The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1917-05-17

st. Croix. on the other lrnud, Is a
rich island. II contains 81 square
miles of territory, Il large part OF
side of the island is fiat, while minia-
ture mountain range borders the 9th
er, rising steeply out of the bright,
tender green of the sugar fields, which
reach clear down TO the palm groves
along the white beaches. This island
has fine roads bordered with rows ui
royal palms, and 1t boasts no less
than 20 automobiles. Long ago 1t was
u favorite winter resort for Amerl-
cans. and the islanders believe that IL
is going TO become popular with tour
lists again. Land has already been
bought for the erection of large mod
ern hotel.
st. John Claims 900 Inhabitants.
st. John contains about twenty
square miles. 1t claims 900 inhabit-
ants, but they are hard to find owing
TO the density of the jungle. the lack
of roads and the fact that there is
no town on the island.
The other AZ islands which are in
cluded in our purchase vary from
such bits as Sail rock, which Is bare
spire of granite that looks like n sail
and affords home for few ten
birds. To Buck island, which Is several
square miles in area, covered with
dense growth, and full of wild pigeons.
parrots and wild goats. Most of these
small islands, or keys, are uninhab-
tied and many of them are practically
never visited by men.
Our purchase includes three princi
pal cities and few smaller villages,
The most important of the cities is
Charlotte Amalie. on this island of
ST. Thomas. In the islands the town
is called st. Thomas, its Danish name
almost never being heard. II has about
12,00O inhabitants, most of whom have
negro blood but 1t Is not negro town
in the sense that Port au Prince is.
The typical ST. Tbomlan OF the bet
ter class is West Indian creole and
of n distinctive type. He has just
enough negro blood TO make his skin
dark and his hair slightly kinky. lie
intelligent and pretty well educated
Many of the leading merchants of ST.
Thomas are creOles, including the only
millionaire In the islands. These WELL
to-do creoles have their children edu.
Gated in Europe. and mingle with the
Danish officials as social equals. Many
of the young Danes have taken creole
brides back TO Denmark.
Capital City Rated Beautiful.
In st. Croix are Christiansted. the
capital, and Fredrikstad, each having
n population Of between 1000 and
5000. Fredrikstad is fiat, white,
dusty town. swept by the wind frot
It's open roadstead and is neither pic
turesque nor interesting. Christian
sted on the other hand, is beautiful
tropical city full of flowers and palms
and picturesque old houses. II has a
pretty little harbor choked with sand
and mud. The bulk OF the people In
ST. Croix are black negroes. while the
dominant class are mostly Irlshmer
and Danes.
From these facts, It will be seen that
we have not bought valuable piece
of real estate, but the purchase seems
10 be amply justified. Whatever the
value of the islands 10 us, our poten-
tial value to them is enormous. The
people of the Danish West Indies are
looking TO ms with faith and hope for
many things, and the whole Caribbean
world viii watch our course there
with keen and critical interest. Whdfe.
fore Uncle Sans new islands are
more important part Of his domain
than they appear on the map.