The Ladrones.
The Island of Guam a Coaling Station of the United States--Discovery,
Size and Products of the Islands.
When the Philippine expedition on its way to Manila incidentally ran
up the Stars and Stripes over the Island of Guam, there was perhaps no
thought of the island becoming a permanent part of our domain. However,
the fortunes of war are such that the island is likely to become ours
permanently as a coaling station in the Pacific.
Magellan named these islands the Ladrones from the Latin word
"latro," meaning a robber, because of the thievish propensities of
the natives. According to Magellan's reports, the native people of
these islands had reduced stealing to a science of such exactness that
the utmost vigilance could not prevail against their operations. The
group was named the Mariana Islands by the Jesuits, who settled in
them in 1667.
The Ladrone group consists of twenty islands, of which five are
inhabited. The group extends forty-five miles from north to south,
and is located between 13 deg. and 21 deg. north latitude, and between
144 deg. and 146 deg. east longitude. The principal islands are Guam,
Rota and Linian. They were discovered by Magellan in 1521, and have
belonged to Spain ever since. Their population is 11,000. The soil
is fertile and densely wooded. The climate is temperate.
Guam, the southernly and principal island, is 100 miles in
circumference, and has a population of 8,100, of which 1,400 are
Europeans. Its central part is mountainous, and it has a small
volcano. The products are guacas, bananas, cocoa, oranges and
limes. The natives are noted as builders of the most rapidly sailing
canoes in the world.
With Guam as a part of the territory of the United States, we have a
direct line of possessions across the Pacific, in the order of Hawaii,
Guam and the Philippines; while in a northwesterly direction from
our Pacific coast we have the islands forming a part of Alaska. By
holding all these islands we will be prepared to control practically
the commerce of the Pacific, the future great commercial highway of
the world.