V
OVEDTON
HE Hrst Idea of a "Liberia" set
tlement of free negroes arose
with the foundation of the Brit
ish colony of Sierra Leone. Aft
er the close of the American
War of Independence in 1783 It
became necessary to provide for
the negro troops who had served
Great Britain faithfully in that
unhappy struggle. They were at
first deported to Nova Scotia , but
had no place there In the body politic of white
men ; they were no longer slaves , but the Idea
of granting the suffrage to negroes was then
displeasing to the dominant race. There was
also the problem of the free Maroon negroes
of Jamaica , who were Irksome to the authori
ties In a land of slavery. So the Idea of foundIng -
Ing a free negro state or community In West
Africa for the reception of enfranchised Amer
ican negroes came into being about 1781 , and
In 1787 the colony of Sierra Leone was found
ed under a chartered company and taken over
by the crown in 1808.
Early In the nineteenth century the same
difficulty arose In the United States , namely ,
the presence of thousands of free negroes
whose case had not been sufficiently provided
( or by the American Constitution. Somehow
i
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Brewing Impatient of being taxed without rep
resentation must bo provided for. So several
philanthropists , remembering Sierra Leone ,
thought to promote by private enterprise and
philanthropy a similar colony ncijjss the sea
x which might provide for the return to West
_ Africa ( whence most of them had come ) of
the freed slaves of the United States. Indeed ,
there was a strong disposition to adopt Sierra
Leone for this purpose , with the assent of the
British government ; but the local authorities
of Sierra Leon showed themselves vfry averse
from receiving American negroes , who might
owe a divided allegiance.
Accordingly the American founders of "Li
beria" ( this name was not given to the Infant
state until 1824) ) who v.'ero mostly white men
with n few mulattoes and negroes selected
the Grain Coast , Immediately to the south and
east of Sierra Leone , for their experiment.
It was some weeks before the hostility of
the natives , who were wedded to the slave
trade , cculd bo overcome , but In 1S22 active
operations were begun. A thirty-acre tract
was allotted to each man with the means of
cultivating It. The National Colonization soci
ety's agents became discouraged nt the diffi
culties that were met .and returned to Ameri
ca with a few faint-hearted ones ; but the
others rallied about n determined negro , Elijah
Johnson , and remained. The colony was en
larged by the addition of new tracts. New
settlements were afterward formed at Capo
Monte and In the newly acquired Bassa Land ,
In which , In 183-1 , a town , was founded and
called Edina , In acknowledgment of pecuniary
aid sent from Edlr.'jurgh. Many of the neigh
boring chiefs were received into the colony ,
and others were subdued. Trials of many
kinds , deprivations nnd dissensions wfro the
lot of the colony , managed by n society which
did not fully know whether Its alms were sen
timental or practical. In 1S47 Liberia was
loft to Its own resources and declared an inde
pendent republic. The colony immediately be
gan to show more prosperity , numerous
churches and schools were founded , newspa
pers were established , and slavery In the
neighboring states was abolished. The first
president of Independent Liberia was Roberts ,
an octoroon. He was a most able , and cour
ageous man nnd the country made rapid
Btrldes in civilization and other material lines
of progress under his administra
tion.
The constitution of the republic
Is framed after that of the United
States. There are a president , vice-
president , a council of six ministers
and a house of representatives. Voters
ers must bo of negro blood and own
real estate. The natives gnerally
do not avail themselves of the suf
frage. No foreigner can own land
without the consent of the govern-
ernment. The coast territory Is formed into
the counties of Bassa , Capo Palmas and Slnoe ,
with one superintendent each , and Montserra-
do , with four superintendents. The capital is
Monrovia , named after President Monroe.
English money Is'used , but American money
figures usually In the keeping of accounts.
There is a Liberlan coinage and a rather
largo paper currency. The official language
of the country Is English. The civilized Inhabitants -
. habitants are orthodox Protostnnts , mostly
Episcopalians.
