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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS
SAM. L. ROGERS, Dirkctob
CENSUS
OP THE
VIRGIN ISLANDS
OP THE
UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER
1, 1917
PREPARED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF
EUGENE F. HARTLEY
CHIEF STATISTICIAN FOB MANUTACTUKES
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1918
/^.LfSb'?!-/
CONTENTS.
Page.
Geography
H
Harbors
12
Trade with the United States
14
Minerals, flora, and fauna
16
Climate and rainfall
Ig
History
18
Efforts to acquire the islands
22
Government
24
St. Croix (Santa Cruz) Island
24
St. John Island
25
St. Thomas Island
26
Treaty between Denmark and the United States
28
Act to provide a temporary government for the Virgin Islands
33
POPULATION.
Introduction
35
Population and its distribution
36
Total population
36
Decrease in population
37
Causes of decrease in population
37
Population of cities
40
Urban and rural population compared
41
Table 3.—^Total population for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1835-
1917
41
Density of population
43
Minor civil divisions
."
44
Color or race
44
Sex distribution
46
Table 10.—Males and females and
ratio of males to females for islands,
cities, and rural districts: 1917
49
Age distribution
50
Table 11.—Distribution by sex and age periods: 1917 and 1911
51
Table 12.—Distribution by sex and broad age periods for islands,
cities,
and rural districts: 1917
53
Table 13.—Distribution by age periods and by each year of age for per-
sons under 25 years of age: 1917
54
Marital condition
56
Table 15.—Marital condition of the population 15 years of age and over,
for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1917
58
Table 16.—^Marital condition
of the total population, by color or race and
age periods: 1917
59
(3)
4
CONTENTS.
Page.
Place of birth
61
Table 17.—Place of birth and color or race: 1917
61
Males of voting and militia ages
62
Citizenflhip.
.
.
^
63
School attendance
65
Table 24.—Persons 5 to 20 years of age attending school, by age periods:
1917
66
Table 25.—Persons 5 to 20 years of age attending school, by age periods,
for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1917
67
Table 26.—Persons 5 to 21 years of age attending school, by single years
of age
; 1917
69
Illiteracy
70
Table 27.—Illiterates in the population 10 years of age and over, for islands,
cities, and rural districts: 1917
71
Table 29.—Illiterates in the population 10 years of age and over: 1917
73
Inability to speak English
73
Dwellings and families
74
Occupations
75
Number and proportion of persons occupied
75
Number and proportion of persons in the general divisions of occupations.
77
Persons occupied, distributed by sex
78
Persons occupied, distributed by age periods
78
Persons occupied, distributed by color or race
80
Persons occupied, distributed by marital condition
81
Description of the occupation general tables
82
Table 41.—Total persons 10 years of age and over engaged in each specified
occupation, classified by sex: 1917
83
Table 42.—Total persons 10 years of age and over engaged in each specified
occupation, classified by sex, for islands and cities: 1917
85
Table 43.—Total persons
10
years
of age and over engaged
in selected
occupations, classified by age periods, color or race, and sex, and by mar-
ital condition for persons 16 years of age and over: 1917
88
Table 44.—Total males and females 10 years of age and over in selected
occupations, classified by age periods and color or race, and by marital
condition for persons 16 years of age and over, for islands and cities: 1917
.
94
Wages and hours of labor
106
Table 45.—Wages received, hours worked per day, and days worked per
year, by employees in each s pecified occupation: 1917
108
AGRICULTURE.
Introduction
113
Area of enumeration.
. .1
113
Schedules and methods of canvass
113
Definitions
113
Text discussion of tables
114
Value of farm products
114
Farms and farm property
114
Farm data for the islands: 1917
114
Farm tenure
116
Farms by size groups
119
CONTENTS.
5
Pago.
Live stock on farms and elsewhere
121
Live stock on farms
121
Live stock not on farms
123
Live stock on farms and not on farms
123
Live-stock products
123
Poultry products
124
Honey and wax
124
Crops
124
Summary
124
Tropical fruits and nuts
124
Forest products
125
Selected farm expenses
125
Farm expenses
125
Receipts from sales of feedable crops
126
Age of farmers
126
Age of farm operator
126
Term of occupancy of farms
127
Term of occupancy
127
Table 15.—Farms and farm property, and live stock not on farms: Novem-
ber 1, 1917
128
Table 16.—Number, acreage, and value of farms, classified by tenure and
color of farmers; by islands: No'wember 1, 1917
130
Table 17.—^Value of all crops and principal classes thereof, and acreage and
production of principal crops, by islands: 1917
130
MANUJ^'AOTURES.
Introduction
131
General sumtmary
132
Sugar
133
Liquors, distilled—Rum
133
Bay rum
133
Bread and other bakery products
133
Wage earners employed, by months
134
Prevailing hours of labor
134
Location of establishments
135
Character of ownership
136
Engines and power
136
Fuel
137
Special statistics
137
General table
137
Table 9.—Detail statement
for the Virgin Island
group,
for each island
and each city: 1917
138
FISHERIES.
Introduction
141
General summary
142
Persons engaged
143
Equipment
143
Products
144
6
CONTENTS.
MAPS.
Page.
Pig. 1. The Virgin Islands
10
Pig. 2. The Virgin Islands of the United States—Location with respect to the
principal Atlantic trade routes
15
ILLUSTEATIONS.
Facing page.
Fig. 3. Bird's-eye view of Charlotte Amalie and western part of St. Thomas
Hai-bor
12
Pig. 4. Harbor of St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie
20
Pig. 5. Christiansted, St. Croix, from Protestant Cay
26
Pig. 6. Charlotte Amalie, from St. Thomas Harbor
32
Pig. 7. Native women coaling ship, St. Thomas Harbor
40
Fig. 8 . Type of cistern used in storing rain water in rural districts of St. Thoma.3
.
48
Fig. 9. Main Street, Christiansted, St. Croix.
Schoolhouse in foreground
64
Pig. 10. Sugar plantation, St. Croix Island
116
Pig. 11. Type of farmhouse, St. Thomas Island
120
Pig. 12.
Cattle on Estate Diamond, St. Croix Island
124
Pig. 13. Transporting cattle to St. Thomas market
126
Fig. 14. Charcoal kiln on St. Thomas Island
136
Pig. 15. Magens Bay, St. Thomas Island.
Hans Lollik Island in background.
142
APPENDIXES.
Page.
I. General order
149, 150
II.
Instructions
to enumerators—General instructions, and instructions
for
punching card
151-163
III. Enumeration districts and enumerators
164, 165
IV. Schedules
166-174
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,
Bureau of the Census,
Washington, D. 0., June 15, 1918.
Sm;
I submit the following report concerning the special census of the
Virgin Islands of the United States, authorized by the Secretary
of
Commerce at the request of the Secretary of the Navy.
Under
the
terms
of
the
general
order promulgated October
1,
1917, by the Director of the Census, and approved by the Secretary
of Commerce
(Appendix
I),
a
census
of
the Virgm
Islands was
ordered to be taken as
of November
1,
1917, and Mr. Eugene F.
Hartley,
chief statistician for manufactures of the Census Bureau,
was
designated
as
supervisor
in
charge.
The
inquiries
were
to
relate
to population,
agriculture,
manufactures,
and
fisheries.
In
addition
to these inquiries, at the request of the naval government
of the Virgin Islands, statistics relating to wages and hours of labor
of persons employed were
collected from representative
industrial
establishments.
On
account
of delays
incident
to
securing
transportation,
the
actual enumeration
of the islands did not begin until seven weeks
after the date set for the canvass.
The supervisor, accompanied by
Mr. Arthur J. Hirsch, expert special agent in charge of agriculture;
Dr. Alba M. Edwards, expert special agent in charge of population;
Mr. Dan
C. Vaughan,
chief of
the division of
publications
of
the
Department of Commerce; and Mr. Oscar H. Gordon, Mr. WiUiam
Ranger, and Mr. George H. Thomas, of the Census Bureau, arrived
at
St. Thomas on December
17,
1917.
On
the
following
day,
in
conference with Eear Admiral James H. Oliver, naval governor of
the Virgin Islands, and his aids, Maj. J. F. Dyer, Lieut. Commander
William R.
White,
and
Dr.
C.
S.
Butler,
surgeon. United
States
Navy, the scope of the various inquiries and the organization of the
census were discussed.
On December
19, through the courtesy of Gov.
Oliver, adequate
quarters were provided in Fort Christian,
in the town of Charlotte
Amalie.
The division of the island of St. Thomas into 16 enumera-
tion
districts—10
in
the town
of
Charlotte Amalie and
6
in
St.
Thomas
rural—and
of
the
island
of
St. John
into
5 enumeration
districts
was
completed
(Appendix
II).
Enumerators
were
ap-
(7)
8
THE VnSGIN ISLANDS.
pointed and instructed, and on December 24 the enumeration was
begim promptly on both the islands of St. Thomas and St. John.
The census of these two islands being well imder way, the
office
was
left in charge
of Mr. Arthm-
J. Hirsch, while the supervisor,
accompanied by Messrs. Edwards, Vaughan, Gordon, and Ranger,
proceeded
to Christiansted,
St. Croix, on December 28 and imme-
diately took up plans for the division of the island of St. Croix into
22
enmneration
districts
(Appendix
II)
and
the
appointment
of
enumerators.
Ample
quarters were provided
in
the Government
House, in Christiansted, and on December 31
the enumerators for
both the towns of Christiansted and Frederiksted and for St. Croix
rural were iastructed
in
their duties and proceeded
to
the
actual
enumeration
of
the
island.
The
enimieration
of
St.
Croix,
the
largest of the islands in area and population, was greatly facihtated
by
the
efficient
cooperation
of
Asst. Paymaster R.
G.
WiUiams,
dispatching secretary of the naval government for the island of St.
Croix, who had communicated
prior
to
the
arrival
of the
census
party with the leading estate owners of the island, the school super-
intendents of both Christiansted and Frederiksted, and the quarter
officers of the several quarter districts for the purpose
of arousing
their
interest and
securing
their cooperation
in
the
census work.
To the assistance rendered by the
estate owners
is due in a great
measure the rapid and successful enmneration of St. Croix.
It was in a measm-e fortunate that the census of the islands was
deferred until the latter part of December, since the services of the
school-teachers
could
be
utilized
during
the
Christmas
vacation.
If
the
enumeration had commenced
on November
1,
no
doubt
considerable trouble would have been experienced in securing enu-
merators quahfied to do the work.
The enmneration was closed on
all three islands on January
12,
three weeks from
the
beginning
of
the
canvass,
and
the
census
commission left on Monday, January 14, for New York.
In addition to the population enumeration of 26,051 persons, the
census of the Virgin Islands included the seciiring of 430 schedules
of agriculture, 2,063 schedules of Hve stock not on farms, 84 sched-
ules of manufacturing estabhshments, 210 schedules for the fisheries
industry, and 306 schedules relating to wages and hours of labor.
Through the courtesy
of the Secretary of the Navy, the
census
commission was furnished
transportation on a Government
vessel
from New York to St. Thomas, and the expenses of the field work
were authorized
to be paid by Asst. Paymaster Ehner L. Beach,
who was designated as a special disbursing officer for that purpose
these payments to be reimbursed by the Bureau of the Census.
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
9
The section of the report relating to poptilation was prepared by
Dr. Alba M. Edwards, expert special agent of the division of popu-
lation,
and
the
section
relating
to
agricidture was
prepared by
Mr. Arthur J. Htrsch,
expert
special agent
of the division of agri-
cultm-e.
I
also wish
to
express my
appreciation
of
the valuable
services rendered by Mr. Dan C. Vaughan, chief
of the division of
pubhcations of the department, in the organization of the field force
and the supervision of the work of the enumerators.
Respectfully,
Sam. L. Eogees,
Director of the Census.
Hon. William
C. Redfield,
Secretary of Commerce.
VI R GIN
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ST. CROIX
(10)
Fig.
1.
CENSUS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE
UNITED STATES.
GEOGRAPHY.
That group of the Virgin Islands formerly known as the Danish
West Indies was acquired by the United States by purchase from
Denmark for $25,000,000, the formal transfer of possession taking place
on March 31, 1917.
Geographically the Virgin Islands constitute
a part
of what are
known
as
the
Leeward
Islands,
which,
taken
with
the Wind-
ward Islands
to
the
south, form
the
chain known
as
the Lesser
Antilles, reaching from Porto Rico,
the easternmost island
of the
Greater Antilles, southward in a semicircular sweep of 700 miles to
the coast of South America.
St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas are the three principal islands
of the group, although there are about 50 smaller ones, ranging in
importance from islands of less than a square mile in area to out-
cropping ledges of rock.
The islands lie between longitude 64° 34'
and 65° 06' west, and between latitude 17° 40' and 18° 25' north,
and are thus well within the Tropics.
The
total area of the three
principal
islands
is
approximately
132
square
miles.
The
total
population was 26,051 at the special census taken as of November
1,
1917.
The density of population is 197 persons to the square mile,
which is a httle more than that of the state of New York according
to
the figures
of the last decennial census.
St.
Croix,
the largest
and most populous of the islands, has an approximate area of 84
square miles and a total population of 14,901;
St. Thomas has an
approximate area
of 28 square miles and
a population of
10,191;
St. John, an approximate area of 20 square miles and a population
of 959.
The total area of the group is somewhat more than double
the area of
the District of Columbia, and about one-fifteenth that
of the state of Delaware.
Of the smaller islands or cays, only 5 are inhabited.
One of them,
Ijovango,
contains
approximately
1
square
mile
and
supports
a
colony of 20 persons who gain a livelihood by fishing and by inter-
mittent labor on the neighboring island of St. John.
Buck Island,
4 miles southeast of
St. Thomas
Harbor,
is tenanted by a
light
keeper.
Hassel Island and Water Island—flying in St. Thomas. Har-
bor and virtually a part of the town of Charlotte Amalie—and Prot-
estant
Cay,
a part
of
Christiansted, Island
of
St.
Croix,
are
also
inhabited.
(11)
12
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
St. Thomas and St. Jolin belong properly to the Virgin Archipelago,
which is a chain of islands discovered by Columbus on his second
voyage
ol
exploration in
1493 and named by him "The Eleven
Thousand Virgins."
This archipelago extends more than 80 miles
in an easterly direction from Porto Rico.
Two other islands of the
Virgin group—Vieques and Culebra—are owned by the United States,
having come into its possession at the time of the acquisition of Porto
Rico.
The island of Tortola, the largest of the Virgin group, Virgin
Gorda, and Anegada belong to Great Britain, and extend eastward
from St. Thomas and St. John.
St. Croix is distinct, geographically,
from the Virgin group, although
it belongs,
as do St. Thomas and
St. John, to the Leeward group.
The islands of St. Thomas and St. John rise out of the ocean from
a shelf on which the water is from 15 to 30 fathoms in depth, and may
be considered a prolongation of the chain of islands known as the
Greater Antilles—Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and Porto Rico.
St. Croix
is 40 miles south of St. Thomas and St. John and is separated from
the Virgin group by a tongue of the ocean from 12,000 to 20,000 feet
deep.
These islands are separated from Porto Rico and the islands
of Vieques and Culebra by the Virgin Passage.
St. Thomas Island
has the principal harbor of the Virgin group—St. Thomas Harbor—
on which the town of Charlotte Amalie is situated.
It is about 40
miles east of Fajardo, the nearest port on the island of Porto Rico,
and 70 miles from San Juan, the principal city and port of Porto
Rico.
St. Thomas hes south, 20° east and 1,442 mUes distant from
New York City.
Although St. Croix is a considerable distance from
other islands of the group,
all may be encompassed within a circle
whose radius is 25 miles.
Structurally
St. Thomas and
St. John
are
similar.
The Virgin
Islands as weU as all others of the Lesser Antilles are of volcanic and
coral origin and present a bold appearance on approach.
They are
described by Dr. Hornbeck as a mass of bluish hard granite stone
porphyry.
HAEBOES.
St. Thomas Harbor, situated about midway of the southern side
of the island of St. Thomas, is one of the best harbors in the Antilles.
Situated as it is on the Virgin Passage, and commanding strategically
this important gateway,
it has been for a long time an important
calhng station for vessels plying between Europe and Central America
and
for
vessels bound
for
South America by way
of
ports
of
the Lesser Antilles, and recently for ships sailing by way of the Pan-
ama Canal.
Calling vessels may obtain supphes, such as coal,
oil,
and water, and ships of moderate size may be repaired in this har-
bor which
is well protected in aU but the most severe hurricanes.
HABBORS.
13
The commerce, however, is of httle consequence, the imports received
at Virgin Island ports from the United States in 1917 amounting to
$1,416,342.
The coast lines of St. Thomas and St. John are irregular.
Many
of the branching or lateral ranges of mountains reach to the edge of
the sea.
Between these spurs or elevations bays are formed, which
afford the protection of harbors on the leeward side of the islands.
In
these bays, and in St. Thomas Harbor as well, the freebooters and
pirates of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are said to have
found concealment and refuge whUe engaged in committing depre-
dations on the Spanish Main.
The harbor of St. Thomas has long been celebrated for its unusual
facilities and its many advantages.
Protected as
it is by two large
islands—Water Island and Hassel Island—and fringing ledges,
it
is
yet easy of access for vessels drawing under 30 feet of water.
Its
small size is the chief drawback to any development as a base for a
large number
of
vessels,
the area being approximately
1.3 square
miles.
The great majority
of the harbors
in the
islands
of the Lesser
Antilles are httle more than open roadsteads, and shipping is afforded
httle shelter from the winds in more than one direction.
The harbor
of St. Thomas differs in this respect by being protected in
all wind
disturbances, affording ample shelter to shipping in blows less than
those of the greatest hurricane velocity.
The harbor of Coral Bay (sometimes designated by the natives of
St. John as Crawl Bay, or Craal Bay) on the eastern end of St. John is
approximately three times as large as St. Thomas Harbor and has a
much greater depth.
With the construction of breakwaters, which is
considered feasible, it would afford anchorage to a very large fleet.
The
Sound, which extends roughly 3 miles in an east and west direction,
and 2 mUes
in a north and south direction,
is formed between the
islands of St. Thomas and St. John, and is protected on the north by
a chain of islands, namely, Thatch, Grass, Mingo, and Lovango Cays,
and on the south by Great St. James, Little St. James, Dog Island,
and small ledges.
It offers one of the best anchorages for vessels of
the deepest draft
if for strategic reasons
it should become necessary
to develop and protect by breakwaters a harbor of such magnitude.
The harbors of Coral Bay and the Sound have not received the atten-
tion their natural advantages call for on account of the early settle-
ment of Charlotte Amahe and the
development
of that town
into
the metropohs of the islands.
Of the importance of the islands, due to their geographic position.
Secretary Lansing
says:
*
*
*
"The commercial value
of the
islands can not be doubted.
Ljdng in close proximity to many of the
passages into the Caribbean Sea, the use of St. Thomas Harbor as a
supply station for merchant ships plying between the United States
14
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
and South America, and for vessels in other trades,
is of great im-
portance.
The existing modem harbor works, floating docks, marine
shp and wharves provided with electric cranes,
oil
reservoirs,
coal
depots, fresh-water tanks, machine shops, and warehouses contribute
to the commercial advantages of St. Thomas Harbor as a port of call
and transshipment for ships in the Central and South American trades.
"The political importance of extending American jurisdiction over
the islands
is not to be overlooked.
The Caribbean
is within the
•peculiar sphere of influence of the United States, especially since the
completion of the Panama Canal, and the possibility of a change of
sovereignty of any of the islands now under foreign jurisdiction is of
grave concern to the United States.
Moreover, the Monroe doctrine,
a settled national policy of the United States, would have caused this
coimtry to look with disfavor upon the transfer of sovereignty of the
Danish West Indies to any other European nation."
TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES.
The following
table
shows
the commerce between
the
United
States and the Virgin Islands (Danish West Indies)
:
TEAS.'
(15)
16
THE
VIBGITJ- ISLANDS.
MINERALS, FLORA, AND PAXJNA.
While it is reported that minerals are to be found on the islands,
so far as known no attempts at mining or exploration have been made.
These resources are yet to be 'determined by geological examination.
Nearly all of the original forests have been cut down and the timber
made into lumber or charcoal.
Charcoal
is even now the universal
fuel, and the burning of this from the scanty timber grov/th furnishes
employment to approximately 100 persons in the rural districts of
the islands.
There are still mahogany trees of indigenous growth, principally on
St. John Island, and some attempts at reforestation have met with
success, the most notable efforts being those of the Danish West India
Plantation Co.
This company owns a number of
estates and a few
years ago planted over 50,000 mahogany and cedar trees, principally
on the island of St. Croix.
The fauna of the islands
is very Umited, although on St. Croix a
species
of
deer
is
plentiful.
Noxious
reptiles
are
scarce.
Several
years ago, for the piirpose
of exterminating rodents, the mongoose
was imported from India, and
this httle animal, by destroying the
eggs of birds and fowls and by the wholesale destruction of poultry,
has caused a scarcity of domestic fowls and an absence of bird life in
the islands.
Fish in great number and variety abound along the coasts, and
the annual catch furnishes a very important part of the food supply.
CLIMATE AND RAINFALL.
Although the northernmost of the islands, St. Thomas and St. John,
are below latitude 18° 30' and thus well within the tropics, the entire
group has the advantage of possessing a fine climate.
This is due in
part to the northeast trade winds, which blow briskly with great regu-
larity from
the north-northeast for nine months
during
the
year.
These winds vary in velocity from a light to a moderate breeze, and
attain
their greatest strength usually around 4 o'clock in both the
afternoon and morning.
Owing to the relatively small size of the islands and the lack of hot
land breezes, due to the ever-present northeast trade winds, the tem-
perature
is equable.
The climate is delightful for a winter resort,
and the trade wiads
also furnish an equable mean for the summer
months.
The mean temperature at Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas,
,•
covering a period of three years, ranged from 78° F. in March to 84° F.
in October while the mean temperature at Christiansted, St. Croix,
covering a period of 28 years, ranged from 76.3° F. in February to 82°
F. in August.
As may be seen from the following table, data for which were fur-
nished by the United
States Weather Bureau,
the
rainfall
in S,
CLIMATE AND EAINFALL.
17
Thomas varied, for the years available, from three-fourths of an inch
in March to 6.42 inches in November.
Likewise, the
St. Croix rain-
fall varied from 1.22 inches in March to 6.02 inches in October.
TEMPEEATUKE AND EAINFALL.
The year,
January
February
March
April
May
June
JuJy
August
September
October
November
December
ST. CROIX
(OHKISTIANSTED).
Average
tempera-
ture for
28 years
(degrees
F.).
Average
rainfall
for 28
years
(inches).
47.56
2.32
1.93
1.22
2.91
4.49
4.61
3.94
4.49
6.75
6.02
6.71
4.17
ST. THOMAS
(CHARLOTTE
AMALIE).
Average
tempera-
ture for
3 years
(degrees
E.).
81.0
80.2
78.4
78.0
79.6
79.6
So. 6
82.9
83.3
83.8
84.0
Average
rainfall
for 10
years
(inches).
38.23
2.87
2.24
0.75
2.66
1.60
2.99
3.35
2.32
2.99
6.83
6.42
4.41
According to observations of John Knox, the maximum tempera-
ture on record, 1843 to 1851,
is 91.9°, and the minimum 68.9°, the
highest being in the month of September, and the lowest in the latter
part of January.
The average annual rainfall
is 38.23
inches for
St. Thomas and
47.56 inches for St. Croix.
Even over so small an area as the islands
the rainfall
is not evenly distributed, and
it
is thought to be more
abundant on the northern
slopes than on
the southern.
In
fact,
water
is the greatest need of the islands, and there
is a very close
relation between the rainfall and the production of sugar cane.
There are no streams of consequence on St. Thomas or St. John.
St. Croix, however, has a number of water courses, rising generally
in the mountain slopes on the northern side of the island and flowing
southward.
There
are very few wells in the islands and drinking
water is obtained by collecting rain water in cisterns.
Some thought and consideration have been given the subject
of
irrigation by the planters of St. Croix, an attempt having been made
in one instance to impound water for this purpose.
It is considered
feasible, especially in the valleys between the spurs on the southern
slopes of St. Croix, to develop an irrigation project or dig wells which
would provide water for sugar cane and other crops during periods
of drought.
60396°—18
2
18
THE VTEGIN ISLANDS.
The islands are often visited by severe storms kno'wn as hurricanes,
the wind
occasionally
attaining
a
velocity
of
150
nules an hour.
These occur sometimes during the month of July, but more frequently
during August and September, and rarely later than October.
More
than 130 of these hurricanes classed as destructive have been noted
as visiting the islands, some of them accompanied by much loss of
life
and
destruction
of
property.
Earthquakes
are
of
frequent
occurrence,
but very f«w have been severe enough
to
cause any
damage.
HISTORY.^
Although
the Virgin
Islands
are
small
in comparison with
the
islands of the Greater Antilles, there is much of interest to Americans
in their history.
Discovered by Colvimbus during his second voyage
in 1493, St. Thomas was first colonized by the Danes under Jorgen
Iversen, who was sent out by the Danish West India Co. in
1672.
Previously a settlement had been attempted in 1666 by Erik Schmidt,
a Dane, who, arriving
in
a
ship
called De
Endracht, took
posses-
sion of St. Thomas Island in the name
of Denmark.
The colonists,
however, remained only a short time and returned to Denmark.
At the time of the discovery of the Virgin Islands it is very probable
that
St. Thomas was inhabited by Indian
tribes known
as Caribs.
The Caribs had the reputation of being fierce and warlike,
also
of
being
cannibals,
the
materials
for
their
feasts
being
dra%vn from
their less warlike neighbors on the island
of Porto Rico.
Inscrip-
tions and figures on rocks on the eastern end of the island of St. John
supposed to have been the work of Caribs are still in an excellent state
of preservation.
Interesting and significant to the student of history is the fact that
the language of the islands
is English, although the Virgin Islands
were under the Danish flag for 245
years, with the exception
of a
few months, from April,
1801,
to February,
1802, when they were
held by England, and from
1807
to
1815, when they were
again
seized by England during the Napoleonic wars.
At the present time
the imprint
of years
of Danish Government
is
slight, not only
in
language but in customs and traditions.
Acquired by Denmark
as
a source
of sugar supply during the
period when
all European nations were seeking
this, and
also
for
pohtical purposes, the islands were retained by Denmark long after
they had ceased to be a source of revenue.
The earlier schemes of
colonization by
the Danes were
centered
in
St. Thomas and
St.
John;
St.
Croix, occupied by Dutch and English
settlers
in
1625,
did not come into possession of Denmark until 1733.
'For the history of the Virgin Islands, Dr. Waldemar Westergaard's comprehensive
volume, "The Danish West Indies," was largely used, while Dr. Charles Edwin Tay-
lor's "An Island of the Sea " and various consular reports were also consulted.
HISTORY.
19
Gov.
Iversen,
in
the
Fero,
arrived
in
St. Thomas Harbor, May
25, 1672, with about
100 persons and on the following day landed
and took possession of the island and raised the Danish flag.
The
infant colony was
aided during the
first year
of
its
existence by
the English officer in charge of Tortola Island (recently seisied from
the Dutch), who allowed them to procure sugar-cane settings for the
land they prepared.
The fortune
of the Danish
colonists
for the
next few years was not unlike that of other nationalities seeking to
gain a foothold in the New Woi'ld.
The voyage across the Atlantic
and into lower latitudes had taken terrible toll of every ship's com-
pany, and the governor of the new colony frequently found himself
in dire straits for labor.
In 1674 the Danish West India Co. was
given permission to engage in the slave trade on the Guinea Coast of
Africa, and provision was made at this time for the absorption of
the African or Guinea Co. into the Danish West India Co.
Mean-
while, however, a consignment of
103 slaves had been sent to
St.
Thomas
by
the
African
Co.
and
others
were
soon
brought.
The slave
trade was beginning to assume considerable proportions
and was eagerly engaged
in by the Dutch, English, Spanish, and
Portuguese skippers.
Despite the high death rate from, pestilence,
the colonists increased, by accessions from other islands and by the
slaves imported, from barely 100 each of whites and blacks in 1673
to 156 whites and 175 blacks in 1680.
In 1680, Iversen, weary of governing the colonists, many of whom
were disturbers and agitators seeking refuge or were those expelled
from other colonies, and worn out by the strain of repelling attacks
of the French from the island of St. Croix, was relieved at his own
request and was succeeded
as governor by Nicholas Esmit.
De-
spite the venture of the company into the Guinea slave trade and
the sending to Denmark of cargoes of sugar, cotton, indigo, tobacco,
ginger, hides, and valuable timber, the new colony was not a financial
success from the standpoint of the company.
The
Danish Government now
took
a hand
in
the
company's
affairs and endeavored
to
place
it on
a better footing.
Officials,
employees, and others were required to take stock in the enterprise,
and
considerable
attention was
given
to
providing
ships
for
the
Guinea slave trade.
Gov. Esmit, on account of harboring pirates
and runaway slaves, very early became embroiled with the English
governor
of
the Leeward
Islands.
Adolph, the
brother
of Gov.
Nicholas Esmit, usurped the governor's powers and later was com-
missioned
governor
of
St.
Thomas.
Under
the Esmit brothers
St. Thomas became a harbor of refuge for pirates, and it frequently
became necessary for
the
English
governor
at Nevis
to
raid
St.
Thomas Harbor to secure stolen property.
20
THE VIKGIN ISLANDS.
With the hope of restoring order, as St. Thomas was regarded by
colonists of other nationahties on neighboring islands
as an island
of outlaws, the company sent George Milan in 1684 to replace Esmit,
but in the following year found it necessary to send a commissioner
with power to
settle the
difficulties.
As
a result of the commis-
sioner's
findings,
Lieut. Christopher Heins was made governor on
June
29,
1686, and Gov. Milan was returned
to Copenhagen under
arrest and later condemned and executed.
For three years Lieut.
Heins
administered
the
affairs
of
the company,
until
his
death
October 2, 1689.
During the next 13 years the business of the Danish
West India & Guinea Co. was ably managed by John Lorentz, a part
of the time as assistant and for six years as governor.
This man
had had much experience in the affairs of the company, having been
in its employ almost continuously since the days of Nicholas Esmit.
He brought affairs from bankruptcy to solvency, and at his death
in 1702 the colony was in a position to wage a vigorous fight for
existence among the Caribbean settlements.
Figures from the earhest censuses or records of the Danish West
India & Guinea Co. show the growth of the
St. Thomas colony and
the extent that the African slave trade early assumed in its history.
Charlotte AmaUe
very soon
took
its
place
as
an
entrep6t
and
distributing center for the slave traffic.
HISTOET.
21
In the year 1733 St. John reached the height of its prosperity under
slavery, sugar and cotton being the principal products.
