The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-02-15


is asked for beef tenderloin. The beef
is native; little of it comes from Ameri-
can packing houses. Three dozen man
goes may be had for 8 cents; a dozen
bananas, 8 cents. A dozen oranges, 81
cents. Peas are very difficult to grow
on the island, and are seldom used. The
Misses Branday say they use great
many red peas. imported from the
States and which are very cheap.
A curious thing was that three
Americans at tho table had never
heard of the red peas which are so
cheap in America that they are i'm
ported here in great quantities. In
the Branday household. the cook re-
the same; a man butler, $3.50 a week,
although a woman will do the same
work for 81 a week. The coachman
receives $3.50 per week, and boards
himself. /. The Misses Branday
would not drink ice water at luncheon;
they are not accustomed to it. and do
not like it. The Misses Branday have
heard of knocking on wood, and when
there is no wood handy, they knock
on their heads, a custom thought was
a paradise. but during the past three
years it has had an earthquake. a
hurricane, a drouth and flood. Last
November rain fell six days in success
sion. As a rule, the Jamaica ne
groes are honest They will take food
to carry home to their kin, but will
not take jewelry or money or cloth
ing. The negroes are much like the
negroes of the south. They believe in
voodooism, and for a half dollar, a
voodoo doctor will agree to make your
enemy spit blood, and finally die. Woo
dooism is an offense against the laws
of Jamaica, and several voodoO doc
tors are in the penitentiary. No very
serious crimes are committed by the
negroes, who are better treated here
than in our country. Everywhere you
remark the politenesS Of the negroes,
and they seem prosperous. Today we
saw a ship sail for Panama, loaded
with negroes, who will work on the
canal. Thousands of their friends
gathered at the dock to see them off.
-. The Misses Branday say the ne
groes perform many wonderful cures
with herbs; that many whites go to
them, instead of to doctors. One white
doctor at Kingston has taken up the
study of herbs, and his teachers are
the old negro women One negro
woman is reputed to know a positive
specific for rheumatism, but nothing
will induce her to give it up.
Last year Jamaica had Sc inches of
rain. I believe we had 33 inches at
home, but am not certain. If you
care to know positively. call up Dan
Lynch by telephone The public
market is wonderful place here, par
ticularly on Saturday. 1t is said that
some of the negro women walk in
from the country a distance of 40
miles, carrying a load of fruit and
the negro women in Jamaica are good
cooks. The row here is over the price
of oranges. One Muck Raker says that
in a certain orange district the United
Fruit company pays but six cents a box
for oranges. The freight on a box of
oranges to New York is Is cents, and
so cents to London. No wonder the
United Fruit company is prosperous.
You may do as you please. but do
not believe oranges sell anywhere as
| low as six cents a box. I have found
| that many of the statements made by
Muck Rakers are unreliable. But it is
certain that the United Fruit company
| is slated for sound drubbing by the
a cure for rheumatism made of herbs
and by an old negro woman living in
Jamaica. This remedy is known as
"John Charles
fore) the Kingston earthquake of 1907,
and destroyed hundreds of valuable
buildings and stocks of merchandise.
The Insurance companies contended
that the fire started as a result of the
earthquake; the people claimed that the
| fire started five or ten minutes before
the earthquake. The row over this
question went on for two years, and
believe the people finally won, and
&C mpelied the insurance companies to
earthquake, the insurance companies
have a provision in their policies saying
| that they shall not be liable for fires
started by earthquake. The same con-
| troversy ragged in San Francisco, and
| the people won, with a claim that the
| San Francisco fire started a few min
| utes before the earthquake shock was
| felt. I shall express no opinion myself,
as my friends. the BrandayS, say the
| fire in Kingston began five or ten min
utes BEFORE the earthquake; had not
| the fire started before the earthquake,
| the insurance policies carried by the
Brandays would have been worthless
and they would have been ruined.
| The controversy has spread to the ship
/ and am not saying a word, owing to
| my admiration for the Brandays. But
| an old Philadelphia lawyer who sits at
| our table said tonight at dinner: E'It
| is a we'll attested fact that few min
utes prior to every earthquake, fire
starts, if the earthquake occurs in a
city where the business men carry fire
| insurance policies. This was proven at
| Kingston and San Francisco by the
| sworn testimony OF hundreds of men.
/ On one hand, We have the fire insur-
| money. On the other hand, we have
| the people of the stricken town, who
| have been ruined. The claim is made
| that the fire preceded the earthquake;
| the newspapers take it up, and they
| are always on the side of the people.
! Men who will be ruined if the fire in
| surance policies are not paid, swear
| positively that the fire preceded the
| earthquake, and practically no one in
+, the stricken town will swear that it
| did not. Finally the insurance COM
| panies are compelled to pay. After the
| San Francisco fire, was attorney for