Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-05-17

liged 20 take new bearings altogether.
The reason why there are not more
fatalities In the slx-fUot-wide streets Is
probably traceable 10 Dutch lack Of
hurry. Carts can barely squeeze
through them, the ponderous hubs Of
their wheels grazing the walls on
either side and scattering pedestrians
into doorways. There are tramcars-
heavy, square. curtalned boxes. with
dashboards so high and seats turned
the other way that the motor two
dlmlnutiye donkeys TO each carr Is not
visible. You soon learn that the city
II divided by the clover leaf shaped bay
into three district parts--Punda, where
the government buildings and prlncl-
pal commercial houses are located;
Banda (other side)-a p0pulous resi-
dence quarter; and ScharlO, the Fifth
avenue Of the island. Each Of these
divisions has just one broad. smooth,
main driveway, encompassed by a net
work OF alleys. Naturally, everything
on wheels seeks the three wide thor
oughfares, crowdlng them from curb 10
curb and making them more dangerous
than the comparatively deserted alleys
The carriages OF Curacao aristocrats
are drawn by the lively half-wiI1
horses Of Colombia. which disdain con-
troll and dash ahead AT hreak-nock
speed, whatever may stand IN the way.
People pass from one division OF the
city 10 another by tramcar which
makes the circuit Of the bay or In
tlat-bOttomed boats or punts-the
latter method Of transportation
being regular and we'll
conducted business. Punda sec
ton includes the old Span
ish city Of Santa Ana, and It's
modern eastward extension.
Close TO the governors residence
stands the Dutch Reformed church,
whore Peter Stuyvesant worshlped
when he was governor OF the island,
before being transferred to New Am
sterdam, which Is now part Of Great
err New York. A little way back Of this
quaintest OF sanctuaries is the nearly
ruin Of the Stuyyesant man
sion, and In an adjacent cemetery lies
one Of the Stuyyesant's legs or course
you 70 TO service In the Dutch Re- !
formed church on your first Sunday |
morning Ia Curacao, and perhaps sit |
In the governors pew, which Is as high |
as the pulpit ana 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 |
Offering for the church, and after 7 |
o'clock dinner you should follow the To-
raj world TO the governors house, and |
therein, 10 the music OF the |
government band, for an hour or two.
Following the band, you go up the wide
4 "A trguga a fua. N |
" lofty saloons, all looking out over
The bay. Presently dancing begins,
It Is Sunday evening", and
perhaps the stately governor, Baron
von Heerdtot Eyersberg, leads the
More likely, however he is
busy with his male friends In q big
apartment to the right, where side
boards and decanters are the conspcu-
rus articles OF furnlture or else he is
n the card-room, where bevy OF gem
lemanly, pr0sperous-looking men are
II whist or some other game that Is
played with cards. What 10 your sur
lrlse TO observe In the midst the
preacher OF the mOrning-the reverend
llyine whose powerful discourse re-
minded you 20 much Of the late Henry
Ward BeeCher-his hands full Of kings
md aces, his little guilder stake on the
able, O fragrant Havana between his
FPS and glass Of brandy -and soda at
his elbow We are assured by those
vho live here, and therefore ought 70
know that there are no better people
IN earth than these, both In intention
md execution, but their ways are not
xactly those TO which Americans have
leen accustomed. out In the streets
looks equally queer and i'm
the street urchlns that
tand ready to dive for the pennies you
hrow into 20 feet OF water and the
b0atmen will row you from
lace to place In the town TO yarlously
olored women selling fruit, sweet
meats and tobacco, and ladies' trailing
uliiy starched skirts at their slippered
cells.
The official language OF Curacao ls
,utch but English, Spanish and
rench are also commonly spoken. The
negroes who comprise the
ulk OF the population, speak a strange
atols called PapamentO--a word
men literally translated means to
peak lies, 1t Is soft rnd liquid az that
the south Sea Islands, and evident.
grew from a Spanish base In the old
ave times Dutch, Danish and Eng
sh words were also Incorporated but
1ne OF African origin. All harsh con-
'nants have been eliminated all long
ords abbreviated and after three hun
red years Of growth II has become a
nguage by itself Children have
armed Il generation after generation.
nd the Roman clergy have given Il
Sed grammatical form.
FANNIE b. WARD.