The sun., 1894-10-14

have no object but to rest But there was non,
OF that IN BridFetoyn; II was a real business
them, apparently, with an object in view;
beforehand, that Bsrbadocs Is the, most bust
| ness-like and the most successful British colony
e ye"pyd aSyd h Ras NO S pub'
| debt TO speak Of. IL Is 2 small island, contain,
ing only loo square miles, with population oi
the people have to work, No camping in, the
mountains there, raising bananas and catching
and few OF the people can afford TO be idle. II
| Is more like the ideal busy New England COM
"One Of my frst excursions into the country
was made by rail, for Barbados not only has
street cars IN the city. but real steam cars In the
'Barbadoes Hallway but With all It's merits a
stranger can hardly see 1t without smiling, be;
its twelve stations, u is managed with all the
grandiloquent methods OF trunk line between
Ns York and chss aUTdOn and kyG
white helmet labeled Railway. Police
kept back the expectant crowds and and
on p0hbiis his cap. Accompanied @ the train and
is three or four passengers, snnogncing every
few minutes, This train for Windsor, Rouen,'
and so on, as though there were dozen con-
Meeting lines that might be taken by accident.
dd mot take me long to esn s5 or RI be
mist. Standing alone It would be of great inter
est, but near to other islands that offer every
than on most OF the other Islands; but where
nearly every foot Of land Is cultivated, there is
not much opportunity for wild flowers. Strangers
visit the island In considerable numbers, so nat
urally all doors are not thrown open TO them as
they are where strange faces are fewer; but
with letter OF Introduction or two found no
difficulty in meeting many hospitable people;
Speaking of strangers, must add that they
are not all from the North, as you might imagine
II is one Of the curious things about Barbadoes
that, lying in latitude ~, with n burning sun
shining throne
very little shade, II is both summer and win
ter resort. Several hotels on the island are OPP
ter visitors from the North, who are all, of
course, from. America. But in summer Barba-
II is cooler than the torrld cities on the neigh
boring coast of South America, and many in
eServ wear " in and about Rrlpetown. II YOU
ever go down into the hot countries hope YOU
will place no dependence whatever upon the
mean annual temperature. ] ran acros
several tourists In my travels who were contin-
ually asking, What is the mean annual temper
ature here. there, or the other place. The mean
annual temperature of place Is very poor
index to its climate. The mercury may run up
down TO 50e below zero for several more months,
and still the mean annual temperature may be
just right at 7Q'. 0fcourse no such cold Is ever
felt in any of those islands; give those figures
merely for example. When people in the tropics
suffer from the heat IL is not usually on account
OF the intensity OF the heat, but on account OF its
continuance. One of our hot spells of s5o or 00'
Is not so very hot for two or three weeks; but
keep up that temperature day and night, month
after month. year after year. anu something
must wilt.
"In Barbadoes I noticed more particularly the
baneful effects Of a high wind upon vegetation.
IT, Is the same to some extent upon all the
islands. but in fiat Bnrbadoes the wind has a
and EXACTLY % ey mHn aS bes
touched by frost Leaves wither and turn brown
and fall Off. smaller plants have scorched ap-
whipped into narrow ribbons.
Al plantation where spent several days
affairs OF the island: and he mentioned some
things as matters OF course. that seem to an
conf ss sery ytae:s GS for man hS legal
i9 lifs: II he Is Gentleman. mer;
he gets from five shillings to ten shilings day;
II a 'tradesman. anctioneer, clerk, or .yeoman.'
laborer or the like his fixed fee is one shilling.
The fees payable To the Chancellor or Registrar
OF the Diocese are also rather startling to New
Yorker. For the conservation of any church
the Chancellor must receive a fee of S2l, or ca
Is; For repairing church, or. rathe-, for tho
The Chancellor is positively mild in his de-
mands compared with the REGISTRAR Before a
receive fee of fs ss: for repairing the church,
"a As. If you would build vault In your lot in
ne cemetery you must % pay the kegifStrarh gSnnh tI
remove pulpit or gallery you pay the Regis
THE Barbadians are supposed to impose these
and thousand similar taxes upon themselves:
and to- some extent they do. On the whole island
there are about 200 voters, the property or in
come qualification keeping the franchise in the
hands OF a very few persons In one parish. 81.
Andrew, there are less than 80 voters. This is
the only British island, as far as | know, where
the negroes are kept totally in the background
by deprivinR them of the right to vote. Politi-
cally the negroes have no chance whatever in
BarhadOes. and socially very little.
The expense. Of governing that little island Is
Year s and d the revenue il little more IS than
that The Governor, appointed by the British
Government is a far bigger man In Barbados
he is a little Prince OF Wales. 70 be invited to
Government house balls and dinners establishes
out there settles him; The Governors salary is
$50, 900 year. of which the colony pays Sl2,-
500. Besides private secretary, he Is allowed
{ he Receiver r-General, the Auditor General. and
the other Generals and Comptrollers and Reg
istrars, all at big salaries, would tire you.
Il did not find any dissatisfaction among the
people overthis big pay roll for they are used TO
In all the British islands the people smart a lit
tie over the large salary OF the Governor be-
dpes brm mo- Sood Tbe saares
are of course, intended to enable the Governors
10 live In high style and support their dignity;
but they are not often used in that way. British
colonial Governors are thrifty fellows. and look
out for rainy day. An Engllshman with inhu-
secretsPy sS ryuSn sSme governor s out Of co
ony; and so learns the ropes. II he does
te 14s s% years prr. he SeS
sau. Then ne is in the line OF succession. and
his fortune is made, IL he makes no garing
mistakes. Every two or three years he is trans
ferred to larger and more profitable colony,
till he gets to such places as BarbadOes at
SEQ, 900 a year, Jamaica at $4,000, or Guiana
at S25. 900.
with such salaries as these for few years,
and by practising economy in the giving OF din
ners and the keeping of servants and horses, the
Governors are able TO Law by tidy sum for tho
happy day when they shall shake the dust OF
the colonies from their feet, and go home to
England 10 end their days. They know that an
Ex-Governor OF Barbados or any other colony
Is OF no account in London unless he has plenty
OF money. and naturally they save what they
can, instead OF making the colonies glitter
wit h their guineas.
1t gives one very peculiar feeling TO be in
country where there are 1.l00 people To the
square mile. We expect that sort of thing in
city. but not in the country, IL Is greater pop
ulation relatively than that OF China, so they
say in Barbadoes; but do not know anything
about China. There Is no privacy anywhere,
unless man Is In his own house or locked in
his own room. When | walked out over the
country roads there was no instance that can
remember when there were less than twenty or
thirty people In sight. IL | took a short cut
across n field gang OF men were at work there.
II went fishing in boat dozen other boats
were in sight.
- Well, do you feel as though you were on the
deck Of "a man-Of-warP z one OF the planters
~. .l,g