Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-09-10


away the lunches as they were passed
down. Other men were stationed be-
tween the rail and the hatch to pass the
punches along. Men and women carried
the punches from the shed to the ship
and handed them to the men on the
hanging platform. An inspector was
constantly on the wharf keeping a sharp
eve on every bunch and rejecting oil that
had any Flemish or were under slze.
A cOlored man with a sharp cutlass stood
about midway between the shed and the
ship, and with deIterous blow cut the
long and useless stem from each bunch
as il was carried past. Thus each bunch
went through five hands IN its short
journey from the storage-shed 60 the
hold of the shin: First a girl or man
picked up a bunch from the great heap
in the shed, put it on her or his head,
and carried it 10 the men on the hanging
platform they passed it to the man on
deck, who in turn handed IT to the men
in the hatchway, and they gave 1t to men
still deeper in the hold, who slowed 1t
away where it was to remain till 1t
reached New York. These arrangements
of course had all been made beforehand,
for hardly a day passes without some
banana-ship being loaded at Port Mo
rant, and every man knew his place and
was ready for work when the signal was
given.
The order to begin work instantly
turned the quiet wharf into one OF the
liveliest places imaginable. Twenty men
and girls made q rush for the shed and
came out, one after another, with punches
OF bananas on their heads, hnrrying as If
their lives depended upon making quick
time. The two men on the platform. as
they received the lunches, called oil the
number for the tally-keeper, who made
mark for every bunch received. Then
began a musical but monOtonous chorus
that lasted till the last banana was on
board. The men On the platform re-
ceiyed the punches alternately, first one
and then the other, each one as he
handed his bunch up TO the deck calling
ont number that never went beyond
four. First the right.hand man cried
Wan" in a voice that might have
been heard on the other side Of tho
island.
Then the left hand man, 1.-TWO"
And the other one again, Three. " and
the left-hand man again, -Four" and
then the first one, 4" 1di-LEE," the ." tai
" coming out every time five times
louder than any OF the others. Then II
began again with the "one" "twO,
"three, and so on, till in n short time
the tally-keeper had rows Of marks reach
ing across the broad pages of his book.
Occasionally some of the workers started
up a song and the others joined in, and
all seemed as happy at their work as the
score or more Of loungers who leaned
idly against the front of the shed or
helped to hold up the wharf posts.
After an hour or two the moon came
out over the top of the hill that
rose Just back OF the stOrehouse and set
out in beautiful relief the row of cocoa
nut palms growing along its edge. The
whole scene was typical OF life in the
tropics, with the awning stretched over
the passengers deck TO keep of the night
dews, the darkies at work by the light Of
the big torch, the pleasant smell OF ba-
nanas, the soft, warm air, and the negro
songs. 1t WAS o tropical cargo that we
had throughout, with 800 hogsheads Of
sugar in the hold, great weight of ma
hogany logs, and some hides and tobac-
co. In short time the whole
wharf was covered with the cutoff
ends of banana stems, and these
had frequently to be swept away.
| Two or three times somebody's
grip failed or his foot slipped and a
| bunch Of bananas came down on the
wharf with thud and broke to pieces,
only to be thrown overheard without
ceremony. 1t seemed impossible for the
man to keep swinging his cutlass in the
midst Of that hurrying crowd without
nicking somebody's head, or Mt least lop-
| ping off an ear or two but he evidently
| understood his business, for no such ac-
cident happened, and the cutlass never
descended without bringing with it one
| OF the cutoff stems. Ii would have been
! impossible, OF course, for such a crowd
of West Indian colored people to work
together without some wrangling and
| quarrelling, and in such cases they are
not sparing Of their lungs but scold
away at such a rate that "A pitched battle
seems imminent. They take it out in
scolding, however, and rarely or never
come to blows over their work.
This went on from 7 o'clock to II,
with racket that made sleep impossible.
In those four hours 4, 900 lunches Of ba-
nanas were put in the hold, and more
would have been taken If more had been
ready but another steamer had been
loaded the day before, aud had nearly
emptied the storehouse. The slowing
away in the hold is work that requires
experienced hands. Careless work there
would result N spoiled cargo before
the ship reached her destination. They
have to be as carefully packed as a lady's
trunk, and 50 arranged that the air will
reach them as much as possible. A
fruit steamer is a marvel in the way
Of pipes and ventilators and all sorts
Of contriyances for keeping bananas III
good condition. he deck of the AlyO,
as soon az We had bananas on board, be-
came wilderness OF great iron venti-
lating tunnels. each as high as a mans
head, and each reinforced with canvas
arms hpTthu OuJ 10 CdlCu tue bittNcs III
that hot climate very few hours in the
close hold of "A ship would be enough to
ruin the cargo but for the ventilators.
On the other hand, when the ship reaches
higher ATTITUDES on her northward yoy-
age, the ventilators have to be taken
away and the hold heated with steam
pipes. The Atlas Steamship Company
has system OF protecting its fruit
that seems TO be nearly perfect.
The hold must be kept at just
such a temperature as nearly as
possible throughout the voyage-a few
degrees higher would ripen the fruit too
rapidly, and few degrees lower would
chill it. Above all things, no salt water
must be allowed TO touch the fruit, not
even spray, for nothing ruins the ba-
mana quicker. The record of the home
ward voyage Of banana-ship is won
der for its completeness. At certain
hours every day thermometers are low
cred into the hold through openings
provided for the purpose and record is
made for each test on blanks provided
for the purpose. Even the opening or
closing OF ventilator has to be recorded (;
so that when that strictly first-class pas