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Another moving story by Richard Charan - Trinidad Express By Richard Charan Oct.11, 2023 Three men live under the Endeavour overpass along the highway in Chaguanas.
One appears to be a once-hopeful migrant, now a member of Trinidad’s growing underclass. The second, a dangerous-looking Indian fellow, has wasted away the low-quality drugs he is surely smoking. The third, his body and clothing caked in an equal amount of grime, is an ethnic mystery. He is like a silhouette. child born at quarters: The gateman’s wife, Phyllis Augustine. In a dry space under the bridge, they have their shopping carts, buckets, sponge beds and fireside. Anybody with work and business north of the Caroni would likely have seen these men. Because between 3 p.m. and nightfall, drivers are caught up in south-bound traffic gridlock around this area, five days a week. Crawling along at between zero and one kilometre per hour, there isn’t much else to look at, except the Venezuelan migrants selling plantain chips, or the teenagers hawking Coca-Cola and cotton candy. The gatekeeper’s quarters at Endeavour, Chaguanas. Since no one has a solution to this highway torture, suffering drivers might be interested in knowing there is a piece of built history near the overpass, hiding in plain sight. We can look at that instead, while wasting away part of our short lives. The railway house. You will see it just before the AMCO compound, under the billboards advertising rum. It is a building from the time of the Trinidad Government Railway (TGR). It was once the home of Mr Kennedy Augustine, who was assigned the accommodation since he needed to stay close to the railway tracks and respond to the approaching locomotives. He held the position of gatekeeper, with the job of controlling the barrier across what was then the two-lane Princes Margaret Highway, to allow for the road crossing of the passenger trains coming from the north and east. Back then, drivers could only reach the dead-end Chaguanas roundabout before turning into the Central Trinidad town, and then on to San Fernando along the Old Southern Main Road. That roundabout was replaced around 1966 with what we now see as the elevated Chaguanas overpass after Government invested in a 1.4-mile (2.3-kilometre) highway extension to Chase Village. Another 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) of highway was completed in the early ’70s by the same contractor—George Wimpey and Company. But before all that development, Augustine still held an important job, having earned a promotion from platelayer (laying down and maintaining the tracks) to gateman, with one of the perks being the three-room quarters, which was already old since the railway had extended through Chaguanas to Couva by 1882. The Endeavour location was likely the same one mentioned in VS Naipaul’s 2003 book Literary Occasions where he wrote, “Not far from my mother’s family house in Chaguanas was the railway crossing. Twice or four times a day an old one-armed negro closed and opened the gates. Did this man have a story? The man himself didn’t seem to think so. He lived in absolute harmony with the vacancies of his calling...”. It appears Augustine spent that downtime between gatekeeping calls in a rather fertile way. Born in Grenada in 1915, he left his wife and four children there in 1941 to look for work on the big island of Trinidad. He found jobs in the World War II construction boom before getting his break in the railway. And with a permanent position, he sent for his wife, Phillis, and his children. They would have five more in Endeavour, one of them being born, suddenly, in the railway quarters. Those were lean but happy days, said his youngest child, 69-year-old Audrey Farrell, who remembered the area being cultivated lands, with fields of orange and coconuts, breadfruit and bison, all of it surrounded by the sugarcane fields. “When the train passed, the engine driver would stop and pick us up right here where we lived, and daddy would go open the gate for the train to pass across (where the north-bound lanes of the Uriah Butler highway now pass). The last train to San Fernando rolled in August 1965, and Augustine’s job became redundant. He got a job in the Food and Drugs Division in Port of Spain, and the family supplemented their income by selling vegetables on the highway shoulder. All nine children grew up in the quarters, and several still occupy the property, with children and grandchildren. Phyllis died early, at age 57, but railway man Alexander lived on. He was 89 when he died 18 years ago, to be survived by his house, now occupied by two grandsons and a son. They intend to maintain the property until the passage of time takes its timber. And while you sit in the traffic, consider this. If you had taken a 1960s passenger train from Port