The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, May 4, 1934, Page 9

soa f(A) rover venvcne veer eegg vee een AACE RT MAU TATATUOUUAY Menge atengnsntnvvnnaacennnavetnaaacaneananennn geet aneneciti Ae scommmoveneneertetetets Cmmit . TTT HUUHAOAANLUUNUAOEEUUAALIUUUUNY- Mon MCCUE bisvsntsvitionn MMNULUAAA Gnu N island with a past, but without a history—a volcanic dot of land that is a challenge to the imagination and test of physical endurance to reach —that is Saba, a tropical rock in the Dutel: West Indies, whose very name 1s a lost orphan in an otherwise united family of Saints; St. Thomas. St. Kitts, St. Martin, St. This, and St. That. So much nonsense has been written about it (by those who have never been there) that 1 might well be called Isle de Munchausen. With enough fantastic qualities to be put into a chap- ter of Gulliver's Travels, it is nevertheless the quintessence of staid, middle class respectability. “Mystery Island” would be a well deserved name. If you look very carefully on a large map of the West Indies, you will find near St. Mar- tin and St. Eustacius a dot labeled Saba, and pronounced with a long “a.” It is as completely off the beaten tourist track as if it were in Little America. The only way to reach it is by taking a small Dutch cargo steamship that plies between Curacao on the south, and St. Thomas on the north. To visit Saba, you must stay there either two hours. while the boat is discharging and taking on cargo . . . oF you must rema.n for two weeks. And the traveler with time to spare, in search of something “different,” will choose the latter alternative. It is less than 13 miles in circumference, and almost 3000 feet high, with its summit always by clouds. Perhaps it ts its seeming aridity which has prompted stay-at-home writ- ers to state blandly, “Even the soil which is necessary for the few vegetables grown, has to be brought from the neighboring islauds.” Bg steepness which started the ridiculous legend still found in guide books and ency- clopedias, “The men of Saba build the best ships in the West Indies. and lowe: them to the water with ropes.” And the haziest kind of hearsay to call forth the pronouncement, “Ir Saba, everyone is known by his or ‘er giver name, for due to some unknown reason, all Sabans have the same surname . . . Simonds.” The facts are no less interesting than the, Gctititous inventions concerning “the dear old rock,” as the Saba Islanders call their lofty home. Here are some of them: There is no known origin for the name of the island. It is not Spanish, it evidently was not named by Columbus, who christened the rest of the Antilles group with saintly cognomens. Yet Columbus must have passed it . . . must have tees it. It is a spectacular bit of scenery tha! no one could miss. Although the Dutch have been in possession for more than 200 years, there is. no knows ‘ MUAH By Emma-Lindsay Squier history of how they came by it, or what manne: of people inhabited it before them. But one “thing is certain; the original settlers must have been white men, of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. ko despite Holland’s ownership for two centurict and a half, English has always beea spoken on Saba, and ts today. Inference points to a small original group; pirates, perhaps? Smugglers? A masooned, mutinous crew from some English ship, lett on what was supposed to be a barren island where the men would surely die? {n a population to- day of 1800 people, including black as well as white, there are only some 15 surnames . . and all of them Scotch, or English! AND yet. with all the obvious romance and ti glamour of such a beginning, you cannot find one person on the entire island who can give you the slightest hint of a tradition as to who these first settlers were, when and why they arrived or where they came from. On this West Indian rock are five scattered little towns, each more steeply located than the one betore. The wooden house: are white, sed tooled. su rounded by ston walls, are in maculate ane comfortable. Great tre shade the na: tow. pleasan streets, lush trop ical vegetations everywhere. Si fertile is the sor (and it has no hee- rough from other is lands) that any thing indigenou to a temperate or tropical ch mate grow: there; bananas. mangos, pine apples, onions. potatoes,.c ab- ‘rages, roses, jas nine, carnations. There are roads on the island, but no wheeled vehicles. he trails that go so steeply across the wind-swept spaces ure only for pedes- trians and sure-tooted horses. There are 00 electric lights, no gas, no ice, no movies. News comes from the outside world in terse dis patches on the government wireless, and news papers brought on the little Dutch steame: every two weeks. Conung ashore on Saba » A ag a PTR UOC COU CC * OU UAAMALAAUTAAUAENUTETT MR HAC TTT Te MYSTERIOUS SABA LAND of He (QueSTION Mark ET in spite of its isolation, three methods of industry keep the island fairly prosperous. The black folk. who form a third of the island's population, are “headers.” all the cargo, trom canned groceries to pianos, up the steep trail from the beach to the little towns. The island women, both black end white, are famous for their exquisite