The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-22
From tn. Kansas city Times.

~ OIL. THEODORE ROOSEV ELT
4 stopped the other day In Barba-
~ does while on the way to South
America, made a speech, in which he
touched upon the most important thing
which has happened to the island In 80
years, and went his way. The salient
point which he grasped and emphasized
was the Importance the building of the
Panama canal has been to the negro resi-
dents of Barbados, and, conversely, the
great service that these industrious Brit
ish negroes have rendered In building the
canal 1t was characteristic of Mr..
Roosevelt to know all about Barbadoes.
past and present, while most Americans
perhaps, do not even know where 1t is
Barbadoes is an island lying northeast
of Venezuela, on the outer rim of the
West Indies. 1900 miles from New York
1t was christened Los Barbados. which
means "the bearded ones,'' by It's Por-
tuguese discoverers, who were amazed
at the long moss which hung from the
branches of the trees. Since then 1t has
lost the "Los" part Of It's name, and the
English have changed Barbados to Bar
BADGES.
The island is a British colony. Although
some Portuguese adventurers discovered
the island in 1885, the Portuguese did not
take the trouble TO colonize 1t. and In
1905 it was taken possession of in the
name of England. Ever since 1t has been
an English colony
Barbados lies In the path of the north
east trade Winds a fact which has been
of inestimable advantage to the island. In
the first place, 1t insures q very favorable
climate. In the second place, II has made
Barbadoes a port of call for all the ships
that sail those seas. and 1t Is distribute
ing center for many of the lesser Islands
of the West Indies Cotton and sugar are
the principal products of Barbados. and
of the total area Of 106,470 acres, 1900 are
under cultivation. When yon consider
that the population of the island is about
ITO, 900, 1t isn't hard to figure out that in
tensive cultivation and strict attention to
business are necessary to keep the inhab-
itants of Barbadoes from starving to
death. The negroes who compose the
greater part of the population are said
| to be the most Industrious members of
| their race In the world. Thousands of
them have been employed in the digging
| of the Panama canal and have made very
satisfactorN laborers Most of their
wages has been sent home to Barbados.
Although the island has no mountains
and is therefore less picturesque than the
neighboring isles of Martinique and Santa
Lucia. 1t has it's points of interest. They
still show you, for instance. the big stone
house where George Washington and his
elder brother Lawrence once lived for
about year. Lawrence Washington died
of tuberculosis, and 1t was while caring
| for his brother in Barbados that George
| washington suffered an attack of small
pox. The Father Of His Country was 10
years old then-it was in 1751-and they
| still tell story Of drink that George
| washington invented. 1t Is called q swiz-
zle, and he made 1t thus: He poured four
parts of schnapps into pitcher, added
teaspoonful of bitters, grated into the
| mixture a fiavoring OF kola nut. and filled
up the pitcher with cold water. Then he
took an unsmokcd churchwarden pipe,
rolled the stem between his hands and
stirred the mixture round with the re-
volving bowl. That was swizzle, ana
they do say 1t is some drink.
| In a little square In the middle of
Bridgetown. the capital OF the colony,
stands the first statue of Lord Nelson
ever erected. 1t 10 an insignificant enough
| little statue, and Froude, the historian,
after a visit to Barbados many years
ago, recorded that ''for some extraordi-
nary reason 1t is painted q bright pea
green" The winds and rains Of years
| have tempered down the verdant hue
since then, however. Barbadoes's interest
| in Lord Nelson arose from the fact that
he was the savior of the West Indies
early in the nineteenth century. In May,
| 1906, the French admiral Vileneuve,
sailed to the West Indies thinking to
wreak revenge on England through her
unprotected colonies. Nelson guessed
where vilIenueve had gone and followed
across the Atlantic and chased the
| French admiral back to Europe. And so
the Barbadians, grateful to the old lion
OF the English navy, contributed funds 10
buy a statue Of him as soon as they
heard the sorrowful news that he had fall
len at Trafalgar.
| Barbados is coral island, and many
Of the buildings are built Of coral stone.
And though 1t has not the mountains that
| make Martinique picturesque neither is
lit troubled with volcanoes. 1t has been
prosperous and peaceful for 800 years
and IN that time no other. flag than Eng