Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-21
THE RANANA TRADE.
A Talk with the Man who Brought the
First Cargo to this Country. .

A Talk with the Man who Brought the
First Cargo to this Country.
The steamship Peveril, Capt. Cameron,
which arrived from Port Antonio, Jamai-
ca, Monday, with bananas and oranges
for Messrs. Henry Bros. & Co., says the
Baltimore Sun, made the fastest time of
any fruit steamer running to this port.
Capt. George Bush. the supercareO Of
the Peveril, is not only Il veteran sailor.
but also the father of the banana business
in the United States. Capt. Bush emf
grated from Germany To this country
when he was quite young man. He Was
naturalIZed ia the Circuit Court of this
city in 1853. He has been a shipma-teF
since 1860, and is one of the best-KnOwn
sailors in the ports of the West Indies. In
an interestin talk about the banana bust
ness with "a reporter Capt. Bush said:
Il brought the first schooner load of
bananas ever seen in the UnIted States. |
-old them TO GIlmsrtin, in New York. in
1888. People did not know what they were
and my little cargo OF l. 100 lunches over
stocked the market. | - cured them in
BaTacOa, Cuba. Three v ars after that car
go Was landed at New York the trade had
developed 50 fast that 10 required twenty
five ar thirty schooner loads alone 70 sup
ply New York. Three large firms in New
York mOnOpOlizrd Toe trade from Bar
acOa. They re Eneas Bros, Douglass
Bros. and Pearsall Bros. In 1867 the trade
had grown SO enormously thatI began to
loDk around for other places to get ba-
nanas. had been u ports in Jamaica after
oranges IN prev us years. but never tor
bananas. In May, 1867, | sailed for Orc
Cabeza, Jamaica, IN search of bananas.
Arriving there l found Capt. Jim Muir
dock, a quadrOOn native and Christian,
the last quality being rare 0n the island.
l told him what l wanted, and ne prom
ised to buy them for me. Bananas had
no value among the natives. Tney never
ate them. IneY were planted simply as
protection to the coffee trees. The latter
need protection from the sun, and the
banana trees are planted in rows along
side them. Well, my friend Capt. Jim
Murdoch couldn't get me more than 700
punches of bananas at Orc CabeZa, and
induced him sail with me to Port An
tonic. Here L found a splendid land
locked harbOr, with deep water. Capt.
Jim succeeded in huyins 1,600 punches OF
bananas iOr me in a short time. The ma
tives were only too glad to sell them at
to Is cents bunch. Tue people were very
poor. They had no money and very little
to eat, and no clothing to speak Of l paid
$3.50 for NV cargo. / reached Boston in
eleven days and discharged i, 100 punches
of good bananas. For one very handsome
bunch l got S25, and the man who pur-
chased il sold il IN ten minutes for $50.
Since that time / nave been engaged in
the banana trade and have seen the ports
of Jamaica built up and the people grow
/ ing rich. The natives don't spend mu"h
on their living. Their wardrObz princi-
paIly consists of a coffee suck, with holes
for arms and the head. and belted around
the waist with rope. The other items IN
their living stand about in the same ratio
in the matter of cost. They do not invest
or bank their money. They know moth
ing Of such things. They bury their money
aud hoard 1t. Some of them are quite rich.
The banana tree is a species of the palm.
IL requires very rich and moist ground. lt
is p rous, fiOrOus tree, and attalns from %
To 40 feet in height. 1t is Indigenous to
the soil of the islands where bananas
abound. The roots are planted in rows
by the natives. They soon shoot a sprOut
about feet out Of the ground. Then
three or four more sprouts appear at
short intervals, until as many as eighteen
show above the ground from l foot. If
| all these are let crow there will be no bA-
nanas. So all the sprouts except two or
three Of the healthiest are destroyed. The
| first sprOut will mature in ten to fourteen
months. The first evidence OF fruit Is
/ brilliant purple flower. This soon gives
| place to innumerable little bananas, which
| rapidly grow to maturity. The next
/ sprOut comes in bearing from three to four
/ weeks after the first, and others follow at
regular intervals through the year. Each
/ sprOut hears one bunch of bananas, and
| is cut down when the fruit is harvested.
/ The natives receive from 30 to 70 cents per
bunch for bananas, according to size and
/ quality"