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 Book 35 
 
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 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
THE PORTO RICO OF 
 TO-DAY 
 
 PEN PICTURES OF THE PEOPLE 
 AND THE COUNTRY 
 
 BY 
 
 ALBERT GARDNER ROBINSON 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1899 
 
 \ 
 
 Us, 
 
25303 
 
 Copyright, 1899, by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 ■ _Q. 
 
 
 TROW DIRECTORY 
 
 PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 0»> V \ 
 
 «5 
 
 ^ 
 
 & 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 In the preparation of this book, it has not been the 
 purpose of the writer to produce a guide-book, an 
 economic treatise, or a hand-book of military science. 
 Yet all these, and other topics, are treated with more 
 or less fulness in its pages. The work is based upon 
 a series of letters furnished to The Evening Post of 
 New York, during the months of August, September, 
 and October, 1898, which have been revised and am- 
 plified for this purpose. As a correspondent for that 
 paper, the writer accompanied one of the first de- 
 tachments of the army of invasion to Porto Rico, and 
 remained on the island until after the conclusion of 
 the campaign by the raising of the American flag 
 over the city of San Juan, on October 18th. The 
 purpose of this book then is to present a picture of 
 the people and of the country as the author saw 
 them, and to throw light upon the commercial possi- 
 bilities in our new possession that lie within the 
 reach of American business men. 
 
 A. G. E. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN 
 
 Marching Orders — The Composition and Command of the Porto 
 Rico Expedition — Uncertainty Regarding its Movement — Confu- 
 sion of Orders — The Embarkation from Tampa, . . Page i 
 
 II 
 
 LIFE ON A TROOP-SHIP 
 
 Some Faults in Troop Transportation— Unnecessary Exposure to 
 Danger— Soldiers Killing Time— Grumbling at the Commissary 
 — Food of Officers and Privates— A Midnight Excitement — 
 Encounter with the Eagle on the Blockading Line — Arrival at 
 Ponce, Page ii 
 
 III 
 
 EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 
 
 Porto Rico or Puerto Rico— The Carib Title— Boriquen— First 
 Impressions of the Island— The Harbor of Ponce— Unloading 
 Transports — Soldiers as Stevedores — Mutual Curiosity — La 
 Playa — The City of Ponce— Appearance of the Common People 
 — Pedlers — The Island Ponies— Shopping Experiences — Cour- 
 tesy from a Citizen, Page 26 
 
Vlll ' CONTENTS 
 
 IV 
 
 THE CITY OF PONCE 
 
 Our Reception— Busy Days — Two Centres of Activity — Amusements 
 — Police Department — Fire Department — The Market — Ponce 
 Stores— A Lesson in Spanish, Page 47 
 
 V 
 
 INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 
 
 The Town of Yauco— The Sunday Morning Market— Fruits and 
 Vegetables — Jacky and the Natives — Guanica — Our First Land- 
 ing Place — A Horse Trade — On the Road to Adjuntas — A 
 Mountain Town— The Good Padre — The Kitchen-maid and her 
 Cigar, Page 62 
 
 VI 
 
 A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 
 
 Correspondents on the Firing-line — An Excited Chief of Police — 
 Beyond the Outposts— A Search for Willing Prisoners — A Blind 
 Trail — A Spaniard's Hospitality — Midnight Encounters— Friends 
 or Foes — Unwilling Rough Riders — A Striking Picture — The 
 Capture—" Too Near " Home, Page 78 
 
 VII 
 
 TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 
 
 " Shucks and Shacks " — Picturesque San German — " Hotel the Strug- 
 gle " — A Restless Night — A Native Description of the Engagement 
 at Hormigueros — Two Humble Heroes— A Notable Shrine — Beau- 
 tiful Mayaguez — A Miniature Street-car Line — Public Buildings 
 — The Casino, . s Page 93 
 
CONTENTS IX 
 
 VIII 
 
 FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 
 
 A Model Highway — A Bicycle Trip Worth Taking— Island Villages — 
 The Baths of Coamo — Good Luck for our Army — A Moun- 
 tain Drive— Passing the Outposts — Cayey and Guayama— Nat- 
 ure's Bounty — System of Road Repairs — Porto Rican Road- 
 houses, Page 108 
 
 IX 
 
 HIGHWAYS 
 
 An Important Factor in Island Development— Present Highway Sys- 
 tem — A Hard Journey — The Bovimotor — The Boy and the 
 Coachman — Fun for the Boy, and Entertainment for the Audi- 
 ence—Porto Rican Drivers— The Need of Good Roads— Costly 
 Transportation — A Heavy Charge on Industries, . . Page 122 
 
 X 
 
 RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 
 
 The Railways of To-day — The Ponce and Yauco Division — The Hu- 
 miliation of a Traveller — The Solitary Occupant of the Apartment 
 of the First Class— Familiar Sights in a Foreign Land — The Re- 
 quirements of the Island — Present System of Transportation — 
 Probable Benefits of Railway Extension — The United States in 
 the Telegraph Business— Cable Lines, Page 133 
 
 XI 
 
 INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 
 
 Our New Farm — Mining Possibilities and Timber Lands — The Out- 
 look for Sugar — The Coffee. Industry — Encouragement in To- 
 bacco-growing— Obstacles to Export Fruit Trade— Cattle-raising 
 — An American Bermuda — Victims of Mariana, . . . Page 130 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 XII 
 
 COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 
 
 Ephemeral Trade — Problems for the Merchants — Arrival of the 
 Commercial Army— Disappointed Speculators and Promoters — 
 Local Productions — The Volume of Imports — The Export Trade 
 — Porto Rican Business Methods — Influence of Tariff— Outlook 
 for Americans, Page i6j 
 
 XIII 
 
 OLLA PODRIDA 
 
 The Best Way to Travel on the Island — Sleeping Accommodations — 
 Conservative Farmers — Food Staples of the Peasantry — The 
 Temperature and Its Results — The Educational Question — Schools 
 and School-houses of San Juan — Points of Interest — Pretty Girls 
 — Cost of City Government — The " Color " Question — Porto 
 Rican Homes, , Page 180 
 
 XIV 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND 
 
 Military Skill vs. the " Dispensations of Providence "—The Plan 
 of the Porto Rico Campaign — A Unique Expedition — General 
 Schwan's Sweep to the West — Difference in American and Span- 
 ish Methods in Warfare — Discomforts of a Tropical Campaign — 
 An Unwritten Story— Our Insignificant Casualties, . Page 197 
 
 XV 
 
 UNDER THE OLD REGIME 
 
 Exaggerated Idea of Spanish Oppression — Heavily Taxed, but Virtually 
 Free from Debt — A Citizen's Complaints — A Nineteenth Century 
 Inquisition — Taxes for Special Purposes — Annexation Preferred 
 to Autonomy — The Hope of the People, . , . . ■ Page 20b 
 
CONTENTS XI 
 
 XVI 
 
 ADIOS! ESPANA 
 
 A Brief but Impressive Ceremony — The De Profundis of Spanish 
 Rule — Amicable Relations — Admiral Sampson's System of Ven- 
 tilation for Public Buildings — The Fortifications of San Juan — 
 The Soldiers of the Boy King— Their Repatriation — The Law of 
 Karma, Page 219 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Facing 
 
 page 
 
 Palace of the Governor-General, San Juan, now the American 
 
 Official Head-Quarters Frontispiece "^ 
 
 United States Transports off Port Ponce 28 J/ 
 
 A Typical Street in Port Ponce 32 ^ 
 
 A Street Scene in Port Ponce 36 
 
 Main Road, Ponce to Port Ponce 40 
 
 A Street in Ponce 52 
 
 View of Ponce from the Hospital 56 
 
 Market-Place at Ponce 64 
 
 Cathedral and Plaza at Arecibo 80 
 
 Dominican Monastery, in San German, Built about 1511 , . 96 
 
 Plaza and City Hall in San German 100 
 
 Cathedral and Plaza at Ponce 110 
 
 The Military Road near Ponce 116 u 
 
 The Military Road from Ponce to San Juan . . . . 120 L ' 
 
 Where the Natives Live 132 : - 
 
 The Home of a Planter 154 ^ 
 
 Home of the Peons 1 72 ^ 
 
 Looking Westward from Fort San Cristobal— Morro in the 
 
 Distance 190 
 
 Looking Eastward from Morro — San Cristobal in the Distance . 190 
 
Xiv LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS 
 
 Facing 
 page 
 
 Ruins of Passenger-Cars Burned by the Spaniards at Ponce . 198 ''' 
 Commanding Officers of the Twenty-fifth Alphonso Guard, in 
 
 front of the Spanish Barracks, Arecibo .... 204 
 Seventh United States Artillery, Light Battery M, Encamped near 
 
 Ponce 206 
 
 Fort San Cristobal, San Juan ... '.-... 222 
 Plaza in San Juan, with the City Hall on the Left . * .226 
 St. John's Church, San Juan, showing the Effects of the Bom- 
 bardment 230 - 
 
 MAPS 
 
 General Map of Porto Rico . . . .At end of volume I 
 
 Telegraph Lines and Stations in Porto Rico . " " " 
 
 Porto Rico and its Coast Line . . . . " " " 
 
THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
I 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN 
 
 Marching Orders — The Composition and Command of the Porto 
 Rico Expedition — Uncertainty Regarding its Movement — 
 Confusion of Orders — The Embarkation from Tampa. 
 
 New York, June 3, 1898. 
 A. G. Robinson, 
 
 Chattanooga, Tenn. 
 
 Leave for Jacksonville immediately to join Lees 
 
 expedition to Porto Rico. Report by wire on arrival 
 
 there. 
 
 The Evening Post. 
 
 For the six weeks preceding the receipt of this 
 telegram I had been engaged in studying and re- 
 porting the conditions of the life of our troops at 
 Camp Thomas. It had been arranged that I should 
 accompany the army to Porto Rico whenever it 
 should start. Within three hours of the receipt of 
 this message I was on my way to Jacksonville, Fla., 
 then the head-quarters of the Seventh Army Corps, 
 General Fitzhugh Lee commanding. I obeyed the 
 first four words of my instructions, but I was more 
 
2 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 than doubtful of any opportunity to obey the follow- 
 ing seven. But at that time Washington and New- 
 York had accepted the rumor that Lee and the 
 Seventh Corps were to invade and occupy the island 
 of Porto Rico. The move on Porto Rico had been 
 discussed and planned, and there was some ground for 
 expectation of its immediate development. That the 
 move would be made under the command of General 
 Lee was not the logic of the situation, although 
 many of our people and many of our leading journals 
 fully believed that Lee was slated for that expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 Lee's proper and logical destination was Havana, 
 to which point he was ordered later on, and not San 
 Juan, where rumor at this time had assigned him. 
 He knew Havana, had been there during the days 
 of special stress, had left there under peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, and, on leaving, had told the Havanese — 
 though his statement was rather personal than offi- 
 cial — that he would come back to them with an army 
 behind him. It therefore seemed wholly fitting that 
 if Havana were to be made a point of attack during 
 the impending war, General Lee's words on leaving 
 that city should be made good by the government 
 which sent him there. There were other reasons 
 also why the Seventh Corps was not likely to form 
 the Porto Rico expedition. It was but partially 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN 3 
 
 organized, was deficient in drill, and inadequately- 
 equipped. Nor was Jacksonville at all a suitable 
 place for the embarkation of an expedition. Its 
 harbor was difficult of access, and of wholly insuffici- 
 ent depth to accommodate any, save a few of the 
 lighter draft transports. 
 
 The following six weeks were spent in writing 
 camp stories from Jacksonville, Tampa, Key West, 
 and Miami, and in running down the many orders 
 and rumors of orders for the forwarding of the expe- 
 dition to Porto Rico. The days of June and the ear- 
 lier days of July were probably more prolific than 
 any others of the entire campaign in the production 
 of rumors of projected advances of our army, and in 
 the actual issue of orders for movement which were 
 immediately followed by countermanding orders. It 
 is somewhat doubtful if the War Department really 
 knew what it wanted to do, or what it intended to 
 do. The vociferous expressions and demands of a 
 certain phase of journalism, and the outcry raised 
 by congressmen and others whose enthusiasm ran 
 beyond the boundaries of sound judgment, were far 
 from being in harmony with the plans and wishes of 
 the administration. Men of enthusiastic and san- 
 guine temperament loudly asserted the ability of 
 the United States to put hundreds of thousands of 
 fighting men into the field, armed and equipped and 
 
4 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 ready for service, within a period which they meas- 
 ured by days. Men of sounder judgment, wider 
 experience, and fuller knowledge, were well aware of 
 the folly of such a proposition. Insistent demand 
 for immediate movement sought to override impossi- 
 bilities, and dire confusion was the inevitable result. 
 The situation, so far as the press and the public 
 were concerned, was complicated by the circulation 
 of "inside information," which may have been issued 
 only as a "blind" to conceal genuine plans from 
 interested Spanish observers, to whom a knowledge 
 of our intentions would have been of incalculable 
 service. An army of trained journalists and news- 
 seekers was on the alert for possible clews that 
 would guide them and their papers in the formation 
 of plans for obtaining those accounts which must be 
 furnished to their readers, and without which the 
 journal would lose prestige as a source of the earliest 
 and most accurate information. The Porto Rico ex- 
 pedition was a matter of less real moment, and was 
 a much smaller affair, than the invasion of Cuba. Yet 
 its despatch seemed to present even a greater tan- 
 gle than did the larger enterprise. The unwisdom 
 of any move on Havana during the early summer 
 months became more and more apparent. The grad- 
 ual development of the situation paved the way to 
 the Santiago expedition. But there was nothing 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN 5 
 
 which made the immediate occupation of Porto Rico 
 clearly imperative. The presence of the Cervera 
 squadron in West Indian waters also arose as a 
 restraining element. 
 
 The command, constitution, and the point of de- 
 parture of the army for Porto Rico, remained open 
 questions, and the newsboys who sold the papers 
 were almost as accurately informed regarding the 
 position as were the editors who printed them. 
 Waiting correspondents telegraphed to their home 
 offices, and the home offices replied to the waiting 
 correspondents. The Porto Rico expedition was to 
 leave Tampa on a certain day, and was to consist 
 of the Fourth Corps, under General Coppinger. It 
 was to start either from Miami or from Fernandina, 
 and consist of the Seventh Corps, under General 
 Coppinger. Again the rumor came that Lee was to 
 start from Jacksonville with his command. Every 
 major-general of the army who could not be other- 
 wise accounted for, was assigned, by some more or 
 less widely current report, to the command of the 
 Porto Rican expedition. These various expeditions 
 were formed, by these reports, of any and all troops 
 having no other special destination. They were ap- 
 pointed to sail, by the same reports, upon various 
 dates, and from a long list of Atlantic and Gulf ports. 
 This is hardly an exaggeration, and it was from all 
 
6 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 this intricate maze of uncertain reports and rumors 
 that correspondents and their chiefs were to extract 
 the kernel of truth which would guide them in the 
 way in which they should go. 
 
