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THE AMERICAS WEEKLY TIMES-RECORDER: FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1891.
THE BLACK REPUBLIC.
INTERESTING LETTER FROM ENSIGN
GEORGE F. COOPER, U S N.
Descriptive of the “Queen of the Antilles"
snd the People Who Inhablt the Inliunl -
Custom* of the Country—Sloth fulness.
Dirt and Filth Everywhere.
United States Stk a m ku K k a its a kuk.
Poet au Prince, Havti, May 1 —The
Timks-Rkcouheu: What has grown to
be very monotonous and disagreeable
to us on board ship may be of interest to
those that have not had the same ex
perience. That is tny apology for asking
the attention of the readers of The
Times-Rei order for a little while, to a
short account of some things that I
have seen and heard during the past
month.
About 11 a. m. on the 27th of January
we sailed from Norfolk, and after a
beautiful trip of eight days anchored in
the harbor o f Port an Prince at 10 a. in.,
on the 4th of February. The ship is an
“old timer,” and rather slow. We
came down at the rate of seven and
seven and a half knots an hour. The
sky was almost cloudless the whole time
and there was but little wind.
In the golden days of the French oc
cupation of the island of Hayti, it was
called the Queen of the Antilles. It is
the largest of the West India islands,
with the exception of Cuba, and is prob
ably equally as fertile as that island.
Had the French retained possession of
it, one might well believe that a prettier ;
spot could not be found. I shall speak
especially of Port an Prince, and the
surrounding country.
Unfortunately for the island, its in
habitants and the civilized world in
general, wealth, ease and luxury and
quarrels with the mother country in the
latter part of the eighteenth century,
rendered the French colonists careless
and weak, and their slaves of pure Afri
can blood were enabled to wrench the
magnificent island from the masters.
Very soon the splendid colfee and
sugar estates began to retrograde. The
planters, their wives and children had
been slain or driveu to France. Of
course some few remained. These made
an attempt to regain their possessions
and were partially successful, helped by
the mother country.
Hut this success was only temporary.
The former slaves were soon masters
again and made their victims truly suffer
for tlieir partial success. Napoleon,
with all his success in Europe, was un
able to subdue again the “Antilles’
Queen.”
Hut he did not have the ordinary ene
my—man—to deal with. Yellow fever
attacked his army of thirty thousand
men, and but a few hundred escaped.
He dared not make a second attempt with
prospect of such loss, and so since 1804
the island has been in the possession of
thy descendants of its former slaves.
If any one will take the trouble to read
its history he will find there is but little
to admire. Revolution has been fre-
-quent; violence, tyranny and bloodshed
almost constant. The greatest heroes of
the people are those who, during their
terms of of lice, were the most blood
thirsty. There is one exception to this;
Toussaint IJOuverturo, the liberator of
the slaves The president of Hayti is
constantly in fear of revolution, and
while he is called the president of a Re
public, he is probably the most despotic
ruler on the globe—certainly in any
country of the Occident.
It would be hard to find a more natur
ally beautiful situation for a city than
Pert an Prince possesses, and it is
probable that those who originally set
tled the city looked well before cliosing
their site. It is situated at the head of
a wide and deep bay. The shores of the
bay rise suddenly and beautifully into
hills of the height of two or three hun
dred feet—even more in some eases.
The bay is open to the north, and is
large nud deep enough to accommodate
a much larger licet of vessels than can
ever visit it. The hills on the western
side are covered almost to their very tops
with palm trees and tropical vegetation.
Those on the eastern side are not so lux
uriant as those on the western, probably
because the soil is volcanic and not so
old.
Among the western hills and in the
valleys on the western approach to the
city nestle pretty cottages, inhabited by
some of the better class of Haytieus and
by foreigners. The city itself is situated
upon the side of a hill which slopes to
the water, not too suddenly, but enough
so to make it very picturesque. In ap
proaching the city from the sea the
slope of its hill is such that the course of
many of the streets may he plainly
traced. At the very top of the hill and
overlooking the city is the principal fort
for Its defense. From its situation its
guns can be brought into action against
enemies from the sea or from the valleys
and hills beyond the city. In the distance,
back of the city, are the mountains,
which stand out very plainly on a clear
day. Our vessels never anchor nearer ;
than a mile or mile and a half from the
city because of the health of the crews.
