Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-08-11
CANAL ZONE NEGROES.
PecuIarities Of Laborers From the
Barbados.

lsiXty-iive StOwaway negroes from
Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad. says
4 Canal Zone letter. the number was
just one third of the stowaway record
for West Indian waters as made i'm
1907. In that year dirt was flying along
the canal route as never before. since
diggcrs and steam shOvels worked in
Ia manner unprecedented on the 18TH
mus. The negroes of the West Indies
almost went wild with the desire To
get tn Panama, where the United
States government would pay them
ten cents an hour, n sum that they
IConaidrrcd munifcent when they
thought of the maximum wage Of two
cents an hour to he earned on their
native islands.
At Bridgetown, on the island Of
Barbados, the canal commission had
an agent To contract for negro labor
crs. He chartered the Solent to trans
port 1,2OO Barbadan negroes to Colon.
TO get them on board required a good
part of day. AS evening approached
it was found that negroes who had not
been engaged were sneaking on the
Solent. During the dusk a mob Of ne
gr0es, crazy to get to Panama to line
their pockets with gold by digging
plain dirt, swOOped down on the yes
sci. Those that didn't crawl up the
anchor chains and the ropes thrown
over the sides by their more fortunate
fellows on board literally scaled the
sides of the ship. They went through
portfolios and over the rails to mix
with the officially hired help" of
Uncle Sam. What the captain said
about all "niggers" being alike need
not be repeated here. BY the time he
got out of sight of The Icehouse" ho-
tel the vessel looked to those on shore
like an imitation Black Hole Of Calcut-
| ia; but the crowd on board was hap
| py. The members of the black cargo
yelled and waved their bandannas;
those that had none found that their
shirt tails made just as good fiutter
| in the breeZes
When they landed here in Colon it
was discovered that instead of 1,200
negroes 1895 passed down the gang
way. Even though most of the 1876
who were not accounted for on the So
lent's sailing list were known to be
negroes who had failed to pass the
physical examination in Barbados,
they were put to work, for the govern
ment needed workmen badly in those
days The stowaways were more than
pleased. They had secured passage
which did not have to be worked out;
| in the early days of work on the canal
the government deducted the cost of
passage from the wages, but every ne
gro soon learned that it was possible
to get out of paying it If he made a
second contract in the canal zone,
keeping quiet about the one in his
overalls pocket to which he had affixed
his mark in Barbados, Jamaica, Trini-
dad or st. Lucia, as the case might be.
| If any negro was so unique among his
fellows that he could write his name
he never signed II to the usual 500
days contract; he considered that his
signature was binding while his mark
s Since Barbad5s Belongs to Great
| Britain, ii was necessary that the ca
nal commissions agent engage Barba-
dian negroes through the islands au-
| thOriZed emigration agent Several
years ago this official was an educated
mulatto by the name of Brewster. one
| day when he was hustling around In a
| fashion unusual i'm q West Indian ne
gro, the canal commissions agent
said brewster, you're making things
| go just as il you were Yankee.
We'll. there is more truth in that
remark than you think" replied
| Brewster. You may not believe me.
but one Of my ancestors came over IN
the Mayhower | have perfect right
To say that members of the Elder
Brewster family were my ancestors.
Brewster exported so many negroes to
Panama that the planters complained
of their inability to secure laborers.
| The negro women were left in BarDa-
dos. but even they did not work I'm suf-
ficicnt numbers to harvest the sugar
cane crop. Some performed their pc
riOdical labor in cOaling the boats; a
great many did no work at all, since
their husbands were sending them
money from the Canal Zone.
In 1907, the bonanza year for the
West Indian labOrers working on the
canal, the $1,000 Barbadian negroes
sent home 100000. At first they were
so economical that they did not buy
sufficient food. Many became sick, and
quite a few died of pneumonia, as a
result of fresh air. The quarters pro-
vided for the workmen We're too well
ventilated for the Barbadian negroes;
they had been accustomed to sleeping
with all windows and doors tightly
closed. even going so far as to stun pa
| per in the cracks to keep out the air.
The commission decided that the best
way to prevent illness was to feed all
the West Indian negroes properly
Thirty cents a day was deducted from
their wages for nourishing FOOD pro-
vidrd three times a day tn each work
man.
| The Barbadian negroes working
here on the canal speak what Is sup
posed To be English, but 1t Is douDtlui
liz IL southern negro could understand
much of their dialect except "Massa:
They never say him" and her it Is
always he" and she" This is sam
|ple overheard the other day, or as
much like it as written English can
make it: Boss. he say Ia sam, work
ti,kly hard He say to he, Sam, Mas
sa Pres'den' Tar he comes soon an
see how much YOU got digged.
The negro from Jamaica speaks
much better than his relative from
Barbados For some reason or other
hardly because of the poorer linguistic
powers and better working ability "t
the BarbadianS-nO love is lost be-
tween the Barbadian and Jamaican
natives SO great is the enmltN pc
tween them that separate quarters had
| To he established when theN iTSt came
| here to work.
The Jamaican negro, considering
| himself the equal of a white man. mas
a particularly good opinion Of himself.
| If an American here speaks roughly To
| n Jamaican he will throw down MS
shovel and strengthening himself up,
SAY with pompous dignity, Il wish
YOU to understand. sir, that | am a
| British subject" Recently two OF them
engaged i'm an alteration i'm front oi a
| hotel here Since the greatest insult
| to a Jamaican negro is having his face
| SLAPPED. So one of them insulted the
other i such manner. He OF the
slapped cheek paled in spite OF his
black skim but only said, you're
very rude man, sir; a very rude man,
| and I'll tell the mayor of Kingston
about YOU, sir.
The respect that the Jamaicans con-
slider due them proved too much FOR
| an Illinois Central track foreman VINO
came down here a couple of years ago
| He remained but a short time, the fol-
| lowing incident being the climax OF
his stay. He objected just as strongly
/ IN The rpSuectful words thu. JamalCanS