American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1914-10-08
STRANGE WAR TALES
FROM WEST INDIES.
Natives of Every Island Have En-
listed TO Battle Against Germans
Life Guards Formed.

-Lhc NuafuS Gti hitus
The steamer Korona has brought a
cargo OF war tales from the West In
dies. Every native there sleeps with
his gun under his pillow. Little bits
of islands that no one ever heard of
north of the Tropic of Cancer are
throwing up towering earthworks
and b~arefooted natives, yesterdays
n~obodys, are today's generals: roust-
abouts are soldiers; every town has
a guard; every island distrusts every
other island. Ten thousand rusty old
flintlock muskets rule the land; and
from the sea comes tales of strange
men of wal threading in and out
among the islands, always seeking
but never finding one another.
This was the war gossip current
among sailors from other ports, whom
they met on the docks at st. Lucia.
"One of the interesting things" said
Frank de Lagrace, the Korona's as
sistant purser, was the native guard.
Every native on the islands is happy
these days, for he totes a gun, rides
on a bicycle and marches behind a
brass band and the government pays
for it all.
Some of the strangest looking BIZ
cycles / ever saw have been comman-
dered by the authorities. Some of
them are old high wheel affairs that
our fathers rode. Some OF them have
no tires at all. Most of them are red
with rust and all of them squeak. |
heard the troops coming two blocks
away. And the arms they carry are in
the same class.
All Join the Army.
AT Barbados every negro and
Chinaman on the island has Joined
the army. They have what they call
a life guard" to protect the place.
What they are afraid of ! don't know
but | heard that they had been told
hat the kaiser was planning to send
his fleet over and capture the pos
session. That was enuogh for those
natives. They threw up a line of
breastworks that the whole of Eu-
rope couldn't take. They fire a cannon
every time a ship is sighted. They
have burned up a lot of powder that
way. Whenever that old cannon cuts
loose the army m lickety-split
for the shore. They line up behind
the breastworks with their muzzle-
leaders and their derringers, and
you've got to show them that you do
not mean any monkey business.
AT Dominues, near st. Thomas, the
natives have built a fort just to fight
the German navy when it does come
over. There are not enough white men
in Dominues to hold a meeting, and
not many more colored In the center
of their fort they have planted a tall
flag pole. Every morning at daylight
a man pulls himself up to the top
of that flagpole with a pulley, unfolds
a camp stool and stays there, look
ing out to sea. He is looking for the
German navy. Two hours later he
comes DOWN anu dHOlltT HIdH ldhes
his place. This has been kept up every
day for weeks, from dawn till dark
ness.
Warships Chase Each Other.
English, French and German war
ships chase each other around the
islands and it is no wonder the ma
tives are fdgety. At st. Lucia ther
were 10 ships tied up, all afraid tc
stir outside the barbor.
AT st. Lucia we saw the Hamburg
American liner ~Spreewald, loaded tc
the gunwales with prime South Amer
lean beef, nosing around the islands
when the Berwick spotted her about
daylight one morning. The German
BOAT didn't have a chance, so She
lay to. When the British were launch
ing their boats to send over a priz'
crew, the Spreewald's captain go
busy with the refrigerator and thu
machinery. He opened up the matches
and shut down the plant, and ] heard
he fixed il so that a lot of the bee
spoiled. Then he threw a wrench int
the wireless plant and put that on
If commission"