The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-10-31
SAMOAN
SOLDIERS
EXT0LLED
Capt. 7ri|Iey Has
Praise for
Them.
OFFICER TO BE
COURT -MARTlALED
Members of Board and Accused
Governor Sail for Samoa on
Different Ships.

~ APTAIN b. F. TILLEY of the
United States Navy, recently pro
NOTED from the rank of com
mander, arrived yesterday CT the 5a-
noma, en- route to Pago Pago, island of
Tutuila, the American possession In the
Samoan group. Mrs. TilIey accom-
panies her husband on the present trip.
He is on his way to answer to the
charges preferred against him for al
legged misconduct while IN command of
the naval station at Pago Pag0. The
the court-martial board has already
passed through Honolulu on her way to
Samoa, and the naval transport solace
with Admirals Bob Evans and Henry
Glass, win proceed to Pago Pago this
afternoon. The Sonoma will reach that
port at about the same time. Capt.
Tilley was stationed at Honolulu about
nine years ago as executive officer Of
the cruiser San Francisco, but left the
islands before the overthrow of the
monarchy.
Captain Tilley stated to an Advertiser
reporter last evening at the Hawaiian
Hotel that no matter what was the re-
suit of the proceedings at Pago Pago,
he would in all probability pass through
Honolulu within short time, as he has
seen two and half years of service in
Samoa, and is anxious to make a
change.
Il was ambitious to get muci. of the
work, mapped out for the Improvement
OF Pago Pago harbor completed be-
fore L gave up the station said the
officer, but much remains to be dore.
The harbor OF Pago Pago is fine one,
with an entrance about half d mile wide
and clear of distractions with the ex
ception of Il rock which is buoyed and
plainly marked. There is room in the
harbor for four or five vessels to swing
at their anchorages, but only one vessel
at a time can go alongside the new
wharf which is $50 feet long. The
wharf and coal sheds have been com
men who worked under him have re-
turned to the States. There is yet about
S25O0OG worth of work to be done at the
station. The harbor is finely protected
from the elements by the mountain
ranges and it is generally as smooth as
< mill-pond. There are Notifications
needed as a protection against an
enemy and these will come in time.
"Tutuila is about the best island in
the group from all physical aspects. TAX
on into consideration, and / think the
United States got decidedly the best of
the bargain. Pago Pago may never
be a large place, and the island is not
one that can be cultivated to the ex-
tent that it will yield much revenue in
plantation products, but as a strategic
acquisition to the government it is eX-
tremely valuable.
One of the outcomes of the annexa-
ton of Tutuila to the United States has
been the enrolment of sixty Samoans
as the native guard. These men are
finely proportioned, are natural born
soldiers, and about the Iandiest men
with modern rifles / have ever seen.
They have always been a warlike peo-
pie and the possession of a rifle was
priZeG above all things. The men are
drillco by naval officers and the guard
is, of course, a part of the naval force
stationed at Pago -Rago, the army not
being represented there. In this COM
pauy of Samoan soldiers are Il number
of young chiefs, who gave up their right
to rule in the villages that they might
accept service in this guard. as they
receive SIC a month and rations, and
this TO them is prineely income. Such
an amount of money coming regularly
every month was unheard of before the
orsanization of the guard and they are
raw looked up to as men to be envied.
fhey have an odd uniform. probably
she oldest in the United states service,
giving them the appearance of the na-
tive soldiery of some of the European
nations III their African or Asiatic pos
sessions. They wear a skirt, a sinslet