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Allspice, Pimento or Jamaica Pepper, Myrtus Pimenta, Pimenta Dioica
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pimento sticks
'Around the 17th or 18th century, a stout rigid stick took over from the sword as an essential part of the European gentleman's wardrobe, used primarily as a walking stick. In addition to its value as a decorative accessory, it also continued to fulfil some of the function of the sword as a weapon.' Wikipedia.
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In the second half of the 19th century Jamaica was exporting considerable quantities of 'pimento sticks', to be used for making walking sticks and umbrella-handles, in addition to quantities of the dried pimento berries, called allspice in Europe and the USA. The obtaining of the sticks from the pimento walks was often by praedial thieves, and was threatening the livelihood of the pimento farmers. The problem apparently continued into the early 20th century.
1860s & '70s
Daily Gleaner
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Daily Gleaner, February 9, 1872
EXPORTS |
1880s
In 1880 Prince Albert and Prince George, teenage sons of Edward, Prince of Wales, visited Jamaica in March, while on a voyage around the world, in H.M.S. Bacchante; the excerpt below from the account of the voyage, based in part on their diaries, deals with one day of their stay at King's House -
Daily Gleaner, September 12, 1881.
KILLING THE GOLDEN GOOSE.
We have had our attention arrested lately by the number of sticks brought into Kingston for export. At the present moment there are probably half a million sticks in this city, a large proportion of which will, after selection, be sent to England and America to be made into walking sticks.and umbrella handles. These sticks are almost without exception pimento, and the owners and lessees of pimento walks are becoming alarmed. at the growth of a trade which threatens to uproot in a few years all their young trees and deprive them to a great extent of their incomes. The representations made to us are of a very serious character, but are fully justified by the information we gather from official statistics and from exporters.
KILLING THE GOLDEN GOOSE.
We have had our attention arrested lately by the number of sticks brought into Kingston for export. At the present moment there are probably half a million sticks in this city, a large proportion of which will, after selection, be sent to England and America to be made into walking sticks.and umbrella handles. These sticks are almost without exception pimento, and the owners and lessees of pimento walks are becoming alarmed. at the growth of a trade which threatens to uproot in a few years all their young trees and deprive them to a great extent of their incomes. The representations made to us are of a very serious character, but are fully justified by the information we gather from official statistics and from exporters.
According to the analytical returns issued by the Collector General the export of walking sticks during the last five years has been as follows, in quantity and value:
1876 4163 bundles, 12,500 loose £563 7 0
1877 2370½ - - - - 509 10 7
1878 2992 - - - - 286 11 6
1879 954½ - - - - 405 13 3
1880 1864 - - - - 652 8 0
The figures of the current financial year exhibit a remarkable increase for the three quarters completed, and are as follows:
Dec. Qr. 1880 471½ bundles £283 15
Mar. Qr. 1881 2157 - - £862 16
June Qr. 1881 1538 - - £969 10
1876 4163 bundles, 12,500 loose £563 7 0
1877 2370½ - - - - 509 10 7
1878 2992 - - - - 286 11 6
1879 954½ - - - - 405 13 3
1880 1864 - - - - 652 8 0
The figures of the current financial year exhibit a remarkable increase for the three quarters completed, and are as follows:
Dec. Qr. 1880 471½ bundles £283 15
Mar. Qr. 1881 2157 - - £862 16
June Qr. 1881 1538 - - £969 10
Hence it will be seen that the export for the three quarters is equal to that of any whole year since 1876. It will be seen also, that the value of the bundles ranges from 6s to 10s each. The price just now, is from 8s to 10s
If we look into these figures a little more closely, the drain on the pimento walks appears startling.. Large exporters of sticks in this city make up bundles of from 600 to 800, and no exporter makes up smaller bundles than 150. Taking then a low average of 300 sticks per bundle, the export of the three quarters named is not much less .than one million and a half of sticks, every one of which represented a young "bearing" tree; while the export from 1876 down to the end of last June reached the enormous total of four millions. The calculation which is as moderate as possible, does not stop here. It is the custom with exporters to make a rigid, severe inspection of all sticks submitted to them, and though some reject half, we will estimate the tare of this kind at 25 per cent.; so that if the number of sticks pulled for export from 1876, be put down at five millions, we shall still be within the mark.