 At last, soon after the middle of July, everything 
 appeared to focus around General Brooke and the 
 First Army Corps. On the 19th, the following de- 
 spatch reached me at Jacksonville : " Latest advices 
 are General Brooke reaches Chickamauga to-morrow 
 and then will decide what regiments leave with him 
 for Porto Bico, with indications movement not begin 
 before last this month. Fourth Corps said to be 
 already embarked at Tampa." 
 
 The first part of this despatch was approximately 
 accurate. The last part showed the effect of press 
 censorship, which was very close at Tampa. Not a 
 few of even the leading newspapers announced the 
 departure of that Tampa expedition a number of 
 days before the vessels left the wharves. On the 
 following day, the 20th, a despatch came from the 
 office, which read as follows : 
 
 " Best Washington advice is that you go to New- 
 port News to embark." 
 
 Charleston had also come into prominence as the 
 point from which the troops were to sail, and Gen- 
 eral Ernst's brigade of the First Corps was on its 
 way to that port, with possibilities of being ordered 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN 7 
 
 to some other before reaching it. The Tampa de- 
 tachment was in process of assembly. Even at so 
 nearby a point as Jacksonville we were quite unable 
 to learn either its composition or its probable day of 
 sailing. We were told that it had gone, that it was 
 to go, and that its orders had been countermanded, 
 and that it would not go at all. General Miles had 
 sailed, some days before, for Santiago, with more 
 troops than were needed there, and was to proceed 
 to Porto Rico with the surplus. 
 
 These four detachments, from Newport News, 
 Charleston, Tampa, and Santiago, gradually assumed 
 a definite shape, until there was no question that a 
 force would move from each point. It became clearly 
 evident that the Porto Eican invasion was to be the 
 work, not of an army, but of an aggregation. In a 
 force whose numerical strength was somewhat less 
 than the half of an army corps, four different corps 
 were represented. Brigades and regiments were de- 
 tached from the commands with which they had been 
 connected, and were assigned to this heterogeneous 
 expedition in a way which, a little later, gave rise to 
 serious conditions among the troops, by reason of 
 the lack and derangement of the staff service which 
 attends and provides for the line in the properly sys- 
 tematized organization. This undoubtedly was the 
 main cause of the many serious difficulties encoun- 
 
8 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 tered by our soldiers on the island of Porto Rico. 
 Our military system provides for military organiza- 
 tions, with the corps, the division, the brigade, 
 the regiment, and the company, as the descending 
 sequence in the line of organization and supply, but 
 it makes no adequate provision for miltiary conglom- 
 erations. 
 
 It became a problem of no easy solution to deter- 
 mine which of the three available detachments — 
 Santiago being, of course, out of reach — presented 
 the best combination of chances for interesting news- 
 matter. Presumably, all would rendezvous at some 
 previously determined point. But there was also the 
 possibility that they would not. The result sup- 
 ported the possibility. The determination being left, 
 in a measure, to my own judgment, I chose the 
 Tampa detachment because it promised an early 
 move which would put it in the fore-front in the 
 days of the expected activity, and also because it 
 was composed entirely of soldiers of our regular 
 army, for which I confess to holding a very marked 
 predilection. I therefore moved at once on Tampa. 
 
 Upon my arrival I found everything and every- 
 body in a state of disorder and turmoil. The place 
 was a bee-hive, an ant-hill, a toy- shop on Christmas- 
 eve — anything that represents ceaseless activity and 
 some apparent and some evident confusion. The ex- 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN 9 
 
 pedition was on the eve of its departure, and every- 
 body connected with it was saddled with a load 
 which should have been distributed upon many 
 shoulders. Eight transports were being loaded, two 
 for Santiago and six for Porto Rico. Washington 
 was telegraphing rush orders and trying to learn 
 why a few men could not do the work which should 
 have been apportioned among a hundred. The long 
 wharf was crowded with stevedores, railroad men, 
 officers, troopers, and civilians. Cars, loaded with 
 supplies, were waiting the transference of their con- 
 tents to the ships alongside. Artillery horses, cav- 
 alry horses, pack mules, ambulances and army wag- 
 ons, stood in long lines, waiting to be rushed on 
 board and stored as best they might be at the last 
 moment. 
 
 It took several hours of tedious waiting before I 
 could secure enough of the time of the overworked 
 depot quartermaster to enable me to obtain the order 
 which assigned me to a state-room on board the trans- 
 port D. H. Miller. She was to carry my friends of 
 Light Battery C of the Seventh United States Artil- 
 lery. I desired to accompany them for personal rea- 
 sons, and also for the hope that in those engagements 
 which it was then supposed would form a part of the 
 campaign, the artillery would be given its full measure 
 of prominence. It was my wish to make a somewhat 
 
10 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 careful study of that rather neglected but highly im- 
 portant arm of our military service — the light field 
 battery. As Battery was equipped with the new 
 pattern of gun using the smokeless powder, there ap- 
 peared to be strong probability of its seeing active 
 service if anybody did. "We tried to get along with- 
 out an adequate force of artillery at the battles be- 
 fore Santiago, and the plan is hardly to be credited 
 with any marked degree of success. 
 
 Noon, on Saturday July 23d, saw four of the trans- 
 ports for Porto Rico on their way down the Bay of 
 Tampa, with the other two to follow as soon as the 
 inevitable "last things" could be done. General 
 Miles had sailed from Santiago. General Ernst was 
 on his way from Charleston, and General Brooke was 
 getting ready with the detachment from Newport 
 News. After months of waiting and weeks of make- 
 believe preparation, the Porto Rican expedition had 
 become a fact. 
 
II 
 
 LIFE ON A TROOP-SHIP 
 
 Some Faults in Troop Transportation— Unnecessary Exposure to 
 Danger— Soldiers Killing Time— Grumbling at the Commissary 
 — Food of Officers and Privates— A Midnight Excitement — 
 Encounter with the Eagle on the Blockading Line — Arrival at 
 Ponce. 
 
 "To the front." Few words have a wider interest 
 
 or a deeper meaning when the clarion of war has 
 
 sounded in the ears of a nation. To the soldier who 
 
 is to go, they mean the active service for which he 
 
 has enlisted, the realization of his desires. They 
 
 mean disappointment to those who stay behind in 
 
 the camps. They mean care and pain and anxiety 
 
 to hundreds of thousands of loving hearts at home. 
 
 They are a text for a sermon and a title for a story. 
 
 After months of routine work in camp, the bugle call 
 
 of the "general," which is the signal for striking 
 
 tents and loading baggage, comes as a welcome 
 
 sound of sweet music to the soldier, if it follows 
 
 orders which send the command " to the front." It 
 
 is seldom that more than the briefest time is allowed 
 
 11 
 
12 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 for preparation. Farewell letters must be the work 
 of such chance minutes as may be found free from 
 other duties, and it often happens that such minutes 
 do not come at all, and the soldier boy goes to the 
 front with no " good-by " to the friends at home. 
 Sometimes this is his fault, but more often it is an 
 unfortunate result of his necessary duties. 
 
 Whether or no it be that all wars, and all cam- 
 paigns and military expeditions present the same 
 opportunities for criticism as does the Spanish- 
 American entanglement of 1898, it is an unfortunate 
 fact that few of the processes of the Porto Eico 
 campaign are not open to severe criticism. It is 
 difficult to deal with any of its phases without some 
 censure for things done, and for others left undone. 
 To omit this censure and the criticism, though 
 neither is a pleasant feature to either the writer or 
 the reader, would entail the exclusion from any story 
 of the campaign of the summer of 1898 of very much 
 that was among its prominent incidents and situa- 
 tions. The movement " to the front " of the Tampa 
 detachment of the army for the invasion of Porto 
 Eico presents its own set of incidents and condi- 
 tions, which were far from being what they should 
 have been. 
 
 The command was sent to sea, with no convoy, for 
 a voyage of sixteen to eighteen hundred miles. 
 
LIFE ON A TEOOP-SHIP 13 
 
 Probably, under the circumstances, a convoy would 
 have been superfluous. The point is perhaps a 
 minor one ; but it was a military expedition, and the 
 question of military form might be raised. But a 
 more serious question was involved. An order, very 
 vague and general, where it should have been definite 
 and explicit, was issued, to the effect that the differ- 
 ent vessels of the expedition should keep as near 
 together as was practicable. At Cape Antonio a 
 steamer, which we assumed to be the Arkadia, one 
 of our consorts, showed faintly upon the horizon line 
 some twenty miles to the southwest. The Whitney 
 and the Florida were barely visible astern, while the 
 Cherokee and the Mohawk, which were to start some 
 hours behind us and overtake us through a superior 
 speed, had not even shown their smoke. We lost 
 them all, or they lost us, later on, and for several 
 days we saw no one of them. We were thus, practi- 
 cally, an independent craft, running without refer- 
 ence to any others. 
 
 While we were doubtless wholly safe from any 
 interference from Spanish or any other foreign ves- 
 sels, we were not equally safe from the dangers of 
 the sea, against which more careful and more ample 
 provisions might and should have been made. We 
 carried three hundred and thirty-five men, and one 
 hundred and eighty horses. We carried four hun- 
 
14 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 dred and fifty rounds of ammunition for each of the 
 six 3.2-inch field guns, besides the ammunition for a 
 company of infantry. We had four boats and one 
 life-raft. Not one of the boats would have lived in a 
 heavy seaway, and one or two of them would hard- 
 ly have floated on a mill-pond. Had any of the pos- 
 sibilities of an ocean voyage occurred, had fire broken 
 out, or had we run into one of the hurricanes incident 
 to that region, the soldiers of the United States 
 would have been exposed to dangers and to risks 
 which might have been greatly modified by the issu- 
 ance of proper orders, which would have kept the 
 ships within hailing distance of each other, or by the 
 provision of an adequate equipment of boats and rafts. 
 As it was on the Miller, so it doubtless was on 
 the other vessels. The men would smoke, and the 
 utmost vigilance was required to keep them from 
 smoking in the vicinity of the baled hay provided 
 for the horses. It is true that our force on the 
 Miller consisted of regulars, who are usually amena- 
 ble to discipline. But it included a very large per- 
 centage of raw recruits, who had not learned that 
 obedience is one of the principal requirements of a 
 soldier's life. It was, therefore, the mercy of Provi- 
 dence, and not the wisdom or foresight of man, 
 which kept that expedition from serious disaster. 
 But all's well that ends well. 
 
LIFE ON A TROOP SHIP 15 
 
 We were spared those dangers which were a con- 
 stant possibility, and we sailed for days through the 
 bluest of blue water, under the sunniest of sunny 
 skies. The novelty of the voyage was exhausted 
 during the first day out. Flying fishes lost their 
 interest, and a school of porpoises ceased to be an 
 excitement. The majority took to sleeping the hours 
 away, though a few of the more energetic took to 
 " nosey poker " and other games of cards. " Nosey 
 poker " is a game which does not depend upon any 
 recent visit of the army paymaster. The game is 
 played by any number, and the loser, instead of giv- 
 ing up a portion of his thirteen dollars a month, is 
 subjected to punishment for holding the weakest 
 hand, by a fillip on the nose with the full pack of 
 cards held, in turn, between the thumb and fingers 
 of each of his opponents. 
 
 But sleeping was the popular occupation. The 
 number of hours out of the twenty-four which some 
 men can spend in sleep, day in and day out, is beyond 
 the comprehension of any man who cannot catch a 
 cat-nap during the day without paying for it by some 
 hours of wakefulness during the following night. I 
 have no reason to think that the men on board the 
 T>. H. Miller were endowed with any fuller measure 
 of sleeping power than were the men on the other 
 ships. What they did, I presume all to have done. 
 
16 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 Scores of them slept all day, and then slept all night. 
 They lay about the decks in all manner of conceiv- 
 able and inconceivable attitudes and costumes. 
 " Tattoo " and " taps " did not concern them. Few 
 heard either, for long before the hour of their sound- 
 ing, the decks, from bow to stern, were covered with 
 the forms of sleeping men. There were bunks for 
 them below, but the hard deck was chosen for its 
 greater coolness. 
 
 Many complaints have been published of the suf- 
 ferings of the soldiers on these transports. That 
 they were subjected to various unavoidable physical 
 discomforts is not to be denied. But the complaints 
 would have come in any case, for the far greater 
 portion of them came from the constitutional growl- 
 ers. On many of the ships, the horses were the real 
 sufferers. Therein lay an unfortunate mistake of our 
 transportation department. There is no doubt that 
 men can and will take care of themselves to very great 
 extent. Horses cannot do this, and therefore should 
 receive far more attention than was shown them 
 on many of these vessels. This should be done, not 
 only on the ground of mercy to dumb animals, but, 
 as well, because these animals are indispensable in 
 army service. The men cannot live in the field with- 
 out the provisions which must be drawn to them by 
 horses or mules ; they cannot fight without the ammu- 
 
LIFE ON A TROOP-SHIP 17 
 
 nition which must reach them by means of army- 
 wagons. Efficient service in battle depends almost 
 entirely upon our four-footed servants, and they 
 should be kept in the most of comfort and best of 
 condition. This cannot be if they are stifled for ten 
 days or two weeks on an ocean voyage. 
 
 From some of the pitiful tales which have been given 
 space in some of our newspapers, concerning soldier- 
 life on shipboard, one would be wholly justified in a 
 conclusion that all hands spent the greater portion of 
 their time enduring the agonies of slow starvation, 
 while they listened to the popping of champagne 
 corks, and the rattle of dishes laden with delicacies 
 served for the delectation of the officers in the 
 cabin. Naturally the officers did fare better than the 
 men. But, in all complaints of this character, it is 
 necessary to keep one fact clearly in mind, whether 
 the complaint refer to conditions on ship-board or in 
 camp. It is that the government feeds the private 
 and the non-commissioned officer, while the commis- 
 sioned officer has to feed himself. This he is free to 
 do in any way which suits his taste and his pocket- 
 book. If he wants champagne, he can have it by 
 paying for it. If he wants strawberries in January, 
 he can have them — by paying for them. If condi- 
 tions be such that no market is available, the only 
 way by which the officer may rightly and lawfully 
 
18 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 obtain the food which he needs, is by the purchase 
 of rations from his command, or from some portion 
 of it. For what he thus gets, he must pay a certain 
 specified sum per day. The amount thus paid is 
 applied to what is known as the " company fund," 
 and may be expended, like the profits arising from ( 
 the " canteen," for the benefit of the company mess. 
 
