The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1914-05-07

"Wait a minute" a y Bill, there's an
Irishman and in this land of short
circuited Latin, / must hear a bit OF
brogue." We went over and hailed
him and the only answer we got as a
smile spread across his Celtic features
was mo comprende." There he was,
Irish in every line of his features, red
headed. had freckles, pushing the
greatest invention of the age, the
wheelbarrow, greatest because 1t
taught the Irishman how to walk; an
Irishman at a distance and Irisher on
close inspection. Think of hearing a
type like this talking only Spanish
while the soul of a Celt looked out of
every window in his face. I'm DONE
says Bill, when an Lrishman don't
know his own language something
surely is wrong with the weather. I'm
afraid the sun is affecting me-, let's sit
, down"
This fancied resemblance to some
nationality, or to some individual is
not unusual in the tropics, or at least
in these tropics. The West Indies
have been buffeted back and forth
from one nation to another like pawns
on the chess board. Every European
~upheaval was accompanied by a SYM
pathetic reaction in the colonies and
islands passed from hand to hand like
marbles among newsboys. Added to
these changes was the occasional des-
cent of some band of buccaneers who
acknowledged no sovereignty and
whose possession was by right of
might. What wonder that these lands
became peopled with many strange
and diversified aces. l have seen
people walking the streets of Kingston
who were the exact ]portotype of peo-
pie l knew at home only done in ebony
In the case of the Irishman he was
probably a human Spanish omelet,
while the Kingston variety might be
described as a hypothetical homogen-
Gus cosmic material done in Irish
Green, English Tweed, Scotch Plaid,
German, Portuguese, French, Spanish
and other European trimmings, com.
bined with native Indian Caribs, ma
rooms and coolies. The finished pro.
duct is neither a Leghorn nor a Shang.
hal possibly a Minorca would best
apply. After this lucid explanation
you may doubt the correctness of my
assertion that these people partake
of the form and characteristics of
home people but it is nevertheless
true, the resemblance is often so start
ling that you look twice. OF course
here is nc possibility of mistake for
the Kingston duplicate of the home
folk is always done to a brown turn
and sometimes the crust is burned.
Back in Santiago for one more
glimpse of Cuban life before sailing
for Jamaica. The city boasts one
good hotel on the American plan and
American in it's architecture. The
public buildings are all of cream-col.
ored adobe or cement or something
like that. They look for all the world
like a Worlds Fair group. The streets
are remarkably clean and we saw few
if any beggars, like the tetterde-
nations we later found in Jamaica.
The middle classes so far as I could
learn from superficial observation
were moderately prosperous and from
such expenditures as I ventured to
make I thought I could see the reason
why. The streets like all foreign
towns were very narrow and yet very
clean. Street cars managed to run
through them but it was like our local
Judge McMahon's description of his
dream of entering Heaven. "Who are
you," says st. Peter. Judge Mcmahon
of st. townsville, do you think 1 will
make it?" "You WILL" says St. Peter"
but it will be a tight squeeze"
Lou D. MacWethy.