Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-09-02

tie breeding country. The island Is
heavlly infested with ticks, however.
ana this condition has held hack live
STOCK development. A hardy breed
mas now been developed by the cross
ing of English and East indian cattle
and the ticks are being further COM
DATED by compulsory dipping of the
live stock.
Natures Balance" Disturbed.
Jamaica's curse of ticks is an excel
lent example of the unexpected re-
suits when the balance of nature" is
lnterfered with. First ships brought
rats which became pest in the cane
nelds. Then the mongoose was i'm
ported in 1872 to keep the rats in
check. The rats were DESTROYED. but
the mongoose then attacked the lizards
and small birds, eating their eggs as
well as those of turtles and domestic
poultry. The marked reduction in the
numbers of small birds is said to be
responsible for the presence of large
numbers of ticks in the island-so. in
Observation-Disclosures sort of way,
the mongoose has placed a big handi.
cap on beef production,
After Jamaica was taken from the
Spanish, Port Royal, it's chief port.
became the rendezvous of British buc
cancers under the leadership of the
notorious Sir Henry Morgan. In those
days Port Royal had a high wall about
1t and wide quayS, whereon its habi-
tues emptied their pieces-of-eight.
Then, as if Providence were outraged
by its disregard of moral laws, an
earthquake on June Z, 1892, shook ia
maica to it's foundations and tumbled
this den of iniquity, with scores of
the pirates, into the sea. When the
water is calm the coral-crusted ruins
of the old town may be seen beneath
the water, even today.
One interesting relic of Port Royal
remains, however, in Fort Charles, a
still old veteran of sun-faded bricks.
Some of the officers quarters and
paved court, so white that it dazZles,
are still standing. Flower gardens
now encircle its walls; its gun en-
birds haunt its crannies, and the liz
ards crawl lazily over it's parapets.
| Horatio Nelson was stationed at the
! forts in 1910, when he was twenty-one
years of age, and the paved platform
which was known affectionately as his
Quarterback" may still be seen.
The little town now standing on
the old site of Port Royal is respect
able, faded, and disconsolate. On the
fences and bushes, in melancholy ugli-
ness, the commonplace inhabitants dry
! the fishing nets by means of which
they exc out their existence
Kingston Nearly All Black.
Across the magnificent harbor from
Port Royal lies Kingston, the capital
of Jamaica and one Of the most I'M
portant ports in the West Indies. Its
foundations were laid by Port Royal
survivors. Kingston is almost as much
a black mans town as Port-au-Prince.
The two white persons to every hum
| dred negroes who nominally are part
| of the city's population. live in special
suburbs and manage shops and the
! larger enterprises, and the streets are
given up almost entirely to negroes
Even the policemen and many OF the
Judges are black.
Though only 2 per cent of Kingston's
30 900 people are white, no small body
of citizens Of any city has shown more
courage. energy and determination
during the hurricanes and earthquakes
which have time and again literally
destroyed it's very foundations. Hard
" had its charred ruins cooled after
the violent earthquake and fire in 1907,
before the survivors were busy build
ing. between the palm-fringed shore
and the blue hills beyond. clean, reg
ularly laid-out town to take the place
of the one which nature had just de-
stroyed.
The British have given some meas
ure of self-government to the ia
maicans. but have retained finai con-
troll. A governor is appointed by the
British king and presides over iegls-
I.tive council Of which 10 members are
annointed and IA elected Elected
boards in the 10 parishes administer
/ local affairs.