The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-07-03

| am unfeeling, or, Delng a woman,
 splteful--and you would be wrong, and I
 should unintentionally have led you as-
 tray; for, truth to tell, I do not think
 any one is fonder of African women than I am, and I am sure no one es-
 teens more highly their kindness,
 shrewdness and sound judgment. But I
 cannot weep over them as worms. If
 had a tear for their affairs, I would
 drop it for the man who reused the an-
 ger of the African woman.
 I remember two minor tragedies that
 I think justify me. Once upon a time
 down in Ka Kongo there was anxiety in
 the hearts of some friends of mine, white
 men--traders, I need not say-who had
 acquired from the government a large
 tract of land, and left it as 1t was, un-
 used. The government, intent either on
 progress or acquiring money-the things
 are so mixed in West Africa that it is
 difficult to decide which-determin to
 levy a tax upon all land that was not
 cultivated. My friends, on receiving
 their tax paper, were smitten with an
 ardor for agriculture impossible ade-
 quately to describe in brief, but your
 trader never recklessly plunges into
 wild expenditure. Sufficient is
 enough and the head agent decided
 that manioc just dotted about the prop
 erty sufficiently far apart to allow of
 each plant having a chance of develop ing unhindered by the shade of it's neigh | Dor, would be the best form of agricul- 1 ture to meet the case.
 Now when the head agent of Q factory
 thinks thing, it is like sea captain
 thinking The thing in question is done
 and, unless fate interferes-there are no
 ifs or buts about it. So a gang of pro-
 fessional agriculturists were hired to
 plant the manioc. Ladies are agrcul- turists in West Africa, The under jun
 Tor assistant in a well-conducted factory has to do everything he is told, whether he likes 1t or not
 Well, if I remem mber rightly, it was on Monday morning, about eleven o'clock, when the powers that be were calmly attending to their duty to the firm in beach and counting-house and shop. Strange sounds came from the agricultural district, sounds of strife and discord, and the English word
 "Help!" That word neve" fell on deaf ears with my friends, so head agent, sub-agent, storekeeper and bookkeeper flew as one man in the direction of that appeal, and saw sort of black hay cock of considerable size in the middle of the field From the heart of that hay cock came English words-great strong words. The awesone presence of the powers scattered the haycock, and the employer of the English language in question got up and continued his re- marks, to the accompaniments of "Get along. white man, Suppose you dandy boy" Head big foo much," "Yah! Chef Hei!" You dirty water price bundle" II spectable married woman" Boom Dios," and much more in African.
 The head agent commanded calm, and all ended happily. It seems that the un- der junior assistant, desiring to carry out orders, found greateltniculty in do ing so, owing to the ladies who were planting manioc gathering into groups, and placing the slips too close together while they carried on conversation. Ot course this would not end In a sufficient area being brought under cultivation, so he had strlven, all through a long, hot | morning, to break up the groups. The | ldultS pDtytis iI tp d P'iAits pbs N'Sh | it came to the use of swear words to the 1 effect that they must plant "one, one" [ namely, far apart and out of convenient | conversational range with each other, they would not stand it. and they went | for him. Those women who tiled the soil were not worms.
 Tragedy number two took place under our own government. There was beautiful young black govkernment off, cial, in uniform complete, and fate or- daned one day that be should be told off to superintend the coalng of little gunboat The coaling was being done by ladies. He, full of zeal and desirous of demonstrating 1t, shouted, talked and gave directions to those ladies, as he stood, uniform and all, under the gov- flag, on the government quay. They went on with their work merrily, and paid no attention to him. Present. ly other government officials being about, he, still desirous of demonstrating zeal, cuffed one of the ladies and said dlsagreeable. They turned upon him. threw him into the thin black batter that goes for water in that parA of Her Majestys dominions, and went on with their work. A sicker chicken than that man when he returned to so- ciety you never saw; his uniform you could not see for mud, and the other government officials behaved in an un- 'eeling way. They roared with laughter.
 "So much" as old Peter Heyln would say, for the working class African wo- man The African aristocrat woman I will tell you about some day if you de- sire it. In conclusion, must draw your attention to the fact that there was one , African explorer who understood Afri- ,an women, he no less than the man who first discovered the outfalls of the Niger river, Richard Lander. I beg to ; give you his own words:
 KINDNESS TO STRANGERS. ]
 'I take this opportunity of expressing ny high admiration of the amiabe con- l luct of the African females toward me , n sickness and in health, in prosperity | md diversity, their kindness and affec- ion were ever the same. They have lanced and sung with me In health, ,rieved with me in sorrow, and shed s ears of compassion at the recital of my $ When quite a boy, and T from fever in the West Indies, [ vomen of the same race used to take nc in their arms or on their knees. sing | nd weep over me and tell me not to die