Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-02

personality of one whom she had known
only through his poems and letters to her
uncle.
When the invitation came to visit at the
SturSes plantation / was stopping with
Tue rector OF the parish. the Rev Henry
j. Hoime. whose valuable life was cut
snort by drowning a few years ago, as he
was on his way to Panama. A horse. ar
rived Tor me at q in the morning and at
$50 l was cantering through the cane
neids-seas of waving green pillows re-
heved here and there by giant maugoes
ant. sand box trees The horse carried ms.
easily, and as the sun appeared above the
eastern hills l had reached the river two
miles miles from Oiveston. flowing peacefully
through quiet vale. AS the golden shafts
penetrated this secluded spot they illumi-
mated the great silk cotton trees. with burst
ing bollS of shiny silk, and lighted up the
tour spreading arms of a windmill. max
ing 1t look like a Greek cross of gold Re
yond the river | rode through "a mile
more of lime groves over a private avenue
winding up steep hill. where the top
/ dismounted at an Italian villa of stone
i,2o feet above the sea.
The Gnlha and .Jessamine.
The elevation bestows temperature al
ways cool and the many trees, such as the
"galba,'' which perfumes the air and is
hung with jessamine and passion flower,
yield delightful shade. Beneath the trees
the grass formed a fine sward through
winch paths We're cut to different parts of
the estate. and one trail led to a spring of
cool water, from which the house was sup
piled by a ram. This water fed an immense
swimming bath also after dip in which /
was invited to breakfast. and at IL o'clock
climbed forest-covered hill. with my gun,
In search of ''perdrix," or cartridges In
the woods | encountered those minute but
terrible pests, the .'betes rouge" which
swarm in grass and BUSH and which were
only removed from my person by rubbing
myself all over with lime juice and by an
Otner swim the pOol fpraralTy
writes of those things that impress him
most, and surely the red bugs made
their impression on me-
Luncheon followed about mid afternoon
ana then was taken down to the works
where the lines are ground The Sturyes
had about 1000 acres In lines, and their
largest yield was about 60,oa0 bushels in a
season, said season being almost perpetual.
Tor the lines are always falling and as
FAST as they fail to the ground are picked
up. yellow and ripe, and taken to the ma
chine, where they are sliced at the rate of
twenty barrels per hour. They are then
boiled down until the juice is sufficiently
concentrated for shipping to London, where
1t is made into citric acid. The essential oil
is extracted by rubbing the rinds in a sort
OF funnel lined with crooked points This
was formerly done by machinery. but soon
the market was overStocked and more than
twenty tons Of oil had been accumulated.
The Lime Juice Industry
The preparation of the lime juice as a
thought as the first intention in planting
the trees was to produce material for citrlc
acid. But now the shipment of juice quite
exceeds that Of the crystals or the concen-
trated article. and. besides. there are the
millions of picked lines. which are mainly
sent to the United States.
The raiser of lines for export must he
something of chemist as we'll as an agri-
culturisl. or else have expert in his en-
ploy. and attached to the boiling house is Il
laboratory fitted with everything neces-
sary for the business.
The view from the house at Olveston is
superb over glossy green lime groves and
wooded ravines, far away to the [
trust the hurricane spared the place.
though it is doubtful such a bright and
shining mark it was.
1t may seem swift descent from the
sublime to the ridiculous to associate with
the erstwhile home of the tabled AmaZons
the vocation of these modern ''lime-juic-
ers, but so far ascertain. the
latter have been of greater benefit to the
world with their antiscorbutic than the
former with their primitive notions of
mans rights +. A ODER.