Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1902-02-10
LETTER FROM THE PHILIPPINES.
Ddujn, Oriental NegTOs, P. l.,
December II, 1901

My attention has been called to an
item which has been widely circulated
and evidently received with some de-
gree of credence. 1t was copied by
some of the New York papers and al
so appeared in the Bradford Opinion,
as we'll as in the Brandon Union, ac
companied in this last case, however,
by an editorial opinion that it was
probably not true. The item in ques-
ton was as follows;
"Wooed and Won on the Pacific
Sixty American Teachers Married |
in far Honolulu.-CarbOnda ILL.,, |
Aug. 21, 1901. Of the four hundred |
American teachers who sailed on |
the Thomas from San Francisco |
to Manila, sixty of them on |
reaching Honolulu were married. |
The teachers had been chosen from |
the many normal universities of the |
country, and we're strangers to one
another. Their acquaintance and |
courtship extended through a period |
of less than ten days. The captain
of the Thomas refused to permit their
wedding at sea, and the thirty coup
les on the arrival of the transport at
Honolulu sought out clergyman and
were married. A boat was chartered
and the brides and bridegrooms made
tour of the bay. The information
reached here from one of the men
who was appointed from this city.
| The women teachers outnumbered
! the men two to one. Most of the
women teachers who sailed on the
Thomas were pedagogues of several
| years experience"
A few comments on this notice will
doubtless be permitted ''The teachers
had been chosen from the many normal
universities of the country" Normal
university must be something very
up-to- date; there were certainly few
teachers on the Thomas who had ever
heard of any such institution. "The
captain Of the Thomas refused to
permit their wedding at sea-" The
captain was certainly a very godly
man, on Sundays at any rate, but
whether thirty ''quiet, home" we'd
dings would have troubled him is
still an open question. And SO, ''the
thirty couples on the arrival of the
transport at Honolulu sought out
clergyman and were married." Who
was the fortunate clergyman and did
the government pay the fees? ga
boat was chartered and the sixty
brides and bridegrooms made tour
: of the bay" The boat chartered
must have been the Thomas and the
bay the Pacific ocean. "The women
teachers outnumbered the men two
to one" That is to say, there were
$50 women out of a total of $50. II
the scribe from Carbondale, ILL.,, poses
!. as a practical joker, he should re-
} member with SAKE that it is often "a
b.. If he aspires to Munchausen fame, he
: promises to succeed. Let all friends
2 Of Vermont teachers in the Philip
pines note the point of all this: there
aOas not one teacher from the Thomas
married dt Honolulu.
4 Before leaving the Thomas the
{ teachers availed themselves Of the
= opportunity of being vaccinated fol
Q from San Francisco and this occa-
g stoned days delay in landing anc
: several visitors came aboard, among
o whom were Gen. Supt. Atkinson anC
= Mason S. Stone, then Division Supt
= for the island Of Negros but nov
q Supt. of the schools of Manila. TIL,
association of Vermonters in thu
Philippines was represented by Mr.
} Halpin who has position in the civi
service, Mr.. Max Severance of tn,
Manila american and Mr.. Burritt
% chief of the bureau of minerals
Green badges lettered with the wore
y "Vermont" were given all member
Q of the Green Mountain state. Thi
! was the first state association to wei
y come it's pilgrims from the Thomas
u Through the kindness of Mr.. Burrit
u and his friends, all Vermonters wer
given the freedom of the Universit.
u club rooms, which contained piano
billiard table, library and reading
10 room. 1t is needless to say that NJ
y Vermonter was ashamed of his heri
ID tage.
q AS the shallowness of Manila ba,
~ does not allow ocean steamers t.
!, reach the shore the passengers from
.s the Thomas were landed by means o
n. launches each accomm odating abou
al a hundred. The bay was rough, a
we were told it usually is and it re
, quired the skill of the acrobat tt
a board the launch from the transport
10 A miscalculation of one second woul,
- precipitate you into the sea or Ian,
,e you on top of the smokestack. l
,e soon became necessary to ascertain
n what means of conveyance are avail
able in Manila. The one line of stree