Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-12

: INH k4kt2l became a certainty Amer iNe'A
IH AGaNNl interest in the West indies
ii Nd has grown steadily, until
Ia VNI now ii is probably greater
lEzAnzz than at any time since the
j American flag was to be seen
on every ocean and American bottoms
carried more than their share of the
worlds commerce. Americans resem-
BILE the Athenians in always seeking
some new thing, and in their restless
search more and more of them are be-
| ginning to appreciate the delightful
| voyages that may be made from thelf
eastern coast through summer seas at
comparatively low prices. An evidence
of this was furnished this winter when
! the first strictly excursion ship, carry
ing full quota of passengers, left New
| York for a cruise among the West
| India islands and down the coast of
South America as far as the straits OF
! Magellan.
The West Indies are distinctly the
| habitat of the negro. There are all
| kinds, from the voodoo worshipers of
the interior OF IIayti and San Domingo
to the cultured, highly polished, ever
| hosptable college graduates OF the
English and French islands. The first
! desire of the American traveller is TO
compare the negroes and men of color
i'm the islands with those he is familiar
with in his own country, and he is al
ence. Laughter, unprovoked mirth and
AN utterly happy-go-lu disposition
are characteristic of the American ne
gro of the south. but as a rule the ma
tives OF the West Indies take them
| selves much more seriously. They
are exceedingly Voluble when aroused,
but the ohattering gayety is lacking.
| The nearest approach TO the American
style of negro is among the coal pass
ers of St. Lucia, who, as they wind in
and out from the coal piles to the ship.
maintain an ineessant flow of banter
and chaff
At one time or another France owned
nearly every island in the West Indies.
but its possessions there are now linz
tied to Martinique, Guadalupe, st.
Bartholomew (better known as St
Barts) and a part of st. Martin, the
other portion of which belongs to Hol-
land. England has persistently Angh-
cized it's Islands until the French su-
zerainty has been almost forgotten,
| vet il is a curious fact that a. trench
| patois is the language of the natives
of nearly all the English islands below
the Virgin group. The people are bi-
| lingual, using the patois among them-
! selves, but always having just as GOOD
a command of English In the Danish
islands of st. Thomas and st. CroiX
! (Which Is better known as Santa cruz
the back country natives have patols
| which is not Danish, although the
Danes have owned the island for $50
years. Danish is now taught In the
| public schools of these islands, and the
children speak 1t, as do the govern
ment officials. but all speak English as
well.
West India brings thoughts of rum
the rum that has cut figure in his
tory and is famous the world over. In
the early days the exchange OF west
| India rum with African ehiefs FOR
| slaves for the western world was a
| regular and enormously profitable bus
| mess Slavery passed, but the rum
| remains-millons of gallons of IT. The
natives, foreign residents and tourists
| drink rum in all the islands. Speclal
| brands are spoken of with pride, ana
thousands of bottles are carried away
| every year by tourists as precious gifts
for friends at home. This exists every
| where except among the whites ana
higher classes of British Guiana, whlch,
| although on the mainland of South
| America, is always counted as one OF
| the islands For some strange reason.
in British Guiana it is considered eX-
tremely plebeian 10 drink rum. The
people there drink gin and Scotch
Whisky. Perhaps the explanation or
this regularity is the fact that back
in the almost impenetrable wastes or
British Guiana the natives make
"moonshine" rum like the mountaineers
of the southern states make moon
shine" whisky.
1t would be advisable for all Amer
| leans going TO the West Indies TO lay
| i'm a supply of English money before
starting Travellers landing with MOTH
ing but American coins will be greatly
Inconvenience unless they are of gold.
Every island varies more or less IN
it's willingness to accept American sill
ver although the gold and bank notes
are readily exchangeable at the banks
In Antigua, for instance, not even the
street peddlers are willing to accept
| American silver at all if they can pos
sibly get English money. The Danish
islands have special coinage of their
own which is current nowhere else.