From about 1902 to 1906 Harry E. Middleton was the Chief Engineer of Guam.

Dadís office was down in the town. He was the Chief Engineer, on the Island. This island had been in the hands of the Spanish. We took it over at Warís end as a possession, to be used as a coaling station. The Nation was growing into a world power and it was essential to have places around the world where our ships could be refueled. This was essentially, a Navy base, but it had a civilian Governor. Dad was a civilian.

It would appear that the Chief Engineer would have, many duties in this primitive place to bring it up to speed. Docking or landing facilities had to be improved. Such matters as sanitation for the community, and many other matters which escape me, which would fall into the category of the expected or ordinary. Only two of these items seemed remarkable to Dad. Since he had become about the only ìrefrigerationî engineer available to the Navy, at that time, it was natural that he should build the first refrigeration plant on the island. This he did, among his other chores.

In the mean time Pearl kept the house on the hill. There were two tours of duty in Guam. Some of the events may have taken place on the first tour or they may have taken place on the second. On this first tour, Gwendolyn was born.

Pearl had at least two servants, and I believe there must have been a third, a housekeeper. The cook was Chinese and the cookís helper was a Chamorro. The Chinaman was a volitile and emotional individual who would explode if the Chamorro did not pick up and clean a utensil as soon as the Chinaman laid it down after stirring food in a pot. He insisted on immaculate cleanliness. However, his judgement on fresh eggs was not to be trusted. Some eggs he thought could be fried, but others had to be scrambled. Pearl could tell by the odor when the the latter were being prepard.

The Governor of the Island disagreed with Dad, in that he thought that the Island was flat, like a pancake, and sat balanced on a pinnacle. Consequently, it was subject to being tipped over. But more importantly, he was convinced that a well drilled into such terrain could only bring up salt water, since it was in the ocean. Most naturally, Dad thoroughly disagreed.