of Spain to San Fernando today, you would be home by now. NOTE: At its peak, the Trinidad Government Railway laid down more than 118 miles (190 kilometres) of track, and reached Siparia, Sangre Grande, Rio Claro, Princes town, Port of Spain, Chaguanas, Tabaquite, Couva and San Fernando, with plans to take it all the way to Erin, Toco, and Guayaguayare, according to the research of railway historian Glen Beadon, who has written the authoritative book The Railways of Trinidad. The system closed for good on December 31, 1968, because it became unprofitable. It was killed by the emergence of port facilities, improved road conditions, and the greater use of buses, taxis,and the private cars now clogging every secondary and primary road. By the late Angelo Bissessarsingh. The first organized cricket club in the island was formed in the late 1870s by a group of English colonial officers and planters. The Sovereign Cricket club membership eventually formed what was the genesis of the still-existing Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) in 1891. Five years later, the QPCC acquired the lease on lands which were to become the Queen’s Park Oval which is today one of the best cricketing arenas in the Caribbean. The ethnic composition of the QPCC came under fire in the 1890s. This was an era characterized by anti-colonial sentiments and heightened by the presence of several influential and vocal coloured men who spoke out against old and racially biased stratification of colonial society. One of these agitators in particular, Edgar Maresse-Smith, was pivotal in having Lebrun Constantine accepted into the QPCC as its first non-white member. Lebrun Constantine was born in Maraval , a district barely a mile outside Trinidad’s capital city of Port-of-Spain on a cocoa plantation where his parents were workers. He worked on a cocoa estate as well in his youth and played cricket in matches held at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain where he quickly established a reputation for being a good batsman. At that time Cricket in Trinidad had not as yet taken on an organized front although one of the most distinguished icons of the game was born in the island. Lebrun made history as well as being a regular on the Trinidad cricket team from as early as 1893-94. Inter-colonial cricket matches between Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica were then popular and Lebrun was a player in almost every meet after 1899. The first three tournaments were fielded with all-white teams. In 1894, Robert Slade made the first tour of the West Indies with an English cricket team, followed two years later by a team under Arthur Priestly. In the latter tour, the English side came up against an all-West Indian contingent that included Lebrun Constantine and lost. In 1900, R.S.A Warner (brother of Sir Pelham Warner) led the first West Indian touring team to England. Although not accorded first class status, the West Indians played well. Once again, the lineup included Lebrun Constantine as a batsman and wicket keeper. His batting averages were second in the West Indies team, being 30 for 610. During this tour as well, Constantine made history by becoming the first West Indian to score a century (113 runs) against an English team. In 1906 another tour to England took place of which he was a member. This time he managed to be third in the batting averages. Of his performance in the 1906 tour, the following commentary was given; "another of the brigade who proved himself very strong on the left side and can bat with power. He fields in the slips and can bowl right arm medium pace if required". Aside from his prowess as a batsman and wicket keeper, Lebrun was also a fielder of note with his energy and accuracy coming in for high praise. Lebrun Constantine’s last match of his professional career was in a 1923 inter-colonial match against Barbados. This was a landmark event since also in the batting lineup was Lebrun’s son – Learie Nicholas Constantine (21 September 1901 – 1 July 1971) - who rose to become one of the greatest cricketers in history and was later knighted and in 1969 became the first black peer in the House of Lords as Baron Constantine of Maraval in Trinidad and the County Palatine in Lancaster. Another son, Elias (22 May 1912 – 22 May 2003) also became a cricketer of renown, and who played for the West Indies in test matches in the 1930s. Despite his pioneering career he was largely low-profile in his own homeland. Whilst touring with the first West Indian teams, he supported himself as a coachman in the employ of Madame Poleska de Boissiere. Lebrun occasionally made public statements on cricket in the local press but remained mostly private until he died in 1942. (Source: Angelo Bissessarsingh's Vitrual Museum of Trinidad & Tobago, September 21, 2023) My Navel String Buried Here!!!!!
