The Van Buren press., 1897-03-13
4FEfa JAMAICA.
III. Island belongs 10 the Coiesed
People.

roeiny hotel, with hardwood iioers an
furlones Of veranda giving on d gar
den which had run somewhat 10 seed,
bnt contained several palm trees, and
an assortment Of lizarfs, green and
brown. in agreeable con Ermation of the
pfdpinauify af the equatof. Round
about this hotel and It's environment we
wandered till 4uneh was ready; there
were oranges. hananas and several other
fruits which / do not specify only be-
cause am atiH unable q reeolleet
their names. As to their i.aeof. l ean
only say that do not care n1'aeb Tor it
az vet. there was one that tasted like
butter and another hat had the ean-
sistenev of cream cheese md the taste
Of strawberry Jam.
On the whole, the flavor of these
southern products strikes the northern
visitor as inaipid and too sweet, and
makes one understand WHY l1ngiishmen
always banker after cufries ard The
like sharp condiments in the tropics;
but no doubt we are sophisticated and
wrong and ought TO like What seems 70
MS insipidity Meanwhiles the oranges
bananas and pineapples are all Daeh
better here than they ever ore after en-
dafing. export
As for the breadffnit ard ynns, OF
which we also had specimens, they are
mixture of the potato and he sweet
potato, and ere less captivating than
either They have almost no taste at
All, and I should suppose that one
finally would come to regard them
In much the same light as bread. some-
thing useful willing. but without char
acter enough to inspire either loath-
ing or devotion. With the aid of sauces
and grasies, however they so down very
we'll
The bill of fare included likewise fish
which was gcod and meat which WINS
not very good; it has to be eaten too
soon after killing to hayelast its toueh-
ness Bat one does not expect to eat
much meat down here; veeetarians are
in their element in the tropics. espe-
cially that superior order of them who
favor that part of the vegetable king
dom which grows above ground The
country women, who walk 1bto rs miles
day in the sun with burdens on their
heads which must sometimes weigh net
less than 50 pounds, and who are never
in the least tifeti-these ladies', il ap-
pears, live on fruit and yams only, and
find them all-slfffieient dief.
After dinner | went into a barber
shop and submitted myself 10 the min
istrations of an artist there The shop
was at the rear OF the little structure
which bore the sign, the front part of
il, II | remember right, wns devoted in
part to the sale of tobacco. On three
sides OF the room we're windows pro-
tected by wooden grttings painted red
and blue; through them ] saw bits o
intense blue sky and green frohds Of
palm On a wall just outside the sash
lizard ran and hoped and the eternal
buzzard alighted on corner Of a root
within my range of vision. Close be-
side me young darlfey with counte-
nance Of illmitable amiability labored
assiduously on an instrument III the
nature of hahd-organ; but the works
were in full view, aud in tie opinion of
several bystRnders seemed to vie in IN
terest with the tunes This music tool;
the place of the traditional barber s
conversation, though that also was
abundantly available on demand. and
was, indeed, carried on with much VII
vaeity between the various employees
and some visitors who appeared to have
come in for that purpose. 1t sounded
like miNture Of Halian and French
and may have been Jamaican popular
English for aught / know / could nor
understand it
] accepted all these details as being
typcally tropieal; but, On the other
hand the chair on which sat was made
in Rochester, n T.; ON tlie wall were
large lithograph of Brooklyn bridge
and portrait of President Cleveland
Electricity, too has got to Kingston,
and the wires run through the
branches of the mangos and palns.
The house in which T have taken
mp my abode is fitted throughout
with electric bells, but I am happy to
add that none of tlieln work In one
Of the lnrger shops, ! thf,iJ There is an
elevator, the only one on the island.
! said just now that the white people
look out OF place That fact, go far az
| i can Judge, is the moral Of The story
| here. The island belongs TO The col
ored fox, and the others are gradually
being crowded out The proportion is
already about thirty to one against tle
latter; and while the colored race goes
ON multiplying, the whites are packing
their trunks and moving out Is this
movement 70 BE arrested or not? ]
/ doubt whether it win be arrested BY the
English. Workmen imported from the
states do not succeed here. that is, they
all die in two years from RAM. The
coolies do admirably, but they cannot
be the final solution Of fhe problem
1 Perhaps the best thing we can do is
TO become colored people ourselves
I Julian Hawthorne. in Century,.
Il scars Of tho aGreet nfpper.o
/ According to Miss Mary Proctor. the
seven stars in the constellation known
as the Great Dippel" are in reality
seven magnificent suns probably very
much larger than our own sun aad
glowing with INTENSE luster. IRON, so
dhni, magnesium and other we'll known
K elements are present in the atmos.
pheres Of these stars, and their massive
globes whirl through the depths oil
space Gith inconceivabie velocity. Five
Of the stars are receding from us al tht
rate Oh j miles in a second Of fine, and
the otaer two are travelling in an oppo
sifA dirActinn lhirtY-six fhonsarf