Show RAMBLINGS IN AND AROUND KINGSTON Kingg kingston ton jamaica Fa malca oct 6 it would lu ju strates more formbly than this the be hard to find as another nother city which 11 oft quoted phrase distance lends enchantment n to fro the view spread out aut ou 00 its sloping hillside hill side in the far recesses of a shining lagoon it is seen by the traveler on the deck of an incoming steamer for hours before the circuitous passage is traversed and all the time be untroubled blue of sea and sky conspires with an impressive back ground of a mountains wreathed in mists and clothed in changing colors to transfigure the old town into surpassing loveliness but once ashore the visitor is speedily dis Ils enchanted he finds an tin picturesque little city dull and isba biby to a dei degree gree with few trees and nome of the tropical vegetation which he has h as a right to expect in this latitude ill designed buildings mostly of wood in varying stages of din dingi ginless and dilapidation aaion and narrow streets fouled by the of open dral drains als kingston has been many times laid low by flies files hurricanes and earthquakes and after each disaster has been re billt in the same ramshackle inartistic Us fashion hion less than twenty years ago a great conflagration swept the bugl pese pegs portion of the clity city and stance then abree ree severe windstorms wind storms have wrought additional havoc the debris of either has not nat been entirely removed and today one sees cs wery where new buildings of the most commonplace architecture tet t haphazard hap bap hazard amerig ruins one wonders it if the saying an awty y house is better than a bad ten un did not originate in jamaica Janna ica at any y rate here are a surprising number a r unoccupied houses and the english jaw says gays that empty buildings are not taxed in any way tenants paying the wate raie and all assessments the 14 streets of kingston are poorly paved lir if paved at all dimly lighted at night jy y gas in infrequent lamps and generally rally deep in dust nob notwithstanding withstanding an An ineffectual effectual attempt to sprinkle them although our english cousins have adone one badly by jamaica in obliterating j ato a tar far as possible its charm d its capital does not compare in picturesque beauty with those of the rench and spanish or even the dan bob islands at least they are am entitled to credit for the best system of wharves in the west indies while to in moat st these southern ports ers rs are put to the danger annoyance and expense of a long canoe ride between en ship and shore at kingston they leave ve nothing to do tout but walk over a aas ng plank and vessels coming close p to the wharves that line the water biront M may receive and discharge their ws as easily as at new york the instant a steamer approaches Inva bon a singular procession bharms down upon her they are the apfer failed female stevedores hundreds at them to in line each with a great ot of coal on her wooley head ischen hen filled the baskets weigh each jerom m 50 to 80 pounds but the women ivyng them lightly to their crowns clowns and arch off erect as statues lau laughing ahing jaad 0 shouting jokes at A one another as if ft were a merry frolic to coal a ves al 61 ons on a blazing summers day plan planks ks awe thrown at a steep incline between abye ships deck and the coal yard up saie plank and down the other they nee ance like young race mee horses under heavy burdens keeping up the any ny clamor all day long lone as if as were a thing unknown knowin un seven ish shillings la Is the days wages for each of these willing beasts of burden and the captain says that the earnings of most af them will be spent by their lords and masters for rum he did not say hua husbands bands for although there is a superfluity of clergymen in this british island the marriage institution does not greatly prevail among the lower classes lords and masters exactly expresses it for each of these tractable industrious ebony females is owned body and soul by some jaa lazy y darkey whom she practically supports whether legally married to him or not nat and to their credit be it said that as a rule the couples thus informally united remain faithful to each other through life at first judging by the numbers met in the streets the traveler is inclined to think that there are a great many more women than men in jamaica but the census does not say so the females are much more in evidence because hereabouts they are by no means the gentler sex but do most of the work that requires strength ainu endurance they make decidedly more noise too and are jollity and politeness personified personifi ed and do not seem to have a care in the world the principal landing 1 and ing place at kings ton leads into victoria market at the foot of king street the main thoroughfare of the city directly in front is a handsome bronze statue of admiral rodney who achieved the victory over de grasse in 1782 you remember this market built a quarter of a century ago is the pride of the island it is clean and well ventilated with stone floors and stalls for meat and