As we have said, the proprietors of pimento walks feel this loss very keenly, and those who come after us are likely to feel it with even greater keenness. The pimento crop of the island during the last ten years has reached a total value of over £500,000 and while the price of the berry may not be very high, the slight cost of marketing leaves a fair margin of profit on that sum. Jamaica has also an advantage in the fact that the tree is indigenous and grows without trouble of cultivation. But this trade in sticks will wipe out the staple very soon if allowed to go on. The instances in which proprietors thin their walks are so few as to be of no importance, and little account is to be taken of walks unclaimed. In fact, most of the sticks brought to town are offered for sale by men who do not own an acre of land, and who, if questioned, can rarely give satisfaction as to the manner in which they obtained the sticks. Mr. D. Morris in his annual report on the products of the island, asks incidentally "whether the large consignments of pimento walking sticks annually exported are the legitimate produce of pimento walks?" The answer is that they are not, but that the sticks are pulled up in a way to which the strongest language only can apply.
The annihilation of a staple occurs with such frequency that we have good reason to dread it in this case, for the pimento "sticks" are torn from the ground, root and all. In the Western States of America, the lumberers are lamenting the disappearance of black walnut; along the Amazon, the caoutchouc gatherers have made irremediable havoc among the rubber trees, and in the Pacific Republics the collectors of cinchona bark have to penetrate deeper and deeper every year into primeval forest in search of the treasure. With these modern instances before us, it is well to raise a voice for the prohibition of this trade in sticks.
What is required is that the Government should introduce a Bill in the Legislative Council forbidding the export of certain sticks. It is true that the trade is now limited almost entirely to young pimento, but as the fruit trade develops, the praedial thief will be tempted by the young oranges, limes, cocoanuts, &c., and he must be warned off these as well. We have no wish to deprive the mature Englishman of his weighty umbrella, or the young swell of the " crutch and toothpick'' order of his wonted support, but we have a strong wish to save one of our few golden geese from death. The proposed law then should mention specifically the bearing trees to be protected, and should guard them from molestation by large penalties on export. The sticks will not be pulled if there is no sale for them.
If we look into these figures a little more closely, the drain on the pimento walks appears startling.. Large exporters of sticks in this city make up bundles of from 600 to 800, and no exporter makes up smaller bundles than 150. Taking then a low average of 300 sticks per bundle, the export of the three quarters named is not much less .than one million and a half of sticks, every one of which represented a young "bearing" tree; while the export from 1876 down to the end of last June reached the enormous total of four millions. The calculation which is as moderate as possible, does not stop here. It is the custom with exporters to make a rigid, severe inspection of all sticks submitted to them, and though some reject half, we will estimate the tare of this kind at 25 per cent.; so that if the number of sticks pulled for export from 1876, be put down at five millions, we shall still be within the mark.
As we have said, the proprietors of pimento walks feel this loss very keenly, and those who come after us are likely to feel it with even greater keenness. The pimento crop of the island during the last ten years has reached a total value of over £500,000 and while the price of the berry may not be very high, the slight cost of marketing leaves a fair margin of profit on that sum. Jamaica has also an advantage in the fact that the tree is indigenous and grows without trouble of cultivation. But this trade in sticks will wipe out the staple very soon if allowed to go on. The instances in which proprietors thin their walks are so few as to be of no importance, and little account is to be taken of walks unclaimed. In fact, most of the sticks brought to town are offered for sale by men who do not own an acre of land, and who, if questioned, can rarely give satisfaction as to the manner in which they obtained the sticks. Mr. D. Morris in his annual report on the products of the island, asks incidentally "whether the large consignments of pimento walking sticks annually exported are the legitimate produce of pimento walks?" The answer is that they are not, but that the sticks are pulled up in a way to which the strongest language only can apply.
The annihilation of a staple occurs with such frequency that we have good reason to dread it in this case, for the pimento "sticks" are torn from the ground, root and all. In the Western States of America, the lumberers are lamenting the disappearance of black walnut; along the Amazon, the caoutchouc gatherers have made irremediable havoc among the rubber trees, and in the Pacific Republics the collectors of cinchona bark have to penetrate deeper and deeper every year into primeval forest in search of the treasure. With these modern instances before us, it is well to raise a voice for the prohibition of this trade in sticks.
What is required is that the Government should introduce a Bill in the Legislative Council forbidding the export of certain sticks. It is true that the trade is now limited almost entirely to young pimento, but as the fruit trade develops, the praedial thief will be tempted by the young oranges, limes, cocoanuts, &c., and he must be warned off these as well. We have no wish to deprive the mature Englishman of his weighty umbrella, or the young swell of the " crutch and toothpick'' order of his wonted support, but we have a strong wish to save one of our few golden geese from death. The proposed law then should mention specifically the bearing trees to be protected, and should guard them from molestation by large penalties on export. The sticks will not be pulled if there is no sale for them.
