, 1889-03-06

To JUG VIOTIOI WI t0 IIEO TWVU ~ Gut %
mile it is n cheap way Of seeing the city
aud its suburbs the line in paying hand
sOmely. There is IA railway in the island,
but it is SO managed as to prevent 1t being
of use to a. visitor or any one except those
who live near it, for the train starts at 6.lO
AIM, to get there in time you must walk
over two miles or hire II carriage for o dol.
lar this with the fares included, run up
so high that you may AS well hire the Car.
riage for the day, as the difference Is 30
little, aud you can drive where you like;
it is said not to be q paying concern. [
know many visitors who would like TO go
by it but ara debarred, as if they 60 by the
afternoon train they do not get back until
eight o'clock, long after dinner. 1C is o
pity, for u quarter OF All hour could make
little difference to the Railway Company,
and be ~ great boon to the public; but
from the very start the Barbados Railway
was u mistake. Intended originally to be
the means of assisting tho billy districts
in transporting the produce to town, the
Contractors were allOw4d To run the 20
miles, or th~ereab1u's, which length they
had agreed ON, round the sea coast. where
there are very few estates. instead tf cutting
through the hills Of St. Johns. down into
st. Andrews, or Scotland rs it ia called,
the home OF the Red Legs, the most beau.
tiful and fruitful part OF the Island and
consequently the traffic is not what 1t
should be. The drive is beautiful, aud it
seems a shame that visitors cannot easily
enjoy it.
The Telephone is another benefit that
the Barb adams have enjoyed for the last
few years., and it is simply perfect i'll its
working; you can carry on a conversation
all over the Island to any one keepinga
house it is very useful, you ring up the
Ice House people or whoever you are deal.
ing with, and you can have by means
of the rramcar. if their delivery cart hAs
already left town, anything you want In
half an hour after ordering it each large
store in BridgplOwn hasiitS. delivery van
which ia sent to its customersS twice o day.
No that house keeping 10 easy, no market.
ing, you get the best articles cheaper than
You can buy them, they supply everything,
"you give the order, they supply it." The
persons We deal with supply even the
newspapers.
Another aud perhaps the greatest stride
that has taken place in Barbados in the
past few years has been the proper valua.
ton OF landed property. Ten years ago
IL man purchased ~ sugar estate and paid
three times its value for it; the person
who sold it got perhaps one OF two thou.
sand pounds paid down, the rest on mort.
gage; the consequence was that paying
interest on the sale money remaining mn
paid, and bad seasons, the purchaser was
only nOminally the owner, and after u few
years of hard struggling he had to chuck
up the sponge. 1t is now different. You
can now purchase - property tor its fair
value, and l predict a better future for
Barbados Nature too has taught the
Barbadian planter what all the preaching
i'll the world would never have done that
wind as a driving and crushing power is
not to be depended on, and the seasons
have so changed here, and elsewhere, that
he had to cave in, and Steam.engines are
now being imported to u greater extent
than old fOgies, who some years ago swOre
by wind-power, could ever have cOntems
plated. Several new plants are now be-
ing in course of erection to take Oft the
present crop and it is simply - matter Of
time when the present wind mill will only
be left OH those estates which can take OF
their small crops without too great y loss. Z
Give Barbados steam throughout the is.
land, that is a proper crushing power to.
take of. the crop in twelve working weeks
and. / am sure that 10, per cent. COnld
be added to the crop of the Island. But
the great mistake in too many instances,
appears to have been made, in ordering
machinery too small for the ireQuirements;'
however loan fairly say that most of thes
machinery have seen although small ,is ofa,