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Show A COOLIE PARADISE Apt Description of the Island of Jamaica, Where Oriental Find Prosperity and Create an Atmosphere of Romance Two Cases in Point. .(Special Correspondence.) "This," recently remarked Josepb Chamberlain, England's colonial secretary, secre-tary, as he placed a finger on a map showing Britain's possessions In' the West Indies, "la the paradise ot the Ulndoo coolie. "And there, too," added ono' of his hearers, "those same' orientals have created an atmosphere that fairly reeks with romance." Tho American or European who has spent, sufficient time In Jamaica or Trinidad to becomo acquainted with tho ways of the thousands of Hindoo laborers on the plantations and the coolle tradesmen ln the towns Invariably Inva-riably makes the samo assertions. To prove tho first he usually quotes the case ot Ram Sal and aB evidence ot tho latter he tells tho story of a rajah's son who turned coolie for lovo's sake. Thirty years ago a Hindoo of low casto Itam Sal by name, living ln a plateau town of India, found himself Inoxtrlcably ln debt to a bunnla a usurious money lender. Ho had beon bound in his boyhood for tho debt of his grandfather and after working for nearly twenty years to clear It ho learned to his distress that Instead of becoming smaller the obligation had steadily Increased. Ram Sal saw starvation staring himself him-self and his family In the face, and so. when a European, coming to the village, told of a place across the "black water" where a Hindoo could earn as, much as 25 cents a day and after binding himself to work for eight years on a plantation would bo freed of both his contract and his dobt, Ram Sal straightway prepared to follow the ssavMHnNMBBif CooUO. CHlUSflCN coolie contractor whlthor ho led and tho bunnla commanded. Tho ship that carried Ram Sal and his family arrived ln courso of tlmo at Trinidad, and thero ho worked for six years, tho plantor In tho meantime mean-time feeding him on rico and clothing him, and tho agent of tho bunnla seeing see-ing to it that until every cent of Ram's Indobtcdnoss was paid not a cont of his hlro reached his pocket, but was turned over Instead to tho agent by Ram's employer. At tho end of tho sixth year Ram Sal folt tho jlnglo of coin in his hands for tho first, for tho dobt of a fow rupees that his grnndfntUer had contracted con-tracted whon ho took Ram's grand-mothor grand-mothor to wlfo was wiped out. The ring of the coins stirred up a strange desire In tho coolio's heart It awakened awak-ened his ambition and ho vowed thon and there that ho would bo rich somo day and a planter himself. To that goal, during tho remaining two yoars of his indenture, Ram Sal saved ovory penny that ho earned. At tho end of that tlmo It was pitiably small something less than a half thousand dollars but It was moro money than Ram Sal had evor owned beforo, and, what was moro important, It was sufficient for tho execution of his prosent purpose, tho establishment establish-ment of himself as a sllvorsmlth ln tho Hindoo quarter of Port of Spain, In which business ho prospered rap-Idly. rap-Idly. Ram had not forgotten how Holds wero made to yield tholr Increase. As a plantor he so directed tho labors of tho hundred or more coolies Indentured Inden-tured fo him that his plantation soon became noted as ono ot the most productive pro-ductive In tho valley. Ram Sal was nowiVfly started on his road to fortune and each succeeding suc-ceeding step that ho took brought him nearer to It. Year by year ho added to his possessions, sometimes a plantation plan-tation often real estate In Port ot Spain, where he set himself up ln a -v mansion, whence he went about directing di-recting his ever Increasing Interests. Thus Ram Sal prospered until two years ago, when, old in years, he died, and when his heirs camo to reckon up tho cstato thoy found It to bo worth nearly 1,000,000. That Is why Mr. Chamberlain, who knows theso things, spoke of his king's West Indian possessions as tho coolie's paradise. But tho othor man called them tho field of romance be-cauBo be-cauBo of tho story of a rajah's son and many more llko unto It. Hero Is the story: Tho eldest son and heir of a rapah j of ono of tho small states of Rajpu- x tana fell so violently In lovo with a ueautlful maiden ho had seen on the streets of his father's capital that he laid aside all thoughts of his own high caste and her equally low condition and proceeded to woo her. Everything Every-thing went well with the lovers for weeks, until one ot the prince's ret- . Inue, spying upon aUm him, found him .Kfl keeping a tryst iflsraBvS with the girl. The JygUCTsfl&v rajah was prompt- rHRgL'ja''! ly informed and, BUKawclS enraged at hl3 'TIfEKtM heir's loss of casto,' Cr'jjfllBpSy determined to wipe VOBBJPV out tho disgrace xU jg that tho son had MfaFv brought upon him- flIS5lV$ self and his family. yjBs'lfcV With tho craf tl- YfM Qvl ness of the oriental!! rJSaJH tho rajah receivedF'jS0v3S his son with alVjA..VWJJ - J tho affection of a vrw devoted parent until he discovered, through spies, tho next meeting place of the lovers. Then, as they were seated ln a secluded pagoda, a band of the palace guards burst suddenly In upon them, and without warning first slew the maiden and then turned upon the prince. But the latter was too quick for tho soldiers. Solzlng his sword, he managed to cut his way clear and J oscaped Into tho city, where he hid. -K During tho weoks that energetic search was made for him ho kept himself him-self under cover, and until tho efforts of his father relaxed did ho dare crawl far from his hiding placo. Even then he was In great danger, and, realizing that he could not hopo to re-mnln re-mnln lnhls father's realm, ho decided to got as far away as possible. This ho did by disguising and presenting himself to tho nearest coollo contractor, con-tractor, and a few weeks lator ho was on his way to Jamaica. He had worked as a common field laborer for flvo years beforo his story accidentally becamo known. Ovor a certain number of cooltos another coollo Is usually placed as ovorseer One day tho rajah's son and his ovorseer ovor-seer disagreed over a ploco of work, and tho latter was on tho point of using a whip on tho former when tho plantation superintendent, a young Scotchman, Interfered. Tho grntltudo of tho laborer was unbounded. For onco he lost his oriental stoicism and tenrs camo Into his eyes, as ho said: "Mastor, you have saved me from a great disgrace." Tho superintendent's curiosity was aroused, and although tho Hindoo endeavored en-deavored to slink away ho was pressed do hard that he finally explained his romark. "You havo saved mo from a great ' disgrace," ho Bald. "I, a rajah's son, 1 to bo struck by a Hindoo of low casto!" Thon the whole story, which the Scotchman verified later on, camo out. The hero of It Is still omployod on an Interior plantation In Jamaica. |