 This " company fund " is one of the channels 
 through which the mess of the private in the regular 
 army has an advantage over the mess of the volun- 
 teers. The government supply of three and a quar- 
 ter pounds of food per day per man is above the 
 average of individual consumption. Out of the daily 
 supply for a company, the properly qualified cook 
 easily effects a saving, and the surplus may be ex- 
 changed or sold for the benefit of the "company- 
 fund." Through his wider experience, the regular 
 has a better knowledge of the economy of resources, 
 and thus holds an advantage over the less experi- 
 enced volunteer. But the officers' mess is entirely 
 their own affair, and is no more a matter for the 
 comment or criticism of the privates than is the 
 table of a railroad president a matter which concerns 
 his employees. I have heard volunteer officers 
 boast proudly that they " stayed with the boys," ate 
 with them, and shared the details of their lives. I 
 have never known a case of this kind in which the 
 
LIFE ON A TEOOP-SHIP 19 
 
 officer, through an undue familiarity with his men, 
 did not materially and seriously weaken his influ- 
 ence over them. On board the transports, arrange- 
 ments were made by which meals were served in the 
 saloon to cabin passengers, officers, newspaper cor- 
 respondents, or any other civilians who obtained 
 government transportation. The usual price was 
 fifty cents for each meal. On board the Miller this 
 was collected daily. Whether the steward doubted 
 our honesty or our financial resources, I am unable 
 to say. 
 
 The Miller carried her full quota of the grumblers. 
 One presented himself one day to complain to his 
 commanding officer that the men were not receiving 
 their due quantity of coffee. A few questions drew 
 out the fact, already well known to the officer, that 
 each man received a pint of coffee with each meal. 
 He was sent away to digest his newly acquired in- 
 formation that the government supplied coffee for a 
 beverage and not for bathing purposes. It is heavy 
 odds that the next letter which that boy wrote to his 
 home people made them long to send him a few 
 pounds of Bio. Another complained that the coffee 
 was ample in quantity, but was lamentably deficient 
 in strength. There was nothing in either his ap- 
 pearance or his conversation to indicate that he was 
 one who was accustomed to a pint of cafe noir three 
 
20 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 times a day, previous to his enlistment. Some com- 
 plained that canned beans were served with undue 
 frequency. Others wanted more beans. Some had 
 too much canned beef and too little canned salmon. 
 Others wanted less salmon and more beef. Some 
 wanted a more frequent issue of canned tomatoes. 
 Others did not want them at all. 
 
 The complainants were chiefly from the newly 
 enlisted men, of which the commands on board con- 
 tained an unusually large proportion. It was only 
 possible to endeavor to show these men that it was 
 out of the question for the government to try to run 
 its commissary department on the European plan. 
 Then they went away and wrote those pitiful tales of 
 suffering, privation, and cruelty, which, in public 
 press and in private letters, have added a wholly un- 
 warranted fuel to the flame of public indignation 
 against the shortcomings of the staff departments of 
 the United States army. Men who, at home, would 
 not think of going to a physician with their petty 
 ailments, besieged the surgeon with doleful tales of 
 aches and pains of which they showed no symp- 
 toms ; and, because he measured their ailments at 
 their true value, called him hard names behind his 
 back and " wrote to the papers " about his neglect 
 and indifference. A measure of excuse for some 
 lies in the fact that it is very difficult to convince a 
 
LIFE ON A TROOP-SHIP 21 
 
 man who is taking his first sea-voyage, that a mild 
 touch of mal de mer, for which there is no remedy 
 except getting over it, is not the early stages of some 
 horrible and deadly disease. 
 
 But in spite of complaints and the fancied ailments 
 of lives of utter idleness, nobody starved to death, 
 and nobody died of sea-sickness. There was little to 
 break the monotony. Occasional views of a distant 
 coast became events. A close watch was kept for 
 the vessels of our blockading fleet. An encounter 
 with one of them led to an interesting conversation 
 off the Isle of Pines, on the southern coast of Cuba, 
 on the night of July 25th. The hour was midnight. 
 The stars shone clearly overhead. Away to the 
 northward vivid and frequent flashes of lightning 
 outlined the heavy cloud masses which hung along 
 the horizon. All on board the Decatur H. Miller 
 were asleep, save those who were on duty. The 
 decks were thickly strewn with the forms of sleeping 
 soldiers, who found the decks a more comfortable 
 dormitory than the hot and oppressive quarters pro- 
 vided for them below. The Miller was pounding 
 her way through the surges of the Caribbean Sea at 
 her usual pace of six knots an hour. 
 
 The conversation started with some sea-talk in the 
 shape of a signal-light which gleamed from the dark- 
 ness on the port quarter. An unknown something 
 
22 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 was out there telling the Miller to stop her engines. 
 But the Miller kept on. The light shot forward, and 
 from the dim, low-lying form on the surface of the 
 water there came a flash and a report. That was 
 another and a more emphatic way of saying "Stop! " 
 It was treated as the light had been. Then the dark 
 form showed three signal lights, one above the other, 
 and ran up to within hailing distance, and the sum- 
 mons to "heave to" came through a megaphone. 
 This produced the desired effect. The megaphone 
 voice again came across the water, and it came in a 
 tone that implied a very decided dissatisfaction with 
 what had been done. Its tone was angry. 
 
 " What is the name of that ship ? " 
 
 A less distinct megaphone replied from our pilot- 
 house, "The D. H. Miller." 
 
 "What is the ship beyond you? " 
 
 " The Arkadia." 
 
 " Why did you not stop in answer to our signals? " 
 
 " I did not understand the signal." 
 
 " Why did you not stop when we fired ? " 
 
 " I thought you might be a Spaniard." 
 
 " Have you soldiers on board? " 
 
 " Yes. Three hundred of them." 
 
 " Yery well ! Now I want to tell you that you are 
 a natural born fool ! You have endan- 
 gered the life of every man on board your ship. If 
 
LIFE ON A TKOOP-SHIP 23 
 
 I hadn't known that transports were coming, I should 
 have filled you full of holes for not stopping when 
 we fired. As for Spaniards, you need not be afraid 
 of them. There is nothing on this coast that dare 
 cross our lines, or even go outside the harbor. You 
 will probably be stopped by five or six patrol-boats 
 between here and Cape Cruz. You need not worry 
 about any Spaniards, but when anything out here 
 tells you to stop, YOU STOP ! Now go ahead, and 
 good luck to you all." 
 
 This little speech may have been lacking in punc- 
 tilio and in those lines of fine courtesy which are a 
 marked characteristic of the officers of our navy, but 
 it was a marvel of directness, force, lucidity, and 
 truth. Its meaning was as clear as the day. It was 
 answered by a burst of hearty applause and cheers 
 from the men who thronged the sides of the Miller. 
 Three rousing cheers came from the little gun-boat, 
 which proved to be the saucy and nervy Eagle, one 
 of the most dashing and successful boats on the 
 blockading line. Then the signal-lights went out 
 and the dusky shape slid away into the darkness 
 toward the coast. 
 
 It was quite an episode. The men lay awake on 
 the deck discussing it, and we of the cabin sat in 
 pajamas, night-shirts, and underwear, for a review of 
 the situation. We pronounced our ship captain to 
 
24 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 be guilty of high crime and misdemeanor. The 
 ranking military officer on board was authorized to 
 visit the captain of the ship, and announce our sen- 
 tence that he be keel-hauled, mast-headed, and then 
 hung at the yard-arm, if such a contrivance could be 
 found on board the steamer. The officer, hatless, 
 barefooted, and clad only in undignified and unof- 
 ficial underwear, proceeded on his fearful errand. 
 But, upon his arrival, he evidently exercised the au- 
 thority with which he was vested by reason of his 
 official position, and modified the sentence. He 
 proceeded to say things in a manner which may be 
 learned at West Point, though the form is not in- 
 cluded in the prescribed studies of that institution. 
 From the sulphurous smell which was wafted through 
 the cabin windows during the next few minutes, it 
 was quite clear to the rest of us that the captain of 
 Company F, Eleventh United States Infantry, was 
 doing his duty like a man — and a sinner. Within 
 those minutes, the captain of the Miller gained some 
 valuable information with regard to the wisdom and 
 safety of monkeying with the vessels of the United 
 States Navy. 
 
 We were obliged to stop at Daiquiri, on the Cuban 
 coast, and again at Samana Bay, on the coast of San 
 Domingo, to obtain supplies of Avater for the horses. 
 We had sailed under sealed orders which, when 
 
LIFE ON A TKOOP-SHIP 25 
 
 opened, gave us instructions to proceed to Fajardo, 
 the northeastern point of Porto Rico. As we left the 
 bay of Samana, we were met by the United States 
 gun-boat Annapolis, which had been sent out to inter- 
 cept the arriving transports, and to give orders for 
 their procedure to Ponce, on the south coast of the 
 island. They gave us news of the landing at Guan- 
 ica of the detachment from Santiago, under com- 
 mand of General Miles. They also told us of the 
 surrender of Ponce without a shot. On the night 
 of August 2d, we dropped anchor off the harbor of 
 Ponce, and waited for daylight and a pilot to take 
 our ship to an anchorage among the fleet of trans- 
 ports and warships which had arrived before us. 
 
m 
 
 EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 
 
 Porto Rico or Puerto Rico — The Carib Title— Boriquen— First 
 Impressions of the Island — The Harbor of Ponce — Unloading 
 Transports — Soldiers as Stevedores — Mutual Curiosity — La 
 Playa — The City of Ponce— Appearance of the Common People 
 — Pedlers— The Island Ponies— Shopping Experiences — Cour- 
 tesy from a Citizen. 
 
 The little spot in the tropical seas, which we know 
 as Porto Eico, has had a somewhat peculiar experi- 
 ence in the matter of its nomenclature. Through- 
 out much the greater parts of its history it has either 
 borne a nickname or a name which did not at all 
 belong to it. Even its old Carib title has been a 
 point of more or less contention among historians. 
 
 Dr. Chanca, writing in the year 1493, calls it Buri- 
 quen. Pedro Martir de Angleria, in 1494, calls it 
 Burichena. Juan de la Cosa, in 1500, calls it Bori- 
 quen. A writer in 1517 drops back to Buriquen. 
 From the years 1535 to 1647 the form of Boriquen 
 was adopted by the leading writers and historians. 
 In 1788, Fray Inigo Abbad, one of the leading au- 
 thorities on the history of the island, turns it into 
 
 26 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 27 
 
 Borinquen, a form of doubtful correctness, but that 
 which is most commonly used to-day by the island 
 people. On nearly all of the maps of the island, its 
 northwest corner is indicated under the title of 
 Cape Borinquen. Borinquen is the spelling usually 
 adopted by the local press, and a number of stores 
 in different cities display the sign of "La Borin- 
 queua." Later writers, among them "Washington 
 Irving and Emilio Castelar, use the apparently 
 better authorized Boriquen, while Otto Neussel, in 
 1892, gives it Burinquen. Others have given it 
 Burenquen, Boricua, Burikem, Burinkem, Borichen, 
 and some have simply called it Bo. Some early 
 writers mention it as " La Isla de Carib." 
 
 An effort has been made to determine the meaning 
 of the name by a philological process, with results 
 which seem eminently plausible. By dividing the 
 word into three syllables, Bo-ri-quen, and translat- 
 ing them through comparison with the same sylla- 
 bles where they occur in words whose meaning is 
 known, a Porto Bican authority, Sr. Dr. Cayetano 
 Coll y Toste, gives the meaning as " Tierra del Yali- 
 ente Senor," or practically, " The Land of the Vali- 
 ant Lord." Dr. Coil's arguments appear to be rea- 
 sonably exhaustive, and probably the majority of 
 American people will be quite ready to accept his 
 conclusions without any argument. 
 
28 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 Disposing of the tangle in the Carib name of the 
 island, we immediately run into another in its Span- 
 ish title. When el Almirante Cristobal Colon, whose 
 name we have twisted into Christopher Columbus, 
 discovered the island of Boriquen, on his second 
 voyage, he gave it the name of San Juan Bautista 
 (St. John the Baptist), in honor of the familiar 
 figure of New Testament history. This name was 
 applied to the island and not to a city on its coast. 
 In a letter, dated November 14, 1509, from the King 
 of Spain to el Almirante don Diego, son of Cristo- 
 bal, reference is twice made to "la isla de San 
 Juan," " the island of San Juan." 
 
 A city, which we now know as San Juan, situated 
 upon the shore of a beautiful harbor on the northern 
 coast, received the name of Puerto Eico (rich port). 
 In process of time the city became San Juan de 
 Puerto Eico, there came a confounding of the terms, 
 and the whole island became a "rich port," or har- 
 bor, which is not at all a fitting name for its general 
 coast line. 
 
 For our use of the name " Porto " Eico there is no 
 authority, save its establishment by common usage in 
 this country. In spite of its general establishment, 
 it is unquestionably a corrupt term, with no adequate 
 warrant for its adoption. It is a compounding of 
 the Spanish rico with the Portuguese porto. The 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 29 
 
 Board of Geographic Names decided during Harri- 
 son's administration in favor of Puerto Eico. The 
 Post-office Department has adopted Porto Eico. 
 The Navy Department is said to favor Puerto Rico, 
 and when General Miles in his recent report used 
 the latter spelling, the Government Printing Office 
 changed it to Porto. 
 
 Any radical change in the name of the island 
 might be difficult of accomplishment. It would in- 
 volve a universal as well as a national and local 
 change. 
 
 But as we have expelled those who, by a derange- 
 ment of names of their own application, have given 
 the island an inappropriate title, it might not be a 
 bad idea for us to return to them the name " Puerto 
 Eico," and christen the island with the long-disused 
 and historic and fitting title of Boriquen. No doubt 
 the northeast trade-winds have blown as refreshing- 
 ly over Puerto Eico as they would have blown over 
 San Juan Bautista. The coffee and the sugar-cane, 
 the banana and the cocoa-nut, have flourished in 
 Puerto Rico. They would undoubtedly grow quite 
 as luxuriantly in the territory and potential state of 
 Boriquen. 
 
