Evening star., 1898-09-03
ST. THOMAS COAL WOMEN
They Do the Work of Carrying Coal to the
Ships.
Balance Heavy Loads Upon Their
Heads-NaturaIIy They Are
Sturdy Lot.
From Harper's Bazaar.

ron BaSar.
When cable communication between the
United States and Cuba was cut off as Il
result of the active operations of our army
and navy against the Spanish colonies in
| the Caribbean sea, the telegraph stations
among the neighboring islands took on an
| Importance which they had not hitherto en-
joyed- The principal places which soon be-
came familiar to US as news centers were
Kingston, Jamaica, Cape Haitien, Haiti, and
st. Thomas in the Danish West Indies. ST.
Thomas, having good landloc6ea barbor,
also became prominent coaling station
for press boats and dispatch vessels and as
the headquarters of some twenty-five news
paper correspondents, who made it their
base for gathering and dissenlina ting the
Eews of the progress of the war. The town
of st. Thomas, sometimes called Charlotte
Amalie. is one of those delightful spots
built on hillside, surrounded by tropic
vegetation, facing the sea, and blessed with
climate that varies little the year around,
the temperature rarely falling below 30
degrees or rising above 80 degrees. AL
though Danish possession. the language
of commerce and society-such society as
there isis English. The ma aioriIy of the
population. however, is made up of negroes
and mulattoes, who speak 4 dialect con-
sisting of a mixture of broken Dutch, Dan
tsh, English, French and spanish. These
negroes are the descendants Of the slaves
the plantations of the Danish West India
and Guinea Company, and they are mostly
fine specimens of the black race. The wo-
men, In particular, are strong anG well de-
veloped, and by reason of thei- strength
and endurance have made themselves an
important factor in the commercial devel-
opment of the island. 1t is said that ves-
sells may coal more cheaply at st. Thomas
than at any port in the West Indies, and
doubtless that is true. for there Is seldom
day when some steamer is not coaling at
the wharves, and the ships of all the naves
have made this island their principal coal
Ing station for years. Perhaps this quality
of cheapness is due to the employment -
women laborers. for they are af>.,ost ex
clusively used in transferrip~ The coal from
the sheds to ths bnr.Sers. They do the
worA petssS s-,u quicker than men, and are
a!WaSs cheerful at their labor. Hundreds
! g. women are employed in the work of
supplying one ship, and thus a continuous
line OF these sinewy carriers may be seen
str1dlng up the gang plank, balancing their
loaded baskets on their heads, while
other stream, unladen, pours over the
ship side on to the wharf.
These St Thomas coal carriers use large
baskets for their work. They carry these
on their heads, and so skillfulIy balanced
that no accident ever occurs even on the
steepest or slipperiest of gang planks. So
expert are these women that they can thus
carry a load of from 80 to $50 pounds of
coal. While at work they usually sing some
peculiar and monotonous negro melody, and
when the loading is being done at night,
by the light of f1aring torches stuck in the
ground near the coal heaps, these long
grooming professions of erect black women
form picture that is weird and i'm
I.ressive.
These women are trained to the work of
carrying loads on their heads from baby
hood almost. When they are not older,
than five years they are taught to carry
small loads on their heads, and thus they
become familiar with the science of perfect
talance-for it must be a science. At nine
or ten the girls able to carry heavier
loads in larger baskets, say from twenty
to thirty pounds, and they become pro-
hcient in the work by walking many miles
all over the island carrying fruit and
merchandise for sale. Thus at sixteen the
negro girl is tall and robust-ithe vigor-
Gus. tough, all tendon and hard flesh. She
can now carry a burden of from LOO to 1yo
pounds, and becomes useful in the employ
of the coal companies.
While at work these women wear no
shoes and dress in the very lightest and
Oldest portions of their scant wardrobes So
light and abbreviated are their costumes
that their muscular forms are displayed to
advantage, and as they work they form
magnificent pictures of human development
and strength. They are neither slow nor
lazy, these negro women. They walk at a
rapid, springy gait over the rough wharves
and coal paths, with a swinging easy,
graceful motion Of the limbs and absolute
equipOiSe of the head and shoulders