AMERICA'S SOUTH SEA SOLDIERS 



By Lorena MacIntyre Quinn 



WHEN thinking of the insular 

 possessions of the United 

 States, we are apt to lose sight 

 of the fact that our flag flies over a 

 group of six tiny islands in the South 

 Seas, comprising what is known as 

 American Samoa. Here our govern- 

 ment maintains a naval station, on the 

 Island of Tutuila, at Pago Pago, one of 

 the finest and safest harbors in the South 

 Seas. 



In these troubled times it is well to re- 

 member the strategic value of the naval 

 station at Pago Pago, "with its magnifi- 

 cent harbor and its situation at the cross- 

 roads of the Pacific trade routes from 

 North America to Australia and from 

 Panama and South America to the 

 Orient." 



The harbor occupies the crater of an 

 extinct volcano and is one and one-half 

 miles in length and three-fourths of a 

 mile wide. The entrance to the harbor 

 from the sea is a very narrow channel. 

 The steep mountains, covered to the 

 highest peaks with coconut palms and 

 greens, seem to embrace the villages on 

 the shores and protect them from severe 

 tropical storms. 



It was over these islands that our first 

 difficulties with Germany occurred, in 

 1888. Overzealous local officials made 

 the rivalry more intense, and each home 

 government sent ships of war to the 

 scene. The situation was growing criti- 

 cal, when a storm destroyed the two 

 fleets. After this the points at issue were 

 adjusted and an agreement was signed in 

 Berlin that provided a hybrid form of 

 government for the islands. 



America's soldiers who wear kilts 



Under this arrangement the Samoan 

 group continued to make trouble until, in 

 189Q, they were divided by a new treaty, 

 which gave each side what it wanted — 

 Germany, a colony ; the United States, a 

 coaling station. 



Early in the World War, German 



Samoa was captured by the New Zealand 

 troops, and thereby England acquired a 

 rich colony. 



American Samoa is under the super- 

 vision of the Navy Department of the 

 United States. The naval officers sta- 

 tioned at Pago Pago form the governing 

 body of Tutuila and the five other small 

 islands. The yeomen among the blue- 

 jackets are valuable office assistants. 



The Fita-Fitas,* as the native soldiers 

 are called, constitute an important unit in 

 the government of American Samoa. 



It would be hard to find a more pic- 

 turesque body of men than these, our 

 South Sea Island soldiers. Tall, broad- 

 shouldered, handsome in features, pos- 

 sessing splendid poise, they are admirable 

 types of their race. 



Their fatigue uniform consists of a 

 sort of black kilt with a bright red stripe 

 around the border. Above the waist and 

 below the knees the uniform is "Nature's 

 own." 



A leather belt carrying a dagger on the 

 side holds the kilt or lava-lava in place. 

 A bright red turban is the head-dress. 



For dress uniform the Fita-Fitas wear 

 with the lava-lava a sleeveless white 

 undervest, similar to the X.Y.Z. or A. B.C. 

 garments graphically described in the ad- 

 vertising sections of magazines. 



TOO MUCH UNIFORM, SOLDIERS TOOK COLD 



When the native soldiers were first 

 taken into the service of the United 

 States, a less abbreviated and more con- 

 ventional uniform was provided them, 

 with the result that they were constantly 

 suffering from colds ; so there was a wise 

 reversion to a uniform on the lines of 

 their native dress. 



The Fita-Fitas have municipal as well 

 as military duties. They act as police- 

 men in and about Pago Pago, guard all 

 prisoners in the Pago Pago jail, and fre- 

 quently are called upon to settle fights at 



♦Pronounced Feeta-Feeta. 



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