Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1922-09-14
SPOTLESS WILLEMSTAD.
Picturesque Dutch Town in Car
ibbean Sea.

ny OF the Caribbean Il few days
ago even in the midst of our own
Industrial troubles. 1t was news
because the cool, stable govern
mcnt of this little island. set down
in the midst of the turbulent
Latin republics. has made it
synonym for peaceful efficiency.
The island and Willemstad, its
capital, "Thc SpotlcSs Town. OF
the Caribbean, are described in a
recent bulletin of the National
Geographic society.
'The traditions and customs
and language Of Spain arc writ
ten large over the entire main
land border of the Caribbean,
the famous and infamous Span
ish Main. says the bulletin.
But bare 40 miles off the coast
lies a true fragment of old Hol-
land. When your ship noses into
the narrow channel that leads
into Willcmsiad s harbor you
must pinch yourself and keep
your attention ccntercd on the
desert background rather than
on the architecture. lest you think
You are skirting the coast of the
Zuydcr Zee. For more than three
centuries the IIOllandcrs have
maintained this spot surrounded
On all sides by strong alien in
fluenccs. and to all outward ap-
penrance it is still as Dutch as
when it's first families were
planted by the old Dutch West
India company.
"Curacao is some 40 miles long
and 3 to miles wide and practl-
cally desert. If its value were
determined by its products it
would never be of much worth.
But location. the possession of
what has repeatedly been called
the hest harbor in the Caribbean
and ownership by a nation OF
traders have made Curacao the
Hong Kong Of the West.
Gone phase of life III Curacao,
which is less marked now that
government is becoming more
stable in the Latin American re-
publics, has to y "'"h political
frgitives. The town is the haven
and heaven of cX-dictators. 1t
used to be poor day in Curacao
when one could not find his half
dozen or so generals or doctors
who had been OH the wrong side
Of q revolution and were there
waiting for something to turn
up
Willemstad, with it's 10000
inhabitants. is situated on the
shores Of Curacao most valua-
BILE possession--its landlocked.
clover leaf shaped harbor. so
deep that ocean liners can anchor
close to shore. Some of the streets
are wide, but many are narrow,
tortuous lanes, and from all rise
n welter of gable ends and dor
mers that proclaim this unmis-
takably a Dutch town. The
houses are pink. yellow, green
and red. with red tile roofs. and
from distance look like toy
houses set down in careless array.
Zone thing the traveller i'll
search of atmosphere resents:
there are many Hollanders but
few of them have retained the
baggy trousers and wooden shoes
of the homeland. About half the
inhabitants are negroes or mulat-
toes. Dutch is the official Ian
guage, English is generally spo-
ken, and the negroes speak a lin
go which is a mixture of those
two tongues and French. Span
ish, Portuguese, Indian. and He
brew as we'll.
obtaining fresh water is Sc
rious problem in Curacao. Water
from the few rains is caught in
cisterns, but those who are able
import their drinking water along
with their meat from the South
American mainland, and ice is
h~o~-h< g.~~, xlo