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


been raised over tue Danish
West Indian group Of islands.
the United States having agreed
by treaty to pay the Danish govern
ment S2j,000,OO0 for all of the hold
ings Of the latter country in the West
Indies.
On the map the West Indies are
seen MS II string of islands, beginning
with the large ones of Cuba and Sanro
Domingo, thinning out in midocean to
Il few almost invisible dots. and then
emerging To the south again in the
larger French and English islands.
What we have bought from Denmark
are about fifty of these little pinhead
Islands, writes Frederic j. Haskin.
Only three of them are large enough
Ia have names on the map, and the
largest contains but 81 square miles.
Insignificant, however. these islands
are most interesting. and may become
important.
Two Embraced in the Virgin Group.
81. Thomas and ST. John belong To
the Virgin group Of islands, which was
discovered by Columbus, as was also
st. CrOiN. st. Thomas was settled by
the Dutch, who left IL for New York.
Then the Danes took It, and the Eng
lish took II away from the Danes sew
eral times, but always gave II back be-
cause they did not want II. The Dutch
and the English also squabbled In II
small way over st. Croix: then the
Spaniards got hold of 1t, only to be
driven out by the French, who gave
II 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 II. She has been losing
money on the islands almost ever
since that $25O00.00O will be the first
profit that Denmark, as a nation, has
made out of her West Indian colonies
in Il long time.
The history Of our own relation to
the islands has been much repeated
of late. In 1865 Secretary of State
Seward offered S7,j00,0O0 for them.
vote was taken here and the people
were almost unanimous for the trans
fer. The bill then died In the senate
committee on foreign relations In
1902 we wasted an opportunity to buy
the islands for $5000,000. In 1916 we
jumped ut the chance to buy them
for S25,000,000, and now the money
a fgl nd a..
the flag. The price comes to nearly
$500 an acre, as against . cents an
acre which we paid for Alaska. 81
cents for the Philippines and about
$50 for the Canal zone. Thus II Is
seen that colonies, like everything else,
are going up In price.
island Uttered With Old Relics.
This crude summary of the history
of the Danish West Indies gives no
idea of their real story, which Is filled
with romance of the Spanish main,
with pirates and pIivateers and doub-
looms and creole beauties. The islands
are Uttered with old cannon, ruined
forts and all the other stage props of
swashbuckling romance.
Gcologlcaily, these islands are the
tips Of n badly swamped mountain
range. st. Thomas juts suddenly out
of the water like swimmers head.
From its highest point you can see
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 out
of the harbor. Fire and hurricane
have swept the island almost clear
OF forest, but there is low, dense
growth Of brush which affords Il shell
ter fur wild goats and deer, while n
few cattle Craze ON the open. wind
swept mountain tops. The island is
beautiful with u vivid. unexpected
benuty--an ideal place 20 explore with
pony anH camera. And the bulk
= II Is now serving no other purpose
tlun 10 delight nm occasional wanderer
IN aVp fnt. tt,a