Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-02

of if. anyone who is familiar with its powerful qualities can easily understand why the pirates should have been so te- rocious.
 A Wonderful Harbor.
 But it is not to get first mortgage on Santa Cruz rum that this country thinks of buying the island. In fact. IT St. Thomas can be purchased without the other two only that one will be bought. The magnet which attracts attention 10 st. Thomas is its harbor. And thls har- bor has played an important part Tn the history of the worlds maritime com merce. At one time more shipping passed in and out of it than the great harpor ot New York could boast of.
 No pilots are needed to bring heavily laden steamer from the ocean up to the very Wharves of Charlotte Amalia, the little city at the head of the harbor so straight and deep is the sheltered water way. And the land is so situated that the harbor at the entrance could De adHlra- bly, protected at small expense. lew modern guns of heavy caliber placed on either side could sweep the ocean Tor hait dozen miles.
 This is why 1t is attractive just now when the possibility of war has shown itself. In the olden time there was no need of islands anywhere, no matter what the emergency might De- 1T tne country were engaged in war then us vessels could fight just as well without the aid of islands out in the ocean; put in those days the war vessels were pro pelled by sails. Now it is dinerent matter. There are some lighting snips III Uncle Sam's navy, but if they did not have coal enough to work their engines they would be about as effective as noth- ing at all.
 Need of the Island.
 War conditions on the water nave changed since this country has hau any
 fr, Gf foreign naval power Steaming raoius is of the greatest advantage according to naval experts. If our ships had to sail 1000 miles every six or seven uays TOT fresh coal supply their offensive lighting capacity would be reduced to a mini- mum. .,..
 England has foreseen this contingency for many years She owns and controls islands sprinkled about all the great oceans and seas of the world, ana she maintains them solely for coaling Pur- noses. In times of peace she sells the coal to the merchantmen of other na- tions and makes pretty penny out or II. Every one of these islands Is fortihed, and the armaments are not allowed to fall behind the times. The fortincatlonS would have a hard time of it trying to approach if the soldiers at the guns were opposed to 1t. larly we'll off in coaling islands. Her warships could use them as base in the event of trouble. and would be in a posi- tion to do untold damage to the defense less cities on the Atlantic seaboard. With a well protected and almost exhaustless coal supply her warships could cruise in American waters from one years end to the other. It would keep the warships here entirely on the defensive.
 Would Alter Conditions.
 This condition would be obliterated by the purchase of St. Thomas. This island is at the northern end of the Caribbean chain, and while not very fertile, Is a beautiful place to live in. Unlike other of the West India islands, it is seldom visited by yellow fever or other infectious diseases It has long chains of high hills which almost deserve the title of noun tains. It's one town, Charlotte Amalia, is a picturesque. sleepy place. Inland there are some large sugar plantations, which might be made valuable property if infused with the energy of American industry.
 The trade of the island does not amount to much although Denmark has tried to attract 1t by making 1t free port. Duties are charged on nothing and there is not even customs officer in the place Some shrewd people have taken advantage of this to smuggle Into this