Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1912-06-19

pinos have shown that they desire ed
ucation above all things and the prog
ress that has been made there, IL Is
said, is nothing short of wonderful.
Two hundred young men and Wo
men who have just been appointed as
teachers to augment the American
educational forces already in the Is
lands are graduates of the best uni
versities. colleges and normal schools,
and they come from nearly every Sec
ton of the United States. They
were selected from a larger eligible
list of candidates than ever before ap-
piled for positions with the insular
branch of the government.
Bureau Officials Gratified.
The bureau officials in speaking OF
this matter of teachers and OF the
teaching work in the Philippine is
lands said:
More than eleven years OF our eou-
cational experiment there has demon
strated to those who have investiga-
ted the subject that, as noted edu-
Gator on his return from the Orient
said, the achievements of the bureau
of education in the Philippines make
as bright and inspiring chapter OF
history as was ever written, and that
our insular service offers an excellent
opportunity for honest, energetic and
well-educated young men to render
most conspicuous service for the gov
eminent and for themselves"
ct is very gratifying to the officials
to know that there is such an In
creasing interest in its insular pos
sessions and that it can depend upon
young, clear-brained and clear-mind-
ed men of good educat IN to enter its
service and assist in e solution OF
some of the problems Itch daily con-
front It,
students and travele in the ORR
ent in recent years have returned to
the United States with the report
that the east is to be the center OF the
greatest governmental activities of
the twentieth century, and our posi-
ton in the Philippines has made 1t
possible for those on the ground to
get an insight into these problems
and take q very active part In their
solution in so far as the participation
by the United States government Is
concerned. The development OF the
American public school system in the
Philippines, modified to meet local
conditions, has been a most remarka'
BILE one during the past ten years. yet
the opportunity for further growth Is
great"
Birds of Laysan Island.
Recently an expedition was sent
to Laysan island in the Pacific
under the joint direction OF the
United States department of agrl"
culture and the University of Iowa.
The duties of the members of the ex~
petition were to make a report on the
island and adjacent similar Islands
and reefs as places Of refuge ana
nesting sites for the millions OF sea
birds that from time immemorial
have resorted there yearly to raise
their young or to rest while migrat-
ing
Reports of the work and the find
ings Of the expedition have just been
published by the government. One
report is by Prof Homer r. Dill of the
University of Iowa and the second is
by Prof. William A. Bryan of the Col
lege of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Early in 1909, just before leaving
office, Theodore Roosevelt established
by executive order what is known as
the Hawaiian islands of reservation,
as a place of refuge and assured pro-
lection for the seabirds. Not long
after the order was issued, and before
the government had established a
patrol of the island group, the chief
one of which is Laysan island, party
of feather hunters landed on the place
and killed more than 100000 birds,
mostly albatrosses, for millinery pur-
poses. The United States and Iowa
scientists found on Laysan island
large shed packed full of albatross
wings.
Thetls viii Protect Them.
Now the revenue cutter Thetis has
been ordered to patrol the coast of the
island of Laysan and the adjacent
islands, and the captain has been told
to arrest anyone caught killing birds
or interfering with their nesting op-
erations. Despite the awful slaugh-
ter of the seabirds by the feather
hunters. 1t is believed there are
enough birds left to restore the feath-
cred f1ocks to something like their
original numbers, provided protection
can be systematically enforced. The
government recently has been very
much interested in the preservation
of bird life in all parts of Its domain
During the Roosevelt and Taft admin
istrations there have been set aside
particular reservations on the Attain
tic and Pacific coasts and In the Gull
of Mexico, and there, under proper
government espionage, the illegal Kilt
ing of seabirds has been stopped, and
the gulls, the terms, the ibises, the
spoonbills. the famingos and the
ara coming