The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-06
LYING AMONG EARTHQUAKES
THEY PROVIDE THE ONLY yARI-
ETY. IN SLEEPY GUADELOUPE.
No Clubs, No Libraries, Few Malls and
Few ShOps-Folks Live There Apart
From the World Like Mites III a Cheese
Trade There, Though. That We Miss.

Few ShOpS-FOlks Live There Apart
From the World Like Mites IN a Cheese
Trade There, Though. That We Miss.
we did not know in Gaudeloupe of the
death Of the Pope Until fourteen days after
It had occurred" said Consul Ayme
Mr., Ayme, the man who had charge Of
the Government relief after the eruption
of Mont Pelee. Is the guest Of his brother.
DR.. Edward Ayne, in Lexington avenue.
He will start in few weeks for his new
consulate at Para, Brazil. to which he has
recently been promoted after several years
at Point a Pitre. Gaudeloupe
THE life Of Consul az one Of these little
West Indian points said he, lis a strug-
gle with vacuity; an excursion into moth
lngness He finds himself minus tho whole
social environment of America.
There are no clubs no libraries, no thea
tres. no social organizations. He Is cut
of from the world of books. There are no
real newspapers. The steamers are so
irregular that he may on one Of them get
his mail from the 10Th to the 25th. and ten
days later that sent between the list and sth
Newspapers from without are two or three
weeks old. and come all IN bunch. The
and thinking and doing things is as dist ant
a. another planet
But the vacuity is deeper than that
There are pract ically no shops. Tho mer-
chants can afford to carry only what the
mass Of the people, which is negro, de-
mands. The white people have TO shop
by mail order, In France, which takes quite
q while If they could shop in New York
II wouldn't take so long, of course. But the
International parcels post, TO which our
Government does not belong, delivers a
ten-pound package from France for 80
or 30 cents, which would cost So by freight
from New York.
Mrs. Ayme was unable to purchase a
corset string on the island. What the women
use there instead will remain one Of the
mysteries Of the tropics. We sent boy
out for canned caviar one day, and the
grocer referred him to the hardware store.
Not a carriage can be hired in Pointe-a-
Ftre The livery business does not exist
There is not glass window nor Chin
ney on the island. The glass is omitted
on account Of the earthquakes. For the
same reason every bit OF bric-a-brac in
the house, everything that can fall down,
In fact, is anchored with cord to the side
OF the house. 1t is like being on shipboard.
The earthquakes are the only element
Of variety in the life, and even they get
to be monotonous They may come just
as you are entertaining friends at afternoon
tea or at the moment when you are raising
your coffee cup to your lips. The shake
is probably over by the time you get the
cup back into the saucer, but the interim
may have been full of incident,
Perhaps it only spilled your coffee into
your lap. Perhaps it brought your house
down about your ears Earthquakes are con-
htan.y doing small damage Point Attire
has been destroyed five times during the
last 200 years The earthquake is the only
hing in he tropics that doesn't wait until
'o-WprrUW for business,
Their" is not "A stove in the island The
cooking apparatus II a stone bench, from
ei{lt 20 twelve feet long There are several
h9Ies ~ the top, in which are placed boxes
Of charcoal, with tubes underneath for
draught
~, There Is not a cOthespn In the island.
Inc clothes are put into cold water on Mon
DAY morning No servant in GarldelOupo
VIII pat her hands in hot water under any
Circumstances They are boiled all day
Monday and on Monday u. ght left 10 cool ia
IN" water they were boiled in On Tuesday
'h"y are washed our IN cold water, and
spread On the grass. lnJll Thursday night
,N"y are Kept constantly wei by sprinkling.
o. Friday and Saturday they are starched
ant lroned That is, washiay l0sls from
Monday morning i'll Saturday might IN
GauarlOupe
Change the msth0df You could no more
'I"HB" Inc mothOds ~ the negro servant
81 'iaudelOupe Than yOu could stop an
earthquake You are IN her hands tor
better Of worse
'for Instance, The mistress never gnss
20 market The lruIehUIsH wouldn't sell
her anything II she did ana the cook would
leave Ths mat ress hands out the amount
o. money shs wants 10 spend, and ekprnssss
hrr prsiefoDnes N he cook II good natural
si- sometimes buys one Of Two Of tha thIpgs