or illegitimate, with whites, yellows and blacks, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 191 This condition is unnatural and unheathful. It fosters the social evil and inparts an immoral tone and tendency to society. But it has become second nature to the Cuban population, and little can be done to change the existing order of things. There is no race prejudice in Cuba, social distinctions being based upon lineage, wealth, education, accomplishments or public services, and not upon the complexion. Education is on a higher plane in Cuba than in Spain. In the latter country illiteracy is seventysix per cent. while in Cuba it is but seventy-two per cent. Cuba was discovered by Columbus upon his first voyage, in October 28, 1492. The first settlement was begun by his son, Diego, in 1511, three years after the settlement of Porto Rico by Ponce de Leon. Diego Columbus believed that the island was rich in the precious metals, and among the work assigned to the Carib slaves was that of searching the river bottoms for gold. The Carib name for the island was Cuba. Christopher Columbus first called it Juana, and on the next voyage Fernandina, in honor of King Ferdinand. The latter name was replaced by Santiago, and this was changed in turn to Ave Maria. The soldiery and the common people persisted in retaining the old Indian name, in order to distinguish it from places with similar names in the other possessions of the Spanish throne. This appears still in the name of the port of Santiago de Cuba, in which the two latter words distinguish it from a dozen other Santiagos in 192 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. different parts of the world. The first military commander of the settlement, under Diego Columbus, was Diego Velasquez, and his first lieutenant was Herman Cortez, who afterward conquered Mexico. Another one of the settlers was the celebrated writer, historian and critic, Padre Las Casas. The first settlement was made at Baracoa, and during the administration of Velasquez the towns of Bayamo, Sancti Spiritus, Puerto Principe, Trinidad and Santiago were founded. It was at this time that Carib slavery was established under the military system known as "Repartimientos." It was introduced by Columbus himself in San Domingo, then known as Hispaniola, and was adopted and brutalized by the brave but utterly wicked warrior, Velasquez. In this system to every settler and soldier was allotted a large piece of land, the selection being made by the commanding officer, with the consent and approval of the commander-in-chief. To each tract was assigned a number of peaceful Caribs as a part of the land. They were the furnishings that went with the soil. The allottee promised to take care of the tillers under certain pecuniary penalties, and on the other side it was made a criminal offense in the nature of treason for a tiller to shirk his work or to abscond from the place. All Caribs captured in war, in conspiracy or when behaving in a suspicious way, were sold at public auction in the camp, the proceeds being divided between the captor, the commanding officer, the crown and the Church. Where there was no demand for slaves or for peaceful allottees, the Caribs were permitted to go free, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 193 but were obliged to pay a tax or tribute of gold dust, about half an ounce in weight. The rule thus established was so hideous in its cruelty that in half a century nine-tenths of the native population of Cuba had disappeared. All that remained were the concubines and wives of the soldiers and settlers and the half-breed children who had grown up, and who, sad to relate, sided with their fathers and were even more cruel toward their relatives than the Spaniards themselves. The most conservative estimate of the native population of Cuba, in 1511, is 300,000, while several place it at 800,000. As the demand for slaves increased expeditions went to the other islands of the West Indies and captured the inhabitants, and a traffic next sprang up in African slaves from across the sea. Despite these sources of immigration the population increased very slowly. In 1711 it was not much more than 50,000, and in 1811 it was only 200,000. During three centuries there were more than thirty spells of famine. Pirates swarmed in every sea, and no village or town near the coast was safe from their attacks. In 1762 Havana was captured by the English, and held nearly a year. The capture was marked by loss of property and life, but it was the first great lesson taught the Cuban population. They had been brought up to believe that the English were blood-drinking characters, utterly unfamiliar with religion and civilization. Within a year they were forced against their will to realize that the English enjoyed a higher civilization than their own people. Although the island was re 194 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. stored to Spain by treaty, the Cubans endeavored to take advantage of the lesson they had learned. One of the first things they did was to send their sons to the United States and England, to obtain an education denied them in either Cuba or Spain. More than fifty were sent every year. When the parents refused to stop the practice the ecclesiastical authorities appealed to Madrid and obtained a royal decree, in 1799, denouncing the practice and ordering that all Cuban parents should be dissuaded from indulging in it. This not proving sufficient, the authorities again appealed to Madrid, and in 1828 a new royal decree was issued, which provided that all parents sending their youths to the United States should be fined or imprisoned or both; that all Cuban youths in the United States should be at once brought back to Cuba; and that every Cuban youth then being educated in the United States, or who had been educated there, should be placed under police surveillance, and a careful record kept of his opinions and conduct. This was followed by a revolt the same year, another in 1830,and still another in 1848, in 1850, in 1851 and in 1855. In 1863 the ten years' war broke out, in which a handful of heroes compelled the Spanish authorities, after a decade of fruitless struggle, to negotiate a peace. There was an uprising in 1879, a second in 1885, and then, on February 24, 1895, the war broke out which was finally closed by the United States by the treaty of Paris in the present year. The injuries suffered by Cuba will never be forgotten. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 195 During the ten years' war over 45,000 Cubans lost their lives, 190,000 Spaniards perished, and a damage to property and business done estimated at $1,000,000,000. During that time 13,000 rich estates were confiscated, and became the property of Spanish politicians and generals. Over 7,000 persons were reported captured or arrested, of whom nothing was ever heard again. During the last war, between its breaking out in February, 1895, until the Americans appeared upon the scene in April, 1898, over 400,000 Cubans werekilled. Of these nine-tenths were reconcentrados, who starved to death or died of the diseases incident to destitution and helpless pauperism. The Spaniards lost not more than 4,000 or 5,000 by war, but over 150,000 by disease. The war with the United States was short, sharp and decisive. The Spaniards were crushed by sea and land. Between April and September the Spaniards in Cuba lost 10,000 men by battle or disease, nearly all their navy in West Indian waters, and an enormous amount of property, both private and public. At the present moment Cuba is governed by an American military department, which is busily working to get the Cubans started upon the problem of selfgovernment. It has already effected a peaceful revolution, especially in Santiago and Havana. Agriculture is reviving, the old mines are again being worked, and new ones being opened. The tobacco plantations are busier than ever, commerce is growing day by day, the people 196 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. are settling down to a recognition and a realization of the principles of home rule, and a magnificent future seems assured, after four centuries of misrule, to the beautiful Queen of the Antilles. r~~~~~l.i( lrr ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~B~ia rir ~~~~~~~~ ~ r~~B Bl~~~i~ ~~il~~~~l I ~ mi'P~ii8~;12 i~4 ~i:~~~~~~~~~~ ~~i~~~rlll~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~,,,~~~~~~ r, I r~~~~~~~~~~ ~;~ 'I~ " ~x ~~i is,. ~ r4 ii i ~ x;,~; " ~i~ ~YY ~i~ ~ rB,~ ;.~;k,~a~a ~i~i 'I~'~rti~ ~r ~~ r g8i ''"" ~ n ~"l~~i*a: ~ ~:~~:al " ~s ~ii~x i~ ip i~ '"' " i ~ ~~ i;: "..;q~g 9~ '1~4~ " ~g " ~jr~ iii ~i a:""fil.:II ~a~.i'~ ':~i~ I'", """ i '"" ; ~r;lk"~ ' r ' .R "" j?~"g~qlr~"li.:l 1 I i''~ %ii%kl ~ gi 8;~B ~ LEI 8~ai. ;8 ~a RI "*~ "" "!:I ~~~ ap~ Ir ~ 1. ~~~:ii~`;:" '""" l;i j"""rlli,n I IV ~ al rU~ ~l;;,'iB"H,~.~"p il ir i ~86 ": "8~ i ~~a~ii9i:g '" Iliiilll : ~; ""'~i:a.iii i( ri" r IR LE c; lili, ~i:~~ ~;,~ ao"4':; Rr~l ii ~P~ 'i.~;~B BI kiEji $' %i, bE AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 197 CHAPTER XIII. NICARAGUA AND THE CANAL. NICARAGUA, the largest of the Commonwealths of Central America, is situated between the Caribbean Sea nod the Pacific Ocean, between 9045' and 15~ north latitude and 83~ 40' and 87~ 38' west longitude. It has an area of 51,660 square miles, and a population of 310,000. The western part is almost cut in twain by a long body of water, Lake Nicaragua, which runs parallel with the Pacific coast nearly two-thirds of the length of the State. The country is remarkably varied in scenery, containing high mountains, many of volcanic nature, numerous strong streams, a superb farming country and a long unhealthful marshy district, known as the Mosquito Coast. The population is very much mixed, scarcely one-fifth, if that many, belonging to the white race. The chief ethnic types are the Mosquito Indians, whose ferocious character makes the name very meritorious. They are lower in the scale of life than the American redmen, and have never yet been thoroughly civilized, The second type belongs to the Mexican Indian family, and, in the form of full and half-breed constitute at least three-fourths of the population. There are one or 198 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. two tribes said to be of South American origin, and a few Africans. The land is extremely fertile and the commerce amounts to about $10,000,000 a year, or $32 per capita. This is a commendable figure, and shows that the people are industrious and intelligent and that the industrial conditions of the Republic are excellent. Of the industries agriculture ranks foremost. The only goods of any consequence manufactured in the country are sugar, soap, aguardiente, furniture, lumber and corn meal. All other manufactured goods are imported. The chief port is Bluefields, from which steamers run to the United States. The imports of the country come from the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Holland and Denmark, the United States having a larger share than any other single country. There is no reason, however, why Uncle Sam should not have two-thirds -of-all the business,.and why it should not be increased four and five fold. Wages are low, carpenters receiving $1.50 a day; laborers, 75 cents a day; and mechanics, $1.75 per day. The Republic has large mineral resources, but they have not been exploited by either natives or foreigners. In spite of the neglect many of the natives earn a living by washing gold sands, and a steady stream of gold dust has poured out of the country for at least a hundred years. At the present time a number of mining operators are examining the territory, with a view to utilizing the many deposits of precious and valuable AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 19S metals. Among those reported to exist are gold, silver, copper, mercury, platinum, iron, bismuth, zinc, lead and tin. The government is paternal and rather progressive. It tries to follow in the footsteps of Mexico, and would have had much greater success were it not for the crazy love of the population for political revolution. From a statesman's point of view, the people of the Central American Republics are as mad as March hares. Since the first Spanish settlement they have had over one thousand recorded revolutions, making an average of three a year. Whenever there is a brief term of peace it is promptly followed by not one, but a series of outbreaks, in which the government changes with almost kaleidoscopic rapidity. In one year Nicaragua is said to have had seven revolutions. Luckily for the lives of the people, these revolutions are not very bloody. An average revolution seldom kills more than fifty poor Indians and halfbreeds, and as they would probably be shot anyhow for brigandage the effect upon the State is almost nil; but this insecurity kills credit, public and private, and is an unsurmountable bar to commercial progress. Nicaragua ought to be as rich as Cuba or Hawaii, having in fact larger natural resources than either country; but instead of that it may be called a very poor country indeed. The entire public revenue is about $2,000,000 a year, and the public debt, internal and external, about $3,000,000. There are no costly public improve 200 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ments in the land, nor any attractive public buildings. The country has no navy, and its so-called army, including reserve and military, is but 17,000 strong, of whom not more than 6,000 are armed nor more than 2,000 decently dressed. From the view-point of high ideals it is a burlesque upon civilized government. American interests in Nicaragua are beginning to be of importance. American capital is invested in the three short railways and in the steamship companies which connect the country with the outside world. The chief importance of Nicaragua is due to its being the proposed site of the Nicaraguan Canal. The necessity of direct water communication between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea has long been felt by the commercial world. Many routes have been surveyed and estimates prepared for canals at various points between Southern Mexico and the South American Continent. Beside canals one famous American inventor, Captain Eads, proposed the novel system of ship transportation by a gigantic ship railway. His plans were a marvel of ingenuity, and called for a plant of specially designed cars and locomotives, which would draw the largest ocean steamer out of the water, transport it any distance in safety across the land, and then return it to the sea at the other end of the route. It was a colossal conception, but the expense involved was so great that the cost would have proved far larger than that of the most difficult canal. Eads' idea should not be forgotten, because in this period of double and quadruple track railways the time AMERICA S NEW POSSESSI6NiS. 201 may come when in the exigencies of war governments may utilize his plans to transport entire navies across continents or from the sea to great lakes lying far inland. At the present time it would not be difficult to apply his system to carrying gunboats and torpedo-boat destroyers by either the New York Central or the Pennsylvania Railway from the Atlantic seaboard to the waters of Lake Michigan at Chicago. Of the many routes surveyed for an Atlantic-Pacific Canal, only three general ones have borne the test of detailed scrutiny. These are the Panama, Darien and Nicaragua routes. