Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-04-05

neers who SO long infested and ravaged
the Spanish Main. Before steamships
were invented St. Thomas was more than
1t is to-day. a roadhouse of the seas, a
sort OF ocean halfway house between the
continents. Into its great harbor Span.
ish galleons and heavily laden slave ships
ran for shelter. and the buccaneers hang
ing close about were certain of good pick
ing. Sometimes the pirate ships even
pursued their prey Into the land-locked
narbor, and under the eyes of the town
captured it.
All three Of the islands are thought to
be the tops of what were once volcanic
mountains. In appearance they are typi-
cally tropical. When a ship sails into
the harbor Of Charlotte Amelia, for in
stance, the passenger sees fringe of low
white houses along the shore. shining
against background Of glossy green,
while behind and above towers a line of
stately hills. covered for most of their
height with thick, tropical foliage. Al
most all the houses have bright red roofs,
and the whole landscape is a riot of vivid
color. Charlotte Amelia is remarkable
among tropical cities in that it is ex-
tremely clean-a fact which must be laid
to the credit of the Danes. Its straight
streets, lined on either side with two
story wooden houses, are paved with as
phalt, with wide cutters on either side.
When rain falls on the hills swift curs
rents of water rush down through these
streets, washing out the cutters and max
ing it easier to keep the town clean.
Almost every house has balcony across
the front of its second story.
One Of the most picturesque sights to
be seen at st. Thomas is the procession
Of coal carriers, which is ceaselessly
passing from the docks down into the
holds of vessels lying alongside. The
coal carriers are all stalwart negro wom-
en-, who carry great baskets filed with
coal on their heads. They work in day
and night shifts, and after darkness falls
they sing weird songs as they work. In
spite Of the fact that the introduction of
steam has taken much business away
from st. Thomas, it is still busy place,
and as result its people have little of
the tropical lassitude and laziness about
them. They do not even stop work to
take siesta In the middle of the day.
Prior to 1S4S both st. Thomas and the
large quantities Of sugar. In that year
Denmark freed all the slaves, and as
result most of the negroes left the plan
tations and gathered into the towns The
sugar planters could not get sufficient la
Dor to work their plantations, and the
industry almost disappeared. More re-
Gently it has been resumed on a consid-
erable scale, particularly on Santa Cruz.
where there is great quantity Of fertile
land. On this island many Of the former
slaves have set up as the proprietors of
small plantations, and its annual produc-
tion Of sugar is now 1900 tons, a sup
ply sufficient to supply the wants of the
United States for two days.
The temperature of the Island of Santa
Cruz ranges from 66 to 81 degrees. 1t
has many magnificent driveways, leading
through avenues Of palms, tamarinds, and
bananas. There are two towns on the
Observation-Disclosures and Christiansted
Neither Is of any importance from a COM
mercial standpoint. Practically all of the
10000 inhabitants of the island speak
English, and the only sign of their allie
glance to Denmark is the flag and a lit
tie garrison Of about 100 Danish soldiers.
Fredericksted Is a tumble-down town of
stucco-covered, two-storied buildings, the
assures in the walls and the tumbling
walls being a result of the sack of the
city in 1873, when the negroes on the
island revolted against the Danish gov
ernment.