The beautiful natural situation lias
been turned to naught by the indiffer
ence and slotbfulness of the inhabitants, j
One would think that a city situated
upon a hill sloping to the sea could not
be very dirty. Neither could it, if its
people were possessed of only a little
care and cleanliness themselves. Hut
there are, I imagine, few cities in the
1 world with 25,000 inhabitants that are
more filthy than Port an Prince.
As the landing place is approached
one has sometimes to almost hold his
nostrils, and in the streets, or many of
them, things are just as bail. There is
but little tide in the harbor, and the
sewers, if such they inay he called,
empty just into the edge of the water
The latter is therefore, close to the land,
very foul, and if disturbed a little is as
black as ink.
is the Roman Catholic, but there is
good reason to believe that the great
majority are Voodooist or Voodoos—
snake worshippers— the religion brought
from Africa by their forefathers.
We know positively that the Voodoo
dance still exists. I have an acquain
tance in Gonaives, a young German, who
tells me that he has seen it. The or
thodox dance, I think, requires human
sacrifice to be eaten, but cattle are gen
erally substituted here. 1 think, in fact,
ADiRS
313 Lamar st.
313 Lamar st.
The streets are very filthy and in ! there are two dances; one requiring
many of them are great piles of garbage, j human and the other animal flesh. Hut
Such sewers as there are, are all above ; a flaytieu lady once told a United States
ground, and in most of them the scum is naval officer that she was sure cannibal-
thick. In the rainy season the city is of j ism was still practised in some parts of
necessity kept somewhat clean, as the j the island.
water must carry the dirt before it. j It is painful to walk through Port au
Nothing in the place looks clean. The | Prince or out a little into the surround-
houses are mostly one story frame or j ingcountry and see the wreck and ruin
mud buildings of a dirty, yellow color. \ on every side. Splendid aqueducts and
There are no handsome building,s not j pavements ruined simply by neglect;
even a pretentious one. The palace (so ! filth, where beauty was and still should
called) of the president is an ordinary | be; beautiful situations, and what were
frame building of large dimensions. The j beautiful gardens utterly ruined. What
streets are, in most parts of the city,fair- there is of beauty here is simply what
ly regular, because by being neglected | monuments remain of the French,
they could not change their direction. The language of the people is a patois
What pavements they have are most-1 of French called “Creole.”
ly remains of the old French pavements, ! In the hands of a truly civilized pco-
and are now consequently very irregular ; pie the island would again become what
and troublesome tA walk upon. There j it once was—the “Queen of the Antil-
is one street in particular which shows les,” but in the hands of its present mas-
We w
ill prove the above assertion t<
urge and elegant stock of
be a fact if you will call and ex-
Dry G-oo&s,
Dress Goods,
Notions,
Et
We will also convince you that it is to your interest (from the stand-
what some parts of the city must once
have been. It has beautiful shade trees
along most of its length, is wide and if
a little clearer and the houses a little
better might be called pretty.
At almost every street corner one
comes across the barracks of the soldiers,
ters what is its future? It :
its past history tells us—ruin. One
hundred years has done nothing for the
people,and that with all their intercourse
with the great nations of the globe. Take
this influence from them and what will
be the result? A relapse into the sav-
thatiP 0 ' nt °* to trade with us.
who are numerous in some form or oth-! age state.
themselves
for them.
The r
The ’
ice cannot care for
diite man must care
Geo. F. Goopeh.
I.EMON ELIXIIt.
j er. It is a standing joke with us that
i the Ilaytien army is made up principally
j of generals and colonels, with a few pri-
j vates thrown in for form’s sake. It does
| not seem to me that I ever heard of a
I Ilaytien lieutenant.