 The opening days of the month of August, 1898, 
 saw busy times in the city and harbor of Ponce. 
 The place had become ours almost without our ask- 
 
30 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 ing for it. This southern gateway of the island of 
 Porto Kico had been thrown open to our army, and 
 the people of the city had met us with the hand-clasp 
 of a cordial welcome. For many years they had felt 
 that they were being bowed down and crushed under 
 the heavy hand of an oppressor. The army of the 
 United States was regarded as the sword-bearing 
 hand of a deliverer who, in the coming days, would 
 lay aside the sword, and wield, in its place, the horn 
 of plenty, scattering peace, riches, and blessings 
 throughout the sun-kissed island. It was an armed 
 and warlike force which landed there in Ponce, but, 
 in the city itself, there was no use for weapons. 
 
 The first impression of the vicinity is a pleasant 
 one, even aside from the fact that almost any land 
 looks pleasant after one has spent a week or two at 
 sea. The picture offered by the approach is strongly 
 attractive. The bay itself is a pretty one, though as 
 a harbor it is somewhat treacherous. Three or four 
 miles back from the coast, to the northward, a line of 
 hills of from one to two thousand feet in height 
 makes a picturesque sky-line. Southward lie the 
 waters of the Caribbean Sea. To the eastward the 
 land lies an almost level swamp and plain, covered 
 with a dense growth of tropical plants and foliage. 
 Just westward of the port the shore trends southward 
 in a graceful curve, its line fringed with cocoa-nut 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 31 
 
 trees and rich verdure, and rising almost immediately 
 to low hills, and from them to the higher range be- 
 yond. The continuation of this curve, to the west- 
 ward, forms the bay of Ponce. Seaward from the 
 ends of the arc thus formed are a few straggling 
 islands and reefs, which are wholly or partly covered 
 at high water. On one of these islands off the east- 
 ern point stands a light-house. The water of the bay 
 shoals gradually, so much so that the lighters upon 
 which the troops, horses, and cargoes were transferred 
 from the ships to shore, were propelled by long 
 poles, even from vessels which lay half a mile from 
 the miniature apologies for wharves which skirt the 
 shore in front of the custom-house. 
 
 In the harbor and on the shore all was bustling ac- 
 tivity, as the Miller came to anchor in the inner bay. 
 Warships, transports, press-boats, and colliers, lay in 
 close proximity to each other. Steam launches, naph- 
 tha launches, sail-boats, and row-boats, wound in and 
 out among them, carrying passengers and messages 
 from ship to ship, or between ship and shore. Un- 
 wieldy lighters loaded with horses, mules, supplies, 
 and all the impedimenta of a moving army, were poled 
 through the shallow water to the shore by dark-skinned 
 boatmen in scanty raiment. On shore, the confusion 
 was even greater than that on water. The absence 
 of system and the lack of departmental organization 
 
32 THE PORTO PICO OP TO-DAY 
 
 were manifest everywhere. Piles of stores and equip- 
 ments lined the narrow beach. Sheds were being 
 erected upon the quay to cover the great heaps 
 of forage and rations which had been put ashore 
 there. Soldiers and civilians thronged the narrow 
 streets. Officers of arriving troops did not know 
 where to go with their commands, and there was no 
 one to direct them. Beporting their arrival at head- 
 quarters, they were simply told to get their men and 
 supplies on shore as best they could, to find a camp- 
 ing ground somewhere, and to get into camp as soon 
 as possible. Of order, system, or organization, there 
 was no sign. 
 
 A naval officer from the Columbia had been ap- 
 pointed harbor-master, and it was only his cool head 
 and quick .judgment that kept matters from utter 
 chaos. Of competent military staff organization 
 there was nothing. There was no depot quartermas- 
 ter, no depot commissary, no hospital service. Had 
 we, on landing, encountered a hostile force, as there 
 was some reason for thinking we should, the landing 
 at Santiago would have been duplicated in all its 
 disorder, with all its entailed miseries. With weeks 
 of time for preparation, the force sent for the inva- 
 sion of Porto Rico was a collection of troops, and 
 not an organization. It was a conglomeration, and 
 not an army. Those early days in Ponce showed, 
 
" ■ y 
 
EAKLY DAYS OJST THE ISLAND 33 
 
 very clearly, one of two tilings : Either our system is 
 not sufficiently elastic, or it is folly to form an army 
 of invasion by the assembling of small detachments 
 from different organizations. In theory, the line is 
 the fighting force for which the staff provides, and to 
 which it supplies food, clothing, ammunition, tent- 
 age, and transportation. The staff is supposed to 
 provide for the line, whether it be in camp or 
 in the field. Weakness in the staff, means weak- 
 ness in the line. Confusion in the staff, means con- 
 fusion in the line. As things were managed there 
 in those early days of the campaign, it is wholly 
 well for us that our soldiers had so little fighting 
 to do. 
 
 For the transfer to the shore, the soldiers were 
 turned into stevedores and 'longshoremen. The offi- 
 cers of the American army are not generally trained 
 to the business of handling and forwarding merchan- 
 dise, of acting as head-stevedores, and of serving as 
 captains of harbor-lighters ; but, with the American 
 adaptability to circumstances, they found a way to 
 get load after load to the shore to be piled there by 
 details from their commands, to await removal to 
 the camp. The removal was a simpler process than 
 the unloading. The army wagons accompanying the 
 different commands were reinforced by hundreds of 
 the native bullock teams. The army wagon is the 
 
34 THE POKTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 more rapid method of transportation, but the Porto 
 Eican bullock-driver gets a fair amount of speed out 
 of liis team by the active use of a very long-handled 
 goad and a judicious indulgence in Porto Eican pro- 
 fanity. Those were busy days and profitable for the 
 laborers and teamsters of Ponce. 
 
 They were interesting days for all the people of 
 the place. Large horses were not wholly a novelty 
 to them, but large horses by the hundreds was 
 something which they had never seen before. The 
 people stood in crowds, with open mouths and star- 
 ing eyes to see load after load of our big army 
 horses and mules brought ashore by the lighters. 
 Our tall and brawny soldiers were a type of men 
 which they did not know. Our field-guns were new 
 to them. The tons upon tons of supplies gave them 
 a wholly new idea of national resources. The inter- 
 est and the curiosity were far from being one-sided. 
 To all save a few of the Americans, our new people 
 and their ways, their little horses, and the products 
 of the country, were as new and strange and inter- 
 esting, as we and our ways were to them. For many 
 days the port city of Ponce, known as La Playa — 
 " the shore " — was a swarming centre into which 
 were poured men by the thousand, and merchandise 
 and munitions of war by the hundreds of tons, to 
 wait a few brief hours until the men could be got 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 35 
 
 into their camps, and the materials distributed to 
 their proper places. 
 
 Although my work took me constantly back into it 
 all, it was an endless relief to get away from this 
 headless hurly-burly, and into the comparative quiet 
 of an army camp. This also gave one a chance to 
 look about a bit, and see what manner of land it was 
 to which we had come. Ponce is a sort of com- 
 pound place. It consists of the city proper, some 
 two miles inland ; and of the port city, La Playa, 
 immediately upon the shore. The port city consists 
 of a half-dozen streets running parallel with the 
 shore, east and west, crossed at right angles by an- 
 other set, Philadelphia fashion, though they are on a 
 much smaller scale in every way. The streets are 
 from twenty to thirty feet in width, with sidewalks, 
 where there are any at all, of about three feet. 
 
 The buildings are chiefly commercial warehouses, 
 used for storage purposes in connection with foreign 
 trade. With few exceptions they are of a single 
 story in height, built of rough masonry faced with 
 mortar, which has scaled off in many places, reveal- 
 ing the rough structure of the walls. The buildings 
 are windowless, the openings being provided with 
 iron or wooden shutters. To the east and to the 
 west of the body of the city are small wooden dwell- 
 ings, most of them of cheap construction, and few of 
 
36 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 them appearing to be other than the homes of the 
 laborers about the harbor. A few blocks to the 
 northeast of the custom-house, which appears to be 
 the focal point of the port city, stands a church, 
 very Spanish in architecture and appearance, and 
 much in need of paint and repairs. 
 
 The city proper seems to be a place very well 
 worth possessing. So distinctly favorable were my 
 impressions after spending a few days in Ponce, that 
 I was almost tempted to modify my views on the 
 subject of territorial expansion. The city lies pleas- 
 antly, and is pleasant in itself. It bears no resem- 
 blance to any American city. Its streets are narrow, 
 and its buildings which exceed two stories in height 
 are few in number. The cleanliness of its streets 
 was a pleasing surprise, and the prevailing tints of 
 gray and pale blue, mingled with the green of the 
 shade-trees of the park and the court-yards of private 
 residences, give to the whole place an atmosphere of 
 pleasant coolness. With the blue sky and bright 
 sunshine the city is decidedly attractive, and one in 
 search of a pleasant home might easily go farther 
 and fare worse. 
 
 Approaching the city from the coast, one passes 
 over two miles of an excellent macadam road kept in 
 very fair condition. It connects the city proper with 
 its port city on the immediate sea-coast. Along the 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 37 
 
 way one sees the rude shack of the negro, the home 
 of modest comfort, and the villas, which are evident- 
 ly occupied by citizens of fair income. There are 
 several large fields of sugar-cane, one or two sugar 
 mills, an ice plant, and a Protestant church, the only 
 one on the island. In the heart of the city there is 
 a well-kept park, which occupies about the same area 
 as an ordinary New York city block. It has shade- 
 trees, walks, and flower-beds. In the centre there is 
 a large pavilion of Moorish architecture. Adjoining 
 the park stands the cathedral, conventional in archi- 
 tecture and weather-beaten in appearance. Stores 
 and residences, with the central or rear court-yard 
 with their trees and shrubs, face the square and the 
 cathedral. 
 
 The arrangement of the streets of Ponce is, gen- 
 erally, that of the parallelogram. They are all well 
 metalled, and most of them appear to be well kept. 
 In case of excessive dust, as a result of drought, it 
 would be quite easy to obtain a supply of water from 
 the hills by gravity pressure, which could be used 
 for street-sprinkling. The place claims three hotels, 
 though one who is at all familiar with American hos- 
 telries is somewhat loath to apply the name of hotel 
 to such establishments as those at Ponce. One gets 
 a place to sleep, food to eat, and a bottle of wine, all 
 at reasonable prices. 
 
38 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 It is anybody's guess whether the American sol- 
 diers or the Porto Rico people derived the greater 
 amount of entertainment from new scenes and unfa- 
 miliar experiences in our newly acquired territory. 
 The Ponce road, which covers the two miles of dis- 
 tance between the city and the port of Ponce, was an 
 endless panorama of life and movement. The points 
 at either end of the road swarmed with people rid- 
 ing, driving, walking; with army-wagons and native 
 ox-carts ; with squads and troops of soldiers, mount- 
 ed and on foot. The procession began almost with 
 the early morning "reveille," and lessened, though 
 it did not cease, only with the notes of "retreat" 
 at sunset. Back and forth, between the port and 
 the city, and the camps beyond the city, moved two 
 mingling currents, going in opposite directions. 
 
 The native spectator was astonished not only by 
 the vast number of heavy horses and mules used by 
 the army, but by the great wagons piled high with 
 their loads of camp supplies and equipment, and by 
 the score or more of ships in the harbor, from whose 
 capacious holds and between -decks the numerous fleet 
 of lighters transported to the shore a seemingly end- 
 less amount of material for subsistence and for war- 
 fare. It was a wholly unfamiliar scene to all except 
 the very few who had crossed the water to some large 
 city of Europe or America. It was, in its way, as J 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 39 
 
 have intimated, an object-lesson in national wealth 
 and national resources, and will leave its impression 
 deeply marked upon the minds of our new citizens. 
 The Americans stared at the people and their ways 
 of life, which were new and strange to them. 
 
 The common people of the island are a mixture of 
 all shades of color, from full black to yellow, with 
 here and there a paler tint. Comfort and economy 
 appear to be the chief ends to be served in the mat- 
 ter of wearing apparel. Neither style nor cleanliness 
 seems to be of any consideration with the masses. 
 Many men and women are barefooted, and many a 
 dusky-skinned toddler of four or five years and 
 under is wholly free from any fear of soiling his or 
 her pinafore, by reason of being wholly free from the 
 pinafore — or anything else. Masculine apparel usu- 
 ally consists of a battered hat, a cotton shirt, cotton 
 trousers, and shoes — sometimes. Feminine apparel 
 is a matter for feminine description and feminine 
 ears. I only know that, among the class to which I 
 am now referring, the feminine portion looks very 
 baggy, very slouchy, and, usually, very dirty. Men, 
 women, and children appear to occupy the bulk of 
 their time in eating mangoes, that fruit which Lady 
 Brassey so aptly describes by pronouncing it to be 
 one of the most delicious of fruits, but to be eaten 
 only in one's bath-tub. 
 
40 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 When not busy eating mangoes, scores of these 
 people parade the streets and the Ponce roads in 
 search of wealth. The street - pedler is quite a 
 feature in the cities of the island, but their number 
 and their activity was vastly augmented by the in- 
 flux of so large a number of possible customers. 
 They peddled mangoes, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits, 
 and a variety of indescribable pastes in which cocoa- 
 nut appeared to be the chief ingredient. Many of 
 these were quite toothsome and would be wholly en- 
 joyable if one could but feel any sort of reasonable 
 assurance with regard to the conditions under which 
 the stuff is manufactured. Feeling it to be my duty 
 to investigate all local conditions as closely as pos- 
 sible, I experimented with every kind of fruit, paste, 
 confection, and compound, solid or liquid, offered for 
 consumption and guaranteed to be of local produc- 
 tion or manufacture. 
 
 I think that the most generally satisfactory ex- 
 periment which I tried was the local ice-cream served 
 after the manner of that variety known in America 
 as the " hoky-poky." A dusky damsel, clad in none 
 too abundant and not over-immaculate raiment, in- 
 timated in sign language, backed by a pleasant smile 
 and the word " dos," which, under such circumstances 
 does not mean two centavos, but two articles or 
 measures for one centavo, that it would be her pleas- 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 41 
 
 ure to serve the "Americano." Not wishing to die 
 alone, if death lay in the cup, I invited a group of 
 soldier-men who stood by to risk their lives with me 
 in an experiment on the material. I think there were 
 ten of them, and I treated the whole crowd for the 
 sum of seven cents, in our money. But I was quite 
 agreeably disappointed. The compound appeared to 
 be nothing more than frozen cocoa-nut milk slightly 
 sweetened. I recommend it. It offers great possi- 
 bilities in the hands of an artist. I think less highly 
 of the local mango. It has a distinct flavor of tur- 
 pentine, and the fibre of its pulp, getting immovably 
 fixed between one's teeth, is far too greatly conducive 
 to profanity. 
 
