People of Sabalooks at the sm

many years ago Columbus passed a tiny island in the Atlantic and christened a--the st. sabar he decided not to land here for this island was made from an extinct volcano and had huge rocks that formed an impregnable barrier yet after another century Dutch and English explorers ventured to land and soon started a colony today it is called the island of sabor situated 950 miles southeast of Miami Florida it is one of the many islands in the Lesser Antilles group now a colony of the Dutch it is only five miles square and boasts a population of 1600 people every two weeks the Saban's are on the lookout for the steamer arriving from Caruso a neighboring island the signal flag is hoisted for every citizen to see it warns them that they must hurry if they are to meet the book on time it's a long way down to the beach from the village but a donkey can help make the trip shorter perhaps they're expecting a relative for a visit or a letter that's taken several weeks to arrive 2,000 feet below the settlements the steamer is landing its cargo this is the Saban's chief communication with the outside world some families have radios but newspapers letters and everything they wear and use are brought in by the steamer we are used to buying what we need in the store around the corner from our homes the Saban's must buy there's long-distance from a nearby island or the United States in spite of the dangerous Beach the Saban's have mastered the landing of the boats they head for the only opening 20 feet wide between two rocks as there are only a few families on the island a visitor may always expect to be met by at least 50 relatives and now the hard trek back to the town starts they have to climb up 900 feet to the rim of the crater of the volcano and then go down into the valley to reach home the few donkeys on the island are used to carry equipment but they are scarce as they too have to be imported Porter's will carry loads for a small amount of money and boards for a new house furniture for the living room all is brought to the village in this manner imagine carrying everything in your home up hill on foot for at least 2 miles from the rim of the mountain we now look down upon the main village on the island it has a strange name for it's called bottom because it is built on the floor of a now dead volcano perhaps you've often wondered what life would be like in the middle of a volcano it can be very peaceful yes life here isn't so very different from ours Saban's live in small clean houses and have streets and yards built by themselves they have churches of several denominations and even a general store crime is unknown here and the policemen's chief duties are to ring the hour of the day and to post the currency exchange the governor of the island is employed by the Dutch and administers the affairs of the colony another government worker is the schoolteacher who teaches all grades up through 8 in a one-room schoolhouse one doctor has to care for the animals as well as the people the Saban's are very friendly and we would understand their conversation as most of them speak English there are no movies to see and simple pleasures mean a lot to them sometimes there's an ice-cream party for the children this is a very special occasion as the ice was brought by the steamer from an island 38 miles away what the women enjoy most are the tea parties here they can visit and also work on beautiful embroidery this is used to decorate their homes and is also a source of income each woman sells her work to regular customers in the United States sending her handiwork to them by way of the mail perhaps this is being made to decorate the top of a table about the only way the men may earn their living is working on a government project such as this one they are building a bridge and widening the rule from the village to the beach it will take four years to finish this work as they have no modern equipment because jobs are so scarce the majority of men ship away to sea in their youth and only come back to saber to retire the man is climbing to his garden which is high above the town on the north side of the island here the climate and the soil are best and the Sabin worked sometimes until sunset in spite of being far away from home beans potatoes and cabbages and even a few bananas are grown some families are lucky enough to have goats their tools are homemade and in an age of Steel they still use the methods of their forefathers this family is grinding guinea corn for bread grandmother and grandchild everyone has something to do another product is cassava root it is dried then ground to a proper consistency then is made into pancakes and as in any country there are emergencies John is running to call the islands doctor for his sister is sick and needs prompt attention there isn't a telephone on the island and he must run for two or three miles before he reaches the doctor's house the doctor and his wife are having supper but that's soon forgotten the doctor comes from Holland and has been here a number of years he can make any part of the island in less than an hour by horseback at first they thought Mary had the fever but the doctor finds it's only a cold cooperation is a byword with the Saban's here the entire town turns out to help one man carry his boat down to the sea for he has built it in the town and now it is ready to be launched maybe we wouldn't think a boat would be worth so much trouble but this rowboat is more precious to these people than a modern automobile finally the men reached the edge of the cliff down which the boat must be lowered this is a difficult task and a slip here would mean many months of hard work lost another boat is ready to meet the challenge of the sea as evening comes to the island the Lamplighter puts up the gasoline lamps around the town and the families settle down to listen to a Victrola record or to tell each other what news the steamer brought today these people look like friends of ours and use many things we do perhaps we think they have sacrificed the comforts of our modern civilization but they might say they have found instead the Peace of a simple life