The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-08-22
HOME LIFE IN HAITI.
THE WORSHIP OF OB, THE
 SERPENT DIETRt
The Haitian Army, Twenty Thousand Strong on DrcAs Parade is the Sight of Life Time.


 of Life Time.
 Especial Correspondence of the Journal
 and Journal)
 Port au Prince, Haiti, July 10.
 Though everybody in this islands so- cial swim is more or less ''colored," the precise shade of it makes great distinc- tion in one's social status. Mulattoes, for example, while holding themselves far above pure whites, are immeas- urably proud of being different people from the blacks; while the pure blacks sheer at the mulattOes for being neither black nor white. Among the lighter tinted swells are some not far removed from white, who were educated in France and have acquired fine veneer of French elegance in dress and man ners. Among the women of this class are few really beautiful octaroons and quadroons, who have married French and German planters, live in luxurious idleness and look down from lofty heights upon the white trash" engag- ed in trade. Possibly there may be eX- captions, but the character of the vast majority of these arrogant ladies is ad- Inirably expressed in a well known au- thor's terse description of shady ac- quaintance. ''The manners of kitten and the morals of cat" There is a powerful club in Port au Prince,' called "Le Cercle," where the best citizens play billoards, drink West India swiz- gle and hatch political plots. Nearly all of Haiti's frequent revolutions begin in this place-not because of real grievances that require redress, but out of inherent viciousness and brag- gadocio. Several newspapers are pub lished here, all in the French language. The leading one, Le Peuple, is owned and edited by a young mulattO, who is the enterprising father of twenty-seven children. Even the Haitians-so high and mighty in their own estimation have a wholesome respect for Uncle Samuels' long right arm, and though they are forever fighting among then1- selves, Americans are fairly safe here, so long as the latter interfere with nothing, making no attempt to spy on the worship of Ob, the serpent dietys and are not suspected of being in sym pathy with either revolutionary fac tion. When bullets are flying around thick and fast as they so often do, the Foreigners greatest danger is in get ting peppered with shot intended for other people, for as random marksmen these "patriots" are notorious.
 The army-supposed to be about \ 5fxyay,t1y tbnIIrooH etr0ncr=--ic Tonora n half composed of off1cers-general, staff and regimental. Generals are as thick in Haiti as judges and colonels in Ken lucky, for every man of prominence on the island rejoices in the title, won in some so-called revolution of the hum dred and nine which have occurred here during the last eighty years. Not one of those conflicts sprang from pure love of country, as the blatant "pa- triots' loudly assert. The real bone of contention is the customs revenue, (about eighty millions a year), which is the perpetual prey of political schemers, and especially of the presi- dents-black, brown, yellow and cafe au-lait-who have fought themselves into the executive chair in order to have hand in the spoliation. The numer- ous ex-presidents and ex-cabinet off, cers are well supplied with funds, hav- ing taken care of themselves gen. erously while in office; but as soon as they become impoverished through idle ness and extravaganza, and the dire necessity of labor stares them in the face, they wax intensely patriotic on the instant, seeing in the present en- cumbent a traitor to his country who is defrauding down-trodden Haitians. Then they issue pronunciamentos, call off the clutch of the oppressor. If the '.doWn-trodden" do rise in sufficient numbers, allured by false promises of liberal pay, they hold few weeks high carnival of expectation, and dash into the capital just in season to snatch the reward of the customs revenue. Even then, it is doubtful if an army could be raised among the lazy patriots were not the uniforms attractive in their pristine guadiness. The officers wear coats of all cuts and colors, with stars bars, stripes and gilt lace galore, with out reference to degrees of rank, SC  every one of them sports long, be- draggled plume in his cooked chapeau The rank and file are the sorriest look ing rag-muffians that ever were uni formed, dirty, bare-footed, clad in rags of flannel much too hot for the climate butp rofusely trimmed with once-bril- liant braid. Arms are a secondary con- sideration. A few carry old guns; but the weapon, offensive or defensive, up- on which Haitians mostly depend is the 'cocomacque"-a tough club, capa- ble of cracking even a negro cranium It Is the sight of a lifetime to see this parody of an army out on parade-the scores of proud generals in gorgeous array, wabbling along on their rniser- able little ponies, and the bare-footed rank and file, struggling helter-skelter no two holding their rusty guns alike In this glorious republic the pay of 8 private soldier is only twelve dollars a year, and it Is said that he is generally defrauded of that, pittance by his com- manding officer. Therefore it Is not surprising to see the streets of Port au Prince infested with beggars in army uniforms, who accept the smallest coin with touching gratitude.
 It has been frequently said that Un- cle Samuel will sooner or later have to 5 interfere in the undermined affairs of this island and annex it along with St Thomas and Porto Rico. May the day