Evening star., 1903-08-01
dians number nearly twenty-five hundred,
ana occupy many leading positions IN thS
The Exodus is GROWING

Inc Exodus Is Growing.
from all accounts" said this Barbadian.
who Is in big way of business, tho
exodus from the British West Indies is 60
ing to increase. Indeed. it is increasing all
the time. The growing poverty OF the
islands is making II impossible to GO ahead
there, however shrewd one may be- and
naturally all the bright. enterpr.sing young
men come here. The cost is much less than
That of going to the mother country ana
every West Indian is firmly convinced that
tfieFe are plenty of dollars to be picked lIp
mere whle he is dubious about England
| LOOK at TINS paper" he continued. pick
ing up recent copy of the Standard "A
local newspaper of Antigua B w l. SEQ
what 1t says about the matter:
Inc number of those who have left for
and those who contemplate gong 10 thu
,hited states of the pick of the St Kits
ana Antigua young people OF both seNes--
| some OF them in the government service
80 10 iS suggestive OF rats leaving sinking
snip 10 escape peril.
| Really, the situation Is becoming
serious. If the emigration were confined 10
our HeNer-do-wclls. IL might be though ht a
HleI ihit they should leave their country
Iof thelr country'S good hut unfortunately
the majority of this class rerna. n and as a
consequence, the difficulty in procuring tho
services OF competent, trustworthy young
men TO MI such places as clerks in tbe
various lines of trade and Of ,,,nrl,,,,t,, a.,
the several crafts is becoming acute IT,
oreSs remain, from which little or no GOOD
tracted '' CA
We are made to understand that ,l,.
bookings for first-class passengers for
america by the korona and Fontahello on
'heir return voyages from this col,p,- o,.
enough to shut out all others And stui
there are many more. only biding tIma o,,-
por'unity, and the realizing of a few dol
from their feet 'r''"i u-'1
-, Ihere Is no help for IT, unfortunately
ne states can find room for all. we npira
ana 1t may be that by and by the West In
dlan element over there will be 50 s.r,,,,,
ana so satisfied with republican rul, rs n
influence and render less difficult IN ne
solved the problem of annexation
ne newspapers of the other islands
say practically the same
'The Carib CannibaIs."
a small circle of West Indians in New
York have formed society which they csu
The cartb Cannibals." They meet at one
ahother's houses. talk over old times and
common friends down south, and arrange
ID give helping hand to other West In-
dlans who have not yet made good
One evening they were talking about their
own experences-why they came here, how
they came and what happened to them.
was a government clerk down IN
Jamaica. earning $500 year" said the
president of the club. "If I had waited an
H.
crease of $50 a year AS for promotion
there was no chance Of it unless one of the
Ola fogies at the top of the tree was obllg-
Ing enough to die.
fel IN love with a planters pretty daugh-
Ter we became engaged. but when | asked
the planter for the parental blessing he told
me not to be fool and asked me what
proposed keeping a wife on. OF course,
looked like an ass. but I told him l meant
to have her all the same.
Wen, then. my lad he said looking
at me rather more kindly, you shall have
yodr chance. When l was your age, l was
IN the same boat. But didn't stick in the
mud here on starvation pay. | went to the
states, made money, came back and bought
this plantation, and married Mary's mother
You go and do the same
But have no money to go there with
l ventured.
And yet you propose to marry q wife.
ne retorted, adding: Well here are $50.
lake them as loan. Your paSSa ga VIII
cost you s42. and you'll have about s. to
land with. provided you don't drink too
many cocktails on the steamer If Won
can make position for yourself and come
back for Mary within a couple of years. Won
need never expect to get her.
Il took the money and came here II was
rough sledging "a first. and many a time |
was tempted to 60 back to the easy If I'M
profitable life In jamaica But the thought
or Mary kept me steadfast and In less than
the Two years was able to go back prettv
Well fixed. and demand her from the old
man. And what do you think his wedding
present to was? The same SO mote
which l had repaid him out of NV first
earnings.
When you sent that my boy he said
1 knew you We're safe to come back for
Mary. so l had it framed and kept It walt
ing for you
A Risky Venture.
when I came here said another mern-
Der of the club, turning to the president.
Il had an even greater incentive than Won
l was an overseer on a St. Kits plantation.
working for my board and s. a week.
didn't wait. as you did. l married her and
we managed to get here by pawning the
few bits Of jewelry we possessed. We
bluffed the immigration inspector-it was
only two years ago-and landed with lust
over So in our possession.
That same afternon l walked into the
first newspaper office | saw and got job
reporter 81 week though | knew
nothing of the work. It WAS pretty tough
work living on that small wage but in A
few weeks | was getting $50 on a better pa
per; and now I'm making a livable salary
Il know West Indian" spoke up a
third member of the club who is now
head of the American organization of a big
English bank He came to Philadelphia
for holiday soon after leaving school
liked the place. took position as a Junior
clerk, and rose very quickly to the top Of
the tree"
Girls and Millionaires
do you know remarked an old Jamai-
can, that a great many West Indian
women come here and marry rich Ameri-
cans? They are the daughters of the aris-
tocratic old planting families who have
lost their money through the ruin of the
West Indian sugar industry. They come
here by shoals to earn a living. 1 suppose
there must be hundreds of them in Bos-
ton, TO say nothing of Philadelphia and
New York. Some of them become stenog-
raphers but most of them do the best kind
of fancy needlework. The West Indian
woman of the higher classes is adept at
that kind of work, you know.
Sooner later they meet their Million
aire and marry him. Americans seem to
find them irresistible and that's not
strange TOR. of course We all believe here
that the Creole girl of the good Old planUj
ing families is the best girl on earth