The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-07-21
JAMAICA'S FAIR.
SIGHTS AND INCIDENTS AT THE
PLANTERS ANNUAL GATHERING.
The Islands Agricultural show ut Cum
berland Pen--Great Display Of Rum and
Sugar - The People and Their Dress.
Cool Drinks and Gingerbread.

berIand Pen--Great Display Of Rum and
Sugar - The People and Their Dress.
Cool Drinks and Gingerbread.
The agricultural fair is one Of the great
events of the year in Jamaica. Next TO the
races il is the greatest day of all. For months
before Tire people are preparing for it and
talking about it and getting things ready t.
exhibit. The actual fair differs very little
from one of our own county fairs, but the
circumstances under which il is held are
peculiar to Jamaica. Here are 100000 peo-
pie living on an island $50 miles long and
so miles broad, and they all want TO attend
the fair. More than nine-tenths of them live
miles away from the railroad, and must
travel over the mountain roads or by the
coastwise steamers But there are not con-
veyances enough in all Jamaica to carry the
half nor quarter Of them, and many who
are any ous to see the fair are disappointed
The show is held at very convenient
place, called Cumberland Pen, on the rail
road, and near to both Kingston and Spanish
Town, and the visitors who come from dis
tant parts Of the island make Kingston their
headquarters, and so out to the fair grounds
by train. Those who come in carriages,
even If they start from the furthest corners
of the island, find the best of roads to drive
over; know of no country districts in the
United States where the highroads are at all
comparable with the smooth, hard roads
that lead all over the island Of Jamaica. In
every part of the island they are fully equal
to the fine drives around Long Branch and
Saratoga, barring only on the plain OF King
ston, where they are often extremely dusty.
These roads lead in many cases over tho
mountains, following for miles the river
banks, with all dangerous places protected
with stout stone walls, and the rivers bridSed
with stone causewsys that look Is If they
were intended to last for all time. Some Of
these old bridges, believe, were built by
the Spaniards when they had possession Of
the island but the good roads were all made
by the English, and are relics Of the days
when Jamaica was in her prime.
Cumberland Pen is one Of the most beauti-
full places imaginable for fair ground. Pen
u.s. as have explained before, the Jamaica
name for a farm, and Cumberland pen Is
what we would call Cumberland farm. That
part of it in which the fair Is held, space Of
perhaps 100 acres, is covered with rows OF
old, wide spreading trees, forming arches Of
foliage that completely shade the entire
place. Cumberland pen is the property Of
Mr.. Louis F. Verley, large landholder in
Jamaica, and the fair is held there every
year 1t is reached by short ride in the
cars from Kingston, and every train on the
day of the fair, stops at little platform near
the entrance to the fair grounds. But when
the fair is in progress although special trains
are kept constantly running, every car is so
crowded that it is as much as ones life is
worth to get u seat. Curiously enough, after
all the elaborate preparation the fair is held
for only one day i'll year, and only, indeed,
for small part of that day, for it is not for
mally opened till noon and it ends at D
o'clock.
As we had taken the precaution to so early
to keep out of the crowd, we had fine
chance to see all the curiosities. The exhibits
of sugar and rum occupied a good deal of
space, and were of more interest than one
would suppose such things could be made.
never imagined there were SO many kinds of
sugar in all varieties of color and made by
all the many processes-centrifugal vacuum
pan, Wetzel pan Aspinal pan, steam clari-
tiers, helical and Aspinal pan, open battery
of boilers, ranger cured ordinary process,
ordinary open battery, old process-these are
some of the ways in which sugar is made in
Jamaica and though the terms sound strange
to northern ears, they are common enough
there. And the rum-in all the rummy
shades of color, from the deep brown of the
West street Jamaica article TO the pale
amber of Santa Cruz" l suppose the
judges had to taste all these varieties before
they could award the prizes, but they had
not got at it yet when l left
1t is inevitable that most people living on
an isolated island shall be a little behind the
age in the matter of dress. There are always
some who travel and see what is going on in
the world, but the great majority stay at
home, from necessity rather than inclination,
and they cannot keep pace with swift chang
ing fashions. So at the Cumberland Pen
fair although there was deal of fine dress
ing, most Of it was of the style of season or
two ago. But there were some young ladies
there whose beauty was not to be spoiled by
any oddly in style Of garments. Carriage
load after carriage load Of planters and plant
ers' families drove into the grounds, and the
coaches were stood in long rows under the
trees. Some of them had come many weary
miles over the mountains, starting days be-
fore the opening OF the fair, and making here
visit and there visit at plantation houses
by the way. There is great deal OF such
sociability in Jamaica, considering the long
carriage journeys that have to be taken.
The dwelling houses on some of the estates
are far away from all signs of civilization,
up on the mountain sides, and some are not
reached even by ROAD, being accessible only
on horseback. Such places remind me of
the western pioneer who announced his in
tenton to move further on, because another
family had settled only sixteen miles away,
and neighbors were getting too thick. The
Jamaicans seem to delight in such secusion.
In the suburbs of the cities they build their
houses well back from the roads and put a
high stone wall and a lot of trees in front.
When | visited Col Justice, the commander
of the troops in Jamaica at his coy cottage
up in the mountains, he told me that his
nearest white neighbor was three miles
away, and seems to think that was lust
about far enough.
The sellers OF cool drinks and gingerbreads
interested me about as much as ANYTHING |
saw at the Jamaica fair. They had some
light stuff like root beer that tasted very
good, and little piles and pyramids of cakes.
In the long, shaded avenue that led from the