 Along this main road and about the streets of 
 either of the terminal cities one sees scores and 
 scores of the little, scrawny, island ponies, hardly 
 larger than good-sized rocking-horses, gaunt, bony, 
 and pitiful, with their fruit-filled basket-work pan- 
 niers surmounted by the proprietor of the outfit, who 
 rides in much the attitude of one sitting on a chair, 
 with his bare feet hanging in front of the horse's 
 chest, and flapping about with every step which the 
 animal takes. Some of the women and children 
 carry baskets of fruit or of the fruit paste, while 
 others carry feheir wares in trays borne on the top of 
 the head. Two-seated carriages, drawn by the sor- 
 
42 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 riest, most scrubby and bony little horses imaginable, 
 thread their more rapid way by a serpentine course 
 in and out through the slowly moving throng of 
 wagons and carts. One cannot help feeling sorry for 
 these poor brutes of hack ponies, though as their 
 structure seems to consist entirely of skin and bone, 
 the constant and almost rhythmical movement of the 
 driver's whip appears to have but little effect upon 
 them. That whip movement is almost as methodical 
 as the stroke of the piston of a Corliss engine. But 
 the horses do not seem to mind it, and most of us 
 are unable to deliver a lecture, in Spanish, on the 
 subject of cruelty to animals. There is work in our 
 new land for the S. P. C. A. 
 
 The legal fare between the city and the port is 
 fixed, I believe, at twelve and a-half cents, Porto Rico 
 money. But the only Americans who get out of it 
 for any such figure are the lucky and the assertive 
 who are willing to haggle or battle for their rights. 
 If one be sweet-tempered and philosophical, he can 
 obtain an endless amount of entertainment in essay- 
 ing some commercial transaction with the local mer- 
 chants. I wanted a rubber blanket. Rubber blank- 
 ets do not seem to be a common article in Ponce. I 
 visited some twenty or thirty stores. Half of them 
 displayed the sign of " English Spoken." I found 
 no difference between those and the others. I began 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 43 
 
 my researches by a distinct enunciation of " I want a 
 rubber blanket." This invariably produced some- 
 thing white. Sometimes it was white duck trousers, 
 sometimes a shirt or collar. My " blanket " was sup- 
 posed to be my best shot at "bianco" (white). I 
 then tried "poncho," which I supposed to be a Span- 
 ish word. This was wholly unintelligible. " Poncho " 
 is a purely South American term. I then fell back 
 on sign language. For two hours I went through 
 this process. I tried words and then gymnastics. I 
 put my muscular system through a series of antics 
 and contortions that, in America, would either have 
 landed me in a lunatic asylum or a circus. I got 
 everything but the thing I wanted. The range of 
 articles offered in response to my gibbering and 
 my antics extended from a mackintosh to a box 
 of sardines. I failed to see where the sardines 
 came in. 
 
 I visited stores of various kinds, and found them 
 well supplied with the merchandise of their different 
 lines, the stock neatly kept and well displayed. The 
 goods were the manufacture of different nations, a 
 few American, some French, English, and German. 
 Spain was unduly represented, through the opera- 
 tion of tariff laws which were distinctly in favor of 
 that country. Prices were probably not unreason- 
 able, considering the cost of freight and the ex- 
 
44 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 orbitant duty. Flour, on which there is a high 
 tariff, was quoted at thirty to thirty-five cents per 
 pound in Porto Rico money, equivalent to one-half 
 of that amount in our money. The campaign hat 
 which I wore, and for which I paid $1 in Chat- 
 tanooga, I was told would sell for $3.50, Porto Eico 
 money, in Ponce. I was wearing a brown canvas 
 shooting-coat for which I paid $1.50 in Jacksonville. 
 I was told that the same sum would not even purch- 
 ase the cloth to make it in Ponce. Ice is quoted at 
 about the same price as that in most of our South- 
 ern cities where ice is manufactured. On cigars I 
 thought I did quite well. I called for such a cigar 
 as was used by the general run of smokers. I re- 
 ceived a very fair article of the weed, free smokiug 
 and agreeable in flavor, made from native tobacco. 
 I am not an expert in " twof ers," but I have often 
 paid a dime for a less satisfactory cigar than those 
 for which I paid the equivalent of $2 per hundred, 
 American money, in Ponce. 
 
 There is no doubt that we were welcome visitors in 
 those days, though we have somewhat modified the 
 heartiness with which we were received, through situa- 
 tions some of which could, while others could not, 
 have been avoided. At that time I saw no scowls, 
 Scores of men who, from their dress and bearing, were 
 evidently of the best class of citizens, bowed, smiled, 
 
EARLY DAYS ON THE ISLAND 45 
 
 and saluted. There was no subservience, only marked 
 courtesy and cordial hospitality. I wanted some 
 nisperos. The merchant to whom I applied had none, 
 but he summoned a messenger to guide me to a pri- 
 vate residence a third of a mile away where I could 
 get them fresh from the trees. The place, which had 
 once been a fine one, was somewhat gone to decay, 
 but the courteous gentleman who owned it welcomed 
 me and sent for chairs to be placed for us in the cool 
 shade of a huge mango-tree. The senora joined us, 
 and a small black-skinned urchin was sent to gather 
 the fruit I wanted. Naked and half-naked chil- 
 dren, apparently belonging to the colored servants, 
 played about us in company with three or four 
 puppies. 
 
 I tendered pay for the fruit. It was refused, and I 
 was told in the old form of Spanish hospitality that 
 the fruit was mine, the trees on which it grew were 
 mine, the house was mine, and its proprietor my most 
 obedient servant. I fancy that he would make a good 
 effort to hang on to his real estate if I had accepted his 
 statement in strict literalness, but I was better off by 
 more nisperos than I could carry. The gentleman's 
 satisfaction with the new condition was quiet, but it was 
 evidently honest and earnest. It was less vociferous 
 than that displayed by our waiter in a cafe where an- 
 other citizen was asked his feeling in the matter of the 
 
46 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 change of affairs. The waiter overheard the question, 
 and quite brought down the house by his vigorous 
 howl of " Viva los Americanos." But the same senti- 
 ment appeared to pervade all classes. A local paper 
 changed its title to La Nueva Era. Ano I. Numero I. 
 (The New Era. Year I. Number I.) 
 
IV 
 
 THE CITY OF PONCE 
 
 Our Reception— Busy Days — Two Centres of Activity — Amusements 
 — Police Department — Fire Department — The Market— Ponce 
 Stores— A Lesson in Spanish. 
 
 "We went to Porto Rico expecting battles. We 
 arrived there and were invited to receptions. It 
 was a somewhat incongruous situation, with a side 
 which savored of the opera bouffe. Such of our ene- 
 mies as had been stationed in the vicinity of our 
 landing, made a hasty and undignified exit, with only 
 an occasional shot as they ran. The people bade us 
 welcome, hung out American flags, and called down 
 the blessings of Heaven upon our heads. Like all 
 invading armies, we had carried with us a very large 
 spirit of belligerency. We were much puzzled to 
 know what to do with it when we got to Porto Bico. 
 A portion of it was kept alive for the resistance which 
 was anticipated as the army moved northward across 
 the island. The rest of it became transmuted into 
 
 sociability with a people who, immediately upon our 
 
 47 
 
48 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 arrival, pronounced themselves Americans, and gave 
 their address as Porto Rico, U. S. A. 
 
 For the first two weeks everything was in a state 
 of turmoil, but there were two strongly marked cen- 
 tres of activity. One of these was the custom-house 
 at the shore city ; the other the Hotel Francais in the 
 city proper. The custom-house served not only for 
 its special purpose, but became, as well, the military 
 head-quarters, the United States post-office, the tele- 
 graph station, and the place where everybody went 
 to find out a great deal which could not be learned 
 there. Transports arrived almost daily, bringing 
 more troops and more supplies and more confusion. 
 Plans were being formulated for the continuance of 
 the campaign, and such troops as were designated 
 for immediate participation in it, were moved for- 
 ward as rapidly as possible. The rest were sent into 
 camp in the vicinity of the city. 
 
 To those who find pleasure in the study of crowds, 
 La Play a was a rich and profitable field. The crowd 
 was not of the dense variety. It was rather a throng, 
 active, restless, ebullient. Soldiers, civilians, and la- 
 borers moved uneasily about, some in idle curiosity, 
 some seeking for a particular person or place, but the 
 majority busily engaged in the piling up or the re- 
 moval of forage, rations, and supplies. Every avail- 
 able native laborer was set to doing something. 
 
THE CITY OF PONCE 49 
 
 Army officers bustled about superintending the 
 transfer of the men and materials belonging to their 
 commands. Naval officers sauntered about clad 
 in immaculate white duck. There was an infinity of 
 detail, but the general impression left upon the mind 
 of the observer, was only that of a kaleidoscope in 
 which the bits of color were men in uniform, horses, 
 cannons, and boxes of hardtack and canned goods, 
 with the blue water of the bay for a background. 
 
 The streets were a seemingly inextricable jumble 
 of army wagons, carriages, and bullock-teams. The 
 rumble and rattle of the slowly moving train was 
 punctuated frequently by the shouts of the bullock 
 drivers, and occasionally by the compliments paid 
 in emphatic American by some driver of a heavily 
 loaded army wagon, to some unfortunate goad- 
 wielder or hack-driver who blocked his passage. 
 That the anathemas were not understood by those 
 on whose heads they fell, made no shadow of differ- 
 ence. Their import was fully realized, and they usu- 
 ally proved quite effective. 
 
 A secondary focus of activity at the Playa was found 
 in an establishment wherein one could obtain a wide 
 variety of forms of liquid refreshment. I was told 
 that before the arrival of the Americans, the place 
 was on the very verge of bankruptcy. A week later, 
 the proprietor was reckoned among the financially 
 
50 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 solid men of tlie place. Naturally, more or less of our 
 men overdid matters in their efforts to find the most 
 cooling and refreshing compound. It became neces- 
 sary to issue a military order prohibiting the sale of 
 intoxicants to soldiers. The order was, of course, 
 obeyed, but it is always a remarkable fact that many 
 men can be overcome by non-alcoholic compounds, 
 or by alcoholic compounds sold under some other 
 name. A guard-house was established in one corner 
 of the custom-house, and it was seldom without 
 guests. 
 
 At the uptown centre, the throng was almost equally 
 active, though its interests were of different character. 
 The Playa was the centre of industry. The Hotel 
 Francais was the centre of recreation and sociability. 
 The Playa was the official military head- quarters. 
 The hotel was the head-quarters of the newspaper 
 correspondents, and the resort for army and naval 
 officers off duty. It was a quaint old place with 
 nothing at all to recommend it particularly as a hotel 
 under ordinary conditions. Its dungeon-like closets 
 in which its guests were supposed to sleep, must 
 have furnished infinitely more satisfaction to the 
 fleas and mosquitoes than they did to those who fur- 
 nished feeding-grounds for those insects. The stone- 
 paved coffee-room with its one long table, was at- 
 tractive to those who frequented it, rather by reason 
 
THE CITY OF PONCE 51 
 
 of what they themselves brought to it than because 
 of what was served upon it. 
 
 That room was often the scene of honest and 
 hearty joviality. Its frequenters were men who had 
 seen something, and had something to say about 
 what they had seen. Some had been through the 
 Santiago campaign as observers, and some had taken 
 part in it. Correspondents were there who had spent 
 weeks on despatch-boats, and naval officers were 
 there who had spent weeks on the blockade. Army 
 officers, both line and staff men, were there to tell of 
 their experiences. Many a man will remember those 
 days with pleasure. There was much drinking, but 
 it was of a mild type, and pre-eminently social in its 
 nature. Lemonade and claret-cup were the popular 
 refreshments, and the heavier fluids found but little 
 demand. The local prices were seriously affected. 
 Lemonade was served in flagons. For the first few 
 days this cost ten centavos the flagon. Then the 
 price went up, and it cost ten centavos for each glass 
 served from the flagon. Mineral water rose to forty 
 centavos the pint bottle, and the attendants grew 
 very keen for tips. 
 
 The hotel was the news-centre. All was told 
 there that the various news-gatherers had to tell. 
 Those who had driven out to the "firing-line," to 
 " El front," as it was facetiously called, on the pre- 
 
52 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 vious day, told of their observations at that position. 
 Those who had been to head-quarters at the Play a, 
 told of what was to be heard there. Army move- 
 ments and processes were subjects of comment and 
 criticism. The probability of an early peace and 
 the chances of recall were topics of profound inter- 
 est to many. The evening dinner was a time of 
 good-natured uproar and clamor. The house was 
 overcrowded, its service and facilities were inade- 
 quate for the multitude which besieged it. Unless 
 one came sharply upon the hour for the opening of 
 the dining-room, it was well for him if he brought no 
 very eager appetite with him. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances I should set Ponce 
 down as a disappointing place to visiting strangers, 
 until they had made the acquaintance of some 
 of those charming people who make the city their 
 home. Its surroundings are undeniably attractive, 
 but the stranger finds a dearth of entertainment in 
 the city itself. The place claims a population of be- 
 tween twenty and thirty thousand in the city proper, 
 with jurisdiction over a surrounding territory the in- 
 clusion of which leads to the occasional publication 
 of figures ranging from forty to forty-five thousand 
 as the population of the city of Ponce. The condi- 
 tions which existed during my visit to the place 
 were, of course, abnormal. It was, therefore, not 
 
THE CITY OF PONCE 63 
 
 easy to note the usual resources in the matters of 
 entertainment and interest for either the people of 
 the city or for those who might visit it. 
 
