Omaha daily bee., 1919-11-09

| NtoNos w NV "oAAy oOSbS sAtS AAto -
cost of suits, dresses, food or Other
articles of necessity or luxury. Ma.
ture provides them with an abun.
dance of materials for shelter, food
and clothing. 1t is perpetual sum.
mer, so coal strike is a thing un-
known.
The Stars and Stripes were raised
over the island June 20, 1898, wher
Capt. Henry Glass, commanding the
u. S. S. Charleston, entered the port
of Agana and commanded the Span.
ish, governor to surrender.
A recentgovernment report reads
"A native who can obtain diet OF
vegetables for himself and his fam
lily, two or three suits of blue denim
or white drill in one year, and $50
cash annually, considers himself
very we'll off indeed. He is satisfied
with hut of woven bamboo and
palm leaves, without sanitary ar
rangement, without water beyond
what he carries home on his shoul-
der in long bamboo, with pile Of
stones under a thatched lean-to for
q kitchen, and a constant war against
insects and vermin that mutilate or
destroy large part of his crop"
In Guam Seven Years.
1t. George A. Wilcox, U. S. NJ,
who has been visiting at the home
of Mr.. and Mrs. c. c. Cope, GAL
North Twenty-seventh avenue, has
lived seven wears on this island. at
| the naval station. Officially the
island is known as "the Naval Gov
ernn1ent of Guam" The navy yard
is at Agana, which is the largest
town, and w. w. Gilmer is governor
and also commandant of the naval
station,
The lieutenant is an Omaha "boy"
who went away 20 years ago to rove
the seas with Uncle Sans navy and
brings back interesting stories Of
thisfar away island. He lived there
long enough to like it's tropical cline
with its strange flora and fauna, its
coral reefs and its natives with their
centuries of traditions.
The Wedding Presents.
"OneI Of the customs among the
natives is to start every bride and
groom on living basis" said Mr..
Wilcox. "The relatives of the bride
give her money, live stock and
household furnishings, and the rel
atives of the groom do likewise.
With the money thus contributed,
they gather at the home Of the
bride, and then at the home OF the
groom, and finally at the home OF
the newlyweds, having celebration
that lasts from two to three days.
"The native merchants keep no
written accounts. but have remark
able memories. They can remember.
charge account item six months
and thus they keep all Of their out.
standing accounts in their heads. IT
dispute should arise over an item.
the merchant and customer will
compare mental notes by associating
the occasion of the purchase with
the weather or some other event.
No Style Shows.
"The clothing problem in Guam is
simple one. tis common sight
20 see woman with loose cotton
garment. or a man wearing nothing
but pair of short cotton trousers.
Style shows are not popular. The
advent OF American influence, with
the establishment of schools and the
teaching Of the English language,
is slowly bringing about an evolu-
ton in clothes. They are learning
to speak English and their life is
being improved every year. There
is native band and we have a mo-
ton picture show at Agana. There
are 125 automobiles on the island"
Agana. the capital city. has pop
ulation OF $500, and the present pop
ulation of the island is about $4,000.
A compulsory school law applies to
children to IL years old, the present
school attendance is about 1000, and
boys who are beyond the compul-
sorry school age are being taught the
use OF tools. A medical examina-
ton system has been established in
the schools and the children have
Fairgrounds with equipment sono-
what similar to the Omaha play
grounds. The. boys have learned
the uses of kites, marbles, tops and
are playing base ball. Sewing ma
chimes have been introduced.
r. cMasons and, Elks.
The capital city has a Masonic
lodge, Elks club house, sewer,
water and electric light systems and
there is a base bali league of adult
players.
The chief export is copra, which
is dried meat of the coconut, most
of which is shipped to San Fran
cisco. From copra product is ex-
tracted which is used in making
soap and other articles. One hun
dred pounds of coconut meat pro-
duces about 65 pounds of copra
which sells for about. 8 cents per
pound. The United States govern
ment is assisting the natives in the
best methods of cultivation and of
drying the coconut meat SO that
minimum of deterioration i'll transit
will result. Native women are
skilled in the art of climbing a CO.
conut tree, sometimes to height OF
40 feet, with a short pipe in their
mouths. They have taken kindly
to the stockingless vogue, even
when climbing trees.
Buffalo Does Flowing.
Among the principal products of
the island are: Egg plants, red pep
pers, bananas, beans, peanuts. to-
natoes, lemons, oranges. lines,
rice, maize and tobacco. The cara