In November
of this year there was a serious uprising of the slaves which resulted
in the death of probably 50 whites and three or four times that num-
ber of blacks before the insurrection was put down.
St. Croix was purchased by the Danish West India & Guinea Co.
from
France
for
750,000
livres.
The
treaty
providing
for
the
transfer was
ratified
June
15,
1733.
St.
Croix was
occupied
as
early as 1625 by Dutch and Enghsh
settlers, who were joined by
some French refugees from other West Indian Islands,
principally
from
St. Christopher
(St.
Kitts).
Shortly before
1650,
as a
result
of
a
civil war between
the
factions,
the Dutch and French were
expelled from the island.
The Spaniards from Porto Rico in August,
1650, drove
off the Enghsh but only retained possession for a very
short period, as de Poincy, the heutenant general of
all the French
islands
in America, sent a force
of
166 men from
St.
Christopher
and succeeded in ousting the Spanish.
The settlement of St. Croix
was begun by the French in 1651 when 300 colonists were sent there.
From
1651
to
1664
St. Croix was owned by the Knights
of Malta
who governed
it in the name
of Louis XIV.
In 1695
the colony
moved to San Domingo, and from that time until the purchase by
the Danish company in 1733 St. Croix does not appear to have been
inhabited.
In 1734 Gov. Frederick Moth took possession
of the island and
began the work of laying out plantations for the cultivation of sugar
and cotton
After seven years the
first census showed 122 cotton
plantations,
120
sugar
plantations,
and
over
1,900
slaves,.
The
following table showing the number of slaves gives an idea
of the
importance that the colony early assumed:
SLAVES ON THE ISLAND OF
ST. CEOIX.
Number
of slaves.
Number
of slaves.
1742.
1745.
1764.
1,906
2,878
7,666
1755.
1766.
16,956
Uprisings
of
the slaves occurred in
St. Croix
in 1746 and
1759.
The
first was speedily put down, but more serious results followed
the second, which resulted in the kiUing of about 25 of the Negroes
before order was restored.
Denmark was one of the first countries to take steps to curb the
African slave trade, and in 1848 slavery was abohshed in the islands.
St. Thomas and St. John were early given unrestricted privileges
of trade with the other American colonies
(1764), and in 1782
this
22
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
was extended to trade with all nations; yet it was not until 1833 that
St. Croix enjoyed
the privilege
of having
all trade restrictions
re-
moved.
In 1780, of the 516 vessels entered at St. Croix, 82 entered
from ports
of
the United
States and
123 from Porto
Rico,
while
only 16 came from Danish possessions in Em-ope.
It is interesting
to note
at
this
early period the comparatively sUght commercial
intercom-se with the mother country and the extent of shipping from
the United States.
Following the period in which St. Thomas increased its importance
as a shipping center and distributiag point it dechned in importance
as an agricultural community.
Dm-ing the period from 1821 to 1830
an average of 2,809 ships of a tonnage of 177,444 called there annually.
During this decade St. Thomas experienced
its greatest prosperity,
being a distributing center for merchandise and commodities for the
other islands of the West Indies.
Very shortly thereafter the influ-
ence of steam navigation was to cause a dechne in the commercial
importance of the island.
With the advent of steam the merchants
of Porto Rico and those of the Lesser Antilles and of South America
were able to import goods direct from Europe and America.
Later
the West India & Panama Telegraph Co. established headquarters
on St. Thomas and their submarine cables cover
all the West Indies
and connect at Jamaica with
cables from Europe and the United
States.
The value of the Virgin Islands now hes in their geographic loca-
tion and exceptional harbor facilities rather than in their cormnercial
and agricultural activities.
EFFOETS TO ACQUTRE THE
ISI.^NDS.
The following extract from a report of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs,
dated February
17,
1917,
is
a statement
concerning
the
efforts of the United States to acquire the Virgin Islands:
"The acquisition of the Danish West Indian Islands has been the
subject
of
negotiation and
treaty between
the United States and
Denmark for more than
a
half
century.
The United States
first
attempted the purchase of these islands in 1865, during the adminis-
tration
of
President
Lincoln.
Secretary Seward
appeared
to
be
especially
anxious
that they should belong
to
the United
States.
It appears that Mr. Seward first proposed to pm-chase the islands at
a dinner party in January,
1865.
Denmark had no desire to part
with
her
West
India
colonies.
The
assassination
of
President
Lincoln and
the attempted assassination
of Secretary Seward sus-
pended the negotiations for some time.
In the meantime. Secretary
Seward visited the islands.
It was not, however, until July 17, 1866,
that the United States made a
definite
offer
of $5,000,000
for
St.
Thomas, St. John, a/id Santa Cruz.
EFFORTS TO ACQUIRE THE ISLANDS.
23
"In 1867 Denmark declined to
sell the islands for $5,000,000 but
offered St. Thomas and St. John for $10,000,000, or $15,000,000 for
the
three.
Mr. Seward
replied by
offering $7,500,000
in gold for
the three islands.
Denmark agreed to take $7,500,000 for St. Thomas
and
St. John but wanted
$3,750,000
in
addition
for Santa
Cruz.
Finally, Secretary Seward agreed to purchase
St. Thomas and
St.
John for the price named by Denmark, $7,500,000, but further com-
phcations arose because Denmark insisted that the consent
of the
people of the islands should be formally given before the sale was
consummated.
This was at
fii-st objected to by Mr. Seward, but he
finally cabled our minister to 'concede question of vote,' and on the
24th of October the treaty was signed.
"The question was submitted to a vote of the people, the voting
occurring in St. Thomas on January 9,
1868, and out of 1,039 votes
cast there were but 22 votes against the cession.
In St. John there
were 205 votes in favor of the cession and not one against
it.
"The
treaty was
submitted
to
the
Rigsdag
of Denmark
and
promptly ratified and signed by the King on June 30, 1868.
It was
submitted to the United States Senate on December 3, 1867.
Senator
Sumner was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations during
this period, and the treaty remained unreported for more than two
years, when, on March 24, 1870, Senator Sumner reported it adversely
and the Senate declined to ratify
it.
The negotiations for the pur-
chase
of
the
islands commenced under President Lincoln and
the
treaty was signed shortly after Andrew Johnson became President,
but
it was not
acted upon
until
the
administration
of
President
Grant.
" Subsequently it appears that the purchase of the islands was con-
sidered by Secretaries Foster and Olney during the administrations
of Presidents Harrison and Cleveland.
"On March 31, 1898, the Committee on Foreign Relations reported
to the Senate a bOl authorizing the President to purchase the islands
for use as a naval and coaling station.
On this biU Senator Lodge
submitted an exhaustive report, giving in detail the history of the
islands and summarizing the history
of the itegotiations
for
their
purchase by the United States.
"On January 24,
1902,
a convention was signed at Washington
by Mr. Hay, Secretary of State, and Mr. Brun, Danish minister, for
the
cession
to the United States
of
'the islands
of Saint Thomas,
Saint John, and Saint Croix, in the West Indies, with the adjacent
islands and
rocks,'
the consideration
being
$5,000,000.
This con-
vention was favorably reported by the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions on February
5, 1902, and ratified by the United States Senate
February
17,
1902.
The treaty was approved by one house of the
Danish Rigsdag;
but, October 21, 1902, the other house by a vote of
32 to 32 declmed to ratify it."
24
THE VTRGIN ISLANDS.
GOVERNMENT.
The
islands
constitute
two
municipalities—one
consisting
of
St. Thomas and St. John and the other of St. Croix.
Each island is divided into quarter districts, of which there are 8
in St. Thomas outside of the town of Charlotte Amalie, 5 in St. John
outside of Cruz Bay town, and 9 in St. Croix outside of Christiansted
town and Frederiksted town.
Formerly the executive power was vested in a colonial governor
appointed by the Crown, who resided from April
1 to September 30
of each year ia Christiansted, the capital of St. Croix, and the other
half of the year in Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the municipality
of St. Thomas and St. John.
Legislative authority in each munici-
pality was vested in a colonial council consisting of 18 members for
St. Croix—5 nominated by the Crown and 13 elected—and 11 mem-
bers for the municipality of St. Thomas and St. John—4 nominated
by the Crown and 7 elected.
Of those elected in the latter munici-
pality, 4 were from the town of Charlotte Amalie,
1 from the rural
districts of St. Thomas, and 2 from the island of St. John.
There are two
essential requisites for the qualification of voters.
First, the apphcant must own real estate producing a monthly income
of $5, or have a personal income
of $300 a year; and, second, he
must be of unblemished character.
Educational facilities on the islands are limited, especially in the
higher grades.
Heretofore,
in order to pursue a course beyond the
grades, it has been necessary to go to institutions on the neighboring
islands or to the United States or to Europe.
Under the able admin-
istration
of the naval governor since
the United States has taken
possession of the islands, steps have already been taken to improve
educational conditions.
ST. CROIX (SANTA CRUZ) ISLAND.
St. Croix, the largest and most populous of the Virgin Islands,
is
40 mUes south of St. Thomas and St. John and had a population of
14,901 at the time of the special census.
It has an area of 84 square
miles, and a density of population of 177 to the square mile.
Of the
approximate acreage of 53,920, there were reported 49,206 acres in
farms at the census of 1917.
The island is about 20 mUes in extreme
length and varies in width from
1 mile in the eastern end to 5 miles
in the central and western parts.
UnUke St. Thomas and St. John,
its coast hne
is not indented by bays and harbors.
The harbors
of
Christiansted and Frederiksted
are practically the only barbers on
the
island.
The
harbor
of
the
latter
city
is
nothing more
than
an open roadstead.
Although Christiansted Harbor has a tortuous
entrance and has
filled up with mud,
it
is considered
feasible by
ST. JOHN ISLAND.
25
dredging to make
it much more available and convenient of access
for shipping.
On the northern side of the island deep water
is
close
to shore,
while on the southern side the shoals or coral ledges extend from
2 to 3 miles.
The northern side of St. Croix is somewhat mountainous, the high-
est peak being Mount Eagle, which has an elevation of 1,164
feet.
The range varies from 600 to 1,000 feet in the western end of the
island and from 400 to 800 feet in the eastern end.
Southward from
the mountain range St. Croix is composed of broad undulating valleys,
fertile and well adapted
to
agriculture.
Modern farming
. methods
are practiced, and some of the sugar estates employ machinery to
advantage in the cultivation of sugar cane.
St. Croix is well suited
to
the growing
of a very
fine grade
of
sea-island
cotton,
100,000
pounds having been reported as marketed by one company in 1917.
The estates of St. Croix are owned generally by a very intelligent
and progressive class of men, and the social life is very different from
that of St. Thomas and St. John.
The estate owners are natives of
the
Virgin
Islands,
or
the
neighboring
islands
of
Barbados,
St.
Christopher, and Antigua, or of the United States.
Sugar cane, hay and forage, cotton, and fruits and vegetables were
the ferops of most importance as reported at the 1917 census.
The
value reported for
all
crops
at
this census was
practically half a
million
dollars, sugar cane representing nearly nine-tenths
of
this
total.
The climate and soil are well suited to the growing of tropical
fruits.
Bananas,
cocoa,
mangoes,
oranges,
and
pineapples
were
reported
in
the
agriculture
census,
although
in nothing
like
the
quantities customarily grown on account of the destruction of trees
and foliage by the hurricane of October, 1916.
Cattle raising is an
important industry, the total value of
live stock reported on farms
and elsewhere exceeding the total value of all crops.
St. Croix
is traversed by a network of roads, kept in good con-
dition, and the automobile is used extensively by the estate owners
and others for business and for pleasure.
ST. JOHN ISLAND.
St. John, lying just east of St. Thomas,
is the smallest and least
developed
of the three islands.
It has an area of 20 square miles
and only 959 inhabitants, a density of 48 to the square mile.
There
are no roads on the island, consequently the only method of travel
is on horseback over mountain
trails.
The chief industry now is cattle raising, and the estates or farms
are largely given over to this pursuit.
Formerly sugar cane was grown
to a considerable extent, but has been discontinued since the intro-
26
TEE VIBGIK ISLANDS.
duction of modern macliinery in its cultivation in competing areas.
A small amount of sugar cane is still grown and converted into rum.
At the 1917 census reports were secured for 26 farms, representing
about four-fifths of the acreage of the island.
Only about one-fifth
of the total land in farms, however, was classed as improved land,
and the averaga value of land per acre was reported as $9.46, which
is
less- than
one-third
the
siverage value reported
for land
in
St.
Thomas and
less than one-fourth that in St. Croix.
With the exception of a few estate owners the natives of the island
of St. John live in small houses, in many instances little more than
huts, and raise, in small patches, potatoes, yams,
okra, cucumbers,
tomatoes,
peas, and pumpkins.
They add
to
their
livelihood by
fishing, and by wages for occasional labor on neighboring estates.
St. John is noted chiefly for the export of bay oil.
For many years
it has had the reputation of furnishing the best article of this kind
on the market.
Bay
oil is made from the leaves of the bay tree (Pimento
acris),
the usual method being to
distill the leaves with sea water.
On
account of the destructive hurricane of October,
1916, the produc-
tion of this
oil fell to about
125 gallons for the year 1917; there is
normally about four times this amount produced.
The greater part
of the product is marketed in St. Thomas and there distilled or'com-
bined with
alcohol
to form
the bay rum
of commerce, favorably
known as a toilet article.
The violence of the wind in the 1916 hurricane denuded the bay
trees of leaves, and only a small quantity were recovered for use.
Some attempts are being made
at increasing the output of bay
oil
by the planting of bay trees, with very satisfactory results.
Some effort also has been made to cultivate lime trees.
In 1916
about 1,000 gallons of fresh lime juice, 250 gallons of concentrated
lime juice, and 18 casks of pickled limes were marketed.
All of the
lime
trees were either destroyed by the hurricane or damaged to
such an extent that this industry was suspended.
ST. THOMAS ISLAND.
The island of St. Thomas lies almost east and west, and is divided
longitudinally by a range of low mountains, which vary in height from
500 feet in the eastern end and 600 feet in the western end to an eleva-
tion of 1,549 feet at West Mountain, about one-third of the distance
from the eastern end of the island.
Many of these ranges or elevations
branch off
laterally on both the north and south slopes, extending
in places almost to the sea.
Thus there is afforded small opportimity
for agricultural production.
The valleys in which agriculture can be
carried on are small, and the soil, which is a result of the decomposi-
tion of rocks, varies from 10 to 50 feet in depth and
is very fertile.
ST. THOMAS ISLAND.
27
Although
the
hills and undulations render the
valleys unsuited to
the use of machinery,
if
proper attention were given to the raising
of fruits, vegetables, and crops other than cereals a sufficient quantity
could be grown to supply the local needs.
The
estates,
or plantations, for which schedules were secured at
the 1917 census were 63 in number, with a total acreage of 10,683.
This acreage is 59.1 per cent of the total acreage of the island.
From
the beginning of
the
settlement, in
1672, up
to
1850
considerable
attention was
paid to agriculture, and sugar, cotton, rice, bananas,
oranges, lemons, and limes were
raised, although as early
as 1733
St. Thomas began
to
decline
as
a
plantation colony.
In recent
years there has been a pronoimced tendency on the part of the native
population
to
seek employment
in
Charlotte Amalie—the
capital
of the municipahty of St. Thomas and St. John and the largest town
in the Virgin Islands—to the detriment
of industry on the planta-
tions.
Their chief employment is to be found in the coaling of ships
and other harbor work incident
to the
coaling,
provisioning, and
repairing of vessels
of
call.
This movement of the native popula-
tion to the town has progressed to such an extent that there is scarcely
any labor available for the cultivation of farms, and practically
all
of the fruit and vegetables and other food products are supphed to
St. Thomas from St. John, Tortola, and Porto Rico.
Charlotte Amalie
is the only incorporated town on the island of
St. Thomas,
although
there
are
settlements immediately
outside
the corporate limits, which for
all purposes other than political are
a part of that town.
The chief of these settlements in number of
inhabitants lies to the westward of Charlotte Amalie and
is known
as
HondiU'as.
It
is populated by
over 200
persons, whose
chief
industry
is
fishing.
Besides
their apparatus used
in
fishing, they
also find time to make baskets and straw hats for sale among the
natives of St. Thomas.
At present there is only one road on St. Thomas available for ve-
hicxilar traffic.
This runs in an easterly and westerly direction from
Charlotte Amalie
to the ends
of the
island.
Such other roads
as
there are, connecting the various estates and radiating from Charlotte
Amalie, are little more than trails.
The roads have been allowed to
deteriorate since the decline of agricultiu:e on the estates.
TREATY BETWEEN DENMARK AND THE UNITED STATES.
The following is the fuU text of the treaty entered into on August
4,
1916, between
Robert
Lansing
and Constantin Brun, plenipo-
tentiaries of the United States and Denmark:
Convention Between His Majesty the Eirig of Denmark and the United
States of America Respecting the Cession of the Danish West-Indian
Islands.
The United States of America and His Majesty the King of Den-
mark being desirous
of confirming the good understanding which
exists between them, have to that end appointed as plenipotentiaries:
The President of the United States: Mr. Robert Lansing, Secre-
tary of State of the United States,
and His Majesty the King
of
Denmark:
Mr. Constantin Bnm,
His Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at
Washington,
who, having mutually exhibited their fuU powers, which were found
to be in due form, have agreed upon the following articles:
Article 1.
• His Majesty the King of Denmark by this convention cedes to the
United
States
all
territory,
dominion,
and
sovereignty
possessed,
asserted, or claimed by Denmark in the West Indies, including the
islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix, together with
the adjacent islands and rocks.
This cession includes the right of property in
all pubhc, govern-
ment,
or Crown
lands, pubhc buildmgs,
wharves,
ports,
harbors,
fortifications,
barracks, pubhc funds,
rights,
franchises, and
privi-
leges, and all other pubhc property of every kind or description now
belonging to Denmark, together with all appurtenances thereto.
In this cession shall
also be included any government
archives,
records, papers, or documents which relate to the cession or the rights
and property of the inhabitants of the islands ceded, and which may
now be existing either in the islands ceded or in Denmark.
Such
archives and records
shall
be
carefully preserved,
and
authenti-
cated copies thereof, as may be required., shall be at all times given
to the United States Government or the Danish Government as the
case may be, or to such properly authorized persons as may apply
for them.
Article 2.
Denmark guarantees that the cession made by the preceding article
is free and unencumbered by any reservations, privileges, franchises,
grants, or possessions held by any governments, corporations, syndi-
cates, or individuals, except as herein mentioned.
But
it
is under-
stood that this cession does not in any respect impair private rights
which by law belono; to the peaceful possession of property of all
kinds by private individuals of whatsoever nationahty, by munici-
pahties, pubhc or private estabhshments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies,
or any other associations having legal capacity to acquire and pos-
sess property in the islands ceded.
(28)
TEXT OF THE TEEATT.
29
The congregations belonging to the Danish National Church shall
retain the undisturbed use of the churches which are now used by
them,
together with
the
parsonages
appertaining
thereunto
and
other appurtenances, includmg the funds allotted to the churches.
Article 3.
It is especially agreed, however, that
(1) The arms and military stores
existing in the islands
at the
time of the cession and belonging to the Danish Government shall
remain the property of that Government and shall,
as soon as
cir-
cumstances
will permit, be removed by
it,
unless
they,
or parts
thereof, may have been bought by the Government of the United
States;
it being, however, understood that flags and colors, uniforms,
and such arms or mihtary articles as are marked as being the prop-
erty of the Danish Government shall not be included in such purcnase.
(2) The movables, especially silver plate and pictures, which may
be found in the government buUdings in the islands ceded and be-
longing to the Danish Government shall.remain the property of that
Government and
shall,
as soon
as
circumstances
will permit, be
removed by it.
(3) The pecuniary claims now held by Denmark against the colo-
nial treasuries
of the islands ceded
are altogether extinguished in
consequence
of this cession and the United States assumes no re-
sponsiDUity
whatsoever
for
or
in
connection
with
these
claims.
Excepted
is, however, the amount due
to the Danish treasury in
account current with the West Indian colonial treasuries pursuant
to the making up of accounts in consequence of the session of the
islands; should, on
the
other hand,
this
final
accounting show
a
balance in favour of the West Indian colonial treasuries, the Danish
treasury shall pay that amount to the colonial treasuries.
(4) The United States wiU maintain the following grants, conces-
sions, and Ucenses, given by the Danish Government, in accordance
with the terms on which they are given:
a. The concession granted
to "Det vestindiske Kompagni"
(the
West Indian Company) Ltd. by the communications from the Min-
istry of Finance of January
18th,
1913, and
of April
16th,
1913,
relative to a Ucense to embank,
drain, deepen, and utihze certain
areas in St. Thomas Harbor and preferential rights as to commercial,
industrial, or shipping estabhshments in the said harbor.
&. Agreement of August 10th and 14th, 1914, between the muni-
cipality of St. Thomas and St. John and "Det vestindiske Kompagni,"
Ltd., relative to the supply of the city of Charlotte Amahe with elec-
tric hghting.
c. Concession of March 12th, 1897, to "The Floatmg Dock Com-
pany
of
St. Thomas, Ltd.," subsequently transferred
to "The
St.
Thomas
Engineering and
Coaling Company,
Ltd.,"
relative
to
a
floating dock in St. Thomas Harbor, in which concession the main-
tenance, extension, and alteration oi the then existing repairing slip
are reserved.
d. Royal Decree No. 79, of November 30th,
1914, relative to the
subsidies from the colonial treasuries of St. Thomas and Sainte Croix
to "The West India and Panama Telegraph Company, Ltd."
30
TECE VIKGIN ISLANDS.
e. Concession of November 3rd,
1906, to K. B. Hey to establish
and operate a telephone system on St. Thomas Island, which con-
cession has subsequently been transferred to the "St. Thomas Tele-
fonselskab," Ltd.
/. Concession of February 28th, 1913, to the municipahty of Sainte
Croix to establish and operate a telephone system in Sainte Croix.
g. Concession of July 16th, 1915, to Ejnar Svendsen, an engineer,
for the construction and operation of an electric-hght plant in the
city of Christiansted, Sainte Croix.
Ji. Concession
of
Jnae
20th,
1904,
for
the
establishment
of
a
Danish West Indian bank of issue.
Ttis bank has for a period of 30
years
acquired
the monopoly
to
issue bank notes
in
the Danish
West India Islands against the payment to the Danish Treasury of a
tax amounting to ten per cent of its annual profits.
i. Guarantee according to the Danish supplementary budget law
for the financial year 1908-1909 relative to the St. Thomas Harbor's
four per cent loan of 1910.
(5) Whatever sum shall be due to the Danish treasury by private
individuals on the date of the exchange of ratifications are reserved
and do not pass by this cession; and where the Danish Government
at that date holds property taken over by the Danish treasury for
sums due by private individuals, such property shall not pass by
this cession, but the Danish Government shall sell or dispose of such
property and remove
its proceeds within two years from the date
of the exchange of ratifications of this convention; the United States
Government being entitled
to
sell by public auction,
to the credit
of -the Danish Government, any portion of such property remaining
xmsold at the expiration of the said term of two years.
(6) The colonial treasuries shall continue to pay the yearly allow-
ances now given to heretofore retired functionaries appointed in the
islands but holding no
royal commissions,
xmless such allowances
may have until now been paid in Denmark.
Article 4-
The Danish Government shall appoint with convenient despatch
an agent or agents for the purpose of formally dehvering to a similar
agent or agents appointed on behalf of the United States, the territory,
dominion, property, and appurtenances which are ceded hereby, and
for doing any other act which may be necessary in regard thereto.
Formal delivery of the territory and property ceded shall be made
immediately after the payment by the United States of the sum of
money stipulated in this convention
; but the cession with the right of
immediate possession
is nevertheless to be deemed complete on the
exchange
of
ratifications
of
this
convention without such formal
delivery.
Any Danish mihtary or naval forces which may be in the
islands ceded shall be withdrawn as soon as may be practicable after
the formal delivery,
it being however imderstood that if the persons
constituting
these
forces,
after
having
terminated
their
Danish
service, do not wish
to leave the islands, they shaU be allowed
to
remain there as civiUans,
TEXT OF THE TREATY.
31
Article 5.
In full consideration of the cession made by this convention, the
United States agrees to pay, within ninety days from the date of the
exchange of the ratifications of this conyention, in the city of Wash-
ington to the diplomatic representative or other agent of His Majesty
the King of Denmark duly authorized to receive the money the sum
of twenty-five million dollars in gold coin of the United States.
Article 6.
Danish citizens residing in said islands may remain therein or may
remove therefrom at will, retaining in either event all their rights of
property, including the right to
sell or dispose of such property or
its proceeds; in case they remain in the islands, they shall continue
until otherwise provided
to
enjoy
all
the
private,
municipal, and
religious
rights and
liberties secured
to them by the laws now in
force.
If the present laws are altered the said inhabitants shall not
thereby be placed in a less favorable position in respect to the above-
mentioned
rights and
liberties than they now enjoy.
Those who
remain in the islands may preserve their citizenship in Denmark by
making before a court of record, within one year from the date of
the exchange of ratifications of this convention, a declaration of their
decision to preserve such citizenship; in default of which declaration
they shall be held to have renounced it, and to have accepted citizen-
ship ra the United States
; for children under eighteen years the said
declaration may be made by their parents or guardians.
Such
elec-
tion of Danish citizenship shall, however, not, after the lapse of the
said term of one year, be a bar to their remmciation of their preserved
Danish
citizenship and
their
election
of
citizenship in the United
States and admission to the nationality thereof on the same terms as
may be provided accordiag to the laws of the United States, for other
inhabitants of the islands.
The civil rights and the political status of the inhabitants of the
islands shall be determined by the Congress, subject to the stipulations
contained in the present convention.
Danish
citizens not residing in the islands but owning property
therein at the time of the cession shall retain their rights of property,
including the right to
sell or dispose of such property, being placed
in this regard on the same basis as the Danish citizens residing in
the islands and remaining therein or removing therefrom, to whom
the first paragraph of this article relates.
Article 7.
Danish subjects residing ia the islands shall be subject in matters
civil as well as criminal to the jurisdiction of the courts of the islands,
pursuant to the ordinary laws governing the same, and they shall
have the right to appear before such courts and to pursue the same
course therein as citizens of the country to which the courts belong.
32
THE VIBGIN ISLANDS.
Article 8.
Judicial proceedings pending at the time of the formal delivery ia
the islands ceded shall be determined according to the foUowing rules:
(1) Judgments rendered either in civil suits between private indi-
viduals, or in criminal matters, before the date mentioned, and with
respect to which there is no recourse or right to review under Danish
law, shall be deemed to be final, and shall be executed in due form
and without any renewed
trial whatsoever, by the competent au-
thority
in the
territories within which such judgments
are
to be
carried out.
If,
in
a
criminal
case a mode
of
punishment has been
appMed
which, according to new rules,
is no longer applicable on the islands
ceded
after
delivery, the nearest corresponding punishment in the
new rules shall be apphed.
(2)
Civil suits or criminal actions pending before the first courts,
in which the pleadings have not been closed at the same time, shall
be confirmed before the tribunals estabhshed in the ceded islands
after the dehvery, in accordance with the law which shall thereafter
be in force.
(3)
Civil
suits
and
criminal
actions
pending
at
the
said
time
before the superior court or the supreme court
in Denmark
shall
continue to be prosecuted before the Danish courts until fiinal judg-
ment according to the law hitherto
in
force.
The judgment
shall
be executed in due form by the competent authority in the
terri-
tories within which such judgment should be carried out.
Article 9.
The rights of property secured by copyrights and patents acquired
by Danish subjects in the islands ceded at the time of exchange of
the ratifications of this treaty shall continue to be respected.
Article 10.
Treaties,
conventions, and
all other international agreements
of
any nature existing between Denmark and the United States shall
eo ipso extend, in default of a provision to the contrary, also to the
ceded islands.
Article 11.
In
case of
differences of opinion
arising between the High Con-
tracting Parties in regard to the interpretation or application of this
convention such
differences,
if they can not be regulated through
diplomatic
negotiations,
shall be submitted
for
arbitration
to
the
permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.
Article 12.
The ratifications of this convention shall be exchanged at Wash-
ington
as soon
as
possible
after
ratification by both
of the High
Contracting Parties according to their respective procedure.
In faith whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed and
sealed this convention in the Enghsh and Danish languages.
ACT TO PROVIDE A TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT FOR THE VIRGIN
ISLANDS.
An Act To provide a temporary government for the West Indian Islands acquired
by the United States from Denmark by the convention entered into between said
countries on the
fourth day
of August, nineteen hundred and
sixteen, and
ratified by the Senate of the United States on the seventh day
of September,
nineteen hundred and sixteen, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted Try the Senate and House ofRepresentatives of the United
States of America in Congress assemhlea, That, except as hereinafter
provided,
all military, civil, and judicial powers necessary to govern
the West Indian Islands acquired from Denmark shall be vested in a
governor and in such person or persons as the President may appoint,
and shaU be exercised in such manner as the President shall direct
until Congress
shall provide
for
the government
of
said
islands:
Provided, That the President may assign an officer of the Army or
Navy to serve as such governor and perform the duties appertaining
to said
office: And provided further, That the governor of the said
islands shall be appointed by and with the advice and consent
of
the
Senate: And
provided further,
That
the
compensation
of
all
persons appointed under this Act shall be fixed by the President.
Sec. 2. That \mtil Congress shall otherwise provide, iu sq far as
compatible with the changed sovereignty and not in conflict with
the
provisions
of
this Act,
the laws
regulating
elections and
the
electoral franchise
as
set forth
in the code
of laws published
at
Amahenborg the sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and six, and
the other local laws, in force and effect in said islands on the seven-
teenth day of January, nineteen hundred and seventeen, shall remain
in force and effect in said islands, and the same shaU be administered
by the civil officials and through the local judicial tribunals estab-
lished in said islands, respectively; and the orders, judgments, and
decrees of said judicial tribimals shall be duly enforced.
With the
approval
of the President,
or under such rules and regulations
as
the President may
prescribe,
any
of
said laws may be
repealed,
altered,
or amended by
the
colonial
coimcil having
jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction of the judicial tribunals of said islands shall extend
to all judicial proceedings and controversies in said islands to which
the United States or any citizen thereof may be a party.
In all cases
arising in the said West Indian Islands and now reviewable by the
courts of Denmark, writs of error and appeals shall be to the Circuit
Com-t of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and, except as provided in
sections two hundred and thirty-nine and two hundred and forty
of the Judicial Code, the judgments, orders, and decrees of such court
shaU be final in all such cases.
