Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-03-03
cO6VZRY SCHOOL " o1AN


| and the women are almost secluded. I'm
III recently tho well-to-do natives sent
their children to Manila or Madrid to be
educated. The girls are said to be good
dancers, and most OF them are able to
play little on the piano.
| It Is this better class that owns most OF
the plantations Of the island. The men
do not work, but rent out their ranches
or employ laborers, II Is from them that
the subordinate officials of Guam are
taken. The young ladies' form part Of
the official society, They attend balls
given at the governors palace, and are
/ said to be pretty and viyaclous.s Their
dress consists Of fuli skirt Of fine mus
lin or silk and n zouuve Jacket o. dell
cAtely white embroidered material with
flowing sleeves. The people OF tho better
class do not use the hetel nut nor do the
women smoke. Since the American occu-
patton many have adopted our style OF
dress. -s n
~. The Common People.
The common people are very much like
the masses of the F1lipinos. They go
barefoot and wear their shirts outside
their trousers. Willie at work the shirt
is often taken off and the trousers rolled
to the hips. On Sunday n pair OF half
slippers may be added as a part Of the
dress.
The richer people OF Agana have very
comfortable homes, but the poor through
out the island live in huts Of bamboo
and thatch. These are built five or six
feet from the ground. and usually have
but one room. ventilated by three or four
openings for windows. There is no glass,
but each window has sliding wooden
shutter.
Such houses have but little furniture
The common bed is a mat Of woven grass
and the whole family sleeps on the floor
Of the one room. The doors and windows
are tightly closed, for the people think
that the night air brings fever. They
sleep in the same clothes that they wear
during the daytime. Every such house
has a matched leanto at one end, In
which the cooking is done. The ordinary
stove is a stone Enclosure. filled with
earth, upon which a firais built, a num-
Der Of smaller stones keep the pots off
the Goals.
The Women of Guam.
Tho women Of the poorer classes, on
feast days and sundayu wear long, traIl-
ing skirts Of bright-eolored calico and
white muslin jacket over a short
chemise. They have cheap handkerchiefs
covering their heads. on working days
they wear similar dress, but tuck the
skirt into the belt They labor In the
fields with their skirts fastened high up
above the knees. and thus clad they climb
cocoanut trees by notches cut in the
trunk. A girl will so up hand over hand
10 a height of forty feet, her skirts being
gathered about her waist and short
black pipe held between her teeth. She
will stand in the water up TO her waist
and pound the clothes she Is washing
against a wooden tray which floats on
the surface of the river These women
can walk great distances. They are well
formed and have beautiful black hair. OF
which they are proud. So says one Of
our naval governors.
when We took possession Of Guam we
found the people exceedingly lazy. Wages
under the Spanish had been almost moth
ing and there was no incentive 10 work.
/ BegEars were many and Migrants were
common. One Of the first edicts Of Gov
ernor Leary was that every inhabitant
should be seIf-supporting. II he had no
trade or occupation he must at once plant
some corn, rice, coffee. sweet potatoes
or other things sufficient to give him a
| living and that he must have at least
twelve hens. one cock and one SOW. The
governor gave lands TO some such men,
bot the big wages Offered by the officials
have brought the natives generally into
tho employ of the government
i The Future of Guam.
i and this brings me TO a serious con-
dition which will likely confront Guam in
the near future. The public works which
Unels sam has been carrying on during
| the last nine years have brought a great
deal OF money into the island. During
that time the imports have exceeded the
exports by more than Soo0oo and the
greater part Of this money has come frenI