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Why Uncle
Gduchi Virgin Islands
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Jjecrei Bases at
Culebra to Control
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By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN
.. ———•% ave you ever wondered
nwhy Uncle Sam bought
the Virgin islands and
bunded to the Danish
minister at Washington
a treasury warrant for
j&y $25,000,000 in hard cash?
Yes? Then there is no
need of feeling lonesome;
•tliers have wondered too. No? Well,
lots of good Americans have, even if
you haven’t.
tt took Uncle Sam more than 50
years to get possession of the Virgin
Islands. Ills efforts began in 1865,
when William H. Seward, Lincoln’s
secretary of state, offered Denmark
$5,000,000 for them. That was in
Civil war times, too, when our na
tional debt had piled up mountain
high- Two years later Seward offered
$7,500,000. Apparently the deal near
ly went through, but It came to
naught.
Now v what did Seward want of the
Virgin Islands? History doesn’t say.
ltut it is it good guess that Seward,
wko was a good deal of a statesman,
knew Instinctively —or was told by
.someone whose judgment lie trusted —
that Uncle Sain should have a foot
hold in I lie West Indies for good and
sufficient reasons. It should tie re
membered that it was Seward who in
1807 b ought Alaska from Russia for
sT.s<X) t o<)o in spite of nation-wide rid-
Iruh\ and got a famous bargain.
Negotiations were started again in
15)01 and failed. Another effort in
1910 accomplished nothing. Then
CTon? the purchase of U)l7. Evidently
wome high interest in the United States
wanted the Danish West Indies and
knew why it wanted them.
These Virgin islands are part of the
Lie ward islands, West Indies, lying 40
miles oast of Porto ltico. The West
Indies form n vast archipelago that
Stretches in a curve from Florida to
the northern coast of South America.
Tluiy separate the waters of the At-
limtic ocean from those of the Gulf
*f Mexico and the Caribbean sea.
There are several well-defined groups
—the Bahamas, Greater Antilles,
Lesser Antilles (Including Leeward
Wturds), etc., etc. The Greater An-
Blies include the big and Important
fcstutvds like Cuba, Porto Rico, Haiti
*ndt Jamaica. The Lesser Antilles
cvrve in a double column from Porto
Rico south to Trinidad.
Somewhere In the West Indies Is the
spot which affords the natural control
•f the Caribbean sea and the water
approaches to Uncle Sam’s Panama
canal. There are in the West Indies
Hbo republics of Culm, Santo Domingo
and Haiti; the American island of
HSu-to hlco; British, French and
Dutch Fast Indies, and the American
Virgin islands.
What did we get for our $23,000,000
when we bought the Virgin islands?
We got about 50 Islands, only 3 of
which are large enough to be consid
ered except on hydrographic charts.
These are St. Croix (Spanish, Santa
C"ri:*) ; St. Thomas, which has one of
fh > finest harbors in the world, and
ttse smaller island of St. John. Nearly
nfl of the islands are mountainous and
rugged. Hurricanes are frequent, but
the climate is fairly healthful. Ne
groes form the bulk of the popula
tion. Altogether, we got about 140
•sptnro miles and a population of 40,-
BPO. The city of St. Thomas or Char
tote Amalie, was formerly the Tom
cieroial metropolis of the West Indies.
The name of Virgin Islands Is also
wed geographically to Include, in ad
dition. a number of British islands
md two American Islands. Crab and
CVlobrn, with an area of 130 square
niT's and a population of 12,000.
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These two islands we did not buy
from Denmark with the Virgin islands.
We got them from Spain as one re
sult of our victory in the Spanish
American war of 1898. Please note
that in 1901 Uncle Sain revived his
efforts to purchase the Virgins and
kept at it until they were his.
So, here’s the true inwardness of
the Virgin Islands purchase: We
bought the Virgin islands because we
had Crab and Culebra islands. We
bought the Virgins in order to be able
to protect Crab and Culebra.* Culebra
means “Snake.” And Culebra is the
hidden snake in the grass!
Culebra is well named, being long
and sinuous. Its coast line is a crazy
sort of thing, being Indented by bays,
gulfs and harbors and by inlets con
nected by narrow mouths with the sea.
On it there nre no springs or wells or
freshwater lakes or streams. The peo
ple catch their water in cisterns. There
is no shortage of rain water. Rain
falls every few days and it falls as if
the bottom had dropped out. Then the
sun comes out and in a few hours ev
erything is dry and baked.
What, therefore, does Uncle Sam
see in Culebra that he sets such store
by It? So far as anyone knows there’s
no gold there or precious stones or
valuable minerals. And It’s evidently
no great shakes as a winter resort.
