Show gu t 9 street in agana guam by the do united staton department tit of agriculture Aerl Acri culture service TN THE interests teresta In of governmental IN economy the lonely island of guam L one of the smallest of american possessions will be taken from the list of american naval bases and turned over to another government department part ment possibly the department of interior which has already suggested that guam would make an attractive national park anama military importance has always been theoretical but as part or of the chain of mid pacific american stepping stones leading from california through the Ela hawaiian wallan islands to the philippines guam has also provided a handy landing place and relay station for cable lines across the pacific and a base for repairs and supplies for american vessels plying midway lanes more than 1100 miles of open water separate it from the philippines while the ocean jump to midway nearest of che Ila hawaiian wallan islands Is even greater some 1700 miles geams strategic value Is out of all proportion to its size and population in area it Is about three and a half times as large its as nantucket having a length of les less than SO 30 miles mile s and an average cidh of about six miles only people more than nine tenths of whom are native I 1 a people similar to the filipinos inhabit this coral beefed reefed oasis the population however Is growing it jumped 40 per cent in the last decade the island of guam was discovered on march 6 1521 by magellan after a passage of three months and twenty days from the strait which bears his name raided by magellan the natives of guam came to meet the spaniards in strange lying araos canoes provided with outriggers and triangular sails of mats the spaniards bards had bad dropped anchor furled their sails and were about to land when it was discovered that a small boat which rode astern of the flagship was missing suspecting the natives of having stolen it it magellan himself went ashore at the head of a landing party of 40 armed men burned 40 or BO 50 houses and many boats and killed seven or eight natives male and female ue he then returned to his ship with the missing boat and immediately ely set sail continuing his course to the westward ard the natives did not fare much better at the hands of later visitors missionaries sion slon aries came in 1608 1668 though guam lies within the tropics its climate Is tempered throughout the greater part of the year hy by a brisk trade wind glowing blowing from the northeast arld and east its mountains are not high enough to cause marked differences in the distribution of rain on the irl island I 1 11 ad and the island Is not of dent clent extent to cause the dally daily alternating currents of air known as land and sea breezes breeze s generally speaking the seasons conform in a measure with those of manila the least rain falling in the colder months or the periods called winter by the natives and the grenter greater rainfall occurring in the warm months which are called summer by the natives though the mean monthly temperature varies only 2 degrees on either side of the mean annual temperature yet the winters of guam are so definitely marked that certain wasps which during the summer make their nests in the open fields among the bushes invade the houses of the people at that season ant and hibernate there the forest vegetation of guam consists almost entirely of strand trees ferns blanas lianas and a few un der shrubs the majority of the species are arc included in what has called the onla formation the principal tread arp are the wild fertile breadfruit tho the indian almond jack ln the bo c and the cie giant banyan how they catch fish the fruit of another common tree onla spec losla the natives use to stupefy fish tho fruit Is pounded into a paste in a bag and kept ov ovar r night the time of an especially low tide Is selected and bugs bags of the pounded fruit are taken out on the reef next morning and sunk in certain deep holes in tha reef the fish soon appear at the surface some of 0 then thein lifeless others attempting to swim or fauntl with their ventral side uppermost the natives scoop them in their hands sometimes even diving for them nothing more striking could be imagined than the picture presented by the conglomeration of strange shapes and bright colors snakelike ellke sea eels voracious lizard fishes gar like with their jaws prolonged into a sharp beak long ions snout ed trumpet fishes flounders porcupine fish bristling with spines squirrel fishes of the brightest and most beautiful colors searla scarlet rose color and silver and yellow and blue parrot fishes ashes with large scales beaks and intense colors some of them a deep greenish blue others looking as though painted with blue and pink opaque colors variegated called sea butter butterflies files by the natives trunk fishes with horns borns and armor leopard spotted groupers groubers grou pers hideous looking warty toadfishes toad fishes armed with poisonous spines much dreaded by the natives and a black blach fish with a spur on its forehead in the mangrove swamps when the tide Is low hundreds of little fishes with protruding eyes may be seen hopping about in the mud and climbing among the roots of the and these belong to a group of fishes interesting from the fact that their air bladder has assumed in a measure the function of lungs enabling the animal to breathe atmospheric air natives of good appearance the natives of guam are anre as a rule of good physique and pleast pleasing ng appearance owing to their mixed blood their complexion varies from the white of a caucasian to the brown of a malay most host of them have glossy black blach hair which Is either straight or slightly curly it Is worn short by the men and long by the women either braided colled coiled or dressed after the styles pre prevailing vallin d in manila though the natives of guam are naturally Intelli intelligent gont and quick to learn little was done for their aduca tion until comparatively recent years the college of san juan de letran was founded by queen maria anna of austria widow of philip IV who settled upon it an annual endowment of pesos apesos through misappropriation and dishonesty the annual income of the college gradually dwindled to about 1000 desoo pesos the greater part of this was absorbed by the rector who was usually the priest stationed at agana and by the running expenses of the school which were the subsistence and wages paid to jani danl tor porter steward doctor and the lighting of the building the people are essentially agricultural there are few masters land and few servants on the island As a rule the farms are not too extensive to be ba cultivated by the family all of whom even the little children lend a hand often the owners of neighboring farma work together in communal fashion ones one day on As corn the next day on Ws Bs and so on laughing singing and skylarking at their work and stopping whenever they feel so inclined to dalre a drink of tuba from a bamboo vessel hanging to a neighboring coconut tree each does his phare without constraint nor will he indulge so freely in tuba as to incapacitate himself for work for experience has taught the necessity of temperance and every one must do his share if f the services are to be reciprocal in the evening they sepe se raie each going to his own rancho to feed his bullock bullo clr pigs and chickens agana the seat of government and principal town Is about eight miles from apra harbor a u fine anchorage but closed to all foreign ships guam Is a lonely spot seeing only an occasional army or navy transport the mall mail steamer and a few american commercial ships tourists are unknown the official currency of the island Is that of the united states but the old spanish code of laws slightly modified still Is effective english spanish and native languages are spoken the schools are conducted in english the principal exports are copra and coconut oil the governor of the island a naval officer appointed by the president takes precedence over and la Is entitled to the honors due to an admiral |