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, each is enthusiastically supported by friends and fiercely denounced by the friends of the rivals. One route is already taken up and is said to be halfcompleted. This is the Panama Canal, which proved so terrible a scandal some years ago as to ruin the fair name and fame of Ferdinand De Lesseps, who had gained immortality by constructing the Suez Canal, and of at least thirty of the legislators and statesmen of France. At the time it was believed that the shock and the exposure of the canal scandal would put an end to all construction. It did for some months, but the French, with characteristic patience and frugality, got together, reorganized their forces, and took up the work upon a small but at this time honest basis. They have been laboring ever since, and though their progress has been much smaller and less satisfactory than was predicted or expected, it has been sufficient to justify a belief in the ultimate completion of the water 20 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. way across the Isthmus. The latest official report was issued October -26, 1898, in which Director General Hutin stated that, allowing a maximum for all work, with a large margin for accidents and delays, breakages and the effects of storms and freshets, the work was two-fifths finished, and with a safety margin it was more than one-half finished. Of the Darien route little has been heard in the last five years. It is longer than the Panama route, and involves one or twoenormous cuttings or else vast ship tunnels. One plan contemplated arched tunnels 200 feet wide and 250 feet high, through which a ship could go under full sail. The programme had many supporters, but the reports of expert engineers threw cold water upon the scheme, on account of the immense outlay of money which it involved. The Nicaragua Canal is by far the longest of the three, but it possesses many natural advantages not owned by the others. It may be roughly described as following the San Juan River, from San Juan del Norte 120 miles westward to Lake Nicaragua, thence sailing obliquely across the southern and southwestern part of the lake, and then descending by a canal to the waters of the Pacific. The idea was broached by the Spanish explorers more than 300 years ago, and so favorable was their opinion of the commercial virtues of the route, that they established a trade route between the various ports on the lake itself, and the cities along the San Juan River on the east, and the settlements in the district where the proposed canal would penetrate on the west. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 203 The first practical move was made in 1849, when Cornelius Vanderbilt, the famous commodore and railway king, with a group of other enterprising and farsighted Americans, incorporated the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company, and obtained a concession for making an interoceanic canal through Nicaragua. They engaged Colonel O. W. Childs to make the necessary surveys. He did his work so thoroughly that his maps were adopted by the Nicaraguan government as their official record, and were pronounced by the great geographical societies to be the best canal surveys ever known. In August, 1851, the members of the corporation mentioned formed a second body, known as the Accessory Transit Company, which carried passengers and freight across Nicaragua. A good dock was built at San Juan, and well metalled roads constructed from San Juan to the lake, and from the lake to San Juan del Sur. Passengers were unloaded at the dock, put into Concord stages, drawn by four or five horses, carried up to La Virgin, where they were transferred to a lake steamer, which conveyed them to the San Juan River, where they were transferred to a river steamer which took them down the stream to San Juan del Norte, and here they went on board a Gulf steamer bound for New Orleans or for New York. The company did a flourishing business for sixteen years, when they were so damaged by the newly-opened Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads that their trade fell off seventy-five per cent. The route is still 204 AMERICA'S NEW POSSEgSIONS. employed, but the traffic is inconsiderable. That the San Juan River should be made the basis of the canal there can be no doubt. Even now, without any improvements in the river channel, it is possible to send vessels drawing less than five feet five from the Caribbean up into the lake. The light draft steamers now plying between the lake towns were built in this country and sailed from here to San Juan del Norte and up the San Juan River to the lake. Between 1855 and 1870 no less than eight steamers made this trip successfully. In 1870 the Nicaraguan government gave a concession to an American, J. E. Hollenbeck, which included the exclusive privilege of steam navigation on the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, which the Nicaraguans called Lake Grenada for twenty-five years. It is said that Mr. Hollenbeck paid handsomely for this extraordinary privilege. Shortly after he secured it, Hollenbeck assigned his rights to a company, which appears to have had greater imagination than executive ability. They raised considerable money, spent it with a lavish hand, ran into debt, and finally became so embarrassed as to be on the verge of insolvency. In 1875 the company assigned the concession and all their plants to a representative of European bankers, and in 1877 this representative, F. A. Pellas, obtained a new concession for eighteen years. This was really for the unexpired term of the Hollenbeck concession, and was secured to prevent any question of laps or waiver being raised by either the Nicaraguans or by third parties. In 1885 Pellas secured a supplemental concession, FOOT 0F A FASHLIONABL HINlS PL1ADMY ............ -...-I.............. R -Ru i AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 205 which increased the value of the privileges. In 1889 Pellas apparently concluded an agreement with New York capitalists, but the matter fell through before the year was out. In September, 1889, Pellas made a contract to sell his concessions to the Nicaragua Mail Steam Navigation and Trading Company, a Colorado corporation. The Colorado company appears to have been a legal masque for another body of men. They were no more in possession than they transferred concession and property to the Nicaragua Canal Construction Company, another American corporation. The new concern was not much more successful than its predecessors. It became embarrassed, and in 1893 was sold out under execution secured by judgment creditors in the local courts. When the sales were over it was found that Mr. Pellas had been active in all the transactions, and that he was again the exclusive owner of the property. It was not so valuable this time, as the concession has only two more years to run, and a new concession seemed no longer possible under the Constitution adopted that year. In fact it was a nice question as to whether under that Constitution any title passed in the judgment sale of the unexpired term of concession. In November, 1894, Mr. Pellas, who seems to have been a miracle of energy, made a contract with the Nicaraguan government, whereby he was freed from paying taxes or duties upon boats, materials, supplies, provisions and goods necessary to maintenance, repair, improvement and recoustructiop. The document is one of those 206 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. noble, legal creations under which thrifty Mr. Pellas might import the entire United States without paying Nicaragua one cent for the privilege. His employees were made exempt from military and other State service. He was allowed to cut wood for fuel, repairs and construction on public lands and had free use of the State telegraphs and telephones. This contract runs for ten years, and until 1904 might be used as an insuperable bar to the construction of any canal along that route. Mr. Pellas has profited by his work; his plant consists of an iron lake steamer, one steel, one iron and three wooden river boats, three steam launches, ten lighters, warehouses in four cities, tracts of land and buildings in San Juan del Norte, buildings at other places, and a first-class American machine shop, not to speak of wood, coal, lumber, building materials, and stock for labor and repairs. Mr. Pellas is an Italian, but -his maneuvers and success show him to possess the soul of a highly bred Yankee. In 1895 President Cleveland appointed a commission, which gave the matter very careful study. They had the benefit of Colonel Child's detailed plans and of those of subsequent promoters and negotiators. Their findings were not quite as satisfactory as had been anticipated by friends of the enterprise. The chief points were as follows: That upon the whole the Nicaragua route is the best possible for an inter-oceanic ship canal; that the older plans were objectionable each for local or special reasons, and that many deviations were neces AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 207 sary. The railroad and the old post road are in poor condition, and no one interested in either seems willing or able to make the improvements which will fit them for use in canal building; the erosive action of the San Juan River in both of its mouths, San Juan and Colorado, is much larger than had been reported by investigators, the sand and silt filling up the harbor at both places and making bars that would prevent the passage of boats of large tonnage; that to keep channels clear would entail a heavy annual outlay, and that' the best way of avoiding the difficulty is to construct a waterway from Ochoa about midway between sea and lake to come out just above the long point of land which shuts in the northern side of the harbor at Greytown; that the importance of the canal, and the large amount of capital required in its construction, render the matter a fit subject for governmental rather than individual action, and that the canal itself should be under government control. The cost was roughly estimated at $133,000,000, or more than twice the amount of what had been calculated by the engineers employed by American corporations. Shrewd capitalists have perceived a great opportunity for profit in the undertaking, and there are already interests, which so far as money is. concerned, may be regarded as adverse to those of the government. Of these the smallest is the vested right of Mr. Pellas, which expires in 1904. Next is that of a corporation, the Maritime Canal Company, terminating October 9, 1899. 208 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Then there is the provisional agreement between General Zelaya, President of Nicaragua, and Messrs. Cragin and Eyre, representing an American syndicate. Beyond these are smaller interests, which it is believed will not interfere materially with any ideas which the government may adopt. The general plan now recommended by the government experts calls for a waterway thirty feet deep, one hundred feet wide at the bottom, with a batter varying according to the soil through which it runs; a channel at least two thousand feet wide across Lake Nicaragua from ocean to ocean. The distance will be one hundred and sixty-nine and four-tenth miles, and the time required in transit fortyfour hours. A canal will save more than ten thousand miles on a water trip from New York to San Francisco. It will make the ocean distance from New York to Manila about the same as by the Suez Canal, and the time required for the construction is estimated at five years. There are still many points upon which no final determination has been made. Most important of these concerns lockage. The plan which has the most numerous, if not the ablest support, is to have three locks on each side of the lake. Other ones contemplate two modem hydraulic lift-locks on each side, while others contemplate four, five and six locks on each side. In 1898 the subject received more attention than ever, and culminated in a message by President William McKinley. In his message he acknowledged the high courtesy of the governments of Nicaragua and Costa AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 209 Rica, and complimented the work of the Nicaragua Canal Commission and the chairman, Rear-Admiral John G. Walker. He called attention to the difficulties created by the existing adverse interests, more especially to an optional concession granted by Nicaragua, to become operative on the expiration of the concession of the Maritime Canal Company. The matter thus presented was taken up by Congress, and provisions made by the proper committees for starting the huge enterprise, but the bill did not seem to suit the assembled statesmen at Washington and failed to pass. There is no doubt but what the next Congress will take up the matter, and endeavor to carry into effect the desires of the commercial world. At any rate it cannot do worse than the Congress whose term expired on March 4, 1899. At the same time it is well not to be carried away by an excess of enthusiasm. The Panama canal will go through, so that an all-water route between the Gulf and the Pacific is assured. The construction of a second canal will merely divide the business, and so make both enterprises non-paying for years to come. It might be better for the government to accept the offer of the Panama Canal Company, which is willing to sell out all its interests at a reasonable price. The hardest work on this route has been finished, and with the unlimited resources of the United States the canal would be opened to commerce within three years from to-day. The argument will be still stronger at the next Congress. If the bill goes through then, and the work is started promptly upon its passage, it will be five years before the Nicaragua waterway can be finished. 210 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. At that time the Panama Company will have progressed so far that the government could finish it in a little more than two years. If the government authorizes the Nicaraguan Canal it will probably kill the Panama Canal by frightening away investors and contributors to its fund. We should not presume too much upon our wealth and power. It is all very well for us to build the Nicaragua Canal, but at the same time it does not seem just to blot out of existence the seventyfive or eighty million dollars which the frugal French people have sunk at Panama in the hope that they were making a wise investment, which would pay a return to them in their old age and to their children after they had passed away. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 211 CHAPTER XIV. SONORA AND CHIHUHUHA. TEE irresistible laws of progress are gradually Americanizing our Sister Republic to the south. The process began after the bitterness occasioned by the Mexican war passed away, and received a powerful impetus when the United States interfered on behalf of Mexican autonomy against Maximilian and his French adventurers. This period in the history of Mexico began in 1862, when France declared war against Mexico. June 10, 1863, the French entered the City of Mexico. On July 10th the Mexican Assembly, selected with great care by French and native politicians, offered the imperial crown to the Archduke Maximilian of Austria. In 1864 that prince arrived and assumed imperial honors. In 1866 the Mexicans achieved many victories over the French, and in 1867, what with the defeats sustained by their arms and the resolute attitude of the United States, Louis Napoleon withdrew his army under Marshal Bazaine from Mexican territory. Maximilian was captured on May 15th, tried, and executed on June 19th, ending the attempt to establish French domination in North America. The Mexicans were exceedingly grateful, and have ever since treated their big northern neighbor with profound consideration, 212 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. Some American capital and a few venturous citizens of the Republic went into Mexico during the presidency of General Juarez. This distinguished warrior was not a statesman of any great ability, and did not accomplish much for the commercial and industrial development of his republic. Under his successor, General Diaz, the present incumbent, one of the ablest Mexico has ever produced, a new order of things was brought into being. While he has ruled it may be with too strong a hand, it is with the best intentions and with the sincere desire to increase the prosperity of his country. His success is one of the wonders of modern statesmanship. Mexico has gone steadily forward and is now the second most important country in the New World. From the beginning of his terms of office he has pursued a policy which favored American ideas and methods. Opportunities were opened for northern capital, and in many cases created. Concessions were granted with a free hand, and inducements offered to agriculturists, mechanics,' artisans, merchants, miners and manufacturers, to visit and settle in the commonwealth. The policy bore fruit a hundredfold. At the present time there are railroads, built largely with American capital, which run from El Paso in New Mexico to the capital, from Eagle Pass and Laredo in Texas to Tampico on the Gulf of Mexico and also to the capital, from Vera Cruz to Mexico, from Benson, Arizona, to Guaymas, not to speak of over thirty branch or small lines which are to-day doing a remunerative business. Scores of mills and factories, farms and plantations, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. i13 are owned and conducted by Americans in nearly every province; thousands of Americans are engaged in various industries, and some six newspapers are published in English or in English and Spanish. Through an implied understanding of friendship and protection Mexico has not been put to the expense of constructing a navy nor of mobilizing an army upon the methods in vogue in Europe. In this respect the entire Republic is an American protectorate, with