Sec. 3. That on and after the passage of this Act there shall be
levied, collected, and paid upon
all articles coming into the United
States or its possessions, from the West Indian Islands ceded to the
United States by Denmark, the rates of duty and internal-revenue
taxes which are required to be levied, collected, and paid upon like
articles imported from foreign countries
: Provided, That aU articles,
the growth
or product
of,
or manufactured
in such
islands from
60396°—18
3
(33)
34
THE VraGIN ISLANDS,
materials the growth or product
of such islands or of the United
States, or of both, or which do not contain foreign materials to the
value
of more than twenty per centum of their total value, upon
which no drawback
of customs
duties has been
allowed
therein,
coming into the United States from such islands shaU hereafter be
admitted free of duty.
Seo. 4. That, until Congress shall otherwise provide,
all laws now
imposing taxes in the said West Indian Islands, mcluding the customs
laws and regulations, shall. La so far as compatible with the changed
sovereignty and not otherwise herein provided, contiaue in force and
effect, except that
articles the growth, product, or manufacture of
the United States
shall be admitted there free
of duty: Provided,
That upon exportation of sugar to any foreign country, or the ship-
ment thereof to the United States or any of ifS possessions, there shall
be levied, collected, and paid thereon an export duty of $8 per ton of
two thousand pounds irrespective of polariscope test, in Ueu of any
export tax now required by law.
Sec. 5. That the duties and taxes collected in pursuance of this
Act shall not be covered into the general fund of the Treasury of the
United States, but shall be used and expended for the government
and benefit of said islands under such rules and regulations
as the
President may prescribe.
Sec.
6. That for the purpose of taking over and occupying said
islands and of carrying this Act into
effect and to meet any deficit
in the revenues of the said islands resulting from the provisions of
this Act the sum of $100,000 is hereby appropriated, to be paid out
of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and to
be applied under the direction of the President of the United States.
Sec.
7. That the sum of $25,000,000
is hereby appropriated, out
of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be
paid in the city of Washington to the diplomatic representative or
other agent of His Majesty the King of Denmark duly authorized to
receive said money, in full consideration of the cession of the Danish
West Indian Islands to the United States made by the convention
between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of
Denmark entered into August fourth, nineteen hxmdred and sixteen,
and ratified by the Senate of the United States on the seventh day
of September, nineteen hundred and sixteen.
Seo. 8
. That this Act, with the exception of section seven, shall be
in force and effect and become operative immediately upon the pay-
ment by the United States of said sum of $25,000,000.
The fact and
date of such payment shall thereupon be made pubhc by a proclama-
tion issued by the President and published in the said Danish West
Indian Islands and in the United States.
Section seven shall become
immediately
effective and the
appropriation thereby provided for
shall be immediately available.
Approved, March 3, 1917.
In accordance with the provisions of the foregoing act of Congress,
Hear Admiral James H. Oliver was appointed naval governor of the
islands and on March 31, 1917, took formal possession, thus marking
the end of a period covering more than half a century of negotiation
and treaty between the United States and Denmark.
POPULATION.
INTEODTJCTION.
The special census
of the Virgin Islands
of the United
States,
taken by the Bureau of the Census as of November
1, 1917, was the
first census
of population under the auspices
of the United States
Government.
For
this census
a general population schedule was
prepared.
This schedule
differed but
slightly from that used for
the United
States
proper
at
the
Thirteenth
Census,
1910.
The
printed instructions
to enumerators as to the method of fiUing out
the schedule and as to the manner of determining who should and
who should not be enumerated in their
districts, followed
closely
those furnished the Thirteenth Census enumerators
in
the United
States proper, except that the instructions to the enumerators in
the
Virgin
Islands were
briefer and were
modified somewhat
to
accord with changes
in
the schedule and with conditions on the
Virgin Islands.
Although the work of enumeration was done between December
24, 1917, and January 12,
1918, inclusive, the census was taken
as
of November
1, 1917.
During this time there was very little travel
on the part of the inhabitants of the Virgin Islands between these
islands and other islands or countries, and as few other persons were
arriving at or leaving the islands, the enumeration of the population
approximately two months after the ofiicial census day, November
1, probably had httle effect on the returns.
The
actual work
of enumeration was done by residents
of the
islands.
In each of the three cities, school-teachers, both male and
female, were appointed enumerators.
In the rural districts the work
of enumeration was done
partly by quarter
ofiicers
(officers corre-
sponding closely to certain township
ofiicei-s in the United States)
and partly by other persons.
On the island of St. Croix, especially,
a number of prominent estate owners and managers generously con-
sented to act as enumerators.
Each island was divided into a num-
ber of enumeration districts—a total of 43 districts for the three is-
lands.
The enumerators were required
to
visit
each
dwelling
per-
sonally and to collect the statistics provided for on the population
and agriculture schedules.
In the rural districts they were required,
also,
to collect from the employers the statistics called for by the
wages and hours
of labor schedule.
In the
cities
these
statistics
were collected by special enumerators.
(35)
36
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
In the cities the returns of each enumerator were examined from
day to day by the assistants of the supervisor in charge.
In the
case of the rural enumerators such a daily examination of the returns
was not feasible, but, so far as practicable, a careful examination of
their returns was made before the schedules were finally accepted.
Notwithstanding the large percentage of illiteracy in the Negro pop-
ulation
of the Virgin Islands
(29.7 per cent),
it
is believed that in
the case of most of the population inquiries fairly accurate returns
were secured.
The enumerators were earnest and
alert, and
it was
possible to give their work a degree of supervision and examination
which it usually is impossible to give the work of an enumerator ia
the United States during the Federal census enumeration, because
of the larger size of a supervisor's district and because he has not a
sufficient number
of trained
assistants.
However,
in
the
case
of
certain inquiries on the population schedule, there may be a consid-
erable element of error in the returns, due either to lack of knowl-
edge
of the real facts on the part of the persons enumerated or to a
desire on their part not to disclose the real facts.
Error due to one
of these causes probably exists in considerable degree in the returns
as to color or race, age, marital conditon, and citizenship.
The
tables interspersed throughout the
text,
together with
the
general tables, present statistics for the Virgin Islands of the United
States, and, usually, for each island separately, relating to number of
inhabitants, increase and decrease of population, proportions of urban
and rural, color or race, sex,
age, marital condition, place of birth,
males
of
voting and
militia
ages,
citizenship,
school
attendance,
illiteracy, inability to speak English, number of dwellings and fami-
nes, occupations, and wages and hours of labor.
So
faff
as compa-
rable data for preceding censuses
are
available they are generally
introduced in the 1917 census tabulations.
On account of the wide
differences
in
characteristics among
diEFerent
classes
of the popu-
lation, the
statistics on each subject usually
are shown according
to color or race.
And, since marked differences often exist between
urban
and
rural
communities
with
respect
to
the
composition,
characteristics, and activities of the population, statistics for
cities
and rural
districts,
respectively,
are presented in connection with
most
of the subjects.
POPULATION AND
ITS DISTRIBLTTION.
Total pofulation.—The total population
of the Virgin Islands
of
the United States on November
1,
1917, was
26,051.
Compared
with a population
of 27,086 on February
1,
1911, the date of the
last Danish census, this represents a decrease during the intervening
six years and nine months of 1,035, or 4 per cent.
The total popu-
lation of the islands, and of each of the three principal islands, as
reported at each census from 1835 to 1917, is given in Table 1.
tOPtrLATlOUr.
SI
'^''^^^ 1
CENSUS YEiR.-
38
THE VIKGIN ISLANT©.
under two principal heads—the excess of deaths over births and the
excess of emigration over immigration.
The
figures given
in Table
2 (taken from the Annuaire
Statis-
tique du Danemark,
1907, p. 188, and
1916,
p. 216) show
for the
Virgin Islands the number
of marriages,
births, and deaths, respec-
tively, for each year from 1896-1897 to 1915-1916, inclusive.
Table a
TEAB.1
POPTJLATIOK.
39
the present they probably account largely,
also, for the high infant
mortality rate in past years.
Without attempting to analyze the causes determining the birth
and death rates, or to measure the effect of each cause, it is sufficient
here to show that the excess of deaths over births probably has not
been large enough to account for the entire decrease in population.
As shown by Table
1, the decrease in population between 1901 and
1911 was
3,441.
Table
2
shows
that
for
the
years
1901-2
to
1910-11,
inclusive,
the
total number
of
births was
9,356 and the
total number of deaths 10,293, an excess of deaths over births of 937.
Deducting this excess of 937 from the 3,441 decrease in population for
the decade 1901-1911 leaves a remaining decrease
of 2,504, which
must be ascribed to the excess of emigration over immigration.
It
is
possible
that during
earlier decades
a larger proportion
of the
decrease in population may have been due to an excess of deaths over
births than was the case during the decade 1901-1911, but it is prob-
able that during most of the period covered by the census statistics of
the Virgin Islands—^1835-1917—^much of the decrease in population
was due to an excess of emigration over immigration.
Tn
the case
of the Virgin Islands the excess
of emigration over
immigration
probably
has been
due mainly
to
economic
causes.
Many causes have worked together to retard the economic develop-
ment and prosperity of these islands, and their lack of economic pros-
perity has been the chief cause of most of the emigration.
Several times within the last 100 years the Virgin Islands have
been swept by violent hurricanes, some of which, such as that of 1867
and that of 1916, were very destructive to property.
Great amounts
of wealth were destroyed by these different hurricanes, and in some
cases
it took years after a hurricane for the islands to recover from
the effects.
St. Thomas was formerly the most important of the AntUles as the
general depot of Em-opean trade with the West Indies.
It was a
free
port,
it had an
excellent
harbor,
and
its
advantageous
geo-
graphic position at the center of the great bend
described by the
West Indian Islands made
it the point whence commodities could
most easUy be
distributed throughout
all
the
STirrounding
insular
groups.
In these days it was visited by the merchant ships of many
nations,
it had numerous
large warehouses, and
it did a very large
and thriving commercial business.
But the introduction of steam-
ships brought the other West Indian Islands into direct and regular
steamship communication with the great supplying markets
of the
world, and
St. Thomas lost
its former monopoly.
The nmnber of
vessels visiting the island annually feU off greatly, and there was a
consequent great dechne in the commercial business done and in the
economic prosperity of the island.
40
THE VTEGITT ISLANDS.
The Virgin Islands owed mucli of their former prosperity to the
sugar industry.
Sugar oane was the chief agricultural product, and
it was grown extensively on each of the islands.
Even the steep and
mountainous country of St. Thomas and St. John was devoted to its
growth, although it was necessary to terrace the hillsides to prevent
the soil washing away, and to do aU the work of cultivation by hand
labor.^
Likewise, on the island of St. Croix, not only the level land
but
also
the
steep
hills were once covered by sugar
plantations.
But for many years sugar cane has not been grown on St. Thomas.
At present but Httle sugar cane is grown on St. John, and most of the
sugar plantations which formerly covered the mountainous parts of St.
Croix either have been abandoned or devoted to other uses.
To-day
the fertile plain on the south side of St. Croix is the only important
area devoted to sugar cane.
The sugar industry of the Virgin Islands
doubtless was injured
somewhat by the abolition of slavery in 1848; but, since the wages
paid the freedmen,
subsequently, were
quite low,
the
abolition
of
slavery probably was not a large factor in the decline of the industry.
The industry
also
suffered during several years from droughts and
the consequent poor crops.
But the principal cause of the dechne
of the sugar industry of the Virgin Islands seems to have been
its
inabihty
to
withstand
competition
with
the
sugar
grown more
cheaply elsewhere and marketed under more favorable
conditions.
On the Virgin Island hills, formerly cultivated in sugar cane,
it was
impossible to use modern labor-saving machinery; and on the level
areas, stUl cultivated, the inhabitants of the islands have been slow
to
readjust
their
agrictiltural
methods
to new
conditions.
The
islands found it especially difficult to compete with the beet sugar of
other countries which usually was produced by the most modern
methods
of
agriculture
and manufacture
and which
usually was
fostered and protected by Government bounty.
Competition was
the more
difficult because
the sugar
of the Virgin Islands
in
the
United States, which
is
its natural market, had
to pay
full
tariii
duty and there compete with the home-grown product, and, recently,
with Cuban and
territorial
sugars
that
enjoyed some measure
of
protection.
Population
of
cities.—^The
Virgin
Islands
contain
three
cities,
namely, Christiansted and Frederiksted on the island of St.
Croix,
and Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas.^
The population
of each of these cities in 1917, as compared with 1911, was as follows:
Christiansted, 4,574, as compared with 4,592—a loss of 18; Freder-
' These hillsides, now mostly covered with grass, are still plainly marked by the
old terraces, and many ruins of former sugar mills are still standing.
^ In addition to the three cities, there is the small incorporated village of Cruz Bay
on the island of St. John.
Its population in 1917 was only 50.
POPULATION'.
41
iksted,
3,144,
as compared with 3,203—a loss of 59; and Charlotte
Amalie, 7,747, as compared with 8,247—a loss of 500.
The popula-
tion of each city as reported at each census from 1835 to
1917,
is
given in Table 3.
Urban and rural population compared.—For purposes of tabulation
and for the presentation of population statistics, the Virgin Islands
have been divided into
six
areas,
three urban and three
rural,
as
follows: The
cities
of
Christiansted,
Frederiksted,
and
Charlotte
Amalie, respectively; the rural
districts of St. Croix; the rural
dis-
tricts of St. Thomas ; and the entire island of St. John, all of which is
considered
rural.
The population
of each
of
these
areas
at each
census from 1835 to 1917
is given in Table 3, which follows:
TOTAL POPULATION FOR ISLANDS, CITIES, AND EUEAL DISTRICTS:
1835-1917.1
Table 3
42
THE VIBGIN ISLANDS.
In 1917 tlie three cities of the Virgin Islands of the United States
together contaiaed 15,465 iohabitants, or 59.4 per cent of the total
population, while 10,586 inhabitants, or 40.6 per cent, Hved ia rural
districts.
In 1911 the three
cities contaiaed 16,042 inhabitants^ or
59.2 per cent
of the
total population, while 11,044 inhabitants,
or
40.8 per cent,
lived in rural
districts.
In these islands,
as in the
United States, a larger and larger proportion of the population has
been gradually concentratiag in the cities.
In 1835 the three cities
contained only 44.5 per cent
of the total population, and ia 1850
only 49.6 per cent,
as compared with 59.4 per cent ia
1917.
The
population of St. Croix was 51.8 per cent urban and 48.2 per cent
rural in 1917, as compared with a population in 1850 which was 34.8
per cent urban and 65.2 per cent rural.
In 1917 the population of
St. Thomas was 76 per cent urban and 24 per cent rural, while ia
1850 its population was 83.3 per cent urban and 16.7 per cent rural.
The entire population
of St. John
is considered rural.
The largest
population reported for its small village of Cruz Bay at any census
since that of 1835 was 147, in 1860.
The numerical decrease in the population of each separate island
is shown by the statistics presented ia Table
1 (page 37) and is dis-
cussed in the accompanying text.
The statistics presented ia Table
3 show the numerical increase or decrease in the urban and in the
rural population of each respective area.
The combined population
of the three cities decreased from 19,194 ia 1835 to 15,465 in 1917—
a
total decrease of 3,729, or 19.4 per cent.
The total urban popidation
was largest at the census of 1870—20,625.
Between 1870 and 1917
it decreased rapidly, the decrease for this period being 5,160, or 25
per cent.
The total rural population was at its maximum in 1835
23,984.
It decreased at each succeediag census from 1835 to 1917
except at the censuses of 1860 and 1890.
The decrease for the entire
period was 13,398, or 55.9 per cent.
The total urban population of
St. Croix was
at
its highest
ia
1901—9,228—and
at
its lowest
ia
1846—7,452.
It decreased from 8,123 in 1835 to 7,718 ia 1917—
a
total decrease of 405, or 5 per cent.
This decrease was confined to
the
city
of Christiansted,
the population
of which decreased from
5,806 in 1835 to 4,574 in 1917, a decrease of 1,232, or 21.2 per cent.
Diu-ing
this period
the population
of Frederiksted iacreased from
2,317
to 3,144, an increase of 827, or 35.7 per cent.
However,
at
four different censuses—1846,
1880,
1911, and 1917—^its population
showed a
decrease over that
at the precediag census.
The
rural
population of St. Croix decreased gradually from 18,558 ia 1835 to
7,183 ia 1917, a total decrease of 11,375, or 61.3 per cent.
Only at
the census of 1890 was the rural population of the island larger than
at
the
precediag
census.
The
urban
population
of
St. Thomas
reached its maximum in 1880—11,764—^and its minimum ia 1917
POPTTLATIOM-.
43
7,747.
Its total decrease from
1835
to 1917 was
3,324, or 30 per
cent.
In 1835, the rural population of St. Thomas was 2,951 and,
in 1917, 2,444, a decrease of 507, or 17.2 per cent.
Density of population.—Authorities do not agree as to the area of
the Virgin Islands of the United States.
The area given varies from
132 to 142 square miles.
According to one authority, St. Croix is
84.25 square miles in area, St. Thomas 28.25 square miles, and St.
John 19.97 square miles, making a total of 132.47 square miles for
the three principal islands, which together contain practically all the
inhabitants.
If these
areas be accepted
as approximately correct,
the average number of persons per square mile for the land area of
the three principal islands in 1917 was 196.7,
as compared with 30.9
per square mile of land area ia continental United States, and with
325.5 per square mile in Porto Rico in 1910.'
In 1917 the number
of inhabitants per square mile, based on the area as given above,
was 176.9 on St. Croix, 360.7 on St. Thomas, and 48 on St. John.
Table 4
ISLAND AND MINOR CrVH. DIVISION.
POPCXATION: 1917.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Virgin Islands..
St. Croix..
Christiansted.
Frederilsted
Rural districts
East End Quarter
Company's Quarter
Qneen's Quarter
King's Quarter
Prince's Quarter
North Side "A" Quarter..
North Side "B" Quarter..
West End Quarter
St. Tliomas
.
Cliarlotte Amalie
King's Quarter
Queen's Quarter
Crown Prince's Quarter
Huial districts
Frenchman's Bay Quarter
.
Eed Hook Quarter
East End Quarter
New Quarter
Great North Side Quarter.
.
Little North Side Quarter.
.
South Side Quarter
West End Quarter
St. John.
Cruz Bay Quarter
Cruz Bay village
.
Mahol Quarter
K'eef Bay Quarter
. .
.
Coral Bay Quarter .
.
.
East End Quarter
26,051
11,999
14,901
7,133
4,574
3.144
7; 183
143
939
1,398
1,246
1,678m
106
1,076
10, 191
2,008
1,289
3,836
86
489
743
688
872
333
61
565
4,357
7,747
3,020
1,790
2,937
2,444
78
43
85
980
292
86
840
40
3,130
1,316
666
1,149
1,227
66
18
47
448
144
40
438
27
509
269
60
164
44
345
137
163
26
91
19
176
70
14,052
7,768
2,666
1,865
3,347
68
460
655
668
806
264
45
611
5,834
4,617
1,704
1,125
1,788
1,217
13
25
148
46
402
13
460
116
25
73
25
169
67
' In the report of the Danish census of 1911 the density of population is based on a
total area for all the islands of 358.9 square kilometers, or 138.41 square miles.
This
area gives a density in 1917 of 188.2 persons per square mile of total area.
44
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Minor dvil divisions.—Each of the Virgin Islands
is divided into
a number of "quarters," and each of these quarters is made up of a
number
of "estates" or plantations.
The "quarter,"
as
a
minor
civil division, corresponds in the rural districts more or less closely
to the township
in
the United
States.
In
the
city
of Charlotte
Amalie, which contaias three entire quarters—King's, Queen's, and
Crown
Prince's—the quarter corresponds somewhat
closely to the
ward
of a city.
Table 4 shows by sex the population in
1917
of
the
islands
and
the
different
quarters,
here
collectively termed
"minor civil divisions."
COLOR OR RACE.
The classification by color or race distinguishes four main groups,
namely, white, Negro, mixed, and "all other."
The term "mixed"
is used to designate persons of mixed white and Negro blood.
The great
difficulty of securing an accurate measurement
of the
extent of race mixture through inquiry at a general census is evident.
Some of those enumerated are ignorant of the facts as to their race,
while others may desire to conceal the facts.
Also,
if the race mix-
ture usually is shown by a difference in color, it is quite probable the
enumerator frequently
will neglect
to
ask the race
of the person
being enumerated, and will enter the apparent race on the schedule
in accordance with the person's shade of color.
An examination of the emunerators' retmns
of color or race,
as
tabulated by enumeration
districts,
indicates
strongly that some
of the enumerators did not
distinguish carefully between Negroes
and persons of mixed white and Negro blood as they were instructed
to do.
The variation in the proportion that the mixed are
of
all
persons returned, and especially
of
all colored persons,
is so great
between contiguous enimieration districts of the same area as to cast
grave doubt on the accuracy of the returns.
It is believed that a
considerable nupaber
of persons
of mixed white and Negro blood
were returned as Negroes, and, consequently, that the total number
of Negroes is somewhat exaggerated while the total number of per-
sons of mixed white and Negro blood is imderstated.
It is also pos-
sible that some persons of mixed white and Negro blood were returned
as white.
Of the total population of the Virgin Islands of the United States
in 1917, 1,922, or 7.4 per cent, were whites; 19,523, or 74.9 per cent,
were Negroes; 4,563, or 17.5 per cent, were of mixed white and Negro
blood; and 43, or two-tenths of
1 per cent, were of other races.
Of
the 43 persons of "other races,"
15 were returned as Chinese, 7 as
Filipinos, 8 as Indians, 8 as "Coolies," 2 as Hindus,
1 as Burmese,
and the color of 2 was not specified.
At no census
of the Virgin
Islands prior to that of 1917 was inquiry made as to the color or race
POPULATIOH.
45
of the people.
The distribution, according to color or race
of the
population of each separate island and of each principal subdivision,
is given for the census of 1917 in
Table 5.
Table 5
46
THE VTRGITT ISLANDS.
of the mixed lived on St. Croix; 2,283, or 50 per cent, on St. Thomas;
and 264, or 5.8 per cent, on St. John.
In Table 6 the population of the islands and the different minor
civil divisions, or "quarters," is shown by color or race for 1917.
Table 6
ISLANI) AND MIHOE dVH DIViaiON.
population:
1917.
AU
White.
Neprro and
mixed.
AU
other.
Virgin Islands
St Croix
A
Christiansted
Frederiteted
Rural districts
East End Quarter
Company's Quarter
Queen's Quarter
Kind's Quarter
Prince's Quarter
North Side "A." Quarter..
North Side "B" Quarter.
West End Quarter
,
St. Thomas
,
Charlotte Amalie
,
King's Quarter
Queen's Quarter
CSown Princess Quarter
Rural districts
Frenchman's Bay Quarter
Red Hook Quarter
East End Quarter
,
New Quarter
,
Great North Side Quarter
.
Little North Side Quarter
.
South Side Quarter
West End Quarter
St. John
Cruz Bay Quarter.
Cruz Bay village
Mahol Quarter
Reef Bay Quarter
Coral Bay Quarter
East End Quarter
14,901
4,574
3,144
7,183
143
939
1,398
1,246
1,678
597
106
1,07(1
10,191
7,747
3,020
1,790
2,937
2,444
78
43
85
980
292
86
840
40
9S9
60
164
44
345
137
1,922
625
259
107
259
19
47
36
57
42
13
1
44
1,293
720
525
155
40
573
62
6
65
74
4
358
4
24,-0S6
14,254
4,309
3,036
6,909
121
892
1,362
1,184
1,635
583
104
1,028
8,878
7,011
2,487
1,627
2,897
1,867
16
43
79
913-
218
82
480
36
265
4S
164
43
345
137
43
~22
1
15
16
SEX DISTErBUTION.
In the population
of the Virgin Islands
of the United States in
1917 there were 11,999 males and 14,052 females,
or 85.4 males to
100 females.
In 1911 there were 12,508 males and 14,578 females,
or 85.8 males to 100 females.
The sex distribution of the population
of each island and of each principal subdivision, in 1917 and in 1911,
respectively, is given in Table 7.
The
statistics presented
in Table
7 show that the females
out-
numbered the males in St. Croix, in St. Thomas, and in each of the
three cities, both in 1917 and in 1911.
In 1917 the males outnum-
bered the females in each rural
district, and, in 1911, in the rural
districts
of St. Croix.
In the rural
districts
of
St. Thomas and in
St. John the niunber of females exceeded the number of males in 1911.
POPULATIOM',
47
Table T
48
THE VIBGIN ISLANDS.
The percentages given in Table 8 show that during the period
1890 to 1917 females were in the majority in the total population
of the islands, in the total urban population, and in the population
of each
city, while males were in the majority in the
total rural
population and in the rural population
of
St. Croix.
In the rural
population of St. Thomas males were in the majority in
1917, and
females in 1911, 1901, and 1890.
In the population of
St. John the
number of males exceeded the number of females in 1890 and 1917,
while the number of females exceeded the number of males in 1901
and in 1911.
Table 8 also shows that during the period 1890 to 1917
there was no marked change in the proportion each sex formed of the
total population or of the population of any specified area, except that
of St. John.
Table 9, below, shows that during the entire period 1835
to 1917 there was a change of but
1
in the number
of males and
females,
respectively,
in each 100
of the population.
During the
period 1835 to 1855, however, there was a decrease of 1.7 males and
an increase of 1.7 females in each 100 of the population.
Table 9
POPULATIOIS'.
49
MALES AND FEMALES AND RATIO OF MALES TO FEMALES FOR ISLANDS, CITIES, AND
RURAL DISTRICTS: 1917.
Table lO
50
THE VTRGIN ISLANDS.
females) and in the popiilation of each separate area.
In Charlotte
Amalie there were 196.3 males to 100 females.
In the case of the
Negroes females exceeded males in the total population
(85.4 males
to 100 females),
in the total uxhan population
(70.4 males to 100
females), and in the population
of each urban
area;
while males
exceeded females in the total rural population (108.7 males
to
100
females) and in the rural population of
St. Croix and St. John.
In
the rmral population of
St. Thomas there were only 90.1 males to
100 females.
In the
case
of persons
of mixed race females
out-
numbered males in the total population (63.8 males to 100 females)
and in the population of each separate area except the rural districts
of St. Croix, where there were 119.7 males to 100 females.
AGE DISTRIBUTION.
Census
returns
relating
to
age
generally contain more
or
less
error.
Such error usually is due in part to the fact that many of
the persons enumerated do not know their exact age, in part to the
fact that in some cases the age is intentionally misstated, and in part
to the fact that in many cases the enumerators obtain information as
to the age of the person enumerated from a third person who can
give the age only approximately.
It is beheved that the age returns
in the Virgin Islands were affected by each of these causes.
Negroes
comprised 74.9 per cent of the total population.
The rate of Oliteracy
is vdry high among the Negroes (29.7 per cent), and
it
is probable
that many of them do not know their exact age.
The number
of
persons who
intentionally misstated
their
age
is
beheved
to
be
small, but the number of cases in which the enumerator secured the
information as to age from a third party probably was rather large.
Doubtless the information as
to age was furnished the enumerator
by a third party more frequently in the case of males than in the
case of females, since, without doubt, a larger proportion of women
than of men were seen by the enumerators in their house-to-house
visitation.
Table 11 shows by sex the number and the proportion of persons
in each quinquennial age period at the censuses of 1917 and 1911.
The
statistics presented in Table
11 show that the
distribution
of the population by five-year age periods
in 1917
did not
differ
materially from that in 1911.
At each census a considerably larger
proportion of the males than of the females were in the lower age
periods (under 25 years in 1917, and under 20 years ia 1911), and a
considerably smaller proportion in the higher age periods
(60 years
and over in 1917, and 50 years and over in 1911.)
POPULATTOir.
DISTRIBUTION BY SEX AND AGE PERIODS: 1917 AND
1911.
51
Table 11
AGE PERIOD.
POPULATION.
1917
Total.
Male.
Female
1911
Total.
Male.
Female.
All ages..
Under 5 years
Under 1 year
.
5 to
9 years.
10 to 14 years.
15 to 19 years.
20 to 24 years
.
25 to 29 years.
30 to 34 years.
35 to 39 years.
40 to 44 years.
45 to 49 years.
50 to 54 years.
65 to 59 years.
60 to 64 years.
65 to 69 years.
70 to 74 years.
75 to 79 years.
80 to 84 years.
85 to 89 years
90 to 94 years
95 to 99 years
100 years and over
.
Age unknown
All ages..
Under 5 years
Under 1 year.
5 to
9 years.
10 to 14 years.
15 to 19 years.
20 to 24 years.
25 to 29 years.
30 to 34 years.
35 to 39 years.
40 to 44 years.
45 to 49 years.
50 to 54 years.
55 to 59 years.
60 to 64 years.
65 to 69 years.
70 to 74 years.
75 to 79 years.
80 to 84 years.
85 to 89 years
90 to 94 years
95 to 99 years
100 years and over.
Age unknown
26,051
2,430
405
2,430
2,461
2,209
2,521
2,200
1,915
2,017
1,702
1,471
1,238
979
915
632
462
273
116
9.3
1.6
9.3
9.4
8.5
9.7
8.4
7.4
7.7
6.6
5.6
4.8
3.8
3.5
2.4
1.7
1.0
0.4
0.2
0.1
11, 999
14,052
27,086
12,608
1,191
199
1,164
1,183
1,023
1,229
1,010
848
934
821
714
674
455
362
227
136
90
21
14
6
1,239
206
1,266
1,278
1,186
1,292
1,190
1,069
1,083
881
767
664
524
653
405
316
183
95
49
16
3
2,465
480
2,513
2,280
2,423
2,392
2,476
2,171
2,180
1,690
1,696
1,356
1,019
913
550
460
266
149
49
16
7
1
14
1,227
232
1,238
1,082
1,150
1,060
1,131
1,066
1,039
857
803
601
444
334
z04
153
76
32
PEE CENT DISTEIBUTION.
100.0
9.9
1.7
9.7
9.9
8.5
10.2
8.4
7.1
7.8
6.8
6.0
4.8
3.8
3.0
1.9
1.1
0.8
0.2
0.1
O
100.0
8.8
1.6
9.0
9.1
8.4
9.2
7.6
7.7
6.3
5.4
4.7
3.7
3.9
2.9
2.2
1.3
0.7
0.3
0.1
100.0
9.1
1.8
9.3
8.4
8.9
9.1
8.0
8.0
6.2
5.3
5.0
3.8
3.4
2.0
1.7
1.0
0.6
0.2
0.1
100.0
1.9
9.9
8.7
9.2
8.4
9.0
8.5
8.3
6.9
6.4
4.8
3.5
2.7
1.6
1.2
0.6
0.3
(')
1 Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.
The median age of a population group is the age with reference to
which half the members of the group are younger and half are older.
The median age is thus both a simple and a significant expression of
the age
of a population.
In 1917
the median age
of the popula-
62
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
tion
of the Virgin Islands was 25.9
years.
For the males
it was
24.7 and for the females 27 years.
In order to get the median age
at the census of 1911
it will be necessary to distribute the popula-
tion in the age period 25 to 29 to the single years, since the number in
each single year of age is not reported.
