The Semi-weekly leader., 1922-09-02
BROOKHAVEN BOY
WRITES OF HAITI
island Republic Scenes Are De-
scribed By DIR. L. Bennett
Sartin.

that after being given the pleasure
and privilege of reading them, the
writer wanted to pass them on to
other friends and so requested the
further privilege of publishing them
in the Leader at the risk of giving
nervous shock to the redoubtable
young M. D.. who, we hope, Will not
be in his airplane when he first
views the publicity his private mes
sages to his parents have found at
our hands. With both feet on the
ground. If on the island, DR.. Sar-
tins native modesty may stand the
strain without personal danger.
Following is the first letter .re-
ceived in Brookhaven after the ar
rival of DR.. Sartin at Haiti.
Thomonde, Republic of Haiti,
July 2Sth, 1922.
We arrived in Port au Prince on
July End. l wrote you a few lines
before we left the ship and sup
pose you got that. We are all well
and getting along all right.
The day after / arrived in Port au
Prince found out that would have
to come to the "hills" Immediately
as there is shortage. of four doc
tors here now.
We spent the week getting settled
down. My family are in Port au
Prince with the Quins. DR.. Quin is
also doing duty in the hills at an
other station so it will be very nice
for Mrs. Quin and Cecile to live to-
gether until we finish our duty with
the troops.
The French language is spoken
here and Cecile has no difficulty in
talking with the natives and in fact
l can understand them fairly well.
Port au Prince is a very pretty
place-the harbor is beautiful. The
city is placed on the waters edge
and is surrounded by towering
mountains.
The house where the Quins and Ce-
cile are is very pretty and comfort
| able. 1t is two story. and built OF
stone and wood There are no in
side bath rooms, but nearly all hous-
es are equipped with basin (pro-
nounced bas-san). This is concrete
pool about 8 feet square and about
31s feet deep, but the water can be
decreased in depth as desired. The
people battle in these and they are
really delightful.
Servants are numerous and very
cheap. The average American home
here has cook, maid, yard boy and
full time wash woman. These are
each paid to do1fars month anc
10c day for food. People do not
feed their servants here-they give
them 10c day to buy their food.
All kinds of tropical fruits grow
in abundance here. Our yard ha.
cocoanuts, mangoes and alligator
pears in it now. Also oranges, pine
apples and lines grow in abundance
You should Sc the cotton stalks here
They grow from IA to 25 feet higl
and the stalks are 3 to 5. inches il
diameter. OF course these grow the
year round-these big stalks being
many years old.
am on duty 'at Thomonde. Thi:
is about 80 miles from Port au Prince
by trail. 1t takes about days hare
riding to get here by horseback.
came here this morning by air-plane
We stopped at a place called Mira
belias on the way over and arrived
here in less than an hour. They say
it takes only about 80 minute.
straight flying to get here. This was
my first fight in plane and I wa.
delighted. Must say was a little
nervous before we went up, but thar
passed away in short time and
enjoyed the trip immensely. The
scenery is simply gorgeous. AS
said before we cross two mountain
ranges coming here. Crossing tht
first one we rose to an altitude oI
1000 feet. but coming on from Mi
rabelias we did not get above 2,2OC
feet. The planes have daily sche
dule from Port au Prince to Cap,
Haitian carrying mail and passen
gers on official business.
This place was in the heart Of thu
bandit district, but everything ii
calm and peaceful here now. They
are trying to get this station closed
as theer don't seem to be much neee
to keep it open. The post has beer
very much reduced, there being onI,
35 men here now. There are onl,
3 ofticers-the Captain, the doctor
and a lieutenant. The plan Of tn,
Brigade Surgeon is to give all tn,
doctors coming to Haiti their frs
months in Port Gu Prince, but he has
to send me out Immediately due t,
the shortage of medical officers. H.
seems to be very nice man and b,
told me that he would get me bacl
to Port au Prince just as soon as h,
could.
/ There is a native town here neai
the Marine Camp. There is only on,
white man there-he is French
i Catholic Priest. I haven't met hin
yet but the officers here speak high
" Of him. He was a lieutenant ii
the French army during the war.
/ Each officer here has his own lit
tie house or as the natives call then
"caille." We each have native bo,
| to keep them cleaned up. polish ouI
shoes, wait on US at the table, etc
\ The food is excellent We can ge
all the native vegetables and fruitl
and also all kinds of canned foods
They kill a beef once or twice a weel
for fresh meat. Also / am told tha
there are lots of wild pigeons ans
Il guineas here. Chickens are plenti
ful. All kinds Of food stuffs are yer.
much cheaper than at home.
! would like very much for you al
to plan to come down and spend |
couple Of months next winter.
understand there is a weekly sailing
between New Orleans and Port al
Prince. Am sure that you would en-
n Joy this country as it is 50 difReren
from anything you have seen.