Evening star., 1939-07-30

Against this background its sentries,
with their high-peaked leghorn hats,
white linen knee breeches and long
black sailor ties, look for all the
world as if they had stepped out of
a 300-year-old chanty.
A free port of entry for countless
generations, Willemstad is shop
per's paradise. Among its favored
buys" are panama hats, most Of
which are really woven in Ecuador I;
French perfumes, linens and the ia
nous Curacao liquor made from the
bitter, aromatic oranges grown on
the island and distilled in Hamberg
American tourist ardor, however, is
restrained by our United States
Government regulation as to the
amount of spirits and perfumes
which our returning citizens may
bring back.
Postage, though, is decidedly no
bargain. 1t is dearer to foreign
countries, in fact, than to almost
any other spot on the globe. Not
until we were almost ready to leave
Willemstad did we discover that
Willemstad's best seller, from the
communications point of view, is the
regulation government post card
which sells for 3 cents, has an at
tractive picture in soft brown OF
Hollands Queen on it's face, and is
about 6 by 4 inches in size. One
can write letter on them if one
goes Dutch and uses both sides.
Picture post cards set you back 6
cents, and 7 cents more to post them
II you write more than five words
including your signature. One can
not help but wonder how MANY
postal inspectors are required to
count the words on the postals sent
back by American tourists when a
tourist ship such as ours, with over
200 passengers, is in port.
Airmail Also High.
Ordinary letter mail to the United
States is cents, and airmail let
ters written on airmail tissue and
mailed in envelopes of a similar
type, average from 20 to 40 cents.
Phosphate rock, mined on the
eastern part of Curacao, is a valu-
able export to Baltic ports, for its
valuable calcium phosphate proper
ties, and more than 100000 tons are
shipped yearly for utilization as ar
tificial fertilizer.
Our ship, the Santa Rosa, docked
twice on this run at Aruba, to take
on and discharge passengers for
this now important port, which is
sometimes jocularly- referred to as
Aroma" because of the pervasive
smell of its oil refineries.
Aruba looks for all the world like
an island Pittsburgh with its tall
chimney stacks belching smoke
from the process of cracking" the
vast quantities of oil which have
put it on the maritime map. Against
its skyline are the tremendous
storage watts of American and
Dutch oil companies. Over 5000
Americans are spending terms of
three-year service in its midst. with
a holiday in the States at the end
OF this period for work well done.
They have their own hospital, coun-
try club, school and movie facilities,
and If the American representa-
tives on the Santa Rosa are a cri-
terion, they do not regard a sojourn
to Aruba as a dreaded exile. Five
minutes before our vessel docked
a tall Texan, returning with his
family, said enthusiastically:
"Aruba is a grand place to get
acquainted with yourself and your
capacities. Our quarters are located
away from the port in a really
beautiful part.of the island, and If
you have enough within yourself not
to be dependent upon outside stim-
ulation entirely, its a great expert
ence in your life"
To this there was wholehearted
assent upon the part of a pretty
college-bred wife, two stalwart sons
and an attravtice younger daughter.
And SO oil breaks down old from
tiers and helps set up new ones in
our goth century.