If it be assxmied that in the
age period 25 to 29 the proportion of the total persons and of the
persons
of each sex in each single year
of age was approximately
the same in 1911 and 1917, then the median age of the total popula-
tion in 1911 was 26.7 years, that of the males being 25.8 years and
of the females 27.4 years.
The number and the proportion of persons in each broad age period
in 1917
is shown by sex for the Virgin Islands,
for each separate
island, and for each principal subdivision iu Table 12.
According to Table 12 of the total population of the Virgin Islands
in 1917, 9.3 per cent was imder 5 years of age, 18.8 per cent 5 to 14,
18.2 per cent 15 to 24, 30.1 per cent 25 to 44, 17.7 per cent 45 to 64,
and 6 per cent was 65 years of age or over.
In the total population
and in the urban pop\ilation the lower age periods included a larger
proportion of the males than of the females, while the reverse was
true in case of the higher age periods.
The large proportion of the
females of Frederiksted 65 years of age and over
(10.8 per cent)
is
significant, as
is the large proportion of the population of St. John
under 5, and 5 to 14 years of age, respectively.
In Table 13 the age distribution in 1917
is given by sex for each
priacipal color or race element
of the population by five-year age
periods and by single years for the population under 25 years of age.
POPULATION.
53
i^
^ ^
O
OON
lO
C^C^rH
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CO
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in looi
COM M
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locoeo
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CCMCO
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to
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111
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54
THE VIKGIN ISLANDS.
O
010
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a
(i-(T|«e«l
COt^i-HCSr.
M«
rti-HOt>
cq
'Wcq-*cq cot^^w
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catOTtHCO
00 CO i-i O i-< Oi
(DOD^Qi-hiO
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co
SfeSi'^
O) 00 ai 00 * C<1
Or-tOOOO(DCS
1-1
M-^
lOCi«I>.CO
i-tO«5000t-
tOTjHN^rH
TfH o
ooioooco
-Tji to T-i oi o t*
oooococ^^-«)
tomi-
go
i-iQt-i-^
i-< 00 >-t (o eo o
cD»Oi-ia>r-N
ih
coco iHso^eo
eo Tjt OS ^ t-H OS
oootD«Oi-iO
cii-icjco
Oeo
iO«0»c5
Wi-HiNeDCOOi oOOqj^^cD W^
Oa i-H
OiOSOOO
OJ 00 00 CD lO * W^NNi-^
0)t-(
iHco«io o^*coMO^ ocDt^comm
ecco
t— lO ^OSMOO
00 »0 -^ iX> t~ »0
«>QOOOiH!O^H
i-l
00 i-H
oooof-r-
fr- » r- ?D lo -^f
«c4>-itH
0000 os«cgo
ior»r-e
^
._
.
.-H
rt I-*l-«CO
ojco tDoo®w
oo>«^^r->*'
-#«u3(£)co»o
oitoeoec
coo
tOt-OOOi
O) «> OC QO lO <£)
C-4 tO O <-< 00 a>
TPf-l
C5W
W«>-hC<1 MOOOOt^tO
lOlO-HjiCCi-l
rH—HO(N
O000J00t-.»O
"tflCCNrt
o»ft o—lOsi-H
oiot^Ni-too
CO lo cq cj CO (o
eo»-<co«
coo
eOtOOCfl
Qi-li-IOt^CO
P- 1-( CO lO t- 1-t <CM
o^c4
o>03odr>i!
N^
^ojooeo
<sco
oo>tot<»
od>-4
okODoooa
O iH
OS OS 00 00
OS rH
OSO> 00 03
00 Tt< m^oo
OCi-J
t^OJiOt^
lO>a
W30«Dt^
ido
idujojko
-*oo Nowas
t>: o
«i cd'od o6
00»O
0.-<"<)<Ci»
F^
Oa oaooo
Osi>- t-OsiON
o> •-<
OS CbOO
O
coco
eo-*»or*
Os f-4
OS OS 00 0>
U5«
P
°*ooo pooooo OOOO-mO
ooot>>
0-M-*J+J
4^ 4J 4-* 4^ -4-3 -M
+S-t->4^'4J
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+^0100 iooioomo loomoios looioS
Ua^FHC^
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POPULATION.
55
(d us *d u5 id
-"ji
CO N r-J CJ CJ Ci
'O
to to so id ua
-!»'
COCOCiC^rHO OC3-
oob-oicokor-
t^ 00 00 tH •-) CO
eoi^
i-t cc CO Tt< CO th
oc4t-teot-cq
i-h
00 1-^ od t^ to w3 ^eoN.-ioo o,
lO U3 T-H 00 0> a>
00 lO lO C^ O) 44
C<)r-I
00.1-; odtdid-^
eocQc^r-HOO 00
iQkTsuioooo
•-( 00 10 00 io T(«
<a^^
lO-^oor-mco
w^oooot^co
r-i^
eoi>idid-43c>3
c>ie«ioooc5 c3d
OMOJ-^iOO W CO 00 lO O t--
COf-f
ejodoid'^i-iii
cocoi-ip^iHC) c5o
1^3 to r- CO * t*
t* OS 01 CO CO r>-
coi-h
00 t-I [^ to id "*
eOCOMCSrHO OO-
^i-HOOOOOOO
OOOOlrHOOC^
i~t
<»i"*r-iO(DOo oom-^r-o-* w^
odi>i>ed'd'^
eococ4i-if-(C> dcJ
t-(
tHC4iHCt
.(Nrt N
i-HNiHCO
^^(Oio
ISi5-*(0-*
^»oio<oH
TfH'5^»0'*'*
Ti<ec*^'T
SSJCra
^Sc^—""*--!
oocqiQoiio
coMOOcqgj
^o>S<Q'z*
TpiS-^f
Ttno(Oift-S
eoio-^-*-*
-^coeocOM
coihconc*
cocoioto oouawrt
eqoQcicDoo
toanoaotp cdonqus
OOOOOO) t-OJQQOO
Ol^i-HOJOO
tD00t-t--S5 Wt^MWOS
N^C^O
COlOOOOltp
lOOiHlftCO OJfOOWOJ
01-*'*^-^
t-OOOt^
«5(DI>C0^ lOOOOOOJ
<D(OCOCOCO
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lOt^t^to
eomcQTftt-
or-coi-ti-H
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lo-^eot^u
t~ooco«o
coi«oooiC-(
T*(Oi-ioooo
eoiOCji-<c«S
t-Mt-oo-^
coeococo
cocococcM
cocQ-^coeo
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cococccoc
COCOO>0>
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i-nOOQtO^ (DOOrtOM
r- lO lO ^ r-
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COCQtNCO MPSrtCOM
CHi-HCCe^C4
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000{>i
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• m
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(a
t/3 v> mX^ ^03^^^
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iO<OI>0
56
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
MARITAL CONDITION.
Census inquiries
as to marital condition usually distinguish four
groups—single, married, widowed, and divorced.
At the 1917 census
of the Virgin Islands, however, the marital condition inquiries
dis-
tinguished a fifth group—the consensually married; that
is, persons
living together ia conjugal relation by mutual consent and without
religious or legal sanction.
Unions by mutual consent are quite common in the Virgin Islands.
They
are due,
principally,
to the high cost
of the
legal or
of the
church marriage ceremony; to the strong force of a custom which,
especially among the Negroes, has existed for many generations
; and
to the absence, especially among the Negroes and mixed,
of strong
public sentiment against such unions.
It
is believed that the presence in the Virgin Islands
of a
fifth
marital class—the consensually married—resulted in there being a
considerable element of error in the enimierators' returns as to marital
condition.
And it is believed that this error was not confined to the
returns for the consensually married class alone, but that it extended
more or less to the returns for each of the other four marital classes.
Of the persons living together by mutual consent it
is believed that
some retm^ned themselves as married and that others retTirned them-
selves as single.
And of the persons, especially women with children,
whose mutual consent consorts had died or left them it
is probable
that some returned
themselves
as widowed.
The
effect
of
these
supposed errors in the returns would be an understatement
of the
number consensually married, and an overstatement of the number
single, married, and widowed, respectively.
In Table 14 the marital condition of the population 15 years of age
and over is given for each sex by color or race for 1917 and by sex
alone for 1911.
Since, at the census of 1911, the population was not
enumerated by color or race, the marital condition statistics for this
census are presented by sex only; also, since, at the census of 1911,
the consensually married and the single were reported together, these
two groups for 1917 must be combined in making comparisons as to
marital condition between 1911 and 1917.
POPULATION.
57
Table 14
BEX AND CLASS Or POPULATION.
PEKSONS
16 TEARS OP AGE AND OVER.
Total.
Single.
Married.
Consen-
sually
married.
Widow-
ed and
divorced.
1917
All clases, number.
White
Negro
Mixed
Allotlier
All classes, per cent
.
White
Negro
Mixed
All other
All classes, number,.
White
Negro
Mixed
All other
All classes, per cent
.
White
Negro
Mixed
All ether
8,461
994
6,377
1,059
31
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
(')
10,269
541
7,743
1,977
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
4,051
58
THE VTRGIN ISLANDS.
MARITAL CONDITION OF THE POPULATION
IS YEARS OF AGE ANB OVER, FOR
ISLANDS, CITIES, AND RURAL DISTRICTS: 1917.
Table 15
POPULATION.
59
pBOlOAJCI
S5
;
; «J'THei50S0>»0'*i-t
r^
•
•cot-tcfl
Ph 3
C4rHeocci>>OcatDO>
^ MootHccowt*
eo
cqcooxn
t^CO'-itfCCOO rt t-T-4
CO
'S"2
^c3C4c<]cooi-iot>ocor-
§1
la
=&§ ootnoiooodo
u
rH'*-*ONca»-
OOOt* W'-'Ng
t^-fJHtOUSt-OOtOeOMNCl
t*cioomeooo-*ooo
3C»COOsr*NkO"3"*li-*iO
^jH CO oa r* 1* CO W3 Q CO w m
ot
•*j
M 00 * "* «) "5 c*S M
»ft
OJtti-^f-tOieJNOWOOt-M
0«
-CO-^Ol OeOCl (DtOCO
CO
CO
•*eOCOMMCi»N« *
<o
Ol O CO Oi to CO C>1
oi (odos-^ood
OS ^ OJ >o * ^ "*
i-(N-^w*co^co"*aioo
cocqooQ^t>-*oooo>>-i
ooio-^t^waco-*
eOC<)lOtOINC<10t>.t-rt<D>0
ciooeoNTttp^cqc^eo«»Heo
^eoco^p^
coi-(oeoco«
COtOiH.-' ^ -
r-LQOoa
«*•-<
•-(
COOStOC^OSQOl'^QP'-fC^O
00t£j00O>iOO>»O«O<SMt>t-
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ddde4dt^-^jp
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ddi-Jd"* Ncd
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ddd
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r'd diOrHioodi-iddwid
1-1 w "o to 00 eo CO t^
•
00
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•
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red d CO 00 M ^
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HCON i-*0)00»
OOJeob-'oecco<oost-(Dt^
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^«I-4cpe<^oooc<l03<o^•03^-
eoioOTftoc5«3i-((ouio^H
>ooooja>u5eokoiaconi-i
HO0>C0C0N"*C0»0«0
5«»tOt«-"*«r-lrtrt
O CO t- t- tH OJ o>
*<t-iou,
ea gj to ^ Oi ji e^
CO 00 t^ >S <0 CO C4
I
6H
«COfHfHtHI-l
iHNi-<
S'«*llOQO^MQJCOOi-HOJM
OJi-io»otDobeoiooiiOco
« 0> I-l CO « 1-1
1-ll-H
CO
CO M
iOV(DCl>C4COvajmeOS
SSoo
: feS2 E
S3 ^>>
pa
t>
3Sfe
C4 ec O oioco s
t>, t^
ra
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!
t=3
S§i§iSS
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|g = oooN"
PS
is^
60
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
<
POPULATION".
PLACE OF BIRTH.
61
In Table 17 the total population of the Virgin Islands and each
principal class of the population, in 1917,
is distributed by place of
bu-th.
PLACE OF BIETH AND COLOE OR RACE:
1917.
Table 17
PLACE OP BIRTH.
62
THE VTEGIN ISLANDS.
Table 18 shows for the total population and for each principal class
of the population, in 1917, the per cent distribution by place of birth.
Of the total population, 76.2 per cent was bom in the Virgin Islands,
16.4 per cent ia the British West Indies, 3.1 per cent ia other West
Indies, 2.3 per cent ia the United States, 0.3 per cent ia Central and
South America, and 1.8 per cent ia other places.
Thus, over 95 out
of every 100 persons in the total population were bom either in the
Vir^ia Islands or in the British or other West Indies.
Outside of
the Virgin Islands the British West Indies was, as to numbers, by
far the most important place of birth.
Table 18
PLACE or BIBTH.
POPULATIOM'.
63
Table 30
64
THE VIBGIN ISLANDS.
ing the citizenship of certaia classes of the people.
The worst con-
fusion was as to the correct citizenship of the Negroes and persons of
mixed race who were born in the British or other West Indian Islands,
but who had lived for many years in the Virgin Islands.
Some enu-
merators returned such persons as citizens of the country possessing
the particular island from which they came, while other enumerators
retiu"ned them as citizens of the Virgin Islands.
Because of this con-
fusion the enumerators' returns of the citizenship of the Negroes and
of persons of mixed race are believed to be too inaccurate to warrant
publication of the tabulated statistics.
The returns for whites prob-
ably are more nearly accurate, although even here there was some
confusion
as to the proper manner
of returning
citizenship.
The
citizenship of the total white population, and of the white males 21
years of age and over is shown in Table 22.
Table 82
POPULATION.
65
Table 23—Continued.
66
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
PERSONS 5 TO 20 YEARS OF AGE ATTENDING SCHOOL, BY AGE PERIODS:
1917.
Table 24
POPULATION.
67
PEHSONS 5 TO 20 YEARS OP AGE ATTENDING SCHOOL, BY AGE PEEIODS, FOR ISLANDS,
CITIES, AND RURAL DISTRICTS: 1917.
Table 25
68
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
PERSONS 5 TO 20 TEARS OF AGE ATTENDING SCHOOL, BY AGE PERIODS, FOR ISLANDS,
CITIES, AND RURAL DISTRICTS: 1917—Continued.
Table 26—Continued.
POPULATION.
69
Thomas,
the
corresponding
percentages
were
51.9
for
Charlotte
Amalie and 46.2 for the rural
districts.
Of persons
5
to 20 years
of
age
the
percentage
attending
school was
highest
for
those
of
mixed race, in the
cities
of Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie,
in
the rural
districts
of
St. Thomas,
and on the
island
of
St.
John.
The percentage was highest for whites in the rural
districts
of
St.
Croix.
Table 25 shows that in the case
of each area, each class of
the population, and each sex, school attendance was largely confined
to persons 5 to 14 years of age.
The number and proportion of persons 5 to 21 years of age attending
school are shown by sex and by year of age for each principal class of
the population in Table 26.
PERSONS
5 TO
21 YEARS
70
THE VIKGIN ISLANDS.
PERSONS
5 TO
21 YEAKS
POPULATION.
71
U,LITEEATES IN THE POPULATION
10 YEABS OF AGE AND OVEK, FOR ISLANDS,
CITIES. AND RURAL DISTRICTS: 1917.
Table 27
AKEA AND CLASS 01 POPULATION.
Virgin Islands
.
White....
Negro
Mixed
Another.
Cities
Wliite....
Negro
Mixed
Another.
Rural districts.
White
Negro
Mixed
Another
St. Croix.,
White....
Negro
Mixed
Another..
Christiansted
.
White
Negro
Mixed
Another..
Fredenltsted
.
White....
Negro
Mixed
Another.
Rural districts.
White
Negro
Mixed
Another...
Bt. Thomas.
White....
Negi'o
Mixed....
Another.
Charlotte Amalie..
White
Negro
Mixed
Another
Rural districts.'
White
Negro
Mixed
Another...
St. John.
White....
Negro
Mixed
Another.
POPULATION
10 TEARS
OP AGE AND
over:
1917.
Total
num-
ber.
21, 191
1,661
15,949
3,641
40
12,501
979
8,816
2,686
20
8,690
855
20
12,396
541
10,256
1,677
22
3, 775
236
2,755
778
6
2,574
97
2,106
370
1
6,047
203
6,395
8,106
1,116
5,195
1,778
17
6,152
646
3,959
1,638
13
1,954
470
1,240
240
4
4
498
miterate.
Num-
ber.
5,281
188
4,734
340
10
2,272
6
2,072
190
3,009
182
2,662
150
15
3,808
3,699
191
15
1
794
70
2
670
'547'
2,371
2
2,268
1,329
186
1,025
116
3
835
9
731
97
2
494
180
294
19
1
144
110
33
1
Per
cent.
24.9
11.3
29.7
9.0
(')
18.2
0.6
23.5
7.1
(')
34.6
26.7
37.3
17.5
C)
30.7
0.6
35.1
12.1
w
23.0
0.4
28.8
9.0
(')
22.1
26.0
6.2
(')
39.2
1.0
41.9
22.8
«
16.4
16.6
19.7
6.5
(')
13.6
0.8
18.5
6.3
(')
25.3
38.3
23.7
7.9
(')
20.9
MALES
10 TEARS OP
AOE AND over: 1017.
22.1
17.7
(')
Total
num-
ber.
9,644
1,054
7,270
1,288
32
5,018
631
3,605
868
14
4,626
423
3,766
420
18
5,953
321
4,970
644
18
1,633
140
1,200
1,025
,M
854
116
1
3,296
127
2,916
239
13
3,337
729
2,032
663
13
lUiterate.
Num-
ber.
2,306
92
2,076
122
16
Per
cent.
8.7
28.6
9.6
(')
747
1
705
1,669
91
1,371
83
14
1,764
1,674
76
14
332
313
17
2
192
188
4
1,240
1,173
56
12
92
2,360
437
1,451
977
292
681
100
4
4
268
81
1
223
1
204
18
227
91
126
14.9
0.2
20.1
4.5
m
33.7
21.6
36.4
19.8
('1
29.6
33.7
11.8
(')
26.1
5.9
W
18.7
22.0
3.4
(')
40.2
23.0
(')
13.5
12.6
16.2
4.8
m
9.4
0.2
14.1
3.9
(')
23.2
31.2
21.7
9.0
(')
26.0
PEUAI.es
to
TEARS
OP AOE AND over:
1017.
Total
num-
ber.
11,547
607
8,679
2,263
7,483
348
5,311
1,818
4,064
259
3,368
436
2
6,443
220
6,286
933
4
2,142
96
1,656
489
2
1,649
43
i,2.';2
254
2,752
81
2,479
190
2
4,769
387
3,163
1,215
4
26.9
23.6
3,792
209
2,504
1,075
4
977
178
659
140
335
230
105
Illiterate.
Num-
ber.
2,975
96
2,658
218
3
1,625
5
1,367
151
2
1,450
91
1,291
67
1
2,044
3
1,926
115
1
635
1
481
53
378
359
19
1,131
2
1,085
43
1
879
612
4
527
79
2
267
89
168
10
> Per cent not shown where base is less than 60.
72
THE
VIRGIlSr ISLANDS.
The percentage of illiteracy in the total population and in each of
the three principal classes of the population 10 years of age and over
is shown in Table 28 for the Virgin Islands in 1917 and for Porto Rico
and the United States in 1910.
Table 38
POPULATION.
73
ILLITERATES IN THE POPULATION
10 YEAES OF AOE AND OVER: 1917
Table 29
CLASS OP POPULATION AND
AGE PERIOD.
All classes..
10 to 14 years
15 to 19 years
20 to 24 years
25 to 34 years
35 to 44 years
45 to 54 years
55 to 64 years
65 years and orar.
White
10 to 14 years
15 to 19 years
20 to 24 years
25 to 34 years
35 to 44 years
45 to 54 years
55 to 64 years
65 years and over.
Negro
10 to 14 years
15 to 19 years
20 to 24 years
25 to 34 years
35 to 44 years
45 to 54 years
55 to 64 years
65 years and over.
Mixed
10 to 14 years
15 to 19 years
20 to 24 years
25 to 34 years
' 35 to 44 years
45 to 54 years
55 to 64 years
65 years and over.
All other
10 to 14 years
15 to 19 years
20 to 24 years
25 to 34 years
35 to 44 years
45 to .54 years
55 to 64 years
65 years and over.
POPULATION 10 YEAHS OF
AGE AND OTBE:
1917.
Total
number.
21,191
2,461
2,209
2,521
4,115
3,719
2,709
1,894
1,563
1,661
128
158
363
162
124
103
15,949
1,829
1,627
1,808
3,124
2,899
2,104
1,434
1,124
3,641
605
418
3-13
COO
5S0
437
326
332
Illiterate.
Num-
ber.
5,281
109
128
262
675
1,011
1,153
990
953
188
4,734
93
104
226
593
930
1,051
889
848
340
19
For
cent.
24.9
4.4
5.8
10.4
16.4
27.2
42.6
52.3
61.0
11.3
6.3
8.9
6.3
12.6
11.9
18.5
16.9
14.6
!9.7
5.1
6.4
12.5
19.0
32.1
50.0
62.0
75.4
9.6
1.6
1.9
3.8
5.5
9.0
15.3
21.8
26.6
(')
MALES 10 YEAES OP A«E
AND over:
1917.
Total
num-
ber.
9,644
1,183
1,023
1,229
1,856
1,765
1,288
817
1,054
251
138
91
69
32
7,270
733
785
1,387
1,406
1,024
646
396
1,288
229
174
130
216
209
167
102
61
Illiterate.
Ntmi-
ber.
2,306
79
112
307
483
535
428
92
61
65
93
274
444
485
381
283
122
Per
cent.
2.3.9
6.1
7.7
9.1
16.5
27.6
41.5
52.4
6L3
8.7
6.7
8.7
4.2
8.0
11.6
17.6
15.3
W
28. e
6.7
8.9
11.8
19.8
31.6
47.4
69.0
71.5
9.!
2.2
2.3
4.6
6.0
11.0
17.4
28.4
21.3
m
FEUALE9
10 TEAB9 OF
AGE AND OVEE;
1917.
Total
num-
ber.
11, .547
1,278
1,186
1,292
2,259
1,964
1,421
1,077
1,070
607
43
65
138
98
71
65
71
1,679
936
894
1,023
1,737
1,493
1,080
788
72S
276
244
213
384
371
270
224
271
Illiterate.
Num-
ber.
2,975
49
150
368
528
618
562
651
2,658
42
319
486
566
508
665
* Per cent not shown where base is less than 50.
INABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH.
Of the total population of the Virgin Islands 5 years of age and over
in 1917 only 164 persons were returned by the enumerators as being
unable to speak English.
It is believed that in some of these cases
persons who could speak English but whose native language was other
than
English
returned
their
native
language
instead
of
English.
If this be true, then even the small number here reported as unable
74
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
to speak English is excessive.
Table 30 shows by color or race the
language of the persons 5 years of age and over returned as unable
to speak Enghsh.
Vable 30
POPtJLATIOir.
75
OCCUPATIONS.
Number and proportion of persons occupied.—In tlie Virgin Islands
in 1917 there were 14,590 persons 10 years of age and over engaged
in gainful occupations.
The gainful workers thus formed 56 per cent
of the total population and 68.8 per cent of the population 10 years
of age and over.
In the male population the gainful workers num-
bered 7,936, which was 66.1 per cent of all males and 82.3 per cent
of the males 10 years of age and over.
In the female population the
gainful workers numbered
6,654, which was
47.4 per cent
of
all
females and 57.6 per cent of the females 10 years of age and over.
In Table 32 the number of
persons engaged
in gainful occupa-
tions in 1917
is compared with the
total population and with the
population 10 years of age and over for both sexes and for each sex
separately.
Table 32
76
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
On
the
island
of
St. Croix the proportion
of the population
10
years of age and over engaged in
gainfiil occupations in 1917 was
73.6 for both sexes, 85.2 for males, and 63 for females.
The corre-
sponding proportions on the island of St. Thomas were 62.6 for both
sexes, 78.2 for males, and 51.6 for females, and on St. John they were
56.2
for
both
sexes,
71.2
for
males, and
40.3
for
females.
For
both sexes and for each sex the proportion gainfully occupied was
considerably larger iu the total rural than in the total urban popula-
tion.
On the island of St Thomas, however, a larger proportion of
the urban than of the rural popidation 10 years of age and over was
gainfully occupied in 1917.
In the report of the census taken by Denmark in 1911 the total
population of the Virgin Islands was divided with respect to occu-
pations into
three groups—"providers," "dependents," and "serv-
ants."
The "providers" formed
58.1
per
cent,
the "dependents"
39.3 per cent, and the "servants" 2.6 per cent of the total popula-
tion.
If the "providers" and "servants" be combined, and
if from
this combined group be taken the paupers, delinquents, and inmates
of hospitals,
etc., included with the "providers" and "servants" in
1911,
then
the remaining group
should
be
comparable
with
the
"gainfid workers," as classified in 1917.
Thus, arranged in accord-
ance with the 1917 grouping, the 1911
statistics show that at that
date the gainful workers numbered 15,404, which was 56.9 per cent
of the total population.
The male gainful workers numbered 8,057,
or 64.4 per cent of aU males; and the female gainful workers numbered
7,347, or 50.4 per cent of all females.
In Table 33 the number of persons engaged in gainful occupations
in 1911 is compared with the total population.
Table 33
POPTTLATIOK.
77
Number and proportion of persons in the general divisions of occupa-
tions.—^Table 34 shows, for both sexes, and for each sex separately,
the gainful workers in 1917 distributed by general divisions of occu-
pations.
Of the
14,590 gainful workers, over
two-fifths
(41.7 per
cent) were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, almost one-
fifth
(19.2 per cent) were engaged in manufacturing and mechanical
industries, and one-fifth (20 per cent) were engaged in domestic and
personal service.
On
St. Croix 59.5 per cent
of the workers were
engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, as compared with only
12 per cent on
St. Thomas and
St. John.
The proportion
of the
workers in each of the other general divisions of occupations was
considerably smaller on St. Croix than on St. Thomas and St. John.
Table 34
BEX Ain> GENSBAL DIVISION OT OCCUPATIONS.
Both Sexe3.
AJ] oceapations.
.
Agrlcultnre and animal hnsbandry
lunufactuTrng and mechanical industries.
.
Transportation
Trade
Public service (not elsewhere classified)
Professional service
Domestic and personal service
Clerical occupations
All occupations.
Agriculture and animal hiisbandry
Manufacturing and mechanical industries.
.
Transportation
Trade
PubUc service (not elsewhere classified)
Professional service
Domestic and personal service
Clerical occupations
All occupations.
Agriculture and animal husbandry
I&nufacturing and mechanical industries.
,
Transportation
Trade
Public service (not elsewhere classified)
Professional service
Domestic and personal service
Clerical occuoations
vntoiN ishnhs.
Number:
1917.
14,590
6,084
2,802
842
872
621
261
2,918
190
7,936
3,880
1,932
642
360
621
149
182
170
6,654
2,204
870
200
512
112
2,736
20
Per
cent
distri-
bution.
100.0
41.7
19.2
5.8
6.0
4.3
1.8
20.0
1.3
100.0
48.9
24.3
8.1
4.5
7.8
1.9
2.3
2.1
100.0
33.1
13.1
3.0
7.7
1.7
41.1
0.3
Num-
ber:
1917.
9,129
6,428
1,377
218
345
155
137
1,386
6,073
3,303
1,045
207
123
155
81
86
74
4,056
2,125
332
11
222
56
1,301
Per
cent
distri-
bution.
100.0
59.5
15.1
2.4
3.8
1.7
1.5
16.2
0.9
100.0
4.1
2.4
3.1
1.6
1.7
1.5
100.0
52.4
8.2
0.3
5.5
1.4
32.1
0.2
ST. THOMAS AND
ST. JOHN.
Num-
ber:
1917.
5,461
656
1,425
624
527
466
124
1,532
107
2,863
577
887
435
237
466
2,598
79
538
189
290
56
1,435U
Per
cent
dis-
tribu-
tion.
100.0
12.0
26.1
11.4
9.7
8.5
2.3
28.1
2.0
100.0
20.2
.31.0
15.2
8.3
16.3
2.4
3.4
3.4
100.0
3.0
20.7
7.3
11.2
2.2
55.2
0.4
Of the 7,936 male gainful workers, 48.9 per cent were engaged in
agriculture and animal husbandry, and 24.3 per cent were engaged in
manufacturing and mechanical industries
These two general divi-
sions of occupations thus gave employment
to nearly three-fourths
(73.2 per cent) of
all male workers.
On St. Croix more than eight-
tenths of the male workers (85.7 per cent) were in these two general
78
THE VIKGIN ISLANDS.
divisions of occupations, as compared with slightly over five-tenths
(51 2 per cent) on St. Thomas and St. John.
Of the 6,654 gainfully-
occupied females approximately one-third (33.1 per cent) were engaged
in agriculture and animal husbandry and over two-fifths
(41.1 per
cent) were engaged in domestic and personal service.
On St. Croix
over one-half
(52.4 per cent)
of
the female
gainful workers were
engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and almost one-third
of them (32.1 per cent) were engaged in domestic and persona- serv-
ice.
On St. Thomas and St. John domestic and personal service was
the most important
field
of employment for gainful females,
over
one-half (55.2 per cent) of them being so occupied.
Persons occupied, distributed by sex.—^Table 35 shows, for all occu-
pations and for each general division of occupations, the number of
males and females gainfully occupied in 1917 and the per cent which
the workers of each sex constituted of the total.
These figures show
that of each 100 persons gainfully occupied in 1917, 54.4 were male
and
45.6
were
female.
In
each
general
division
of
occupations,
except trade and domestic and personal service, males outnumbered
females.
In trade 41.3 per cent of the workers were male and 58.7
per cent were female.
In domestic and personal service more than
nine-tenths (93.8 per cent) of the workers were female.
Table 35
GENEEAX DIVISION OF OCCCPAnONS.
All occupations
Agriculture and animal husbandry
M^ufacturing and mechanical industries
Transportation
Trade
Public service (not elsewhere classified).
.
Professional service
Domestic and personal service
Clerical occupations
Total:
1917.
14,590
6,084
2,802
842
872
621
261
2,918
190
Number.
7,936
3,880
1,932
642
360
621
149
182
170
Per
cent.
Number.
54.4
63.8
69.0
76.2
a. 3
100.0
57.1
6.2
89.5
6,654
2,204
870
200
512
112
2,736
20
Per
cent.
45.6
36.2
31.0
23.8
58.7
42.9
93.8
10.5
Persons occupied,
distributed by age periods.—^Table 36 shows for
the males and females of the Virgin Islands the niimber of persons of
each specified age engaged in gainful occupations compared with the
total number of the same age in 1917.
