The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-11-01
CRUISE OF THE AGUAN,
ON Her WAY TO THE NiCARA'
GUAM DITCH.

Beautiful Weather for the Trip-wes'
Indian HOPES .f Annexation tn the
United states The WORK ST Far as II
Has hlogressed.
STEAMSHIP AGuAN. At SEA no! In The
shadc), October liz special tesfespo~d'
:: cncc. We arc r.'aing Port Royal, on
"'s hay 10 Kingston, Jamaica, where
hope to forward you this letter. containing
a brief resume of our voyage up to date...
AsI tclcgraphcd you on the day Of sail,
ing. the steamship Aguan, having on board
Commander 4. q, M0nocal. United >ta.es
Navy, chief enginrer Of the Sjcafaspa "a
nal tpmuany. md feinloicciucnts Ji meI
Gid iaatcs iai Tor the American canal, len
| New York at 30 l.. VI. on Thursday, octo-
4 her 10Th. After run down 10 sandy
/ Hook we were forced Ia bring up between
sandy Hook and Scotland light. on account
Of n mishap 10 the Aguan's machinery. we
were thus DELAYED until l0iiO A. Ms on FRI
DAY morning. when we again started on o'ii
Journey ... ... =. u. y. ~
|. ia orlsi So ,nip,ssii,le4 ~ imagine niofc
beautiful weather than that which we en-
iOycd during our run down 10 the tropics
We had fair wind from the start, soft
balmv brccZes. gradually increased in
/ ~.
tober 18th, We sighted tire island Of san
-al, atluf The first land sighted y, Chfis'o.
rhcr Columbus in October, li92. just 80
years ago. As
CURIOUS cOfNtIDENCE,
it may be remarked that when the great
mariner and his Spanish galleys thcf,
sighted land il was the result of the deter
minatior of Columbus 20 iiy ana fid new
ldutc to the indies. Now. nearly four nun
drcd years later, a >pani,h-Amcrican cngi-
npcr is opening this new route Ia the Indies.
and also. curiOu, 10 add. through the very
uOrtiOn Of the American continent which
the Spanish ad,nifals and generals OF old
believed 10 be the only possible route 10y
which a connection could be found or made
between the Atlantic and the Pacific
oceans.
PIRATES BOLD.
The grandly charming scenery and his
torical rocullucliOhs associated with th,
beautiful island- Of he tariibean Sea and it,
vicinity are too great 10 be lightly touched
upOn. but il may be- recalled that il was in
these waters that Raleigh, Drake. Howe,
Rodney. Penn. Ncnablcs. Morgan. ,,rcn-
vile. and other British admiiTls. oI
l"salized or unlcgalizcd maritime free
hOoicr-. vrcsted fame and fortune
from the spanish Main. I'm these
|
and forgotten. of the pirates, cOrsairs. fiji.
busters. buccaneers. and other sealirlne
Adventures who earned "A more on less hon.
cst living AT .'thc cannon~ mouth" ana 10y
the aid Of cutlasses. boarding pixies, pistols
and other similar implements.
PFACEFtL l. MISSION.
But. i'm this year of our Lord lS~9 busi-
ness is not carried on in that -tyle. and ~
the good steamship Aquan steams peace
| fully onward over the seawced-coNcrcd
wrecks Of many -t1unch war vessel, and
proceeds on her mission 10 aid IN rcNolu.
tiOniIing the trade of Central America
| South America. California. and last. but
not least. our Southern states. by Joining
the Atlantic 10 the Pacific ocean 10y way ol
the river san Juan and Lake Nicaragua.
| ANNEXATION OF THE WEST INDIES.
During our trip southwark | had The
pleasure Of cOnycrsing with "A number o
West Indians Of various classes returned
from visiting Europe or the United states
and ! was astOnished 10 notice the unanl
nous feeling expressed in favor OF the an
neNation Of the West Indian Islands to the
l'uiled States. Great Britain. il was claim
ed. had ceased 10 manifest anything but ;
dOg-in-thc-mangcr interest in the wei
fare of the West Indian Islands. wnlci
had cost her 80 much blood ant
treasure to win and 10 hold. and this policy
combined with "A growing feeling OF irrita
tiOn caused by Great 6rtain's stupid polio,
of appointed wcll-cOnnccted knOw-nOthing-
To gOyernOrShius OrOther positions in the diff
ferent colonies about the American continent
and supplemented by the decrease in the
sugar business, greatly enhanced by 6rea
Britain's neglect 10 protect the Industries
of her colonies against the subsidized beet
4 lfts
France. has resulted i'm bringing the people
of the West Indies TO point of feeling No
unlike that which agitated the British colo
ncs Of North America previous to the KeV0
lutiOnary war and the bloody signal o
| April ~. 111J. at Lexington.
THE ISLANDS INTERESTED IN THE CANAL
Intermixed with this feeling Of disconten
against Great lIritain's unwise rule Is ;
feeling Of ioyful expectation. That Will
the completion Of the Nicaragua canal ;
new era of prosperity will dawn for the Nes
Indies in general and Jamaica and Cuba II
particular II il astonishing 10 find how
/ well posted even the native labOrcrs Of thcs'
islands are upon the canal question. From
nearly every island the Nicaragua Cana
Company has received offers of iron
100 10 5000 men who are ALREADY
MUSTER and numbered under local bosses
time when the full head of work is turned
on i'm Nicaragua. and these thousands o
willing hands will find employment for ;
number Of years. such labor Is cheap anl
GOOD i'm these regions. The men are cithe
trained bOatmcn OrdiNcrS. invaluable III thl
working of the construction canoes along th'
san Juan river, or else thoroughly seasone,
plantation hands who are accustomed L
lust such climates as that of Nicaragua
These men are hired by the Nicaragua
Canal Company for SD. United states cur
rcncy, per month"; with boarI and lodging
The company pays their transportation 4
Nicaragua. and also pays their iranspOrta
ton back 10 their island homes. As Il rul,
they are orderly and well behaved, an,
more than contented with the pay allowed
them by the American Canal Company.
Then. again. the good food and kind treat
mcnt which these willing ''hands' receives
from the canal cOmpany'- officers has ha,
ts effect. The news of the happy commence
mcnt of the canal work on June 3d last
and the consderatc treatment received b
the laborers. has spread from island {
island. and the result j. that the inhabtant
of these islands are volunteering in larg
numbers 10 work on the line of the canal.
Z TROPICAL LABORERs.
ON October 10Th We stopped AT Tuagl
island and took on board a number of Ia
borcrs. which had been gathered at tina
point for transportation to san Juan II,
Norle. They were a fine, young and health
lot of men. who will de- good service on In
San Juan river a. bOatmcn. etc.
HOW THE WORK HAS PROGRESSED.
ON the arrival of the chief engineer q
san Juan del \,rtc (1reytOwn) on or abou
Monday next the work Of construction wi
be- pushed forward with y-Or.
From san Juan del Norte. 80 soon ~ pO,
sible. | shall send THE TIMES full an
detailed account of the work already a'
complished. and will outline, 80 far a
practicable, the plans made for pushing th
work in the immediate future.
FROM OTHER LANDS.