The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-02-24
FAIR ST. THOMAS.
The Pretty Little Island I hat Uncle sam
 Wants to Buy.

tFrom the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.)
 The forty-five states of this great union may soon have another little sis- ter, or, for that matter, three very lit tie sisters, to take care of-that is, if Uncle Sam buys from King Christian of Denmark three small islands in the West Indies. namely, St. Thomas, St. John and Santa Cruz,
 Secretary of State Olney is in favor of the plan and it is believed that the president sanctions it. Senator Lodge, who has worked assiduously to put the deal through, is confident of ultimate success. The fate of the purchase will rest largely upon the question of price, but if Denmark does not; raise her offer of six million dollars, made some years ago, the sale will probably be effected. There are some who claim that the na- tional treasury is not robust enough at the present time to stand the strain of a West Indian connection, but these are in minority.
 In view of the probable acquisition it is interesting to take peep at the | island, and see what kind of country the sons and daughters of Uncle Sam are going to own. All of the islands are redolent with history, and some of l it is not of @ very pleasant character The pirates of one hundred years and more ago had fine time on these is- l lands registering after a successful raid on some rich merchantmen.
 | Nearly every tale of piratical times 1 has something about Santa Cruz rum l in it. and if these stories are true the 1 bold buccaners got drunk on nothing else Of course, Santa Cruz rum is a product of the island of that name. It seems that the pirates put into Santa Cruz for the express purpose of taking aboard big supply of the rum. If they drank much of it, any one who is l familiar with it's powerful qualities can easily understand why the pirates should have been so ferocious.
 But it is not to getaa first mortgage on Santa Cruz rum th at this country thinks of buying the eMland Tn fact, if St Thomas can be purchased without l the other two only that one will be bought. The magnet which attracts attention to St. Thomas is it's harbor. And this harbor has played an impor- l tant part in the history of the world S maritime commerce. tlAt one time more \ shipping passed in and out of it than \ the great harbor of New York could 1 boast Of
 No pilots are needed to bring leav- 1 fly laden steamer from the ocean to the very wharves of Charlotte Amalia, the little city at the head of the harbor, so straight and deep isAhe sheltered wa l terway. And the land is so situated that the harbor atsfhe entrance could be admirably protected st small ex- pense A few modern guns of heavy caliber placed on either side could sweep the ocean for half a dozen miles. This is why it is attractive just now when the possibility of war has shown itself In the oIden times there was nc need of islands anywhere, no matter what the emergency might be. If the country were engaged in war then the vessels could fight just as well without 1 the aid of islands ifl the ocean. But in those days the war vessels were pro-
 pelled by sails Now it is different matter. There are some fighting ships l in Uncle Sam's navy, but if they did 1 not have coal enough to work their en- zines they would be about as effective as nothing at all.
 War conditions on the water have changed since this country has had any actual experience in a struggle with 2 foreign naval power; Steaming radius is of the greatest advantage according to naval experts. If our ships had to sail thousand miles every six or sev- en days for fresh coal supply their of fensive fighting capacity would be re. duced to a minimum.
 England has foreseen this contingent cy for many years. She owns and con. trols islands sprinkled about all tht great oceans and seas of the world, anG