The guardian., 1952-04-12
Haiti: Land 81 Beauty
BY ADA ROsTON
Exclusive to The Guardian)

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set. In the blue Caribbean sur
rounded on three sides by a huge
mountain and on the fourth by
the harbor. From the little
streets in all directions the
mountain seemed to form a dead
end, and always I found myself
looking up in fascination, wheth-
er it was smiling in the sunlight,
or its summit was cloaked in
clouds.
When we landed, the little air
port was beehive of activity
as seven airliners had landed
that morning and not all had
taken off. Our plane had to wait
until space was cleared so it
could taxi up the airstrip, its
long wings barely clearing the
other planes. The airport is
manned by the most handsome
men of color, pleasant intro
duction to Haiti, and their suave
manners and Charles Boyerish
accents made the prosaic AM
erican traveller feel glamorous
indeed.
In Port-au-Prince, the living
conditions are very good, or very
POOR. with one-room shacks lin
ing the main street, side by side
with warehouses, little stores
and larger establishments while
at the other extreme are the
beautiful stucco, tree and flower
surrounded buildings occupied by
those in better circumstances.
The poorer class native does all
the menial work at a very low
wage and may be seen riding
on mules loaded with parcels,
or walking erectly with huge
baskets balanced on their heads.
Even smaller bundles are carried
on the head.
President Magloire Is a very
handsome, affable, brownskinned
man. He has several residences
in addition to his palace, a huge,
long white bdilding, family rem
iniscent Of the Capitol of the
U. S. We attended a banquet
there and luxuriously assembled
a long fight of red velvet car
peted stairs along which armed
guards were stationed here and
there. We entered an immense
reception room with balconies
opening from it from which the
official orchestra played continu-
ously.
The feast was a fabulous one
with recognizable foods like ham,
lobster, chicken and shrimp
along with delicious n tive
dishes. Champagne flowed like
water and in addition there were
all tn eother liquors anyone
could ask for.
Tnere are three sets Of prices
there, I was told; one for the
natives, one for the well-to-do-
class, and the third for the tour
ist. Living seems inexpensive;
one new found friend told me
that he earned $500 a month
as a government employe and
supported himself and his fam
lily, his mother-in-law, and kept
two servants. A hairdresser gets
only $500 a month.
The Haitians are the most
marvellous dancers. I was sure
I couldn't dance Haitian style
to Haitian music, but my escort
danced 80 beautifully that I fol-
lowed with no trouble . I found
myself doing all kinds Of steps
with unpronounceable names.
One would almost think rum
and coke" the national drink
as it is served free whether or
not you bought at the curio and
souvenir stores. There were
large glasses of 1t and a bottle
Of the best" or near best" is
but one dollar.
One could so on endlessiy
about this beautiful republic Of
t0,204 square miles, this noun
famous forest island with its in
teresting history and exports Of
coffee, cocoa, mahogany and
logwood, but one can only visit
this part Of the Greater Antilles
to receive the lasting. impress
sions that the trip 20 this isle
affords.
Editors note: This article
was written especially for THE
GUARDIAN upon Miss Roston's
return from her winter vacation
which she used in part to study
Arena Theatres for the Sidewalk
Theatre Players. She will ap-
pear in The Glass Menagerie"
directed by J. Richie Coleman,
Thursday, April II. and. Friday.