absolute home rule. The effect is seen in the educational system of the country. In nearly every institution of secondary instruction the English language is taught, and the number of Mexicans who speak English now exceeds a half million. In the past fifteen years a custom has grown up similar to that which prevails between French Canada and New England. Large numbers of Mexicans cross the border and obtain employment in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Smaller numbers go as far as Colorado, Utah and Nevada. This industrial army must contain a hundred thousand souls, nearly every one of whom is imbued to a certain extent with American ideas. At the present time the provinces which show the largest American influence are Sonora and Chihuahua, which form the northwest part of the Republic. In them the feeling is much more amicable or annexational-if that teim may be employed-than in the northeast provinces, which border on Texas, namely, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. A mere scrutiny of existing conditions % I 214 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. will explain this feeling without reference to the historical associations which excite some animosity between the average Mexican and the average Texan. There never was any bad feeling between the people of Chihuahua, Sonora, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Most of the district was ceded by Mexico in 1848, and the entire northern border between El Paso and the Colorado River was bought by the United States for ten million dollars by the Gadsden purchase in 1853. While there is a demarcation noticeable in many ways between the two countries along the Rio Grande, there is none whatever upon the northwestern frontier. Sonora passes imperceptibly into Arizona and Chihuahua into New Mexico. Both States are of the same general character as Arizona, excepting that they are slightly more mountainous. Chihuahua has the smaller rainfall of the two, but on the other hand has a larger amount of level land adapted to grazing, and with irrigation to cultivation of a high type. The Sierra Madre, or Mother range, is the boundary line between the two districts. It is broken by several streams, more especially the Yaqui and the Mayo rivers. There are several passes through the mountains over which railways could be built. Sonora has a coast line upon the Gulf of California which, with its windings, is said to be a thousand miles in length. It has many small harbors sufficient for any coasting trade, no matter how large. The two States are sparsely peopled-in fact, they compare in this respect on equal terms with New Mexico and Arizona. They have the advantage I34 DOME OF CATHEDRAL AT GUANATUATO MEXICO. Ei r I I ";iE """l"')lrlIu CICI [sl~~, tllEII NWj::ii? ~~,ii~ 11 rn~ir r ~IA' rll irii "~irr li: I~i"l:"'~~;~ Ir,~:;:;, i, s?211 ~ii "~~),,,,;,E lal 1 ;n iii 11 i: f~i~ E: ~i~8i~8.~"i. ;:: E I~ Ai fill II arv': ~"~~I~~:~:::,~,.,:8inir;gI"E: i, ~Ri~,i I: i~:6 s~ _,BLBI bg ~;I~~,; idi; AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 215 over their American neighbors in a larger rainfall and apparently greater mineral wealth. Sonora, the more northwesterly province, has an area of 76,922 square miles, and a population of 191,000. Its capital is Hermosillo, which contains 8,400 inhabitants. Chihuahua has an area of 87,820 square miles, and a population of 267,000. Its capital, of the same name, contains 18,500. The revenue of the State of Sonora is $470,000 annually, and of Chihuahua, $650,000. The expense of Sonora is larger than its revenue, being $587,000, while that of Chihuahua about balances accounts. Although law and order have prevailed for three centuries, the natives are still divided by ancient national and tribal lines, as well as by profound racic and linguistic differences. Of the entire Republic Romero states that the pure whites are but nineteen per cent., of whom the larger part are settled in the capital and adjacent districts; the full red bloods, forty-three per cent.; the mixed races, thirty-eight per cent.; including about one-half per cent. of Negroes. The term Indian is a misnomer, as very few of the native type resemble the American redskin. When the Spaniards invaded the country they found and noted at least thirty-five prominent and separate tribes. These have been classified into fourteen families. One the Mexican proper, bears a striking resemblance to the Japanese. Others approach the redman in their lineaments, the pigmentation of their skin and their general habits. These ethnic families are split up into nations and tribes, and these in turn into smaller social 216 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. groups. Even to-day there are at least one hundred and fifty languages spoken in the Republic, few of which can be understood by those employing other dialects. In regard to the changes going on in population, the pure whites, even with the addition made by immigration, increase slowly; the natives of pure blood more slowly, while the half-breeds display the largest rate of increase. Thus the prediction of Humboldt that the Indians would finally preponderate and absorb the whites has proven inaccurate. The odd spectacle is presented of a smaller race in times of peace and tranquillity absorbing another that was formerly six and seven times as large, and which now is not much more than twice as large. There is stilt an appreciable Spanish migration to Mexico, the economy, industry, and thrift of the mercantile classes in Spain proving a sure road to success in the more indolent and extravagant communities of the new world. There is also a growing German element in the Republic, and another singular feature is the extensive use of the French language in commercial and social relations. French is spoken in Mexico as in Spain. These conflicting elements prevent solidity and uniformity in the development of a people. They aid the process of Americanization as well as the other causes enumerated. In the last ten years new forces have come into play, more or less industrial in character. Among these may be mentioned the introduction of the telephone, the electric light, the electric trolley, the power dynamo, the AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. phonograph, aluminum goods, improved mill and other machinery; finished materials for iron and steel bridges, iron frames and roofs for houses and other buildings, and the equipment of sugar works, and other manufacturing establishments. Of these the larger part are imported from the United States, and with them go American engineers, foremen, artisans, machinists and experts. The commerce with the United States is $100,000,000 a year, out of a total commerce of $150,000,000; in other words, two-thirds of all the foreign trade of Mexico is done with the United States. The latest official figures throw an interesting light upon the subject. In 1895-1896 over $50,000,000 worth of metals, chiefly silver and gold, were exported to the United States, and between the years 1877 and 1898 over $400,000,000 of silver and gold were sent to the United States in payment for imported goods. We export to Mexico nearly $1,000,000 worth of cotton goods, and $10,000,000 worth of iron and steel manufactures. Our sister Republic uses 100,000,000 gallons of American petroleum and kerosene a year. The trade between the two countries is steadily increasing. In 1877 it was about $40,000,000, in 1887 it was $75,000,000, and in 1897, $180,000,000. This doubling every decade promises to make Mexico a close rival of Great Britain in respect to being the best customer of the United States. Sonora and Chihuahua will be of value to the grazier, agriculturist and manufacturer, but their greatest future will be in mining. The two States have often been S18 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. called solid blocks of metal. Sonora contains inexhaustible supplies of gold ore, and Chihuahua of silver. Copper is found in both States, as are magnetic iron ore, lead, platinum, quicksilver, bismuth and arsenic. The best mining engineers are of the opinion that only one-tenth of the mineral resources of the Republic are known, and less than one-tenth of that one-tenth utilized. Humboldt predicted that Mexico would be the treasure house of the world. Three mining districts in the central part of the commonwealth have produced at least $5,000,000,000 of silver since the time of the conquest. One lode alone in Guanajuato produced $250,000,000 in 250 years. Two mines in the same district produced $5,000,000 annually for several generations. The Valenciana mine brought forth $4,000,000 a year. Upon such a basis it is no wonder that the Republic of Mexico has given the world one-half of all its silver. The coinage alone from 1537 to 1896, aggregated $3,530,583,277. Already many of the mines are owned by enterprising Americans. A number of employees of the Sante Fe Railway opened a very successful mine, known as La Madrugada. Mr. Shepherd owns a very valuable group; Charles Miller, of Franklin, Pennsylvania, is another successful owner; while more than one hundred American corporations are mining at a handsome profit. In Sonora the gold belt runs more or less north and south on the west side of the Sierra Madre, and has been recognized as the mother lode of the placer formation upon the lower levels nearer the coast. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 219 There are enormous quantities of iron ore of the best quality in both Sonora and Chihuahua, but these can be only utilized when it is possible to transport them from the Mexican coast by water to furnaces not too far distant. The exhaustion of the iron ores of England and other European nations has already developed this novel kind of commerce. Ores are now mined in Spain, taken to the coast, carried by steamers to England, and thence to the furnaces. Under these adverse conditions they yield a fair profit to the iron masters. In our own country it has been found remunerative to mine ores in eastern Cuba, carry them by a mining railway to Jibara and Santiago, and thence ship them to Maryland and Pennsylvania. With the opening of the coal deposits in Arizona and the installation of iron works in either Arizona or California, there would be a much larger profit in the ores of Sonora and Chihuahua. Cinnabar, the best mineral form in which mercury appears, has been found in large quantities in both of the States, the deposits being a continuation of those in New Almaden, in California. The demand for this useful metal is almost equal to the supply, and the price at which it sells insures a very large profit to the mine owner. The deposits have not been developed in Mexico, that country being compelled to import the metal in large amounts for home consumption. The copper deposits of Sonora and Chihuahua are large and of considerable purity, those of Sonora being the less valuable but the more convenient of access. They are worked upon a small scale at Santa Rosalia, on the Gulf of 20 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. California, but there are at least fifty spots where the same work would be rewarded with heavy returns. The ever-increasing demand for copper, an increase so swift that the huge mines of the West are unable to furnish a supply, point out the desirability of developing these great beds of ore. In Sonora a rich coal field has been discovered containing many veins of the best anthracite, some being of the remarkable size of sixteen feet from wall to wall. At present the deposits are of no earthly use, the mines being so distant from the nearest railway or the sea that the cost of transportation on mule-back would make the price prohibitive. A railway, connecting the district with the trunk lines of the Republic and also with the coast, would build up an enormous business. Mexico imports its coal and, according to the quality, pays from $8 to $11 a ton. It even uses the coal dust briquettes made from the refuse of English mines. With labor at $1 Mexican or a half-dollar American money per day this coal could be mined, screened, and put on the cars at a cost of less than $1 a ton, leaving a superb margin for railway and steamer freights and commissions of middle men and the profit of the coal master. The market is even larger than Mexico, and would extend over a greater portion of the southwest corner of the Union, including Southern California and Arizona, not to speak of shipping coal to coast ports on the western shore of Central and South America. When the time comes the acquisition of these two States will not be difficult. They are of very little im AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 221 portance to the Mexican government, and their population of three to the square mile in Chihuahua and two and four-tenths in Sonora, indicates the smallness of the part they play in the national economy. Development has been very slow and small and the capitalized wealth of the two States, meaning that which represents accumulated labor, is insignificant. The population is of the poorest peon class, and would be as happy under American as Mexican rule. The policy of Mexico is that of extreme friendship toward the United States, and if its government believed that the sale of the two States would tend to help their own civilization, they would gladly enact the requisite legislation. Even if they never pass under the Stars and Stripes their coming development will be achieved largely if not exclusively by American capital and American enterprise. 222 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER XV. HONG-KEW, OR THE AMERICAN CONCESSION AT SHANGHAI. IT will probably surprise most readers to learn that the United States is a large owner of real estate in the Chinese Empire. This ownership is no recent fact. The Americans began obtaining title to landed property as early as 1845, and at the present time the United States pays taxes to the Chinese government upon more than $10,000,000 worth of property. This state of affairs is due to the curious land laws of the Empire. In Chinese jurisprudence conditions are very much the same as in the Henry George Single Tax system. All the land belongs to the crown, which holds it in trust for the people. Every citizen claims property by a ground lease and cannot possess a title, such as a fee simple, in his own right. No foreigner can hold a ground lease. When a foreigner desires to build a home he makes application to his consul. The consul files a petition in the name of his own government. The Chinese authorities thereupon give a ground lease of the land desired for a term of a thousand years. The ground rent is paid by the foreigner to his consul, and he in turn pays it to the Chinese treasury. VIEW OF SMALL MEXICAN CIFY. -.A............. — - ----- - APPROACH TO A MEXICAN TOWN.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 223 It is under this fiction of law that the English hold Kowloon and the adjacent peninsula, and American merchants, missionaries and consuls own large blocks of real estate in different cities and towns of the Empire. The largest of all the concessions is the so-called American settlement at Shanghai, which is known locally as Hong-Kew. It is situated north of the British settlement, from which it is separated by a small body of water, known as Soo-Chow Creek, and is bounded on the eastern side by the Whang-Poo River. It contains about one square mile, and is valued at about $7,000,000. It is situated upon flat country about eight feet above the level of the Yang-Tse River, and its roads are models of excellence in every respect. It contains many handsome houses, factories and stores, and shares in the wonderful prosperity which has made Shanghai the most important city in Eastern Asia. Its present population is over 50,000, and it is growing at a very swift rate. Last year a railway was opened which connects it with Woo-Sung, which is at the junction of the Yang-Tse and the Whang-Poo, about nine miles to the north. The Soo-Chow creek is a favorite waterway for Chinese junks, flat boats and cargo boats, connecting the American and British settlements with the fertile kitchen gardens in the back country. The farmers in this district are very skillful, and the soil is a rich alluvium. From two to four crops are gathered a year, and the supply is so large that prices are ridiculously small, judged from American standards. 