 The theatre, called La Perla — the Pearl — is a 
 structure of some pretensions, in which perform- 
 ances are given from time to time by such companies 
 of theatrical or opera people as may appear. Most 
 of these come out from Spain, and make the tour of 
 the West Indies. Local talent also appears in occa- 
 sional performances. The building is chiefly of iron 
 and marble, and its cost is said to have exceeded 
 70,000 pesos. Adjoining the theatre is a large and 
 well-equipped Casino, or club-house. There are va- 
 rious minor clubs and organizations, and one or two 
 theatres of inferior character. Aside from these it is 
 not easy to see just what society in Ponce does to 
 amuse itself outside of private social functions. In 
 common with very many of the Spanish-American 
 cities, there is the Sunday night promenade on the 
 plaza. This occurs to some extent during the week, 
 but Sunday night the attendance is larger and more 
 attention is paid to dress. It becomes a sort of 
 dress parade for the better class of people. The 
 band plays, and the throng moves back and forth, 
 up and down, up and down, the length of the 
 plaza. Others sit in rented chairs along the sides 
 and ends, and watch them as they walk. To me it 
 
54 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 seemed a kind of social treadmill ; though I could 
 readily see how it might have become — as it prob- 
 ably was a recognized meeting-place — a sort of gen- 
 eral public reception at which everyone met every- 
 one else, with the opportunity for a chat if it was 
 wished, a dignified bow, or a cold shoulder. 
 
 Ponce had a police department. It appeared to 
 be composed chiefly of good-looking young fellows 
 who wore a uniform and carried a sword. They 
 seemed to be a mild, inoffensive lot, and presented 
 no special evidence of power to quell a riot or to 
 handle an exciting election. It is doubtful if they 
 see much service in either of those lines. The Porto 
 Ricans are not a turbulent race, nor are they given 
 to intoxication and nocturnal disturbances. I could 
 see but little use for the police at all. I did see one 
 stop a horse who was trotting up the street after hav- 
 ing capsized the cart to which he was attached, in 
 turning a corner too sharply. I also saw one of 
 these limbs of the law shake his head sadly as he 
 watched an intoxicated countryman ride unsteadily 
 along the way, shouting " Yiva Puerto Eico." I saw 
 another risk his life in expostulating with two street 
 pedlers who were discussing, with some animation, 
 their individual rights to occupy a certain shady 
 corner. A New York " copper " would have made 
 them " move on," or would have collared both of 
 
THE CITY OF PONCE 55 
 
 them and taken them to the station-house on a 
 charge of disorderly conduct. 
 
 Ponce has a fire department which consists of an 
 old-fashioned " tub " hook and ladder truck, and a 
 couple of hose-reels. These are housed in a flam- 
 boyantly decorated structure in the rear of the 
 cathedral, which gives it a facing on the principal 
 street. The firemen wear flaming red shirts, a very 
 broad belt, and dark trousers. They have very little 
 to do except to draw their pay and stand around 
 looking as if they were extremely useful. From the 
 presence of a bugler among their number, I infer 
 that their orders when in action are sounded upon 
 the bugle instead of roared unintelligibly through a 
 brass trumpet or other medium. The old-fashioned 
 brass trumpet would seem more in keeping with the 
 general outfit of the Ponce fire department, but the 
 penetrating cry of the bugle really does seem better 
 adapted for the purpose for which it is used. The 
 swarm of these red-shirted fire-fighters, which is in 
 over-ample evidence at performances in the theatre, 
 suggests, almost too plainly, that there is need for 
 their presence. This is not the fact, probably, but 
 their presence in such number brings up the idea. 
 The water-supply of the city is obtained by gravity 
 pressure from a stream in the hills, and it would 
 seem as though a readjustment of the fire depart- 
 
56 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 ment might be effected with a considerable economy 
 to the city treasury. 
 
 The market is doubtless fully up to the require- 
 ments of the place, but it was far behind that of 
 Mayaguez, though the latter is a less populous city. 
 Doubtless also the local way of getting supplies for 
 the table is wholly satisfactory to the people, but it 
 was lacking in many features which Americans find 
 convenient and desirable. The market opens at 
 some unearthly hour in the morning. I never 
 spent a night there to note the hour at which the 
 first arrival put in his appearance. I did stop there 
 one morning on my way to San Juan, to get a cup of 
 coffee. It was four o'clock and pitch dark, but the 
 coffee was there, hot and strong. So were at least 
 fifty or seventy-five people. I could not see how 
 many might be out in the darkness beyond, but 
 there were those in the immediate vicinity of the 
 coffee-stands. All the way along the road, for the 
 first ten miles of our journey that morning, we met 
 the people coming in with their little stock of gar- 
 den products to be exposed for sale. How early the 
 buyers turn out, I do not know, but the sellers are 
 certainly of the " early bird " variety. 
 
 A brief acquaintance with the Ponce market would 
 lead the average observer to a conclusion that it was 
 a poor man's institution. The same will hold true 
 
THE CITY OF PONCE 57 
 
 of all the city markets of Porto Rico. One rarely 
 sees a well-dressed buyer. All seem to be of the 
 poorer classes, and the smallness of their purchases 
 seems to indicate a necessity for economy. Many of 
 them, however, are the servants of the people of the 
 better class, doing the daily marketing for the family 
 by which they are employed. One of the noticeable 
 features of all these island cities and towns is the 
 absence from the streets and stores of ladies whose 
 apparel and demeanor would indicate them as of 
 well-to-do families. Their absence arises from the 
 fact that it is generally regarded as a proceeding of 
 doubtful respectability for a lady to go about the 
 streets, unless accompanied by a duenna or by some 
 male member of the family. These are not always 
 available, and the processes of marketing and shop- 
 ping are commonly carried on through servants or by 
 means of messengers from the stores. 
 
 One also misses certain kinds of American stores, 
 notably those connected with food supplies. The 
 markets close at noon. All purchases of meats, veg- 
 etables, and fruits are supposed to be, and must be, 
 made before that hour. I did not learn the re- 
 sources for supplies in the case of the arrival of un- 
 expected guests, whose presence would necessitate 
 a more extensive provision than that made for the 
 family. One could not send around the corner, or 
 
58 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 a few blocks down the street, and get a roast, or a 
 chop, or a fowl, a fish, or a steak, at any time when it 
 might be wanted. There was no convenient provi- 
 sion store, or green-grocer, from which one could ob- 
 tain a bit of lettuce or a bunch of celery. There was. 
 no convenient fruit-store. Here and there, in some 
 out-of-the-way corner, one might find a little shop 
 where some kinds of fruit, and possibly a few vege- 
 tables, might be obtained ; but the stock of such 
 places was not particularly tempting. One missed 
 also the American grocery-store, with its cleanly kept 
 assortment of attractive foods. To market or to 
 shop in these places one must go through a process 
 of special education, to learn just where to go for the 
 things wanted. No doubt Porto Rican ways are just 
 as good as American ways, when one becomes ac- 
 customed to them ; but at first one is struck by 
 the seeming incongruity of finding hardware and 
 saddlery in a dry -goods store; of buying pota- 
 toes and cigarettes in a place which gives all evi- 
 dence of being devoted to the sale of delicatessen, 
 and of buying bread and native rum over the same 
 counter. The adjustment of lines of merchan- 
 dise in Porto Bico savors, in many cases, of the 
 back-country districts of Maine and North Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 A good knowledge of the Spanish language is of 
 
THE CITY OF PONCE 59 
 
 course a desirability in any Spanish or Spanish- 
 American country. But it is not a necessity. There 
 may be times when one has to sacrifice a bit of 
 dignity in order to get what is wanted, but most 
 of us have enough of that to be able to spare a little 
 of it. I saw one chap, at a breakfast-table, flap his 
 arms while he imitated the cackle of a hen and 
 formed an ovoid with his thumbs and fingers. But 
 he got the eggs he wanted. One gets along very 
 well by remembering two words and carrying a small 
 list of Spanish names for common articles. Quiero 
 (ke-a-ro) means, " I want," and cuanto (koo-ahn-to) is 
 an abbreviation for a sentence which means, briefly, 
 "how much? " It is all very simple. Say " quiero," 
 and the name of the thing wanted; then say " cuan- 
 to," and produce all the money you have, and permit 
 the one with whom you are dealing to help himself 
 to all he wants ; then take your purchase and your 
 departure, saying, "muchas gracias" (many thanks). 
 This latter expression serves a double purpose. It 
 gives the dealer an idea you are thanking him for 
 what he has done for you ; but it is in reality your 
 expression of gratitude to a beneficent Providence 
 that, out of your little store of wealth, that dealer 
 has left you even a few centavos. But it is not nec- 
 essary to learn " muchas gracias." Just say, " Thank 
 you," and grin, exactly as one does when leaving the 
 
60 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 dentist whose kindly services have spared one's life, 
 and no more. 
 
 My own command of Castilian was only a little 
 less deficient when I came away than it was when I 
 arrived out. Yet I spent three months there and 
 travelled over the greater part of the island. I ad- 
 mit that it was a little awkward at times, but I al- 
 ways contrived in some way to get what I wanted, 
 if it was obtainable, and to get where I wanted to, 
 if the roads were passable. Some might recommend 
 another verb, such as the interrogatory of the verb 
 " tener," to have, in place of my, to me, quite satisfac- 
 tory, "quiero." But " tiene usted" asks a question 
 which may involve a further conversation. Thus, if 
 one wants eggs with his breakfast, and says to the 
 waiter, " Tiene usted huevos," the waiter may simply 
 reply, " Si, Senor" Then the senor must be able to 
 go on with " Traigame dos huevos, dl plato," or some- 
 thing of the kind. My "quiero dos huevos " informs 
 him at once that " I want two eggs." If he replies, 
 " Si, Senor," I know that he will bring them without 
 further conversation. If he says, " No hay" I know 
 that the house is out of eggs, and that I must fish 
 around in my vocabulary for something else to 
 " quiero" 
 
 In travelling one most " wants " the things which 
 are essential — food, a bed, and means of transporta- 
 
THE CITY OF PONCE 61 
 
 tion. A brief list of nouns and names is easily com- 
 mitted to memory. Additions will be readily made 
 to the list as one moves about. Such a list, sup- 
 ported by the useful "quiero" and the almost equally 
 useful " cuanto" and such other words as came to me 
 during my wanderings, took me through cities and 
 towns, and over many miles of Porto Eican high- 
 ways. 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT . 
 
 The Town of Yauco — The Sunday Morning Market — Fruits and Veg- 
 etables — Jacky and the Natives— Guanica — Our First Landing 
 Place — A Horse Trade — On the Road to Adjuntas — A Mountain 
 Town— The Good Padre — The Kitchen-maid and her Cigar. 
 
 Yauco and Guanica are two of the places which 
 are said to have been captured by the American 
 forces on the island of Porto Rico. Yauco is the 
 principal place and is quite a little city. Guanica is 
 a straggling village on the coast, some six miles to 
 the southward of Yauco, for which place it serves as 
 a port and as a summer-resort for the well-to-do cit- 
 izens of its larger neighbor. Yauco is the present 
 terminus of the Ponce and Yauco division of the 
 Compania de los Ferrocarriles de Puerto Rico. The 
 drainage of Yauco is admirable. The town stands 
 on a hill-side which is about as steep as the roof of a 
 house. The business portion of the town, aud its 
 better buildings, are upon the lower slopes, while 
 cottages and cabins straggle away to the higher and 
 
 steeper regions. The town has a considerable French 
 
 62 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 63 
 
 population, though I am told that the majority are 
 Corsican rather than French. 
 
 The place is the commercial centre for a consid- 
 erable district of productive back country, and one 
 of the outlets, through its port city of GuaDica, for 
 the coffee district. One of the interesting sights, for 
 the visitor, is the plaza on Sunday morning. So far 
 as my observation goes, the people of Porto Bico go 
 to market on Sunday morning instead of going to 
 church. Had I seen as many people in church that 
 Sunday as I saw buying and selling on the plaza, I 
 should have set Yauco down as a religious, if not a 
 pious, place. As it was the church was deserted, 
 while the plaza was packed with a throng of chatter- 
 ing traders which numbered some fifteen hundred 
 people. The entire square was bordered with ox- 
 carts and pannier-laden ponies belonging to people 
 the most of whom had come to sell twenty-five cents' 
 worth of fruit or vegetables, and to buy a few cents' 
 worth of something they wanted. I confess to a 
 personal disregard of the day to the extent of an in- 
 teresting hour among the crowd, and the purchase of 
 sundry fruits for the purpose of learning the prices. 
 American money was then bringing a premium of 
 seventy-five per cent. Ten cents, Porto Bican, was 
 therefore, the equivalent of about six cents American. 
 I bought a large, fine pineapple for ten cents, Porto 
 
64 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 Bican. I paid twelve cents for a large muskmelon. 
 I bought oranges at two for a cent, lemons at three 
 for a cent, guavas at six for a cent, all Porto Eican 
 money. 
 
 Most of the trading was done upon a small scale. 
 The seller arranged his or her little stock of wares 
 upon a mat on the ground, dividing it into little piles 
 which sold for one or two centavos per pile accord- 
 ing to the ruling prices of the article offered. 
 Squashes were cut into sections of suitable sizes. 
 The purchase of a whole squash would probably 
 cause the purchaser to be suspected of lunacy. The 
 variety offered gives some idea of agricultural pos- 
 sibilities, though nothing which is cultivated gives 
 evidence of proper care or development. Things are 
 evidently planted and left to a kindly nature for re- 
 sults. If the beneficent dame sees fit to put nothing 
 on a tomato vine any larger than a robin's egg, and 
 nothing on an egg-plant any larger than one's fist, 
 the native accepts the situation and appears to be sat- 
 isfied. The collection offered included a large variety 
 of native fruits, mangoes, cocoa-nuts, guavas, quenapas, 
 lemons, oranges, pineapples, pomegranates, and others 
 whose names are unfamiliar to us. In garden vege- 
 tables, there were beans, green peas, corn, peppers, 
 egg-plant, melons, yams, and squashes. I saw none 
 of the root-plants here, such as beets, turnips, and 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 65 
 
 carrots, though I saw some of them in the market 
 at Ponce. Garlic was there in quantity. But that 
 speaks for itself. 
 
 The Sunday morning market service begins at an 
 early hour, and lasts until about noon, when all that 
 has not been sold, and all that has been purchased 
 and not eaten on the spot, is packed on the carts or 
 in the panniers, and the congregation starts in every 
 direction on its homeward way. It has transacted its 
 little business, and has heard the news and the gos- 
 sip which will form the basis for its conversation 
 during the week. It seems a petty life, but it is the 
 life of thousands. I saw it in the town of Adjuntas 
 as I saw it here, and in the larger Ponce as I saw it 
 in these country towns. Though the plaza is the 
 common work-day market-place for such towns as 
 have no regular market building, Sunday is the great 
 market day. 
 