During the littles and sixties of the last cen
tury the Americo-Liberlans did much to explore -
ploro the Interior and enter into treaty rela
tionships with the native chiefs. But thirty
years ago their administration began to get
into financial difficulties. It is not an easy
thing to create a well-ordered , well-governed
state In tropical Africa without a consider
able capital to draw on. Consider for n mo
ment what Great Britain has spent on Sierra
Lcono since 1787 , and on the Gold Coast wars ,
the opening up of Nigeria ; or the outlay of
France on Soncgambla or Dahomey ; and then
Imagine how the government of Liberia could
without any reserve of capital bring law , order
and civilization Into a denfaely foreated terri
tory nearly the size of England , with a prob
able population of over a million warlike sav
ages and semi-savages.
So long as Britain nnd France the control
ling powers contented themselves with the
mere occupation of a few coast towns on the
seaboard of their West African dominions or
protectorates , the Monrovia government could
afford to do the same. But when thebo great
European powers were compelled by force of
circumstances to occupy and administer the
regions behind their coasts the Llberlans
found themselves in a position of great diffi
culty. They had been allotted theoretically by
Franco and England a considerable hinter
land more than fiO.OOO square miles and
were hold responsible for the doings of the
native tribes In that extensive interior. Now
those tribes had never been subdued by the
government of the republic. They were many
of them In treaty relationships with the Mon
rovia administration , and such of them as had
heard of the civilized negro government on the
coast ( nnd it must bo remembered that much
of the Interior Is dense forest , Inhabited by
tribes who for ages have been isolated in that
forest , and wore and are quite ignorant of
the world outside their tribal land ) were quite
willing to regard the Llberians as the ruling
power on the seashore. But they were very
disinclined to obey orders from Monrovia If
contrary to tholr own desires.
The tribes farthest inland looked upon the
British'and French the "White men" as ag
gressors who were putting down' ' by force a
most lucrative slave trade , who were forcibly
disclosing the secrets of sacred streams llko
the Niger near its sources , who , in short , were
not only to bo opposed , but whose organized
territories offered a most profitable field for
raids and robberies. More than this : the Im
port of guns , gunpowder , rifles ( above till ) and
alcohol was being restricted or forbidden by
the Europeans. The Liberlan coast , especially
where it was slenderly guarded by the Libe
rlan administration , offered the one loophole
through which these forbidden goods might bo
smuggled. Accordingly a great trade sprang
up between thebo uncontrolled hinterland
tribes nnd the Kru ponpln on Ihn roast , who
affected a sort of detachment from the govern
ment by the American-Negro republic. In
these ways the Lihorlnn hinterland became a
positive source of danger and expenae to the
British protectorate of Sierra Leone and the
French possessions of the Sudan and Ivory Coast.
Consequently the Liberlan government has
been forced of late years to live somewhat beyond
Its means In organizing a police and a marine , In
fed East Africa
The "servant problem" is bad enough in
America , and the experiences mistresses have
to relate are many and varied ; but an Infinite
ly wider range of possibilities Is opened up
when more man and a bachelor at that
tackles the servant and other household prob
lems in an East African bungalow. Anything
can happen and does happen !
Native house servants of a sort are plen
tiful enough around the chief towns of Brit
ish East Africa , Nairobi and Mombasa , and the
slightest rumor lhat the Muzungu ( white
man ) requires a "boy" or m'pezi ( cook ) fills
one's compound with cooks , "generate" and
raw niggers , representing every tribe under
Africa's sun , a writer In the WIde World says.
The average bachelor contents himself
with four servants a head "boy , " a cook , n
"toto" ( youth ) to assist them , and a m'shenzl
( raw , untrained native ) for odd jobs , gardenIng -
Ing , etc.
It Is no easy task to make a selection from
the host of eager , voluble applicants. Dirty ,
carefully otuck-togother "baruas" ( testimoni
als ) are examined and the owners questioned ,
but it is unwise to put much faith in these
documents , for it is no unusual occurrence for
a "hoy" on the principle of "tho more the
merrier" to proudly present you with three
occupying the Kru coast nnd in attempting to
construct roads to places of importance In the
Interior. It has from time to time engaged Euro
pean officers for ita services ; but whereas some
of these engagements have been of noteworthy
success , others have been the reverse , and It Is
difficult to locate the blame. European capital
is somewhat shy of Liberia , partly owing to the
turbulence of the Interior natives ( though this
has been exaggerated , for white men very seldom
really incur danger from the Indigenes ) , but more
on account of the irresponsible fickleness of the
leglnlaturo , which is given too much to the hasty
making and unmaking of laws and to conflicts of
opinion with the executive.
