Evening star., 1925-01-04
UNCLE SAM'S PACIFIC ISLANDS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

Among the islands for which the
United states Navy is responsible is
Guam. It is used as a naval station and,
In these days Of cable, wireless and air
planes has become an important link In
the transoceanic communications sys-
tenn. The commandant Of the naval
station there is also the islands gov
ernor.
To New zealanders this island for
n1erly was the mythical port for
which vessels leaving their harbors
would clear when sailing under seal
ed orders. These orders when opened
at sea always contained instructions
to proceed to some other part of the
world. So much OF q custom had this
become that many New Zealanders
came to regard Guam as place ex-
isting only in the imagination Of ship
owners.
Recently an American visiting New
Zealand was questioned as to his next
destination and named Guam. You
can imagine his astonishment when
his friends applauded him loudly for
his excellent Joke, not one of them
believing that such place existed.
The most remarkable occurrence at
Guam in recent months was the great
typhoon and food which swept the
caused one death and wrecked thou
sands Of dollars worth of property.
But IL made history chiefly because
the rainfall broke almost all existing
records. The rain gauges showed that
In Is hours 10 inches Of rain had
fallen over the Island OF Guam and
in Is hours there were SO inches.
A mathematical shark has figured
that, as the island covers 245 square
sta f411
! amount to more than IL, 900, 600, ,600, 900
cubic inches, or $4,000. 100000 gallons.
Putting the figures into tons II would
amour, to 323.G00.0o0 tons Of water.
This is about a years rainfall In
some Of our states, and II IS more
than a years allowance for IL of the
most arid States all put together.
From Guam II is not great jour
ney west TO the 1000 islands of the
Philippines, which are inhabited by
more than, 13,000.0 900 people.
The Filipinos have a very old civil
| izatiorl which dates back beyond re-
| corded history. They were being In
! fuenced by Indian and Chinese cul-
ture several centuries before Christ.
They had a literature and records of
their early history, but the manu-
! scripts were made OF palm leaves and
/ bamboo, and were kept In caves,
where the people gathered and wor-
SHIPPED.
The spaniards, coming to the Phil
| fppines In the sixteenth century,
| called these records Books Of the
Devil" and ordered them burned, so
that today there are only a few scat
tered bits of manuscript which have
been found in corners Of the caves
| on the islands.
r-x.s<~ nYS.~ rh~r u~~vs~s
The Philippines had a university in
| 1911. rs years before Harvard Uni
| versity was established.
The Filipinos are ambitious and in
many ways very progressive. In the
| Far Eastern Olympic games they
| have more than held their own
against Chinese and Japanese ath-
1etes.
In 1928 the Philippines came out
/ first I'm base ball. voiley ball and bas-
ket bali. and second in track and
| field. swimming. tennis and foot ball
| A Filipino sculptor In Rome has
been attracting wide attention and
| winning prizes In competition with
| famous artists all over Europe.
| Philippine women are becoming
more independent, just as American
women are. Out OF 46 graduates In
| pharmacy at the University of the
Philippines. AZ were women. In the
same Glass; Of the IL doctors de-
grees were granted to women. and
out of 4Ss graduates Ito were women
| Philippine women are becoming
nurses and lawyers and are going
into trade and industry. Business Is
no new line to them. because 1t has
always been the custom for the women
OF the Philippines to manage their fam
ilies' finances.
The United States paid Spain the
sum of s2o,00o.000 for the Philippine
Islands, and today the trade Of the