Horn of Plenty

By Liston B. Monsanto, Sr.

Horn of Plenty, is a cornucopia, producing much fruit from the flora
of the United States Virgin Islands. A fruity book coming with a lot of
anxieties, it is loaded with stories galore - some laughable and others
designed to produce a serious face. With so many fruits in the cornucopia,
Horn of Plenty, could easily have been called a fruit compote. How did I
work it into my repertoire? Very easy. Aided by a Virgin Islands totalitarian
governmental system and the many oppressors therein, made writing this
book a piece of fruit cake.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477257791

Liston B. Monsanto, Sr.

Because it is said that a man without pride deserves contempt, Liston B. Monsanto, Sr., prides himself on the fact that while there have been many aggrieved employees of the Virgin Islands government who have emerged victorious over the several departments and agencies making up the governmental structure, he is the only government employee in the history of the United States Virgin Islands to defeat the entire system which, at one time or the other (during the period of his persecution), was headed by Governors Melvin Evans, Cyril King, Juan Luis and Alexander Farrelly (see Opinion number 81-1434 of the Third Circuit Court).

Book preview

© 2012 by Liston B. Monsanto, Sr. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/10/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5780-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5778-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5779-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914414

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Fruitage 1: The Sugar Apples

Potpourri of past events

Read ’em and weep

Vermin, arthropods, insects, and aches and pains

Coo coo haulers

The igloo

Fruitage 2: The Mangoes

Low root and its byproducts

Issues of the day

The squeezer

Fruitage 3: The Sour Sops

From civilian clothes to military attire

Sampson air force base

Bay guard duty

Change in status

Falls city

Disciplinary problems and measures

Fruitage 4: The Tamarinds

Tidbits

Addendum

Fruitage 5: The Pineapple In A Fruit Cup

Trick meant to deceive

Epilogue

INVICTUS

About the book

About the author

Dedication

Whereas many of our scholars have become dyed-in-the-blood political animals working in collaboration with their unwholesome companions, whereas their scheming against authority has reversed the standards of right and wrong, and whereas most people in the United States Virgin Islands have failed to accept the fact that almost all of the topics being bandied about on the various radio talk shows are endemic in the Virgin Islands governmental system over which Irvin Brownie Brown has been serving as poster boy for more than forty years, today I find it especially right and proper to dedicate this book to all Virgin Islanders who are trying desperately to stop progress.

The wicked may grow like weeds, those who do wrong may prosper, yet they will be totally destroyed.

—Psalm 92:7

Introduction

In the United States Virgin Islands, members of the world of scholars, enjoying academic lives and showing care solely and chiefly for themselves, have ranged with the Virgin Islands government and through blatant hypocrisy find themselves accommodating culture.

Their refusal to attack the Virgin Islands governmental system, with its myriad of problems brought about by the absence of professional and business-like attitudes, has motivated an erudite person such as myself to make an attempt to deal with the problems.

Somebody has to put the bell on the cat so that the less fortunate among us can be given a chance to meet the educational standards of the day. The endemic disease of politics that is so widespread in the Virgin Islands has to be cured. It has warped completely the minds of the masses. Serious liquid loaded with the truth must be injected into the political veins of the oppressors.

The spoken word being ephemeral, opponents of the system under which we operate must make their feelings known in writing. As renegades they must also start planning in an orderly way to do away with all oppressive measures and our overall antiquated life style.

My writings, although not a panacea, have made sizeable inroads into the sordid situation. The oppressors cannot deal with truth, especially when that truth is made available to the outside world.

As a people, Virgin Islanders are confused. On the one hand, we are told that incumbent governor, John P. DeJongh, who is black, is the villain, while on the other hand, we are being told that white people behind the scenes are responsible. Has John P. DeJongh been absolved?

Because certain members of the world of scholars have failed to write any book voicing their dissatisfaction with the government system, except to complain about it in isolation via a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, as a people’s person I thought it wise to endear myself to you through this book.

Before closing out this introduction, I’d like to say that Virgin Islands history tells us that the famous journalist, Rothschild Francis, who was persecuted, prosecuted, and ultimately incarcerated, absconded to New York following his release from prison, never to return to St. Thomas. There is no documentary evidence of which I am aware that shows an autobiography written by Mr. Francis—a prolific writer. Were it not for Mr. Leon Mawson, who wrote the book Persecuted and Prosecuted, his bust in Emancipation Park, and the rostrum in the Market Square which bears Mr. Francis’ name, hardly anybody would know what the man had to go through.

Francis’ persecution is somewhat analogous to mine. For some contrast: (a) both Monsanto and Francis were persecuted in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, (b) Francis lost in court and ended up in jail, while Monsanto won in the Third Circuit Court and became the preeminent person in the Bureau of Internal Revenue, (c) Francis fled to New York, while Monsanto stayed in St. Thomas, (d) Francis, a journalist and editor of a newspaper, failed to write his autobiography to include his persecution. Monsanto, an inexperienced writer, wrote The Extreme Test, wherein he described his persecution, which lasted for a longer period of time under four governors. And so, having made the comparison and having established by evidence that man is the only animal you can skin more than once, it now becomes incumbent upon me to say that it is with a mark of my affection, a mark of my generosity, and a mark of my altruistic attitude that I present to you my book, which is entitled Horn of Plenty.

Fruitage 1: The Sugar Apples

Potpourri of past events

Although credence is given to the celebrated expression variety is the spice of life, in the United States Virgin Islands, for many years under the Danes and Americans, when it came to variety as it related to food, that expression was limited to beans from the pea family, corned beef, Vienna sausage, saltwater fish, pig snouts, pig tails, smoked herring, sardines, and salt fish. Salt fish was not as expensive as it is today. Affordable as it was, it was called poor people’s food.

On Sundays most households were treated to what we believed at the time to be a healthy diet, starting with hot chocolate for breakfast in the morning and beef soup, red meat, or pork for lunch. Chicken, so plentiful today, was a delicacy. Poor as we were, our main meal (wrongly called breakfast and served at noon) was a small portion of food for each