U.S.S. Supply
"Island fever" is a condition related to "cabin fever," depending on your geographical circumstances. Chamorros have been great travelers for many years, long before they were racking up huge numbers on their OnePass accounts.
Back in the day, of course, it was all by boat. In 1916, this meant travel to Manila by way of the U.S.S. Supply, an iron steamship built in 1873. The Supply was for a time the station ship of the Guam naval base, making sure there was reliable transportation between Guam and Manila for cargo, mail and passengers.
On one voyage in 1916, the two brothers Francisco (Paco) and Jose (Pepe) de la Cruz returned to Guam from Manila on the Supply. The De la Cruz brothers were sons of Eulogio Castro de la Cruz, who had links with Manila. Paco later went on to live and work in Manila, where he married Carmen (Melin) Romualdez, a relative of Imelda Marcos. De la Cruz returned to Guam and with Melin founded the Guam Academy of Music and Arts (GAMA) and other business ventures.
Also returning to Guam after a trip to Manila were Ursula Delgado, Felisa Garcia, Angel Cristobal, Justo Dungca, Soledad Dungca, Leon Flores, Felicitas Dungca Flores, Magdalena Herrero, Carmen Herrero, Dolores Herrero, Emilia Martinez, Joaquin Guerrero and Jose Salas.
A few private ships also provided Guam residents with passage to other shores. The Mariana Maru was a Japanese schooner taking people and cargo to and from Yokohama. In July of 1916, it brought back to Guam Atanacio Taitano Perez, Juan Torres, Jesus Flores and Japanese Guam-residents J. Yamanaka and S. Akiyama. Then it picked up the following Guam residents for a trip to Japan : Guam postmaster James Underwood (married to the former Ana Pangelinan Martinez) and his daughter Essie and son John; Japanese J.K. Shimizu and his Chamorro wife Carmen and sons Jesus and Joaquin.
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