The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-21
BLACK SKINS MADE WHITE.
1t Can't Be Done, but Many Negroes
Think II Can.
Preparations for Bleaching Dark
Skins and Strengthening the Hair
in Great Demand in the Caribbees.
New York's 'Bleaching' and Anti
Kink Establishment.
From the New York Sun.


From the New York Sun.
"It was an odd thing" said contrac-
tor, recently returned from the West
Indies, that after watching a peculiar
form of confidence game practiced upon
the negroes of the Caribbean Islands, and
studying with some profit and a great
deal of amusement for six
months. I should run across almost the
same thing here in New York as soon as l
returned.
II have been building several piers and
a short tramway," he continued, ION the
Island of St, Lucia, where, as you know,
the British government is concentrating
its West Indian forces, building forts and
dockyards, and making a great deal of
work. St. Lucia is thiuly populated, and
colored laborers who have been brought
from all over the West Indies, principally
from Jamaica and Barbados. There are
some from the Spanish Islands, too, and
from the Bahamas. and many of the men
had their families with them, so [ had an
excellent chance to study the character
of the West Indian negro.
Il soon became accustomed to their
ways, and learned some curious things
about them WHAT struck me as most
curious of all, is the fact that every West
Indian negro is anxious to change the
color of his skin and straighten his hair.
The more intelligent ones, of course,
know that this is impossible: but the ig-
norant ones, who number about ninety
nine in every hundred will go to any
expense, take any risks with chemicals,
to whilen their skin and take the kinks
out of their hair. A lottery ticket is no
attraction at all beside a bottle of stuff
that is warranted to take out the color Of
the skin. With such a demand for chem
ical preparations. it is not to be wondered
at that the West Indian market is full of
them
"A comfortable boarding place in St
Lucia is out of the question, and as we
were in for six months or more of 1t, the
foreman and I rented a little bungalow
half a mile out of town, on the shore Of
the harbOr. with an old stone penthouse
on the waters edge. Not far away was
a row of shanties occupied by colored
latorers and their families. so, as our
three or four servants all had families
attached, we had plenty of colOred com
pany.
The universal desire to change the
color of the skin was first brought to my
notice in a visit I made TO little grocery
shop on the outskirts of the town. Cas-
tries is the name of the town, and there
are three or four very good stores there {;
but all over the place, and particularly in
the suburbs, there are great numbers of
little grocery groggeries, whose owners
and customers are exclusively coored
neople. One of these shops was not far
| from our house. and we often sent down
! there for candies, sugar or anything that
we needed in hurry, On my way home
one evening ] remembered that we were
out of toilet soap, and stepped into this
shop to buy some A big box of toilet
| SOAP. tilted up on the counter, was the
most conspicuous thing in the shop. The
! box was as big as laundry soap box, made
to hold, probably, fifty pounds, but the