Show rings W island brn the four marked our naval culo cul oms hy cers sitting in council nt at st Thoi were oft admiral 11 T taylor it y montgomery I 1 0 r capt 5 ht V n Z walter george gherardo C day capt w win tie L 8 commands coin in n ads tile lie squadrons qun dron of 0 u r scouting co heet fleet and ani 1 capt albert commanding our air il VP crat craft squadrons of 0 7 the battle fleet 7 E v B of ol 01 U tile purpose an lla 71 i these last two officers 3 on the council sudden 2 iki ly occurred to me ono on day when I 1 wits flying J orbr the virgins with aleut 0 co 0 ill 11 paul a u 1 batas ant and 11 II T 0 T xi T il K c 12 4 3 secret daises CU Cule I 1 13 b bralo MR ID CO control A ro I 1 i 1 by JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN AVII you e ever ver wondered why uncle sam bought n the virgiiia islands und and handed to tile the danish miji lster tit at washington i treasury warrant for irs in hard cash yoa yes then there la Is no need of feeling lonesome others have wondered too no well lots of good americans have even it you it took uncle sum sain more than GO 50 to got get po possession of tile the virgin islands ills efforts begun began in 1835 1865 when william 11 II seani d Lincol ns secretary of st state ate offered denmark for them tha tant t wits in civil war times too when our national debt leall liil piled lip mountain high two years later offered apparently the deal nearly NV went t through but it caroo came to naught raligh now whist did segurd want of the virgin islands Ill history story say hut but it Is a good guess that seward who alio was a good deal of a statesman knew instinctively or nr was waa told by someone whose judgment lie trusted that uncle anin should have a foothold in the west indies for good and sum clent reasons it should be remembered that it was seward eward who in 1807 bought liou glit alaska frum front russia for in spite of nationwide nation wide ridicule and got a fanions famous bargain negotiations were started again in 1001 and tailed failed another effort in 1010 nothing then cirille the purchase of 1017 EvIde evidently fitly sonic some high Inter interest clat in the lie united states wanted the danish west indies and knew why it wanted them these virgin islands are part of tile th e leeward Is islands linds west kemt indies lying 40 miles east of porto illco illch the west indies forni form a vast that stretches lit in a curve from froin florida to the northern const of south Ani america erlen they separate lie waters of the atlantic ocean from those of tile the gulf 0 of f mexico and the caribbean sen sell there are several well dellner groups tile greater antilles lesser leser antilles including leeward islands etc bic tile tho greater antilles include the big tind and important islands like cuba porto rico haiti tin and jamaica tile the lesser antilles curve cure in a double column from porto hie south to trinidad i somewhere lit in tile the west indies Is tile spot which affords the natural control of the caribbean henn spa sen and bild the wilter water approaches to uncle sams sains Ilaria panama lull canal there are arc in the west indies the republics of cuba santo domingo and the american island of if porto illch illco british french and dutel kast indies and the american virgin islands what fild did we get for ow when we bought the virgin islands we got about 50 islands only 3 of if which are large enouch to ti be considered except on hydro hydrographic graphia charts these tire are st croix santa cruz st thomas which hus has one of the finest harbors in the lie world and the smaller ani niter island of st john nearly all of the islands are mountainous und and rugged are frequent but the climate Is fairly healthful negroes forni form the bulk of the lie population altogether we got about square miles und and a population of the city of nf st thomas or charlotte amalla was formerly the commercial nier cini metropolis it if tile the west indies the name of virgin islands la 14 also used geographically geographic nily to lit include clude in addition a number of nf british islands and two american islands cral and culebra Cule brn with nu nn siren of square miles und and a population of UD V 0 id 0 hazwe these two islands we did not buy from denmark with the virgin islands wo got them from spain as one result of our victory in the lie spanish american war of 1808 note that in 1001 uncle sum sam revived tits efforts to purchase the virgins and kept at it until they were lila its so her heres s the true inwardness of tile the virgin islands purchase we bought the virgin islands because we lind had crab and culebra lalands islands we bought the virgins in order to be able to protect crab and culebra Cule fira culebra means snake and culebra la Is the hidden snake in the gressl grass 1 culebra Js Is well named being long and sinuous its ito coast line Is a crazy sort of thing being indented by hays boys gulfs