By K Michael Kangalee The term 'meh navel-string buried here,” derives from past widespread cultural practice of burying the navel-string (umbilical cord) of a new-born usually under a banana (fig) tree. This ritual can be traced back to cultural practices of indigenous people and it symbolizes the planting of roots for their child in the land and in the community, thus reaffirming the child's cultural connections to the land of their birth. In many African cultures the umbilical cord is usually buried under a tree as a symbolic act of ongoing life. Other cultures throughout the world also share this ritual. I wonder if mothers in T&T still bury the navel-strings of their new-born babies in tree roots ? Do you know where your navel string is buried? One of our members Michael Kangalee who is 81 years shares his memory of the spot where his navel string is buried and the home he grew up in. The original fig tree where my navel string was buried in 1942 was cut down after bearing , however other suckers have grown-up in the same spot near to where I lived as a child . As such although today I am over 80 years , I know the exact spot where my navel string is buried since a fig patch still exists even today. When and how my Nana and Nani acquired the piece of land to build our humble home [the last piece of land where the Tacarigua river flows under the Eastern Main Road ], is unknown - -it could well have been the property of the maternal great grandparents Bhairo and Lachmin, who most likely emerged from their Indentureship Labours around 1895, or thereabouts. See those the two "fig" trees in the centre left in the attached photo my mother told me in 1955, that my "navel-string"{or is it umbilical cord?} was buried there in 1943 by my Nani. The "baby fig" tree there now in 2019 [ see colour photo ], has to be "an offspring of the original 1942 fig tree". I have eaten curry green fig talkarie picked from a tree in this patch in 2017. Seems to me that for the past 80 years and more, that spot on the family-land was always reserved for "fig trees"... and you will notice the land slowing gently to the Tacarigua river.... and you also see the Northern range in the background. Growing up as a little boy I could clearly visualize the tapia house we lived in that was built about 4 feet off the ground. [I cannot really remember whether this was a "leepayed" area or not?] –my family had a place to call home and the kids a place to play; rain or sun and that all that mattered. I remembered our humble dwelling having an open gallery; a Living Room/ Dining Room, and a bedroom[Basdeo Mamoo/Tanti Dolly], then down the steps to the outside kitchen[ communal cooking by the good mom and the two aunts];next to the gallery was a bedroom[the Nani] then another bedroom {Mom and Dad}. The next bedroom belonged to Puchee Mamoo and Tanti Laikoo, and Mamoo Shun and the baby brother stayed in the next bedroom.We children, about six , at that time, slept on blankets and bags, on the Living Room floor. Rasool, Gillan, and Baing and Motilal Mamoos had their own homes, by this time[1949], and sometime after 1950, only Nani and Basdeo Mamoo and his family remained at that house. There were about six concrete steps at the front and an equal number at the rear, which led to the outside kitchen, a galvanised structure, with a double- chulha, a home-made table and storage area/utensils for dry goods . An oil drum was acquired and converted to an oven { with heat at the bottom and top}; occasionally bread and sponge cake emerged and I could even in 2023, recall the pre-1950 smell of freshly-baking rum cake at Christmas - -either by Tanti Dolly or Tanti Laikoo. There was a chicken run at the rear, so eggs were available. I do not believe that pork and beef were ever served in our home. I do recall however, my Nani teaching me to "leepay - -{my Nani would insist that I keep my finger nails on my left hand very short}, and her fastidiousness about a clean yard, especially when she was arranging Hindu prayers {never a grain of grass was to be found on the yard}. The photo above was taken some time between 1963 and 1973 and shows a "fig tree" in some prominence; I am easily persuaded that that "fig tree" was a sucker which came from the original fig tree where my navel string was planted in 1942. (Source: Angelo Bissessarsingh's Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, August 9, 2023) Researched by Patricia Bissessar