The figures show that in 1917
more than eight-tenths
(82.3 per cent) of the males 10 years of age
and over were engaged in gainful occupations.
In the lowest age
period, 10 to
13, only 6.3 per cent of the males were gainfully occu-
pied, while in the next age period, 14 to 15, the proportion gainfully
occupied was over seven times as large, being 44.3 per cent.
For the
age period 16 to 20 the proportion occupied (87.7 per cent) was almost
double that for the age period 14 to
15.
The proportion occupied
was almost the same for the age period 21 to 30 (97 per cent) as for
the age period 31 to 44 (97.1 per cent).
In the age period 21 to 30
POPULATION.
79
only 3 men and in the age period 31 to 44 only 2.9 men out of every
100 were without gainful occupations.
If the age periods, except the
lowest two, be combined, it is found that of all males 16 years of age
and over considerably over nine-tenths (93.1 percent) were engaged
in gainful occupations in 1917.
Of the females 10 years of age and over, 57.6 per cent were engaged
in gainful occupations in 1917.
In the age period 10 to 13 the pro-
portion gainfully occupied was larger for females
(8.7 per cent) than
for males (6.3 per cent), but in each of the other age periods the pro-
portion was considerably smaller for females than for males.
The
proportion of females gainfully occupied was highest in the age period
21
to 30 years—73.4 per cent.
The proportion dropped to 69 per
cent in the age period 31 to 44, to 63.1 per cent in the age period 45
to 64, and to 28.6 per cent in the age period 65 years and over.
TaDle 36
AGE PEBIOD,
10 years and over
10 to 13 years
14 to 15 years
16 to 20 years
21 to 30 years
31 to 44 years
45 to 84 years
65 years and over
MALES 10 TEARS OF AGE AND
OVEE:
1917.
Total
number.
9,644
469
1,055
2,224
2,364
2,105
493
Engaged in gain-
ful occupations.
Number.
59
208
925
2,158
2,295
1,955
Per
cent.
82.3
44.3
87.7
97.0
97.1
92.9
68.2
FEMALES 10 TEARS OF AGE
AND over: 1917.
Total
number.
11, 547
1,026
473
1,230
2,529
2,721
2,498
1,070
Engaged in gain-
ful occupations.
Number.
6,654
167
783
1,856
1,878
1,575
306
Per
cent.
67.6
8.7
35.3
63.7
73.4
69.0
63.1
The per cent which the gainful workers in each age period consti-
tuted of
all gainful workers in the Virgin Islands in 1917
is shown
for both sexes and for each sex separately in Table 37.
This sum-
mary shows that more than nine-tenths
(92 per cent) of the gainful
workers were between 16 and 64 years of age, inclusive.
Only 1 per
cent were 10 to
13, only 2.6 per cent 14 to
15, and only 4.4 per cent
65 years of age and over.
There was no marked difference between
the sexes as to the age distribution of the gainful workers.
TaWe 37
AOK PERIOD.
10 years and over
10 to 13 years
14 to 15 years...
16 to 20 years
PEE CENT DISTEmUTION
OF PERSONS ENGAGED
IN
GAINFUL occupa-
tions: 1917.
Both
1.0
2.6
11.7
Male.
0.7
2.6
11.7
Fe-
male.
1.3
2.5
11.8
AGE PEKIOD.
21 to 30 years
31 to 44 years
45 to 64 years
65 years and over.
PEE CENTnSTRIBTjnON
OF PERSONS ENGAGED
IN GAESFUL
OCCUPA-
TIONS: 1917.
Both
27.5
28.6
24.2
4.4
Male.
27.2
28.9
24.6
4.2
Fe-
male.
27.9
28.2
23.7
4.6
80
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
Persons occupied, distributed hy color or race.—Table 38 shows for
both sexes and for each sex separately a distribution by color or race
of the total population of the Virgin Islands 10 years of age and over
and of the persons engaged in gainful occupations in 1917.
Of
all
gainful
workers
white
persons
constituted
7.7
per
cent,
Negroes
78.3 per
cent, persons
of mixed race
13.7 per
cent, and
all
other
persons 0.2 per cent.
The Negroes formed a somewhat larger and
the whites and the mixed, formed a somewhat smaller proportion of
the gainful workers than of the population 10 years of age and over.
The
white males formed
a somewhat
larger
per
cent,
the Negro
males
approximately
the same per
cent,
and
the mixed males
a
somewhat smaller per cent of the male gainful workers than of the
male population 10 years of age and over.
The white and the mixed
females formed
a much
smaller proportion
of
the
female
gainful
workers than
of
the female population
10 years
of age and
over,
while the reverse was true of the Negro females.
Table 38
SEX AND CLASS 01 POPULATION.
POPTJLATIOIT.
81
per cent) than for
all females
(57.6 per cent), while the proportion
for Negro females (62.6 per cent) was larger than for all females.
Table 39
CLASS OF POPTJLATION.
82
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
In addition, 2 of the gainfully occupied females 15 years of age were
married, making a
total
of 2,406 married or consensuaUy married
females 15 years of age and over engaged in gainful occupations in
1917.
Hence, of the 4,100 married and consensuaUy married females
15 years of age and over in the total population, 2,406, or 58.7 per
cent, were engaged in gainful occupations.
The marital condition of the gainfully occupied females was not
tabulated separately for each color or race.
Since the number of
gainfully occupied white females 10 years of age and over was only
178
in
1917,
marital
condition
of
the
gainfully occupied females
by
color
or race
is
of importance mainly
for Negro females and
females
of mixed race.
And,
since Negro females and females
of
mixed race together constituted 97.2 per cent of all females engaged
in gainful occupations (Table 38)
,
it is evident that the marital con-
dition of the gainfully occupied Negro and mixed females was prac-
tically the same as that of
all gainfully occupied females.
Accord-
ing to Table 40, of all gainfully occupied females 16 years of age and
over in 1917, 52.7 per cent were single, 18.8 per cent were married,
18.8
per cent were consensuaUy married,
and
9.8
per
cent were
widowed or divorced.
Description of the occupation general tables.—Table 41
(p. 83) shows,
for the Virgin Islands, the number and sex of the persons 10 years
of age and over engaged in 1917 in each of 112 specified occupations
and
occupation
groups.
Sinular
statistics
are
presented
for
St.
Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, and for the cities of Christiansted,
Frederiksted, and Charlotte Amalie, in Table 42
(p. 85).
Table 43
(p.
88) shows, for the Virgin Islands, the number of males and of
females
10 years
of age and over engaged in selected occupations
and occupation groups,
classified by age periods, and by color or
race, and by marital condition for persons 16 years of age and over.
Table 44
(p. 94) presents similar statistics for St. Croix, St. Thomas,
and St. John and for the
cities of Christiansted, Frederiksted, and
Charlotte
Amalie.
The
occupations
selected
for
presentation
in
Tables 43 and 44 are those of the 112 occupations shown in Tables
41 and 42, which are of most importance, niunerically, for the par-
ticular area.
POPULATION.
83
Table 41.- -TOTAL PBESONS 10 YEARS OP AGE AND OVEE ENGAGED IN EACH SPECI-
FIED OCCUPATION, CLASSIFIED BY SEX:
1917.
OCCUPATION.
ropulation 10 years of age and
over
All occupations.
.
21,191
14, 690
Agriculture and animal
husbandry
Farmers
Farm and garden foremen and
overseers
Farm and garden laborers
Farm watchmen
Fishermen
G ardeners
Manufacturing and me-
chanical industries. .
.
Apprentices to trades
Baiters and bakers' helpers
Blaclrsmiths
B oilermakers
Brick and stone masons
Butchers
Cabinetmakers
Carpenters and joiners
Cigar makers
Compositors,
printers,
and
typesetters
Coopers
Dressmakers and seamstresses
Electricians and electrical en-
gineers
Engineers (mechanical)
Engineers (stationary)
Firemen (except fire depart-
ment)
Foremen and overseers (man-
ufacturing)
Hat makers (not in factory)
.
.
,
Jewelers, watchmakers, gold-
smiths and silversmitii"
Laborers (not otherwise speci-
fied):
charcoal burners
General and not specified
laborers
Laborers, sugar lactones.
.
Other laborers in manu-
tscturini!
Machinists, inillwrights, and
toolmakers
Managers
and
superintend-
ents (manufacturing)
Manufacturers and officials . .
.
Mechanics
(not
otherwise
Mininers and millinerydealers.
Painters, glaziers, vamishers,
and enamelers
,
Piano and organ tuners
Plumbers,
gas
and
steam
fitters
Saddlers
,
Shipwrights
Shoemakers and cobblers
Sugar
factory
operatives
(semiskilled)
,
Tailors
Tinsmiths and coppersmiths.
Wheelwrights
Other pursuits
Basket makers
Broom makers
Candy makers
Mattress makers
Net makers
Total.
6,0S4
108
5,120
24
426
18
2,802
170
137
8
157
30
12
457
18
21
10
549
15
6
78
268
116
6
35
8
77
17
107
30
17
32
4
2
2
9,644
7,936
341
105
3,970
24
425
15
Male
11,547
6,654
,880
84
32
137
8
157
30
12
467
17
19
10
1
15
6
78
39
Fe-
male.
2,204
3
2,150
4
138
648
13
84
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Table 41. -TOTAL PEESONS 10 YEARS OF AOE AND OVER ENGAGED IN EACH SPECI-
FIED OCCUPATION, CLASSIFIED BY SEX: 1917—Continued.
OCCUPATION.
Domestic and personal
service
Barbers and hairdressers
Bartenders
Boarding and lodging house
keepers
Cooks
Hotel and restaurant keepers.
Housekeepers and stewards. .
.
Janitors and sextons
Laimderers and laundresses
.
.
Midwives
Nursesi
Saloonkeepers
Servants and waiters
Other domestic
service pur-
suits
Total.
2,91S
348
8
32
6
1,303
11
129
3
1,046
Male.
182
6
2
124
Fe-
male.
2,736
1
1
6
338
3
30
1
1,300
11
123
1
922
OCCnPATIOU.
Clerical occupations.
Agents, canvassers, and
col-
lectors
Bookkeepers,
cashiers,
and
accountants
Clerks (except clerks In stores)
Messenger, errand, and office
boys
Stenographers
and
type-
writers
Total.
190
Male.
Fe-
mali^
1
12
'Includes
tiained,
practical, and
cbildten's nurses.
POPULATION.
85
Table 42.—TOTAL PEESONS 10YEARS OF AGE AND OVER ENGAGED IN EACH SPECIFIED
OCCUPATION. CLASSIFIED BY SEX. FOR ISLANDS AND CITIES:
1917.
86
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Table 42
TOTAL PERSONS 10YEAES OF AGE AND OVER ENGAGED IN EACH SPECTFIED
OCCUPATION. CLASSIFIED BY SEX, FOE ISLANDS AND CITIES: 1917—Continued.
POPULATION.
87
Table 42—TOTAL PERSONS 10YEARS OF AGE AND OVEE ENGAGED IN EACH SPECIFIED
OCCUPATION. CLASSIFIED BY SEX. FOB ISLANDS AND CITIES; 1917—Continued.
bo
THE VIRGIN- ISLANDS.
Table 43
TOTAL PERSONS 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER ENGAGEP IN SELECTED
BY MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS
16
POPULATION.
89
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PEEIODS, COLOR OH RACE, AND
SEX, AND
YEARS OF AGE AND OVER:
1917.
AGE PEBIOnS-
contlnued.
4S to 64
years.
65 years
and over.
2,105 2,498
1,9551,575
4931,070
336
306
COLOR OE RACE.
White.
1,054
607
Negro.
8,679
6,000 5,430
1,288
Mixed.
2,253
960 1, 040
All
oth-
er.
3,495
MAEITAl CONDITION OF OCCUPIED PEK-
SONS 16 yEABS
Oi' AGE AND OVER.
Single.
3,370 2,321
Married.
1,203 1,503
869
Consen-
sually
married.
1,201
719
Wid-
owed
and di-
vorced.
-I
I
S
350
624
1,153
I
499
215!
94
3,450 2,109
1,587
3,1,111
172
60
792:
10
120
24
431
2-
430
262
70
50
76
2,804
23
298
12
35
2
2,069
90
97 1,468
458
369
80
67
19
1,344
5
146
6
764
673
....
202
55
714
32
18
6
131
154
18.
1.
R
90
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Table 43
TOTAL PERSONS 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER ENGAGED IN SELECTED
BY MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS
16
POPULATION.
91
OCCUPATIONS. CLASSIFIKD BY AOE PERIODS, COLOE OE EACE, AND
SEX, AND
YEAES OF AGE AND OVEE:
1917—Continued.
AGE PERIODS—
continued.
92
THE VIEGIK ISLANDS.
Tap.le 43.—total persons
10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER ENGAGED IN SELECTED
BY MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS
16
POPULATION,
93
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS, COLOR OE EACE, AND SEX, AND
YEARS OF AGE AND OVER
1917—Continued.
AOE PEEIODS—
94
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS
16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES: 1917.
jrujruj^ATIOH".
95
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OP AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS. CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
96
THE VIRGIIT
ISi.AiNi/o.
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS
16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
POPULATIOK.
97
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS
16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continuod.
SEX AND OCCUPATION.
Total.
AOE FEBIODS.
t
98
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
SEX AND OOCTIPATION.
Total,
AGE PERIODS.
COLOE OE RACE.
MARITAL CONDITION
OF
PERSONS
16
YEARS OP AGE AND
OVER.
ST. THOMAS—Continued.
Females
POPULATION.
99
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AKD OVEE IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PEEIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOE PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVEE, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
SEX AND OCCUPATION.
Total.
AGE PEEIODS.
COLOB OB KACE.
MAEITAL CONDITION
or
FEBSONS
IS
YEARS OP AGE AND
OVEE.
si
o
ST. JOHN.
100
THE VIRGIN ISLANI>S.
Table 44
TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEAEB OP AGE ANI> OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
POPULATION.
101
Table 44
TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
SEX AND OCCUPATION.
Total,
AGE PERIODS.
COLOR OR RACE.
MARITAL CONDITION
OF
PERSONS
16
YEARSOFAQE AND
OVER.
I
P'E
CHRISTIANSTED—Continued.
Males—Contd.
102
THE VIBGIN ISLANIS.
Table 44.—JJOTAL UALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OP AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCtrPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
POPTJLATIOISr.
103
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVEE IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONSj CLASSIFIED BY AGE PEEIODS AND COLOR OR RACE. AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOE PERSONS 16 YEARS OP AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES;
1917—Continued.
104
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Table 44
TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS,
CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES;
1917—Conlinucd.
POPULATIOIT.
105
Tablb 44.—total UALES AND FEMALES 10 YEAKS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
106
THE VIBGIN ISLANDS.
Table 44.—TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES 10 YEARS OF AGE AND OVEK IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, CLASSIFIED BY AGE
PERIODS AND COLOR OR RACE, AND BY
MARITAL CONDITION FOR PERSONS
16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, FOR ISLANDS
AND CITIES:
1917—Continued.
POPTJLATIOIT.
107
because
incomplete,
and
some
were
not
tabulated
because
the
number of employees was considered too small to be representative
of the total number in the particular occupations.
The returns for
2,037 employees were tabulated, and the statistics are presented in
Table 45, which shows the wages received, the hours worked per day,
and the days worked per year by employees working in 28 specified
occupations in 1917.
The majority of the laundresses and most of the cooks and servants
and waiters received, in addition to the money wages reported for
them,
board,
or
both
board
and
lodging.
Likewise,
each farm
laborer living and working on an estate or plantation usually received,
in addition to the money wages here reported, a room—commonly
valued at five cents a day—and, especially on the island of St. Croix,
a garden plot of not less than one-tenth of an acre of land.
On some
estates laborers who both worked and lived there were also allowed to
keep farm animals.
In lieu of these privileges granted laborers who
both worked and Hved on the estate, laborers working but not living
on the estate usually were paid five cents a day higher wages than
the estate laborers of the same class.
Occasionally an employee in some occupation other than those
mentioned in the preceding paragraph also received board, or both
board and lodging, in addition to money wages.
In each such case,
when the value of the board or of the board and lodging, as estimated
by the employer, was returned by the enumerator, this value was
added to and reported with the money wages.
However, in some of
the cases in which employees received board, or both board and lodg-
ing, in addition to money wages,
its value was not returned by the
enumerators.
It is probable, also, that in other cases no return was
made by the enumerators
of the fact that the employees received
board, or both board and lodging, in addition to their money wages.
In some cases the number of employees returned on the wages and
hours of labor schedule as engaged in a particular occupation exceeded
the number
returned
on
the
general
population
schedule.
Such
excess, where
it
occurs, usually
is explained by the fact that the
information returned on the wages and hours of labor schedule was
secured, wherever possible, from the employers
at their respective
places
of business, whUe the information returned on the general
population
schedule
was
secured
from
the
different
individuals
enumerated, or from persons found at their respective homes by the
enumerators in their house-to-house visitation.
In some cases the
information as to wages and hours of labor given by employers was
from their book records; and, in the case of the sugar factories, the
information apparently was for the operating season of 1917 and not
for the census date, November
1, 1917.
This explains the compara-
tively large number
of stationary engineers and laborers
in sugar
factories reported in the wages and hours of labor table.
108
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Table 45—WAGES RECEIVED, HOUR8 WORKED PER DAY, AND DATS WORKED PER
YEAR, BY EMPLOYEES IN EACH SPECIFIED OCCUPATION:
1917.
[In the case of each occupation the sex of the workers is male unless otherwise specified.]
RATES OF WASES AKD
E0DK3 AND DAYS OF
UBOR.
POPULATION.
109
Table 45.-WAGES RECEIVED, HOURS WORKED PER DAY, AND DAYS WORKED PEE
YEAR, BY EMPLOYEES IN EACH SPECIFIED OCCUPATION: 1917—Continued.
[In the case of each occupation
tlie sex of tlie workers
is male unless otherwise specified.]
RATES or WAGES AND
HOURS AND DATS O?
LABOR.
110
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
TABLE45
WAGES RECEIVED, HOURS WORKED PER DAY, AND DAYS WORKED PER
YEAR, BY EMPLOYEES IN EACH SPECIFIED OCCUPATION: 1917—Continued.
[In the case of each occupation the sex of the workers is male unless otherwise specified.]
RATES OF WAGES AND
HOURS AND DAYS OF
POPTJLATIOlir.
Ill
Table 45.—WAGES RECEIVED, HOURS WORKED PER DAY AND DAYS WORKED PER
YEAR, BY EMPLOYEES IN EACH SPECIFIED OOOtTPATION: 1917—Continued.
[In the case of each occupation the sex of the workers is male unless otherwise specified.]
RATES OF WAGES AND
HOURS AND DAYS OF
AGRICULTURE.
INTBODTTCTION.
This
chapter
treats
of
the
agricultural
interests
of
the
Virgin
Islands and is a summary and general presentation of the results of
the
first
census
of
agriculture
of
these
islands.
From
v>arious
sources it has been gathered that agriculture has largely been neglected
throughout the islands for a number of years, and that there has
been retrogression rather than progress.
During the
existence
of
slavery on the islands agriculture was the principal industry, and
practically all the land of every estate was devoted to the growth of
sugar cane.
With the abolition of slavery, and the increase of ship-
ping labor gradually deserted these estates and centered in the ports,
chiefly St. Thomas,
as farm laborers were poorly paid, while labor
in the ports was paid a fairly good wage for that class of work.
A complete statement
is given concerning the area and value of
land in farms and the value of other property devoted to agriculture
November
1, 1917,_the agricultural operations on farms for the year
ending October 31, 1917, and the number and value of Uve stock ia
towns November
1, 1917.
Area oj enumeration.—The area of enumeration included the islands
of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John.
Schedules and method of canvass.—^A general farm schedule was
designed
for the
exclusive purpose
of
collecting data
relating
to
farmers, farm land, farm property, and farm products.
This general
schedule contained
an
inquiry
designed
for
data
relating
to Hve
stock not on farms.
Each enumerator was supplied with a book of
instructions for use in preparing the schedule.
The general farm schedule was carried by the enumerators, who
also had the duty of collecting statistics of population.
An enumera-
tor who carried the general farm schedule personally visited each
farm and this same schedule was used by enumerators for securing
data pertaining to live stock not on farms.
The enumerators visited
the persons in charge of inclosures, etc., in towns, and secured from
them the facts
desired.
Definitions.—For the purpose
of insuring comparabiUty, and for
the assistance
of the enumerators, the Bureau
of
the Census has
adopted and each
of the enumerators was provided with
certain
definitions and instructions, the more important of which are essen-
tially as follows
:
60396°—18-
8
(113)
114
THE VIBGIN ISLANTJS.
Fccrm.—A "farm," for census purposes, is the land under the personal management
of a single indi-vidual or firm, though consisting of different tracts, used for raising or
producing animals, poultry, and agricultural products, and operated or farmed by
his labor, the labor of the members of his household, or by hired employees working
under his personal direction.
If an individual works one tract of land as a hired
manager or overseer and a second tract of which he is owner or tenafit, or if he operates
two or more farms for different individuals, the different tracts constitute different
farms.
In all other cases the land operated by a given individual or firm constitutes
a single farm, no matter if made of a number of parcels or tracts.
In rural districts
care should be taken to secure a schedule for every tract of land having an occupant
when such occupant obtains during the year products which contribute in any degree
to the support of himself or family
Public institutions, as insane hospitals, reform
schools,
etc.,
carrying on
agricultural
opeiations,
are
to be
considered
as
farms.
Report only the value of the lands and buildings used for agricultural purposes for
such institutions.
FaTw, land.—Farm land is divided into (1) improved land, (2) woodland, and (3) all
other unimproved land.
Improved land includes all land regularly tilled or mowed,
land pastured and cropped in rotation, land lying fallow, land in gardens, orchards,
vineyards, and nurseries, and land occupied by farm buildings.
Woodland includes
all land covered with natural or planted forest trees, which produce, or later may pro-
duce, firewood or other forest products.
All other unimproved land includes brush
land, rough or stony land, swamp land, and any other land which is not improved or
in forest.
The census classification of farm land as "improved land," "woodland,"
and "other unimproved land" is one not always easy for the farmers or enumerators
to make, and the statistics therefore must be considered at best only a close approxi-
mation.
Classes offarmers.—Farm owners include (1) farmers operating their own land only,
and (2) those operating both their own land and some land hired from others.
Mana-
gers are farmers who are conducting farm operations for the owner for wages or a salary.
Farm, tenants are
farmers who, as tenants, renters, or croppers, operate hired land
only.
Text discussion of tables.—^The general aspects of the statistics pre-
sented in tabular form are
briefly discussed
in the accompanying
text.
This explanatory text serves the purpose of calling attention
to
certain important
results
of the census
inquiry.
It
is not
in-
tended that
this text
shall present an exhaustive
analysis
of the
statistics.
In the main, therefore, the discussion is confined to the
facts
disclosed by the
censiis
concerning the
Virgin
Islands
as
a
whole.
Value of farm products.—^In the tables and text presented in this
chapter is shown the value of crops produced, the value of live stock
on hand at the date of the enumeration, and of certain farm products,
but no attempt has been made to compute or even estimate the total
value
of farm products.
FAEMS AND FARM PROPERTY.
Farm data for
the islavds: 1917.—Table
1, which follows, sum-
marizes for the Virgin Islands—St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas
the more important facts relating to population and land area, the
AGBICULrUBE.
115
number and acreage of farms, and the total value and average value
per farm of all farm property and the several classes thereof in 1917.
Table
1
NUMBER, AKEA, AND VALUE OF TARMS.
1917
(Nov. 1).
NUMBER, AREA, AND VALUE Or FARMS.
1917
(Nov. 1).
Population: 1917
Number of all farms
Approximate area of the islands (acres)
Land in farms (acres)
Improved land in farms (acres)
Unimproved land in farms (acres)
Average acreage per farm:
All land
Improved land
Unimproved land
I'er cent of total land area represented
by-
All land in farms
Improved land in farms
Unimproved land in farms
26,0.51
430
84,781
59,892
39,4-18
30,444
162.5
91.7
70.8
82.4
46.5
36.9
Value of farm property:
Total
Land
Buildings
Implements and macliinery . .
.
Domestic
animals,
poultry,
and bees
Average value per farm:
All farm property
Land
Buildings
Implements and machinery...
Domestic
animals,
poultry,
and bees
Average value of farm land per acre
.
i, 706, 911
1,402,501
614, MO
106,549
682,921
8,621
6,687
1,430
248
1,366
34.37
The population of the islands in 1917 was 26,051.
Of this niimber,
14,590 persons 10 years of age and over were reported as gainfully
occupied,
6,084,
or
41.6
per
cent,
being
engaged
in
agriculture
and animal husbandry.
The total area of land in farms was 69,892
acres, which was 82.4 per cent of the total land area.
The improved
land in farms totaled 39,448
acres, or 56.4 per cent of
all land in
farms.
The average farm for the islands comprises 162.5 acres, of
which
91.7
acres are improved
land.
The percentage
of improved
land in the smaller farms is much larger, and up to 20 acres averages
over 85 per cent of the total; while of those having 1,000 acres or
more less than 50 per cent is improved.
The value of farm property for the islands amounted to $3,706,911,
including the value of land and buildings,
$3,017,341; implements
and machinery,
$106,649; and
the
value
of
live
stock,
$582,921.
The average value of all farm property per farm was $8,621;
of land
and buildings, $7,017;
of implements and machinery, $248;
of live
stock,
$1,356; and
the
average
value
of farm land
per
acre was
$34.37.
The total area of the islands
is approximately 84,781
acres, and
the land
in
farais
is about
69,892
acres.
Of the
acres
in farms,
49,206 are reported for the island of St. Croix, the principal agri-
cultural island;
10,003 acres are reported for St. John; and
10,683
acres for St. Thomas.
The island of St. Croix, because of its physical
nature, leads in every phase of agriculture.
Keference to Tables 15,
16, and
17
(pp.
128-130)
will show in detail a comparison
of the
agricultural data collected for each of the islands.
116
THE vntGrsr islaitos.
Table 2
FAEMS OPERATED BY—
Number
of farms.
All land
inlarms
(acres).
Improved
I^din
farms
(acres).
Value of
land and
btiildings.
All farmers..
Owners
Managers
Tenants
Wiite farmers.
Owners
Managers
Tenants
Mixed farmers.
Owners
Managers
Tenants
Negro farmers.
Owners
Managers
Tenants
430
39,448
13,017,341
127
56
247
32,290
3,712
18,265
18,799
2,334
1,169,277
1,704,935
143,129
47,868
29,895
2,431,195
58
2-1,823
21,219
1,826
15,317
14,056
14,474
1,365
5,995
1,352,385
94,930
333,795
6,948
7,976
2,916
2,782
297
3,658
137,565
187,620
8,610
252,351
41
10
219
2,119
3,095
1,493
1,293
1,543
722
47,832
164,930
Farm tenure.—^Table 2 shows, for white, mixed, and Negro fannra^,
and for the total of all farmers, the number of farms, total acres and
improved acres of land in farms, and the value of land and buildings.
Each color classification is further divided according to tenancy and
the detail is shown for owners, managers, and tenants.
Of the 430
farms reported, 127 are shown to have been operated by owners, 56
by managers, and 247 by tenants.
Negro farm operators numbered
270, of which 219 were tenants.
White operators show the largest
number of owners and managers, while only 9 white tenant operators
are reported for the three islands.
White owners occupied 24,823
acres
of farm
land,
of which
14,056
acres were improved;
white
managers occupied 21,219 acres, of which 14,474 acres were improved;
and white tenants occupied 1,826
acres,
of which 1,365 acres were
improved.
White managers occupy the largest improved
acreage.
The value of the land and buildings on farms operated by managers
amounted to $1,352,385, which was 44.8 per cent of the total for the
islands.
Negro tenants operated the lai^est number of farms, 219 having
been reported as operating farms with a total of 1,493 acres, of which
only 722 acres were improved.
The mixed farmers operated the smallest number of farms, although
the total and improved acreage and the value of land and buildings
was in excess of that of Negro operators.
Table 3 shows the per cent distribution for the data given in Table
2, together with the per cent of farm land improved for each color
and tenure group, average acres per farm for all land and improved
land, and the average value
of land and buildings per farm and
per acre.
AGBICULTtTEE.
117
Table 3
118
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
Farms operated by managers averaged $30,445 per farm, or $52.80
per acre.
Tenant farms averaged $579 per farm, or $38.56 per acre.
White farmers, representing 23.7 per cent of the total farms report-
iag, operated 68.5 per cent of all land in farms and 75.8 per cent of
the improved land.
These farms with the improvements represented
80.5 per cent of the total value of land and buildings.
Of the total
acreage operated by white farmers, 62.5 per cent was improved land;
the farms averaged 469.3 acres, of which 293.1 acres was improved
land.
The average value of land and buildings was $23,835 per farm,
or $50.79 per acre of farm land.
Of the total farmers, 13.7 percent were white owners, representing
35.5 per cent of the total
acreage in farms and 35.6 per cent of the
improved
land.
The
value
ol
land
and
buildings
in
this
class
amounted to 32.6 per cent of the total value.
White managers,
although representing but
7.9 per cent
of the
total
farmers,
operated
30.4
per
cent of
all
farm land and
36.7
per cent of the improved land.
The value of land and buildings in
this class was 44.8 per cent of the whole.
Of the total area of farms
operated by white managers, 68.2 per cent was improved land.
The
farms averaged 624.1 acres, of which 425.7 acres was improved land.
Value of land and buildings in this class was more than double that
of any other class, averaging $39,776 per farm, or $63.73 per acre.
White tenants formed a very small percentage
(2.1 per cent)
of
the total farmers, and occupied but
2.6 per cent of the
total farm
acreage, and 3.5 per cent of the improved acreage.
The value of the
land and buildings occupied by white tenants averaged $10,547 per
farm, or $51.99 per acre.
Mixed farmers constituted
13.5 per cent of the total nmnber of
farmers.
Of
this
percentage,
6.3
per
cent were
owners,
2.8
per
cent were managers, and 4.4 per cent were tenants.
Mixed farmers
operated 21.9 per cent of all farm land and 15.2 per cent of improved
land.
The value of land and buildings represented in this class was
but
11.1 per cent of the total.
The average acreage per farm was
264.1, of which 39.1 per cent, or 103.4 acres per farm, was improved
land.
The average value per farm of the land and buildings for mixed
farmers was $5,755, or $21.79 per acre.
While Negro farmers were 62.8 per cent of the total number, they
operated only 9.6 per cent of the total area in farms and but 9 per
cent
of the improved land.
The value
of land and buildings was
8.4 per cent of the total.
These farms reported 53 per cent of farm
land improved.
The average acreage per farm was 24.8
acres,
of
which
13.2 acres was improved land.