Well, the truth is that Uncle Sam’s
navy and aircraft men are the fellows so
particularly interested in Culebra. Im
mediately after the completion of the
maneuvers of our navy this spring in
the Caribbean and around the Panama
canal the advanced base hom'd went
into confidential and more or less se
cret session at St. Thomas. Four
naval officers, representing both mu
rine and aircraft forces, made Impor
tant plans which revolve about Culebra
as a submarine and aircraft base of
control in connection with the Carib
bean sea and the Panama canal.
G. K. Spencer, U. S. N. R. F.. editor
of the United States Navy, contributes
an article to the New York World on
the subject of these plans, in which
he says, among other tilings:
“Over in the Island of St. Thomas
four naval officers were making his
tory. They were deciding a close
question of state —‘advanced bases of
the United States of America in the
Islands of the Virgins,’ and each, as
lie fumbled his notes, was aware that
America’s advanced base in the Vir
gins would perhaps some day be the
focal point of war for the Americans
against enemy marauders, or in de
fending the transcontinental i*ir
lanes between North and South Amer
ica.
“Each understood full well that
these Virgins, with their Snlniuis-blue
waters, are fated to receive the trans
fer of air traffic between the conti
nents when the peoples of earth en
cumber the soul and their air ma
chines patrol in myriads the air now
only conquered by the heavy bombers
of the navy of the United States.
“Each had his maps before him—
marked off the Virgins, midway be
tween North and South America in
the Caribbean. Heavy black crayon
THE DANIELSVILLE MONITOR, DAN lELSVILLE, GEORGIA.
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Stanley, navy pilots. A photographer
was present. Suddenly Bates yelled
to him and pointed downward. We
were passing over an ideal landing
field. The photographer ‘shot it.’
Thousands of such ‘shots’ were made
during the two months in which the
aircraft squadrons moved over these
islands. Captains Gherardi and Mar
shall sat In council with these reports
on their knees.
“Culebra, then, is the snake which
darts its head hither and to in the
Indies anil flashes its fangs at those
who desire to penetrate our inner sea
and our national throat —the Panama
canal. With one base we defend the
canal and we dominate the future air
routes between the Americas. While
I was at Culebra this spring a flying
boat of the Aeromarine company ar
rived one day from ‘the States’ and
squatted down to an anchorage on tho
water —just to show it could be done.
“The United States navy Ims created,
within the hot breasts of Culebra,
a secret submarine base from which
in war can Issue forth the undersea
boats for defense or offense.
“The United States navy has desig
nated, within the colls of the snake,
secret air and destroyer bases, and the
snake, when it uncoils in the act of
hostility, will display a veritable nest
qf vipers. Its uncoiling stroke will
spread woe to those who Invite its at
tack.
“It is the key to our Caribbean de
fense (the defense assault point for
the Panama canal) and the future
aerial customs center for regulation of
the commercial air lanes.
“It makes the Caribbean an Ameri
can lake.
“Culebra represents both a threat
and a warning to those who may wish
us ill. And it Is not defended with
heavy guns. The fleet itself is the
striking arms of Culebra.
“However, the navy sees Culebra in
a future day as the transfer depot
for interoceanic airplane and seaplane
traffic and the navy’s designation of
Culebra ns an advanced base seems
to portend events which dwarf the
pretensions of Gibraltar —which will
bring a population to Culebra. a mix
ture of races and of jargons, flying
with the commerce and establishing
commodity depots on tills passionate
little island, the snake.
“In that future the navy of today.
I which starts it on its way, will it
self evolve into what superengines ot
control?
“And ‘Culebra,’ the snake, will bur
, become a mart.”
rings su: rounded the
island marked ‘Cule
i>ra.’
“Tlie four naval offi
cers sitting in council
at St. Thomas were
Admiral Montgomery
M. Taylor, Capt.
George C. Day, Capt.
Walter Gherardl, who
commands the aircraft
squadrons of our
scouting fleet, and
Capt. Albert Marshall,
commanding our air
craft squadrons of
the battle fleet.
“The purpose of
these last two officers
on the council sudden
ly occurred to me one
day when I was flying
over tlie Virgins with
Lieut. Cos m. Paul
Bates and Lieut. H. T.
'"WI B
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Laying and Breeding House
for the Average Farm Floe!
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By WILLIAM A. RADFORD
Mr. William A. Radford will answer
questions and give advice FREE OF
COST on all subjects pertaining to the
subject of building work on the farm,
for the readers of this paper. On ac
count of his wide experience as Editor,
Author and Manufacturer, he is, with
out doubt, the highest authority on all
these subjects. Address all inquiries
to William A. Radford, No. 1527
Prairie avenue. Chicago, 111., and only
inclose Mvo-cent stamp for reply.
Almost no farm is without a flock
of poultry, but there are many farms
where the producers of eggs do not
receive the consideration they deserve,
and as a consequence fall far below
tlie productivity of which they are ca
pable.
Here is a laying and breeding house
for a farm flock which numbers about
75 liens. And the building is very
economical, considering the first cost.
