The Republican journal., 1902-05-08

coSU 10y WTlUInS 10 MIS- <f>atIM,
|, Lynn, Mass. Your letter " Ill sle
entirely confidential.
diminutive donkeys to each car. is not
visible. You soon learn that the city is
divided by the clover-leaf- shaped bay
into three distinct parts-Punda, where
the Government buildings and princi-
pal commercial houses are located
Banda. other Sidet-a populous resi-
dence quarter; and Scharlo, the Fifth
Avenue of the island. Each of these
divisions has just one broad, smooth
main driveway. encompassed by net
work of alleys. Naturally, everything
on wheels seeks the three wide thorough
fares. croWding them from curb to curb
and making them more dangerous than
the comparatively deserted alleys. The
carriages of Curacao aristocrats are
drawn by the lively. half-Wild horses of
Colombia. which disdain control and
dash ahead at breaEneck speed. what
ever may stand i'll the way. People
pass from one division of the city to
another by a tram-car, which makes the
circuit of the bay. OF III at-bottOmed
boats or punts-the latter method of
transportation being regular and
WelI-conducttd business. The Punda
section includes the old Spanish city of
Santa Ana and its modern eastward tN-
tension. called Pietermaai
Close to the Governors residence
stands the Dutch Reformed Church.
Where Peter Ntuyvesant Worshlpped
When he was governor of the island be
fore being transferred to New Amster-
dam, which is HOW Il part OF Greater
New York. \ little way back OF this
quaintest of sauctuaries is the nearly
obliterated ruin of the Stuyvesant
mansion, and III an adjacent cemetery
hes one OF StuyyeSaut' legs. OF course
YOU 90 to service III the Dutch Reform
ed Church on Your first Sunday morn
ing III Curacao. and perhaps sit in the
Governors pew, which is as high as the
pulpit and quite as conspicuous. AS
you pass out of the door cloth bag is
presented to your attention. in which
you are expected to deposit an offer
ing for the church: and after seven
O'Clock dinner you should follow the
local world to the Governors house and
promenade therein. to the music of the
government band, for an hour or two.
Following the band, you go up the wide
staircase of the mansion, into series
of lofty saloons, all looking out over
the bay. Presently dancing begins,
although it is Sunday evening", and
perhaps the stately Governor Baron Won
Heerdtot Eversberg, leads the measure
More likely. however, he is busy with
his male friends in a big apartment to
the right, where sideboards and de
canters are the conspicuous articles Of
furniture; or else he is in the card room,
where bevy of gentlemanly. prosper
Gus looking men are at whist, or some
other game that is played with cards
What is your surprise to observe in the
midst the preacher of the morning
the reverend divine whose powerful
discourse reminded you so much of the
late Henry Ward Beecher-his hands
full of kings and aces his little guilder
stake on the table, a fragrant Havana
between his lips and glass of brandy
and-soda at his elbow. We are assured
| by those who live here, and therefore
i ought to know, that there are no better
| people Oh earth than these both in in
| tentlon and execution: but their ways
are not exactly those to which Ameri-
cans have been accustomed Out in
the streets everything looks equally
queer and improba ble-from the street
urchlns that stand ready to dive for the
pennies you throw into twenty feet of
water, and the half-nude boatmen who
! row you from place to place in the
town, to variously colored women sell
ing fruit, sweetmeats and tobacco, and
ladies trailing stitiiy starched skirts at
their slippered heels.
The official language of Curacao is
Dutch, but English, Spanish and
French are also commonly spoken.
The emancipated negroes, who com
prise the bulk of the population, speak
strange patois called Papiamento-a
word which literally translated means
to speak lies. 1t is soft and liquid as
that OF the South Sea islands, and evil
IDENTIFY grew from Spanish base in the
old slave times. Dutch, Danish and