The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-22
EVERY Day As
N JAMAICA
New York Writer Relates
CurioSities on Island.
SORT OF INHABITANTS
10000 Coolies and Their
Character and Script.

Columbus during his second voyage, in
1895, and tradition still points out the
spot where he careened his ship. The
Spanish domination lasted considerably
less than half of the four centuries that
have since elapsed, for in 1876 Admiral
Penn. the father of our William, came
out at CromwelTs behest and made Jamai-
ca a British dependency; and thus the
names OF the two capitals. Spanish Town
of the past and Kingston of the present,
suggest in briefest epitone the history
of the island Spanish Town is, in very
deed, of the past. and"Ichabod' is writ
staring on it's walls; but not, 1 must
admit, on the walls of its charming little
inn. the Rio Cobre, for of that hostelry
the 'glories are" not yet departed.
A superb Royal Palm adorns the space
before the main entrance; the verandas
artrc cool and shady, the rooms airy and
clean; and the bath tanks (you can hard
" call them tubs of cumbrous mason
work are uncommonly inviting. The food
and cooking, too, are distinctively Jamal-
can; you may have yams done to perfec-
tion-that is without a trace of sogginess
or fried ackle Gts toothsomeness, / sus-
pect. like that of sWeetbreads. is adsciti-
tious), or stewed gUavas with cocoanut
cream (toOthsomeness, per contra. intrin-
sicD; and for dessert you may, after your
banana pudding, have glass of 'matri-
mony" or make it yourself by mingling
in a large schooner the pulp of an
orange with that OF a custard-apple. I
am seated near several young men CNor-
wegian and German) who have come
hither from the technical schools of Ber-
lin to serve as chemical experts in the
dyestuff factory A letter from the father
land is given to one of them, and, hold
ing it in hand that is stained very black,
he reads it with an expression that makes
one surmise that, despite tropical scenery
and lucious fruits and good pay, life here
TO him is exile indeed.
After luncheon and leisurely siesta,
visit the cathedral church of st. James
of the Plain Santiago de Ia Vega. 1t is
an impressively venerable structure. The
enthusiasm Of the verger perhaps more
loving tnan judicial. referred one part
Of the transept to the year $780, critic
in Kingston made a short shift with that
claim. but the solid mahogany roOf-tim-
bers Of the (nuch younger nave are so
black as to suggest great antiquity to the
unrestrained imagination of the lilac. The
aisles are paved with the sepulchral tab
lets of oId-time notables. and the inscrip-
tions. well worn by the footsteps of the
devout are now literally the fading hon
ors Of the dead" 4 rickety buggy"
takes you to the somnOlent market. to
the superb statue of Rodney that COM
memorates his victory over the French
fleet in 1872. to the Kings House, once
the residence of the Governors, the wor-
thy scene of many a stately function,
and so finally to the quiet railway sta
ton.
The first few miles offer convincing evil
dence of the value Of irrigation On our
left are extensive plantations of logwood
trees, and the weIl-watered acres are
green and hourishing with unnumbered
tons of the precious dyeware; while on
our right the land stretches dry and scar
in almost painful contrast The irrigated
acres have recently quadrupled in value.
they say, and / can well believe it. The
pass is under the arches of a beautiful
old Spanish acQueduct. 1t looks as if it
were modelled after the Roman one at
Segovia in Old Castle: and one might
marvel at the age and directness of a
human tradition that reaches from the
Campagua of 80 =. c. to St. GATHERINGS
parish of now, were 1t not for the thought
that our planet is, after all, but chick
pea in the cosmos and recorded human
history not half the tick of many a celes-
tial clock. BE all that as it may. Jamai-
can railway journeys at longest are short.
From Spanish Town 10 Williamsfield.
where we leave the train is about forty
-F1n nd
hour and half is spent on the first thir-
ty-fve; that brings rs to Porus. where the
climb begins in dead earnest. and the re-
manning half hour is spent on the remain
Ing half-dozcn miles. As miles of hori-
zonta1 progress they count for six. but
they include also nearly nine hundred
feet of progress in the vertical At VIII
Mansfield we enter buggy and are
fairly whirled upward for another eight
hundred and more. over the splendid
roads. until at last. behind horses that
steam in the chill evening air. we alight
1T tho lodgings Of Mrs. Halliday Mande-
vile
Apart from climate and fora. there is
much in Jamaica 10 remind YOU of India.
There are coolies ttcn thousand and more)
with bangles on their arms. and on their
walls Sauskrit or nagari characters. =
script that almost startles you here at the
antipodes Of the pandits one sign. as
remember Il. was Dan Patti. a Coolie
man. evidently the Sanskrit Dhans-patf
Lord Of wealth. and having as little to
do with Daniel and Patrick as wealth
had 20 DO with stocks and bonds The
country beds are sprinrless couches on
which is laid mat Of PUSHES or leaf-fbre
thus answering u the seetalputty or cool
mat Of BENGAL The Icwness Of the
birds is very striking and. If Won ask m,
reason You are told that the munsoose
was imported from India 20 extermiDate
"a Ia Rikki-tikki-tavn the snakes: tia,
h did his work no less effectively than
kiplings little hero but that he then
devoted himself - the birds and ,bair
esSS. and that even now ne does not dis
crlmin2te properly between birds and
poultry- This was more than the lanai
cans hargaiaed Tor. and Vet all the time
there were Sanskirt fables. millenniYrS
old. 10 warn them against precisely s,,eh
contingency. Even the place-nar,es
suggest India. Vaudeville recalls ,bs
shddeWE SIT John and his varaerfnrs ~,
III way 70 Cathay; and was nor ParlS
the HINDU King famous Tor his ,,,scl,
Witted answer 10 Alexander Tho c-.-,-
'iiov would you Ike 10 De treated -.
asked the victor Like King' said
Porus
The sights Of Vaudeville are not ,hs
work OF mems hands" They are ~.
distant hills and mountains. and the sky
nut / visited the market on market-day