 During one of the days spent in Yauco, my atten- 
 tion was attracted by repeated shouts in the street. 
 Upon going to investigate the occasion of the dis- 
 turbance, I found that it was caused by a semi- 
 intoxicated jacky from one of the monitors lying in 
 Guanica Bay. Jacky was celebrating a day of shore- 
 leave by experimenting with the sailing qualities of 
 a Porto Bican pony. He was cruising up and down 
 the principal street at a six-knot gait, and shouting 
 
66 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 at the top of his voice, "Viva Porto Rico." This 
 was answered by the vigorous yells of some two 
 hundred natives who were assembled, " Yiva los 
 Americanos," "Yiva Puerto Rico Americano." There 
 was no question of their sincerity. No man would 
 yell as they did without meaning it. Jacky would 
 howl his " Viva Porto Rico," and the crowd would 
 come back at him with its vociferous response. All 
 hands were having a good time. A little squad of 
 the provost guard marched up to see what was going 
 on. It grinned and marched back again. 
 
 The road from Yauco to Guanica takes one imme- 
 diately past the scene of the first " battle " on Porto 
 Rican soil. The Spanish army, consisting of a small 
 company of soldiers, occupied the spacious yard which 
 surrounds the large house and extensive outbuildings 
 of M. Mariani, a French sugar-planter of great wealth 
 and of long residence on the island. A high brick wall 
 along the southern side of the yard formed the Span- 
 ish defence, from which point of vantage they ex- 
 changed a few leaden compliments with the American 
 soldiery of General Henry's command which was 
 posted on the hill beyond. After a few hours of no 
 very energetic warfare, during which a small casualty 
 list was made upon both sides, the Spaniards with- 
 drew to make room for a deputation of the prominent 
 citizens of Yauco, who extended a warm hand of wel- 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 67 
 
 come to the invaders, and declared it their pleasure 
 to become a part of the American people. This epi- 
 sode ended the war in the immediate vicinity, and 
 the so-called " battle " wound up with a reception. 
 
 Guanica is a pretty little harbor, with a narrow en- 
 trance, flanked by high hills, which descend sharply 
 to the water's edge. It presents possibilities as a 
 seaside resort. Its surroundings are charming. A 
 pleasant and refreshing breeze blows from off the 
 water. Pleasant drives could easily be laid out, which 
 would take one either among the mountains or along 
 the coast. There is still-water bathing inside the 
 headlands and surf-bathing beyond them. There is 
 said to be duck-shooting on a near-by lake, and there 
 is dove-shooting in the forest for those who like pot- 
 hunting. Just now Guanica is rather out of the 
 world, but the construction of a Porto Rico belt-line 
 railroad, and the visits of the American tourist, will 
 be likely to make a considerable difference in the life 
 of what is now a sleepy but a beautiful little spot. 
 
 The " Military Notes of Puerto Rico," a small pam- 
 phlet issued by the government for the benefit of 
 commanding officers in that island, gives Adjuntas as 
 follows : " Adjuntas, a town of 2,320 inhabitants, with 
 a jurisdiction numbering 18,820 ; situated fifteen and 
 a half miles from Ponce. It has a post-office and a 
 telegraph station." Adjuntas is another of the Porto 
 
68 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 Bican towns which we " captured." It was taken by 
 General Roy Stone, who rode into it, accompanied by 
 a score or so of soldiers, as he made his way across the 
 island to Arecibo for the purpose of investigating the 
 condition of the highways in that portion of the 
 island. At army head-quarters, General Stone's in- 
 vasion of the region was regarded as somewhat pre- 
 mature. That route was to have been traversed by a 
 triumphant army under the command of General Guy 
 Y. Henry. As matters stood, there was no glory to 
 be got out of it, but General Stone's preliminary 
 excursion robbed it of what little of eclat might pos- 
 sibly have attached to it. 
 
 I began my personal campaign against the con- 
 quered city of Adjuntas by the purchase of a horse 
 for 100 pesos, or about $50 in American money. The 
 size of the beast left me in doubt as to the easiest way 
 to carry him with me, whether in my grip-sack or in 
 my pocket. But I decided that, as I had bought him 
 for the purpose of riding him, I would make use of 
 his four legs to aid my own two. His former owner 
 drove him into the proper position between my legs, 
 and I sat down on him. But there was as far as he 
 would go. I applied the spur, and he started up- 
 ward, but not onward. As my immediate destination 
 was Adjuntas and not the spacious firmament, I stood 
 up and cancelled the trade. I decided to hire instead 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT W 
 
 of buy. I referred to my vocabulary, and said: 
 " Quiero un coche para Adjuntas, manana," which was 
 as near as I could come to saying that I wanted a 
 " carriage for Adjuntas, to-morrow." I said it to all 
 the proprietors of carriages who would listen to me, 
 and their name was legion. I supplemented it with 
 a very business-like "cuanto ?" After an hour or so 
 of saying "si," and "bueno," to something like a thou- 
 sand questions and statements of which I did not 
 understand one single word, I succeeded in contract- 
 ing for " un coche, un cochero, y dos caballos," or, a car- 
 riage, a driver, and two horses, for about ten per cent, 
 less than their assessed valuation. The party of the 
 second part assured me that it would be necessary to 
 send on two relays for so great a journey — fifteen 
 and a half miles. 
 
 I was breakfasting on hardtack and " slum " with 
 my good friends of C Battery of the Seventh Artil- 
 lery, when my " coche y cochero " appeared on the fol- 
 lowing morning. The first six or seven miles of the 
 journey to Adjuntas are over a fairly level and well- 
 made macadamized road, past acres of banana- 
 groves and through a country of great beauty and 
 attractiveness. As the road winds and twists around 
 the hill-sides farther back from the shore, the vallej-s 
 open up long vistas to the southward, with the ocean 
 for a background. Much of it, except for the dis- 
 
70 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 tant water, brought strongly to mind some of the 
 wilder and more precipitous portions of the North 
 Carolina mountains in its general topography. 
 There is but little level ground. The area is almost 
 wholly destitute of those " bottom lands," which are 
 usually found among the hill countries. Cottages 
 by the wayside were literally perched there. The 
 front sill lay immediately upon the edge of the road- 
 way, while the rear of the house rested upon sup- 
 ports of eight or ten feet in height, so steep was the 
 slope in many cases. 
 
 Here and there one finds a more pretentious villa 
 on the crest of a little knoll, with a more or less fan- 
 tastic arched gateway bearing the name of the place, 
 a common practice in Spanish countries. Contrast- 
 ed with these houses of better type, one sees the 
 rude cabin with its rough framework covered with 
 the large sheets of the fibrous bark, which finds a 
 general use in lands where is found growing the spe- 
 cies of palm from which the material is obtained. 
 Many of these structures are exceedingly pictu- 
 resque, but their principal advantage would seem to 
 lie in the fact that one can throw anything which is 
 not wanted out of the back window, and see it roll 
 away down the hill for any number of feet. It dis- 
 poses of all manner of refuse and debris without lit- 
 tering up the back-yard. 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 71 
 
 It is a somewhat tedious ride to climb the long 
 hill on the Adjuntas road, and the enjoyment of the 
 ride is modified by the fact that, out of consideration 
 for the wretched little beasts used on the island as 
 carriage - horses, the merciful man is compelled to 
 walk the greater part of the way. With such a road 
 as might be easily constructed the trip would be 
 wholly delightful. Brilliant flowers, giant yuccas, 
 palms, and brakes which assume almost tree-like pro- 
 portions, border the highways and cover the hill- 
 sides. Banana-groves, the rich dark green of the 
 mango-trees, and all the foliage and undergrowth of 
 the tropics ; the winding road opening an unbroken 
 series of exquisite landscape pictures ; and the 
 dashing mountain -streams plunging and tumbling 
 over rocky beds and falls, give the nature-lover a 
 continuous feast along this beautiful bit of a beauti- 
 ful country. The crest of the hill is reached about 
 two miles out of Adjuntas, and a sharp descent 
 brings the traveller into the valley to follow the 
 course of a merry little stream, past quaint little 
 homes which lie in the suburbs of the town ; and, at 
 last, to the door of a quaint little hotel where one 
 gets a fair bed, and a very good meal, and a cordial 
 welcome. 
 
 The district of which the town of Adjuntas is the 
 principal centre, includes a large slice of the best 
 
72 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 coffee-growing territory of the island. There the 
 coffee industry assumes very considerable propor- 
 tions, and one sees the plant growing upon all sides. 
 An excellent article is produced, and good prices are 
 usually obtained for it. The greater portion of the 
 crop finds its market on the European continent. A 
 Porto Eican coffee plantation does not present any 
 very marked difference in appearance from the rest 
 of the country. The bush, or shrub, growing to 
 some eight or ten feet in height, is set out on no ap- 
 parent system, and grows mixed up with bananas 
 and forest timber. Until one knows what it is, one 
 might easily pass a whole plantation and believe 
 that he had seen nothing but a somewhat scattered 
 forest with its usual undergrowth of scrub and 
 thicket. Locally, the coffee is served in small cups, 
 and is very black and very strong. But it is also 
 excellent. 
 
 The town proper occupies a beautiful location in a 
 narrow valley, whose borders rise sharply and steep- 
 ly to the summits of the surrounding hills. A little 
 stream, which the people of the place dignify with 
 the title of El Eio (the river), runs through the town, 
 and makes itself very useful for laundry purpose d 
 la Porto Eico. In the heart of the village an open 
 space is turned into a public park, with crosswalks, 
 shrubbery, and brilliant flowers. It is not over- 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 73 
 
 neatly kept, and there is no particular evidence of 
 skilful gardening; but the place is quite attractive, 
 and constitutes a pleasant relief to some of its rather 
 dingy surroundings. Here and there a private resi- 
 dence shows a rank garden-growth of bright-hued 
 flowers. But, on the whole, the long and straggling 
 town is not particularly attractive. Most of its 
 houses are mere cabins, and few of even the better 
 class are at all home-like, from the American stand- 
 point. The Spanish people and their kindred would 
 seem to have but two ideas regarding a residence. 
 There appears to be no mean between the casa, 
 with its patio, abutting immediately upon the side- 
 walk and wall to wall with others very much like 
 it, and the country-seat a good distance from any 
 neighbors. Naturally, the poorer classes can have 
 neither ; but in a country where land is sufficiently 
 abundant, there is no visible reason for setting every 
 little cabin immediately upon the edge of the road- 
 way, and within two or three feet of the buildings on 
 either side of it. 
 
 The city hall is an unpretentious structure, one 
 story in height, and painted, like many Porto Rican 
 buildings of all classes, a pale blue, with white trim- 
 mings. In it are the offices of the alcalde, a func- 
 tionary who seems to be something more than a 
 mayor and something less than a governor. There 
 
74 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 are also the offices of the different legal and official 
 dignitaries of the district. From the numerical rela- 
 tion of the police force to the population, one might 
 infer that Adjuntas was a sort of Porto Eican " Bit- 
 ter Creek," where everybody was bad, and the higher 
 up one went, the more and more wicked he found the 
 people. In the United States, a village which needed 
 a policeman to every hundred of its inhabitants, 
 would be shunned by all, and would soon be desert- 
 ed by all who did not stay behind for the express 
 purpose of killing each other. Such a town in the 
 United States would have a constable or two, or a 
 marshal with a deputy. 
 
 Adjuntas claims a population of 2,300, and has a 
 chief of police with a force of twenty men under him. 
 They are in ample evidence in the principal streets, 
 dressed in suits of linen with narrow blue-and-white 
 stripe, and wearing a belt and a sword. They are a 
 rather light-weight lot, and a fair specimen of the 
 Bowery tough would probably have but little trouble 
 in doing up a half-dozen or so of them in the course 
 of an evening, without breaking his gait. 
 
 The spiritual needs of the community are cared for 
 by a most excellent man. It is a pleasure to render 
 even so slight a tribute to the good Padre Antonio 
 Millon, the parish priest of Adjuntas. Although a 
 Spanish sympathizer, this gentleman sunk all else, 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 75 
 
 and remembered only those words, spoken so many 
 centuries ago, " If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if 
 he thirst, give him drink." When the great govern- 
 ment of the United States was sending its soldiers 
 into the field without adequate provision for them in 
 case of sickness, Padre Antonio Millon gave his time, 
 his care, and his thought to nursing, feeding, and 
 caring for the sick soldiers of the United States 
 army. 
 
 Among those to whom this good man ministered 
 was a soldier of the Nineteenth Infantry. For a 
 week the soldier lay at the point of death, faithfully 
 nursed and tended by the good priest. But the case 
 was hopeless. During his illness, the battalion to 
 which the soldier was attached had moved forward 
 to Utuado. Authority was obtained, by the army 
 telegraph line, from the commanding officer, for the 
 burial of the dead man in Adjuntas. All suitable ar- 
 rangements were made by the padre, and the soldier 
 was laid to rest under the shadow of the Porto Rican 
 hills. I reached Adjuntas on the day of the burial, 
 and learned of the incident soon after my arrival. 
 
 Late in the afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting 
 Padre Millon. He came to my hotel to ask me to at- 
 tend, as a representative of the country to which the 
 dead soldier had belonged, a mass service at the lit- 
 tle church in the village. The soldier had not been 
 
76 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 of the Catholic faith, but the padre put away all 
 questions of nation and creed, and saw only a soul. 
 FeeliDg that all possible recognition of the good 
 priest's kindly service and broad charity was none 
 too much for Americans to show, I spoke to Captain 
 Jackson, the commanding officer of a company of the 
 Sixth Massachusetts, then doing provost guard duty 
 in Adjuntas, and to Captain Brown of the First Illi- 
 nois, who arrived the same day with a little group of 
 the Provisional Engineer Corps, on their way from 
 Utuado to Ponce. 
 
 Both of these gentlemen fully appreciated the situ- 
 ation, and at seven o'clock on the following morning 
 every man of their respective commands not detailed 
 for routine duty, was in the lines which were drawn 
 up inside the church. Some sixty soldiers were thus 
 present, with such observance of military form as 
 was possible under the circumstances. At the close 
 of the service the provost guard returned to its quar- 
 ters, the engineers marched away on their long 
 tramp to Ponce, and the priest took up his daily 
 round of parish duties. All honor to the good padre 
 with the broad badge of the Spanish Bed Cross So- 
 ciety on the shoulder of his priestly cassock. 
 
