Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-10
THE LAND OF SALT.
Something About Turks IsIand-Empty
Jails and no LaWYers


Jails and no Lawyers.
Murphy, the largest producers of salt at
Turks Island, is on a visit to the United
States, and was in Providence, r. l., few
days ago. A reporter of the journal con-
versed with Mr.. Firth in regard to that
little known portion Of the world. Mr..
Firth is a West Indian of the better class;
Of manly, athletic form, with clear blue
eyes, and complexion somewhat tanned
by the equatorial sun. The population Of
Turks Island is about five thousand,
eighty per cent being negroes, who alone
constitute the laboring population. Al
though represented in encyclopedias as
being part of the government of Jamaica,
Turks Island is a separate and distinct
colony, with its own ruler appointed by
the crown and a legislature or council.
The only connection with Jamaica is that
the laws enacted by the legislature of
Turks Island are subject to the approval
of the Governor General of Jamaica. OF
the eight cOuncilmen. four are official, or
eX-OficiO, and the other four are unofficial
being appointed by the commissioner, as
the Governor of Turks Island is called.
The islands also have supreme court and
lower courts. Thus the little colony has
all the machinery of state, but the people
have no voice whatever in the government.
The cost Of the government used
TO be about $4,000 a year, all raised
within the islands, but now it is about
5000, having been retrenched in defer
ence to popular demand. There is a
strong feeling among the people in favor of
annexation to the United States. The
British Government does nothing for them
except to contribute 81 800 a year toward
carrying the mails. and to appoint the
officials who receive the salaries raised by
duties and by taxation. There is not a
lawyer on the islands, though if few
dozen Providence lawyers should emf
CRATE there they would probably be able
to earn their Turks Island salt honestly
by working at 80 cents day. the ordinary
pay for labor in the salt pens. There is
not even public prosecutor, the Queens
advocate having died some time ago, and
nobody appointed in his stead. The
supreme court is almost a sinecure, and,
there being no lawyers to make trouble,
the jails are usually empty. The islands
are healthy, although the Royal Standard,
the colonial paper, is full of patent medi-
cine advertisements, including cathartic
pills, liver invigOratOrs and worm tablets.
The islands have a tariff on imports, and
duties are collected on goods, whether
Jamaica, or any other part of the world.
Of course the most interesting feature
about Turks Island is the great salt
manufacturing industry. At Grand
Turk, where it is chiefly followed, the
water is led from the ocean by means of
a canal about u feet wide and ~ feet
deep, to the government reservoir, which
is from 900 to 800 feet long and20 feet
wide. From this reservoir the water is
drawn by machinery into ponds or
''pens," as they are called, and which are
from 80 to 200 feet square and about 2
feet deep, and separated from each other
by rough stone. In the cases Of few
prOprietOrs of saltpens the water is drawn
from the government reservoir into pri-
vate reservoirs, before being transmitted
Il. to the pond for evaporat1ng. There is a
salo meter for measuring the saline
strena11 of the water, and when the salo-
meter shO VS. so to 80 degrees of strength,
the result. a ter evaporation, is l q to 2
inches of salt. The time taken in evapOra-
ton varies according to the amount OF
sunshine. During the rains in May, and
in October and November the salt is slow
in forming. Evaporation leaves the salt
dried hard and firm, like a field of ice, and
white as snow, but a curious feature of
the ponds during evaporation is the vary
ing color of the pickle-green, blue, red,
pink, purple, indeed every variety OF color
except yellow or black. 1t is a spectacle
well worth seeing. The salt is broken up
in small pieces with rakes and dumped IN
the vicinity of the pond. There are some
salt houses, but the salt as rule is piled
in heaps varying from twenty to a thou
sand bushels. The salt is removed in
half-bushel baskets to lighters, which
carry it out to vessels in quantities of 175
or 200 bushels and from the lighters it is
dumped into the holds Of the vessels.
Most of the salt is as it leaves the ponds,
but about % or 80 per cent of it is crushed
for fish purposes. THERE'S a royalty of 10
per cent on the value of the salt. About
100000 bushels are exported yearly, the
firm above mentioned having exported
$50, 600 bushels last year in 1O2 vessels.
The number Of vessels which leave Turks
Island with salt each year is about two
hundred. The salt is sent to the United
States and British provinces, and load
was recently sent to Brazil, and well APP
proved, though the South American mar
ket is at present supplied from Liverpool.
The islands are not severed from the
world, for both the Clyde and Cunard
incident in this connection that a good
number of years ago the islanders vainly
appealed, time after time, to the British
Government for relief. from an oppressive
duty. but no notice was taken of them.
at last a strong agitation was aroused in
favor of asking the British Government to
permit the island to apply for annexation
to the United States. The existence o.
the movement was officially reported to
England, and very soon the obnoxious
INT