Walking sticks made in Jamaica were on show at the World Exposition in New Orleans in 1885 -
1890s
and for the 1891 Jamaica International Exhibition -
The Exhibition - the Jamaica Court -
Sticks made from Jamaica woods are a prominent feature in this court. There is a large variety of these, many of them possessing grotesque heads.
Daily Gleaner, February 2, 1891
Sticks made from Jamaica woods are a prominent feature in this court. There is a large variety of these, many of them possessing grotesque heads.
Daily Gleaner, February 2, 1891
1900s
Daily Gleaner, December 29, 1900
The Editor of the Gleaner
Sir -- As a penkeeper and planter of over thirty years experience I beg to disagree with your article in issue of Friday 21st, headed "Pimento Sticks."
The sale of pimento sticks does not necessarily lessen the pimento crop nor injure the groves. The trees are invariably planted by birds, and consequently it is no uncommon thing to find from twenty to one hundred plants springing up under one roosting or feeding tree, and if one fourth of the plants were allowed to remain they would develop an excellent crop of cart shafts and hut rafters, but be utterly worthless as bearing trees. As it is a large number of groves are almost ruined from overcrowding.
Stainton Clarke,
Drax Hall
26th December
Sir -- As a penkeeper and planter of over thirty years experience I beg to disagree with your article in issue of Friday 21st, headed "Pimento Sticks."
The sale of pimento sticks does not necessarily lessen the pimento crop nor injure the groves. The trees are invariably planted by birds, and consequently it is no uncommon thing to find from twenty to one hundred plants springing up under one roosting or feeding tree, and if one fourth of the plants were allowed to remain they would develop an excellent crop of cart shafts and hut rafters, but be utterly worthless as bearing trees. As it is a large number of groves are almost ruined from overcrowding.
Stainton Clarke,
Drax Hall
26th December
A selection of Jamaica's exports -
A court case in 1901 gives a picture of the way the trade in pimento sticks was being operated -
Daily Gleaner, June 7, 1901
Interesting Case of a Produce Dealer.
HEARING IN THE RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.
In the Kingston Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, the case of C. A. Solomon vs. A. Gutzmer was heard by Mr. S. L. Thornton. It was an action in which the plaintiff sought to recover £23 14s, alleged to have been advanced to the defendant and not accounted for. Mr. H, W. Dayes appeared for the plaintiff and Mr. J . H. Johnson for the defendant.
The case for the plaintiff was as follows:— Mr. Solomon was a produce and metal dealer. He entered into an agreement with the defendant, and on the 15th January he advanced him money to go to the country to purchase produce and pimento sticks. He supplied the money so that the defendant might be able to make as much profit as he could. He was not to use the money for anything but produce and pimento sticks. The £23 sued for was advanced to the defendant and not accounted for. He has failed to cover the amount with produce or sticks. At the start of the transactions the defendant had £50 in hand for the plaintiff and wanted more money, The plaintiff told him that he could not comply with his demand until he had cleared off the amount. The defendant reduced the £50 by supplying the produce, and asked the plaintiff for more money, stating that he could wipe off the balance as he had 600 sticks at the railway station at WilliamsfieId. The plaintiff accepted this statement, and advanced £15 to the defendant. On the 20th February, he forwarded a little over 300 sticks. The defendant also supplied some other sticks that were not pimento. They were, however, shipped and the defendant was informed that the price realized would be credited to him. The defendant had £23 14s balance which was not covered with produce or sticks. The plaintiff asked that an order be made against the defendant to pay the amount, or to be committed to prison.
Mr. Solomon was examined and in cross-examination said he had no transaction with the defendant as to the rental of a shop to buy the produce, or to employ an assistant to carry on the business.
The defendant said an agreement was entered into with the plaintiff to supply cash to carry on a produce business in the country. The plaintiff gave him a list of things that he could purchase. His specific dealing was in sticks. The plaintiff gave him £11 before he left Kingston. He had to do travelling and had to pay trainage. He employed two men and had to pay rent for a shop in the country. He also had to take out a license. All these things Mr. Solomon knew; and also that he had to pay the expenses out of the moneys advanced. He had also to purchase a machine to bundle the sticks. He had to advance moneys to several parties so as to get produce, but had not got the produce or amount back. He had lost on the transaction. One of the reasons for the failure was because the plaintiff had taken a man from whom he had bought sticks.
Mr. Johnson addressed the Court, urging that the defendant could not be committed to prison because he had not obtained the money by fraud. He got the amount to deal in produce and sticks. He had done so, but failed, owing to expense having to be incurred.