The average value per farm
was $935, or $37.63 per acre.
Negro tenants occupied 50.9 per cent
of
all farms, thus forming the
largest tenm-e
class.
These farms,
however, were but 2.2 per cent of the total acreage and 1.8 per cent
AGRICULTURE.
119
of the improved acreage.
The value of the land and buildings occu-
pied by Negro tenants was but 1.3 per cent of the total.
Farms occu-
pied by Negro tenants averaged only 6.8 acres, of which 3.3
acres,
or 48.4 per cent, was improved land.
The average value of land and
buildings per farm was $181, or $26.52 per acre.
Farms hy size groups.—In Table 4 is shown the number of farms,
in size groups, from under 5 acres per farm to 1,000 acres and over
per farm.
The largest number of farms appears in the group of imder
5 acres, where 219 of the total of 430 farms are reported.
Above this
size the number of farms is fairly uniform xmtil the size 175 to 499
acres
is reached; here the number increased to 65 farms, and from
these decreases imtil only 16 farms of 1,000 acres or over are reported.
The largest acreage of
all lands in farms
is reported in the size 1,000
acres and over;
the largest improved acreage
is in the size 175 to
499 acres
; and the greatest value for land and buildings is reported
in the size 500 to 999 acres.
Table 4
SI2E GEOUP.
120
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
Of
all land in farms, the largest percentage—35.4 per cent—^was
in the size
1,000 acres and over; the next largest, 30.2 per cent, was
in the size 175 to 499 acres;
while the size 5 to 9 acres and the size
10 to 19 acres each amoimted to 0.3 per cent of the total.
Each size
classification reported a larger percentage of the total improved land
than of all land, except the size 50 to 99 acres, ia which the percentage
(1.9 per cent) was the same, and the size 500 to 999 acres and the size
1,000 acres and over, where in each case the land ia farms formed a
larger percentage
of
the
total than
did
the improved land.
The
value of the land and buildings in the size 500 to 999 acres was 32.2
per cent of the total for all farms;
for the size 175 to 499 acres 30.4
per cent, and for the size 1,000 acres and over 26 per cent, while the
smaller-sized farms ranged from 0.5 per cent for the size 5 to 9 acres
to 5.1 per cent for the size 100 to 174 acres.
Table 5
AGEICTJLrUBE.
121
LIVE STOCK ON FARMS ANB ELSEWHERE.
The census of agriculture
deals generally only with farms, farm
property, and, farm activities; but in the case of live stock it includes
also live stock not on farms.
In this section statistics of live stock
on farms are first presented and following, in more condensed form,
statistics of live stock not on farms together with the total for those
on farms and elsewhere.
The term
"live stock"
as used by the Census Bureau comprises
(1) the common domestic farm animals
(cattle, horses, mules, asses,
and burros, swine, sheep, and goats),
(2) poidtry, and (3) bees.
No attempt was made to collect statistics of domestic animals by
the usual age and sex
classifications, or of poultry by the various
classes.
It is obvious that in the consideration of live stock as a whole, or
even of the more limited group, "domestic animals," no combination
of the nmnbers of the different classes into one total would have any
significance.
lAve stock on farms.—Table
6, which follows, summarizes the sta-
tistics of domestic animals, poultry, and bees on farms for the Virgin
Islands, reported as of November
1, 1917.
Table 6
TABMS BEPOSTWO.
Nuinlier.
Per cent
ofaU
taims.
tniMBEB AND VALUX.
Number.
Value.
Average
value.
Total
,
Cattle
Horses
Mules
Asses and burros
Swine
Sheep
Ooats
Poultry
Bees (colonies)...
88.6
$582,921
166
275
138
244
140
32
142
38.6
64.0
32.1
S6.7
32.6
7.4
33.0
87.9
0.5
12, 187
1,872
1,668
748
2,145
1,046
1,584
6,137
41
335,688
89,548
121,095
13,719
11,414
4,920
3,360
2,976
201
(27.54
47.84
77.23
18.34
5.32
4.70
2.12
0.48
4.90
The total value of Hve stock on farms in 1917, including domestic
animals, poultry, and bees, was $582,921.
Domestic animals alone
were valued
at $579,744.
Of the
total value
of Hve
stock, cattle
represented 57.6 per cent, mules 20.8 per cent, horses 15.4 per cent,
asses and burros 2.4 per cent, and swine 2 per cent, the other classes
forming an insignificant percentage of the total.
Of the total number of farms enumerated 381, or 88.6 per cent,
reported live stock of some kind, the number without any live stock
being 49.
Cattle were reported by 38.6 per cent of all the farms in the Virgin
Islands.
The average value of cattle was reported at $27.54, and
an average of 73 cattle to every farm was reported.
122
THE VIEOIN ISLANDS.
Of all the farms in the Virgin Islands 64 per cent reported horses.
The farms reporting showed an average of seven per farm and were
reported at an average value of $47.84.
Mules were reported on 32.1
per cent of all farms at an average value of $77.23 and an average of
about
11
mules
to
each farm
reporting.
Asses and burros were
reported by 56.7 per cent of all farms in the islands and showed an
average of about three to a farm reporting with an average value of
$18.34 per animal.
Of
all farms, 32.6 per cent reported swine, an average of 15 per
farm,
and
an
average value
of
$5.32.
Sheep
and
lambs
were
reported from only 32 farms, or only 7.4 per cent of all the farms in
the Virgin Islands.
The average flock was about 33 sheep.
Goats
were reported from 142 farms, or 33 per cent of all farms in the three
islands.
Of the total number of farms enumerated 163, or 37.9 per
cent, reported poultry of some kind.
Only two farms reported bees.
Table 7 shows statistics with regard to the value of the three main
classes of hve stock on fanns,
classified according to the color and
tenure of the operator.
Table 7
AGKIOULTXTRE.
123
Lwe stock not on farms.—^Most of the live stock not on farms is found
in barns and inclosures in towns, and consists of animals kept more or
less permanently, such
as draft animals,
dairy cows, and poultry.
Statistics for such live stock are found in Table 8, which follows.
Table 8
Number
of inclos-
ures re-
porting.
Number.
Value.
Average
value.
Total
Cattle
Horses
Uules
Asses and burros
Swine
Sheep
Goats
Poultry
Bees (colonies)..
2,063
"ss"
190
28
177
82U
218
1,821
4
134
257
32
226
184
50
675
7,829
164
$24,962
3,005
12,849
1,306
2,415
512
173
1,209
3,303
190
$22.42
50.00
40.81
10.69
2.78
3.46
1.79
0.42
1.23
Horses are by far the most important class of animals not on farms
when value
is considered,
this being $.12,849, or a little more than
one-half the total value of all live stock not on farms.
Poultry was
next, with a value
of $3,303, followed by
cattle, with a value of
$3,005.
Live stock on farms and not on farms.—Table 9, which follows, gives
the number and total value of live stock, distinguishing that on farms
from that not on farms.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Value,
NOT ON FARMS.
Num-
ber.
Value.
Total.
Cattle
Horses
Mules
Asses and burros
.
Swine
Sheep
Goats
Poultry
Bees (colonies)...
12,321
2,129
1,600
974
2,329
1,096
2,259
13,966
195
$607,883
338, 693
102, 397
122, 401
16, 134
11,926
5,093
4,569
6,279
391
$582, 921
335, 688
89,548
121, 095
13,719
11,414
4,920
3,380
2,976
201
$24, 962
134
257
32
226
184
50
675
3,005
12,849
1,306
2,415
512
173
1,209
3,303
190
The total value of aU the live stock on the islands on November
1
,
1917, was $607,883,
of which the value of live stock not on farms
represented only 4.1 per cent.
LIVE STOCK PRODUCTS.
The returns for live stock products on farms at the census of 1917,
like those for crops, relate to the activities of the year ending October
31, 1917.
No attempt was made in this first census of agriculture of
the Virgin Islands to collect statistics pertaiuing to dairy products,
124
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
animals
sold and
slaughtered,
and
poultry
raised.
Although
the
schedule contained inquiries designed for reporting the amount
of
wool and mohair produced, none was reported.
Poultry products.—Of the 430 farms enumerated on the islands, 110
farms reported 10,980 dozens of eggs valued at $6,263.
Honey and wax.—Only one farm reported honey and beeswax pro-
duced, amounting to 3,000 pounds of honey valued at $120, and 150
pounds of wax valued at $45.
CEOPS.
Summary.—In Table 10 is summarized the census data relative to
the farm crops for the year ending October 31, 1917.
Table 10
AGEIOtTLTtJKE.
125
Table 11
126
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
but this situation is chiefly due to the fact that some of the larger fanns,
on which practically no harvested crops were produced, are devoted
exclusively to the raising of Hve stock.
The grazing lands are avail-
able for use for the greater part of the year, and such areas as are de-
voted to grazing produce no crop other than grass.
Labor employed
on these farms is included with that of farms devoted to crop produc-
tion.
Another factor to be considered
is that the larger managed
farms are owned by sugar companies and are devoted almost exclu-
sively to the production of sugar cane, and the cost of production is
most likely reported as the value by the managers of the farms.
Receipts from sales offeedaUe crops.—^An effort was made to secure
as complete a statement as possible of the
sales,
as well as of the
production, of the more important feedable crops; that is, those crops
which are ordinarily fed to hve stock.
While the total amount expended by Virgin Islands farmers for the
purchase of feed in 1917 was reported as $9,147, the total receipt from
sale of feed by those reporting sales amounted to $961.
AGE OF FARMERS.
This section presents data pertaining to the age of farmers by char-
acter of tenure and color of operator for 1917.
It shoiild be noted
that "farmers," as here used, refers to farm operators and not to the
farming population of the islands.
The number of farmers as given
in Table 13 and the various age groups is equal to the number of
farms
carried on by operators of the designated
age, counting one
operator to each farm.
Thus, the total number of farmers of all ages
is placed at 430, the number of farms on November
1, 1917.
Age offarm operator.—Table
13 summarizes for the islands as a
whole the number of farms divided according to the age of the opera-
tor into groups ranging from "24 years and under" to "65 years and
over," and further classified according to tenure and color.
Table 13
TEinntE AND COLOE.
AGRICULTURE.
127
Of the 426 farmers reporting their ages, 8 were reported in the age
group "24 years and under," 39 in the group "25 to 34 years," 91 in
the group "35 to 44 years," 142 ui the group "45 to 54 years," 91
in the group "55 to 64 years," and 55 in the group "65 years and
over."
Four farmers were reported in the group "age unknown."
Of the 127 owners reported 44 were in the age group "45 to 54
years," and of this number 14 were white,
14 were mixed, and 16
were Negro.
There were 247 tenant farmers reporting, 53 of which
were in the group "35 to 44 years," 78 in the group "45 to 54 years,"
and 56 in the group "55 to 64 years."
As a whole there was a remarkably small number of operators in
the age group "24 years and under," only 8 having been reported
for the three islands; one of these was an owner, six were tenants, and
one a manager.
There were no managers reported in the group "65
years and over."
Every tenure and color classification shows the largest nxmiber of
operators in the group "45 to 54 years/' with the single exception of
white managers, where the largest number of operators is reported in
the group "35 to 44 years."
TERM OF OCCUPANCY OF FARMS.
This section presents the principal data pertaining to the length of
time farmers had occupied the farms they operated when interviewed,
November
1, 1917.
Terra of occupancy.—Table 14 shows these data in period of occu-
pancy groups, which range from "less than
1 year" to "10 years and
over," and are further classified according to the character of tenure
and the color of the operator.
Table 14
128
THE VIBGIir ISLANDS.
Of the 430 farm operators in the Virgin Islands November 1, 1917,
11 made no report for the period of occupancy.
Of the 419 farm
operators reporting,
21 had operated
their farms
for
"less than
1
year," 42 were reported in the group "1 year," 113 in the group "2
to 4 years," 78 in the group "5 to 9 years," and 165 in the group "10
years and over."
This latter group represents 38.4 per cent of the
total farm operators
for the islands and would indicate a stability
scarcely to be expected in view of other general conditions on the
islands.
In this group owners operated 72 farms, tenants 79 farms,
and managers 14 farms.
There is a very considerable variance in the
three classes of tenure with reference to the term of occupancy of the
farm, the owners constantly increasing with the increase in the period
groups.
Tenants increase to the group "5 to 9 years," where there
is a falling
off of nearly one-half, and again increase through the
group "10 years and over."
Managers increase to the group "5 to
9 years," and decrease with that group.
The total number of opera-
tors is so small that such comparisons are reaUy of little value, and
aside from the owner group might be materially changed within a
very few years.
Table 15
FAKMS AND FARM PROPERTY, AND Lr7E STOCK NOT ON FARMS:
NOVEMBER 1, 1917.
Virgin
Islands.
St. Croii.
St. Jobn.
St.
Thomas.
Population
Number of all farms
Color of farmers:
White
*.
Mixed
Negro
Number of farms, classified by size;
Under 5 acres
5 to 9 acres
10 to 19 acres
20 to 49 acres
60 to 99 acres
100 to 174 acres
175 to 499 acres
600 to 999 acres
1,000 acres and over
LAND AND FABM AKEA.
Approximate area
acres..
Land in farms
acres..
Improved land in farms
acres.
.
Woodland in farms
acres.
.
Other unimproved land in farms
acres..
Percent of land area in farms
Per cent of farm land improved
Averageacres per farm
Average improved acres per farm
26,051
102
58
270
219
30
19
18
19
17
65
27
16
84,781
69,892
39,448
10,553
19,891
82.4
56.4
162.5
91.7
14,901
341
77
29
235
199
22
13
12
7
11
45
21
11
53,920
49,206
33,581
4,088
11, 637
91.3
68.2
144.3
98.5
959
13,781
10,003
2,086
3,619
4,298
78.3
20.9
384.7
8a2
10,191
63
20
15
28
18
8
4
4
7
4
13
4
1
18, 080
10,6Si
3,781
2,846
4,056
59.1
35.4
169.6
60.0
AGEICULTUBE.
129
Table 15.- -FAEMS AND FABM PEOPERTY, AND LIVE STOCK NOT ON FAEMS:
NOVEMBER 1, 1917—Continued.
Virgin
Islands.
St. Croix.
St. John.
St.
Tliomas.
VALUE OF TAEM PEOPEBTY.
All farm property
Land^
Buildings
,
Implements and machinery
Domestic animals, poultry and bees.
.
Per cent of value of all property in:
Land
Buildinp
Implements and machinery
Domestic animals, poultry and bees
.
Average values:
All property per farm
Land and buildings per farm
Land per acre
.dollars,
.dollars,
dollars,
.dollars,
.dollars.
mVE STOCK ON FAEMS.
-dollars,
.dollars,
.dollars.
Farms reporting livestock
Value of livestock
Cattle:
Total number
Value
Horses:
Totalnumber
Value
Mules:
Total number
Value
Asses and burros:
Total number
Value
Swine:
Total nmnber ... 1
Value
Sheep:
Totalnumber
Value
Goats:
Totalnumber
Value
Poultry:
Number, all kinds
Value
Bees:
Number, hives or colonies.
Value
.dollars.
.dollars.
.dollars.
.dollars.
.dollars.
.dollars..
-dollars.
-dollars.
LIVE STOCK NOT ON FAKMS.
.dollars.
-doUars-
Inclosures reporting live stock
.
Value of livestock
Cattle:
Total number
Value
Horses:
Total number
Value
Mules and asses and burros:
Totalnumber
Value
Swine:
Total ntmiber
Value
Sheep and goats:
Total number
Value
Poultry:
Number, all kinds
Value
.dollars-
-doUars.
.dollars..
-doUars-
. dollars.
.dollars..
Number, hives or colonies
.
ViBue
.dollars,
.dollars.
3,706,911
2,402,601
614, 840
106,649
582, 921
64.8
16.6
2.9
15.7
8,621
7,017
34.37
381
582, 921
12,187
336,688
1,872
89,548
1,568
121,005
748
13,719
2,145
11,414
1,046
4,920
1,684
3,360
6,137
2,976
41
201
2,063
24,962
134
3,005
257
12, 849
268
3,721
184
512
726
1,382
7,829
3,303
154
190
3,063,747
1,990,467
478,064
100,612
494, 604
66.0
15.6
3.3
16.1
8,985
7,239
40.45
297
494,604'
8,968
268,706
1,627
76, 900
1,482
117,735
470
11,120
1,936
10,663
879
1,122
2,346
5,531
2,607
40
200
1,027
14,819
2
40
205
10,513
123
2,244
19
81
226
426
3,287
1,438
79
78
167,208
94,876
38, 115
2,931
31,487
66.6
22.8
1.8
18.8
6,431
6,107
9.46
26
31, 487
1,149
22,881
154
6,910
23
850
626
56
276
45
183
297
119
67
54
2,381
75
1,642
7
238
24
237
124
235
60396°—18
9
130
THE VIEGTN ISLANDS.
Table 16.—NUMBER, ACREAGE. AND VALUE OF FARMS, CLASSIFIED BY TENURE
AND COLOR OF FARMERS, BY ISLANDS: NOVEMBER
1,
1917.
FAKMS OPERATED BY OWNERS.
Number of farms
Per cent of all farms
Land in farms
acres.
Improved land in farms
acres.
Value of land and buildings
dollars.
Color of owners:
White
Mixed
Negro
FARMS OPERATED BY MANAGERS.
Number of farms
Per cent of all farms
Land in farms
acres.
Improved land in farms
acres.
Value of land and buildings
dollars.
ColoE^f managers:
White
Mixed
Negro
FARMS OPERATED BY TENANTS.
Number of farms
Per cent of all farms
Land in farms
acres.
Improved land in farms
acres.
Value of land and buildings
dollars.
Color of tenants:
White
,
Mixed
Negro
Virgin Islands
127
29.5
33,890
18,265
1,169,277
66
13.0
32, 290
18, 799
1,704,935
34
12
10
247
57.5
3,712
2,384
143, 129
19
219
St. Croix.
26.1
25,734
16,271
950,577
45
14
«
40
11.7
21,629
15,470
1,457,915
212
68.
2
1,843
1,840
60,039
2
11
199
St. John.
15
57.7
3,558
845
42,370
9
34.6
5,992
1,235
86,070
2
7.7
453
4,350
St. Thomas.
23
36.5
4,598
1,149
176,330
11
5
7
7
11.1
4,669
2,094
160,950
33
52.4
1,416
538
78,740
7
7
19
Table
17.—VALUE
OF
ALL
CROPS AND
PRINCIPAL
CLASSES
THEREOF, AND
ACREAGE AND PRODUCTION OF PRINCIPAL CROPS, BY ISLANDS:
1917.
Virgin Islands.
VALUE OF all CEOPS.
Total
dollars.
Com
dollars.
Hay and forage
dollars.
Sugar cane
dollars
.
Vegetables
dollars.
Tropical fruits and nuts
dollars.
Simdry minor crops
dollars.
CROPS (ACRES AND QUANTITY).
/acres. ..
\pounds.
Com
Hay and forage:
Coarse forage
{?ons'".".::
Guinea grass
{bSei:
All other grasses
{bSes:
Special crops:
Cotton
{--3:
Sugar «^™
{?on^:::
Vegetables
acres...
FRUITS AND NUTS.
Tropical fruits:
M-goes
{^^^-
B"—
fees:
All other
trees
Nuts (coconuts)
&^^
number.
522,606
667
67,589
442,120
6,537
1,474
4,219
25
17,682
30
300
7 211
;, 138' 040
560
280,291
29
7,933
8,685
84,129
168
966
2,750
7,207
818
9,389
1,070
12,180
St. Croix.
498, 574
655
46,803
442,104
4,362
431
4,219
St. John.
St. Thomas.
7,263
16
24
17,500
300
4,039
6,342,790
29
7,933
84,126
115
200
615
690
6,827
462
2,900
1,390
725,350
2
1,000
1,000
63
1,417
390
8,000
15, 814
12
13,523
2,175
104
1
182
1,815
1,069,900
558
279,291
734
2,750
5,592
65
1,145
218
1,280
MANUFACTURES.
INTKODUCTION.
The census of manufactures taken in connection with the special
census of the Virgin Islands, for 1917, constitutes the fii-st industrial
census taken of the islands.
Previous census data compiled by the
Danish Government
related
chiefly
to
population and
mortality.
The statistics reported are for the fiscal year most nearly conformijig
to the year ending October 31,
1917, the canvass beginning in the
latter part of December, 1917, and ending during the early part of
January, 1918.
The principal instructions given the agents employed in the canvass
were the following:
Scope
of
census.—The
census
is
confined to manufacturing establishments con-
ducted under the factory system as distinguished from the neighborhood, hand, and
building trades, and the data required
will be entered on the general schedule.
Establishments having an annual product of less than $500 are to be omitted from the
census.
Reports are to be secured, however, for establishments that were idle during
a part of the year or new establishments started during the year, although the product
is less than $500, if such establishments are capable of an annual production of $500
or more.
Building trades.—Establishments engaged in the various building industries should
not be reported.
Those engaged in manufacturing supplies used in building, however,
should be included.
Miscellaneous hand trades and custom work.—The small hand trades, engaged chiefly
in repair work or work to the individual order, should not be reported.
Boot and shoe
custom and repair shops, custom tailoring shops, and dressmaking establishments are
not to be canvassed.
Retail
stores.—Retail
stores and other establishments which incidentally manu-
facture small quantities of goods which they sell must not be reported.
Sugar.—Reports must be secured for all mills engaged in the production of cane
sugar and molasses located on plantations, although only the cane grown on the planta-
tion
is
treated.
A
supplemental schedule
tor
cane
sugar
calling
for
additional
information in regard to materials and products is required.
Lime-tree products.—The pickling of limes and making of concentrated lime juice,
if done for the trade, are to be reported.
Bay oil and bay rum.—The operation of stills for the production of bay oil and bay
rum may be associated with the gathering of crude materials and the care of an orchard.
In such cases the material used may be estimated at the market value.
A supple-
mental schedule
for this industry,
calling
for additional information in regard
to
materials and products is required.
The Virgin Islands of the United States, formerly the Danish West
Indies, comprise three principal islands, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and
St.
John,
with
a number
of
smaller
islands, most
of which
are
uninhabited.
St. Croix Island, measuring the distance between the nearest points
of land, is about 50 miles southeast from Porto Rico.
It is the largest
(131)
132
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
and most productive island of the group and has a population of 14,901.
There are two
towns, Christiansted on the
east end, locally called
Bassin, with a population of 4,574, and Frederiksted, or West End,
with an open roadstead harbor and a population of 3,144.
The sugar
and rum industries, the most important of the Virgin Islands, are
carried on entirely on St. Croix, or Santa Cruz, as it is locally called,
the Santa Cruz rum being world-famous.
St. Thomas is the most important island of the group, due to its
magnificent harbor on which is located Charlotte Amaiie, the largest
town in the islands, having a population of 7,747.
St. Thomas Harbor
has facilities for repairing and coaling up-to-date vessels and supplying
them with water and provisions.
The only important product of St.
Thomas manufactured for export is bay rum.
St. John is the smallest and the least important of the three princi-
pal islands, and is situated 3 miles from St. Thomas.
The only manu-
facturing industry is the distillation of bay oil from the bay leaves
which are grown only on this island.
GENERAL SUMMAET.
The following summary gives the more important statistics for 1917
relative to aU classes of manufactm-es for the islands as a group and
for each of the three islands:
virgin Islands.
St. Croix.
St. John. St. Thomas.
Number of establishments
Persons engaged in mannfactures
Proprietors and firm members
Salaried employees
Wage earners (average number)
Primary horsepower
Capital
Services
Salaries
Wages
Materials
Value of products
Value added by manufacture (value of products less
cost of materials)
,
«;
84
842
77
79
686
2,595
429, 524
199, 386
70, 926
128,460
781, 417
,292,247
610,830
65
655
63
58
534
2,494
$1,309,343
152, 861
59, 506
93,355
642,620
1,084,653
442,033
S3, 300
113
113
514
1,220
16
182
12
21
149
101
1116,881
46,412
11,420
34,992
138,283
206,374
68,091
Table 2 shows the relative importance of the leading manufacturing
industries of the islands, in 1917, with a percentage distribution.
Table »
lish-
ments,
AU industries
Sugar, cane
Bread and other bakery products. .
.
Bay rum.
Mineral and soda water
Printing and publisliing, newspapers
and periodicals
Uguor, distilled (rum)
All other tadustiies
Num-
ber of
WAGE EAENEKS.
num-
ber.
423
135
12
24
34
6
Percent
distribu-
tion.
100.0
61.7
19.7
1.7
3.5
6.0
0.7
7.7
VALUE OF PBODUCTS.
Amount.
51,292,247
978, 188
192,544
38,746
16,907
13,723
10,609
41,531
Percent
distribu-
tion.
100.0
75.7
14.9
3.0
1.3
1.1
0.8
3.2
VAXTTE ADDED BY
MANUTACTTJllE.
Amount.
$510, 830
405, 766
43,613
15,457
11,511
11, 152
4,389
18,942
Per
cent
distri-
bution.
100.0
79.4
8.5
3.0
2.3
2.2
0.9
3.7
MAsruFAcraEES.
133
The industries shown in the table are arranged according to the
value
of their products, the sugar industry being by far the most
important; this
is shown by the fact that the sugar manufactures
contributed 76.7 per cent of the total value of the manufactures for
the islands.
The next ind\istry, as measured by value of products, was "bread
and otter bakery products."
This formed 14.9 per cent of the value
of products.
The manufacture of bay rum was third in importance,
contributing
3 per
cent
of
the value
of products.
All the other
industries shown, with the exception of the distilling of rum, were
confined to supplying local requirements and together formed only
6.6 per cent of the total value of products.
Sugar, cane.—^The manufactiire of sugar from cane grown on the
islands is the chief industry.
The statistics include the making of
molasses
as
a by-product, but
this product has
Mttle conamercial
value.
The
sugar industry employed
61.7 per
cent
of
the wage
earners
of
the islands and the product amounted
to
$978,188,
or
75.7 per cent of the $1,292,247—the total value of products, while
the value added by manufactm-e by this industry was 79.4 per cent
of the total amount reported.
Liquors, distilled—Rum.—The manufacture
of rum
is one
of the
important industries of the islands; though only three establishments
reported, the product of the distilleries was valued at $10,609.
Eum
is a by-product of the sugar mills, being made from the waste sugar
product or from the molasses which
is a by-product of the sugar
industry.
Bay rum.—The
distillation
of bay rum was formerly one
of the
chief industries on St. Thomas Island, carried on largely for export
purposes, but in 1917 only 3 per cent of the value of products for the
islands was reported by the bay nun industry, due to lack of bay oU.
The bay oil from which bay rum is distilled is a product of St. John
Island; but this is not shown as a separate industry, as it amounted
to very little in 1917, a hurricane almost entirely destroying the bay
leaves from which the oil is made.
Bread and other hakery products.—This industry, second in impor-
tance in value
of products, reported more than one-half
(57.1 per
cent) of the total number of establishments, 19.7 per cent of the aver-
age number of wage earners, 14.9 per cent of the total value of prod-
ucts, and 8.5 per cent of the value added by manufacture.
The bak-
eries of Christiansted and Frederiksted, except for the home bakiag
done, supply the island of St. Croix.
The shops are conducted by
individuals, who operate only on a small scale, having no facilities
for baking in large quantities.
In Charlotte Amalie, which supplies
aU the bread for St. Thomas, however, the industry comprises two
large bakeries.
134
THE VnUJIN ISLANDS.
WAGE EARNERS EMPLOYED, BY MONTHS.
The following table shows the number of wage earners employed
on the 15th day of each month dm-ing the year beginning November
1,
1916, and ending October 31,
1917, for aU industries combined,
and for the principal industry
(the manufacture
of sugar and
its
by-products—^rum and molasses), and for aU other industries com-
bined:
Table 3
WAGE EABNEBS.
All industries.
Num-
ber.
Per cent
of maxi-
mum.
Sugar and
by-products.
Num-
ber.
Per cent
of maxi-
mum.
All other indus-
tries.
Num-
ber.
Per cent
of maxi-
mum.
November, 1916.
December, 1916.
January, 1917...
February, 1917..
March, 1917
April, 1917
May, 1917
June, 1917
Julv, 1917
August, 1917
September, 1917
October, 1917...
553
544
571
649
S19
970
993
924
574
560
548
527
55.7
54. S
57.5
65.4
82.5
97.7
100.0
93.1
57.8
56.4
55.2
53.1
276
294
326
405
568
716
702
647
296
293
279
274
38.5
41.1
45.5
56.6
79.3
100.0
98.0
90.4
41.3
40.9
39.0
38.3
277
250
245
244
251
254
291
277
278
267
269
253
95.2
85.9
84.2
83.8
86.3
87.3
100.0
95.2
95.5
91.8
92.4
86.9
The
principal
industry,
the manufacture
of
sugar and
its by-
products,
is a seasonal industry employing a majority of the wage
earners the year round, but the number was largely increased during
March, AprU, May, and June.
Employment in the other industries
shows
little variation from month to month, the smallest nimiber
employed
in February being
83.8 per cent of the
largest number
employed in May.
PREVAILING HOURS OF LABOR.
In the next table the average number of wage earners reported for
all industries and for each industry separately have been classified
according
to number of hours
of labor per week prevailing in the
establishments in which they were employed.
The sugar industry
gave employment to
61.7 per cent of the total average number of
wage
earners,
but
the
division of
this niimber
of wage
earners
according
to hours worked
per week is not
satisfactory, as this is
a seasonal industry, and during the busy season the plants ran 12
hours or more per day, whUe diu-iag the off season 9 hours constituted
a working-day.
This industry reported practic ally all the wage earners
in estabUshments operating 72
or more hours per week, the wage
earners so employed constituting 59.9 per cent of the total number.
For the manufacturing industries, exclusive of
the sugar industry,
29.3 per cent of
the employees shown worked between 54 and 60
hom-3 per week and 62.4 per cent worked 54 hours per week or
less.
MAHrUFAOTUEES,
135
Table 4
136
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
CHAKACTEB OF OWNERSHIP.
The table that follows shows, for 1917,
statistics concerning the
character
of
ownership
of
the
manufactiu"iag
enterprises,
with
a
percentage distribution.
Table 6
CHIBACTBE 0? OWMEEaHIP.
MAISTJFAOTTTBES.
137
largely used by the sugar mills;
these reported 78.4 per cent of the
engines and motors and 88 1 per cent of horsepower.
FUEL.
Closely related to the subject of power employed in manufactures
is that of the fuel consumed in generating this power or otherwise
used for manufacturing purposes.
The kinds and quantities of fuel used other than wood were anthra-
cite, 27 tons;
bituminous coal, 2,942 tons;
coke, 25 tons;
and
oil,
228 barrels, most of which was used by the sugar mills.
"Basse," or
crushed cane stalks, in great quantities was also used for fuel by the
sugar mills.
