Pueblo chieftain. (Pueblo, Colo.) 1889-current, 1921-10-06

,4,c.uv draned bottles, stick and stones,
as charms to brighten away evil Spirits
and thieves.
ORIGINAL INHABITANTS
At the time Of the landing of Column
bus the islands were inhabited by
| tribe of Indians known as the LII
cayans," who were later enuced away
by Spaniards in later expeditions, ana
pressed into slavery in the mines Oh
of this tribe is now known to exist
| The islands passed thru many ytcis-
STUDIES first under the control OF
Spaniards, then the sea rowing Engnsh'
and from time to time, controlled corn
pletely by pirates. In 1775 Commodore
Hopkins, of the American Navy. cap
tured Nassau. but upon the separation
of tho Thirteen Colonies, all Tories
loyal to the crown were induced TO emu
CRATE from the United States and since
that period the Colony has remained
British, with the exception OF two
years from 1851 when the Spaniards
again wrested the territory from the
English. but by the treaty OF lIs2 the
colony was returned to the British.
Since the abolition of slavery cotton
raising has practically ceased and FOR
awhile the raising of pineapples gave
employment to many OF the natives.
but the export duty upon this proouce
, rendered 1t Improbable. and later the
raising OF citrus fruits was taken up.
but only for the local markets, as the
competition of the Florida product
, proved to be too great a handicap.
!. SPONGE IMPORTANT INDUSTRY
The cultivation of Sisal hemp gave
employment to many, and. the coliec-
/ ing of salt from Turks Islands. put
, the most important industry Of the
, islands at present is sponge gathering.
The method of collecting this COM
modify is most interesting. A sponge
| swallow
banks where the sponges grow and
sends out its small boats with man
and boy IN each. The man lies In the
bow of the boat with q Water glass
! In one hand and q long sponge noon
in the other.
The boy stands in the stern to soul
and guide the boat. As soon as
sponge of the proper size and aualit,
is discovered on the bottom the fisher
man drops his hook. and by a skflltu
= movement of the wrist and arm de
Q taches the sponge and lands 1t in tho
boat.
They are then strewn along this
: shore and exposed to the bleaching
= process of the suns rays where all or
ganisms are destroyed by the actinfsn
OF sunlight. The process of salt gath
! ering Is simplicity itself. Large reser'
. voirs are constructed in the lowlands
and canals dug connecting them witt
. the ocean outside. Sea water is Their
. admitted until the reservoirs arc flood
ed when the gates are closed and the
, imprisoned sea water allowed to evap'
crate. The salt is then raked into
= heaps and allowed to bleach in the sun
1t is estimated that a hundred acr.
: salt pond yields million and hall
: bushels of salt annually.
4 Until the advent of prohibition in the
. United States the revenue OF the Ba-
hamas was never sufficient for the
|. calls upon IT. but since that time a
{ veritable boom has been experienced
,, and obligations are promptly met with
a handsome surplus.
, LIQUOR TRADE
: The rum Runners" do a thriving
l trade. employing many original and
picturesque schemes to get the
. "Hootch' thru the three mile limit to
.. the nearby famous Florida resorts,
fancy prices.
In this practice all sorts of craft are
pressed into service. even the aero
plane, which may land at night along
+. side some barren beach. Cache" the
cargo in the sand. and at leisure. this
, is removed and conveyed in autos at
l night to keep filled the thousands of
J gold and silver TASKS SO much in evil
| dence in Florida resorts. One devotee
to Bacchus. upon returning from the
: zone long idyllic state of inebriation.
Quite the most amusing case of
smuggling was revealed when a negro
skipper with a cargo of cocoanuts at
tracted the attention of the Federal
agents by the strong smell OF rum
about his craft Investigation revealed
that the willy "Conk" had drained the
t milk from all the cocoanuts, refilling
them with rum and plugging up the
holes. But an unfortunate leak gave
1.-THE whole scheme away.
While in and about Nassau the edu-
cational advantages are favorable-all
children between six and thirteen be-
: ing compelled to attend school-thc
conditions in the out Islands" is cap
able of much Improvement. The iso-