Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-08-02
Editorial notes on st. CrOIx.
Nc. XIX.
Employees, SC.


direction, is wholly performed by the black and /
colored portion of the population. If there be
any exceptions to this, they are SO few as not to
be worth noticing. and the same is true so far
as regards domestic service. Mainly, but not
absolutely, the same is true for the work Of
the trades-men-that is, coOpers, cabinet-mak-
ere. house-joiners, shoemakers. tailors' black
smiths. &c. Some whites are occupied in such
employments, though not many. As for any
distinction among them with reference to race
or color, nothing Of the sort seems to be thought
Of. so far as | could see. For instance, an ex-
extensive reparation Of the large and handiome
English church in Christansted was in progress
while was there, the woodwork having been
destroyed in a great fire the year before
workmen OF all shades Of color from white to
let black (mostly blacks and cOlored) were at
work on it-but the master workman was a
black man.
While the empIoyments, both in and oui-ot-
doors, where mammal labor is needed, are, as
have said, wholly in the hands Of the black and
mixed breeds, the same classes are extensively
occupied in other branches Of business. As
teachers in the schools. clerks in stores and
public Offices, as shop keepers on their own &C
count, they are to be seen on svery hand in the
two towns and On the estates, most Of the
overseers are black or colorei. Some too, are
managers and others owners Of estates Of i'm
portance.
On the estates there is a considerable amount
Of mechanical work to be done, which Is chiefly
done by tradesmen among the laborers who per-
tain TO the estate for the year being, and whose
daily remuneration is prescribed By the Labor
Act''-9f which spoke in my early letters
from the island. and to which I shall draw at
teu,ion again shortly-but in the towns az bu-
siness Of the sort falls under different rule
Tradesmen Of all classes in the towns, have TO
/ pay annually for government license TO follow
[ their particular occupation, snd then they work
| by the piece or by the day, according to agree
ment. The charge for some kinds Of service
such as carriage, porierage, &c. is prescribed by
| law but there is no more scruple 10 ST. Cr5.z
T than 10 New York. to getting more than the re-
/ gular fee, for a service, where IL can be done
with IMMUNITY. The carriage about the towns,
is chiefly done in a kind Of stout one horse cart
very conveniently constructed for ease in load
ing and unloading. The iron axle Of the cart IL
bent dowuwlrds between the wheels IN fashion
Ike the letter L, SO ths, the body Of ,heeart is
not more than SIX or eight inches from the
ground, the shaft preceding from the top Of the
box, iustcai of from the bottom, as with Us.
The smcothue,s If the roads, and the entire all
seuce Of loose stones trom them makes the use OF
such vehicles feasible AMI convenient The
teaming q heavy loads Of meal puucheous, dsh
barrels, coal 10 .erces, Sc., from the towns 70
the estates, and Of the hogsheais Of sugar,
molas-es aul run from the estates TO the
wharyes or store houses ia town, is done on ysry
heavy anil strong high wheeled wagon frames,
drawn bY mule Ut OK teams ; anil the t5amsters
aye very expert ia loai.ng aul unloading them
By means Of skis and cart ropes. Boards,
shingles, slaves hoop poles, SC, are moved be-
tween the vharyes AMI lumber yards chiefly on
the heals q women, who earn az casual jobs Of
this sort about about halfa dollar a day. A
row Of these women, each one with her loose
clothes Killed up nearly to the knee by cord
around the hips. for ease Of motion, are often
10 be seeu moving TO and fro with their loads,
with the regularity and stesiiness Of ants, for
hours together. 1t is the universal practice Of
the laboring women when At work out-of-doors,
IN town or on the estates, to have their clothes
killed up as above described, and male and ie-
male laborers alike 60 bare footed and bare
legged all the year round When cutting cane,
the women sometimes put on a sort Of leggins to
keep the sharp edges Of the cane leaves from
cutting their legs. On ceremonial occasions,
such as going to church, many who can afford
it, wear boois and shoes but a great many
men and women, black and colorei, can be seen
at church well dressed otherwise. but with feet
and ANGLES entirely bsre. In the house or on
the street If there is no call for active motion,
i, is net unusual to see bare footed woman,
D ltAHtla Win a AlAl VI lAtuA 4lA raaE NA AtE
head, with her clothes let down SO that they
sweep the street in a style unsurpassed BY
Broadway belle.
Fresh fish form O great ant Gle Of food for the
Inhabitants Of St. Croix-the sea there abound
ing in fish, Of great many species, far surpass-
ing IN variety cf form and beauty Of coloriug
anything which We see Of the inny ,ribcs at
the North. Many Of them are excellent for the
table and a considerable number Of men and
boys are constantly employed in taking them
for the market. Hooks and lines, nets and fish
pots Of divers forms are used for that purpose
Some OF these are very ingeniously contrivei
and used With great skill and success.
There is one branch OF the ishermen's bust
ness which merits more particular description,
refer to the coneh fishery, if It may be 20
cvllei. \ stranger from the North, on his first
introduction to ST. Croix is struck with the
great quantities Of large shell which meet
his eye On every hand. 1t is the large kind Of
shell sometimes used by the farmers Of our sea-
] board states Tor the purpose Of dinner horn,
to call the hands from the fields to dinner. tits
the strOHi5us gigas, Of naturalists. lie sees
| quantities Of these shells, more or less broken,
| for edgings 10 parierres or walks in the
/ gardens, sometimes for facing to the cutters
along the streets, &c. In other places there are
piles Of them, in quantity enough taken together
to load good sized schooner. On inquiry he will
be told that the flesh of this animal is much used
for food-that the shells are often burned to
make lime, as well as used for purposes such as
are mentioned above; also that the living ones
are only procured by the fishermen, who dive
for them in water from two fathoms to four IA
thoms deep, the animal never coming into shall
low water
Curious to see the process Of taking them,
a companion and myself engaged some
fishermen who had been taking US to visit