The Wyandotte herald., 1942-04-17
Lights Of NewXork
by L.. STEVENSON

soldiers IN Dutch Guiana, especially
in Paramaribo, the capital and prin-
cipal city When we were there, war
clouds had not even begun to dark
en- the sky. So no soldiers were on
the streets and white-faced buildings
stared peacefully at the river down
which flowed sugar, rice, bananas, !
coffee, cacao and other products
some of which had come from far
into the interior and some of which
were transported in canoes followed
out of great logs. In addition, there
were boats carrying bauxite, that
hard, clay-like deposit which is the
source Of aluminium; and aluminium
Ct course is the reason why the Unit
cd States is interested in the Dutch
colony which is a pocket in the
shoulder of the upper East coast of
South America. We recall also the
sugar warehouses on the water front
since raw sugar, under a tropic sun,
makes its presence known in a way
unpleasant to the nose.
New York was in the grip of snow
and ice, but in Paramaribo, the
temperature was 126 degrees. That
may account for the fact that not a
vehicle was to be seen on the main
street and only a few casual stroll
ers. all with black faces Which
Was not to be wondered at since the
entire white population of the col
c.y is only about 1000 But Para
r.aribO'S main street was of much
interest TO us not only because of
Is pIctureSqueneSS but because we
rad been told that the British, in
iong-ago days, had traded Parama-
..DO TO the Dutch for New York.
, Therefore the main street of Para
uarlbO was the Broadway of the
city. We had never seen Broadway
When the temperature was more
than 100 degrees and it looked pretty
well melted at that Nevertheless
there were still crowds and some
we're in hurry.
We arose early and visited the
market. Paramaribo was busy then.
Through the nights, meats, fish and
vegetables had been brought in by
canoe, OXcart and other primitive
conveyanceS. There were great
heaps of dried fish which were han
G!ed much as one handles laundry.
Also there were flies But what at
tracted us were bush Negroes who
had come in to do their trading De-
scendantS of slaves who escaped
from their masters, they live in the
jungle much as did their forefathers
N Africa. A piece of calico, worn
tOga fashion, was enough for a cos
tune. To me, they looked like
bronze statues that had become ami
mated-the finest physical speci-
mems l have ever seen. Certainly
| much finer than ever appear on
| Broadway.
Wonder if the pilot who met our
! ship as we neared the mouth of the
river is still on the job. He came
out in a motor boat with -four
| sack clad lad as his companion. The
boat was hoisted to the deck by
| means of ropes. Because the tide
was out we couldn't get over the
| bar. Might have conversed with the
pilot except for the fact that though
! ne was shiny black, he spoke most
! ~ Dutch. Did learn that he had a
wife and l6 children. Noted efficien-
| cy strange in the tropics. When we
| we're in the harbOr and his boat was
! being lowered, his assistant started
the motor so it was running when
they hit the water Maybe ne was
IN a hurry to get home.
A recent report showed that New
York city-quick trip up from Para
maribo, eh What?-cleared about
quarter of a million dollars in IL
months through dimes paid to visit
the observation deck at La Guardia
field, parking lot fees, etc. The OBJ
servation deck is popular with New
YorkerS because celebs are always
arriving by airplane and New York
ers certainly like to google at &C.
lebs. There is also a chance to show
of by naming them as they land
Celebs are easy to spot since there
are always camera men on hand to
greet them with flashing bulbs.
Advertisements for all-but-forgot-
ten plays still on midtown walls
In one Broadway block, sol
diers wearing the uniforms OF the
United States, Canada and Austria
liza Also some sailors in uni
forms l can't identify A crowd
collecting as a cop starts to write
out ticket for an unfortunate mo-
torist wfD has broken the rules in
some way and who looks
mighty embarrassed because of the
attention he is receiving from the
curious Hot dogs and hamburg
ers sizzling side by side in the win
dow of one of those eat-and-run
places An extremely pretty