Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1921-05-01
The VIRGIN ISLANDS; ON
The ROAD TO everywhere

WASHINGTON. u. C.. April so--Jus'
what did Uncle Sam gct Tor the SIS,
100000 he paid to Denmark Tor tn.
vIrsin islands, ..a
a recent spectacular alrplanc fllghl
by United States Marines from Wash
inston Dyer the larger islands u III,
West Indies TO map out an air lin,
oi thes" innds' to cAnc under IN,
American Flag has raised the Question
anew. An ar.swer IL given by the fol
lowing bulletin issued from the Wash
ington, ID. G., HEADQUARTERS ~ the Ma
uonhl Geographic Society:
The VIRGIN Islands are not reno,
from other United States soil The,
are hardly more than n stones throw
from Porte Rico.
NJ. Thomas. the wcaternmost ~ N,
three larger Virgins. IL only 40 miles
from that island. and the presence q.
cnlcbra Island. belonging Ia Porto Rico
midway between the two. ties the new
possessions still more closely Ia this ~
Ger American brother by adoption. Tn,
truly beautiful Wow that may be- had
from the 1900 foot peak Of hllly 81
Thumns includes To the west the dim
oviilhc Of the Porto Rican coast.
Close 10 British Territory.
st. John, the smallest ~ the three
principal Islands acquired by the Unit
I'D States, lies only two miles east ui
st. Thomas. \ climb to the rugged hlllf
Of ~. John will demonstrate that the
American Virgins are also not rcmot,
from foreign territory. \ mile Ia IN,
north lies Thatch island. small bit ol
land belonging To Great Britain. anc
less than three miles in the same direc
tun IL Tortola Island III the British
Virgins. almost as large as 81. John
st. Croix. the largest of the ncwl,
purchased islands. lies 30 miles To- tn,
south. II Is not part geographically
~ the Virgin groun .,ut was in,lud
I'D with 81. Thomas and ~. John for
administrative purposes hy the Dane,
and IL chased by the United States as
one ~ It's Virgin Islands. 81. CrolS
In a little over three times the slz,
81 Manhattan Island. containing ap
proximatcly NJ square miles. -. Thorn
as. with on area 81 ~ square miles. T.
abup; II miles long ana has an av"raE,
width Of not much over two miles. 1t
IL Therefore almost exactly the size ~.
Manhattan Island. st. John has an ox
IRENE length uf miles and width
somewhat over miles. Its area Is ap.
rroximatcly 20 square miles. The On
tire group. including the numerous tiny
islands Of small value. has little mon,
than twice the area of the District Of
Columbia, the smallest 81 the main Ill
visions Of the United states proper.
Our Highest Priced Territorial Purchase
For these islands the United States
paid a higher aricc per acre than ony
other II It's famous purchases. only
3 cents an acre VAS paid for Alaska,
II cents for Florida. and % cents for
the Philippines. The canal Zone cost
$3.50 per acre. The price paid for the
VIRGIN Islands WAS approximately ssa5.
"Thc features that give the chief
value To the islands from the point OF
view OF the United States government
are 81. Thomas liarbor ON which Il
situated the principal town Of the group
Charlotte Amllio. and Coral BAY on
the Island ct 81. John. 81. Thomas
Hnibor ~ probably the hest developed
hnrbor in the West Indies, and In nat
urally protected except from cNccp.
tlonaly strong hurricanes. Coral Bay,
though ont.rcly undcvolopcd, cons,itu
ties an even more cominOdious ana bot
ter protected harbor of refuge. These
harbors are valuable a. the United
States IN themselves. hut II was even
more important that the United States
prevent their falling into the hands oi
possible enemies.
I'm Atlantic Crossroads.
"The Greater Antilles, made up ~ the
larger of the West l\lics. aud the
Lesser Antilles. composed Of the smaller
islands together form a gigantic crook
cd arm enclosing the Caribbean Sea.
The Virgin Islands are at the elbow. the
closest yoint to Europe. Past these
points streams the traffic between Eu'
- ----s.------