Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-01-23
life in Jamaica.


1tHNuTY4
found myself in a great shadowy,
roomy hotel, with hardwood floors and
furlongs OF yeranda, giving on a garden
winch had run somewhat TO seed, but con-
tdiHeo sePefat palm trees, and an assort-
ment or LIZARDS green and brown, in
agreeable confirmation OF the p~ropinqufty
OF the equator. Round about this hotel
ana environments We wandered till lunch
was ready; there were oranges, bananas,
and several other fruits which 1 do not
specify only because | am still unable to
! can only say that l do not care much for
~ as yet; there was one that tasted like
butter. and another that had the consist
ehcy OF cream cheese and the taste of
stra jam.
On the whole. the flavor of these south
ern products strikes the northern visitor
as inslpid and too sweet, and makes one
understand why Englishmen always hank
er AFTER curr.es and like sharp condiments
IN me tropics; but no doubt we are un-
sophisticated and wrong and ought TO ike
what seems TO as insipidity. Meanwhile,
the oranges, bananas and pineapples are
all much better here than they ever are
after enduring export.
As FOR the breadfruit and vans, OF which
We also had specimens, they are a mixture
or the potato and sweet potato. and are
aess captivating than either. They IA
almost no taste at all, and / should sup
pose that one would finally come to regard
them In much the same light as bread,
something usefully filling, but without
ing, or devotion With the aid of sauces
well.
The bill OF fare included likewise Ash,
which was good, n meat which was moi
very good; 1t had to be eaten too soon
AFTER killing to have lost It's toughness.
put one does not expect to eat much meat
doNh mere; Vegetarians are I'm their ele-
ment IN the tropics, especially that super
Tor order of them who favor that part o.
the vegetable Kingdom which grows above
ground. The country women, who walk
hfteen 10 twenty-five miles a day I'm tn,
sun with burdens on their heads which
must sometimes weigh not less thar &c
pounds, and who are never In the least
~tired-these ladies', IL appears, live on
sufficient diet.
After dinner l went into a barber shop
and submitted myself to the ministrations
OF an artist there. The shop was at the
rear o fthe little structure which bore the
sign; the front part OF II, II i remember
right. was devoted In part 10 the sale OF TO-
bacco. On three sides OF the room were
windows protected by wooden gratings
painted erd and blue; through them ]
saw bits Of intense blue sky and green
fronds OF palm. On the wall just outside
the sash a lizard ran and hoped. and the
eternal buzzard allghted on a corner of a
foot within my range. OF vision. Close be-
SIDE me a young darkey with a counten-
ance OF tiiimitable amiability labored as
siddolsiy on an instrument in the nature
or a hand organ; but the works were I'm
tull view, and nj the opinion OF several by
ISLANDERS seemed TO Vie In interest with the
tunes. rms music took the place of the
traditional BARRIERS conversation, though
that also was ~abundantly available on de-
mlnd, and was, indeed, carried on with
much VlvacIty in the various employees
and some visitors who appeared to nave
come in for that purpose. II sounded like
a mixture OF Italian and French, and may
have been jamaican popular English. for
aught l know. l could not understan d n
accepted all thes details as being typ!c-
ally tropical: but on the other ham the
chair IN which ] sat was made In Roches-
ter, n. Y; on the wall there was.a large
Autograph of Brooklyn bridge, and a por-
trait OF President Cleveland. Electricity.
too, has got to Kingston, and the wires
run through the branches of the mangos
and palms. The house in which Ihave
taken up my abode Is fitted throughout
with electric bells. but I am happy TO add
that none of them work. In one OF the
large shops. l think, there is an elevator,
the only one on the island.
l said just now that the white people
look out OF place. That fact. 80 FAR as /
can Judge, is the moral OF the story here.
Inc Island belongs TO the co,ored folk,
ana the others are gradually being
crowded out. The proportion IN already
about thirty TO one against the latter,
and while the colored arce goes on multi
plying, the whites are packing their
trunks and moving out. Is this move
ment TO be arrested or not?. ! doubt whe-
Their IL Will be arrested by the English.
succeed here; that Is, they ali die I'm two
years from rum. The coolies do admir-
ably, but they cannot be the final solution
of the problem. Perhaps the best thing We
can do is TO be come colored people our
selves.