The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-05-25
beautiful
ISLANDS OF
NEST INDIES
Now Under the Scourge of
Volcanic Fire.
PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE
Martinique and It's Decadence
in Recent Years.
PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE
By FREDERICK A. ODER.

hEOERlCh A. OBER-
Southeast Of the Saints and the Viz
gins saint Thomas. Saint John. Saint
Croix; TortoIa. Anegada, and Virgin Cor
daJ. which themselves are 70 the east
ward OF Porto Rico. lies chain OF vol
canic islands known as the Lesser An
TILES They are Included within north
/ latitude 70 and I and are arbitrarily di-
! vided into the 'leeward' and the wind
1 ward islands. the former lying south and
/ the latter 70 the south OF latitude Is
| degrees north Of the equator. The new
moon in her earliest stages describes
no more nearly perfect crescent than this
string of emeralds on a silver zone"
which those prone 70 ALTERATION term
the crescent chain OF the Caribees. Each
island OF this chain, beginning with Saba
in the north and ending with Granada
in the south, is volcanic in character. and
the chord OF the arc they describe is
about three hundred and sixty miles
in length
Lying along the northern curve. ocean
ward, is a fragmentary chain OF isles
and islets which are coralline in struct-
ure-at least above the sea, though they
may be erected upon volcanic bases far
beneath This IS the view OF the casual
traveller merely, and is not put forth as
4 scientific statement. The biologists and
geognostics are now turning their at
tention thitherward; let us await their
dicta They have persistently ignored
these gems OF the Caribbean Sea (sci-
entists as rule having no eye for mere
beauty: but now that q CONFUSION Of
nature has shaken up the Islands. they
mia
appear to be moved by nothing less than
a cataclysm.
Each island s practically a single noun
tain thrown up from the ocean depths
the attitudes varying from 300 TO 5000
feet, and so evidently OF volcanic origin
that one may not err in describing them
to old Vulcan. or whomsoever has been
said to his nefarious work in the lower
world Mountain tops. spires. pinnacles,
thrust up through the sea, suggest also
the remains OF a lost continent, OF. per-
haps the beginning Of a newer one-and
around them we may weave myths not
only Antillean, but Atlantean.
who knows the spot where Atlantis
sank?
Myths OF a lovely drowned continent
Homeless drift over waters blank;
What If these reefs were her monu-
ment?
Isthmus and cavernous cape may be
Her mountain SUBMITS escaped from
the sea
Spirits alone in these islands dwelt
All the dumb. dim years ere Columbus
sailed.
The old voyagers said; and it might be
speit
Into dream-books of legend. if wonders
failed
They were demons that shipvrecked At
lantis. afraid
AT the terror OF silence themselves had
made
Wen. perhaps so; the poet Qn this IN
stance a poetess. gifted Lucy Larcom) .
sometimes hits as near the truth as the
man OF science. At all events the silence
has been disturbed. and most e1ectuaIiy.
Atlantis may yet appear. out Of the de-
bris Of wrecked isles. a resurrscted con- .
tinent, shake its head above the sea, and .
verify the Platonisn legend
But. should these stands be destroyed .
and. in effect. disappear. one cannot con- (
ceive of their places being taken by any
more beautiful Doubtless God might
isles-to paraphrase good old Waltons
remark anent OF certain fruit-out doubt
less God never did: or II he did. the
writer never saw them AS every noun
tain shoots upward abruptly to an al
titude that gives It practically the range
OF two climatic zones. temperate and
tropical. every beautiful aspect Il veg
citation may De noted here. The sides Of
each partially submerged volcano. from
base to peak. and even some Of the
crater-waIls. are hung with richest tapes
tries IN varying shades n green
The northermost OF the volcanic islands
OF 10 be exact the n0rthwesternmost-
is saba. n mountain rising above the
ocean floor nobody knows how many
thousand feet. but with about $50 q
them sticking Up above he water; What
nature Intended II should become when
finished Is not evident for It seems only
lust begun; but It is q Dutch possession
now. has been for many years and IS
their smallest property IN the West II
dies perhaps in the world, having an
area % about seven square miles and
supporting not rzore than 800 tnhani-
.ants- What Is here in these Islands. the
majority Of the population Is white and
not only white. but Dutch. the coed 3D.
fashioned kind. with blue eyes. frecxled
zsndv couplexiou. and faxen hair. There
IRE Dutch residents n san Martin. Saint
-ustatius. and IN Aruhs. Bonaire. and
Curacao. of he Venezuelan coast. bat
-he~ are not ire sturdy. cisar-complsx-
onss Dutch q saba Island The secret
= their heaithtulnsss e found II The
attitude. az which they I've rot oue
y them less than - o. - fsey above
he sea. II fact. VIXEN nature made ss-
"a she forgot - i1de1t TIRE coast-itzs
xi,h sireo- hardly a Iassing pace.
So q al & Spot niz enough % b-itd =
,,uss Or. 50 az the sahaus I've a. a.
.'svaticn above tie sez. pe-force. q resr
. shousan6 feet Niue hundred and sky
-ees 70 Be exact. Is TIE height q TIE
..wn q Bottom shove he seq hat Z
here ire SABA people Esost e them I've
those that DO net dwell ths-e being SIN
higher I'd among The craEs - TIE vol-
-ano> The town q Bottom Is 81 calist
,eczuse Il les AZ The bottom q a. e.
l--e crater ~ lest Z = Supposed -
- extinct. ard VII p-ohaHiy - ccrst5er-
: 81. urtsi some 6ay ire victims = =
mistaken cor15>uce IL TIE sssieseles q
xosca-o ray 6r6-.s szy survive
Rat TIC rsal oottcr . TIE crater was ,
5~ioE Ire level = theIr st
le--e-t. TEctr dwelling he-s : a fa.cses .
ecursty illustrates ~ apathv TIA. rcs- :
eses al those that take ~ tAeir --zs- t,
e-ces n precartcus 2iscss zs-sly - !
sase they have s1vazcaxes o~sr others
sss sxlcsee 70 eznEer. Tasx knew vel