El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-12-31
OUR PACIFIC ISLANDS.
Equatorial Possessions of Which but
Little is Generally Known.

Distributed over the mid-Pacitic, in
the neigh borhood of the equator, are
quite lot of small islands tnat belOn g
to the United Safes. Most of tn m
are from 900 to 1000 miles to the
south and southwest of Hawaii. Some
of them are near the Gilbert Archi-
pelago, and there Is consid era BILE
cluster just about the lesser distance
mentioned, and, directly south of the
Hawaiian group, including America,
Christmas, Palmyros and other islands
of large size. Christmas Island is about
30 miles long, 1t got its name origin
ally from the fact that the famous
Captain Cook stopped there on Christ
mas day for the purpose of observing
an eclipse. 1t is an atoll, or ring, OF
coral form alton, inclosipg lagoon of
water that has become so salty through
evaporation as to be a veritab'e brine.
Fishes thrown over the reef by storms
are picked in it, and remain perfectly
preserved and good to eat for months.
These islands in the Pacific belong-
ing to Uncle Sam number 60 in all.
They have all been annexed to the
United States under an act of congress,
which became a law August Is, 1856
This law, which remains in force to-
day, declares that whenever any citi-
zen of the United States shall discover
q deposit OF guano on any island, rock
or key, not within the lawful juris-
diction of another government, he
shall be at liberty to take peaceable
possession thereof, and such island
rock or key, may, at the discretion of
the president, be considered as apper-
tanning to the United States. The dis
coverer lis required to give due notice
to the department of state, with affi-
davits, describing the island and show
fnO that DnSSfS SiOn Of tho hos
been taken in the name of this country
He is obliged at the same time to give
q bond, which is fl ed in the treasury.
The discOverer, at the pleasure of
congress, enjoys the exclusive right
to occupy the island for the purpose of
obtaining guapo, and for this product
he is allowed to charge only a certain
guauo delivered at the ships side, or SS
ton for the privilege of digging it
where it lies. Furthermore. he gives
guarantee by his bond to deliver the
guano only to citizens of the United
States, and to be used in the United
States. The law also provides, cur
iously enough, that all offenses and
crimes on such islands by persons who
may land thereon, or in waters ada
cent, shall be deemed as committed on
the high seas, on board merchant
ship of the United States, and shall be
punished accordingly. The president
is authorized to use the land and naval
forces of the United S ates to protect
the rights of the discoverer of his
heirs.
But Uncle Sans ocean empire in
cludes great many islands of far
greater Importance than the guano
isles referred to. In Behring sea there
are several very large islands, besides
the Pribyleff group to which the fur
seals resort. This country owns the
entire cbain of Aleutian Islands, which
separates Behring Sea from the North
Pacific. The in ba bitants of these is
lands. called Aleuts, are PARTICULAR,
intelie eut, much more civilized than
the Esk imO, and bear close resem-
blance, ply sically. 10 the Japanese Off
the coast of sou herp Alaska is group
of islands of great size. on some Cf
which live the'Thliuko t Indians. These
Indians are the most artistic sava es in
the world, being skillfal wood carv, RS.
Off the coast of Southern California ia
the Santa Barbara group comprising q
nun Der of large misunderstanding ION
Star.