Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1897-08-13

individually aud IN .roup. there
are Macy ot Them.

nc, IN the ne1ghborhood OF the
equator, says the Washington
Post,are quite a lot Of small islands
that belong to the United States.
Most OF them are from 1000 to
1000 miles TO the south and south.
west of Hawaii. Some OF them
are near the Gilbert archipelago,
and there Is considerable clus-
ter 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 thirty
five miles long. 1t got it's name
originally from the fact that the
famous Captain Cook stopped
there on Christmas day for the
purpose of observing an eclipse.
1t is an atoll or Ting,of coral forna
ton, enclosing a lagoon of water
that has become SO salty through
evaporation as to be a veritable
brine. Fishes thrown over the
reef by storms are picked in it,
and remain perfectly preserved
and good to eat for months.
These isles of the Pacific be-
longing to Uncle Sam number
sixty 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
today, declares that whenever any
citizen of the United States shall
discover a deposit of guano on
any island, rock or key, not with
in the lawful jurisdiction of any
other government, he shall be at
liberty TO take pesceable possess
sion thereof, and such island, rock
or kew may, at the discretion of
the President, be considered as
appertaining to the United States.
The discoverer is required to give
due notice to the Department of
State, with affidavits, describing
the island and showing that pos
session of the same has been
taken in the name of this country.
He is obliged at the same time to
give a bond, which is filed in the
Treasury.
The discoverer, at the pleas
of Congress, enjoys the exclusive
right to occupy his island for the
purpose of obtaining guano, and
for this product he is allowed to
charge only a certain fixed price
namely, So ton for guano de.
livered at the ships side, or 81 a
ton for the privilege of digging it
where it lies. Furthermore, he
gives a guarantee by his bond to
deliver the gusno only to citizens
of the United States, and to he
used in the United States. The
law provides, curiously enough,
that all offenses and crimes on
such islands by persons who may
land thei con, or in waters ada.
cent, shall be deemed as commit
ted on the high seas, on board a
merchant ship of the United
States, and shalt be punished &C
cordingly. The President is au-
thorized to use the land and naval
forces of the United States to pro
tect the rights of the discoverer or
his heirs.
But Uncle Sans ocean empire
includes a great many islands Of
far greater importance than the
guano isles referred to. In Ber--
ing Sea there are several very
large islands, besides the little
Pribylov group to which the fur
seals resort. This country owns
the entire chain of Aleutisn isl
ands, which separate the Boring
Sea from the North Pacific. The
inhabitants of these islands, called
Aleuts, are particularly intelli-
gent, much more civilized than
the Eskimo, and bear a close re-
semblance physically to the Jap
anese. OFF the coast of southern
Alaska is a group of islands OF
great size, on some of which live
the Thlink et Indians. These are
the most artistic savages in the
world, being skilled wood carvers
OF the coast of southern Califor-
MIA is the Santa Barbara group
com prising a number of large