Once or twice 1 have passed these bar-
! racks while the guards was being mus
tered or paraded, and they presented an
s intensely amusing spectacle. All sorts of
j uniforms and all sorts of attitudes,
J about as little military as anything
; could well be. I am told, however, that
j the body guard of the president are well
j uniformed and are a line lot of men. I
| have never happend to see them.
| The government of Hayti is entirely a
! centralized government. Everything is
done by the national government. There
is no such autonomy or attempt at such,
as with us. Nominally it is Republican
—really, as I said, despotic. The presi
dent, generally speaking, obtains his seat
by revolution and keeps it until be is
served as lie served his predecessor—
forced out. He and bis cabinet general
ly come in with nothing and leave with
everything; and in leaving ofticej they
generally have to leave the country.
There are occasional exceptions.
The hatred of a Ilaytien to a white
soems to be intense, and is almost as bad
for a mulatto, though some of their best
men, and I think one or two presidents,
have been such. It was, and I think still
is, one of the articles of the constitution
of the country that no white man could
become a citizen of the country nor own
real estate in it. He may leaso it but
cannot own it.
Many fortunes have been made and
many more will probably be made in the
Island. Coffee is the principal export. 1
have been told that In some districts it
grows wild and the berries fall to the
ground, lie there and rot, simply because
the people are too lazy to pick them up
and carry them to market.
1 cannot.vouch for that statement. Hut
not I should be at all surprised if it be
true, for the people in the country need
not work to live. They can get fruit
simply by picking it.
Some of the fortunes I mentioned arc
in the hands of Haytieus, but I think the
larger part are in the hands of foreign
ers, principally Germans. German mer
chants seen to bo most numerous here,
and most of those claiming to be Ameri
can citizens seem to bo of German de
scent. I am told that at the time of the
late revolution in Brazil, one of these
merchants made two hundred thousand
| dollars on a lot of coffee that he had in
| store. That is another statement for
i which 1 will not vouch, as it sounds a
little crazy.
j In riding along the road here 1 have
! seen cotton growing wild. The bush, or i
plant rather, is taller and not so bushy 0f ^if r fJ”oavciiinp !n re n gth'--Late.*
as that iu Georgia, but the product j States Government Food Report,
seemed to me to be the same. During j junel*> d.rwlyr
i the civil war at home the cotton industry j
in Hayti received a great impulse, and
; large quantities were exported, but after |
the war it fell again into its accustomed
place.
Many of the wealthy Haytieus educate
their children in Paris. \Ye are told
that it is the greatest ambition of a
young Ilaytien lady to marry a French- AT
man or German and leave the island. 1 &\*
knew one in Gape Ilaytien who made j ■ -
; such a marriage, and has since gone j* •/' . .A -. UjYU i
with her husband to live in Hamburg.
.She was probably an octoroon: certainly
most of her blood came from the Cau
casian race. She was one of the most H:i ^ e by FIJ5KTWOOD & RUSSELL,
Pleasant, Elegant, Reliable.
For biliousness and constipation, take
Lemon Elixir.
For fevers, chills and malaria, take
Lemon Elixir.
For sleeplessness, nervousness and
palpitation of the heart, Like Lemon
El'xir.
For all sick and nervous headaches,
take Lemon Elixir.
Ladies, for natural and thorough or
ganic regulation, take Lemon Elixir.
Dr. Mozley’s Lemon Elixir will not
fail you in any of the above named dis
eases, all of which arise from a torpid
or diseased liver, stomach, kidneys or
bowels.
Prepared only by Dr. II. Mozley, At
lanta, Ga.
50c. and $1.00 per bottle at druggists.
Lemon Hot Drop*
Cures all Coughs, Colds, Hoarseness,
Sore Throat, Bronchitis, Hemorrhage
and all throat and lung diseases. Ele
gant, reliable.
25 cents, at druggists. Prepared only
by Dr. II. Mozley, Atlanta, Ga.
may2-tuesthursAsat-lyr
German papers point out that the
severe winter has entailed an appreci
able increase in coal consumption on all
the railroads. On the Prussian State
railroads for example, the increase of
four weeks amounted to from twenty to
twenty-live tons per locomotive.
THAT TEKUIItLE COUGH
In the morning, hurried or difficult
breathing, raising phlegm, tightness in
the chest, quickened pulse dullness in
the evening or sweats at night, all or
any of these things are the first- stages
of consumption. I)r. Acker’s English
Cough Remedy will cure these fearful
symptoms, and is sold under a positive
guarantee by Feetwood & Russell,
Americus, Ga. 5
It Is estimated that the total amount
of business Involved in the transconti
nental trade is about $25,000 000, of
which about one-half refors to California
and one-half to the Northern l’acillc
coast.
