Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-01-28

! from me bar &c ard from cars, right
( through the mill to where the dry su-
gar in bags was being loaded into
/ 0arges ready to be foated down the
, large steamers at the mouth Of the
river. As this was my first vi it to a
sugar mill, the ponderous machinery
ua.d 10 first cut the cane INTO d fine
pg.p then crush the juice out Of It.
and the many different process Is by
which the juice is afterwards treated
till finally it is put into large centrif-
uyaI machines in the forn,o a thick.
graiuE, black mOIasses and the crys-
tails extracted from the mass, was
all very interesting
Near slavery.
Tie nominal daily output of thi
mill is 50 tons Of dried sugar. All the
labor employed by the Colonial Sugar
company in Fiji is Indian coolies. They
are brought here under five years
contract, during which they receive
half crown (C2 u cents) a week
and their food and lodging. After that
they are paid one shilling Us cents)
-
The buildings where they are housed
are long low structures with no win
low and l cannot see but very little
difference between their condition and
that Of slavery. However, it is a fact
the industry could not be carried on
i'm these islands without them, because
the Fijian will not do the work re
0 much as is necessary to keep him
in food and pay his taxes. There are
HOW over 25,000 coolies here, very few
of them returning to India after their
five years are up. Many are engaged
in raising a little corn and grow a few
bananas On bit of land, and manag"
somehow to live. The result is, their
numbers are increasing every year,
while the native Fijian is decreasing,
being now estimated at only $1,000
throughout the whole group.
After returning across the river to
the hotel | wa introduced to and in
vited to drink with a noble looking
native who arrived in a carriage from
SUya, on his way to Mbau. seven miles
back from the other side of the river
where he lives He was Kandavu Levu,
the greatest Of the Fijian lords and
the grandson of ThakOmbau (of ter
rible nOtOriety). He lives in con i'd
cradle state and enjoys good deal Of
power besides a salary from the Brit
ish government. This Mbau is the
most important of all Fills historical
places. 1t was selected for the capital
Of the group by the great-grandfather
Of the late King Thakombau, and
there four generations of kings lived
and tyrannised over the people and
the lesser chieft@ns.
Cross-Country Hike.
The next morning, the day promfs-
ing to be fine and not too warm, I de
cided to return to Suva on foot, the
distance being u miles across the
country, over good road, every mile
of which wa distinguished by a con
crete stone erected at one side, on
which was the word Suva and figure
indicating the distance from there. "a
very good arrangement; please make
a note Of it, For the first mile Or
little over, the land is fiat and level
This extends from the bank of the
river to the foot of the first bench of
higher ground end i all in cane. At
one point a crew was at work cutting
the cane near the road and I stopped
and watched them for some time. The
women were IabOring along with the
men and from the similarity of their
field dress, / could hardly distinguish
them from the men. A main line of
narrow gague ram road leads from
the bank OF the river into the field.
and from it branch lines. in portable
sections, lead off to where thev are
cutting. The stocks are four to six
feet long when trimmed and are load
cd four to five feet high GRO swtse on
short trucks, which are pushed out to
the main line and when coupled up,
are hauled away by an OK. When
reached the crest of the first range Of
low hills, I had a good view clear back
to he river and for a long distance
beyond. In fact, as far as the eye could
see it was one vast level tract of land.
but q few feet above the sea and near
" all covered with cane fields and
banana plantations while to the right
the coast line could be distinguished
by the wide fringe of tall cocoanut
trees lining it.
On resumiug my walk I found the
next few miles was over rolling c0un-
try thickly covered with tropical vege-
tatiOn. with now and then patches Of
large trees, none of which. so far as
I could tell, were fit for milling pur-
poses. Scattered all along we're small
cleared patches, each containing
cheap habitation of a coolie family.
with from One-fOurth to one-half of an
acre of corn and a few banana plants
When about six miles from town the
holdings We're larger with some very
respectable sized fields all in bananas.
From here on the land all occupied.
In one field I saw six head of Ind
cattle-fOur bulls and two COWS. They
are white in color, have large humps
on their shoulders. and ears that hang
down like a hounds. I learned later
they were imported. About three
miles from town the road l. on very
high ground and a splendid view Is.
had of the whole peninsula, the reef
surrounding the island, the harbor
and the ocean. with several islands in
the far distance. I topped at the
house of COolie some little distance
back. and asked for three pence (six
centS0 worth of bananas. He brought