Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-08-28

Icomlng over the water.
I'VE got all kinds of tropical fruit
In Colombo and enjoyed the ialliga-
tor pears very much. I learned to cal
them in Key West. The pineapples
were fine, too.
| II enjoyed my stay of twenty-four
hours In Colombo very much. We
left the dock and ran in to get coal
and mail. / got your letters up to
May 9. Colombo is very pretty city
with lots Of trees. There Is no ma
tural harbor; but two large breakwa-
ters furnish ample protection. When
the southwest monsoons come the wa
ter Is thrown up to a great height,
| and this Is one Of the sights Of the
place. rode out from the hotel In
a. riclsshaw, a little cart drawn by a
native, who also acts as guide. 1t
is wonderful how fast these natives
can pull the rickshaws and 1t seems
as IL they never get tired. had one
| fdr three hours, and he was going
pretty much all the while at 25 cents
an hour.
H"one of the most striking things
one sees of Colombo is the great num-
bSr of almost naked people on the
sheets. Children. both boys and
girls, are often entirely naked. Most
of the men wear nothing at all except
clouts, or breech cloths. They are
well developed people. and very mus
cular. They are brown in color, have
good features and black hair. Some
OF. the women wear kind Of skirt,
closely wrapped around their hips,
and little white bodices which lack
about three or four inches Of reaching
down to the skirts, leaving the inter-
vehiny space bare. Other women
wsar kind Of skirt and a piece Of
cloth wrapped about their breasts
leaving their bodies bare. All Of the
natives go barefooted, of course,
some of them dress in our fashion.
Many of them wear long hair just as
our women do, with long combs, cir
cular in shape. stuck on top of their
heads.
fColombo is famed for It's jewellers.
They came aboard the ship with all
kinds of stones and sold a great many
of them. But they are all cheats, and
generally take from one-half to one
third of the first price asked. Very
few OF them are reliable. but they
seem to know every naval officer who
has ever passed by that way.
%The people here are very much dis
appointed in not getting to see the
dock. She did not stop at all, but we
caught her the next day of the coast
of Ceylon. I am sorry did not get to
stay little longer in Colombo; but I
suppose I shall be back again some
day"
| The next letter was written from
Singapore and dated June 27. 1t was
short and contained but little Of inter-
est. The ships were anchored two
miles from shore, and Mr.. Dobson did
not go into the city except on business.
He did not consider It worth the
trouble. The natives were very much
interested in the Dewey and went out
In large numbers to see 1t. Mr.. Dob
SON enclosed hand bill printed at the
"Koh Kim Heaii Press. II Cecil street,
Singapore, and reading as follows:
Express. A goth Century Marvel.
The Huge Floating Dock. The steam
launch Pulo Besar will make trips
from Johnston's Pier to the Mammoth
Foating Dock Admiral Dewey, every
day from 9 a. m. to IL a. m, p. m.
and p. m, during her short stay In
Singapore. Don't fail to avail yourself
of this opportunity to see this marvel
Gus floating dock. Fare 30 cents a
trip"
The next letter is written from the
China sea, JUL .. ami begins with a
statement that 1t Is now only seventy
miles to the harbor of Olongapo, to
which the destination Of the dock has
been changed. The squadron had the
good fortune to escape the typhoons OF
the China sea and made the trip to
Olongapo without mishap.
The last three letters Of the series
came from Manila. Here Mr.. Dobson
met e. number of people he knew. in
cluding Mr.. and Mrs. Starr Mason, for
merly of Yorkville. He also got orders
that permitted his early return to
America and he will probably be home
again this fall.