Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-10-30
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Includes Group of Fifty-Three
Are Found on Maps
st. Thomas Most Important Possesses
Finest Harbor In Tropical America
ST. Croix Largest Island I'm
der Many Governments

| announcement tndt tne virgin ioi"h"c'
formerly the Danish West Indies. are to
be the beneficiaries of an annual appro-
priation of 100000 from the navy depart
ment, and are to be the object or
general Americanization program. Is the
occasion for issuance of a bulletin con-
corning our newest possessions by the
National Geographic society.
Though the group comprises 80 Islands,
on the northeastern rim Of the Carib-
bean sea, only three are big enough to
have a name any but photographic
charts and local maps" says the buiie-
| tin. These are st. Thomas, st. John
| and ST. Croix
| while st. Croix has an area OF about
81 square miles and St. Thomas but 2s
| square miles, St. Thomas Is the most
important of the group Of islands. This
Importance arises from the fact that the
harbor on the south side Of the island
Is one Of the finest in all tropical Amer
ica."
The story Of how the war robbed st.
Thomas of her one lone industry, and
the possibilities the islands hold for re-
Mobilization, is told in the following CON-
munication to the society:
| From the days Of the buccaneers st.
Thomas strategic advantage has been
| realized for when the Spanish Lain was
the happy hunting ground of the gentle
men of the Black Flag this harbor was
their headquarters. Behind its outer hills
the pirate craft found shelter from the
| open sea. and we're we'll screened from the
| sight Of passing ships until the niomcrt
came to pounce down upon theta. in
more recent times 1t has played the role
Of safe harbor for the thousands Of ves-
| sells bound from Europe to Panama and
| surrounding territory, or vice versa.
With free port, where repairs ships
stores. and coal might be had. upon
which there had been no levy Of tariff
duties. the shipping world found the har-
| Dor OF Charlotte Amalie an attractive
way-station on most of its Caribbean
| routes.
THE result was that agriculture in st.
Thomas fell into decay, and nearly all
of the activities of the islands population
| were devoted to the interests of its har-
Dor, and one Of the finest coaling stations
| in the tropical world was established
there.
| 'ln addition to the coaling station there
| Is a floating dry-dock and a marine slip,
where splendid repair facilities are pro-
| vided.
LAS long as these facilities were in de-
mand st. Thomas was fairly prosperous
| island Men and women alike found Il
easy to get employment, at least for a
part of the time, at what was to them a
living wage, which was one cent per bas-
ket Of coal, weighing from So to 100
pounds Some carried many as two
or three hundred baskets during the four
| or five hours required to coal ship.
| When not doing this work, they found
considerable employment dscharging coal
from freghters which brought it to St
Thomas.
But then came the war in Europe and
all was changed. The steamships Of Ger
many. which made continual use of the
harbor of st. Thomas, were driven from
the seas, and where formerly all was
business and enterprise. only now and
then a ship found it's way into port. and
the people Of St. Thomas their agricul-
ture neglected for years, found them
selves unable to gain living, either from
the land or from the sea.
THE history of the Danish West Indies
is full OF interest Columbus found St.
, Thomas inhabited by Caribs and Arawaks
| in 1893. In 1867 a colony of Dutch set
Yers occupied the island: but when they
heard of New Amsterdam. now New
York. they left it to become a part Of
the new colony with such n remarkable
future ahead of ii. The English came to
st. Thomas next. but In 1866 it was for
mally taken over by the Danish croVS.
In 1764 the King Of Denmark took the
government into his own hands and threw
the port of Charlotte Amalie open, duty
free, to all nations. In 1901 the British
took the island from the Danes but re-
| stored it after ten months. Again, in
| 1907, Britain took possession of st.
| Thomas, but returned it in the readjust-
ments growing out of the Napoleonic
wars in 1876
! st. Croix was settled by Dutch and
English, but they quarreed and the Dutch
had to get out in 1850. The English in
| their turn were driven out by the Span
iards. Then the French from St. Kits
took hand and expelled the Span.ards.
| France gave the island to the Knights of
Malta; but after a prolonged. but losing
effort to put ii on a profitable basis, tine
knights, in 1920 demolished their forts.
abandoned the island. and removed to
Santo Domingo. In 1877 the French cap
tured eight British vessels lying there
and took possession Of the island again,
finally selling it to King Christian Of Dem
mark"