The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1902-11-10
UNCLE SANS
ISLAND CHILDREN

His Little Wards of Guam Never Had
Anybody to Look After Them Until
Capt. Leary Took Charge Of Their
Land-The Schools That Were E.
tabiished Centuries Ago by an Old
Spanish Queen and Then Forgotten
Among the far-off places which
Uncle Sam has taken under his care
is the island of Guam. You will find
it on a map of the Pacific Ocean. iy-
ing in that group of islands to the
northward of Australia and to the
eastward of the filipines which are
known as the Ladrones or the Mari.
ana Islands 1t is small island, only
thirty-two miles long and about eight
miles across at it's widest part.
In this far-away island, fringed
with coral reefs and covered with a
dense tropical vegetation, are two
thousand children, most of them born
the subjects of the boy king of Spain,
but all growing up now under the
Stars and Stripes.
Before Uncle Sam took possession
of the island the children of Guam
Just lolled about and did pretty
much as they pleased. You will see
by looking at the map that the island
lies well within the tropic zone, and
consequently the weather there is al
ways like a warm summer afternoon
one of those afternoons in vacation
time when you don't even feel like
playing baseball, but like to swing In
hammock under the trees, or take
padding in the brook or along the
beach.
These children never have expert
enced a cold day which sent the
blood tingling in their cheeks and
made them step along lively to keep
warm. You could not explain to
them what snow is, or give them an
idea of the pleasures of SNOWFALL
fight If you were to tell them Of q
country where, in certain months OF
the year, the water turned solid In
the lakes and ponds, they would not
be able to believe you, for ice they
could not comprehend.
Many of the children went to
school for a while each year. but
when they had learned to read and
write they considered that their edu-
cation was finished. Having learned
to read and write, the children went
out to help their parents gather the
cocoanuts and dry the meat which Is
seooped out of the hard shell. This
dried meat of the cocoanut is called
copra and the people of Guam sold IT
to the traders who visited the island,
exchanging it for cotton cloth,
knives, -four and various other arti.
Giles which they could get in no other
way, land sometimes getting money
for. it.
The traders took the copra awey
| and pressed the oil out of it, selling 1t
! for good prices in the markets of the
outer world.
The folks of Guam had little patch
es where they raised yams-which
are something like sweet potatoes
and the breadfruit tree gave them q
food of which they were especially
fond. Everybody who ever has eaten
the fruit of the breadfruit tree likes
it and wants more. 1t is a round
fruit, about the size of small water
melon, and when baked it beats any
bread you ever ate.
So the islanders did just enough
work to keep themselves from starv.
ing and the children lived an aim
less, lazy. ignorant life, with no
books to read and no pictures to
look at, until one day an American
man-of-war sailed into the harbor OF
Agana, the town which is the capital
of the island, and took possession OF
the place in the name of the United
States.
Then Capt. Richard Leary was
sent out there as governor. He IS
sued an order Immediately that ev
cry child between eight and fourteen
must go to school. He also issued q
proclamation urging the parents tc
learn English al once, so that they
would be able to help their children
with their studies.
He found that some of the grown
up folk on the island could not even
write their own names and so issued
an order that every man and woman
l N,aD, laorn <n 70 hic n,