Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-02-03
AMONG TIE SAVHGES.
HOW "BOYSD ARE OBTAINED TO
WORK ON SUGAR PLANTATIONS.

Scenes on "Labor Ship''-The Manner
in Which a Glib Interpreter Captures
Heather Workers by the Promise o
Big Pay.
So great is the demand for "cheap labor,
in the sugar growing districts of Tahaiti ant
and the Hawaiian Islands and in Queensland
that it being known that the natives of the
New Hebrides were willing to ''shipn Oh
plantations for term of years for merely
nominal wages, "labor vessels visit the
| group annually to engage men and a few
women for that work. The manner in which
this is done well illustrates the distrust the
natives and foreigners have for each other
'Laborn vessels are always provided with
| regular arsenal of rifles and pistols. The
main hold is fitted with gratings that separ-
| ate the females from the men-or ''boys' as
they are called-and in these compartments
| are fixed certain sleeping platforms called
"bunks.n The vessels engaged in this trade
are generally small, seldom exceeding $50
tons measurement, and they carry their
} boats as the whalemen do, hanging from the
davits, ready for immediate service.
| The captain of an English labor vessel
sails her to and from certain designated
ports, and cruises about where there is the
| best chance of getting ''boys,n but no boat
! can go recruiting" unless the government
agent goes with it. No 'sboy' can, theoreti-
cally, be brought off to the ship against his
will.
There is generally on labor vessel an Gin
| terpreter.n The particular one with whom
| the writer sailed on a Hawaiian labor vessel,
was called Billy the Devil" which title suf-
| ficently indicates his character
Surprising a vessel after "boysn to have an
rived in Havana harbor, the finest in the
| group, on the Island of Vate; the captain
| generally engages at least one boats crew of
the natives themselves, on the principle, per-
| haps, that it takes savage to catch a saw
! age, there always being plenty on hand who
| are experienced iii the business.
Leaving Havana harbor the vessel cruises
| leisurely off through the groups, never being
more than two OF three miles from one
| island or another. Cruising along on the lee
| side of these islands a sharp lookout is kept
| for any signs of a "smoken on the stretches
of sandy beach. So dense is the foliage and
| SO careful are the natives to conceal their
villages that the only indications of there
being human life on these islands is column
of smoke that we occasionally see on the
shore, sent up by the savages to let us know
that they want to 'strade."
When such smoke is seen the boats are
lowered and manned. 'The boats" say be-
cause two are always sent in company to in
terview the savages. In the one that takes
the lead there is besides the crew, the inter
prefer and, in English vessels, the agent.
There is also a box filed with ''trade,n that
is, Turkey red muslin, as gaudy and flimsy
as the promises made to induce the natives to
ship; tobacco, of the kind known as ''nigger
head" twenty-six plugs to the pound
sweet, cheap and rotten; gun caps of an OBJ
solete make; cheap pipes strings of gay
beads, a few of which constitute what is
called "full DRESS" packages of matches,
guaranteed not to light son the box" or any
where else by friction; soft iron hatchets,
knives and needles, and other ingenious
frauds with which to purchase such supplies
as yams, pigs, cocoanuts, ETC., and also to
give as presents to the friends of those who
ship. The second boat acSs as "covern to
the first, and both crews are heavily armed
Nearing the beach, the leading boat is
turned round and backed to the sandy shore,
care being taken to keep it afoat, the inter
prefer warning the crowd of naked, brutal
savages to keep clear of the long steering oar.
The crew keep their oars and rifles ready for
use, and the second boat stops about 100 feet
out from the first, and, swinging broadside
on, its crew seize their rifles and ''stand byn
to defeat any attack on their friends. The
natives, some of whom are sure to be ere
turned labor" and consequently familiar
with pigeon" English, crowd around near
the stern of the boat and boot and yell while
the interpreter rattles off something like the
following:
"Hello, all you fine fella! How you dos
You come down to ship, hey? Well, 'spose
you want to go one fine ship-cap'n one fine
man-you come long. Here, you good fella
boy" pointing to some gaping native in the
crowd, ''catch 'em this" finging some bits
of tobacco ashore, which are promptly fought
for. sect plenty all same on board ship.
Plenty yam" the staple food; ''plenty fine
shirts; shoes; oh, everything. Make you
big man you come. 'Spose you ship, you get
one pound one moon for one yam," which
means the man is promised Ell (s5) per month
or ''moon" for the first year, called ''yam,"
because it takes that length Of time for that
esculent to ripen.
In the midst of the profound excitement
produced by this unheard of offer a grizzled
headed old ruffian in the crowd spoke up:
''What for you lie, Billys You think all
this fella boy foola Plenty boys ship here
befo fo' 81 one YAM" (the regular price paid
in the colonies. "Why you talk 81 one
moonpn And the veteran takes a firmer grip
on his battle ak and jabbers something con-
temptuous of Billy to the crowd, who there
upon began to handle their clubs, guns, bows,
arrows and spears furtively but threatingly.
Billy is not discouraged. He points to our
flag, which the savages are quick to discover
is new to them, and by his eloquence and
liberal showers of tobacco and investments
in yams, bananas and cocoanuts persuades a
few of the natives to ''ship."
But they will not do so until a good sized
bundle is made up from the trade box for
their friends There are displayed, therefore,
two OF three yards of turkey red cloth to be
given to the frightful looking, skinny old
squaw bowling on the beach, who claims to
be the mother of the "boy." There is meas
ured out handful of gay beads, which will
sooth the anguish of the younger female, who
is the departing mans betrothed! A musket
ian altered flint lock- is laid aside as part
ing gift to the father, lot of percussion caps,
which won't fit or explode; a handful of
metallic cartridges-the gun is a muzzle
loader; package of powder, damp, and some
bar lead for bullets go with the musket.
There are also matches, sheath knife, and
quantity of tobacco. All this treasure is
passed aShore-under cover OF the rifles of
the boats crew-and the "boy' is showed
along into the bow of the boat, which is
pulled Immediately out to the coming boat,
to which the 'bird" is transferred, and we
go in to get another one.
While the recruit is being taken to the Sec
ond boat the scene on the beach is peculiar
one The bundle of gifts is being 'dis-
tributed" and by the time we have shipped
half dozen ''boys" pretty much everybody on
the beach has something or other.
Such, in its humanest aspect, is the manner
in which labor is secured in the South seas.
F L. Clarke in San Francisco Call
What is a drought? Mr.. Symons, the
English meteorologist, would have three
kinds or degrees of drought recognized and
precisely defined. A period of fourteen or
more consecutive days without rain should be
termed an absolute drought; one of twenty
eight or more consecutive days, with rain
fall not exceeding a quarter of an inch,
should be called a partial drought and at
least sixty days, with not over two inches of
rain, should be long drought.
American.
Hostess Ito gues3-Win you make a fourth