Tlie size it 12 feet by 27 feet, which
will allow four square feet for each
lien when it is used for tlie flock of
75. The building is of frame con
struction on a concrete foundation,
and it lias a floor of concrete. The
sloping roof gives the south face a
height sufficient to accommodate win
dows and doors which furnish light
and ventilation. At tlie back are the
nests and tlie roosts.
The pitch of the roof is sufficient
to make it shed water readily and the
tight construction insures warmth in
tlie winter months. This poultry
Equipment of Modern
Homes Mostly Built In
Space-saving is an all-important
item in home building and to this end
architects and builders have resorted
to the built-in features.
The built-in equipment is valuable
both from the standpoint of conveni
ence and from the fact that it requires
the minimum of space for installation;
also many otherwise unused portions
of the home can be developed into
useful areas.
The modern kitchen is much smaller
than the old type; It is designed and
arranged to reduce the number of
steps necessary to do the work, a high
ly appreciated advance in labor-saving.
Cabinets which do duty as both stor
age and work table, so planned as to
permit the cook to reach the materials
without walking back and forth is the
accepted standard of modern kitchens.
Electric equipment and arrangement
of the wall plugs are also in conform
ity to the modern idea of saving in
labor, and when properly arranged and
in connection with the built-in equip
ment are a most pleasing addition to
the kitchen.
The breakfast nook or room is prob
ably the greatest comfort feature to
Hie home, combining convenience with
great saving in labor, more especially
where there are children. The equip
ment of this room should be built-in,
sanitary fixtures. Many practical fix
ture arrangements are featured by
manufacturers specializing In this type
of equipment which are a delight to
every woman who manages her home.
The breakfast-room equipment should
lie planned so that it can be easily
cleaned and for this purpose tiled floor
and either tiled or washable walls
should be planned. Tiled floors and
walls, while costing more for initial
installation, have practically little or
no maintenance expense and in a short
time more than pay for the added
expense.
Built-in refrigerators are handy, but
in nil a recessed space for a standard
type is to be preferred, as these have
been developed to a much more effi
cient degree than the type which are
•i part of kitchen cabinets and equip
ment. In planning the kitchen do so
with an eye to reducing the size and
to a removal of surplus furniture
which requires moving while the floors
and walls are being cleaned.
Tn-n-door beds or wall beds are al
ways acceptable features In every
home and are of convenience not alone
from the standpoint of extra sleeping
accommodations, hut from the double
services which the rooms can be put
! to. A sewing-room or nursery with
me of these beds can at a moment’s
..mice im converted to a guest cham
,. ~ very satisfactory arrangement.
■ i ;• features, such as mothproof
• { inset cabinets with drawers
• gerupnts for winter or sum
ac are very useful and prtic
and their installation cost
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Floor Plan.
house is altogether suitable for tn
farm flock and will repay the efforts
and expense of building it.
is very minor in comparison with their
convenience.
Built-in features never can nor will
displace furniture, and are not intended
for such a purpose; they are, however,
valuable in reducing the number of
pieces of furniture required and the
elimination of many unwieldy and
cumbersome units which must be
moved to and fro when cleaning.
The built-in equipment in the mod
ern home of today is so built and
arranged as to be thoroughly sanitary
and to require the minimum of labor
for cleaning, a condition quick to be
taken advantage of by housewives
who are insistent upon incorporating
these features in the house plan.
Safety Rules for the Use
of Gas in Any Building
Make sure that lamps, stoves, heat
ers, pipes that burn gas, and their
connections, are well made, tight and
free from leaks.
When you smell escaping gas, first
open doors and windows, then find the
leak at once.
Never look for a leak with a lighted
match, lamp, candle, or flame of any
kind; use an electric flashlight, if you
have one, otherwise find the leak by
the sense of smell.
Correct the leak at once, or else shut
off the gas at the meter and send for
a gasfitter. Do not light up in the
house until this has been done.
Never buy cheap rubber gas-tubing.
If vou cannot connect with solid-iron
pipes get a good quality of flexible
metal tubing and make sure that it
tightly joined at both ends.
Garage Drain
In building a garage It is very es
sential that arrangements be mad
carry off the water from washing
car or cleaning out the garage. 1
is not so apparent in the sumrne
months as it Is In the winter he
the surplus water swept out or
garage will freeze and interfe [ D
the closing of the door. A dram
be Installed at a minimum expe
the time the concrete Is placed.
Cedar Closet Lining
The advantage of built ' ln
ment of every kind is sothorou„
cepted that the unlversa •-
closets of one kind or another >
a question of time, partly, ,
of the moderate cost .<* BU< * “ er pleas
linings. The cedar has a ™ wei;
ant odor, P re f enes J„4l'In private
rJZ% n Xotels apartment,
Salt Will Clean CMmn^
Common salt will c' e ‘ , wn my*
of accumulated soot be -,r
thing else. The salt -
the tire Ims ben well start- tJ
careful not to do It when -
; on the line.