vegetables printed placards were posted all around warning buyers against being cheated in weight among the hea heaps ps end and cords of fruits and vegetables the yams bams for which jamaica is famous are particularly nati noticeable ceable some of them being almost large enough for backlogs in an old fashioned fireplace fire place the venders benders are mostly women fat black and greasy greaby but topped with the gaud iest turbans under the sun so that a bevy of them squatted on the ground together looks like a bed of brilliant posies occupants of stalls pay a certain fixed price per diem proportioned to the quality of meat or vegetables sold those dealing in the best qualities paying the highest rent thereby as it ft appears to the unsophisticated putting a premium on inferior food supplies beyond the marketplace market place king street runs up the slope to the parade ground a good sized square which queen street crosses at right angles harbour street ledwith an unnecessary essary u because so english you know runs parallel with queen street but birt nearer the waterfront water front and Is ia the chief retail business section while port royal street farther up the hill is the wholesale merchants quarter not one of Kings tons public buildings is worth a visit unless it be the small public library and miniature museum on east street the m museum contains a fair collection of the animal and plant life 0 of the island and a few relics and curiosities ies among the latter is the cracked bronze bell from the port royals church tower where its last dirge was rung by the swaying of the great earthquake which killed nearly all the inhabitants of that then nourishing city another gruesome curio is an iron cage with cruel spikes in it such as aft plantation overseers sometimes used in slavery times Re factory human chattels had their hands and feet securely tied and were then su suspended inside the cage by a spike thrust under the ribs rib the door was locked to prevent rescue and the wretch left to die by slow torment as a terrible warning to his fellows the placard says that when this cage was found there were three hu man m an skeletons in it probably it is unnecessary to state that these and other historic horrors which ri those of the same period in Deme rara and santo officer of the board of health tor for such domingo occurred during the spanish occupancy of jamaica and that their english successors soon abolished slavery for a city ci ty of more tha than m inhabitants kingston has rem alwy few attractions though one of the largest centers of population in the british possessions in tropical america it is the most down at the heels and forlorn looking of southern cities even shabby old santiago de cuba before the war was not so badly paved and lighted and its sanitary condit conditions lons more utterly neglected the longer you remain in this island which nature made so lovely the more you are impressed with the fact that so far as yet exemplified anglo saxon civilization is a failure in the tropics compared with that of the latin races everything in kingston is extremely english jor iw rather colonial reminding you of quebec from the vice admiralty and chancery registrars office to the ablo big law library dedicated to H FL it 14 the prince of wales and the victoria hospital with its beds the best building architecturally is the court house and that is ugly as a nightmare in one of the colonial offices you may see a curious piece of tapestry represent ing the royal and island arms used to be carried as a banner before the governors on state occasions Fol following lowin king street through the par parade 9 ground you come to quaint english episcopal church the oldest on the island erected in 1892 1992 in the quiet gods acre behind it is the grave of admiral benbow who died nearly ten centuries ago another odd looking tomb like a dutch bakeoven bake oven bears the name of william wall and the date 1699 the streets of kingston especially those in the vicinity of the broad open oin space formed by the intersection of king and queen streets are swarming with negro soldiers the first west india XA regiment in brillant briliant zouave uniform all with faces as black and shining as though freshly polished with Bix beys best they are potice noticeably Ably undersized my as compared to the american army not unlace the arnch Chass eurs d anrique in appearance small but hardy and reputed to be savage fighters the barracks on the hills Justou outside taide the city are spacious with extensive grounds the white troops a regiment of her maje inoval scots are in cantonment at new mew castle a picturesque nook farug far ug up in the mountains inaccessible to wheeled vehicles and said to be so delightfully cool that blankets are needed up there every night in the ahe year certainly blankets are not required in the sweltering city where the thin nest clothing seems seema a superfluity and had people are longing goolt in their bones banes than 80 degrees in the shade at any 7 time in the year and to today day it stands at 90 Kings tons uphill u ab phi bill streets