Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-13

further giimpses of rich valleys and wide
cocoanut groves and across the marshy
plain till Kingston was reached 1t Is al
ways instructive to travel with a practical
man. The amount of Information given
me on that trip IL it could be remembered,
would enable an encyclopedia to be written
about the natural resources of Jamaica and
the present economic depression. But on
the return journey 1 took pains to ride
alone, and the vision of mountains and
valleys and streams and jungle forests re-
mains without a blur Of useful knowledge
to spoil it.
Kingston Has the Blues.
Kingston, like the rest of the island has
the blues Its citizens will talk Of the
economic and political situation. They
will prove a proposition already demon
strated. This is the wealth of natural
resou rces which they possess The rooms
of the agricultural society, which are hos
pitably open to strangers. give opportunity
to learn about the natural resources The
Jamaica Institute, with its library, ADDS
further knowledge. Then there is a gov
ernment blue book, very accurate, COM
plete and indigesuble. An unusually good
guide book also gives incidental informal
ton. 1t is with a guilty feeling that 1
confess to having neglected these oppor-
tunfties of informing myself. But there
were eXtenuating circumstances. Port
Royal is in reality part of Kingston. and
in it's presence reading about the bucca-
neers of old was vastly more entertaining
than hearing about the economic conditions
of today. Perhaps it was just as instruct
i've. There is a fund of instruction in re-
calling how Morgan became Sir Henry
Morgan, a pillar of state ard the service
done to civilization by England not draw
ing too fine line between piracy and le-
Ultimate commerce when Sir Francis
Drake was sweeping the Caribbean waters
free of the Spaniards. Somehow, cut
threats of the type of Morgan and his
associates do not seem like ordinary muir
deTers when two centuries have thrown
the glamor of romantic adventure over
their deeds of blood and lust.
An Interesting People.
The people of Jamaica of this generation
are as interesting in their way as the roy
STEERING buccaneers of former generations.
but they are not of the same stock The
Jamaica blacks, as they are called, have
little strain of the old Spanish mixture
with the Indians. That is the maroons,
remnants of which stock yet survive in
the interior. The African blood, which was
imported in the times when slave labor was
one of the blessings that white civilization
pressed on the heather, seems to flow from
| an uncontaminated spring. The browns"
as / heard them called, are another class
claiming to be the real native Jamaicans.
The richest man on the island today is OF
this class. There is however no race ques-
ton here any more than in the rest OF the
West Indies.
What strikes every newcomer is the
transportation of the cockney accent. The
Jamaica blacks give it with breadth and
drawl that would bring despair to the soul
of a New York Angiomaniac. Il cawnt
permit that. don't We know strikes the
nearer with peculiar impression when he
hears it fall from the blacklist of lips; mo,
really, 1 cawn't permit that" But when
it comes to talking of bloody rot and
threatening to split open "bloody cad
because of dispute about balance
of 'threepenny" or penny happen
ny" in changing bob the Illusion is
complete Those were the expressions l
heard one night when two cabmen were
wrangling over the proceeds of highway
robbery of an unwary passenger VINO had
failed to consult the table of legal tolls.
While acrimonious, their dispute was car
ried on in a languid way characteristic of
the tropics. Wrangling is more a race
characteristic than fighting, The lanai
cans a people peaceable and orderly.
The suggestion of old England also comes
at the bar where the drinks are served by
chocolate-colored barmaids. They are not
buxom, as across the water, but they en-
gage the thirsty customer in conversational
raillery of a languis sort and a broad ac-
cent They also give valuable advice about
the drinks which are suitable for a warm
country. The gin fizz is always safe, the
sweet cane rum with lime juice and ice is
both paiatable and healthful. while brandy
and soda is permissible If not taken too
often. There is. however, a mixture that
the barmaid recommends in tones whose
softness does not compensate for the rug
gedness of the drink. 1t is poured out by
the pitcherful and Is said to be composed
of nothing more harmful than Bass ale
and ginger ale in equal quantities If that
be the case, there must be some subtle ell
matte influence The drink is called shan
dygaff." Nobody ever RECEIVERS sufficiently
to spell it, so / do not vouch for the or
biography. These lines are written as
int late
the cockney accent and drinks have an in
innate relation that the stranger usually
fails to grasp AS to the accent, it is not
an affectation, but is genuine and has come
down through generations.
Women DO the Most Work.
do not know just what relation the ia
maican women occupy in the household
| Probably they are the head of 1t. 1t is not
| true that among the natives the men do no
work. They are the railroad as con-
| ductors, engineers, trainmen and telegraph
| operators. They perform the functions of
| police, which are light. They are found as
clerks in the stores and in other positions
| But among what would be called the labor
| ing element of the population the most of
! the labor does seem to be done by the
women. They are met on the roads, their
burdens balanced upon the head, the loose
garments with which they clothe them
| selves tucked around the hips, their arms
| swinging, stridng along with the graceful
motion which freedom of body and limb
| alone can give. The little donkey. which
| is loaded down with Guinea grass for its
| consumption and with articles either of
purchase or of sale. is thumped with the
! stick welded by their vigorous arms.
| Travelling through the country it is they
| who are working in the fields. They
| also keep the roads in repair. This labor as
| performed is not as hard as might be sup
| posed. Usually four poles are set up, a
| roof of palm leaves stretched across them
| to shelter from the sum- and the woman
| road repairer sits breaking the stones as
| comfortably as if she were Smelling peas
| in her own kitchen. The splendid roads
| which are the pride and the boast of ia
maica were built by the convicts, and
| keeping them in repair is not difficult.
The sight of women breaking stone by
| the roadside again brings up the inquiry
| as to what the men do. They certainly do
| not control the business of marketing. 1
| spent an hour one afternoon in the chief
| Kingston market. The stalls were all kept
| by women. Some were crones grown yell
| low with age; others were smart-looking
| colored women, barefoot, in gorgeous
dresses of orange and scarlet plaids, with
| snowy turbans their heads. The pro-
| duce was brought to the market by wo-
| men. They bargained closely over the
| vegetables and fruits. and wera tenacious