drawnwork, which they call “Spanish work.” Here again, they Lhe Dutch flag flies over Saba, although the inhabitants speak English and cach or has an English name. “pocket handkerchief’ beach. have no idea as to who first brought the typ: cally Spanish and Mexican type of embroid ery to Saba. The, white men leave “the dear old rock’ while still in their ‘teens, and go to sea. Strange. that an island where boat building can qpls be done: on a beach about the size of a pocke! handkerchief. should produce such marvelous navigators. But that is just one of the para- (Copyright, 1934, by EveryWeek Magazine.) TTT IDS oMNVODDDAUE AEGON 0 MR andAdda ne eett anda, That is, they carry * sOHNNEEUUTENUUATUCONAUUCHETUUNE EN NNNNERNONEMEEEDRESEEENAY ONO OUT —— doxical facts with which the mysterious island is cluttered. The myth of ships being built on top of the island and “lowered over the steep sides to the water” is regarded there with mingled ridi- cule and resentment. Schooner and sloops have been built on Saba, but only on the aarrow rocky beaches at the toot of the cliffs. It is certainly true that Saba Islanders are among the most skillful of all sailors. You will find them in maritime prolessions the world over. But they return, at lite’s close, to pend their last days upon this island. The physical aspect of Saba is as strange s its history . . . and its lack of history. viewed from the sea, it has the general shape ot a. cocked hat, plumed by drifting clouds. ike red and white buttons the tiny houses ling to the steep, tawny clifls 1500 feet above he sea. There are no harbors; only two open aadsteads in which the ship can anchor—if is not toe rough. )ASSENGERS are taken ashore in big, sea- worthy boats, oared by elderly white men ith shrewd, sea-taring blue eyes. If you land at the leeward < icknamed The Ladder,” you are faced \ 1 appall- ag climb of some 800 teet almo. aight up. long concrete steps set into the dizzy sheernes: of the cliff. If you wish, you may be carried ap in a rocking chair to which poles have been ittached. Three stalwart negroes will mar vour Saban ricksha. Or, if you land on the other side of the island called “The Fort Way,” the grade is easier, but longer, and you walk up. I'he trop- ical sun beats down with terrific torce. You gasp, and pant. You stare incredulously as black men and women go swinging past you balancing loads of bales, or boxes, trunks or barrels on their heads. The weight of such cargo will very often exceed 200 pounds! Both roads from the rocky pocket handke:- chief size beaches lead to the same plac. Up to “The Bottom!” vcs, that is the name of the first settlement you reach, almost 900 feet high. an Sand wih n the worl iene ie +. Whe up 900 anelst S to ask “ones and it is le Most-lied. With a be but with: Moots by Jolin ransby Here's tmma-Lindsay Squier being carrted up “The Ladder” on Saba. . Following her ts the Dutch gov- ernor, Willem De Brauw. in the big photo at the upper left ts “The Bottom.” the village you have to climb YOU feet to reach. The mountain peak beside it 1s named, for no reason at all, Paris. In the oval, Saba as it looks from the sea. . . “a cocked hat, plumed by drifting clouds.” \ CHARMING, tropical village, colorful {X with palms and flowers; flamboyant trees loaded with coral blossoms; banana plants, bougainvillea vines. With all of its luxuriant vegetation, Saba Islanders depend for water op rainfall exclusively. Certainly there seems to be enough . . . but did the first settlers know that? What made them take a chance on an island that looks from the sea to be no.more than a barren rock, and which takes the agility of a goat to discover the tropical paradise within? You realize that “The Bottom” is after all not such a misnomer. For it is actually the crater of an extinct volcano. On all sides, the steep slopes of higher mountains hem you in. Across the island, two and a half miles along a footpath, and 700 feet higher, is the little town called “Windward Side.” gnu higher is “Hell's Gate.” far closer to Heaven than the place for which #t is named. There is a gigantic pinnacle rising sheerly 1000 feet, and its name, of all things, is “Paris!” It is useless to ask “why” in Saba. People simply do not know. They seem to have no curiosity about the remarkable beginnings of their history. Nor does it seem strange to them that a prosaic, middle class sort of life goes on in this the most amazing spot in the whole West Indies. The Dutch governor and his wife are charm- ing to visitors. Their own residence is the ost imposing house on the island. They entertain hospitably, and extend to strangers the cour- tesy of the government “Guest House,” with its skillful black cook and housemaid. There are schools on the island, both Protes- tant and Catholic, all subsidized by the Dutch government, and the Dutch language is not e conmebvor subject. Hence it is rarely taught or There « are several churches, representing four but two occupants in the last 10 years. [here At mneay i Sse whice ol “outside” mer- chandise at prices as correspondingly ar the villages themselves. - ~ONTUANNTUEAEAAO HAMEL MMe suas MEAL UEDA aA | -eANHLAHE ACA oA MAHUNLOAUUESUONEO UAH HAH UCU TRAHAN SOUT ULL