NEW LINE DRESS GOODS!
WELL ASSORTED STOCK OK
TABLE LINEN, TOWELS, NAPK1S, ETC.
SPECIAL DRIVE:
FIGURED LAWNS, .*>1-2c. PER YARD !
Beall & Oakley,
TELEPHONE 93,
313 LAMAR ST.
More Attractions
AT TI-IE
P.A.T.
These three letters stand for“Pine Apple Tissue”
the all fashionable Spring fabric. We have
them and if you desire a pretty cool dress, call and make your
selection.
PI-3SWA Qll IfQ Another novelty, and lovely they
h H 1.1H OI L l\ O. arc . Only 12 1 -2 c. per yd. Of
course you want one of them. Supply limited.
We continue the Sale of
WHITE GOODS
At the same Attractive Prices announced last week.
They are moving rapidly, our prices being so much below
those of the other houses.
PR0FES3I0NAL CARDS
T.
A. KLUTTZ,
Architect and Superintendent
Americus, Georgia.
Lamar street—over Holt's
[ J. WORSHAM —
DENTIST,
• Office over People’s National Bank.
[ir p. hurt, ~~ ” -
W DENTIST,
* Cranberry's Corner, Americus «•
Continues to serve ills friends in all
,f dentistry. jaw*?
D R. J. W. DANIEL,
DENTIST
Otters his profej-sional services to th
people of Americus, ana surrounding conn
- *'»* surrounding conn
Murphev building
ill Sc Oakley’s. * ***
M. R. WESTBROOK, M. D,
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Office and Residence, next house to c \
febTtf
r
.1* Of
Huntington, Church street.
J A. FORT M. D.
Office at Dr. Eldrldge's ’drug store r 0 *
•be found at night In his room, i£
Eldrldge'i diug store, Barlow Block.
ian
,-tf
R. J. H. WINCHESTER,
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON.
Office at Davenport’s Drug Store. Rmi
dence, corner Forsyth and Mayo street^
<l6mo
D U. T. J. KENNEDY, M. D.
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON.
Having five years experience, and n-centlv
taken an extended course In New York
Post-Graduate Medical school, is now
p.ired to otter his professional servh
Americus and surrounding vlcln’ty.
left on his slate at I)r. Eldrldge’s drugstore
will receive prompt attention. At night
can be found in his office room over El
dridge’sdrug store, Barlow block, febo-ly.
j. b. mFOThinee
best
Eye, Ear, Throat and Nose
A Specialty.
r
1 ^Graduate ot Bellevue Hospital Medical
v College. N. Y., twice graduate of N. Y.
Post Graduate Medical School,Chief Hurgeon
S. A.M. R R.etc.) Offers his professional ser
vices as a general practitor er to the citizens
of Amerlcusand surroundingrountry. Hpe.
•dal attention given to operative surgery.
Including the treatment of hemorrhoids, fl*
t«.la, stricture, catarrh and ail diseases qf
Anus, Itectum, Genitourinary system and
nose and t hroat . Office In Murpliey bnildhc
Lamar st. connected by spen ing tube
with Eldrldge’s Drugstore. Calls should be
left or telephone 1 there during the day. a
night, cad at. residence on Lee St. or tele
phone No. 77. aprSHf
E A. HAWKINS,
ATTOnNEY AT LAW.
* Office up stairs on Uranb-rry corner.
B UTT & LUMPKIN,
AiTuKNakS AT LAW.
Americus, G».
Office in Barlow Block, up stairs.
P. WALLIS,
A noRNEY AT LAW,
Amer'cus
Will practice in all courts. Office
w;
National Bank.
w;
T. LANE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Americus, Ga.
Prompt attention given to all business placed
in my hands. Office in Barlow bloca, roou
Pelt. *», tf
J‘
A. HIXON,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
Americus, Ga
Office in Bagiev building, opposlh the
Court House. Prompt a'tentlon given to
ail business. luno-tt.
New Black Lawns Just In!
