Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-21


ran 70 the hght and the general" himself,
after finding remonstrance with his men uss-
less, Joined In the general melee
Sor EDWARDS. But POOR x.RUnxx
The Haitians are not towards by any means,
but their lack OF success IL due entirely 20 poor
Workmanship.
Tho great pride Of every Haitiaa and the
dread OF every revolutionist is The "Haissn
navy. as the three little vessels that ny the
red and blue h,-eolor OF HAITI are called
lne Dessalines be q wooden steamer OF
eight hundred tons. with old-style compound
engines. and she can probably maze four or
I'VE knots now. though she vas credited with
sixteen knots at the date Of her launching in
loo@ she Is bar kentsne rugged and her battery.
winch Is IN poor state Of repair consists Of
one '-Ineh muzxle-ioader and two tairty-poun-
der muzzle-iosder. all smooth boris and two
machine guns.
The Toussaint fouverture. q steel rup-
boat the present flagship. was launched in
france IN leo@ She Is OF i've hundred tons
displacement and could once make twelve
Knots, but cannot make more than sin
Knots when IN repair. though az prese nj she IN
useless on account Of q broken propeller. She
- eaiied ram. but her only right TO that
title Is the ram" or 'swan breast" shape of
her bow. the distinctive French tv,e of Gum
boat her armament consists OF one 81. inch
breech-iosding rife and two S-4-inch rifles
and two eating guns Ihe.troopsh,p "Belise."
| converted merchantman of ? 500 tons armed
with one 5-inch breech-loadine rife completee
the Haitian navy list while ninety officers and
| three hundred men make mp the personnel The
present navy was founded under President
Solomon IN ISIS when Admiral ,1ooper an
American, was at its head and kept IL in r.pair
hut when Solomon went down in a revolution
four years ago Cooper left the country and
| the navy has been on the decline since then.
ALWAYS A RxBELLIous PARTY.
There Is always a rebeilious party in Haiti
ready to follow any leader. however bad -
long as ne is against the powers that be, and al
present General Manigat. who lie q refugee in
Jamaica. Is the popular IDOL # tins rebellious
party. which are breaking out here and there
IN petty instructions all over the island; es-
PEI ally In the northern part this time and
there are some who are bold enough 90 say that
II General Manigat should land tomorrow at
Cape Haitien he would find army ready to
follow him against Hypolite, but the latter is
qu.ck-witted. sagscious man and puts down any
show OF opposition and rebellion with an iron
hand. and few who are even charged with trea-
son escape the death penalty.
There Is a progressive party in the island
who attempt 10 further the civilization. found
| schools. start enterprises, build better cities
and make the country a nation; and this party
deserves much respect for their efforts: but
the oarelessness and Incidence of The masses
and their complete ignorance and the too COM
mon utter lack OF morals prove TO be a barrier
hard to break down. The party of progress
led by the president. have opened a pavilion
into TIE notice of people of all nations by their
display there. Speaking OF this pavilion, I
saw IN one Of the January editions of lie
Peupie, the leading daily paper of Port al
Prince. an engraving Of the liberal arts build
ing at the Chicago exposition. and under II vas
the inscription Haitian Building a. the Expo
sitIon." and not one of the thousands of Haitisns
who looked with vain pride on that picture
thought for an instant that the PAPER had made
mistake. The editor OF lie Peuple," which 10
in French the common language OF Haiti. 10 Q
brilliant old gentleman who At present repre-
sents the republic OF Liberia at Por. an Prince.
and has held n dozen positions Of honor under
the government. of which he 10 evidently very
proud for on his official visiting card / find q
record of all these various honors in the follow
ing titles inscribed beneath the name j. j.
Audain: "Ancien Depute, Ancien Sinateur. An
Glen Constituent, Ancien Tresorler General
| Ancen Charge des Departments dcs Finances
ct du Commerce d'Haiti. Charge d'Afaires ct
Consul General de Ia Republic de Liberia,
Doyen de la Presse Haitienne. Redenctuer en-
Chef du Journal lie Peuple,' GRAND Oficier DIES
Differents Orders" &c, &c. This love of Q
title is predominant and every one either is or
las been or is just going to be senator, minister,
general or admiral
l CHARACTERISTICS OF TIE PEOPLE.
Here as elsewhere in the Antilles the women
dress in gay colors and carry trays about bal
anced on their heads with apparently no effort,
and the children Of the common people run
about the streets naked and happy in the dirs
and ignorance.
In the market place. a great open square,
where the populace congregate TO buy and sell
wares. meats aud fruits one advan-
| tage the motley crowds that make up the popu-
lation. Here an old negro woman, whose rust
ling silk dress and umbrella show her TO be Of
the upper class, jostles against the straight
limbed girl whose single garment is a gzily
| colored Mother Hubbard" gown that scarcely
| conceals her ebony legs below the knee. made
4
mountain road with fruit for the market on her
head: and side by side the fastldiol sly dressed
/ dandy and peasant with but two garments
| cotton shirt and pair Of ragged trousers; while
naked children wallow in the sunburnt dirt or
play and kick In their mothers laps. Along the
wharvos a feet of rickety fishing boats could
be seen. and they generally went out with the
| land breeze during the night. making the
night hideous with their unmusicsl pstois
songs, ana returned with the sea breeze In the
afternoon. Sometimes whole families live in
I these little boats. and often their clothing 10
almost to a minimum of simplicity. the men
| with only long cotton shirt, the women with
| but a colored cotton wrapper and the children
with nothing This is the poorer class; the
richer cnes affect Partisan styles and like to
appear in silk hats and frock coats Cor tine men,
with gaudy silks and satins for the women. I
have seen a woman in Port an Prince swelter-
| ing under fur-trimmed cloak, with the Their
mometer at So degrees in the shade, but her
discomfort was nothing TO the pleasure she
took in displaying her hnery TO her envious
neighbors-
GOODS IN THE SHOPS.
The shops are filed with European and
American goods. little that is native and
nothing that 10 good. except French wines,
which, owing to duties. are not cheap. The
presidents palace n a large frame house, richly
furnished, and many of the houses of the we'll
to-do are nicely furnished. while the wealthy
class have good carriages and q few good
horses, though for the most part the horses are
very poor and small, as the climate IL too hot
for them. Donkeys, however, get along well.
and 1t is 8 frequent sight to see them trudging
along with load big them
selves on their backs and a great. burly, lazy
nego on the load. In trading the people seem
perfectly interruptions and charge all they can
get, and take special delight in charging
foreigners exorbitant prices They under
stand French very well, but the replies Of the
common people are in the almost unintelligi-
BILE 'patois" that 10 said to be . mixture OF
French and native African
THE vooDoo WORSHIP.
There is perhaps nothing which acts against
enterprise and civilized progress in Haiti with
such a strong influence - the prevalence Of
voodoo or snake worship. The history of this
terrible superstition. which 10 undoubtedly
prevalent among the natives, forms the darkest