All fuel used in manufactures was imported, although
charcoal burning is carried on ia the rvu'al districts.
SPECIAL STATISTICS.
For the sugar industry the Census Bureau provides a special sched-
iile which requires details regarding quantities and values of mate-
rials and
products.
The most
important
products
of the Virgin
Islands
are sugar and rum, rum being a by-product of the sugar
industry.
In former years
there were many plants on
St.
Croix
Island that distilled rum exclusively, but in later years this industry
has gradually decreased until in 1917 there were only three establish-
ments manufacturing rum^
to the value of 110,609.
Distinct from
this product
is the rum manufactured as a by-product of the sugar
mills, which was valued at $59,148 in 1917.
Molasses as a product
of the islands
is of
little importance commercially or for consump-
tion and is shown only as a by-product of sugar.
The following table shows supplementary data for the sugar indus-
try, giving the quantity and cost of cane used as material and the
quantity and value of products, with capacity of the mills:
Table 8
MATERIAL.
138
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
£« p.
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[So
as
O
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gfls^a
eo
«o
w
a
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gg
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®
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w
Ol
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l-H
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MANXJFACTTTBES.
139
FISHERIES.
INTRODUCTION.
The census of fisheries for the Virgin Islands for the year 1917
formed a part of the industrial census taken in connection with the
special census of the Virgin Islands for 1917.
ThJb was the first at-
tempt ever made to collect statistics of the fisheries industry.
The
following instructions were given for the guidance of the agents in
the collection of data:
Scope of census.—The census of fisheries must include the fishing operations of all
shore and offshore or vessel fisheries.
In addition to sea food and fish products, the
census must cover shellfish,
turtles, crabs, sponges,
etc.
All commercial fisheries,
vessels engaged in fishing, and vessels engaged in transporting fish from the fishing
grounds must be reported.
No reports, however, are to be secured for vessels en-
gaged in transporting fish from port to port.
Vessels engaged in fishing or transporting fish for a portion of the year and in other
work for the remaiader of the 12 months must be reported and in such cases the reports
must cover the operations of the entire year.
For census purposes the term "commercial fishery" includes all fishing operations
conducted
for
profit, but does not include the operations
of individuals or clubs
catching fiah for their own consumption or for sport.
If an estabhshment is engaged primarily in the purchase and sale of fish, and inci-
dentally in catching fish, the statistics for the mercantile portion should be segre-
gated and the census report relate exclusively to the fishing portion of the business.
The census reports should cover the year ending October 31, 1917, or the fishing
season which most nearly conforms to this period.
The period covered by each re-
port must be given on the title-page of each schedule.
Fishing is commonly engaged in by the inhabitants of the islands
as a means of livelihood; but commercial fishing is carried on only
from the three larger islands, and the catch is all disposed of in the
markets of Charlotte Araalie, Christiansted, and Frederiksted.
All
fishing is confined to salt water, there being no fresh-water streams
of any size on the islands.
The canvass covered St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, the three
principal islands, and the
statistics
are for the period conforming
most nearly to the year ending October 31, 1917.
The enumeration
began the latter part of December,
1917, and ended
early in Jan-
uary,
1918.
The majority of the fishermen on
St. Thomas are white men of
French extraction, most of whom speak the French language only;
they
are
locally
called
Gha-C7ias and
live
in
a community
called
Honduras just outside the limits of Charlotte Amalie.
The fishermen
on St. John and
St. Croix are colored people and speak English ex-
clusively, this being the language of the islands.
(141)
142
THE VIBGIN ISLANDS.
The report for the Virgin Islands covers fishing designated by the
Censvis Bureau as "shore fishing,"
i. e., that carried on from shore or
from boats
of
less than
5
tons, motor boats,
sailboats, rowboats,
scows, etc.
There was no "offshore" or "vessel" fishing.
No boats
of over 5 tons were used.
Auxiliary power on the fishing boats of
the islands is financially impossible on account of the high price of
fuel oil, etc.
It was very difficult to obtain reUable information as to the quan-
tities
of
fish caught
or amount received from
sales,
as
in no
in-
stance were records kept ; and the fact that several fishermen often
fish from one boat, each disposing of his share of the catch individu-
ally, caused fvu-ther complications.
The statistics shown are largely
estimates made by the fishermen.
To aid in the preparation of these
figures, however, an agent personally visited each boat owner and
questioned him as to the nmnber of trips per week, the average size
of the catch, and the amount received when the fish were sold under
different circumstances.
It was impossible to separate the quantities of fish caught by any
given apparatus,
as in many cases set pots, seines, and hand lines
were all used by fishermen, who had no idea as to the amount caught
by each;
this also applies to the showing of the catch by species, as
all kinds of fish sell at practically the same price.
These conditions
are unlike those in the United States, where there ai-e many operators
who use certain apparatus for catching cert-ain species and are, there-
fore, able to give fairly accurate figures as to the various kinds caught
and the method of capture.
GENEBAL SUMMAET.
The following table summarizes the number of persons employed,
capital invested, and value of products, for the islands as a whole and
for each of them separately, with per cent of total for each:
Table 1
Total.
St. Croix.
St. John.
St.
Thomas.
PER CENT OF TOTAL.
St.
Croix.
St.
John.
St.
Thom-
Number o( persons employed
Capital
Boats, sail and row
Apparatus of capture
Value of products
168
$11,002
6,690
4,312
44,436
103
16,198
3,386
2, SI 2
23,059
26
$991
420
571
5,186
39
$3,813
2,884
929
16,191
23
35
43
22
36
St. Croix, the largest of the three islands, with the towns of Chris-
tiansted and Frederiksted, shows 61 per cent of the total number of
persons engaged in fishing, 56 per cent of capital invested, and 52 per
cent of total value of products.
FISHERIES,
143
Capital invested is represented by the value of sail and row boats,
and apparatus of capture.
Most of the fishermen operate on a very-
small scale and have no shore property in use for fishing purposes.
The value of products, amounting to $44,436, shows approximately
the value of fish marketed on the islands for 1917, and
it does not
include the fishing of individuals for sport and for home consumption.
The prices paid for fish during the year 1917 were the highest ever
paid on the islands, making
fish
to a large extent unobtainable by
the poorer classes.
PERSONS ENGAGED.
A separation between proprietors and wage earners was difficult in
that both proprietors and wage earners work together on shares and
in many instances all own apparatus which is operated from the same
boat.
The fisherman who owned the boat and received a share of the
catch for the boat was classed as a proprietor and those working with
him were classed as wage earners.
Table 2 gives the number of proprietors and of wage earners and
their wages for the islands as a whole and for each island separately
with a per cent distribution.
Table 2
144
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
seines, hand lines,
turtle nets, and cast nets.
The latter are used
mostly
for
catching sprat,
a very
small
fish,
sometimes
locally
called "frys."
Cast nets
are
also used for catching fish for halt.
Set pots
are utilized more than any other apparatus.
There were
1,263 of these used, of which St. Croix reported 907, St. Thomas 295,
and St. John 61.
The following table gives the number and value of the boats and
apparatus of captiu-e employed for the islands combined and for each
of the three islands separately.
Table 3
FISHEEIES.
145
As already stated, it was impossible to classify the different species
of fish caught by quantity or value, but the principal kinds were:
Barracuda.
APPENDIXES.
I.—GENERAL ORDER
149,150
II.—INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS—GENERAL INSTRUC-.
TIONS, AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUNCHING CARD
151-163
III.—ENUMERATION DISTRICTS AND ENUMERATORS
164-165
IV.—SCHEDULES
167,174
(147)
APPENDIX
I.
GENEEAL ORDER.
The Secretary of Commerce having directed, at the request of the Secretary of the
Navy and with the approval of the President of the United States, that a census be
taken of the Virgin Islands of the United States, the following order is promulgated:
1. The census herein provided for shall refer to population and to the products of
agriculture, manufactures, and the fisheries.
2. The census shall be taken as of the date November 1, 1917, and the work of enu-
meration shall be completed, as far as practicable, within two weeks from that date.
3. The supervision of the enumeration will be under the charge of Mr. Eugene F.
Hartley, who is hereby designated as supervisor in charge and made responsible for
the rapid and efficient conduct of the work.
4. The area comprised in the Virgin Islands shall be divided into as many enumer-
ation districts as may be necessary for the proper and prompt compliance with the pro-
visions of this order, and the boundaries of all of the enumeration districts shall he
clearly described by civil divisions, roads, or other easily distinguishable lines.
5. The work
of the enumeration shall be performed by special agents acting as
enumerators, to be appointed by the Director of the Census, upon the recommenda-
tion of the supervisor in charge.
They will proceed in accordance with sections 12,
16, and 18 of the act of July 2, 1909, providing for taking the Thirteenth and subsequent
censuses.
The enumerators so appointed shall be, so far as possible, residents of the
enumeration districts they are to canvass and shall be selected because of their fitness
for the work and their personal knowledge of the districts they are to canvass.
6. The compensation of the enumerators shall be fixed by the Director of the Census
for each day of eight hours' actual field work.
7. Each enumerator shall be required to make a daily report to the supervisor in
charge.
If the daily reports of any enumerator shall indicate that he is not faithfully
discharging his duties, the supervisor in charge is authorized to suspend him from
duty and to submit to the Director of the Census the reasons why he should be dis-
missed from the service.
8. Attention is called to the fact that section 22 of the act of July 2, 1909, prescribes
certain penalties for the failure of enumsrators to perform their duties, or irregularities
in the same.
Neglecting or refusing to perform duties prescribed; communication of
information gained through performance of duties to persons not authorized to receive
the same; swearing or afhrmmg falsely, willingly, and knowingly making false certifi-
cate or fictitious return are all covered by appropriate penalties and fines.
9. Attention is also called to sections 23 and 24 of the same act, which read as follows:
Sec. 23. That it shall be the duty ol all persons o-eer 21 years of age, when requested by the Director of the
Census or by any supervisor, enumerator, or special agent, or other employee of the Census Office acting
under the instructions of the said director, to answer correctly, to the best of their Itnowledge, all questions
on the census schedules applying to themselves and to the lamily to which they belong or are related, and
to the farm or farms of wfifch they or their families are the occupants; and any person over 21 years of age
who under the conditions hereinbefore stated, shall refuse or willfully neglect to answer any of these ques-
tions, or shall willfully give answers that are false, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
thereof shall be fined not exceeding $100,
,
j.
,
.
j.
,
And it shall be the duty of every owner, proprietor, manager, supermtendent, or agent ol a hotel, apart-
ment house, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other buUding, when requested by the Director of
the Census, or by any supervisor, enumerator, special agent, or other employee of the Census Office, aotmg
under the iiistructions of the said director, to furnish the names of the occupants of said hotel, apartment
house boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other building, and
to give Ihcreto free ingress and egress
to any duly accredited representative of the Census Offlce, so as to permit of the collection of statistics for
census purposes, including the proper and correct enumeration of all persons having theh- usual place of
abode In s£d hotel, apartment liouse, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other bmlding; and any
owner
proprietor, manager, superintendent, or agent of a hotel, apartment house, boardmg or lodgmg
house tenement, or other building who shall refuse or willfully neglect to give such information or assistance
under the conditions hereinbefore stated shall be guilty ol a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof
shall be fined not exceeding »500.
^
j.
^
i.^
/«
Sec 24 And it shall be the duty ol every owner, president, treasurer, secretary, director, or other otQcer
or agent of any manufacturing establishment, mine, quarry, or other estabUshment of productive industry,
(149)
150
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
whether conducted as a corporation, firm, limited, Uahility company, or by private Individua Is, when
requested by the Director of the Census or by any supervisor, enumerator, special agent, or other employee
of the Census OflBcc acting under the instructions of the said director, to answer completely and correctly
to the best of his knowledge all questions on any census schedule applying to sudi establismnent; and any
owner, president, secretary, director, or other officer or agent of any manufacturing establishment, mine,
quarry, or other establishment of productive industry, who under the conditions hereinbefore stated shall
refuse or willfully neglect to answer any of these questions, or shall willfully give answers that axe faise, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding S10,000, or imprisoned
for a period not exceeding one year, or bofii so fined and Imprisoned, at the discretion of the court.
The
provisions of this section ^all aliso apply to the collection of the information required and authorized by the
act entitled "Anacttoprovidefor a permanent Census Office," and by acts amendfetory thereof or supple-
mental thereto.
Sam.
L. Rogers,
Director of the Census,
Apsffoyed:
iVlLLIAM
C. ReDPIELD,
Secretary of Commerce.
Washington, D. C, October 1, 1917.
APPENDIX
11.
INSTEUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.
1. Appointment
of
special agents.—Under your appointment
as a
epecial
agent of the Bureau of the Census you are required to take and subscribe to an oath
or affirmation (Form 8-068 e 1), in accordance with the instructions printed thereon,
and to return said oath or affirmation to the supervisor in charge.
Upon its receipt an
appointment certificate (Form 8-1847 a) and a certificate of authority (Form 8-1319 d)
will be issued, under which your work is to be performed and which will constitute
your authority for taking the census required by the terms of the general order pro-
mulgated October 1, 1917.
2. SchediUe and supplies.—There are four schedules to be used in your work,
as follows: Population (Form 8-4862), agriculture (Form 8-4858), manufactures (Form
8-4859),
fisheries (Form 8-4863).
The other supplies to be used in your work con-
sist of a circular of instructions, a set of daily report cards, a certificate of completion
card, addressed return labels, letterheads and addressed envelopes tor official corre-
spondence only, a piece of twine
for retying bundles, and a duplicate set of pay
vouchers.
The daily report cards,
return
labels, and addressed envelopes are
for
official use only and do not require postage.
3.
If any of these schedules or supplies are missing or the number received is not
likely to be sufficient for your needs, send notification at once, in order that there
may be no delay on this account in the completion of your work.
4. The portfolio furnished j^ou is to be used in your daily canvass.
It will not be
necessary for you to carry in it on any one day any more schedules than will be re-
quired in that day's work.
5. Blank schedules not in use and schedules already filled must be carefully put
away where they will not be in danger of destruction or of examination by unau-
thorized persons, and will be kept clean.
6. Description of district.—The number and
description
of your
district are
given on the inside of the front cover of the portfolio, and within the boundaries of
said district you are required to make an enumeration of the inhabitants and of agri-
cultural and
other products,
in accordance with the
printed
instructions herein
contained and any other instructions which you may receive from duly authorized
persons.
7. Daily report cards.—^A supply of report cards (Form 8-4867)
is furnished for
your use in making a report each day of the number of hours and minutes during
which you were occupied.
8. At the close of each day's work fill out and send, if possible, one of these report
cards; but
if not, send them as soon and as often as you have opportunity.
Since
they will be used in the settlement of your account for services rendered,
it is im-
portant that pains should be taken to insure accuracy in filling them and in arranging
for sending them promptly.
9.
If the supply of report cards furnished should not prove to be sufficient
for
your needs, send notification in ample time for an additional supply to reach you,
so as not to delay the sending of your daily reports.
10. Completion of enumeration.—As soon as the work in your district
is fin-
ished you are required to fill out and send the certificate of completion of enumeration
card (Form 8-4868).
This
is an important requirement and is a necessary prerequi-
site to the prompt certification of your account for services rendered.
11. Compensation.—-Vouchers (Form 8-4543) corresponding to the rate of com-
pensation to be allowed for your services in taking the census of your district have
been furnished to you in duplicate.
On the completion of your work
fill out and
X
these two vouchers and inclose them in the portfolio with the completed sched-
.
They will be compared with your daily report cards and, if upon examination
they are found to be correct, the amount due you will be sent in the form of a United
(151)
152
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
States Treasury draft payable to your order.
Any failure on your part strictly to
observe the instructions aa to the
filling of the vouchers will postpone the date of
final settlement of your account.
12. Return of schedules.—^After inclosing your completed schedules, pay vouch-
ers,
filled out in duplicate, certificate of authority (Form 8-1319 d), and all unused
supplies, the package
ia to be wrapped
for forwarding.
For this purpose use the
manUa paper in which it was originally sent.
This paper,
if preserved and turned,,
will form a suitable wrapping.
Each package must be neatly wrapped and securely
tied with the twine supplied for the purpose.
The label (Form 8-8^98-2) bearing
the address of the supervisor in charge is to be pasted on the outside of the package.
If the wrapping paper is not turned, paste it over the old label bearing your own
name and address.
13. Obligations and duties.—^As stated in the general order, you can not under
your oath of office disclose any information obtained by you in the discharge of your
official duties, and the law provides a penalty for any infraction of this obligation.
Under this provision you are not permitted to show your schedules, when filled, or
to retain copies of the same, or to furnish the population of your district, or any por-
tion thereof, to newspapers, local officials, or individuals.
14. Penalties are also provided
for failure to perform your duties in accordance
with your official oath and instructions, and
for making false or fictitious returns;
and there is a penalty also to cover the failure of any person, when requested,
to
furnish the information required by the law and these
instructions.
This
latter
requirement need not be referred to except in extreme cases, as much can be done by
tact and persuasion.
If, after proper and courteous effort, you fail to secure the de-
sired information, report the fact to the supervisor in charge and continue the work
of enumeration.
15. You are not at libertjr to delegate your authority to any other person, or to be
accompanied by or assisted in your work by any unauthorized person.
16. You will be expected to devote at least eight hours each day (except Sun-
days) to the diligent canvassing of your
district, but
it
is not permissible
for you
to combine with this work any other occupation, such as solicitmg subscriptions to
newspapers and magazines, or the sale or advertisement of any article whatever.
SPECIAI. INSTKUCTIONS POR HLLING SCHEDUIiES.
17. General.—The entries in the schedules are to be made in ink.
Write plainly
and neatly.
Do not rub out or interline, and be sure to make each entry upon the
proper line and in the proper column.
18. Sign every schedule, wherever a space is left for your signature, as a certificate
that the work upon it has been done wholly by yourself.
19. Try to make the entries on the schedule with such care that copying will not
be required.
But if copying is necessary, copy line by line, crosswise.
Never copy
one column down and then another.
Use a ruler to keep ^e place, and be careful
that the ruler is not displaced.
Otherwise you are liable to copy entries on the wrong
Unes.
POPULATION SCHEDULE.
20. Definite anffwers.—^Try to get a definite answer to each inquiry, according
to the instructions herein given.
But if after every effort you can not obtain the desired
information write "Un" (for unknown).
21. Persons to be included in the enumeration.—^The enumeration
of the
Eopulation of your district is intended to cover every man, woman, and child who had
is or her residence or usual place of abode in your district on the 1st day of November,
1917, the day as of which the census is taken.
You will include, therefore, every
person living on November
1,
1917, or during any part of that day, and omit chil-
dren bom after that date; that is, an entry is to be made of every person who was
a resident of your district upon the
1st day of November,
1917, but who between
that date and the day of your visit shall have died, precisely as if he were still living,
but no entry is to be made of a child bom between the 1st day of November, 1917,
and the day of your visit, say November 5, November 10, ete., as the case may be.
22.
It is difficult to guard against the danger that some persons wiU be reported
in two places and others not reported at all.
Much must be left to your judgment,
but you can usually satisfy yourself in the great majority of instances as to the jiio-
priety of including or not including doubtful cases in the enumeration of any given
toiily.
The following explanations, however, will be of service to you in your work
and snould be carefully studied:
APPENDIX n.
•
153
23. Usual place of abode.—This means the place where a person may be said to
live or belong, or the place which is his home.
As a rule the usual place of abode is
the place where a person regularly sleeps.
Note, however, that where a man happens
to sleep at the time of the enumeration may not be the place where he regularly sleeps,
as more fully explained below.
24. Residents absent from home.—If a member of any family in your district
is temporarily away from home on a visit, or on business, or traveling for pleasure,
or attending school
or college,
or sick in a hospital, such absent person should be
enumerated and
included with the other members
of
the family.
But a son
or
daughter permanently located elsewhere
should not be included with the family.
Under this instruction it will be noted that a person visiting a family is not to be
enumerated with the family in which he is
visiting, but with the family of which
he is a member.
25. Servants.—Servants, laborers, or other employees who live with the family
and sleep in the same house or on the premises should be enumerated with the family.
26. Boarders and lodgers.—Boarders (that is, persons eating and sleeping at the
same place) or lodgers should be enumerated at the place where they are rooming or
lodging,
if they are there permanently.
On the other hand,
transient
boarders
or
lodgers, at hotels, or elsewhere, should not be enumerated at their temporary rooming
or lodging place unless it is practically certain that they will not be enumerated any-
where
else.
This refers to persons rooming or lodging for a short time at a hotel or
boarding or lodging house or with a private family while temporarily absent from
their usual places of abode.
27. Construction camps.—^Members of construction camps, road camps, or other
places which have shifting populations, composed
of persons with no fixed places
of abode, should be enumerated where found, except in so far as certain members of
such camps may have some other usual place of abode from which they are likely
to be reported.
28. Students at school or college.—If there is a school, college, or other educa-
tional institution in your district which has students from outside of your district, you
should enumerate only those students who have their homes or regular places
of
abode in your district.
29. Imnates of medical or surgical hospitals.—Most inmates of medical and
surgical hospitals are there only for temporary treatment and have other regular places
of abode.
Therefore you should not report as a resident of the hospital any patient
unless he claims to have no other usual place of abode from which he is likely to be
reported.
30. Inmates of prisons, asylums, and institutions other than hospitals.
If there is within your district a prison, reformatory, or jail, an almshouse, an asylum
or home, or any similar institution in which inmates usually remain for long periods
of time, all the inmates of such an institution should be enumerated as of your dis-
trict.
It is to be specially noted in the case of jails the prisoners should be there
enumerated, however short the term of sentence.
31. Persons engaged in railway service or traveling.—Railroad men, canal
men, expressmen, railway mail clerks, sailors on merchant ships, traveling salesmen,
and the like, usually have homes to which they return at intervals and which con-
stitute their usual place of abode within the meaning of the census act.
Therefore
any such persons who may be in your district temporarily on November 1, 1917, are
not to be enumerated by you unless they claim to have no other regular place
of
abode.
But if their homes are in your district, they should be enumerated there,
even though absent on November 1, 1917.
Sailors on voyages are to be reported at
their land homes, no matter how long they have been absent, if they are supposed
to
be still alive.
32. AU buildings to be visited.—Be careful to include in your canvass every
occupied biiilding or other place of abode in your district.
Before leaving any build-
ing make sure that you have included all persons living in that building.
Inquire
specifically whether any memba-s oj the family you are enumerating are temporarily absent,
and whether there are any boarders or
lodgers or servants in that family or any other per-
sons in the same house.
If any dwelling house or apartment is closed on the day of
your visit, do not take it for granted that the place is unoccupied.
Find out whether
anyone is living there.
If a building appears to be used for business purposes only,
do not take it for granted that no one lives in it.
Make inquiries.
33. Individuals out of families.—Be careful not to overlook persons living en-
tirely alone, such as a person occupying a room or rooms in a public building, store,
warehouse, factory, or stable, and having no other usual place of abode; or a person
living alone in a cabin, hut, or tent;
or a person sleeping on a boat and having no
other place of abode.
154
THE VIEGIN
^
THE HEADING OF THE SCHEDULE.
34. Pill out the spaces at the top of each page above the heavy black line in ac-
cordance with the following explanations.
Do this on each page before entering any
names on that page.
36. Number the sheets of the population schedule in the exact order in which
you fill them as you progress with the enumeration.
Each sheet must be numbered
the same on each side, as sheet No. lA, IB, 2A, 2B, etc.
36. Enter at the head of each sheet, and on both sides, the number of your enu-
meration district and the name of the island in which your district is located.
37. Enter at the head of each sheet, and on both sides, the name of the city or
district.
38. When signing the schedule, be sure to enter the day of the month on which
the entries were made.
THE BODY OF THE SCHEDULE.
39. Notice that each sheet is divided into 50 horizontal lines, 25 to each page
(A and B), and that they are numbered from 1 to 50.
The answers concerning each
person enumerated diould be entered on one of these horizontal lines, and so the facts
required for 50 persons can be entered on each sheet, if completely filled.
40. Column 1. Name of street or road, etc.—^Write lengmwise the name of
the street, court, place, alley, or road, as the case may be.
41. Column 2. House number, if any.—Write the house number,
if there Ib
one, in the second column opposite the name of the first person enumerated in that
house.
If a house is in the rear of another one fronting on a street and has no number
of its own, give it the same number as the front house and add the letter "R."
42.
If you are enumerating the population
of an institution, such as a prison,
jail, almahouse, or asylum, enter lengtiiwise the full name of the institution in the
column provided for house number.
43. The places at which you b^in and end work on any street, road, etc., are to
be marked by drawing heavy lines (
) across the first and second columns.
44. Column 3. Number of dwelling in order of visitation.—In this column
the first dwelling house you visit should be numbered as "1," the second a& "2,"
and so on until the enumeration of your district is completed.
The number should
always be entered opposite the name of the first person enumerated in each dwelling
house, and should not be repeated for other persons or other families living in the
same house.
45 . A dwelling house, for census purposes, is a place in which, at the time of the
census, one or more persons r^ularly sleep.
It need not be a house in the usual
sense of the word, but may be a room in a factory, store, or office building, a loft
over a stable, a boat, a tent, or the like.
46. Column 4. Number of family in order of visitation.—In this column
number the families in your district in the order in which they are enumerated,
entering the number opposite the name of the head of each family.
Thus the first
family you visit should oe numbered as "1," the second as "2," and so on, until
the eniuneration of your district is completed.
47. The word "family," for census purposes, has a somewhat different application
from what it has in popular usage.
It means a group of persons
living together in
the same dwelling place.
The persons constituting this group may or may not be
related by ties of kinship, but it they live together forming one household they should
be considered as one family.
Thus a servant who sleeps in the house or on the
premises should be included with the members of the family for which he or she
works.
Again, a boarder
or lodger should be included with the members
of the
family with which he lodges; but a person who boards in one place and lodges or
rooms at another should be returned as a member of the family at the place where
he lodges or rooms.
48. It should be noted, however, that two or more families may occupy the same
dwelling house without
living
together.
If they occupy separate portions
of the
dwelUng house and their housekeeping is entirely separate, they should be returned
as separate families.
49. All the occupants and employees of a hotel, boarding house, or lodging house,
it that is their usual place of abode, make up, for census purposes, a single family.
50. The officials and inmates of an institution who live in the institution building
or buildings form one family.
But any officers or employees who sleep in detached
houses or separate dwelling places containing no inmates should be returned as separ
rate famiUea,
APPENDIX
II.
155
51. The census family may likewise consist of a single person.
Thus a clerk in a
store who regularly sleeps there is to be returned as a family and the store as his
dwelling place.
52. Home tenure.—Entries
are to be made in columns 5 and 6 opposite the
nan^e of the head of each family only.
If a dwelling is occupied by more than one
family it is the home of each of them, and the questions should be answered with
reference to each family in the dwelling.
53. Column 5. Owned free or mortgaged.—If the home is owned and fully
paid
for, with no incumbrance of anj; kind upon
it, write "OF," meaning ovmed
and free from mortgage.
If the home is owned and not fully paid
for, of if there is
an incumbrance of any kind upon it, write "OM," meaning ovmed but mortgaged.
54. Column 6. Bent paid or not.—If the home is not owned and rent is paid
for it, write "Yes."
If the home is not owned, but no rent is paid or required, write
"No."
55. Column 7. Name of each, person enumerated.—Enter the name of every
person whose residence or usual place of abode is in the family or dwelling place for
which the enumeration is being made.
The census day, that is, the day as of which
the enumeration is taken, is November 1, 1917.
Include,
therefore, every person
living on November 1, 1917, or during any part
of that day, and omit children bom
after that date.
56. Enter the members of each family in the following order, namely: Head first,
wife second, children (whether sons or daughters) in the order of their ages, and all
other persons living with the family, whether relatives, boarders, lodgers, or servants.
57. Enter first the surname, then the given name in full, and the initial of the
middle name,
it any.
Where the surname is the same as that of the person on the
preceding line indicate this by drawing a horizon^ line
(
) there-
under.
58. Colunm 8. Relationship to head of family.—Designate the bead
of the
family, whether husband or father, widow, or unmarried person of either sex, by the
word "Head" ;
for other members of a family write, wife, father, mother, son, daughter,
grandson, daughterAn-law, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, boarder,
lodger, servant,
etc., ac-
cording to the particular relationship which the person bears to the h§ad of the family.
59. Occupants of an institution or school, living under a commcn roof should be
designated as oflicer, inmate, pupil, patient, prisoner, etc.; and in the case of the chief
officer his title should be used, as warden, principal, superintendent,
etc., instead of
the word "Head."
60.
If two or more persons share a common abode as partners, write head for one
and partner for the other or others.
61. In the case of a hotel or boarding or lodging house family (see paragraph 49),
the head of the family is the manager or the person who keeps the hotel or boarding
or lodging house.
62. Column 9. Sex.—^Write "M" for male and "F" for female, as the case may
be.
63. Column 10. Color or race.—Write "W" for white, "N" for negro, "M" for
mixed (white and negro), aaid "Oh " for Chinese, as the case may be.
64. Column 11. Age at last birthday.—For each person of one year of age or
over enter the age at last birthday in whole years, omitting months and days.
For
children who, on the 1st day of November. 1917, were less than one year of age, enter
the age in twelfths of a year, as yi,
-f^, i^, or for a child less than one month old,
-f^.
65. An answer given in round numbers, such as "about 30," "about 45," is likely
to be wrong.
In such cases be always careful to verify the statement of age.
66. Column
12. Whether
single,
married,
widowed,
or
consensually
married.—If the person is single or unmarried, write "S";
if married, write "M";
if widowed (man or woman), write "Wd";
if divorced, write "D";
if living together
by mutual consent, write
MC."
67. Column 13. Place of birth of person.—If the person was born in the Virgin
Islands or in the United States enter the name of the island or the name of the state or
territory in which he was born.
68.
If the person was born outside of the Virgin Islands or the United States enter
the name of the country in which he was bom.
By country is meant usually a region
whose people have direct relation with other countries.
Thus, do not write Prussia
or Saxony, but Germany.
To this rule, however, note the following exceptions:
69. If the person reported was born in the West Indies, write the name
of the
island in which bom, and not the group of islands or the country to which said island
belongs.
70. Instead of Great Britain, write Ireland, England, Scotland, or Wales.
156
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
71.
If the birthplace reported is Canada, ask whether the person is of English or
French descent.
Write "Canada English " or "Canada French," according to the
answer.
72.
If the person was bom at sea, write "at sea."
73.
If the person was bom abroad
of American or Virgin Island parents, write
both the birthplace and either "Am. Cit." or "V.
I. Cit."; that is, American citizen
or Virgin Island
citizen,
as the case may be.
With these two exceptions do not
abbreviate in this column but spell out the names of states, islands^ and countries.
