THE CHAPTER XIX. LADRONES AND OUR OTHER Our Territory in Polynesia-Way Station Needed Between Honolulu and ManilaThe Ladrone Islands and Their History-The Capture of Guam-A Slight Mistake on the Part of the Governor-General-An American Installed in Authority-Rebellious Constituents-Naval Station to Be Established in Guam-A Boom in the Ladrones-Wake Island for a Cable Station-The Island of Kusaie-The Wreck of the Morning Star-An Episode of the Civil WarThe Carolines-The Harbor of Pango-Pango in the Samoan Islands. T' HE taking of Manila has given to the United States relationships to the islands of the Pacific that were never anticipated before the outbreak of war. With amazing speed we have found ourselves becoming a world-power, with commerce reaching out into the eastern hemisphere and the corresponding necessity to provide coaling, naval and cable stations for it. It is nearly 5,000 miles from Manila to Honolulu, which has been considered the limit of our possible outposts in the great Pacific ocean. Five thousand miles is too far for prompt action in the event of emergency, and it is evident that possessions in the Philippines require us to have way-stations between San Francisco and Manila. Honolulu and Pearl Harbor provide the first of these, coming to us peaceably and by annexation in response to the desire of the people of Hawaii. For any other new territory, we had to look to the possessions of Spain and the employment of force. The first voyage of transports which bore troops from San Francisco to Manila for the relief of Dewey, resulted in adding territory to our new possessions. Guam, the most southerly island of the Marianne or Ladrone group, was seized and placed under the American flag. Guam lies almost directly east of Manila and some 1,500 miles away. The archipelago which includes it is a part of that greater group of islands of the west Pacific known as Micronesia. SPANISH RULE The Ladrones were discovered by Magellan in 1521, as related in the first chapter of this book. They were next called the Marianne islands in honor of Queen Maria Anne of Austria. The present usage is to accept the title given by Legaspi, THE LADRONES. the Ladrone islands. The Jesuit fathers established a mission in the islands in 1668. The mission house was fortified, garrisoned with thirty-one soldiers and armed with two pieces of artillery. Within two years after the landing of this expedi tion, an attempt was made to curtail the liberty of the natives and to create a system of taxation. The natives revolted and from that time to the present revolutions have continued. Many priests were killed, as well as soldiers, and the deaths were avenged by wholesale upon the natives. The people have been compelled to devote so many days every year to government work and also to pay over to the tax-collectors of church and state a heavy proportion of the grain, yams, copra, pigs and fowls that they could raise. Less than twenty years ago, the governor, Senor Plazos, was assassinated in a popular uprising. The total population of the Ladrones when first discovered was more than 100,000, but they now number hardly more than one-tenth as many. Although the Spanish expense of government has been reduced to a minimum, the entire revenue has been but one-half of the expense of administration. There are nine towns in the islands and the capital is Agana, on the island of Guam. The Spanish reports say that there are twenty schools and twenty-six teachers, with about 500 enrolled scholars. The attendance, however, is only about fifty, and probably it would be very difficult to find the number of teachers and schools reported. The first fleet of troopships sailed from San Francisco on May 22, reaching Honolulu seven days later. On June 4 they sailed from Honolulu with sealed orders. When land had been left behind, the sealed packet was opened by Captain Glass of the Charleston, and it was found that the fleet was ordered to stop and capture Guam in the Ladrone islands. When the fleet reached the island of Guam the Charleston en BOMBARDMENT INSTEAD OF A SALUTE. tered the harbor, passed the unoccupied fort of Santiago and steamed up to a position near Fort Santa Cruz. She fired twelve shots at the fort and there was no response. She then steamed on into Port de San Luis de Apra, where the town of Agana, the seat of government in the Ladrones, is situated. This was on the morning of June 20. During the afternoon the captain of the port and a health officer came off in a small boat. They extended the apologies of the governor-general and said that there was not enough powder for them to return the kind salute of the Americans. Captain Glass invited them into his cabin and questioned them for a few minutes regarding conditions in Guam. He then told them that war had been declared and that they were prisoners of war. Their astonishment was profound, for they had heard absolutely nothing to indicate that war was even threatened against Spain. Captain Glass then sent them on shore to ask the governor-general to come to see him. The governor-general did not come, but sent an interpreter and secretary, who said that the rules of the country forbade the governor-general leaving shore or going on a foreign warship. He, however, invited the captain of the Charleston to come on shore at 10 o'clock the following morning for a conference. He guaranteed the safety of the American officer. At 8 o'clock the following morning Lieutenant W. Braunersreuther, of the Charleston, was sent on shore. He had an ultimatum to deliver to the governor. The lieutenant was accompanied by a small number of men, but companies A and B of the Oregon volunteers were held in the rear of the landing party. The governor was at the wharf to meet them. The ultimatum was delivered, and it granted thirty minutes in which to surrender the Ladrone islands. Failing in this, a landing party was to be brought ashore and the city captured. Inside of the time limit Governor-General Marina delivered into Lieutenant Braunersreuther's hand a sealed envelope containing his answer. The lieutenant started to break open the envelope and the governor-general remonstrated, saying that the letter was for Captain Glass. Upon being assured that the lieutenant acted as a representative of Captain Glass he was appeased. The letter contained an absolute surrender. The lieutenant gave him a few hours for preparation, as he was to be taken to Manila as a prisoner. After this the governor-general, two high officials, fiftyfour Spanish soldiers and some natives were taken to the Charleston and later to the City of Sydney. DISARMING SPANISH FORCES. The disarming of the Spaniards was an interesting incident. Fortysix marines and sailors were sent ashore, and the Spanish soldiers, 108 in number, were lined up and their arms were confiscated. Fifty-two Mauser rifles and 7,500 rounds of Mauser ammunition, sixty-four Remingtons and 2,000 rounds of Remington ammunition were taken from them. The native troops were then informed that they would not be taken prisoners. Their joy at hearing this was unbounded. They exhibited the wildest enthusiasm and delight, tearing off their Spanish uniforms and buttons and welcoming the fact that they were relieved of Spanish rule. They were assured that they would be well cared for. The American ships sailed on the morning of June 22. The only American resident at Guam was a naturalized citizen of Spanish birth, named Francis Portusach. He was given temporary charge of the reins of government by Captain Glass and was left there in his supremacy and glory, our first colonial governor. The next information which reached the United States concerning Guam was on the last day of December, six months after the governor had been installed in power. The British schooner Esmeralda, which arrived at Manila, reported that after the Charleston left the island in June, the Spaniards refused to recognize the authority of Francis Portusach, and Jose Sisto, a former public administrator, was declared governor. He armed part of the native guards, collected a tax of $6 a man and secreted fifteen tons of powder and a small stock of other ammunition when the island was taken by the Americans. Francis Portusach, whom the officers of the United States cruiser Charleston left in charge of the island of Guam, being the only American citizen there, is a native of Barcelona, Spain, where he was born about thirty years ago. He took out his citizenship papers in Chicago during the year 1888. Portusach came to Chicago in 1886. He was the son of a wealthy merchant of Barcelona, Spain, who had numerous trading vessels in the Philippines and other islands of the South Seas. While a boy Portusach traveled considerably on his father's ships. |