The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-10

load.
The birds feed on tho nsh which
swarm about the islands and upon 9th
Ell kinds OF sea life which live on the
reefs and along the shores There ar.
some plants, ana just now the rcserva-
ton is suffering from an invasion o.
rabbits, which feed on the plants, AMI
which. If not Death with, may destroy
tho bird life.
Moreover. the Japanese have been
ra!dins tho islands In order 10 kill the
albatrosses ana cure their skins for
millinery purposes. The group should
be watched by our revenue cutters AMI
the reservation should have pcrnan-
cnt officials there to care for It.
PrcpurinE for Pnnnmn.
Uncle Sam liz doing much to prepare
the islands for the Increased ,rafHc
which will como with the Panama
Canal. The ports have been cleaned
and the chief harhors have all modern
facilities for the handling of freight.
very important work Is thlt which
Is going on at Pearl Harbor
Tn. general board OF the army ana
navy has declared that this place
should be made "a naval base. ana
plans have been prepared which will
involve the spending OF $4,000, Gao IN
improving il. There are to be also
H''''S anu tci 'Ill'dIIbnS which
cost Si.oo",oo0 NOR, and altogether We
shall erect Il littlc GihraItcr away on,
there in the middle Of the Pacific Th,
islands have already been made
separate military district. and a gen
erhi officer has been assigned 10 tn,
troops stationed there. We are put.
ting in IL huge dry dock at Pearl flnr-
Dor ana connected with ii will be re.
pair shops for our gunboats and 9TH
er vessels OF war.
The opening of the canal will great.
~ Increase the Importance OF these is
lands as the metropolis of the middle
racine. They lie. you know. at the
crossway OF the main Travelled route.
OF mat ocean. They are 2I00 miles
from san francisco and about 6.0Ool
miles from the east const of Asia. They
arc 800 miles from The western end
OF the Panama Canal, 2,S0O miles from
new Zealand, 3,i0n mile. from Japan
ANA about 400 miles from Seattle orI
Vancouver They are the halfway,
mouse TO almost anywhere in the Paci
nc and their future trade will be
enormous
Better Shipping Facilities.
AS 1t is the transportation facili- |
t'cs nave Increased since we took pos
session There are nov IL steamers
which go regularly from island To island |
and they carry several hundred thousa nd |
TONS OF freight every year. There Is d |
big traffic between the United States.
Australia ana Mcxico. ana there are
many vessels which call ut Hawaii on |
their way to and from japan and |
China. This is so Of our transports
en- route to the Philippines, and
also OF the Canadian vessels bound
Tor New Zealand ana tia Fills
Tic American Hawaiian Steamship
Company has now n freight line from
Honolulu TO New York. This is by tho
way of tho lsthmus of Tehunntcpcc in
southern Mexico. the freight being car
Iicd across that isthmus by railroad. |
The company has some steamers of II,
900 tons each. and it is now carrying
100000 tons of sugar n year.
There are 10000 and 13.000-ton vos-
sells which ply regularly between San
francisco and Honolulu, and some OF
the biggest grcyhounds OF the Pacific,
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company
and the Togo Kiscn Kaisha stop at
Honolulu on their way to and from
Japan. There are aIso n number OF
sailing vessels which go from Hawaii
down around South America and thence
to New York and Europe. and thore are
many tramp steamers, and there are
the islands.
IIcnIth and tho Lepers.
Tho government has done much to
improve the health OF tho islands They,
now have a bureau of health, which
'nent last year more thhn $4,000. and
here is n sanitary commission which
will rcorGanize Honolulu ne to it's
leverage and drainage. There nre
district physicians. who make house,
.o-house inspection 10 keep track of
he sick. During tho past year theyi
nave made 5000 visits and filled 100000
Prescriptions. They received 5000 (!