Once upon a time, hundreds of thousand years ago prehistoric giant animals roamed the island of Trinidad: ground sloths 20 feet tall, giant armadillos as big as automobiles and Mastodons ( larger than elephants). If it were not for the fossils and skeletal remains of these prehistoric animals found buried in tar pits in south Trinidad many would not believe this to be true. During early excavations in Trinidad paleontologists, (scientists who specializes in the study of life forms that existed in previous geologic periods) unearthed fossils belonging to gigantic mastodons, and other giant mammals that were trapped in the tar pits . According to Earth Magazine tar pits are deceptively dangerous place for as little as four centimetres of tar could be enough to ensnare a large animal. Once stuck in a tar seep, animals would eventually sink into the tar. In the book SUCCESSION OF MAMMALIAN FAUNAS ON TRINIDAD, WEST INDIES, A study conducted by ELIZABETH SCHWARZ WING 1962 there are documented reports of fossil finds of armadillos the size of cars , remains of ground sloths 20 feet tall and skeletal remains of other ancient mammals. According to Wing ( 1962) many of the fossil finds, indicating the existence of these prehistoric mammals in Trinidad were made by Dr. H. G. Kugler in the course of his career as oil geologist for Texaco Trinidad, Inc. In 1922, he discovered a vertebrate-fossil of Megatherium (Megatherium is an extinct genus of ground sloths endemic to South America that lived from the Early Pliocene through the end of the Pleistocene )remains in a stratum of oil sands while making a test pit at Apex (Trinidad) Oilfields, Inc. near Fyzabad. A carbon- date of greater than 3000 years has been determined from wood associated with at a depth of 12 feet at Trinidad's most important fossil locality at Forest Reserve. Wing ( 1962 ) also reports that a similar deposit near-by at the Forest Reserve of Texaco Trinidad, Inc. was found in 1957 when the site was being cleared for oil well Number IO6O. It was in this site an almost complete skeleton of a Glyptodon was excavated, and shipped along with some fragments to the American Museum of Natural History.The Glyptodon was essentially a dinosaur-sized armadillo, with a huge, round, armored carapace, stubby, turtle-like legs, and a blunt head on a short neck. Wing ( 1962) in her study further postulates that Geological studies revealed that Sea levels were lower during the last Ice Age and Trinidad was connected to mainland South America . As such when the llanos extended into Trinidad there was opportunity for the spread of these giant creatures into Trinidad from South America. These are the clues that tell us that prehistoric animals once roamed the island of Trinidad. These fossil discoveries and other archaeological finds in Trinidad and Tobago provide historians and scientists with rich data of what life was like thousand of years ago in Trinidad. Source: Virtual Museum of T&T, August 15, 2023) By the time of Columbus’ arrival to the region at the end of the 15th century, the Kalinagos were the main residents of Tobago. The Kalinago, who were named “Island Caribs” by the Europeans, are believed to have migrated from the Orinoco River area in South America around 1200 AD. Some say that the Kalinago called the island of Tobago “Urupaina,” (meaning “snail” in the Kali’na language) because they thought Tobago’s landscape resembled a large snail. The Europeans also gave Tobago several names, including Christopher Columbus, who called Tobago “Belaforme” in his writing because “from a distance it seemed beautiful.” From as early as 1511, Spanish records show Tobago recorded under the name “Tabaco,” referencing the tobacco leaves that were grown and smoked by the indigenous inhabitants of the island. The name also appears as “Tabago” in Dutch and French records. This photo showing a 1665 Dutch Map of “Tabago”, is courtesy of the National Archives of the Netherlands. References: Boomert, Arie. The Indigenous Peoples of Trinidad and Tobago: from the First Settlers until Today. Sidestone Press, 2016 Reid, Basil. “The Journal of Caribbean History: Volume 38, Issue 2.” University of the West Indies Press, 2 Mar. 2020. (Source: The National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago, September 13, 2023) |
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