The Coolidge examiner., 1931-06-05
(Prepared by the National Geographic
Gncint,. NEaahi d q

prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington. ID. c.
" HE Virgin islands. eastern
most possession of the United
Il States in the Western hemis-
phere, have come to the attention
of more Americans in recent weeks
than at any other time, probably,
since their purchase from Den
mark in 1917. Unusual interest
was aroused in them because of
the first visit TO their shores by an
American President.
The Virgin islands are not re-
mote from other United States soil.
They are hardly more than a
stones throw from Porto Rico. st.
Thomas, the weSternmOst of the
three large Virgins is only 40
miles from that island. and the
presence of Culebra island. belong
ing to Porto Rico. midway between
the two ties the new possessions
still more closely to this elder
American brother by adoption.
The truly beautiful view that may
be had from the 1,500-foot peak of
hilly ST Thomas includes TO the
west the dim outline of the Porto
Rican coast.
St John, the smallest of the
three principal islands acquired by
the United States. lies only two
miles to the east of st. Thomas.
A climb to the rugged hills Of ST.
John will demonstrate that the
American Virgins are also not re-
mote from foreign territory. A
mile to the north lies Thatch is
land, small bit of land belonging
to Great Britain. and less than
three miles in the same direction
is TOrtOla island of the British Vir-
gins, almost as large as st. John.
st. CrOix, the largest of the is
lands. lies 40 miles to the south.
1t is not a part geographically of
the Virgin group. but was included
with st. Thomas and st. John for
administrative purposes by the
Danes and is classed by the Unit
ed States as one of it's Virgin is
lands St Croix is little over
three times the size of Manhattan
island, containing approximately
"a square miles. st. Thomas, with
an area of % square miles, is about
IA miles long and has an average
width not much over two miles. Ii
is therefore almost exactly the size
of Manhattan island st. John has
an extreme length of eight miles
and a width somewhat over two
miles. Its area is approximately
20 square miles. The entire group,
including the numerous tiny islands
of small value. has little more than
twice the area of the District of
Columbia, the smallest of the main
divisions of the United States
proper.
Uncle Sam Paid High.
Though the American Virgin is
lands comprised 80 islands. only
the three mentioned are big enough
TO have a name on any but hydro
graphic charts and local maps.
For these islands the United
States paid higher price per acre
than for any other of its famous
purchases. Only three cents an
acre was paid for Alaska, IA for
Florida, and 27 for the Philippines.
The Canal zone cost $35.S3 per
acre The price per acre paid for
the Virgin islands was apprOXi-
mately $2S5.
The feature that gives the chief
value to the islands from the point
of view of the United States gov
ernment is ST. Thomas harbor on
which is situated the principal town
of the group. formerly Charlotte
Amalie. now st. Thomas. AnOth-
er important feature is Coral bay
on the island of st. John. st.
Thomas harbor is probably the best
developed harbor in the West In
dies. and is naturally protected ex-
cept from exceptionally strong hur-
ricanes. Coral bay. though entire
ly undevelOped. constitutes an even
more cOmmodiOus and better pro-
tected harbor of refuge These
harbors were valuable to the Unit
ed States in themselves, but it was
even more important that the
United States prevent their falling
into the hands OF possible enemies.
The Greater Antilles, made up of
the larger of the West Indies, and
the Lesser Antilles, composed of
the smaller islands. together form
gigantic crooked arm enclosing
the Caribbean sea. The Virgin is
lands are at the elbow" the clos
est point to Europe. Past this
point streams the traffic between
Europe and the Panama canal, be-
tween New York and both the
east and west coasts of South and
Central America, and between the
Greater and Lesser Antilles.
The Virgin islands fell upon evil
days economically after the trans
fer from Denmark TO the United
States, and many blamed the new
owner for their troubles. For the
most part. however, the difficulties