Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-05-04

OCCl VNOA LhC O0LAoh
West Indian group of islands,
the United States having agreed
by treaty to pay the Danish govern
ment $25,0O0,O00 for all of the hold
ings of the latter country in the West
Indies. ~
On the map the West Indies are
seen as a string of islands, beginning
with the large ones of Cuba and Santo
Domingo, thinning out in midocean to
a few almost invisible dots, and then
emerging to the south again in the
larger French and English islands.
What We have bought from Denmark
nre about fifty of these little pinhead
islands, writes Frederic ]. Haskin.
Only three of them are large enough
to have names on the map, and the
largest contains but "a square miles.
Insignificant, however, these islands
are most interesting, and may become
important.
Two Embraced in the Virgin Group.
st, Thomas and st. John belong to
the Virgin group of islands, which was
discovered by Columbus, as was also
st. Croix. st. Thomas was settled by
the Dutch, who left it for New York
Then the Danes took it, and the Eng.
lish took it away from the Danes sev.
ernl times, but always gave it back be
cause they did not want it. The Dutch
and the English also squabbled in a
small way over st. Crolx; then the
Spaniards got hold of. it, only to be
driven out by the French, who gave
1t to the Knights of Malta. They, be
ing unable to make a living there
burned up their holdings and depart
ed. Denmark, thereupOn got st
Croix for the same reason that she got
st. Thomas, namely, because nobody
else wanted it. She has been losing
money on the islands almost eveI
since; that S25,OOO,O0O will be the frs
profit that Denmark, as a nation, ha:
made out of her West Indian colonie:
in long time.
The history of our own relation t.
the islands has been much repeated
of late. In 1855 Secretary of Stat,
Seward offered $7,5OO0OO for them, /;
vote was taken here and the peopl,
were almost unanimous for the trans
fer. The bill then died in the senat,
committee ON foreign relations. Il
1902 we wasted an opportunity to bu!
the islands for $5,0000O0. In 1916 W,
jumped at the chance to buy then
for $25,O00,000, and now the none!
having been paid the islands are unde
the flag. The price comes to nearl!
! $500 an acre, as against 2 cents al
acre which we paid for Alaska, 2
cents for the Philippines and abou
! $35 for the Canal zone. Thus it i
seen that colonies, like everything else
are going up in price.
Island Uttered With Old Relics.
This crude summary of the histor,
of the Danish West Indies gives NJ
idea of their real story, which is file,
with romance of the Spanish main
with pirates and privateers and doub
looms and creole beauties. The island
are Uttered with old cannon, RUNE,
forts and all the other stage props O
swashbuckling romance.
Geologically, these islands are tn
tips of a badly swamped mountai
range. st. Thomas juts suddenly ou
of the water, like a swimmers heaG
From its highest point you can Sc
Porto Rico to the west and an amaz
ing amount of ocean all around
There is practically no cultivation, be
cause all the people make living ou
of the harbOr. Fire and hurrican
have swept the island almost clea
of forest, but there is a low, dens
growth of brush, which affords q she
ter for wild goats and deer, while
few cattle Craze on the open, wint
swept mountain tops. The island
beautiful with a vivid, unexpecte
beauty-an ideal place to explore wit
a pony and q camera. And the bul
of 1t is now serving no other purpos
than to delight an occasional wandere
with an eye for the picturesque.