There is a primitive sugar mill on the island of St. Croix that is
owned by Danes. One of the owners told me that the day the islands were
transferred to the United States the negro employees formed a union and
struck. They lost no time in availing themselves of the advantages that
organized labor enjoys in a great republic.
The seat of government of this island is Christiansted, a town of about
4500 people. It is a neat, substantial little place, with covered
colonnades extending through the business section of the town. These
covered passageways enable one to walk about without being exposed to
the rays of a tropical sun.
[Illustration: “GOVERNMENT HILL,” CHARLOTTE AMALIE
Showing Administration Building (upper right-hand) and Governor’s House
(flying American flag)]
It was from Frederiksted, the chief port of St. Croix, that Alexander
Hamilton came to America. Born on the island of St. Nevis, his mother
died when he was still an infant. He was then sent to an aunt who lived
on St. Croix, and it was there that he gave evidence of the brilliant
mind that in later years made him one of the most conspicuous figures
in American history. It is a strange coincidence that over a hundred
years after Hamilton left St. Croix it should come into possession of
the nation he served so brilliantly. What might George Washington, “The
Father of his Country,” say if he could know that the birthplace of the
young West Indian attorney, to whom he looked for legal counsel, was
now part of the great republic in whose establishment each of them had
such an important share?
[Illustration: From “The Virgin Islands,” by Luther K. Zabriskie, G. P.
Putnam’s Sons, Publishers