Yet the country is extremely rich. Its rocks
and river valleys produce both gold nnd diamonds ,
some of the coast districts ( especially In the east )
even give Indications of the existence of , bitumen ,
or oil-bearing strata , while the forests of the In
terior are remarkable for their wealth of rubber-
bearing trees nnd lianas , tholr ebony , African teak
and "mahogany , " and the plassava fiber ( derived
from the raphla palm ) , which Is used for so many
purposes connected with the making of brooma
and brushes. Then there Is the oil-palm , with HSJ
two kinds of oil , both valuable to commerce the
oil of the husk and that of the kernel. The
extraction of this last and Its great value for
special Industries are said to have been dis
covered some seventy-five years ago by an
American nagro , < ono of the early colonists of
Liberia. A great deal was done by these freed
slave settlers , for which they have never re
ceived sufficient credit.
Unfortunately the attempted colonization
of Liberia has boon hindered by the American
negro colonists proving almost as much llnblo
to malarial fever and other African diseases
as Europeans. They seem to have lost the
relative Immunity from those blood-germ mnl
adles which tholr African ancestors enjoyed.
The modern America-Llberlan docs not stand
the climate of Liberia much better than the
white man from Europe or America. The
country Is not unhealthy In the Interior ; It Is
the coast bolt which , with Its eternal heat nnd
moisture'Its very short dry seasons , nnd tor
rential rains ( conditions which suit admirably
the cultivation of rubber , coffee and cacao )
saps the vitality of residents not of African
birth. And the hinterland , with Its superior
conditions of climate , has already a some
what largo Indigenous population , who are not
eager for foreign additions to their numbers.
testimonials , every ono bearing a different
namn from the ono under which ho Introduces
himself !
These gentry are always greatly offended
when you kick them off the veranda and tell
them they have bought or stolen the docu
ments from otjicr natives ! Upon ono occasion
a wouldbo cook brought mo a "barua" signed
by a well-known settler and worded :
"To whom It may concern ; The bearer of
this 'barna' Is an Infernal rogue and thief.
Please kick him out. "
By the time I hod stopped laughing the nig
ger had arrived at the conclusion that some
thing was wrong and was doing record time
down the path , so I vns unable to avail my
self of the kind 1-ivltntlou.
HORSE TRADE IN MISSOURI.
In St. Charles last week Lester Ingraham
traded A. SOsborn a horbo for a motor boat.
A few hours later Osborn discovered that the
horse was worthless , ho he went to the boat
nnd removed the engine and the horao died
as ho was hauling It away. A Jury In n jus ;
tlco's court atvarded fngrnham the engine anc
| 1 damages. Detroit Free Press.
PtU-S
I vrnnt nny pernon who suffera with 1)11.
lounncqa , consUimlloi ) , Indigestion or nny
liver or blood nllmcnt , to try tar Fawl'nw
Liver Pill * . I Kiiaruntco they will purify tlia
l > lnoil nn ( I put tlio lUt-r r.r , . ' fctvm ; U tutu n
hrnlthful coiulltlon nnil will jioiilllvely ourn
biliousness and constipation * or I > vlll refumi
your money. Munjon's llo-noopalhlc Homi
Homedy Co. , G3rd nnd Jefferson Mi. . Phlla. , Pa ,
TRY FflUfK EYE REMEDW
H For Red , Wtsk , Weary , Watery Eye * and Rj
I GRANULATED EYELIDS N
MurinoDoesn'tSmiu't-SoothcsEyePain
DwiUlJ Sell Mnttno Er Rtoedr , LlqiU , 2Se , 50c , $1.00
Murlno Eya Snlvc , In Aseptic Tuliet , 25c , $1.00
CYI ) BOOKS AND ADVICE FREE IlY MAIL
MurincEyoRcmcdyCo.Chicnso
Absence makes the pjcturo post
cards nccuuiulntc.
