The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-15
IN TO DEFEND THE PANAMA CANAL

belong to the United States, and the end )
OF the Panama Canal when II IS hnaiiy
drcdgcd out, will be not very lar from
them
The most OF us do not know {. but the
Island Of Navussa belongs to the unlteo
States. 1t Is not down on the map as an
American possession, and, indeed, one
finds /, one color on one map ana other
color on another, so that people 40 not
seem to know Just to whom u belongs
1t IL, however, the property OF ohcie
sam, 1t was owned by Baltimore partles
some years ago. and President Harrison,
In his third annual message. prociaimeuG
our acquisition OF 1t in the lolio"ii5
sentence:
"The island OF Navassa. in the West
indies, has under the provision 81 tue
VII Of the Revised Statutes been recos
nized by the President as appcrtainlns ~
the United States.
At that time the private ownership q
the island was vested In the tNaN vaseu}
Phosphate Company. That company was
working it for Its rich deposits OF guano,
and It had so IT was claimed, crueliS
treated Its 1aborers. The men revoiteu
and were arrested and tried In the Unit
cd states Court ut Baltimore on the
ground that they. were subject TO me
same laws as though they had mutlnied
on board q merchant vessel on the high
seas. They were sentenced to death ana
President Harrison pnrdoncd them re
sent naval vessel to the island, ana
the officers reported that the phosphate
company was treating Its laporers llkc
convcts and recommended that the ID
land by placed under government super Z
vision This was done, as ] understand
but shortly afterwaard the Euano pusl-
ness was given UP. and the Island ms
been vacant from that time TO TINS =
Our naval officers can probably ~
whether 1t would pay to estnpllsh q ~
tincatlon on Navassa. nave, IAN, lalAeu
with some sea captains VINO !. .i'tih ~ :,
might be Of great value and Win ' l1asna
officers who say that 1t would acost more
to protect It than \ It WOULD DO worth.
I have travelled very close TO the lslaHu
in going to and from Panama, ano -to
nv aInnteurish eyes II seems stne nat
,ral nosItion for great fortlncatlon, y
lies right In the lower end OF Ethe WIN
ward Passage. Just half way y, !, ~ % WEI.
Haiti and Jamaica. ana iit.ie i'oto
than one hundred niles south OF GUAM
tno,,n ctandIng upon the island on
4 n n,anr dav9 ono can SEQ the blue noun.
Navo ssa is two and one-half miles long
tonf !, milo vide It Is almost SURROUNDED
81 bold perpendicnlar cliffs twenty teet
high, being Inaccessible except at the
landing platform On WV. We " 49,, -
where ne guano ships were loaded IN
that that vicinity there Is good holding GROUND
~ hnIf a mile of the shore, where
H. water / & about sixty. feet deep. the +
Island lis a natural fort having these x
walls Of cliffs about $50 feet broad, rum
n,nt, around the coast except at the, en-
t trnn disappearing guns could be easily
n,aced 3,lpon this ridge. and the station
~ hin would be absolutely safe.
Mic tod OF the island Is covered with
stunted palm trees and cactus. under
stand that 1T has good water. It would
make an excellent place for wireless
Telegraph station, as It Is right on tho
track of the vessels sailing between Pam
ma and New York,
Nayassa has never been populated. IT
was 400 years ago that Diego Mendez
one of christopher Columbus's leuten-
ants, made 1t known to the world. Colum-
bus had been wrecked OH jamaica and
AIendez made his way in q canoe for lbO
miles across Tho seas to Haiti and noti-
fled the Spaniards there to send q shin to
his masters relief, Tho voyage would
not have been uccessful had It not been
for the food and water which Mendez
and his party found on the Island Of
Nayassa. s tI iEsG 5ia
Copyright 1905, by Frank q. carpenter.)