Mr. Dayes replied. He said at the time the defendant got the £15 he knew that, he had not got the number of sticks to cover the first part of the liability. He had acted in an improper way. The expenses which he referred to accrued on his own responsibility. All the business Mr. Solomon had to do with the defendant was to supply him money to buy sticks and produce. If Mr. Solomon had not stopped advancing the defendant with money the transaction would be still going on, and yet he would get no produce for his money.
His Honour said the defendant had not acted honestly. He made an order against him to pay the sum claimed, with £2 12s costs, or to be imprisoned for thirty days. The order was suspended for one month.
Interesting Case of a Produce Dealer.
HEARING IN THE RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.
In the Kingston Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, the case of C. A. Solomon vs. A. Gutzmer was heard by Mr. S. L. Thornton. It was an action in which the plaintiff sought to recover £23 14s, alleged to have been advanced to the defendant and not accounted for. Mr. H, W. Dayes appeared for the plaintiff and Mr. J . H. Johnson for the defendant.
The case for the plaintiff was as follows:— Mr. Solomon was a produce and metal dealer. He entered into an agreement with the defendant, and on the 15th January he advanced him money to go to the country to purchase produce and pimento sticks. He supplied the money so that the defendant might be able to make as much profit as he could. He was not to use the money for anything but produce and pimento sticks. The £23 sued for was advanced to the defendant and not accounted for. He has failed to cover the amount with produce or sticks. At the start of the transactions the defendant had £50 in hand for the plaintiff and wanted more money, The plaintiff told him that he could not comply with his demand until he had cleared off the amount. The defendant reduced the £50 by supplying the produce, and asked the plaintiff for more money, stating that he could wipe off the balance as he had 600 sticks at the railway station at WilliamsfieId. The plaintiff accepted this statement, and advanced £15 to the defendant. On the 20th February, he forwarded a little over 300 sticks. The defendant also supplied some other sticks that were not pimento. They were, however, shipped and the defendant was informed that the price realized would be credited to him. The defendant had £23 14s balance which was not covered with produce or sticks. The plaintiff asked that an order be made against the defendant to pay the amount, or to be committed to prison.
Mr. Solomon was examined and in cross-examination said he had no transaction with the defendant as to the rental of a shop to buy the produce, or to employ an assistant to carry on the business.
The defendant said an agreement was entered into with the plaintiff to supply cash to carry on a produce business in the country. The plaintiff gave him a list of things that he could purchase. His specific dealing was in sticks. The plaintiff gave him £11 before he left Kingston. He had to do travelling and had to pay trainage. He employed two men and had to pay rent for a shop in the country. He also had to take out a license. All these things Mr. Solomon knew; and also that he had to pay the expenses out of the moneys advanced. He had also to purchase a machine to bundle the sticks. He had to advance moneys to several parties so as to get produce, but had not got the produce or amount back. He had lost on the transaction. One of the reasons for the failure was because the plaintiff had taken a man from whom he had bought sticks.
Mr. Johnson addressed the Court, urging that the defendant could not be committed to prison because he had not obtained the money by fraud. He got the amount to deal in produce and sticks. He had done so, but failed, owing to expense having to be incurred.
Mr. Dayes replied. He said at the time the defendant got the £15 he knew that, he had not got the number of sticks to cover the first part of the liability. He had acted in an improper way. The expenses which he referred to accrued on his own responsibility. All the business Mr. Solomon had to do with the defendant was to supply him money to buy sticks and produce. If Mr. Solomon had not stopped advancing the defendant with money the transaction would be still going on, and yet he would get no produce for his money.
His Honour said the defendant had not acted honestly. He made an order against him to pay the sum claimed, with £2 12s costs, or to be imprisoned for thirty days. The order was suspended for one month.
1910s
It is interesting that in the early 1900s the term 'pimento club' is used on a few occasions, but I have not found anything that really explains that usage. Jamaica still exported 'pimento sticks', but in perhaps declining quantities, up to World War One. References in the press indicate that 'pimento sticks' were used as weapons in Jamaica, as they probably had been from long before.
Pimento wood umbrella handles, ca 1922
and some more interesting 'timber' exports -
The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island: Edward Long, T. Lowndes, in Fleet-Street., 1774.
An History of Jamaica: With Observations on the Climate, Scenery, Trade, Productions, Negroes, Slave Trade, Diseases of Europeans, Customs, Manners, and Dispositions of the Inhabitants: to which is Added, an Illustration of the Advantages which are Likely to Result from the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Robert Renny, 1807