Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1920-11-12
HAITI: MAGIC ISLE OF
THE INDIES

Picture an island more wonderful,
more beautiful and more richly en-
dowed by nature even than the tabled
isles that medieval mariners loved to
dream about; a country Of pleasant
peaks, charming wales and fertile
plains; an idyllic land set in a summer
sea.
Picture then q land where the ava
rice of conQuerors, ruthlessly exploit
ing, has blasted promises of progress;
where the passions of men have run
riot; where tyrant after tyrant, some
great, some petty, have waded to
power through pools of blood; land
from which the gods of peace and in
dustry seem to have turned away.
Both are pictures of Haiti, the rela-
tions between which country and the
United States are now under discus
sion.
To avoid confusion it must be ex-
planned at the outset that the name
Haiti is used sometimes to denote the
entire island, which is the second larg-
est land mass in the West Indies,
sometimes to denote merely the Re-
public of Haiti, which occupies the
western third of it's area. The possi-
| bilities of confusion are increased by
the fact that the island is also known
as Santo Domingo and San Domingo,
names applied likewise to the Domini-
can Republic, which occupies the east
ern two-thirds of the land unit.
The name Haiti is much used be-
cause it was the descriptive term,
| meaning "high land" given to the
island by its aborigines. This was the
favorite island of the West Indies to
Columbus, who reserved for it the most
complimentary name bestowed on the
lands which he discovered-Hispan-
| lola, little SPAIN" Something of the
impression which this beautiful and
promising island made on the great
disceverer can be cleaned from his
reference to it as a Garden of Eden, y
and from the fact that he named the
point at which he first set foot in
Haiti, December 6, 1892, ''the Vale OF
Paradise"
History has been prodigal to the
Island of Haiti and has crowded one
interesting and tragic event after an.
other into the relatively short span OF
years since the eyes of white men first
beheld its towering peaks. On its
northern coast, near the present Cape
Haitien, the Santa Maria, which bore
Columbus to the new world, was
wrecked on Christmas eve, 1892, ant
from its broken, historic boards was
set up by the crew the first structure
erected by Europeans in the western
hemisphere. This was the fortress Of
Navidad. in which the men of the
Santa Maria were killed while Colum
bus was on his return voyage to Spair
to report his epoch-making discover,
Of 'the Indies"
Farther to the east on the northern
coast of the island Columbus built OF
his return the first white settlement il
the new world, naming the little tow
Isabella" for the queen who haC
made his voyage of discovery possible
On this second trip Columbus brough
, with him to his magic isle a great flee
J bearing a large force of soldiers an,
adventurers. After defeating the ma
! tives the conquerors journeyed to tn
! south coast and there laid the foun
dations of the city of Santo Domingo
first permanent city established by Eu
ropeans in America, for many year
! the most important outpost of western
, civilization. and forerunner of til
r countless cities and villages that ar
] the seats today of the industry, CON
merce and culture of the three Amer
, lcas. .,..ya