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Jamaica

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 31, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 53.

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Jamaica

By A. N. ALLEN

It was recently our privilege to spend a day with our workers in this beautiful island, as our steamer had freight for Kingston. This island is indeed the garden of the sea, but the city of Kingston is still in ruins from the terrible earthquake of Jan. 14, 1907. Being here at that time, our short visit brought back many memories of that dread visitation. The ruins are still standing as a witness to the fact that the things of this earth are but temporary.
Restoration is going on rapidly now, as insurance has just been secured for those in the fire district. The city will be rebuilt on a much better plan than before.All the houses on King Street are to be built according to a standard set by the government, with a special view to beauty.
In the evening Elder S. A. Wellman and I visited our training-school at Riversdale. Far up among the hills of this beautiful island we have six hundred acres of fertile land, which will gradually be subdued and cultivated or made into pasture. But clearing land in the tropics is much slower work than in the temperate zone. The ground is so full of live roots that it takes considerable time to get rid of them all.
This estate has a large Spanish-wall house on it, which is probably very old, but still in good repair. This is now utilized for class-room and living quarters for the students and some of the teachers. Other quarters have been erected for teachers near by, and a boys’ dormitory is in process of construction. A large reservoir has just been finished on an elevation above the buildings, from which they are supplied with water. The water is from a spring in the valley, and is elevated to the reservoir by a windmill.
The location being elevated, the temperature is moderated; and amid luxurious tropical vegetation, and surrounded by valleys and high bluffs, cut off from the evils of city life, the conditions are ideal for a training-school. And with hands and minds kept busy, the students should form habits of industry and symmetrical characters, and thus become useful laborers in the work of saving souls.
This school has a great mission among the millions of the West Indies. The influence of these consecrated instructors will in time be felt in all parts of the field, and in all departments of the work. With this school to train workers, and the new publishing house at Colon, Panama, this field is equipped for aggressive mission work. It has a large Spanish, French, English, and Dutch population, and much of the territory is still unentered. A. N. ALLEN.