224 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. The price current in the latter part of January, 1899, shows the following values: American sugar-cured ham, 18 cents a pound; native, 10 cents a pound; sirloin steak, 5 cents a pound; roasting beef, 5 cents a pound; mutton chops, 8 cents a pound; chicken, 6 cents a pound; ducks, 4 cents a pound; hen's eggs, 7 cents a dozen; rabbits and hares, 8 cents apiece; pheasants, 12 cents a pair; wild duck, 20 cents a pair; carp, 4 cents a pound; frog's legs, 10 cents a pound; halibut, 6 cents a pound; herring, 3 cents a pound; mullet, 5 cents a pound; oysters, 6 cents a pound; artichokes, 2 cents a pound; beans, 1 cent a pound; cabbage, 1 cent a pound; onions, 1 cent a pound; sweet potatoes, 1 cent a pound; rice, 1 cent a pound; tomatoes, 2 cents a pound; yams, 1 cent a pound. These are the prices in the dearest season of the year. In summer they are often much less. I have seen fifty large cabbages sold for twenty-two cents, and fish, fresh from the sea, for about one cent a pound. This will explain why nearlyall the hotels out there can afford to entertain transient guests at $1.50 a day and permanent guests for $25 and $30 a month. Good servants bring from $2 to $3 a month, and a comfortable house can be secured for $8 and $10 a month. A man earning $500 a year in Shanghai can live just about as well as one receiving eight times as much in an American city. In the government of Hong-Kew the Chinese officials have no hand whatever. In 1863 the leading men of the American and British settlements drafted a plan of consolidation, which was adopted by both nationalities, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 225 Since that time the two settlements have been practically an Anglo-American city. It is run on about the same lines as an American or English town, and has its own police, fire, sewer and building department, imposes and collects its taxes and in every way demonstrates that it has mastered the principles of home rule. It goes even further, and has a small post office department, with its own issues of stamps and with postal agents in every treaty port in the Empire. Beyond the British settlement is the French settlement, and beyond that the Chinese or native city. The French settlement is a distinct political unit, and the native city is like all the other municipalities of China, excepting that it is not so dirty, foul and unwholesome. The Whang-Poo River is the harbor of Shanghai, and, with the exception of a small bar at Woo-Sung, it will accommodate ships of the deepest draft for a distance of at least fourteen miles. It is usually crowded with vessels, ranging from the great mail steamers of the various nations to the light coasters and the huge river steamers, which are built after the model of the vessels plying upon Long Island Sound and the Hudson River. The port is a favorite rendezvous of the squadrons of the far East, and it is very rare that there are not three or four war vessels lying at anchor in front of the two settlements. This is not due altogether to the love of comfort or the desire to have a good time. Shanghai is phenomenally rich, and is regarded by the average Chinaman of Central China as a veritable Golconda. As a matter of fact the stocks of goods amount usually 226 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. to about $100,000,000, and the belongings of the citizens of the four settlements must be as much more. On several occasions during the civil wars attempts have been made to capture and loot the city, and frequently fierce riots have been started by the criminal classes with the same object. The Chinese have a superstitious fear of the war vessels of the WesteIn nations, so that a single gunboat moored in front of a settlement is a greater protection to life and property than a regiment of a thousand men. The population knows the reality of this danger, and for twenty-five years has been prepared to take arms at a moment's notice. At least one-half of the male adults, Americans, English, French and Germans, are familiar with the manual of arms and many of them belong to an excellent military organization organized under the auspices of the municipal authorities. Shanghai is famous for its club. This owns a noble building on the bund or levee facing the river. It is of enormous size, and will easily accommodate from 2,500 to 3,000 guests. The barroom alone is so large that 200 men can be served at the same time, while the restaurant can supply 1,000 guests at once if necessary. It has a fine working library of more than 10,000 volumes, and in its reading rooms are the leading papers of Yokohama, Hongkong, Calcutta, Alexandria, Paris, Berlin, London, Liverpool, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. It is the center of an intense social activity, which makes Shanghai a Mecca to travelers and to residents AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 227 in other ports. During the season it conducts tournaments in whist, billiards, pool, and tenpins, and it makes its rooms the headquarters of the jockey club, the tennis club, the cricket club, the hockey club, and the athletic clubs of the district. It also aids purveyors of amusement, so that the small European community is enabled to enjoy concerts, plays, performances of magic, minstrels, the circus, and other forms of recreation. Horses are very cheap and, though not handsome, are strong and serviceable. They are chiefly ponies, imported from Northern China, and cost from $5 to $25 apiece, according to their beauty and speed. The attendant, or mafoo, is hired in a very curious manner. You pay him a certain amount a month, out of which he feeds and cares for the horse. This ranges from $4 to $7 a month. The Chinese make cheap but durable vehicles, so that a man can keep a fair turnout for about $75 a year. Shanghai is also celebrated for a curious style of locomotion, which I believe is unknown in other parts of the world. It is a wheelbarrow of extraordinary construction. It consists of a narrow wooden platform, built round a huge wheel from which two handles run backward, as with the ordinary barrel. The wheel is covered with a framework fastened to the platform, so as to prevent the passengers from soiling their clothing against its rim and tire. The barrel-man can propel two customers at a good walking gait for an hour or two at a time without resting. It is very difficult to carry one passenger, as the 228 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. weight disturbs the balance. To offset this freight is carried on the other side whenever passengers are scarce. I recall seeing on one occasion a well-dressed Chinaman on one side of the wheel and a large sqealing pig tied to the other. Oddest of all is when a workingman sits on one side with a child in his lap, his wife on the other with a child in her lap, and a third or fourth child perched high upon the frame over the wheel; The charges are insignificant. You can go a mile for a cent, and you can go all day for ten cents. Shanghai offers more business opportunities to Americans at the present time than any other Chinese city. Nevertheless, no one should go out there unless it be under the auspices of some firm established in the place, or else with a small to medium amount of capital. Commercially the Chinese are in a condition of arrested development. In retailing and to a certain extent in wholesaling, they do business more skillfully and successfully than ourselves-that is to say, they do it on a smaller margin of expense and at the same time are satisfied with a smaller percentage of profit. Where an American asks fifty percent. profit, a Chinaman takes twenty. Where an American takes ten, a Chinaman is satisfied with four or five. For this reason it is difficult, if not impossible, for our race, under existing conditions, to compete successfully with the Chinese in those industries which are based upon the retailing and the wholesaling of goods up to amounts not exceeding $100,000 a year. When it comes, however, to tho use of large amounts AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 229 of capital, to the employment of great bodies of operatives, and above all to financial transactions involving discounts and foreign exchange, the Chinese are inferior to the Western nations. This strange difference is well exemplified in the tea industry. English and Americans have endeavored to raise tea, but have never done so with any particular success; but when it comes to the exportation of tea they have a practical monopoly of the trade. A rich Chinese merchant, who has bought a big block of tea and desires to sell it in London and New York, seldom or never attempts to do it in person. He engages an English, German or American house in whom he has confidence to do it for him, and to charge him a definite commission upon the transaction as an entirety. In some years where the market fluctuates a great deal, as much as twenty per cent. of the business done in this field is conducted upon this curious plan or method. In banking the Chinese are at about the same point as Europe was at the time of the old Lombards. The Chinese banker is nothing more nor less than a pawnbroker. He asks a large interest upon all moneys advanced, and does not seem to understand the principle that the smaller the interest a banker can charge the larger will be the volume of business transacted. As a result of this mental peculiarity the high finance of the Empire is conducted by foreign banks and bankers, and more notably by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, an English concern of rare ability, wisdom, and skill. At the present time there is a 830 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. wonderful field for enterprise and profit in the utilization of opportunities made possible by the late war betweeen China and Japan. Foreigners can now start large manufacturing establishments in which machinery is used, and can obtain concessions for exploiting and developing resources which have scarcely been touched up to the present time. With an unlimited coal supply of excellent quality and with inexhaustible cheap labor, Shanghai is bound to become the center, or else the financial headquarters, of a vast series of mercantile, manufacturing and mining industries second to none upon the globe. For the first twenty years well-trained Caucasians, and more especially Americans, English and Germans, will be necessary as the organizing and the directing forces which are not only the most important but also the best paid elements in all commercial undertakings. At the present moment magnificent cotton mills, equipped with English and American machinery, are in successful operation at Shanghai, and other mills are in contemplation or construction. Up the Yang-Tse there are rich mineral deposits, including coal, iron, silver, lead, copper, quicksilver, tin, gold, and, it is said, platinum. With coal at fifty cents a ton, iron ore at forty cents a ton, and intelligent and sober labor at nine cents a day, there is the possibility of millions of dollars of profit for Western financiers. At the same time there is an industrial threat and menace to the iron and steel industries of Great Britain and America, which some day will call for the exercise AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 231 of the highest statesmanship. There is a great future for railroads, and for that cheaper and simpler form of locomotion and transportation, the electric trolley. There is also an opportunity for one class of industries which has no parallel in other parts of the world-that is, for light draft freight and passenger steamers for the rivers, lakes and canals, which are so remarkable a feature of the three great river basins of the Empire, the Whang-Ho, the Yang-Tse and the Si-Kiang. Of these the Yang-Tse is far larger than the other two combined, and the headquarters of the business would have to be at Shanghai for many years. In the development of Chinese civilization an enormous amount of work was done, running through centuries, in building canals so as to connect wherever it was possible the watercourses and the lakes of the Empire. Although these thoroughfares have been neglected under the present dynasty, it is still possible for boats drawing not more than two feet of water to go from Canton inland to Peking on the north, to Chung-King or to TonKing in the extreme southwest. The day is not distant when Shanghai, Han-Kow and Ichang will be the sites of engine works and boat-yards on an enormous scale, from which hundreds, if not thousands, of light-draft vessels will be turned out every year. There will be, if there is not already, an opportunity of value in the canning and exportation of vegetables. The chief elements of expense at the present time in the making of these goods are the costs of the raw food 232 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. products and of the labor employed upon the canning. Every vegetable and fruit canned in the United States or France can be grown in the valley of the Yang-Tse at from one-third to one-tenth of what it costs in the two countries mentioned, while the price of labor is onesixth of what it is in France, and about one-eighteenth of what it is in the United States. This is upon the basis that the tin plate used in making cans is imported. When it is made in China, as it can be without trouble, and at one-half or one-third of the expense of what it costs to lay it down in Shanghai, it will be possible to produce such goods as canned tomatoes at three and four cents a can, and little green peas and mushrooms at ten cents a can. Another industry which is to be developed is that of petroleum. What few explorations have been made in the interior of the Empire show that there are large deposits. The Chinese have already learned to use such preparations as kerosene, vaseline, paraffine, lubricating oils, benzine, and naphtha. These are now sent there by ships from Philadelphia and New York, or from the Russian depots on the Black Sea. In spite of the increase in cost, due to the long water carriage and marine insurance, the goods have won a big place in the Chinese markets. So great is the amount of kerosene used to-day in the Middle Kingdom that in many towns and cities it has ruined the local industries in bean-oil, candles and lanterns. The cheapest illuminant in the Chinese market is twice as expensive as kerosene, and only gives about AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 233 one-fifth as much light. When the native oil is tapped and refined, the country will be able to supply its own demands, and the men or corporations that bring this change about will reap a greater fortune than that which has been accumulated by the Standard Oil Trust in our own land. In respect to the climate Shanghai is very much like New York. It does not, however, suffer from such extremely cold weather and more especially the blizzards which mark the American metropolis. The summers are at times very hot, but the heat is dry and not so oppressive as that of the Atlantic Coast. The Yang-Tse is so wide in this district that there is no danger of an inundation or of flood, such as menaces New Orleans. There is little or no malaria or fever. There may have been some centuries ago, but the neverending toil of the patient husbandman has utilized all the decaying organic matter, and converted what was fever-breeding marsh into rice fields and fertile meadows. The health statistics of the city compare favorably with those of New York, London or Paris. Social life is not perhaps on as high a moral and spiritual plane as in America or England. It seems impossible for men from the Western nations to settle in polygamous lands without becoming blunted morally, or else unconsciously modified so as to resemble the people of their new homes. In view of the temptations and their attractiveness, it must be said that Americans and Englishmen throughout China deserve credit for the excellence of the lives they lead. Those who adopt native habits do so under cover, and never 234 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. flaunt their misdeeds before their fellow-countrymen or even before the natives. Shanghai is very easy of access. It is the terminus of the great mail lines of Europe, including the Peninsular and Oriental, the Messageries, Maritines, the North German Lloyd, the Austrian Lloyds, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the Toyo Kisen Kaisha, the Navigazione Generale Italiana, the Pacific Mail, the Occidental and Oriental, the California and Oriental, the China Navigation Company, the Canadian Pacific, and the Northern Pacific. There are also twenty lines which run with more or less regularity between Shanghai, North China, Japan, Formosa, South China, Straits Settlements, the Philippines, Hindustan, Australia, South Africa, Europe and America. IN M, ~ (UNLI 0 .. S ~ " 9 i~:~.