E. F. Hinton. e. H. Cun*.
HINTON & CUTTS,
ITTORNKYS AT LAW. Pract'ce in the
A State and Federal Courts. Office over
**Hart Building, on Forsyth street, marl-lj
R oot, l. haynard,
ATTORNEY at law.
Americas, Ga.
Prompt.and careful attention given to ail
business entrusted to ine. Lamar afreet
over I’. J,. Holts. sepiH-dA-wUm*
J L. 1
Will practice in a
State. Prompt at ten
lectio* s entrusted to r
Abbeville, Ga.
munties of the
eu to all col-
ANSLEY & ANSLEY,
ter, Hcitley, Macon, Dooly, Webster, Blew*
art, iu the Supreme Court, and tlie United
States Lour..
J.‘
MATHEWS,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
221 *4 Forsyth street, Americus, Ga.
'lalltl ~” J rn " n
Will practice in all the Courts,and in the Coun
ty Court for the twelve months.
12-24 d&wly.
Weliiorn F. Ci.ahkk. Frank H.IIoopkb.
CLARKE & HOOPER,
Attorneys at Law
AMERICUS, GEORGIA*
mayl5-d-w-ly
Walter K. Whbatlev, J. B. Fitzgerald
Wheatley & Fitzgerald,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
Office: 405 Jackson St., Up Stairs,
AMKHICUH, 1 OEOIlCW
jan7-tf
A fow special mentionings in
CLOTHING.
I-'ancv Worsted Cutaway suit at Si 2.50, worth $20.00.
UOSON A BLALOCK,
LAWYERS,
AMERICU
Will practice in all courts. Partnership
to civil cases. Office up stairs, corner U’c
Lunar street, in Artesian Block. dcc2l-u-»*J
E. <i. SIMMONS, W. H. KIMBROUGH*
SIMMONS & KIMBROUGH,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
Harlow Block, Rood* 4
Another and better line, same style, $14.50, well worth $25.00
Prince Albert Suit at $17.50, never sold for less than $25.00 |them ‘ ' lele i ,honcNo - m -
DuPont
KKI.V
BIG SAYING FOR YOU ON
beautiful women 1 ever saw auJ spoke : lil> 0 agents, Americus, f.a,
English and French perfectly. \
1 have seen some few women of beauty
in Port au Prince. They have just
enough African blood to make them
pretty. They almost invariably dress
either in solid white or black, and look
well. Hut the great majority of the wo
men and men too arc careless in their
dress and habitually dirty. It seems
that they can not be clean.
Nominally the religion of the people
4-29-dAwlm
I5§PH
CORK.m
BUNION 5 UHfcfcVviniC.n
A N0 WARrs' '■EL. p A)N
IIPPMAN 3P0'S DFbC3:sriPf(OP'5 <UvannXm ca
For sale by the DAVENPORT DRUG
COMPANY Americus, Ga,
Whatever you may need in our line, don’ f spend a nickel
elsewhere until you have gone through our stock. You’ll
save money thereby as our
ENTIRE STOCK MUST BE SOLD.
Oa.lt at the
BEE-HIVE.
W. B. tiUKKRY.
Americus, Ga. Macon
GUERRY & SON,
r AWYEIls, Americus, On. *»!''
J pic’s National Bank Bulldin
street. Will practice in Sumter
anti County Courts, und in th«-
Court. Our Junior will regular
the sessions of the Superior c °‘ i LV,nerior
firm will take special case* In nni
Court on .Southwestern Railroad.
" stttenJ
G.
OFFICES A®
Plans and specifications iurn[sL«*,, ;d .
buildings of all deso»iptlon«—public hj
Ings especially. Communications •»> tftt .
to either office will meet with er i*
tentlon. Wm. Hall, Superintendent a a*
cun office. .
W ILLIAMSON A EARL,
civil and Sanitary E*mNL^ ly ,
Plan® and estimate* for water suPej,
sewerage uud general englneenug •
Construction superintended,
specialty. Headquar'ers, MoDtf°n&w| eC |i«
Americus office over Davenport. W& ^
Drug Store. Have some fine vacant
sale on liberal terms. One four ***X5l4®
to rent. ■P”