are as an full of inequalities as were those of chicago before the great beneficial fire therefore if you persist in sightseeing it is best to take a cab or a keb as the common vehicle of transport is locally called they are rather rathar shaky looking concerns with rheumatic springs sprIng 4 and melancholy looking horses but they possess the merit of thea cheapness the legal tariff being only an Angl anglish itly shilling to any part of the eity city md and ii a dollar an hour if ume time is in not pres s might be w wen e 11 to go out to kings house as aa the residence of queen victorias governor general of jamaica is undemocratically called and which corresponds to queens house in barbadoes it is situated about four miles from kingston in a fertile plain among the hills which somehow reminds you of rural england notwithstanding the difference in climate and vegetation driving Is not an unmitigated pleasure a any time of the year in jamaica the roads being deep in white dust which flies in whirling choking clouds spuds in this island rains are not contant as in the lesser antilles to the southward there is a short wet season anda and a long dry one during the latter season the fields and hillsides hill sides become parched and brown and nothing saves t the be crops from destruction but bult the innumerable str streams earns which gave the country its name Xay maca land of springs having rattled through the dirty ill paved streets you find the suburbs rather more interesting there ere are some handsome houses on the long 81 slope that grat gradually dually ascends from the sea to the crest of the ridge and there are picturesque cottages hedged with tall slender spires of organ cactus such as abounds in rural mexico farther on white villas nestle among cane fields and coffee groves and attle farms where fir owns and negroes cultivate corn yams and tobacco the country roads aye are excellent barring the dust the he perfumed air smells exotic and the greenhouse Teen house feeding in the hot moist atmosphere Is enhanced by finding the loveliest and most moist fragrant violets blooming all along the dusty wayside way side tide and every weed in the field a dainty patent which we cultivate under glass athon at home ve presently the lodge of kings house Is reached and you turn into an extensive park to in the middle of which stands the great square building amid groups of fine fille old trew tress feet above kingston its ra surroundings and tropical elegance of arrangement are most moat pleasing like other west indian mansions mani I 1 1 it Is planned to keep out heat and excessive moisture in a way that Is 19 possible only where cold weather is unknown and chimneys unnecessary A description of this model villa answers far thousands of others not only in jamaica but auf in all the english island it ft is In square built of stone alone and stands upon blocks blacks leaving a space under neatly He athor for an of clr and Is entered by a high broad flight erf d steps on ft the three sides of the mansion which the ither sun lo touches deep verandas are atre thrown out duft on the first and second floors cleved bosted in front begreen byr green jamouses ja louses act into panels can be partially or completely closed behind these blinds run ran long wide airy gadle rles into which all the rooms open when the shutters are down as they generally remain all day the gall galleries erles are in and the communicating rooms so dark that one can hardly see to read in them but the subdued light imparts it a sense of coolness and repose in refreshing contrast with the broiling glare ou talde the floors ate are of some black native wood smooth and polish ed edas as eb ebony oiny with loose rugs for carpets aud and thel the lightest rattan furnishings wath never a bliton alt of drapery or stuffy up upholstering bolsterIng oane cane sofas and reclining ning chairs aro are rd along the giffler galleries ies and everybody very body of the male persua lon as 8 samantha allen alien puts ft woken smokes when and where he pleases for the tha free circulation of air sweeps away eal all traces the spacious dining r room pow i to detached from the house r reach ed from the dodwing room roam by a flight QC 0 and thence along a covered pas passage the kitchens and serva servants bits quarters are still further off hidden behind a clump of bom bambo boos oa so go that no bent at waking rood food can ever annoy the e family nose nano and at one side of kings bouve in a grove of fix fig and many 9 wr V we 0 QC ww for Us governors aldes de camp and secretaries there is alcoa also a superb swimming bath 60 feet long and 8 feet deep under a sort of grecian temple and greenhouses can containing sir henry blakes famous collection of orchids and lady blakes equa equally illy famous butterflies driving along the winding paths of this fine estate you see pastures containing choice cattle imported from england and are convinced that life in jamaica need not be so very had bad if one is the governor with width a salary alary of 00 a year FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD |