Mohave County miner., 1889-04-13
A LOAD OF BANANAS.
a NIGHT scENE ON THE coAsT
or JAMAICA.

Now che West India Darby Works BY
rcrchiigft = a IAveiy Time NJ ,he
wharf - Cassing' or tho ssems - Ihs
vaatiiasing runnsis.
Shortly SITTER dark tho banana loading be
gan, and nothing connected with the fruit
trade is moro picturesque and romantic than
tbs leading of banana ship, particularly
wben the work Is done at night. There vas
the long wooden building In which the ba,
nanax were stored, with an uncovered b<s.rd
platform ABOUT twenty feet wide between II
Aud the wharf at which tho ship lay. A
hundred dsrkies, pcrhepa more, were lo,Ing.
ing about waiting for tho work 10 begiia--
aud there Is 1othing In which tbs West India
darky comes out 10 strong a. In waiting foI
tho work 10 begin. A big torch WINS lighted,
and the fame OF II made tho platform, a,
light almost as day Lanterns were htug
about inside tho building, and through The
open doors could bs seen great piles OF ba.
nanas stacked up like hay: and all green, Ton
they are cut In the unripe state, and shoald
not, II they are properly managed, be more
than. just beginning TO show q few yellow
streaks by the time they are landed In New
York.
A dozen men went to work and lashed q
wide plank 70 tho side OF the ship In such q
position that II made platform large enough
for two men 10 stand on, about four feet
above the wharf and the same distance below
the dock. The cover was taken OF the for.
ward hatch and several men were sent below
TO stow away the bunches as they were passef
down. Other mea were stationed bctweer
3 - at<.o
along. Men and women carried tho bunches
from the shed to the ship and handed them tc
the men ON the hanging platform. An In.
spector YVES constantly on the wharf keeping
a sharp eye on every bunch and rejecting all
that had any blemish or were under size. A
colored man with sharp cutlnss stood about
midway between tho shed and tho ship, and
with o dexterous blow cut tho long and tlse.
less stem from each bunch az IL was carried
past. Thus each bunch went through five
hands In its short journey from the storage
shed TO the hold Of the ship: First q girl or
rfan picked up bunch from the great hap
In the shed, put 1t on her or his head, and
carried ii to the men on the hanging plat
form; they passed Ii to tho man on deck, who
In turn handed 1t to the men In the hatch
way, and they gave it TO men still deeper In
the bold, who slowed II away where IL was 10
remain till IL reached New York.
The order TO begin work instantly turned
tho quiet wharf into one Of the hveliest
places imaginable. Twenty men and girls
made rush for the shed and came out, one
after another, with punches Of bananas on
their heads, hurrying as IL their lives de.
pended upon making quick time. The two
men on the platform, as they received The
bunches- called or the number for the tally
keeper, who made q mark for every burlch
received. Then began musical but monet
onous chorus that lasted till the last banana
was on board The men on tho platform re-
ceived the bunches alternately, FIRST one and
then the other, each one as ho handed bis
bunch up to the deck calling out . number
that never went beyond four. First the
right hand man cried "Wan," In voice that
might have been heard on the other side Of
the island. Then tho left hand man "Two.
And the other one again, ''Three,D and the
left hand man again, -Four and then
the first one, "Tal-lee,n the italy" coming
cut every time five times louder than any Of
tho others Then 1t began again with the
''one,n "two," ''three," and 90 On, till iu q
short time the tally keeper had rows Of
marks reaching across tho broad pages Of
bis book. Occasionally some Of the worksrs
started up q song and the others Joined in
The whole scene was typical Of life In
the tropics, with the awning stretched over
tho passengers' deck to keep OF the night
dews, the darkies at work by the light Of the
big torch, the pleasant smell Of tho bananas,
tho soft warm air and the negro songs. It
was tropical cargo that we had through.
out, with 300 hogsheads of sugar In the hold,
O great weight Of mahogany logs and some
hides and tobacco. In short time the whole
wharf was covered with the cut OF 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 o bunch Of
bananas came down on the wharf with q
thud and broks 70 pieces, only to be thrown
overheard without ceremony. Il seemed iui-
POSSIBLE for the man to keep swinging his
rutlass In the midst Of that hurrying crowd
without nicking somebody's head, or at la,st
Topping OF an ear or two; but he evidently
understood his business, for no such accident
happened, and the cutlass never descended
without bringing with 1t one Of tho cut Of
stemA 1t would have been impossible, of
course, for such q crowd Of West Indian col-
orod people to work together without soane
wrangling and quarrelmg, and In such caips
they arc not sparing Of their lungs, and sceid
away at such rate that pitched battle
seems imminent. They take 10 out In scold-
Ing, however, and rarely OF never como to
blows over their work.
This went on from o'clock to II, with
racket that made sleep impossible In these
four hours 4 600 bunches OF bananas were put
II, khuk -
II more had been ready; but another steamer
had besn loaded the day before, and had
nearly emptied the storehouse. The slowing
away In the bold Is work that requires ex-
perienced hands Careless work there would
result In q spoiled cargo before the ship
reached hsr destination. They have to be as
carefully packed as ladys trunk, and 90 slr-
ranged that the air win reach them as much
a. possible. A fruit steamer Is marvel In
ths way Of pipes and ventilators and all sorts
Of coutrivanoes for keeping bananas In good
condition. Tho deck Of the Alvo, as soon as
we had bananas ON board, became q wilder
na@ Of great iron venhlating tunnels, each
a. high a. a mans head, and each re-enforced
with canvas arms, spread cut TO catch the
bgee1e.
On the other hand, when the ship reaches
higher latitudes on her northward voyage,
the ventalatoss have to be taken away and
tho hold heated with steam pipes. Tho Atlas
Steamship company has system Of protect
ing Its fruit that seems TO be nearly perfect.
The hold must be kept ct just such a temper
ature as nearly as possible throughout tho
voyage-a few degrees higher would ripsn
the fruit too rapidly and a few degrees lower
would chill II. Above all things, no sllt
water must be allowed 10 touch the fruit,
not even spray, for nothing ruins the banana
Exns, ard