74. Column
14. Citizenship.—Write
"Viigin
Island"
for
citizens
of
Virgin
Islands and "Danish" for citizens of Denmark, but for citizens of Denmark who have
not yet declared
their
intention
of
retaining allegiance
to Denmark write "Not
declared."
For
citizens
of the United
States, eimer by birth
or naturalization,
write "United States."
For persons of foreign birth and of foreign citizenship write
"Foreign."
75. Column 15. Whether able to speak Bnglish.; or, if not, give language
spoken.—^This question applies to
all persons 5 years of age and over.
If such a
person is able to speak English write English.
If he is not able to speak English
and in such cases only—^write the name
of the language which he does speak,
aa
Danish,
French, German,
Italian.
If he speaks more than one lan^age, but does
not speak English, write the name of that language which is his native langus^e
or
mother tongue.
For persons under 5 years of age, leave the column blank.
76. Column 16. Whether able to read in any language.—^Write "Yes"
for
all persons 5 years of age and over who can read any language, whether English
or
some other, and "No"
for
all such persons who can not read any language.
For
persons under 5 years of age,
lea'^je the column blank.
77. Column 17. Whether able to write in any language.—Write " Yes" for
all persons 5 years of age and over who can write any language, whether English or
some other, and "No"
for all such persons who can not write any language.
For
persons under 5 years of age, leave the column blank.
78. Column 18. Whether attending
school.—Write
" Yes"
for any person
who was attending school, college, or any educational institution on November 1, 1917,
and "No" for any person of school age—S to 21 years—^who was not attending school
on that date.
For persons below or above school age, leave the column blank, unless
they actually attended school.
79. Column 19. Trade or profession.—An entry should be made in this column
for every person enumerated.
The entry should be either (1) the occupation pur-
sued—^tiiat is, the word or words which most accurately indicate the particular kind
of work done by which the person emmierated earns money or a money equivalent,
as physician, carpenter, dressmaker, laborer, nevjsboy; or (2) none (that is, no occupation).
The entry none should be made in the case of all persons who follow no gainful occu-
pation.
80. Persons retired or temporarily unemployed.—Care shoidd be taken
in
making the return for persons who on account of old age, permanent invalidism, or
otherwise are no longer following an occupation.
Such persons may desire to return
the occupations formerly followed,
whiidi would be incorrect.
If living on their
own income or it they are supported by other persons or institutions, the return should
be none.
On the other hand, persons out of employment when visited by the enumer-
rator may state that they have no occupation, when the fact is that they usually have
an occupation but merely happen to be idle or unemployed at the time of the visit.
In such
cases the return should be the occupation followed when the person
is
employed.
81. Persons having two occupations.—If a person has two occupations, return
only the more important one—that is, the one from which he gets the more money.
If you can not learn that, return the one at which he spends the more time.
82. Column 20. Industry.—An entry should be made in
tliiR column in
all
cases where the entry in column 19 has been that of an occupation.
But where the
entry in column 19 is none, leave column 20 blank.
The entry, when made, should be
the name of the industry, business, or establishment in which this person works, as
generalfarm, dry-goods store, bank.
(See also illustrative examples on page 21.)
83. Farm -workers.—Return a person in charge of a farm as
a, farmer, whether he
owns it or operates it as a tenant or renter; but a person who manages a farm for some
one else for wages or a salary should be reported as a farm manager or farm ffuerseer;
and a person who works on a farm for some one else, but not as a manager or tenant,
should be reported as a /arm laborer.
84. Women doing housework.—^In the case of a woman doing housework in her
own home and having no other employment the entry in column 19 should be none.
But a woman working at housework ferr wages should be returned in column 19 as
hoiiseheeper, servant, cook, or ebaxabermaid, as the case majy be; and the entry in coluxon
APPENDIX n.
157
20 should state the kind of place where she works, as private family, hotel, or boarding
house.
Or,
if a woman, in addition to doing housework in ner own home, regular^/
earns money by some other occupation, whether pursued in her own home or outside,
that occupation should be returned in colunu* 19 and 20.
For instance, a woman who
regularly takes in washing should be reported as laundress or washerwoman, followed
in column 20 by at hoTne.
85. Women doing farm work.—^A woman working regularly at outdoor farm
work, even though she works on the home farm for her husband, son, or other relative
and doesnot receive money wages, should be returned ia colvmm 19 as a/arm laborer.
Distinguish, however, such women who work on the home farm from those who work
away fioni home by writing in column 20 either home farm or working out, as the case
may require.
Of course, a woman who heiself operates or runs a farm should be
reported as
a. farmer, and not as a "farm laborer.
86. Children on farms.—In the case of children who work for their own parents
on a farm the entry in column 19 should be /arm laborer and in column 20 home farm;
but for children who work as farm laborers for others the entry in column 20 should be
worhing out.
87. CJhildren working for parents.—Children who work
for their parents at
home merely on general household work, on chores, or at odd times on omer work,
should be reported as having no occupation.
Those, however, who somewhat regu-
larly assist their parents in the performance of work other than household work or
chores should be reported as having an occupation.
88. Officers, employees, and inmates
of institutions or homes.—^For an
oj^cer or regular employee of an institution or home, such as an asylum, penitentiary,
jail,
etc., return the occupation followed in the institution.
For an inmate of such
mstitution,
it regulaily employed, return the occupation pursued in the institution
whether the employment be at productive labor or at other duties, such as cooking,
scrubbing, laundry work, etc.; but if an inmate is not regularly employed—^that is,
has no specific duties or work to perform—^write Tione in column 19.
89. Avoid general or indefinite terms.—Give the occupation and industry
precisely.
For example, return a worker on a sugar farm or plantation as foreman—
sugar farm; laborer—sugar farm; teamster—sugar farm, etc., as the case may be.
90. The term "laborer" should be avoided if any more precise definition can be
secured, as /oremon, inspector, watchman, etc.
_ Where the term "laborer" is used, be
careful to state accurately the industry or business in column 20.
91. Avoid in all cases the use of the word "mechanic, " butgive the exact occupa-
tion, as carpenter, painter, machinist, etc.
92. An assistant in a store engaged in selling goods should be called a saleman and
not a clerk.
A stenographer, typewriter, bookkeeper, or cashier, etc., should be reported
as such, and not as a clerk,
93. Illustrations of how to return occupations:
Column 19.
158
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
lodging lioiise ghould he returned as an emploj'er, because he employs these servants
in his business.
96. Employee.
Any person who works for wages or a salarj' and is subject to the
control and direction of an employer, is an employee, whether he be president of a
large corporation or only a day laborer, whether he be paid in money or in kind, and
whether ne be employed by his own parent or by another.
97. Working on own account.—^Per3onB who have a gainful occupation and are
neither employers nor employees are considered to be working on their own account.
They are the independent workers.
They neither pay nor receive salaries or regular
wages.
Examples of this class are: Farmers and the owners of small establishments
who do not employ helpers; professional men who work forfees and employ no helpers;
and, generally speaking, hucksters, peddlers, newsboys, bootblacks, etc.
AGEICULTXTRAL SCHBDUIiE.
98. Object.—The census
of E^culture
is taken
for the purpose
of obtaining
accurate information concerning tibe area and value of land in farms, and the value
of other property devoted to agriculture November
1, 1917, the agricultural opera-
tions on farms in 1917 and the number and value of domestic animals in cities and
towns November 1, 1917.
99. Not connected with taxation.—^The information reported on this schedule
will not be used as a basis of taxation, nor communicated to any assessor.
It will,
under all circumstances, be treated as strictly confidential.
100. Schedules.—^For securing the desired information
relating
to farms,
the
emmierators are provided with lie general farm schedule; and
for obtaining the
number and value of domestic animals in cities and towns, inquiry 44 of this same
schedule should be used.
101. All questions applying to be answered.—Give data asked for by schedule
for every crop produced and every kind
of animal on farm.
Inability to secure
exact data does not justify failure to answer a question.
The most accurate returns
that the circimistances permit must be secured.
If farm records or accounts are kept,
take data from them.
If such records are not available, careful estimates should in
all cases be secured or made.
Where there are no crops or animals corresponding to
names listed in schedule, leave spaces opposite such names blank.
102. Instructions.—Some important instructions relating
to the general farm
schedule are printed upon that schedule,
to which your attention
is specifically
directed.
In addition to the instructions there
given, which are here repeated,
observe the following definitions, explanations, and general instructions:
103. Faim.—A farm, for census purposes, is the land under the personal manage-
ment of a single individual or firm, though
consisting of different
tracts, used
for
raising
or
producing
animals,
fowls,
and
agricultural
products,
and
operated
or farmed by
his
labor,
the
labor
of
the
members
of^ his
household,
or by
hired employees working under his personal direction.
The farm
of an "owner
includes
all lands owned by him and operated or farmed by him,
or upon which
agricidtural operations are conducted under his personal direction; that of a "part
owner," which should be reported as an "owner," includes
all lands operated or
farmed by him which are in part owned by him and in part leased from others, but
the farm of an "owner" or "part ovmer" does not include land ovmed by such person
and leased or rented to or cropped by others.
The farm of » "tenant" (sometimes called
a renter) includes the land leasedf or hired by him from others and farmed under his
management or direction.
The farm of a "manager " includes all land for the manage-
ment of which such person (who may be known as a manager, overseer, or superin-
tendent) receives salary or wages.
If an individual works one tract of land as a hired
manager or overseer and a second tract of which he is owner or tenant, or if he operates
two or more farms for different individuals, the different tracts constitute different
farms.
In all other cases the land operated by a given individual or firm constitutes
a single farm, no matter if made of a number of parcels or tracts.
104. Small faxms.—^In rural districts caxe should be taken to secure a schedule
for every tract of land having an occupant when such occupant obtains during the
year products which contribute in any degree to the support of himself or family.
105. Public institations.—^Public institutions, as insane hospitals, reform schools,
etc., carrying on agricultural operations, are to be considered as farms.
In returning
schedules for such institutions, report, aiter inqiriries 12 and 13, only the value of the
lands and buildings used for agricultm^l purposes.
106. Farm operator.—All answers on this schedule should relate to the land
operated or farmed November 1, 1917, by the person named in answer to inquiry 1,
who is here called "farm operator."
AU answers regarding crops or other products
APPENDIX n.
159
of 1917 must cover the land occupied by the farm operator on November
1,
1917,
whether such land was farmed by him during 1917 or not, and should not cover any
other land which the farm operator may have farmed in 1917.
107. Crosses on schedules.—Make no entries in spaces marked thus (X).
108. Inquiry 1. Name.—For each farm operated by one individual, whether as
owner, tenant, or manager, write only one name.
But in all cases where an owner
and a tenant on shares,
or two owners or two tenants are residing upon and jointly
working the farm, write two names.
109. Inquiry 4. Age.—Give exact age at last birthday, but where this can not be
done get as nearly as possible the exact years of age.
110. Inquiry 5. Citizenship.—Write
"Virgin
Island"
for
citizens
of
Virgin
Islands and "Danish"
for citizens of Denmark, but for citizens of Denmark who
have not yet declared their intention of retaining allegiance to Denmark write "Not
declared."
For citizens of the United States, either by birth or naturaUzation, write
"United
States."
For
persons
of
foreign birth and
of
foreign
citizenship
write
"Foreign."
^
111. Inquiry 6. Tenure.—This inquiry is to be answered as follows:
1 12. Owner.—If a farm is operated by a person who owns all of it, by a man whose
wife owns all of it, by the heir or heirs thereto, or by the trustee or guardian for such
heirs, write "owner."
Report as owner a person who has bought land on a contract
for a deed or a person who holds over for redemption.
113. Part owner.—If a farm is operated by a person who owns a part of
it, or by
one whose wife owns a part of it, and the rest of such farm is leased from others, write
"owner."
114. Owner and share .tenant.—If a farm is operated by two persons, one own-
ing and one working for a share of the farm products, write "owner."
115. Share tenant.—If a farm is operated by a tenant, renter,
or share hand
who pays a share (as one-third or one-half) of the crops raised, write "tenant."
116. Cash tenant.—If a farm is operated by a tenant or renter who pays a fixed
rental in money, or a stated amount of labor or farm products (not a proportionate
share of all), or occupies land by permission of the owner without maMng specified
payment therefor, wnte "tenant."
117. Share-cash tenant.—If a farm is operated by a tenant or renter who pays a
share of the crops and also a fixed rental in money or a stated amount of labor or farm
products, or by one who pays a share of the crops for part of the farm and pays a fixed
rental in money or a stated amount of labor or farm products for another part, write
"tenant."
118. Manager.—^If a farm is operated for its owner or for a public institution by
one who receives wages or a salary for his services as manager, superintendent, or
overseer, write
' 'manager. "
But a husband is never to be reported aa manager of his
wife's farm.
(See
' 'Owner' ' and
' 'Part owner. ")
119. Inquiries 9 to
11. Farm acreage.—^The sum of the answers
to inquiries
9 to 11 must be the same as the answers to inquiry 8.
120. Change of owners or tenants.—Never omit the report of a farm because
it has changed owners, tenants, or managers, during the crop year 1917, but report in
full in the name of the person in possession, giving the statistics of hve stock, imple-
ments, machinery, and farm values as for any other farm.
121. Changes in size of farms.—If a tract of land which prior to November 1,
1917, was divided and cultivated by two or more persons is cultivated by one person
November 1, 1917, report it as only one farm.
Or, vice versa, it that which prior to
November 1, 1917, was one farm is operated November 1, 1917, as two or more distinct
farms, report as many farms as there are separate owners, managers, or tenants.
122. Duplication in enumeration of farms.—Great care should be taken by
enumerators in agricultural districts when reporting farms and farm products to avoid
dupUcation.
Numerous cases will be found where persons are operating tracts of
land which form parts of a larger farm, as where the operator of a large farm permits,
imder one arrangement or another, persons to live on and cultivate for their own use
small parts of his farm.
In all such cases a farm schedule should be obtained for each
person occupying and cultivating a part of a larger farm, and great care should be
taken that the schedule secured for the larger farm does not include in the acreage and
products returned the acreage and products to be reported in the schedule for these
small tracts.
To avoid duphcation and at the same time insure that schedules are
secured for all such small tracts, the operator of the large farm should first be approached
and a schedule be obtained for his farm, excluding
all
tracts
occupied as above
described, and a list of the persons so occupying and cultivating small tracts of his
farm should be obtained from him to serve as a guide in obtaining schedules for them.
160
THE VIEGIN ISLANDS.
INSTHtTCTIONS FOB CHOPS.
123. Crops harvested in 1917.—Give acreage, quantity, and value of each crop
harvested in 1917 on any land reported under inquiry 8, whether the present farm
operator operated such land in 1917 or not.
Do not report any crop not on the land
covered by inquiry 8.
124. Units of measure.—If you can not seciure a report of quantities in the
measure stated on the schedule, erase "Cwt.," "Lbs.," "Gals.," etc., and insert the
measure used by the farm operator.
125. Acres.—In reporting number of acres, give the nearest whole number for
tracts of 3 acres or over.
For smaller tracts give acres and fractions of an acre.
126. Values.—^The values of ammals, crops, and other products should be based
on the amounts for which they are sold at the usual market town under average con-
ditions;
Express values in dollars only, and in no case make use of cents.
Thus,
one hundred and twenty-seven dollars should be written
' '$127 " (not
' '$127.00 ").
127. Others.—If any crops are raised other than those specified on schedule,
even though in small quantities, give names and data concerning them on blank Uaes
provided for such purposes.
128. Inquiry 33. Grains and seeds.—^The crops to be reported here are those
grown exclusively for grain and seed, and harvested after ripening.
The quantities
called for are those of thrashed or "shelled" grain.
When ripened grain has been
fed to stock unthrashed, include its acreage with that of thrashed grains of the same
kind, and include careful estimates of the quantity raised and its value in the proper
columns.
129. Com.—^Always report in quintals
(cwt.) the quantity
of com harvested.
Eighty pounds of shelled com is equivalent to 100 pounds of dry com in the ear.
130. Frijoles.—Report here fnjoles
(beans) usable
for human food
tiiat were
harvested when ripe.
131. Inquiry 34. MalojiUo (forage) and yerba (grass) guinea.—When fields
of malojiUo and yerba guinea were mown two or three times in 1917, report the acreage
of such fields only once, but give the total number of tons of malojUlo and yerba
guinea cut and its total value.
132. Inquiry 35. Weight of cotton.—^In answering that portion of inquiry 35
relating to cotton, the weight of the cotton reported should be that of the cotton in
the seed.
133. Inquiry 36. Tropical fruits.—^The object of this inquiry is to obtain the
number of trees and plants on November 1, 1917, that have not yet reached bearing
age, and the number which are of bearing age, giving the quantity of fruit produced
in 1917 by those bearing, with the value thereof.
In reporting trees and plants which
have not reached bearing age, do not include those in nurseries.
134. Inquiry 37. Sugar cane.—When a plantation or farm raising sugar cane is
operated by a tenant who sells his cane to his landlord, the amount reported on the
schedule as receipts from the sale of cane should be the total value of such cane, and
not the total value less the rental paid for the use of the land.
When a plantation or
farm raising sugar cane is operated by a person who sella his cane to a central, the
amount reported on the schedule as receipts from the sale of cane should be the total
value of such cane, and not the total value less any deductions that may be made by
the central.
Where a farmer raises sugar cane and has it reduced to sirup by a neigh-
bor, the schedule should exhibit the acreage of the cane grown, its weight in tons, the
gallons
of sirup produced, and
its value.
In
all
cases
the information procured in
answer
to
the several inquiries under
this heading should pertain
to
the sugar crop of
1916-17; that
is,
cover
the crop period for 1£ months,
which was approximately from
October 1, 1916, to September SO, 1917, inclusive.
135. Inquiry 39. Vegetables.—When vegetables are grown for farm use or for
sale in small quantities, mark a cross (X) in the margin after &e name of the vegetable
so grown, and on the line "Farm garden" report the total acreage and value of all
crops so marked.
For each vegetable grown for sale in considerable quantities report
separately the acreage, quantity, and value, writing in the column provided therefor
the unit of measure, as "cwt.," "pounds," "boxes," "number," etc.
136. Inquiry 43. Irrigation.—"Part A."—If the water used
is obtained from
a river or stream, enter the jwme of said river or stream;
if obtained from a well
write
the word "Well."
APPENDIX n.
161
MANUFACTURES SCHEDULE.
137. Scope of census.—The census is confined to manufacturing establishments
conducted under the factory system as distinguished from the neighborhood, hand,
and building trades^ and the data requir/lJd wfll be entered on the general schedule.
Establishments having an annual product of less than $500 are to be omitted from the
census.
Reports are to be secured, however, for establishments that were idle dur-
ing a part of the year or new establishments started during the year, although the
product is less than $500, if such establishments are capable of an annual production
of $500 or more.
138. Building trades.—Estajblisliments engaged in the various buUding indus-
tries should not be
reported.
Those engaged in manufacturing supplies used in
building, however, should be included.
139. Miscellaneous hand trades and custom work.—^The small hand trades,
engaged chiefly in repair work or work to the individual order, should not be reported.
Boot and shoe custom and repair shops, custom
tailoring shops, and dressmaking
establishments are not to be canvassed.
140. BetaU stoces.—Retail stores and other establishments which incidentally
manufacture small quantities of goods which they sell must not be reported.
141. Sugar.—Reports must be secured for all mills engaged in the production of
cane sugar and molasses located on plantations, although only the cane grown on the
plantation is treated.
A supplemental schedule for cane sugar, calling for additional
information in regard to materials and products, is required.
142. lime-tree products.—The pickling of limes and making of concentrated
Ume juice, if done for the trade, are to be reported.
143. Bay oil and bay rum.—The operation of stills tor the production of bay oil
and bay rum may be associated mth the gathering of crude materials and the care of
an
orchard.
In such cases the material used may be estimated at the market value.
A supplemental schedule
for this industry, -calling for additional information in re-
gard to materials and products, is required.
FISHERIES SCHEDULE.
144. Scope of census.—The census of fisheries must include the fishing opera-
tions of all shore and offshore or vessel
fisheries.
In addition to sea food and
fish
products, the census must cover shellfish, turtles, crabs, sponges,
etc.
All commer-
cial fisheries, vessels engaged in fishing, and vessels engaged in transporting fish from
the fishing grounds must be reported.
No reports, however, are to be secured
for
vessels engaged in transporting fish from port to port.
145. Vessels engaged in fishing or transporting fish
for a portion of the year and
in other work tor the remainder of the 12 months must be reported, and in such cases
the reports must cover the operations of the entire year.
146. For census purposes the term "commercial fishery" includes all fishing opera-
tions conducted for profit, but does not include the operations of individuals or clubs
catching fish for their own consumption or for sport.
147.
If an establishment is engaged primarily in the purchase and sale of
fish,
and incidentally in catching fish, the statistics for the mercantile portion should be
segregated and the census report relate exclusively to the
fishing portion
of the
business.
148. The census reports should cover the year ending October 31,
1917, or the
fishing season which most nearly conforms to this period.
The period covered by
each report must be given on the title-page of each schedule.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUNCHING CARD.
The punch card is to be used by a separate set of enumerators in order to test, on
a limited scale, the advisability of substituting a punch card for a written schedule
at the next decenial census of the United States.
Each enumerator selected for this work will be furnished with a supply of punch
cards and a punch.
.
One card is to be used tor each person enumerated.
The answers to the inquiries
on the upper* half of the card are to be in writing, while the intofmation called tor on
the lower haK of the card is to be punched.
The following inquiries are contained,
in the order given, on the part of the card that is to be punched: Tenure of home;
sex; color or race; age (in single months and single years); marital condition; place of
60396°—18
11
162
THE VIKGIN ISLANDS.
birth; citizenship; language spoken; ability to read and write; Bchool attendance.
The part of the card beyond these inquiries is not to be used by the enumerator.
The following inquiries are to be answered in writing:
Island ajid city or rural district.—^Write the name of the island and also the
name of the city, it any, or rural district.
Enumeration district number.^—Write the number of the enumeration district
to which you have been assigned.
Schedule number.—Write the number of the card being
filled, beginning with
number 1 and continuing in numerical order until all the inhabitants of your district
have been enumerated.
Street or road, and house number.—Write the name of the street or road, and
house number, if any, in which the person enumerated resides.
Dwelling number and family number.—Write in the order of visitation the num-
ber of the dwelling and the number of the family being enumerated, beginning, in
each case, with number 1 and continuing in numerical order until your work has been
completed.
All persons residing in the same dwelling must be given the same dwell-
ing number and all peraons belonging to the same family must be given the same family
number.
If two or morefamilies reside in the same dwelling each family must be given
a separate number.
Name of person enumerated.—^Write the name of the person enumerated, writ-
ing first the last or surname, then the given name, and the initial of the middle name,
if any.
Relationship to head of family.—Write for the recognized head of family the
word "Head;"
for other members of a family write wife, father, mother, son, daughter,
grandson, uncle,
boarder, lodger, servant, etc., according to the particular relationship
which the person bears to the head of the family.
Trade, profession, or particular kind of work done, and industry, business,
or establishment in which, at work.—^Write in these two spaces, first, the partic-
ular kind
of work done by the
person enumerated
and, second, the industry or
business in which engaged or employed.
(See special instructions.)
Employer^ employee, or 'working on own account.—Write whether the person
enumerated
is an employer, employee, or is working on own account.
(See special
instructions).
Date and signature.—Each card must be dated and signed by the enumerator in
the spaces provided for this purpose.
The following information is to be punched on card:
Tenure of home.— This inquiry applies only
to heads of families.
If the home
occupied is owned by the head and is free from mortgage, punch Owned free;
if the
home occupied is owned by the head but
is mortgaged, punch Owned Mtgd;
if the
home occupied is rented and rent is paid, punch Rent— Yes;
if the home occupied is
not owned and rent is not paid or'required, punch Rent—No.
For other persons in
family, punch X.
Sex.—For males, punch Male;
for females, punch Female.
Color or race.—For whites, punch
White; for negroes, punch Negro;
for mixed
bloods, punch Mixed;
for all other, punch Other, and write color or race on card.
Age.—Provision has been made to punch the age in single months and single years,
and the age field is subdivided, the first four columns of the field representing the age
group and the last the unit year of age.
Punch the age as follows:
Under 1 mnnth
Mas-0
1 month
Mos-i
^months
Mos-i
3 months
MosS
4months
Mos-i
5 months
Mos-5
6months
6 Mos-0
7 months
G Mos-t
8 months
6 Mos-t
9 months
6 MosS
10 months
6 M08-4
11 months
6 Mos-S
lyear
0-i
2 years
0-S
Syaars
0-3
4 years
0-4
Syears
S-0
6years
S-1
Tjeats
S-S
Syears
5-3
9years
l-i
lOyoars
10-0
11 years
10-1
12 ygars
10-2
13 years
los
14 years
lo-i
ISypars
lS-0
16yesrs
1,5-/
17 years
15-}
ISyears
ii-3
19years
IB-^
and so on to 99 years.
For a person 100 years of age or over punch 100-|- and write exact age on card.
Marital condition.—For single persons, punch Single;
for married persons, punch
Married;
for widowed persons, punch Widowed;
for persons living together by mutual
consent, punch Cons' I Mar'd;
for divorced persons, punch Divorced.
Place of birth.—Punch the place of birth as follows:
Virgiu Islands: St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas.
Other islands: 5a^a7no«, Barbados, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Ea'ti, Jamaica, Porto Rico
Martinique, Trinidad.
'
Countries: Br. Guiana, China, Denmark, Dtch. Guiana, England, France, Fr. Guiana
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain,
U. S.
'
'
For persons born
in any other island or country, punch "Other" and write place
of birth on card.
APPENDIX n.
163
Citizenship.—For citizens of the Virgin Islands, ^unchVirgin Islands; for citizens
of Denmark, punch Danish;
if citizenship has not been declared, punch Not declared;
for citizens of United States, punch
U. S.; for citizens of any other country, punch
Foreign and write name of coxmtry on card.
Iianguage spoken.—Punch
the
language spoken
as
follows:
Chinese,
Danish,
Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
If not speaking any
of the above languages punch "Other" and
write: language
spoken on card.
Ability to read and -write.—If able to read in any language, punch Read— Yes;
if not able to read in any language, punch Read—No;
il able to write in any language,
punch Write— Yes;
if not able to write in any language, punch Write—No.
School attendance.—If attending school, punch School— Yes;
if not attending
school, punch School—No.
The part of the card beyond this iuquiry is not to be used by the eifumerator.
APPENDIX
III.
ENUMERATION DISTRICTS AND ENUMERATORS—CENSUS OF THE
VIRGIN ISLANDS.
No.
ISLAND OF ST. THOMAS.
Special agents.
Chnlotte AmaUe:
General
Niels C. A. KJcldMn.
Wages and hours of labor
Victor C. Peterson.
Manufactures
Anthony L. Audain.
Joseph Morrill.
ekvmehatiok districts.
Besijmation.
Enumerators.
Charlotte -A malif Town.
King's Quarter
King's Quarter
King's Quarter
Queen's Quarter
Queen's Quarfc-r
Queen's Quarter
Crown Prince's Quarter
Crown Prince's Quarter
Crown Prince's Quarter
Crown Prince's Quarter
KuriiL.
/Frenchman's "Bay Quarter
\RedHook Bay Quarter
East End Quarter
*
New Quarter
Great Northside O'larl
r
fliittle Northside Quar Lc r
\Southside Quarter
West End Quarter
Elma U. Smith.
Irvina N. Meyers.
Anna M. Vessuup.
Amadeo I. Francis.
IvannaE. Kean.
Cleoda H. Bonelli.
Emmy A. Williams.
Eulalle M. Stevens.
Adina M. Petrus.
Estella A. Martine.
^Niels C. A. Kjeldsen.
Niels C. A. Kjeldsen.
James C. Roberts.
Ludvig Rogers.
l-Ulises A. Gimenez-
Amadeo I. Francis.
ISLAND OF ST. JOHN.
ENUMERATION DISTRICTS.
No.
Desicnarion.
Enumerator.".
Cruz Bay Quarter..
Mahol Bay Quarter
Beef Bay Quarter.
.
Coral Bav Quarter
.
East End Quarter.
.
John E. Lindqvist.
Carl E. Francis.
Alfred B. White.
Ernest W. Marsh.
John E. Lindqyist.
ISLAND OF ST. CROIX.
Special agevttt.
ChristianstcM
:
Manufactures
Xr^nn™.
a
i
-i „.
Wages and hours or Inhor
|George A. Jackson.
Fisheries
Halyor E. Andreasen.
Fisheries
Frederick C. Jackson.
Messenger
Ludvig Bertrand
Frederiksted.
Manufactures
lir™™-,,.! n
nr,
Wai;es and hours oflabor
jEmanuel B. Oliver.
Fisheries
Ftank M. Cornelius.
(164)
APPENDIX m.
ISLAND 07 ST. CBOIX—Contlnneil.
165
No.
ENUHKBATION DQTBICTa,
Designation.
Christiansted Town . .
.
Christiansted Town . .
.
Christiansted Town . .
.
Christiansted Town . .
.
Christiansted Town . .
.
Christiansted Town . .
.
Christiansted Town . .
.
Christiansted Town . ..
Frederiksted Town
FrederiTcsted Town . .
.
Frederiksted Town . .
.
Frederiksted Town . .
.
Frederiksted Town . .
.
Frederiksted Town . .
.
Enumerators.
BuraU
East End ("A" and "B") Qnartor.
Company's Quarter
Queen's Quarter
King's Quarter
Prince's Quarter
Northside"B" Quarter
Northside "A" Quarter
West End Quarter
Tlva A. Forbes.
Halror Gordon.
TSOia B. Forbes.
I Haidee E. Eengger.
I Wilfred E. Messer.
Joseph E. Ritzberg,
KUas Williams.
Medora A. Jackson.
Agnes M. Golden.
Maud E. Flannagan.
Enos Kerr.
Alexandra M. Grandjean.
Walter A. Browne.
.Mtagrada U. MllUgin.
Eugene A. Schuster.
{Malcolm K. Armstrixng.
H. MackBT.
David DeLeon.
Arthur W. Elliott.
^Giistave Nordby.
[Francis Lunney.
'George B. Fleming.
iMalcolm U. Skeoeh.
iC^l Neuman.
IArthur Qn^aIe.
IAndrew J. B^ckwood.
[Thomas Gaffney.
Wm- H. Fleroini!.
APPENDIX IV.
SCHEDTTLBS OP POPULATION, AGRICtTLTURB, MaNUPACTUKBS (GeNERAl), FISHERIES,
AND Wages and Hours op Lasor, and the Punch Card Used in the Enumer-
ation OP the Town of Charlotte Amalie.
Population schedule
167
Agriculture schedule
168
Manufactures schedule
.•
170
Fisheries schedule
172
Wages and houra of labor schedule
;
174
Punch card (population)
174
(166)
APPENDIX TV.
167
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