Onnstlnntlon causes many nerloui ( llntnucn. I
ti tliorouiihly curml njr Doctor IMercii'n 1'loaunl
I'olk-ts. Olio a lAxatlt , tliruu for calliartlo.
The years write tholr records on
men's hearts na they do on trcos
Inner circles of growth which no eye
can BOO. Saxo Holm.
When Rubbers Become Necessary
And your shoos plnclti shako Into your
slioca Allcn'u Knot-Ease. the atitlsoptlo
powder for the foot. Cures tlrcil , nclilnc
foot niul tnUcs the stlnir out of Corns unil
Bunions. Alwnyn usn It for Ilrcnklnir In
No ' shoes nnd for danclni ; parties. Hold
everywhere 2Gc. Sninplo mntlod KRIS 13.
Address , Alton S. Olinatud. Lo Roy , N. V ,
1 Distinction.
Mllly Is this picture llko your fa
ther ?
Tilly Of course not , Billy ! It la
llko father when ho has his pictures
taliou. Puck.
How's This ?
Wo otter Ono Hundred Dollars Howard for anj
CMO of catarrh Hint cannot bo cured by Uall'l
Cuiarrli Cure.
F. J. CNKNEY A CO. . Toledo. O.
We , the undcrslfrnctl. lm\o knotCn 1' . J. Cheney
for the last 15 years , and bellovo him perfectly , lion ,
orablo In nil builnc&i transactions and llnnnclally
oblo to carry out any obligation ! miulo by lilt Orra.
WALDINO , KINNAN A : MARMN ,
Wholcmla Urusslit . Tulcdo , O.
Halt's CAtnrrli Cure la taken Internally , actlnil
directly upon tha blood nnd mucous itirtucra o ( the
yste.ni. Iritlmonlata > ent free. 1'rlco 70 ccnU pel
bottle. Bold by all Drueeliti.
UaU'i Family I'UU ( or constipation.
Undo Allen.
"If you're getting old nnd don't
know It , " philosophized Uncle Allen
Sparks , "you'll find it out when you
go back to the town whore you grow
up and look around for the boys you
used to play with when you were a
kid. " '
Taken at Hla Word.
"Since you are BO busy today , " said
the urbane Journalist , "will you kindly
tell mo when and where I can meet
you lor an Interview ? "
"Go to blazes I" exclaimed the Irate
pollllclam
"Thanks. I'll consider It an appoint
ment. "
True Independence.
You will always find those who
think they know what Is your duty
bettor than yon know it It Is easy In
the world to Hvo after the world's
opinion ; It Is easy In solitude to-llvo
after our own ; but the great man Is
ho who , In the midst of the crowd ,
keeps , with perfect sweetness , the In
dependence of solitude. Emerson.
Tribute-to Hold-Up Artist.
"Tho train doesn't stop nt Crimson
Gulch any more. "
"No , " replied Three-Finger Sam.
"I'm afraid the town doesn't get
much respect from the railroad. "
"Respect ! Why that railroad la
jloan torrlQed. Ever since tho' news
rot around that Stage Coach Charley
jad settled hero that train jest gives
fcno shriek and jumps out of sight. "
Beware the Dog !
A family moved from the city to a
suburban locality nnd wcro told that
they should got n watchdog to guard
the premises at night. So they bought
the largest dog that was for sale In
the kennels of a neighboring dog fan
cier , who was a German. Shortly
afterward the house was entered by
burglars , who made n good haul , while
the big dog slept. The man wont to
the dog fancier nnd told him about it.
"Veil , vat you need now , " said the
dog merchant , ' 'is a leodlo dog to vako
up the big dog , " Everybody's.
Let Us
Cook Your
Breakfast !
with cream or milk
and notice the pleasure
the family finds in the
appetizing crispness and
flavour of this delightful
food.
"The Memory Lingers"
rostxun Cereal Co. , LW.
Battle Creek , Mich.
