Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1913-08-15
CUBA, JAMAICA AND THE PANAMA DISTRICT
From New York to the Ishnus by the Ocean Pathway.
JONES.

:. JONES. u
standing into a great commodity Of
commerce. one stem grows on each
stalk. and then at the end Of ~ to -
months the stem is cut ana The stalk
like that of corn comes down, and tAe
process must begin all over
The frui. companies buy the crop il
the field and the smaller Yves Indian
stems with lis supply of from 100 to
rs bananas bring approximately ~
cents to the planter, weighing from ~
20 40 pounds and selling by weight in
New York at about one dollar. The
larger stems, with 100 to 175 bananas
and weighing approximately SO pounds.
come from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and
Columbia, and bring about $1.50 in
| New York.
! Great gangs Of workmen from the
Bahamas travelled with us on the
ships to handle the cargo and thous-
ands of stems were taken aboard at the
different stops. On the ship PrnZ
Joachim we have about $4,000 stems
aboard. Fer hours and hours we have
watched the black men handling the
fruit. Their fleets of small boats have
come Jut to us quarter or half mile
from the Jamaican shore; the matches
have been opened, and copper-hued
giants with great bare "slob feet" that
spread out at the toes like the streets
of Washington running out from the
capitol come rushing over the sides
of our ship-there are perhaps $50 of
them.
Once as boy ] saw a bucket brig
ade at fire, where the pals of water
were passed along line of men from
a creek. The banana brigade" started
in the bottom of the lighters and ex-
tended up through human steps or
stations to the deck of our ship, and
then on down long lines the heavy
stems were tossed from one man to
the next. Hour after hour, as fast as
they can travel their course leads
down into the deep hold of the ship.
! wondered if there were any bananas
left after all we had received, but was
informed that like the cargoes of grain
at the head of Lake Superior, what we
had carried away was infinitesimal
part Of the supply.
At Santiago l was interested in the
shipment of hides to the United States
and learned that in Cuba, where the
cattle were practically exterminated
to meet the exigencies of war, there
are now large sized herds that Craze
on the broad ranges. l am told that
Cuba is preparing to help meet the
situation Of shortage of beef in the
States, but up to the present the i'm.
lportat;ors are confined to hides, and
leach ship carries from one to three
thousands hides on every return trip
from the island.
How little thought we give to the
source of our food supply! For in
stance these ships have been loading
great quantities of cocoanuts-1OO in
a bag and 20 bags to the ton. Ere
quently 10000 bags are included in a
cargo. We also have large quantities
of cocoa bean aboard and there are
several hundred bags of coffee, $50
cases of rum, and from Ecuador and
Columbia we have received $50 bags of
ivory nuts, which are destined to be-
come coat and other buttons.
Beeswax, sarsaparilla, tobacco, cola
, nuts, rubber, and pimentos are all in
, the cargo. have watched the antics
of nearly so great sea turtles, whose
destiny is soup and am told as they
, splash in their tanks that they are
worth % cents pound as they are,
, and as they are heavy birds" many
of them will bring more than $50. But
what is that on Broadway, when the
, lights are shining, and the cabaret is
at its height? Then my shipmates
now splashing so merrily, will be serv-
ed at dollar or more plate.
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