The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-07-22
THE LLDRONE ISLANDS.

vrb.,r Hls,ory since ThriT Disrovsry-A
Cnr,on, Theory-tsariy E1ptorsrh-tEs-
urlou, conquest by Diego Do sanvitores.
Pss,s AboHlTilrJr r'oYsriiHi'nt aud POP.
uiation-.Tho Car itaI which SURRENDERED
Talent. BrannersTeutlSr OF tue Chm.
Isstom
New York Post; The recent taking OF
the Ladrones By the Americana RECALLS
the old theory OF the popping Of Amer
tca from these islands Magellan, some
yeaps before he saIledwestward as nat
rralIzed spaniard, TO discover the La
drones and lose his life In the Philip
pines, had already, as native Of Por-
tpeal sailed eastward to the Spice ISL
opds. a part, geographically. Of The Phil
tnnjncs. When the Portuguese settled
"a the Spice Islands. they found the ma.
lives exchanging spices for silver and
emeralds from the Ladrones. The Por-
tuguese, however, wereneyer able 70 ana
any mines Of precious stones or metal
an The L.adrones; and the question arose,
aWhence came the silver and emeFalds
~ the Ladrone ISIdndersY Considering
mat emeralds were not produced IN the
East indies. that the Ladrones had been
cvIdently the home of an old civilization,
and That the Ladrone FLANDERS were
still remarka Bile as navlgatorB, ~ was.
concluded by certain writer's that their
sIIvcr and erneralds were from America;
and this connection established, 1t was
roBiectured that here lay the answer to
the question. Whence came the Amir
lean Lndians2" y
OF the flying proas OF the Ladrone
islanders, the reports of travellers are
almost incredible. The appearance OF
the proa filled the early Yoyager with
establishment. and Its speed with won.
der. This invention says a recent
writer. would do credit to any Civilized
nation" The stem and stern are alike,
md are very sharp. The boat sails in
either direction, and always with the
same side to the wind. on the Wind
ward side is long outrigger, and its
extremity Is log OF wood pointed at
both ends and parallel with the boat.
This prevents the capsizing OF the boat,
the lee side Of which IL vertical to pre-
vent drifting to leeward, while the
weather side Ii built in the ordinary
To change the direction OF the boat,
the free end of the yard is brought down
while the other Is raised, and thus the
direction of the boat iS reyersd, with
that OF the lateen or triangular sail,while
the outrigger Is still to windward. These
proas passed between Magellan's ships
going at full sail and the boats they
towed astern. 80 quickly and skilfully
that it was a marvel" Van Mort, the
first Dutch circumnavigator, says that
81 nj
with four or FIVE men apiece. would come
10 trade, all bowling together Hero,
Hero, that Is. Iron. Iron and with very
eagerness run their proas under the
ships" Jacques lie Hermite, who was
on the coast OF Guam In 1925, says that
the Inhabitants came out-slS miles to
meet him, with all sorts Of Refreshments
10 exchange for old iron, and that there
we're a hundred and fifty proas trading
with him at one time. An old writer
says that zone OF these prpas being dis
patched from Guam to Manila, which Is
400 good leagues, performed the voyage
IN four days"
Dampler, who was at Guam during
one OF his voyages round the world,
SAYS: "I believe they are the fastest
boats IN the world. Sailing one by our
log, we had twelve knots on our reel,
and the whole Of It was run out before
we turned the hnlf-mlnute glaGs, which
was twelve miles per hour. believe
they run nearly twenty-four miles an
hour" Malte-Brun speaks Of these NY
ing proas as models Of naval archltec-
ture."
From these proas Magellan gave the
islands the appropriate name Islas de las
Vclas Latinas, or the Lateen-sail ISL
ands; but his sailors called them La
drone or Robher Islands Drake called
the Pelew Islands, fifty years later, the
Islands OF Thieves. The Ladrone ISL
anders were honest among themselves
and were kind to the stranger In dis
tress. In 1888 the ship Conception was
wrecked on one Of these Islands. '"Che'
natives" writes lie Gobien, gave
friendly assistance to those who were
saved Of the Spanish crew, and endeav-
orcd to alleviate their misfortunes by
kind treatment" Los Jardincs, or The
Gardens. and Dos PraZeres, or The
Pleasant Islands. are among the names
that have been given to these islands:
but since 1868 their official designation,
in honor OF Marianne OF Austria, has
been the Marlannes.
The first period OF their known his
tory, 1921 to 1868, is one OF voyage and
discovery. That master spirit MaEel-
Ian, with his scurvy-strlcken, starving
crew, steered his failing ships across the
waste OF waters toward the high peak
OF Rota, then southwestwaTd to the
evergreen asylum OF Guam. Refreshed,
they proceeded. Magellan to his death in
the Philippines, and the Victoria to the
completion OF her clrcumnavigntlon. The
Trinidad, endeavoring to recross the Pa
Cihc, touched at two other islands OF the
Ladrones, and three sailors ran away,
one OF whom was picked up five years
later by the ships OF Loyasa in still an
other island OF the LRdrones.
In 1928 Saavedra took nominal posses-
sion, as did Legaspl in 1865. but no set
Elements were made, GaSpar and GIRL
jalva. writing In this latter year. de-
scribe the houses as lofty, neatly built.
and well divided into apartments, the
whole raised story from the Garth, and
supported upon strong pillars of stone.
Besides these dwelling houses, the ma
tives had others for their proRs, built
likewise with great stone pillars. one of
which contained four large prOns. Dur
ing this period Drake, Cavendlsh, Van
MORT, spllberEen, Schouten, lie Marie.
and the Nassau fleet, on their way
around the world. stopped at the La
dTones and were heartily welcomed and
entertained by the natives.
Tho account given by Dampier Of the
remarkable bread-fruIt tree IS the best:
"a certain fruit called the bread-frult,
growing on a tree ns big as our large
apple trees. with dark leaves. The fruit
is round. and grows on the boughs. like
apples. OF the bigncss OF good penny
loaf When ripe. Il turns yellow, soft
and kYHf Ntt0 n n fINyef tain ~ nrgpn