The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-04
Correspondence Of The Journal,

Correspondence Of The journal. r..
In the West Indies. March 20.-Our yoy-
age from New York was a pleasant one.
almost without Incident worth mentioning
Inc sea was very smooth and little sea-
sickness among the passengers AS all
VINO so down to the sea in ship do we
spent much time In looking over the vast
eXpanse OF water and I think it occurred
TO us more than once to wonder why God
IN ms infinite wisdom and goodness made
SO much water and so little land. We saw
put lew sails, to reward our vigilance; an
occasional whale would send up a spray
an occasional nautilus or '.Portuguese man
eo1 war would be seen floating on. the
waves with his sail inflated, and now and
anon school of flying fish would rise out
of the water like so many swallows and
sail away from the ship And vet day
after day we would sit on deck or stand
at the RAIL- watching! watching! Leaving
New YORK on Wednesday afternoon, we
sighted Porto Rico and the Danish islands
on the Tuesday morning following
Having to Gall at st. Thomas and St.
CroiN to discharge passengers and cargo
we were glad OF the chance to go ashore
Tor a change, and to see the islands, for
the purchase of which our country has
been negotiating so long. We first visited
St. Thomas, dropping anchor early Tues
day morning half mile out from the
picturesque little town of Charlotte
Amelia. AS there was no wharf to go
alongside. we had to go off in a row boat.
Looking over the side of the steamer we
saw bevy of small craft with a variety
OF names, indicating the partiality of the
owners for royalty, plain republican
form of government, their best girls and
POSSIBLY many other subjects. Among
them we remember 1.-The Duke Of Marl-
borough, The Princess 1.-The Presi-
dent" Teddy" annie" "Sunrise," etc.
The boatmen did not conform to our idea
Ia j,1xy
blondes, and I dare say if a Danish per-
son had tried to converse with them in
his native language he would have had
great difficulty in understanding them.
Our first duty on going ashore was to pay
our respects to the American consul. The
gentleman who upholds the dignity of the
stars and stripes here is Mahlon Van Horn
Mr. Van Horn is a cOlOred man from
Rhode Island. He was a Congregational
minister when appointed consul by Presi-
dent Mckinley in 1897 We found him a
courteous, pleasant gentleman and gen.
orally well liked by the people of the
. island. Here was the home of the polyg-
amist. Blue Beard, and the pirate, Black
Beard, and the castles are both standing
on the sides of two Of the hills overlooking
the harbor. We visited them. The castle
of Black Beard was evidently built for
defense, having a high round tower with
many portfolios. That Of Blue Beard had
the tower but no port holes. It Is said,
however, to contain an underground con-
hoctlon with the sea, through which he
disposed Of the bodies Of his deceased
wives, who it is said died frequently.
= the island has a population of II 900 or
1000, most Of whom live in Charlotte
Amelia, as there is no agriculture carried
on. The town is neat and clean, the heavy
rainfall and good drainage keeping the
streets clean and nice without much effort
from the people. The houses are mostly
of stone and brick, substantially built
Most of the stores and larger BUILDINGS
have roofs of brick tile set in cement,
making them nearly tireproof. Almost the
only industry of the island is cOalins
steamers. On an average thirty steamers
a month or about one a. day call here to
take coal. During the fiscal year closing
with June, 1901, 9O,S1S tons Of coal wero
imported here; S6,571 tons Of this came
from the United States and 4,247 tons from
90 England.
The bay berry tree or Pmento Acris.
yields a leaf and berry, from which a su-
perior quality of bay rum is made and
exported all over the world. Probably no
place in the world yields so fine a berry
and leaf from which to manufacture bay
rum as does the island Of st. Jan, Danish
West Indies. They have here also very
good dry dock, which, with the coaline
station, would constitute the chief value
of the island to the United States. We
remained ashore all morning Fand took
lunch at the principal hotel, Where ou1
Irish friend Mahoney presides as mine
host 1t is interesting to note the effec
of a tropical climate even on a hardy
Irishman. Being myself an Irishman, anc
being accompanied by Rev. Father Slo
cum and Father Crow1y, both good Irish
men, We were particularly struck will
our hosts complexion and features, anf
decided at once that We did not care t.