Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-18
PERIL TO GUAM
SEEN IN JAPAN'S
ENTRY INTO WAR
Strategic Importance of Lit
tie Island Now Used as
Cable Station Pointed Out
oy Specialist.

at one stroke, gam an immense strategic
advantage In case of conflict with the
limited states. Germany would not be the
only loser, and our trade routes to
and from the Orient, either by way of
San Francisco or the Panama Canal,
would be imperilled as they are not now
70 the same degree. we have plenty OF
cause for concern. So writes a specialist
not so sure of Japan's pacific intentions
IN the Pacific, and his especial concern Is
over Guam, our little cable station in the
mid-ocear. He notes that we took the
island with the thought of turning 1t into
a coaling station for our ships bound to
and from the United States to the Phil
,pplnes A few years later Guam logic
ally became hating place for the trans
pacific cables, and now that 1t will lie
right In the trade route of our modern
ships of commerce speeding to and from
the Far East via the Panama Canal this
lonely island will have a renewed signif-
cameo TO US. To protect our future mer-
chant craft and to give us n strategic
point of vantage in the vast Pacific, Guam
becomes again what it was in the distant
tween the Philippines and the kingdom of
Mexico and Peru plus a modern purpose
quite undreamed of in the centuries gone
GUAM TO BE FORTIFIED.
We are going to fortify Guam so that
it will be able to resist any assault that
a foes squadrons may make. At the same
time the island will be turned into an ad-
vance naval base of supply and the har-
Dor of San Luis d'Apra will become
haven where whole fleets of our biggest
dreadnoughts can lie at anchor awaiting
the call to distant duty. This call will
either come by way of wireless or will
trace its path over the contours of the
Paciic's depths and bring its message
through the sunken cables in the form of
mirror flashes or the zigzag dots and
dashes upon the recorded tape Or, on the
other hand, ready transports will be
hastened to the shores of China, with bat
talions of marines prepared for any emer-
gency.
Indeed, Agana will see such an array of
fighting men as it has never dreamed of
since the earliest days of Spanish domi !
nance. We are to assemble there all of
the marines we now have in the Philip |
pines, and upon these soldiers Of the sea
will fall the burden of defending the
island. They will be both infantry and
art!llerymen, and theirs will be
the duty of manning the batteries big |
guns and smaller ones, that are to con- !
gtitute a sufficient challenge for any
naval force that may be brought against !
them. In short, Guam is to be a naval
station in it's entirety. and upon the ma
vi pt,ng = 81, cl,n ,,1t, t,a
of maintaining the perma-
nent defenses and of using them to good
effect in the hour of battle.
The island is about 30 miles long and
has an average width of less than seven,
but even so 1t might seem like pretty
big undertake ng to deferd the whole of
the coast line. 1t would, indeed. call for
a good many more guns and fighting men
II 1t We're not for what nature has done
toward simplifying the problem. Cen
orally the shores of Guam are forbidding,
the volcanic cliffs rising abruptly right
out of the sea to heights varying from 300
10 more than 600 feet. An enemy could
find no place of lodgment or a likely
beach for landing except within the limits
covered by the batteries that will be
planted about San Luis d'Apra. And
here the work of the marines will be
made easier by the narrowness OF the
'iagle channel that leads from the sea
through the menacing reefs into the shell
-ered haven.
ISOLATION A PROTECTION
The isolation of Guam. lying 1900 miles
'ast of the Philippines is another source
II protection, because any threatening
quadron must come equally far If not
arther from its own base of operations
nd the nearest drydocks 1t can COM
nand. To invite grave injury at such a
distance from facilities of repair is not |
he course likely to be pursued by a
houshtful commander, and here again
iature has helped to make Guam just so
1uch more effective for our purpose as |
naval advance base from which our
ghtinS ships in the far Pacific can be
lspatchcd to the best strategic ad-
anlage for tho securing of a wide zone
4 that part of the world.
Cllmatically Guam is much superior to
u" Philippines and our marines at
.Sana will be substantial gamers by !
heir transfer from Cavlte. The hottest {
aSs OF the summer seldom register a |
5nlperature in the shade of more than ,
'esrees Fahrenheit, while the iunJsI :
Fefage range during the cooler months !
scarcely ever less than so degrees. Ly- !
x y IN the sweep of the northeast trade :
mus there Is always a refreshing =
Ieeze and the nights of the hottest days :
re or temperature calling for sub :
.ahual covering. The climate is like
use much more salubrious and invigor-
.uN than that of the Philippines be-
luse Cuam's shores are washed by the
'Ou OF the north equatorial current. In ?
iO'l lhe temperature conditions are
nEularly cquablc. a
Dut All this atmospheric stability, so |
speak, Is offset by the seismic rest :
SSheSS Of this pinnacle of a mountain
t'-' rising from the bed of the Pacific =
'me thousands of fathoms down. I'M
y"HleuIF Guam Is of volcanic origin, :
us rugged contours show; and its {
's"TSl point is about 1900 feet above
h" ItEeL Scarcely "A day, so il is said |
5tSssS without some slight tremor, and d
vi while you become Indifferent TO 5
'oa immature earthquakes. However, :
'1e "l While the disturbance becomes II
iii' Uon deal more violent, and then Il
',t"'nEs are toppled into ruins and the L
y, Sou can do during the period of {
4uake "A matter possibly Of four c
,,,r n'e nhhutes-is to get down on all ,
,1iS .'lS ana take the medicine thus IN The q
NJ NJ unpleasant way. \
7n |thtns OF the natives, he notes that p
,Ile5 ia Hlofos' for SO the natives are
nn,, are very distinct Improvement
,id '"e Malays, from whom they are
onabI nave sprung. They are unques- II
va an ancient people that once en- G.
AZ civilization of their own which n
lat bronpe superior in many particulars TO a