~ -...... ~ " ':. ~~~ "''~ ~~i~ ` I ~ - ~ ~ ~ Fi i i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Ii~.,,~,ll~sll ~ ili, R~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i'M~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i~ M~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i~.H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a~,~,ii AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. 235 CHAPTER XVI. THE AMOY AND OTHER AMERICAN CONCESSIONS IN CHINA. UNDER the legal fiction described in the preceding chapter the United States is the legal owner of numerous pieces of valuable real estate in the treaty ports and elsewhere in the Flowery Kingdom. Next to the American interests in Shanghai, those in Amoy are probably of the greatest political importance. The Amoy district is very different, so far as the character of its inhabitants is concerned, from the other coast cities of China. Its natives speak a branch of the Fokienese family of languages, which is very different from the Cantonese on the south, and the Pekingese or Mandarin on the north. The district was one of the last to be subjugated in the past centuries, and even to-day the population wears a turban, where all the rest of China wears a flat hat or a skull cap. Amoy itself was held by tho Japanese in the wars long ago, and both before and after the Japanese occupation was noted in Chinese annals for the ferocious bravery, the love of liberty and the piratical instincts of its inhabitants. The men seem to 236 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. have more Malay blood in their veins than their neighbors. They are of medium height, rather slender, wiry, indefatigable and muscular. On account of the large tea traffic the city has long been of commercial importance to the Western world. The British obtained a valuable tract of land, which is now known as the Bund, and at the same time in 1870, the Chinese government, in order to prevent ill will or jealousy on the part of the American government, set aside another large tract of land contiguous to the first as an American concession. They also offered the beautiful Island of Kulangsu in case the State department at Washington preferred the latter. The national policy at the time was opposed to acquiring foreign territory, and the offer was politely declined. Nevertheless the Chinese, with their customary eccentricity, marked the first tract the American concession, and so it is known to-day. The gift was utilized by far-seeing ecclesiastics. The Dominican Procuration of the Philippines took advantage of the offer, and through the great courtesy of the American consul obtained a big slice of real estate, on which they have a handsome church, a school, a convent, and other buildings. The American missionaries, with equal wisdom, secured a still more valuable piece of water front, and of land lying under the water. The former they improved, but the latter they still hold, although they have never done anything to utilize it. It has grown steadily in value and some day it will be worth a prince's ransom. AMERICA'S NEW POS~SSSIONS. 237 On the Island of Kulangsu the United States has a small but valuable piece of land, in which there is a building, part hospital and part office, and a number of other tracts, some improved and some unimproved. Besides these it holds many pieces of fine real estate, used by the missionaries and the missionary societies for churches, chapels, schools and residences. Altogether more than one hundred pieces of real estate are owned by Uncle Sam in this curious way. Amoy does not offer at the present time any great inducements to venturesome merchants or speculators. Its chief industry is tea, of which the larger portion comes from TamSui in Formosa, on the other side of the Formosa Channel, and a smaller amount from the Amoy tea district, which is some distance up-country. At one time the Amoy Oolong was one of the best teas in the world, and it was exported by the millions of pounds, but the rapacity and corruption of native officials so ground down the luckless tea farmers as to crush the industry. Then, as if to make the ruin complete, Chinese speculators adulterated and falsified the native leaf to such an extent that the markets of the world refused it a place upon their shelves. The prosperity enjoyed by the Amoy tea growers passed across the channel to Formosa. The trade flourished and to-day is in excellent condition. The present output of tea is about 25,000,000 pounds of Formosa and 4,000,000 pounds of Amoy. The trade is in the hands of four great English houses of high standing and popularity. From this place 238 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. there is a steady stream of emigration the year through. Although the community is not to be compared with Canton in respect to population, it sends out a much larger number of workingmen to various countries. One body cross the Formosa Channel every year to work in the tea fields in the Tam-Sui district, from which they return when the season is over. Another body goes to Luzon, and thence to various points in the Philippines. A third goes to Borneo, where it is converting that savage but magnificent country into one of Britain's richest possessions. A fourth makes its destination Singapore, which is becoming a large and prosperous Chinese city. A fifth seeks employment in Sumatra, and smaller bodies go to other places where there is a heavy demand for labor. The Amoy men are excellent seamen, and with their neighbors of Swatow are regarded as the best steamer hands on the China coast. The leading cities of the district are very old, and were at one time noted for their art productions. The trade has suffered the same fate as the tea industry, and is merely a shadow of its former self. Even under these depressing conditions it is of considerable interest. Among the articles made by its ingenious people are apricot and other stones and hard nuts carved into boats, temples, human figures, flowers and lace work. Some of this workmanship is so fine as to stand the test of a strong magnifying glass. Artificial paper flowers are made equal if not superior to the best products of Paris. Another quaint trade consists in little molded figures, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 239 in composition about halfway between wax and papiermache. These little figures are of two classes. One is made of brown composition, and is supposed to consist of the portraits of the great characters in Chinese history. The other kind is made in colors, representing every class present and past in China, attired in its own conventional apparel. The figures are very cheap, the best costing three cents apiece, and the poorest quality selling for a cent apiece, or ten cents a dozen. The wood carvers are very capable and do excellent work. In addition to carvings and moldings there are other odd figures which have no parallel elsewhere. One kind comprises gods and saints, made out of rice paper and composition so fragile and delicate that they have to be kept in glass boxes, while the other is made of clay or plaster, covered with little shells so arranged as to form extraordinary likenesses of men and beasts. Most notable of all is the work of the jade guilds, which at one time was very rich and powerful. They fashion this beautiful semi-precious stone into articles of jewelry and personal adornment, and also into artistic designs, such as hands, arms, busts, statues, vases, urns and dressing cases. The material itself is very costly and the labor is slow and difficult. The prices are often very high; I recall an ideal arm and hand in jade for which the dealer wanted $500, and an artistic and complicated vase for which he asked $2,000. As jade is harder than the hardest steel, it has long been a wonder how the carvers manage to do their work. The silversmiths turn out some fair and often beautiful filigree, 240 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. while the makers of enamel jewelry are said to be the best in the far East. These enamels are made in very much the same way as is cloissonnee ware. The design is first made in brass, silver or gold. It may be a flower, a butterfly, or any other object admired by Mongol taste. Along the edges a thin upright wall of metal is fastened or soldered to the sheet metal beneath. Into the little compartment or boxes formed by the edges are put mineral compositions, and then the object is heated to a high heat in an ingenious little oven. The heat is just enough to melt the mineral, but not the metal. The object is removed and allowed to cool, and is then smoothed and burnished. Sometimes a second coat is applied, and even a third and fourth. When finished the creation is a mass of brilliant colors, comparable to the great gems, and between every two colors is a thin line of metal. These enamels are very popular among the women, and are used for brooches and earrings, but chiefly for hairpins. They range in price according to workmanship and metal, from thirty cents up to twenty-five dollars apiece. Other art goods, which are found in the local markets, are tea root carvings, although these are inferior to those of Foo Chow, imitation cat's eyes made from the mother-of-pearl of a sea clam or mussel, imitation pearls made from fish scales, imitation ancient weapons and astrologic talismans and amulets. On account of Amoy being out of the beaten path its resources have never been utilized by the curio-dealer and collector of bric-a-brac. A fair trade could be done in this line, but hardly enough to support more tbru two or three firma at the outside. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 241 There is a splendid field for light draft steamers and launches the moment the present restrictions upon commerce are removed. Amoy is not upon the mainland, but upon a large island, and round it cluster many other islands, separated from one another and fronr the mainland by narrow arms of the sea. All the commerce is done by junks, and as the tide rises and falls from fourteen to twenty-two feet sail navigation is always precarious and unreliable. The Dragon River runs far up into the interior, and is navigable to light draft vessels for more than fifty miles. Along the line of this river and its affluents are many populous and prosperous cities. Back of Amoy is a large coal field, which has never been exploited. A few people who live in the neighborhood mine what fuel they desire, but in every other respect it is unutilized. It ought to be easy at the present juncture to obtain a concession to work these mines and supply the local market. As it stands the coal supply of Amoy is drawn from Moji in Japan, KeeLung in Formosa and from Australia. If the native coal were employed it could be sold profitably for onefifth of the rates now prevailing in the market. So far as health is concerned, Amoy is a good place to avoid. It holds the proud eminence of being the filthiest and most unhealthy city in China, which is to say, the world. Asiatic cholera is always endemic, and sometimes epidemic, smallpox rages, and consumption and leprosy are so common as to excite no comment. CommunicatiQn with the outside world is frequent 242 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. and of good quality. The Douglas Line of steamers runs not less than three boats a week between Amoy and Hongkong, and also from Amoy to Foo-Chow, Tam-Sui and Tai-Wan-Foo. Nearly all of the Manila steamers stop at Amoy on their journey to and from Hongkong; during the tea season the Pacific Mail boats stop at the port for cargo and passengers, and more than twenty of the freight lines make it a place of call. Swatow is a small but busy city, about halfway between Amoy and Hong Kong. It is the seaport of the large city of Chow-Chow-Foo, and another immense city, San-Ho-Pa, still further inland. It has a very small European population, but its steady growth indicates that it will be of great importance in the next century. It is situated on the River Han, which is navigable to light-draft vessels for more than a hundred miles. The river is also joined by canals in the interior to other bodies of water, so that it is possible to go from Swatow to Canton inland by water. The trade is large and always increasing. The commerce is chiefly sugar, but includes many other lines of goods. All that can be said in favor of Amoy applies to Swatow. Beyond this it has a better climate and is much more salubrious. While there are few American merchants in Swatow, there are many missionaries, and nearly all have taken advantage of Chinese jurisprudence to obtain valuable tracts of real estate, which are held in the name of the United States government. One church dignitary is said to own, direct or indirect, pearly a half-million dollars' worth of property in this E i 11 M p THE FIRST'M & CONSULATE AM AMOZ H MEMO M.9. MUM IN Ism MMK% NO SIM loans NOMM MEN SIM. MINE HIS AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 243 way, all of which will increase in value as the years roll by. Swatow is notable for its pewter, porcelain and ceramic work, although as a matter of fact nearly everything in these lines comes to the place from the two big cities inland. The potteries of Chow-Chow-Foo have been celebrated for fifteen hundred years. In the alluvial valley of the Han River are large deposits of that famous clay known as kaolin. Out of this material the artists mold the fat Buddhas and translucent goddesses familiar to collectors of ceramics. While the designing is conventional and the treatment often absurd, the workmanship is astonishingly delicate and beautiful. At the residence of the German consul I recall a figure of the goddess, Kwan-Yin, about two feet high, in which not only were the hands perfect in their finish, but the finger-nails protruded beyond the finger-tips and were so thin that you could almost see through them. When I praised it, the consul smiled and said. "This is very commonplace work; here is something better;" he opened a case lined and padded with cotton wool, in which reposed a Buddha about three inches in length. It surpassed anything I have ever seen from the kiln. The ears were so thin and fine that the light shone through the lobes. The nostrils were molded with equal delicacy and the eyelids were no thicker than writing-paper. The fingernails were drawn out to long Chinese points and were as sharp as the finest steel pens. Even the flesh which laps over the base of the nail was imitated so accurately 244 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. that you could run the point of a needle between it and the nail beneath all the way round. The robe or gown which half-clothed the little god was folded and creased, and beneath each fold you could look the same as if it had been cloth upon a large scale. The image was so fragile that the slightest careless handling would have broken some of the snowy films which made so important a part of the whole. At all the treaty ports, especially the older ones, such as Canton, Foo-Chow, Hankow, Che-Foo, Tien-Tsin, American titles are numerous and valuable. Not only are there more than a thousand which the government holds in trust for missionaries, but there are as many more held for merchants and foreigners. Many Europeans nations have but few consuls in the far East, and their citizens generally apply to American consuls when they wish to establish a home or a business house. Our own policy has been of the most liberalsort, from the State Department in Washington down to the smallest consular agent in the Empire. Thus it is that at the present time Uncle Sam appears upon the books of the Chinese government as the owner of at least five thousand pieces of property, ranging in value from $1,000 up to the Shanghai concessions worth many millions. In case China was partitioned among the great powers of the West, the United States would be in a position to demand with perfect right and justice an area of land twice as large as that taken by Germany at Kiao-Chou. It would be of course far better to preserve the status quo, and to abolish the antiquated laws and customs AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 245 which tie up Chinese civilization and prevent its development and flowering. But if the Empire must be divided, it is well that the Republic of the West should have some opportunity in the far East for the extension of its own markets and the benefit of its manufacturers and artisans. I\ AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS, CHAPTER XVII. AMERICAN POSSESSIONS IN JAPAN. PRIOR to the last treaty between Japan and the United States, a treaty which brings Japan into line with the other great powers of the world, the laws of the Mikado respecting real estate were a curious mixture of native and Chinese jurisprudence. It was illegal for any foreigner to hold land in any way, direct or indirect. This doctrine was carried so far that tribunals held that uses and trusts for the benefit of foreigners were void ab initio. The law was evaded by the foreign merchants who leased or even bought real estate in the name of Japanese partners or employees. To the credit of the little brown men it may be said that there is no record of one having been unfaithful to the trust, although in many cases the temptation to take advantage of the law of the land must have been very great. Nevertheless, the Japanese government presented the United States government with several pieces of real estate of considerable value. Of the number only one is of importance to-day. This is the tract on the bluff near Yokohama, where is situated the United States Naval Hospital. In regard to the other pieces the American title has probably been cancelled by the treaty. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 24? In Formosa, which prior to 1895 belonged to China, and since the treaty of Shimonoseki has been a part of Japan, there are several tracts belonging to the United States, which were granted under the old Chinese law described in the chapter on Shanghai. Besides these, which are recorded in the consular offices at Tam-Sui and Tai-Wan-Foo there are several large pieces of real estate which belong to the United States and also to Chinamen living in the United States, who were naturalized some fifteen or twenty years ago. In Northern Formosa, this includes several tea plantations, some mining property and some valuable building land in the neighborhood of Tai-Peh-Foo and KeeLung. How far the transfer of the island from China to Japan has effected these vested rights is a question partly of international law and partly of treaty. The relations between the Republic and the Mikado's Empire are exceedingly friendly, and neither would care to take advantage of legal technicalities at the other's expense. Now that Japan has adopted our civilization, with most of its laws and methods, it would not be fair to refuse to apply that civilization to territory held by rights springing from what we regard as a lower type of society and jurisprudence. So far as individual interests are concerned all enjoying any ownership in the many pieces of property referred to will undoubtedly receive the same protection from the Japan of to-day that they would have enjoyed in the older day from the United States, when Japan and China were treated as semi-barbarous nations. A ___ 1.:.- - 111 P *, _t 7::. 48. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. The difference in status between the two conditions is hard for an American to understand who has not lived in the far East. In China, America exercises what is known as extra-territorial jurisdiction. An American in that country cannot be arrested nor even subpoenaed by a native official without first obtaining the consent of his consul. The usual way is for the consul to exercise all the functions as if he were the court of original jurisdiction. An American committing a crime can be tried only before his own consul. In the event of a Chinese mandarin forgetting the treaty and behaving toward an American as he would toward his own subjects, he would be punished by his own government by being fined, reprimanded, degraded or even beheaded; and on the other hand an American consul, who found that one of his constituents had been imprisoned in a treaty port by a Chinese judge would cable for the first warship and demand the immediate delivery of the prisoner with the alternative of immediate bombardment. This is the rule and practice in China to-day. It was the same in Japan up to the signing of the last treaty. At present there is no prospect of our ever being called upon to protect our rights in Formosa. The only international possibility which might necessitate action would be the conquest of Japan by Russia and the seizure of Formosa by the latter power. Of this the danger is so small as to merit no consideration. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER XVII. UNCLE SAM AND THE HERMIT KINGDOM. THE relations of the United States to Korea have been so obscure as to escape the notice of most readers and even writers. For several centuries the Korean government had a seeming horror of foreigners, and gave visitors a reception of so unpleasant a character as to make the land synonymous with inhospitality. In addition to this disagreeable attitude Korea was an appanage of China, and the Chinese official resident in Korea displayed an arrogance toward natives and foreigners alike that was exceedingly insulting. The first change occurred through a clever Englishman, Sir Robert Hart, who rendered himself famous by his organization and reformation of the Chinese customs. At the suggestion of the Chinese cabinet, he extended his system to Korea, but so gradually as to be imperceptible to the politicians of that kingdom until he was in partial control of the entire Korean customs system. Through Hart as much as anybody else, some people say through him exclusively, the Korean king was induced to select foreign advisers to aid the throne in the government of the land and in the management of foreign relations The larger number of these foreigners consisted of W5o AMERICA'S NEW POSSISSIONS, Americans and Englishmen. They were men of great ability, and what was even more important their education and experience had familiarized them with the Oriental character. They could do more with the Korean monarch than the great lords of the realm and a squadron of warships. Among these men were two Americans, General Legendre and General Greathouse, who had won distinction in war and also in diplomacy, both having been valued members of the American consular service. Although neither was a religious man, they realized the advantages accruing from the presence and labors of missionaries in Eastern communities, and somehow or other they managed to open the doors to the evangelists of all nations. The opportunity was eagerly embraced by at least ten missionary societies in this country, England, Canada and Australia. Five of the ten societies were American. The earliest began work in 1884, and the number increased rapidly from year to year. At the present time there are no less than eighty American missionaries in the kingdom, not to speak of those from other lands. After securing permission for the missionaries to enter, they obtained properties for their churches, chapels, schools, and other establishments. This was done in Seoul, the capital, and also in the treaty ports of Chemulpo, Fusan and Wonsan. These concessions were followed by others and culminated in railway rights, mining and lumber rights, which have been granted with a rather generous hand up to within 0 z z 7 0 .1 AMERICA'S NEW POSSEStIIN1. El1 U year ago. Under the Korean law, which is largely based upon Chinese models, the. territory and the concessions are granted to the United States absolutely. They are recorded in the official archives, and to the United States as a tenant the Korean government looks for redress in case of any wrong being committed. Most of these concessions are not overvaluable, but a few contain within them the possibilities of indefinite development. Since the Chino-Japanese war, Korea has entered -upon a new course and is at last endeavoring to build,up a large and lucrative foreign commerce. At the present time it is in the position of the wheat between the two grindstones. It has lost all fear and even respect for its old master, China, and now looks with painful apprehension upon Russia to the north and Japan to the east. Each of these powers is willing and able to take the country within thirty days. Korea recognizes the fact and also its own weakness and incapability to make any resistance. It is trying to create friendly relations with the other great powers of Europe in the hope that these may protect it against the two lands described. It is therefore probable that American concessions will be granted in ever larger numbers, especially when the Hermit King and his lords are convinced that there is no danger of the United States seizing their territory. The little country is very rich in material resources, its forests being almost inexhaustible and its soil being divided between fertile alluvial valleys and rocky M52 AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. mountains full of metalliferous ores. Gold, silver, copper, iron, cobalt, lead, zinc and coal have been found at various points, and under such circumstances as to indicate a wealth of veins and other deposits second to none upon the Continent of Asia. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 253 CHAPTER XIX. JAMAICA ---THE LAND OF THE MAROONS. JAMAICA, which during the last three years has manifested a strong desire to come under the Stars and Stripes, is the largest of the British West Indies. It lies 90 miles south of Cuba and is 144 miles long, with a maximum width of 49 miles. Its area is 4,200 square miles, and its population is 640,000, it being larger than Porto Rico, but less densely peopled. Jamaica politically includes Turk's Island, the Caicos Islands and the Grand and Little Cayman Islands, the former being a group of twenty islands large and small lying to the northeast of Cuba, and the latter three small islands lying south of Cuba. With these appanages Jamaica has a territory of 4,430 square miles and a population of nearly 700,000. It is essentially an African population, the last census showing only 14,700 whites, 488,000 blacks, 122,000 demisangs, and a number of coolies, Chinese and Hindus. A comparison of the last census with its predecessor shows that the whites are either moving out or else are being absorbed by the blacks, and that in the course of time Jamaica will be peopled almost exclusively by the African type. The country is picturesque and moun 254: AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. tainous. An irregular chain or range of mountains runs along the major axis, culminating in the western peak of the Blue Mountains, which is 7,360 feet high. From the central axis the descent is by a series of irregular ridges or steps, broken at intervals by some 70 streams, which in the rainy season are in many cases raging torrents. There are several fine harbors, and the British government has gridironed the island with firstclass roads. The railway and the telegraph are well represented in the islands, 185 miles of the former being opened for traffic and more than 1,000 miles of the latter in use. There are post offices and telegraph stations in every town and nearly every village. The postal bank has many branches and the savings habit has been cultivated in the population by the administration. The latest return showed more than 30,000 bank accounts, with more than $100 average to an account. The island is divided into three counties: Surrey, or eastern; Middlesex, or central; and Cornwall, or western. The names were bestowed by English navigators long ago in honor of their own homes. The name of the island is a corruption of the old Carib word Xaymaca, or the Land of Forests. The name is appropriate even at the present moment, many of the interior districts being covered with a virgin forest, while all of the territory, including the roads and streets, is shaded by the handsome trees of the temperate and tropic climes. The people are industrious, but have been greatly impoverished of late years through political forces over whiqh they have no conw AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 255 trol. Their commerce is about $20,000,000 a year, and the exports are chiefly of an agricultural character. One-third consists of fruit, one-eighth of dyewoods, oneseventh of coffee, one-tenth of sugar, and one-twelfth of rum. Among the smaller exports are molasses, pimento, ginger, cocoa, tobacco, annatto, kola, hides, skins, gutta percha, lumber and cabinet woods. Other agricultural products of the island, which are raised for home consumption, include maize, guinea grass, yams, sweet potatoes, okra, sassafras, palm leaves, bamboos, rattans and canes. Formerly Jamaica was very prosperous, and exported enormous amounts of sugar, molasses and rum. High tariffs around the world have reduced this trade to almost nothing, and the bounty paid by France, Germany and Austria enable the sugar refiners of those lands to undersell the Jamaicans in the British markets. Many appeals have been made to the British government to take some action which will offset the foreign bounty system, but the disposition against changing the free trade policy of the Empire is so strong that nothing has been done or even suggested by those in power. In their eyes it is better that the small industries of the West Indies should suffer, rather than that a policy should be changed which has made Great Britain the greatest commercial nation the world has ever known. This is the reason which has inspired the desire and the demand for a transfer of the island from the British to the American flag. That the demand is not unnatural or improper, is shown by the fact that the change 256 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. has been recommended by many British officials sojourning in the West Indies, by patriotic English writers and even by members of Parliament. As matters now stand all the sugar islands of the West Indies are not only suffering, but they are rapidly descending from prosperity to industrial pauperism, without hope of betterment in any direction. The British administration has done its best to alleviate the suffering and to improve conditions by introducing new industries. They started the cultivation of many members of the citrus family, and went to considerable expense in teaching the natives their culture. The enterprise made a remarkable success with lime growing, in which the little island of Montserrat now leads the world. The culture of lemons, oranges and shaddocks had a moderate success, but not enough to give the Jamaicans any advantage over the Cubans and Porto Ricans. Teaplanting was tried, but was not successful. Coffee promised well at first and large quantities of Jamaica coffee are sold at a fair price in London, but it does not seem to be as popular in other markets as the berries of Porto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico; and the cheaper and poor varieties cannot compete with the remarkable output of Southern Brazil. Many East Indian spices thrive in Jamaica and promise well for the coming decade. Ginger growing has been very successful, and the best grades of Jamaica ginger are undoubtedly the first in quality and flavor, superior even to the picked samples from the AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ~57 Canton markets. The profits in ginger culture are not large, because the competition comes from countries where labor is paid only seven or eight cents a day. Jamaica was discovered by Christopher Columbus on May 3, 1494, who called it St. Jago. It was settled by the Spaniards in 1509. They had already taken away a large part of the native population, and in a short time finished the work. They supplied the demand for labor by African negroes, who were brought to that island continuously in the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and even nineteenth centuries. In the days of Queen Elizabeth the island was harassed by the English sea kings, and in 1655 it was attacked and captured by the English under orders from Oliver Cromwell. In 1670 Spain finally ceded the territory to Great Britain. Under British rule it has been ever since. In the early part of this century England abolished slavery, which resulted in the collapse of all the industries of the island. This was followed by the repeal of the Corn Laws under the Cobden movement, and the adoption of a universal free trade policy. This still further increased the financial trouble of Jamaica. Things bettered themselves slowly up to about 1888, and then the establishment of new tariffs and of sugar bounties brought back the old destitution and mercantile ruin. The term Maroons as applied to some of the people of Jamaica is of disputed origin. Some say it comes from the unfortunate passengers and crews who were "marooned" in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In 258; AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. those days piracy was very common, and by the general public was regarded as a rather honorable business. Many of the captains who sailed under the black flag or the larger number who were protected by letters of marque and reprisal were not altogether cruel, and where it was possible, or rather where it gave them but little trouble, they landed their captives. This process was termed "marooning" and the subjects "maroons." Hundreds were landed upon Jamaica and took to the interior, rather than risk death from other rovers of the sea. Other students believe the word took its origin in the French term "marron," meaning a runaway slave. During the early history of Jamaica there were many fugitives of this class, nearly all of whom found refuge among the mountains of the interior. A third derivation is from the Spanish "cimarron," meaning an unruly person or a "tough." It was applied to quarrelsome people, especially of lower orders. By degrees the term came to be used to designate outlaws, or people who mutinied against the English administration. Its use to-day is divided, by some it being employed to express contempt and by others to denote descent from a proud, independent and warlike ancestry. It is similar in this respect to the double use of the word creole in the United States, which to one hearer means a person of pure Franco-Spanish ancestry in the Gulf States, and to another a man or woman in whose veins there is a perceptible tinge of African blood. The government of Jamaica is like that of most British colonies. There is a governor appointed by the AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 259 crown, who is assisted by a privy council not exceeding eight members. There is also a legislative council, consisting of a governor and otherhigh officials, ex-officio, nominated members not exceeding ten appointed not by the crown directly or by the governor, and fourteen elected by the people. The system is somewhat cumbrous and not very representative, but it works smoothly and seems to give satisfaction to the governor. For many years the colony has been a drag upon the imperial treasury, the income being considerably smaller than the outgo, and the public debt slowly increasing from year to year. This does not include the money spent directly and indirectly by the British government at home. In 1896 —1897 the expenditure was over $4,300,000, and the revenue but $3,880,000. The public debt is about $9,000,000. At one time Jamaica was a favorite winter resort for Americans and Canadians, but fashion has changed, and the throng which once visited it now go to Florida, the Bahamas, Bermuda, California or the Riviera of the Mediterranean. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston, with a population of nearly 50,000. It is a very attractive place, with well constructed buildings, substantial and clean pavements, faultless sewers, and a noble landscape for a background. In the early part of the century the island was a hotbed of yellow fever, and during the heated season it was surrounded almost every year by an invisible wall of quarantine. English engineers attacked the problem and after many years of hard work, involv 2601 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. ing-a very heavy outlay, they destroyed all the causes of the epidemic, and so stamped out what was and is even to-day, the curse of the Antilles. Since that time the government has paid particular attention to the sanitation of the entire colony, country as well as city. Every stagnant pool has been drained, every malarious marsh cleaned and sewered. Decaying organic matter has been removed, or else disinfected with strong chemicals. Every road is supplied with drains, and offenses against the public health are punished promptly and inexorably. Thanks to this administration, the mortality of the colony and of the city is as low as that of any district in northern latitudes, while the hill country back of the coast is now regarded as a sanitarium. The island is well fortified and is equipped with enough munitions of war to stand a siege for a year. The garrison is noted for its discipline and efficiency and adds much to the social charm of Kingston. As for the annexation of Jamaica little need be said. No matter what the political lines may be, all of the West Indies are a commercial part of the United States, and each year, with the growth of industrial and financial forces, become more allied and identified with the great Republic. In America they are to find their natural markets, and not in Europe. From America they will supply their wants, merely because it is nearer and cheaper. In former years, before we had attained our present industrial position, prices were so much higher here that we could not compete with European merchants and manufacturer, Things are now re "i...~..~. D< L 4, iz.'6'.Y663. i ~ ~~~ 2' '. 60.Y. 6, ~;J ~a66 3,6 jjtjX.84. 6za~ r.~.:i 'Sh.5b.. 6>5v.,2X UM 2. f~ '.t< < s36..6, 6..,v 6 6. ', 1.1 s.~ g.. W'!66. $ 'g,. 3..~ '~.6. 3.6S.'t*. 3 y; 6i mj.~~ ~ X 3fi,> x 6,'~.~i ' 3. 0~ 3.I '3 zj. '.3 i~ 33il 6;.. ' 6 ' i ',j L~ 3, gY. 3 >3.,566i s. I.... Y' ' 3' 6, 6. xS '~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~6~1 3.....'3m.g951. l........... 6< >N. V ''' 23 3.-.<'3,.c.'3}6Y n'6,3 30,.3''. ''' '6 '' ' jf3. Ci i~ *6 3.r62 3 x 3 1 ' S ' l 66.,613 fi~ ' '3 i Y 6r..~ 1ls..j'6zt g<3.6,6 ~~~~i. 61 l,1'.11"1~........................ *1111111..........I... A POULTRY PEDDLER lN XASSAV- M R-TI-19 BAHAMA& l |S S b g I I I:~~l '11 -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l~~B | l -~~~~~~~~~~~c'~a:,iZ S l I l | [~~~~~~~~~~~~~~n 11 l I | | fI 1 | I | | I~~~~nE W~~~~~~ggE | |~~~~~~~~~~:tl%' AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 261 versed. What with labor-saving machinery and with an unequaled industrial organization, we produce more than half of the goods required by commerce for less than what can be done by foreign rivals. We have successfully invaded nearly every European market, and in the West Indians are increasing our supremacy almost to the point of monopoly. Theoretical are never so powerful as practical ties. The Island of Santa Cruz is nominally Danish, but the language is English. Russia has owned Finland for generations, but the people still speak Finnish and Swedish, as they did three hundred years ago. The West Indies are being Americanized, and it is only a question of time when their communities will use the English language, when their trade is almost exclusively with the Atlantic and Gulf cities of the Republic, when their institutions are patterned after those of the West, and when eventually they form new States and Territories of the great Union. -* 262 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS.CHAPTER XX. THE BAHAMAS. To the east and southeast of the Peninsula of Florida lies a long and complicated archipelago of islands, islets, reefs, shoals, coral spits and atolls, known as the Bahamas. They range from 21~ 42' to 27~ 34' north latitude and from 72~ 40' to 79~ 5' west longitude, being about 600 miles long and 150 miles in maximum width. Twenty of the islands are inhabited, 300 islets are utilized by the natives, while more than 1,000 smaller bits of territory are laid out upon the charts. The archipelago represents one stage in growth of which Florida is a more advanced one. Were it not for the Florida Straits and the vast body of water which rushes through it, the Bahamas would have been an integral portion of that State. Their growth into continuous territory has been deferred by the action of the tides and currents of the ocean. The area of the territory depends upon the height of the tide, and ranges from 5,700 square miles at high spring tide, to 6,300 square miles at very low water. It may be averaged at 5,800 square miles.. The population is about 50,000, consisting of whites, blacks and AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 263 half-breeds, with the whites in preponderance. The same change is noticed in the Bahamas as in other islands of the Antilles-that of the African race slowly absorbing the Caucasian. The black families are a trifle larger than the white, and the whites leave their homes to settle in other lands. Of the emigrants the major part come to this country, but quite a number go to England or to her colonies. The principal island is New Providence, on which is situated the capital, Nassau. After New Providence come San Salvador, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Long Island, Eleuthera, Mayaguana, Harbor Island, Great Inagua, and Andros Islands. Though discovered by the Spaniards, they were never settled by that people, who used them only as huntinggrounds for human slaves. According to the old Spanish historians the Bahamas at one time had a large Carib and Arawak population. All or nearly all of the redmen were killed or captured by the conquestadores, and the captives put to work in the mines of Hispaniola. The group was first settled by the English. In 1781, while Great Britain was at war in both the old world and the new, they were surprised and subjugated by a powerful Spanish expedition, coming originally from Spain but reinforced in Havana. They were restored to the British by the treaty of Versailles. The climate is warm and salubrious, especially in the winter season. During the summer it is sometimes quite hot, and on account of its position and relation to the continent it is often visited by tornadoes and other 264 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. storms taking birth in the Caribbean. These storms have done much to injure the prosperity and prevent the development of the group. Nassau, the capital, has long been a favorite winter resort of Americans. In the last three years this tendency has become marked, and at the present time a large amount of American capital is invested in those forms which make a place attractive to visitors. It is connected with Florida by several lines of steamers, of which the latest and best is between Nassau and Miami in Southern Florida. A new line is projected between Palm Beach and the islands. Several telegraph cables connect the Bahamas with the outside world, as well as supply communications between the larger members of the group. The resources are comparatively small. The bedrock of the islands is coral, and the superjacent soil is so thin that over large areas the rock crops out and forbids any large agricultural development. The two chief industries are sponge gathering and the fruit trade. The entire exports amount to never more than $900,000 a year, and the imports are just about the same. The islands are administered upon an economical basis, the public revenue and expenditure being about the same, that is, $300,000 annually. The government is vested in a governor, an executive council of nine members, a legislative council of nine members, and an assembly of twenty-nine members. The commerce is divided between the United States and Great Britain in the proportion of five to one. The AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 2650 chief exports are: first sponges, second fruits, third turtle shell, then hemp, marine shells, hard woods, bark, live turtles and coral. The soil is so poor that very little food is raised outside of fruits, the islands depending upon America for their daily bread and butter. Among the leading imports are: flour, cornmeal, hominy, lard, butter, cattle, pork, hams, bacon, hay, ice, sugar, biscuit, cheese, coffee, currants, oatmeal, and canned foods. So dependent are the islanders for their provisions upon the United States that if the supply were ever cut off there would be general starvation in a short time. On account of its nearness to Florida its currency is very mixed. The last bank statement gave $2,000 British gold coin and $70,000 United States gold coin, $70,000 British silver and $5,000 American silver; United States paper money, $20,000; Bank of Nassau notes, $25,000; and Bank of England notes, $1,000. The wages as reported by the State department are very much lower than in the Northern and Central States. Laborers receive 40 to 50 cents a day; domestic servants, from $2 to $5 a month; mechanics, from $1 to $1.25 per day; factory hands, 25 cents to 50 cents a day; and clerks in stores, $5 a week. Much of the traffic is supplied by small schooners and sloops. They are manned by black or colored boatmen, who work for very small pay, and they can afford to carry passengers and goods at much lower rates than can steamers. Light draft economical steamers have been tried several times, but in every case have failed 266 AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. for lack of support. These little coasting schooners are quite staunch and run with remarkable regularity. They go to Miami, Palm Beach, Key West, and other ports in those waters. The bulk of the ocean commerce is done by the New York and Cuba Steamship Company, which makes fortnightly trips to Nassau, and by a local line which makes monthly trips to New York, as also the line referred to connecting Nassau with Miami. There has been off and on a line between Nassau and Palm Beach, the time occupied being from 16 to 18 hours. The government pays considerable attention to the limited resources of the islands, and endeavors to increase their prosperity. It has tried on several occasions to improve the condition of the sponge gathering business, but the sponge gatherers are of so low a type that they object to being benefited. The future of the Bahamas is not a very brilliant one. In fruits it will hereafter have to compete with Porto Rico and probably with Cuba, both of which have better soil and better climate for the industry. In sponges there will be competition from the same lands, although no great decline in prices need be looked for. At the present time the United States buys eighty-six per cent. of the sponge output, so that there is not much opportunity to increase the market. The only hope for a marked betterment lies in annexation. This would take down the tariff, which at present cuts out nearly all the profits upon the fruits grown in the archipelago. On the other hand the United States has little or noth/ AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 261 ing to gain by annexation. Coral islands, though picturesque, are always poor territory, and the entire value of the Bahama group is not equal to that of a single wealthy county in the more prosperous States of the Union. I ' _'. i.*... -... I 'r X - I t. -,. % 268 ' AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER XXI. ST. KITTS, THE PRESIDENCY OF THE LEEWARD ISLES. IN the early part of March, 1899, a monster petition was sent by the citizens of St. Kitt's to the British Government asking for a reformation of the sugar bounty system or for a transfer of their territory to the United States. It was the third movement of the kind within a year, the other two having taken place in Jamaica and the Bahamas. While it expresses the feelings engendered by commercial stagnation and consequent destitution rather than the conviction produced by careful study or created by burdensome political conditions, it nevertheless serves to illustrate the tendency of West Indian progress, and the closer approach of the entire archipelago to the American Union. St. Kitt's, or to use the legal name, St. Christopher, is an island presidency in the Caribbean, consisting of three islands, St. Kitt's, Nevis and Anguilla. It constitutes one of the five presidencies which compose the Leeward Isles. St. Christopher is the largest of the three and is situated in 17~ 18' north latitude and 62~ 48' west longitude. It is 28 miles long ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~.