gulfa and harbors ano by inlets connected by narrow mouths with the lie sea on oil it there are no springs or wells or freshwater lakes or streams tit alie 0 peo plo bentch their water in cisterns there Is id no shortage of rain water iraln falls every few days tin and 1 I it falls no as if the bottom had dropped out then the sun comes out and aind in a few hours flours evi ev P cry grything thing Is dry and bil baked lied what therefore does uncle sam we see in culebra that lie ho sets such store by it so far us as anyone knows theres no gold there hero or precious stones 0 or r valuable minerals and its eviden evidently t ly no great sli tikes as a winter resort well the truth Is that hat uncle sams navy and nun men tire are the fellows so BO particularly interested in Cule bril immediately after the lie completion of tile maneuvers of our navy this spi spring ing in the caribbean and around the panama canal the hase base board went into confidential and more or less secret session lit at st thomas four naval officers representing both marine and aircraft forces made important plans which revolve about culebra na as a ine and aircraft nise base of control in connection with the caribbean sea and the lun lundina nina canni canal 0 K spencer U S as N it II P V editor of the united states navy contributes lit at article to tile the new york world on the subject of these penns in which lit he says pays among other things filings over in tile island of st four naval officers were making history they were vere deciding a n close question of state advanced buses bases of the united states of america in ill tile the islands of the VIr virgins gIng arid and each its lie he fumbled its his notes wits aware that americas base in tile virgins would perhaps some day be the lie focal point of var for fir the americans against enemy or lit in defending the ll 11 air lunes between north und and south amer fen ench understood full well that these virgins with their liehr sill stilt Is bl blue tie are fated to receive tile fer of air traffie between tile the continents when tilt the peoples of dittli el en cumber the lie soul anti ami their tilt nit nill mil chines patrol lit in myriads tile lie gilr now only conquered by the hie henvy heavy bombers of the pavy of the united each bach hod had its ills inapt before hini marked orf off ali the e midway between north and south Amer america icil in the lie heavy black crayon 31 1 I r J h 4 1 Z S stanley navy pilots A photographer wits present suddenly bates yelled to him and pointed downward we were passing over an ideal landing field the alio photographer shot it thousands of such shots were ande during tile lie two months in which the nir aircraft craft squadrons moved over these islands Cap captains tollis gherardo anti marshall sat in council with these depots repots on their knees culebra then Is the snake which darts darta its hither and to in tile alie indies and flushes its fangs at those who desire io to penetrate our inner sea and our national throat the canal with one base time wo we defend tile the canal and we dominate the future air routes between the americas while I 1 was at culebra this spring a hying flying boat of the Ac comp company tiny arrived one day from the states and squatted down to ah anchorage on the w water ater just coshow to show it could be lone done the united states navy has created within the liot hot breasts of culebra I 1 n i secret submarine base from frothi which in war can issue forth the undersea boats for defense or offense the united states navy tins has designated within the colls of the snake secret lr ir and destroyer bases and the alie snake when it unrolls uncoils in the net of 0 hostility will display a veritable nest of vipers its un uncoiling colling stroke will spread woe to those who wiio invite its attack t a c k it Is the key to our caribbean defense tile defense ilse assault point for the panama canal annal and the future customs center for regulation of the commercial air lanes it makes the caribbean tin an american take lake culebra Cule bru represents both a threat and a warning to those who amny wish us its ill and it Is not defended with heavy guns the hect fleet itself Is the tha striking striling arms of culebra IIo llo Mever wever the lie navy sees culebra in 11 future day as tilt the transfer dep depot for inter air pInne an and I 1 seaplane lot traffie and the navys design designation atlon lot of culebra us its tin an advanced base seems to portend events which dwarf tilt pretensions of elf gibraltar which will bring u population to Cik culebra lebra a mixture of races anti and of jargons hargons Jar gons lying flying with the lie commerce and establishing commodity depots on oil this passionate little island tile the snake in that future the navy of today which starts it on its way will itself evolve into what what super engines of control and culebra the snake will henvit become a mart |