The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-05-24
ISLAND OF MARTINIQUE.
A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE PLACE wHens
THERE IS NO POVERTY.

To-. Women and Donkeys t"o
Common Carriers Tho birthplace o'
Frances Empress, Josephine.
Martinique Is a garden OF romantic
beauty. extending from the edge OF the
pretty harbor to the foot hills OF the
mountains, and looks like fragment OF
France gone astray. Every building Is
Of venerable stone. antique in structure
large and roomy and windowed 10y deep
ialousies. The heavy tile roofs overhang
the sills like the eyebrows OF man, ana
are covered with silvery moses anu
trailing vines.
The streets are nearly all paved with
Belgian blocks. and sparkling water
PUSHES down the middle Of each In tho
gutter. toward which the pavement
slopes.
LIFE on TIIR ISLAND.
Everybody lives out OF doors Inc
harbor is skirted by a wide boulevard.
shaded by palm trees and furnished with
iron seats, where the populace gather In
the evening and chatter ike magpies
During the day the women sit In the
gardens, and at night sleep in hammocks
under the verandas. except in the rainy
season, when they keep their houses.
There is no glass in tho windows. and
not a chimney in the place. All the
cooking is done in charcoal stoves, or
upon shelves OF stone like blacksmiths
forge.
On an eminnce overlooking tho town
stands statue Of the Blessed Virgin. like
protecting guardian, benignant and
serene. There are some fine churches
and one c ri cathedral that is worth
visit. The people are mostly Catholics
but there is large colony OF Jews en-
gagged in banking and trade.
The town OF Fort do France, which
was known as Fort Royal during the
time of the empire, is tho seat OF the
government. where the lieutenant gov
ernor lives an commands garrison OF
300 or 400 col ored soldiers. 1t is about
twenty miks from St. Pierre and has
10, 900 inhd ,itants, but the latter place
is tho conn nercial capital and the fash
ionablc re- .idence The blacks and whites
live togef her as brothers and sisters OF
the com non family. often interniarry-
ing. Many Of the colored families are
wealtlr and aristocratic, and send their
children abroad TO be educated.
The upper class wear the latest French
fashions and 1.-Two with considerable COM
fort, but the colored women OF the COM
mon class, rs elsewhere in the tropics,
are clad III single garment Of cotton,
without any particular design OF con-
cealing or exposing their anatomy.
They load themselves with large
amount Of jewelry Of peculiar designs.
and on Sunday and feast days get them
selves up in most elaborate and out
landsh manner, men and women both
rivaling the plumago OF the birds in the
myriad colors they assume. There are
no poor. no almsho ses, no asylum for
the INDECENT.
INTERESTING PARTICULARS.
The women Of Martinique carry their
babies in n peculiar manner by placing
them astride Of the left hip AMI strap
ping them there ig broad slings Of cloth.
Martinique has a population O; l54, 900,
OF which 1000 are white, 10000 Of
mixed blood al the remainder colored.
The island q covered with fekls Of SUI
gar cane, mostly cultivated by the
women, Willie tho men do the heavier
labor in &c sugar mills and in the har-
Dor. tn ere arc no carriages or carts.
but the women and donkeys ar % the COM
mon carriers.
There is n good opera house where
peri ormances are often given by local
Ia ent, and once in a W lille an opera or n
lay by a company from France One
Of tho most beautiful parks in the world
Is known as the Place Berlin, whore
there Isl magnificent fountain of bronze.
graceful water ny mph, fourteen feet
high. bearing upon 'ner head basket.
from the rim of which jets OF water flow.
In Augus1 this 'Hntain exhibits what
10 strangers is most amazing pheno-
menon, spouting inyrads of littlo fishes
about as large "a whitehall. with bodies
as transparent as crystal These are
called titirc, end como from the noun
tain streams with W hich the fountain is
fed. In the month Of August they start
for the sea and are caught by the pipes
that feed tho fountain. The people, ex-
pecting shem, como down with baskets.
scoop them up. and, taking them home,
fry them u, oil. when tho make most de-
licious mGrsels.
Martinique was tho birthplace Of the
Empress Josephine. whose family still
1.-Two nes.r Fort do Franco. and their old
home. :, little ono story house. is still TO
be seen. In tho center OF tnat little city
magnificent statue Of white marble was
erected 10 her memory by the lato EN-
peror Napoleon III. Jos sphine was the
daughter Of Joseph GasT ard Tacher dc la
Pagerie, Lieutenant OF artillery. and at
10 married Alexander do Beaularnais
He was only TO- and al ter few years Of
married life in France the young couple
were separated. and Josephine returned
to her parents ut Martinique. In 1894
Beauharnais died Oh tho guillotine, and
two years afterwau Josephine was mar
ried to Napoleon. The empires, was d.
vorced. and died In 1900. The people of
Martinique rever her like a saint.-Cor.
Philadelphia Pres