~~~, to4 mF I 0 E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- I 2 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 269 and 51 miles wide. Ithas an area of 68 square miles and a population of 49,000. Nevis, the second of the group, is an insular mountain 3 miles south of St. Kitt's, with an area of 50 square miles and a population of 15,000. Anguilla, or Little Snake Island, is 60 miles northwest of St. Kitt's and is 16 miles long and 3 miles wide. Its area is 35 square miles and its population 4,000. The industries are agricultural. The imports are about $750,000 and exports $600,000 annually. The government is conducted at a loss, the revenue being $240,000 and the expenditure $280,000 annually. The chief products are sugar, molasses, rum, limes, coffee, salt, sulphur, cattle, hides, hoofs, skins, and fruits. Three-fifths of the imports are from the United States, and two-thirds of the exports are to that country. St. Kitt's and Nevis are beautiful and salubrious. Anguilla is too flat to equal its colleagues in picturesqueness, but for that very reason is better suited for agriculture. On account of the sugar bounty system of Europe the insular trade has been terribly depressed for eight years, and nearly everybody on the islands is poor in consequence. The group is celebrated for the richness, variety and beauty of the fish supply. In the market every day can be found three varieties of sharks, the exquisite bonita, a comical creature known as the parrot fish, the garfish, sometimes called the long-silver, the butterfish, the redsnapper, the dainty flying fish, the wonderful angel 270 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. fish, huge eels, brightly colored rainbow fishes, the pig fish, lobsters, crabs, and prawns which have no equal in any sea. The inhabitants display a tropical love for flowers, and every garden is a delight in color and perfume. Bouquets, garlands and cut flowers are a drug in the market, a hundred roses being sold for two and three cents, and an armful of heliotrope for a five-cent piece. The population is very much mixed, the black and mixed races largely predominating. In Anguilla there are not a score of whites, and the so-called whites of St. Kitt's and Nevis are largely mulattoes, quadroons, octoroons and quinteros. Education is general and although there is a perpetual struggle between the schoolhouse on the one side and the apathetic indolence bred by the climate upon the other, the former is in the ascendant. The people are intelligent and take a lively interest in the events of the outside world. During the late war their feelings were strongly pro-American, and throughout their little communities the democratic spirit is as noticeable as in any New England town. Unless there be some change in the sugar market the islands will remain as they are for years to come. The well-to-do and ambitious, who are three-fourths white, will leave the country to seek better fields, and the population will follow in the footsteps of Jamaica and revert insensibly to Africanism, AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 271 CHAPTER XXII. THE DANISH WEST INDIES. THE Danish West Indies are a part of the Virgin Islands, or Isles of the Virgins, the most northerly group of the archipelago known as the Windward Islands. The name was bestowed upon them by Christopher Columbus, iwho discovered them on St. Ursula's Day, 1493, in honor, not of the Madonna, but of the patron saint of the day and the 11,000 martyred virgins of medieval song and story. The group lies between the Atlantic and the Caribbean, just east of Porto Rico, and in 65 degrees west longitude and 18 degrees north latitude. It consists of many small islands, some rocky and precipitous, and a few so difficult of access as to be almost uninhabitable. The windward or ocean sides are rough, weather-beaten and even ragged, but on all there is a rich and beautiful vegetation. The Virgin Islands are divided, so far as ownership is concerned, between three nations: Great Britain, Denmark and the United States. Before the late war with Spain, that country owned Culebra and Vieques (or Crab Island), and constituted them a military district of the colony or province of Porto Rico. The cession 272 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. of Porto Rico made the two islands American territory. To Great Britain belong Tortola, Virgin, Gorda and Anegada. To Denmark, Santa Cruz (or Saint Croix), St. Thomas and St. John. Strangely enough nearly all the American text books and many of the works of travel are confused and inaccurate in regard to these islands. The commonest error is to include the Upper Leeward Islands with the Virgins, although the Anegada passage which separates the two groups appears on most maps. Another queer blunder gives Vieques to Spain and then translates the name and gives it under the English equivalent, Crab Island, to Great Britain. A third credits Saba to Denmark, when it belongs to the Netherlands. Of the Danish Islands, St. Thomas is the most important. It lies in 18~ 20' north latitude and 64~ 48' west longitude. It is just 12 miles from our new possession, Culebra, so that it could be reached by a shell from one of the high power guns. It has an area of 231 square miles, nearly all of which is so mountainous as to be unsuitable for agriculture. If the topography be examined critically the island itself as an entirety is the top of a massive mountain, whose base is the sea bottom. It rises at one point to a peak some 1,480 feet high, which is so surrounded and buttressed by other elevations and hills as to suggest the roof of an Egyptian mosque. It is well peopled, having a population of about 15,000. They constitute a commercial community, the Danish government having long ago made the place a free port of AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 273 entry and clearance so as to attract trade and enrich the population. Before it was made a free port it was miserably poor and insignificant. On account of its economy it is employed by merchants the world over as a storehouse where they can hold goods intended for Caribbean and other ports, without losing the interest on import duties and the heavy demurrages charged by many of the cities in that part of the world. At one time it was used by the whisky distillers of the United States as a place of storage for their goods, thereby being enabled to evade any internal revenue tax and also to avoid changes in the fiscal system of the American treasury. When it is remembered that the Spanish and French possessions in that part of the world, as well as most of the Central and South American Republics, apply tariffs to nearly all important goods, the commercial utility of St. Thomas can be realized without trouble. The climate is warm, the rainfall copious, being about the same as in Porto Rico, and owing to the absence of all marshes, stagnant pools and even lakes and streams, the territory is singularly free from malaria and germ diseases of every kind. The Danes are wise administrators, and the sanitary arrangements of both the port and the island are of the best sort. The excellent natural drainage is aided wherever necessary; the streets are well paved and cleanly kept, and the few roads are fair specimens of modern engineering. The climate is as warm as that of Cuba, but it is moderated by sea breezes, which, on account of the smallness of 274 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. the territory, reach every habitable place. This makes St. Thomas singularly pleasant as a temporary or permanent home. For at least fifty years it has been a popular health resort, and during nearly all of that period it has been a station on most of the great trans-Altantic and transCaribbean mail routes, which run anywhere in that part of the archipelago. It ought to have been American territory thirty years ago. In the latter part of the great Civil War there seemed danger at one time of France, under Napoleon III., interfering in our domestic relations, and both then and thereafter the same unscrupulous monarch was ambitious of starting a French Empire of some sort in the new world. The matter was brought before the cabinet of President Lincoln and afterward of President Johnson, and thoroughly discussed. Both cabinets were of the opinion that the United States should protect itself by establishing an island fortress and coaling station in the Windward, or Leeward Islands, to be employed as a strategic base against any inimical foreign power. The profound wisdom of the statesmen who had charge of the matter was demonstated in the late war with Spain. If we had had an American Malta in the Virgin Isles, we could have overrun Porto Rico within a week from the declaration of war. We could have met Cervera before he reached Martinique, and we could have saved at least $10,000,000 of the expenses which were made necessary by the exigencies of the campaigns on sea and land, The result of the counsels at Washington wan AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. 275 the opening negotiations by the Secretary of State William H. Seward, with the King of Denmark. These were conducted with rare skill, and an agreement was reached whereby Denmark offered us the Island of St. Thomas for $5,000,000. It was a bargain in every sense of the word. The American cabinet congratulated itself and the statesmen of the country felt proud of the nation's diplomacy. But at that time we had a Congress which contained a far larger number of imbeciles and dotards than the last senate. They refused to ratify the treaty, to the shame of the American government and the righteous indignation of the Danish. The harbor of St. Thomas, though small, is of remarkable beauty. In its contour it is a rough circle, walled one-half the distance by mountains, and onefourth by bold headlands. The waters are very deep, so that the largest ships can occupy a birth in any part of the bay without danger of touching a shoal or colliding with a submerged rock. One part is shallower than the other, the water at low tide being from 18 to 25 feet deep. Three-fourths ranges from 30 to 90 feet in depth. There is a good dry dock at the place and convenient to it are boiler works, foundries and repair shops, fitted out with the latest machinery. There is a large trade done in the repairing of ships and a small one in the construction of coasting vessels. There are many small industries in the place, such as cigarmaking, the manufacture of bay oil and bay rum, the extraction of palm oil and cocoanut oil, the manufacture of chocolate bonbons and other confections, 276 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. The people are a mixture of many nationalities and languages, including Danes, English, Americans, Germans, French, Spaniards, Dutch, West Indians, Negroes and half-breeds. The city itself is quite a polyglot in character, nearly every store using at least three languages. The Danish government is liberal, and republican opinions and sentiments are universal. At the time of the Seward negotiation nine-tenths of the people were in favor of annexation. During the late war their sympathies were with us and against Spain, and at the present day it is probable that two-thirds would welcome the raising of the Stars and Stripes over the government building at St. Thomas. St. Croix or Santa Cruz is the largest of the Virgins, and lies 40 miles to the south of St. Thomas. It is entirely within the Caribbean, and is therefore warmer and more tropical than the other members of the group. It contains a population of 27,000 and, though belonging to Denmark, its language is English. It is long and narrow, being 25 miles from east to west, and only five miles across. This gives it many advantages for boating and yachting parties, in which its inhabitants take great pleasure, and also for many beautiful marine views from nearly every part of tho island. Education is general, illiteracy being less than in the United States. The climate is singularly equable, being comparable in this respect to that of Honolulu. During the winter it is rare that the mercury goes below 76 or above 82. Once in 20 years it gets between 65 and 70, what we would call a fine May day, where AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. '77 upon the population puts on overcoats, goes about shivering and predicts speedy freezing to death. Like the other island it is of plutonic origin and the evidences of upheaval and eruption are found in conic and rounded peaks and hills, which were once parts of a hot or fiery axis of movement from the depths of the sea. The mountains are not high and most of the land is under scientific cultivation. Vegetation is very luxuriant and shows nearly everywhere the modifications wrought by human intelligence. Streets and roads are marked by long lines of magnificent cocoanut palms. Either through careful selection or able cultivation, they are larger and handsomer than those encountered in other parts of the Antilles. The cocoanuts are of greater size, are better flavored, and contain more meat or thicker milk than those which have not had the same attention, or which belong to inferior varieties of the species. They form the basis of a small industry, the milk being a universal beverage, the young pulpy meat being employed as a food article, the husks being utilized for scrubbing, the shells for dippers, the leaves for fans and for thatching, and the green tops, especially of the young trees, making the most delicious vegetable salad known to culinary science. Some of the ripe, thick meat known as copra, is employed as a source of cocoanut oil, so that nearly every part of the tree at every-stage of its development, is made subservient to human wants. There are two towns or cities on the island, Christianstdt and Frederikstadt. The chief industry of the island is ' 1\ AMERICA S NEW POSSESSIONS. sugar, and on account of the bounty system of Europe it is in the same pitiable decline as in Jamaica and other districts. The decline hurts the island in more ways than commercially. It has thrown out of employment the negro and demisang laborers, who at one time received fair wages from the plantation owners. To say that they are poor to-day is an incomplete expression of the fact. Were it not for the bounty of nature they would have been dead long ago. The climate is so balmy that neither shelter nor clothing are strict necessaries, but rather luxuries. The neighboring waters teem with fish, the shores with shell fish, the fields with edible fungoids, mosses, and the African's favorite vegetable, the okra, and in the uncultivated land the banana, pawpaw, guava, and other wholesome fruits are to be had in almost inexhaustible supply. The yam and sweet potato are produced in such quantities as to be a mere drug in the market, so that the black and yellow laborers manage to live and be happy in their own way upon a few cents a day. Their cabins, which twenty years ago were noted for their neatness, are now dirty and dilapidated and often ruinous. They are crowded together and look more like huge, filthy beehives, than like human habitations. They are made of wood and bur like a tinder box. Their construction is so weak and flimsy that a storm is liable to tear them to pieces. Much false sympathy is wasted by American readers over accounts of destruction by conflagration and hurricanes in the West Indies. AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. "h9 The burning up or blowing down of ten thousand of these homes does not do as much actual damage as a single large fire in an American city, and as for the rendering of ten thousand families homeless, they are undoubtedly much better off in the clean shadow of a leafy tree than in the dirt and vermin-infested hovels from which they have been expelled. At Christianstadt is an excellent hotel It is large, comfortable and well managed. High ceilings, broad halls, huge windows, which can be employed as doors, and delightful verandas make it an ideal hostelry in warm weather. St. John. the least important island of the group, is a small territory lying east of St. Thomas, from which it is separated by a channel of the sea about seven miles wide. The channel is not popular, on account of two reefs and lines of rocks which project like horns eastward from the easterly end of St. Thomas. It is slightly smaller than St. Thomas, having an area of twenty-one miles, and is even rougher and more inhospitable in its conformation. It possesses no good harbor, and its mountainous territory renders agriculture unprofitable and even impracticable. It has a population of about a thousand, who manage to make a living, partly from the land but chiefly from the sea. It might be made of greater importance by the construction of breakwaters, so as to give it a port, and by the terracing of the hills and the developing of the agricultural resources. Though this could be done it would not be a paying investment under existing condi 280 AMERICA'S NEW POSSESSIONS. tions, nor so far as can be seen would it produce any remunerative result within a hundred years. St. John may be viewed as one of those pieces of territory which have little or no value, either to the individual, the nation, to commerce or to science. The Danish West Indies, taken as a whole, contain about 120 square miles and possess a population of 43,000. Of this one-half is white and one-half black and mixed. The population as a whole is intelligent, industrious, law-abiding and moral. They average a trifle higher than the people of the Gulf States, and may be put on a plane with those of Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky. If the islands were annexed to the United States the people would make excellent citizens, and the islands themselves would enjoy a prosperity such as they have never known before. The commerce of the Danish West Indies, chiefly American in character, is about $3,000,000 a year. THE END. CONSUMPTION CURE. Is fast becoming the Most Reliable Remedy of all. for the cure of Consumption, Bronchitis, Catarrh, Asthma, Grip, Chronic Colds, and Al Inflammatory Diseases of the Throat and Lungs. This Great Remedy contains the bark that cures this dread disease, Consumption. 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