The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-02-18
AMERIGAN|Z|NG 0F GUAM
]. d. RUMBURG RETURNS TO
HONOLULU.
Gives an Interesting Account of the
Sweeping Changes Wrought in Two
Years by American Rule,

Years by American Rule.
After spending nearly two years on
the island of Guam, j. d. Rumburg
has returned to Honolulu and is now
staying here. He was in Guam during
nearly all of the transition period and
gives an interesting account of the |
events of the past Is months. He was ,
accompanied by Mrs. Rumburg, who
became a teacher in the Guam pubic
schools.
The bringing of Filipinos to Guam is |
highly Objectionable to the natives of
Guam, according to Mr. Rumburg. He /
says that the Guam people have the |
deepest hatred for Filpinos Years |
ago the Spaniards had some Filipino
prisoners there" said MIR. Rumburg. /
Some of them were finally turned /
loose and they did not mix well with |
the Chimoros, or natives of Guam.
The Gilmore is a Malay. He is hon
est, generous, trustful, though shrewd
in business while the Filipino is a low
mixture of races, tricky, unreliable and
in every way inferior to the Gilmore.
The Chimoros finally petitioned Cover
nor Leary to deport the Filipinos left
on the islands by the Spaniards, and
he did so.
Il was told by the officials at Guam
that a large number of Filipino prison.
ers are to be expected. 1t is stated
that there will be fifteen or sixteen
hundred Filipinos on the island of
Guam as prisoners very soon. They
Will be treated as conviCts, being men
who have violated their oaths as ami
goes
"A prison for the men from Luzon
is now being fitted up in a building
about two and a half miles from the
city OF Guam, which was an old Span
ish leper hospital. 1t is surrounded by
a stone wall and will make a good
prison for a few men. Later a large
I reservation is to be set apart for the
Filipino convicts. They will be made
to work. on roads and other public en-
terprises. AS long as they are kept
prisoners there will not be any COM
plant from the Chimoros, but If the
Filipinos were to be turned loose, the
natives of Guam would be much dis
appointed
Mr.. Rumburg tells a new story of the
appointment of the first governor of
Guam. Governor" Portusach who re-
Gently the first governor was never APP
pointed, says Mr.. Rumburg, though
for time he thought he had been.
Rumburg says that Portusach had pa
pers of citizensip both as a Spaniard
and as an American and that when
Captain Glass arrived in the
Charleston and took the island, Por-
American citizen, showing his Ameri-
can paper, and expecting to be appoint
ed. He was so sure of it that he sent
to the San Francisco newspapers an
account of his having been made COVER
nor. 1t was accepted and published
and Portusach's title first governor
of Guam" has stuck to him ever since.
The real first governor was Governor
Cisco, who was soon succeeded by Gov
ernor Leary. The latter set about
Americanizing the island with a vigor
worthy of the cause, says Mr.. Rum
burg.
When Leary took hold not one in
2 ten of the inhabitants was married, "
said Mr.. Rumburg, partly because the
, priests charged so much for marriage
| ceremonies that the people could not
afford it. In other ways the Spanish
priests behaved in manner the COVER
nor did not like, and he promptly or
: dered them out of the country.
Governor Leary gave out with his
2 order to get married an offer to do the
marrying himself, free of charge. The
wedding bells at Guam were kept hot
e for days and the governor had his
hands full. Hundreds of couples came
forward to be spliced and there was
general period of fiddling and dancing
zone of Leary's next orders was tha
all the children must go to school. TIL,
= even yet, but such as they were tn,
y children were ordered to attend. On,
day Governor Leary paid a visit to tn,
: schools. They were outside, runninl
> wild, doing anything but learning: TIL,
governor made for the police doubl,
- quick and in an hour crowds of dirt,
. children began swarming into tn,
: schools. Governor Leary kept a per
, sonal watch over everything in thi
:, way. and he saw to IL after that tina
n the order for children to attend schoo
= was not dsobeyed.
@ "At the present day books are lack
: ing in the public schools, and there 4
not the proper teaching Of English. II
n fact English is not taught as a genera
v thing. The Rev. Price, who recent!
: arrived to do missionary work, has es
G tablished an English school, and other
n will be established. Guam has beel
a short of missionaries lately.
The peon system was summaril.
G abolished by Governor Leary. 1t pro
r vided that one man could take the per
l. son of another for debt and keep hi
V prisoner at work, amounting to practi
d cal slavery. The governor set Wash
s ingtons birthday as the day for de
d claring this system off and freeing al
I who were held under it,
"A lot of distilleries that were max
$ ing aguadienta were pounced on by tn,
$ energetic governor Aguadienta Is al
s intoxicant which the Chimoros wer,
n making in large quantities from
t juice they got by tapping cocoanu
= trees. BY breaking up the distilleriei
y and making an order that no MAJ
S should tap more than ten trees, no mat
! ter hUv many he owned, the governo
h practically put a stop TO the aqua
e dienta drinking. which was doing geri
s Gus harm to the people.
''The natives of Guam We're delight
$ ed to be taken into the Union and they
f, are readily obedient to orders given
i They do not remember the Spanish
rule, with any pleasure. 1t is related
that not long before American rul,
about 200 Filipinos were shot in colo
= blood by the Spaniards in charge. Tn,