USVI Public Records

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made since 1916 in Jamaica to increase the produciion of foodstuffs locally. A statement made in the {Journal of the Jamaica Agricultural Society for Febru- ary 1920, shows that these efforts have met with considerable success. There has been an immense reductioa in the imports of foodstuffs as compared . with the average imports for the years. be- fore the war. This reduction is especial- _ly notable in products which can easily be grown locally, such as eorn, peas and b2ans, and rice. The average amount of ecorn imported in the three years 1910- 13 was 263,808 bshels; this has steadily decreased until only 6 bushels of this article were imported in 1919. Imported corn meal has fallen from 64,426 barrels to 18,032 barrels. Whereas 18,123 bushels of peas and beans was the an- nual import before the war, only 879 bushels were imported in 1919. Rice has also shown a remarkable decre:se 1 import, only &,896,244 Ib. having been imported in 1919, as compared with an average of 14,880,215 |b. before the war. Other imported foods also show for most pait a considerable %ecrease in import, as, for instance, condensed milk, which has decreased from 58,420 cases to 25,- 608 cases’ Butter also shows a remark- able decrease from 1,144,9991b° to 160,- 445 ', and only 577 lb. of salt beef were imported in 1919, as against 4,566 Ib. in the vears hefore the war. The above figures show unmistakably that Jamaieca is to be congratuviated on the efforts :nade in this divecton, It is hoped that this activity may be contin- ued. Barbados Globe, 10th May. Instructions of Children in Virgin IslandS by wife of an United States Admiral, teld, Mrs. J. W. Oman. - While Congressional action is pending upon measures to Americanize the Virgin Islands, which was purchased by the United States from Denmark in 1917, one unergetic woman—wife of the Gov- ernor of Uncle Sam’s newest insular possession in the Caribbean Sea—is going ahead with an Americanization project of her own. " Reading, writing and arithmetic and the'domestic arts of cooking and sewing —these are the advantages being offerzd the children of the islanders who are deciared to be ‘‘without a country.”” The seif-appointed teacher is Mrs. J. W. Oman, wife of Rear Admiral Oman, who became Governor of the Virgin Islands March 31, 1917 and sister of Franklin B. Morse, well known San Francisco news- paperman. The success that has attended her ef- forts to be of assistance to the residents of the town of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas, where the Govern- ment headquarters are situated, is spoken of modestly by Mrs. Oman in letters to her brother. Although the island group consisting of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, with their tributary isles and cays, were bought outright by the United States for $25,000,000, the work of Americanizing the inhabitants has been delayed. The islanders are held to be legally neither citizens of Denmark . nor this country. Legislation to establish citizer‘ship is proposed By the jointCongressional Com- mission that recently visited the fyrmer Danish possessions. It is to- meet the presemt need that Mrs. Oman has volunteered her services as an educator. Her first work along this line was confined to teaching her three children, but the field 6f activity was soon extended to include boys and girls in the French ecolony. UOncerning her Americanization endea- vors, Mrs. Oman writes: "'Pieas Tfor bettering the little French colony are bearing fruit andl amin a happy mood as a result. These people settled in St. Thomas some years ago. Part of them constructed homes on the mountains and the remainder made their abodes at the water’s edge. It is sup- posed that they came from Normandy, and chis would seem likely, as they have retained several characteristiecs of the Normandy peasants. - “‘Livingin extreme poverty —the men as fishermen., the women making hats and baskets—they married and multi- plied, bringing undernourished childien into the world. But despite poverty, hardship and neglect they have kept %heill; pride of race 'nd their Catholic iith. “Their one salvation is that they -live pretty much in the open air. They have cabins which they make and own—pay- ing rentals of from 25 cents to 50 cents a month for the land. The majority of the families,I should say, live in one rooni. One family, the richest, consist- ing of man wife and six children, live in opulence in a cabin with two rooms. Before the advent .of the Americans these people were neglected by the Danes, who deliberately and consistently turned a blind eye and deaf ear to anything and anybody needing help. : “When we came I was told that these people were mendicants, that they thieved, and that they were immoral. No part: eular effort has been made, I discovered, to make the chiidren go to school. Who told so? ‘I talked to the mothers, explaining the absolute necessity of education. In this way I won their good will. By let- ting it be known that the children would be urged by me to go to school—public school if the school kept by the church was not adequate—l obtained absolute backing and the good old French priest held a mass meeting to set forth the ne- cessity of education. ““The children made {a brave showing at the jopening of the school. "It is a sore point with these people that their little ones must go barefoot. I have comforted the parents as best I could and little by little I hope to make the children more presentable 1 have already started this work in a small way with some of our children’s old clothes. “l find that the majority of mothers and their daughters know nothing about sewing. At my request the old French consul was invited to come to Govern- ment house and the old gentleman, when he heard my plea fora sewing school, placed a building entirely at my services. He also promised to support my plan to the limit of his ability. “I have a woman ir view to teach them. She is not a finished seamstress, but will do to start with; and I expeect to help. of course. ‘“The French consul wished to place in my hands any funds for the French coming to him ifrom the Alliance Fran- caise, but of course a thing of that kind cannot be entered into off hand. I seem to be the first ‘governer’ to interest her- self in these poor souls. 1 do hope that we may better the condition of these peovle. “For the first time regular school books, have been introduced. Trulyv on- ly 20 per cent of the required number, but 20 per cent i 8 20 per <ceut. The na- tive teachers have to attend a class for teachers every Saturday. ““The public schools have been given American names—George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Monroe, etc. "“The streets still retain their Danish names, butin time this will be changed. The pcpulace is English speaking.”’ In a letter of later date Mrs. Oman re- ports the progress of her sewing class and adds: ‘*My ten girls have already turned out garments to wear to mass on Sunday. So you see they are getting results. | have given them some gpld garments which they have refitted tgthemselves.” The island of St. Thomas, which is the scene of Mrs. Oman’s activities, is about 1400 miles from New York, and sixty miles east from Porto Rico. Owing to its geographical position and its excel- lent harbor, it is considered the best coal- ing station or port of refuge in the West Indies. St. Thoma:. contains a popula- tion 18,000 acres, and has approxi- mately of about 13,000. It is thirteen miles in length and three in width at its widest part. The Bulletin of California. THERE WAS A REASON. “l know » man that has been married thirty years and Le spends all his even- ings at home.”’ “*That’s what I call love.”’ "*Oh, no, it’s paralysis.”’—Cornell Widow. Porto Rico Progress, May 28th. el.. BROIL X AV IS