The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-04
Special Correspondence of the Washing
 ton Post.

ton Post.
 | oT GEORGE. Grenada. British West Indies. May 15.-The first thing to A/ occupy the mind of the visitor to Grenada is a vivid recollection of all the stories he has ever read about the red handed pirates who, centuries ago, rav- aged the Spanish Main
 The little harbor, which, in the olden days, was a safe refuge for the free booters. is the most beautiful in the West Indies. It is almost completely landlocked and it's narrow entrance. opening on a bay which seems to be the only harbor, is entirely hidden from the sea The inner harbor. which Is the crater of an old volcano, Is so deep that the largest ships sail right up to the in-
 closing wall, and it is large enough to
 accommodate a powerful fleet of war ships.
 The picturesque little town of St | George, which Is built so closely on the
 hills around it that the houses seem l to stand on top of each other looks just as it might have looked three or four | hundred years ago, and the picture is
 well calculated to bring up the spirits of l the old pirates. The realism of this | waking vision is enhanced by the dis | covery that in these later days the island | is living up to its traditions as nearly as | is possible under modern conditions. It l is no longer a haven for pirates, but It 1 harbors number of smugglers, who of
 ten are placed in the same category Every ship from New York brings con- | signments of goods. ostensibly for Gren- l ada merchants, which are promptly snug | gled into Venezuela. There it often found that cases marked "canned meats" or
 something of that sort, contain, rifles
 or ammunition for opponents of the gov ernment However. the island does not
 need this illicit trade and the authori-
 ties are exerting themselves to stop it. Grenada is ninety-six miles north Of l Trinidad: is twenty-one miles long and
 twelve miles wide, and has population | of 6S 0OO It Is the most beautiful' most
 fertile and most prosperous Of all the
 West Indies. and is the only one Of the Antilles which never has called on the | home government for assistance or any kind.
 Except for the fact that the island is populated almost entirely by negroes and governed by them absolutely. though
 not technically life here is almost idyl- | lie Living is cheap and nature most generous with her charms and delicaeies | The island is of volcanic origin. and
 ahounts with mountain lakes and streams
 and mineral and other springs. The
 Grand Etang, nine miles from St George. | at an altitude of 1900 feet, is beautiful
 lake in the crater of an extinct volcano
 In the mountains the scenery is mag nifcent in the intervening valleys 1t Is
 entrancing. Oranges cocoanuts, pine
 apnles Hines, bananas and mangoes grow | in riotous profusion The climate is de- | liehtful The thermometer ranges from
 75 in the winter to 90 in the summer 1 The trade wind blows steadily and con
 stantly. and the nights are always cool,
 while in the mountains they are chilly,
 even in July and August Sickness IS
 almost unknown, and there are nei.ner | hurricanes nor earthquakes to oisturp
 the serenity of life.
 | There is no great wealth, but there is | no poverty. nor can there be in an | island where everything needfui to man existence Is ready at his hand. Fruit Is to be had by shaking a tree' and cocoa | by picking it in the government forest
 reserves. where it Is gong to waste The island is comfortably and quickly
 reached from New York, and as it's beau ties become better known IL is certain to
 grow in popularity with tourists, espe- i cially during the winter season.
 Cocoa Is the chief product of Grenada the soil and climate being particularly
 adapted to it's growth and perfect de- velopment but 1t also produces sugar,
 coffee cotton, rum. nutmegs, cinnamon
 cloves mace, pimento. and other spices haeides great quantities of fruit. Every | year inc island sells considerably more
 than if buys in foreign markets For
 the last five years the average annual value of it's exports has been l4f652O.
 and of it's imports. s,l8O,I3O The secret
 of it's prosperity lies in the wonderful
 richness of it's soil and the large number
 of neasant proprietors with the added l factor of a closer relationship with the | Tinted States. Out of total popula-
 tion of less than 10000 there are about
 soo0 nroperty owners. practically all of | whom are native negroes.
 There are very few large estates and | but A small percentage Of white people. l The whites dominated Grenada until slav- cry was abolished; since then they have | baen gradually leaving, until now not
 more than 800 remain. Their number grows Iess every year. and 1t will not be a great 1 while until this modern Garden of Eden ,s given entirely over to the blacks. with Great RritaIn's guiding hand resting very | tightly upon them. The whites have divld- | ed their estates up into small farms and soid them to the blacks for what they
 ,-n,,Id oet for thenn and the negroes have l oone to work. with something very like q racial pride and ambition, and increased l tbe o,,tput of the ground.
 | Grenada was the first island to turn it's attention from sugar to cocoa. and therein if has nrospered. Its cocoa crop increased from o1 sei hnee cf 1Sn rnirds in 1878 to