The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-05-11

Hor "ns. Will some elOquence also. l drew
near just as he shouted, almost foaming at
the mouth, and waving his long arms.
ana II had my way every American that
ever lands on the shores of Jamaica should
| never leave there alive. And if ever | see
one OF those American sailors I'll put a
KNIFE through his body. i'm a poor work
Ing man. haye to earn my living nave
FAMILY to feed. and for the sailors of
foreign man-of-war in the harhor of q
| peaceful people in time of peace, to hurt
me so that I can't work is id outrage"
He looked so savage, especially when he
| announced his murderous intentions that
made myself as small as possible and kept
out of sight in the crowd. They were all so
excited that it really looked as if the vi ole
crowd would pounce upon the first Ameri-
can they should see and tear him to pieces
] soon perceived, however, for l had had
some experience with these Negroes. that
the tall man kept on in the same way,
merely for the sake of talking and drawing
attention 10 himself, that he was not halt
SO angry as he looked and was really enjoy
ing himself very much. His command of
language was as extraordinary as were his
foolish boasts of the vengeance that he
would wreak upon American sailors flor
the est of his mortal. life
Among other things he said that one of
the several Negroes who were knocked
overheard hadn't been heard from, and was
probably in the bottom of the har Dor.
Whether Negro was killed or not / didn't
learn. There was nothing said about it in
the papers or done about it in the court.
Just few words more about Jamaica
journalism. Though the most of the report
| ing is confined to the regular and ordinary
events. that are announced before hand,
such as the sessions of this court and coun-
| ell, the arrival and departure and general
| facts about the many steamers etc., and
although when nothing of this naure is CO.
| ing on the reporter has nothing to do, for
! the discovery of news, in the most signif-
cant meaning of the word is rarely al tempt
| ed. yet all of the four reporters upon the
Cleaner were good stenographers and were
required to be such. They were expected
to give verbatim report of any proceed
| ing, if required, and the proceedings of the
council were always thus reported, the col
umns of the paper being thus filed with
many redundant words. But there is no
government stenographer and the newspa-
pers are relied upon for true record Of the
proc eedings.
| a wsek after the Cleaners scoop | left
the island and the steamer on whit b was
to return brought me bundle of papers
from. home. In the first one ] opened was
a dispatch from New York, stating that
grasping coal dealers in Kingston, Jamcica,
had over-reaohed themselves. They laid
| in large supply of coal in anticipation of
the visit of the U. s. squadron and then
| charged Sll.50 ton for it. This exorbitant
charge led to the supplying of the cruisers
with coal, shipped directly from America in
four schuoners, one of which was the
Jennie $. Butler of Bath, Maine.
This seemed TO afford some clue to the ex-
traordinary fight ON board that schooner.
Undoubtedly the soreness of the local coal
dealers had been commune ted to their coal
beavers and when the latter were en-
| ployed to handle the coal on al American
schooner that WAS excluding the coa3 of
| The Negroes were probably in an ugly and
auarrelsome mood, for they are sensitive
| about such things, and the light resulted
There must have been some good reason
for irritation to have precipita.ed such
| fight for the Jamaica Negroes never fight
with anything but their tongues, even
| among themselves, except in case of ex-
IRENE provoation.
But nothing of all this was ever hinted
at in the Kingston papers. E. Fl. Z.