 Adjuntas has stores. It has many of them. From 
 all appearances the majority of them either carry a 
 stock of liquor as an adjunct to a stock of miscel- 
 
INTO THE COFFEE DISTRICT 77 
 
 laneous merchandise, or a stock of miscellaneous 
 merchandise as an adjunct to a bar-room. I was told 
 that there were no restrictions there upon the sale of 
 liquor, and I could see no evidence of any. Yet I 
 saw no intoxication. Almost every one drinks wine 
 and native rum, and occasionally there is a disturb- 
 ance in which the omnipresent machete plays its 
 little part. The women smoke both cigarettes and 
 cigars. Occasionally one meets a woman, evidently 
 of the poorer classes, sauntering along the street, 
 puffing a full-grown cigar. Sitting in my room in 
 Adjuntas I could look from my window into the rear 
 yard of the hotel, and see a dark-skinned, though not 
 black, woman, washing the dishes from the dinner- 
 table. The dish-washing did not seem to be much of 
 a treat, but she surely enjoyed the cigar from which 
 she extracted such a volume of smoke. Her assistant, 
 a smaller and lighter-skinned damsel, was also smok- 
 ing. Ladies of higher social grade are a bit more 
 shy about their public performances on the cigar. 
 
 The attractiveness of Adjuntas lies more in its sur- 
 roundings than in its streets or its houses. The steep 
 hills, wild and many folded, rise sharply on all sides, 
 rich with color and verdure. A short walk from the 
 hotel took one into the heart of it all, and away from 
 " wars and rumors of wars " ; from muddy camps and 
 all their turmoil. 
 
VI 
 
 A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 
 
 Correspondents on the Firing-line — An Excited Chief of Police — 
 Beyond the Outposts— A Search for Willing Prisoners — A Blind 
 Trail — A Spaniard's Hospitality — Midnight Encounters— Friends 
 or Foes— Unwilling Rough Riders — A Striking Picture — The 
 Capture — " Too Near " Home. 
 
 The Porto Bican campaign was decidedly lacking 
 in opportunities for newspaper correspondents to as- 
 certain the measure of their resources in the matter 
 of personal heroism. During the days which fol- 
 lowed the occupation of Ponce, a few trifling engage- 
 ments took place in the immediate vicinity of the 
 city. The " firing-line " was reached by a pleasant 
 drive over an admirable road which traversed a re- 
 gion full of delight and interest to the nature-lover. 
 These engagements were duly attended by a few cor- 
 respondents, and there is no doubt that all main- 
 tained a due and proper degree of placidity and se- 
 renity under the ordeal of facing bullets which were 
 flying principally in directions other than that of 
 their particular position. One or two did hear the 
 whistle of Mauser bullets. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 79 
 
 One venturesome spirit bought a horse and rode 
 out gallantly with the purpose of entering San Juan 
 at a time when the enterprise presented a somewhat 
 doubtful outcome. He returned confessing, very hon- 
 estly, that he got " rattled " when within a few miles 
 of the city. He would really have been far more 
 safe in entering it than in riding back over the 
 mountains. Aside from the risk of danger to life and 
 limb which lay in carriage journeys over various 
 Porto Bican highways, my own opportunities for 
 courting death or capture at the hands of the enemy 
 were limited to a nocturnal expedition beyond our 
 outposts, for the purpose of assisting in bringing 
 in some Spanish prisoners who were anxious to be 
 captured. They stood in greater fear of their com- 
 patriots than of their nominal enemies. 
 
 At the time of the signing of the Protocol, General 
 Garrettson's brigade was on its way across the island 
 to Arecibo. A battalion of the Nineteenth Eegulars 
 occupied Utuado and the Sixth Massachusetts and 
 Sixth Illinois were in camp at Adjuntas, some ten 
 miles farther south. I had left Ponce the day before 
 with the intention of going across the country to 
 Arecibo, where I purposed taking the train for San 
 Juan. My route took me through the territory occu- 
 pied by this brigade, which formed the expedition 
 commanded by General Guy Y. Henry. The news 
 
80 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 of the signing of the Protocol reached me at Adjun- 
 tas, and introduced an element of uncertainty regard- 
 ing the status of Americans within the Spanish lines, 
 and the right of even American civilians to cross 
 the frontier. I decided to remain at Adjuntas until 
 I could obtain fuller information, deeming it wise to 
 risk no interference with the work I was doing, for 
 no greater prospective equivalent than the possibility 
 of a sensational story of a few days of detention in a 
 Spanish prison. 
 
 Just before noon of my second day in Adjuntas, 
 my friend Captain Johnston, of the Sixteenth United 
 States Infantry, then serving as quartermaster on the 
 staff of General Henry, came to my room in the little 
 hotel where I was staying, to invite me to accompany 
 him on an excursion into the country toward Lares, 
 a region that was still in possession of the Spanish 
 forces. It had been reported to the local chief of 
 police that some eighteen or twenty men, voluntdrios 
 who had evaded service, and deserters from the 
 Spanish army, were at a plantation three or four 
 miles beyond the city. They wished to come in 
 but feared the possible violence of the people, and 
 therefore desired an armed escort to protect them. 
 The chief was greatly excited. He referred the 
 matter to Captain Johnston, who decided to give 
 it his personal attention. The details were rather 
 
u 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 81 
 
 vague, and the promise of excitement was rather 
 limited. 
 
 But the expedition offered at least a pleasant ride 
 into the country, and the possibility of a novel ex- 
 perience. I was quite ready to accept the invitation. 
 We ordered an early lunch, and were in the saddle 
 soon after noon. It was not a regular military affair. 
 Our party consisted of the captain and myself, an 
 orderly, an interpreter, the chief of police, and ten of 
 his men. The captain was mounted on a big chest- 
 nut horse, and the orderly rode a remarkably long- 
 legged army mule. The rest of us looked as impos- 
 ing as we could on the little native horses, whose 
 height seldom exceeds twelve to thirteen hands. 
 The police were armed with the old-fashioned Rem- 
 ington rifle, with swords, and with pistols if they 
 possessed them. The orderly carried the Krag-Jor- 
 gensen rifle of our regular army. The captain and 
 I carried 38-calibre Colts of the latest army pattern, 
 and the interpreter carried an umbrella. 
 
 A ride of a mile or two beyond the city, over a 
 fairly good road which wound through coffee planta- 
 tions and banana groves, brought us to the border of 
 a little stream. Upon its bank stood an American 
 soldier. Near him there floated, from the top of a 
 rude pole, a bit of white cloth. His position marked 
 the boundary of the American occupation, and the 
 
82 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 bit of white linen at the end of the pole was the flag 
 of truce, which indicated, for a time at least, peace 
 between the warring nations. On the other side of 
 the stream we were on Spanish soil. We had started 
 on a basis of a short ride of three or four miles, but 
 the farther we rode the less our little chief of police 
 seemed to know about his destination. " La casa " 
 — the house, became " Una casa " — a house. The sun 
 was broiling hot, and the road became more and 
 more rough and uneven the farther we went. 
 
 At four miles out "a house" was still somewhere 
 beyond. Five miles brought us no certainty. We 
 interviewed householders and such travellers as we 
 met. The willing prisoners of the conquering nation 
 might be at any one of a half dozen places, but all 
 were " mas adelante " — farther on. At about the 
 sixth mile, Johnston and I consulted. We cross-ex- 
 amined the little chief. He knew nothing. He only 
 felt sure that the object of our search was "farther 
 on." We decided to push forward. There was no 
 way of telling what might happen. The message to 
 the police might be wholly correct except for an error 
 in point of distance. It might be wholly false. It 
 might even be a trap with mischief in it. We rode 
 on. Our police escort was beginning to lag a little. 
 Two or three times we had to wait for them, and 
 once or twice Johnston used the imperative in telling 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 83 
 
 tlie chief to order his men to " close up." The idea 
 grew upon us that they did not quite like the job. 
 They were not stalwart six-footers — these police. 
 That sort does not grow there. I doubt if any one 
 of them weighed a hundred and twenty pounds, and a 
 diet of plantains, beans, and rice does not make men 
 of brawn and muscle. 
 
 At four o'clock we had covered a little more than 
 eight miles. At that point we came to a large and 
 most comfortable-looking mansion which proved to 
 be the residence of one Senor Antonio Mayol, a pros- 
 perous coffee planter. We dismounted to rest in the 
 shade of his large coffee-house, and were soon sur- 
 rounded by a numerous company of the people of 
 the plantation. For a few moments we were in some 
 doubt of their attitude toward us. The little chief 
 whispered " Espaiiol." That was true. Senor Mayol 
 was of Spanish birth, and was presumably loyal to 
 his country. But whatever the Spanish official may 
 be as a governor of colonies, the Spanish private 
 citizen has but one fault as a host. He overdoes 
 things in the matter of hospitality. His guest must 
 eat more than he ought, drink more than he wants, 
 and accept courtesies until they become little short 
 of oppressive. Of this type was our host, who soon 
 bustled his way through the group of spectators. 
 His cordial welcome was hardly over before Juan 
 
84 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 and Jose and Pedro were sent scurrying away to re- 
 turn in an incredibly short time with refreshments 
 for our party. 
 
 Senor Mayol assumed that we had come to stay 
 with him and gave orders for the unsaddling of our 
 horses. After a little time and difficulty we were able 
 to make him understand our errand, and from him we 
 received the first information we had been able to 
 obtain, which was even approximately accurate. Our 
 vague party of prisoners seemed likely to take on a 
 tangible form at a farm-house five miles beyond, and 
 on the other side of the mountain. The broad veranda 
 of Senor Mayol's house looked very attractive, and the 
 hot mountain-side looked very hot and very steep. 
 It was suggested that as the police had got us into 
 the scrape, the police should get us out. Captain 
 Johnston, the interpreter, the orderly, and the writer, 
 would rest at Senor Mayol's. The police should pro- 
 ceed and bring the prisoners to us, instead of taking 
 us to the prisoners. The chief demurred, but John- 
 ston is tall and has square shoulders and a deter- 
 mined expression. The police moved on, with posi- 
 tive instructions to be back before seven o'clock at 
 the latest. 
 
 "We spent the intervening hours most pleasantly as 
 Senor Mayol's guests. He set forth an over-abun- 
 dant dinner, showed us his estate, his gardens, and 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 85 
 
 his mills. Neither war nor politics came into our 
 conversation, and those few hours have in them noth- 
 ing save kindly thoughts and pleasant memories. 
 Darkness came as we smoked an after-dinner cigar 
 on the cool veranda, but the police did not come. 
 Seven, and the half past, came without bringing them, 
 and we began to speculate concerning their where- 
 abouts and their experience. Had they deserted us ? 
 Were they in trouble ? As it stood, we could not get 
 back to Adjuntas before midnight at the best, and 
 we wanted to get back. 
 
 Shortly before eight o'clock the son of our host, a 
 fine young fellow of twenty or so, volunteered to ride 
 up the road for any news he might be able to pick up. 
 He had been gone about twenty minutes when the 
 sound of rapid hoof-beats announced that somebody 
 was coming up in a hurry. It proved to be young 
 Mayol, trembling with excitement. We learned that 
 he had been " held up " and threatened with a beat- 
 ing at a place about a mile and a half from his home. 
 He was the son of a Spaniard and his assailants 
 were Porto Eicans who hated him because of his 
 race. He had got away and had sent his horse home- 
 ward at top speed. The incident determined our 
 movements. We sent a " hurry call " to the stable 
 for our horses, resumed the weapons that we had 
 laid aside, and said " Adios " to our kindly host. Our 
 
86 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 purpose was to find the assailants of young Mayol if 
 we could do so, and then to hunt up our missing 
 police. Three or four of the farm people joined us 
 with their machetes tucked under their arms, ready for 
 use if the occasion arose. Young Mayol accompanied 
 us to identify the chaps if we came across them. Of 
 course they were not to be found. Ten or a dozen 
 horsemen give sufficient notice of their approach to 
 enable any who wish to do so, to avoid a meeting by 
 escaping into the darkness. 
 
 We came to a house where quite a group of men 
 had assembled, and stopped to question them. In 
 the dim light I could see Johnston's hand swing 
 around to his hip, just as mine did. I saw the bar- 
 rel of the orderly's Krag-Jorgensen drop into the 
 hollow of his left arm, and I could imagine just 
 where his right hand was. But the interview was 
 peaceable enough, and we learned nothing, save that 
 the men we wanted had been there and had gone 
 away, and that nothing had been seen of our police 
 since their passing on their way out. We also learned 
 that there was another route, which it then seemed 
 probable that the police might have taken for their 
 return. We decided to investigate the police question 
 along the line of this other route. We reduced our 
 party to the original group, except that we took one 
 of Senor Mayol's people as a pilot over the hills. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 87 
 
 Then followed what seemed an endless ride 
 through the darkness. The main road had been too 
 rough for comfortable riding through the gloom. 
 Our new way was not even a road. It was but one 
 of the many bridle-paths over the mountains which 
 the natives use for getting about from plantation to 
 plantation. I can give no description of it, except 
 that at times we were in inky blackness under the 
 dense foliage, obliged to call to each other in order 
 to keep together, while at other times we were in 
 open fields on the hill-tops with the bright stars to 
 give us light, and the cool moisture-laden night air 
 to give us rheumatism and influenza. I know that 
 we forded rocky torrents on the mountain-side, that 
 we rode up places that seemed like walls, and that we 
 rode down places that seemed like precipices. Our 
 horses stumbled and fell. My guiding star through- 
 out the whole was that orderly sergeant on the tall 
 mule. In the narrow way we could only ride in 
 single file, and the mental photograph of that fig- 
 ure riding before me, vaguely outlined in the star- 
 light of that night in August, will never be wholly 
 obliterated. 
 
 Hour after hour we rode up, down, and around 
 those hills. Ten o'clock and eleven o'clock passed, 
 and there was no sign of our lost police. Once, as 
 we turned a sharp corner, we came suddenly upon 
 
88 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 two white-garbed horsemen. Who they were, or 
 how many might be behind them, we could not see. 
 Again I saw that Krag-Jorgensen drop across the 
 sergeant's arm. Upon comparing notes with John- 
 ston afterward, I learned that his six-shooter was in 
 his hand. I know that mine was ready. But the two 
 white-clad apparitions proved to be the whole of the 
 unknown force, and they appeared to be more fright- 
 ened than we were, for they gave an indistinct an- 
 swer to our challenge, and pushed their horses out 
 of the path and into a brushy field to avoid us. We 
 set them down, with probable correctness, as a 
 couple of runaway voluntdrios making their way to 
 their homes somewhere in the vicinity, and not at 
 all anxious to meet anything in uniform, either 
 Spanish or American. 
 
 Just before midnight, after losing our way two or 
 three times and being forced to retrace our steps to 
 find our proper path, we came upon a large and 
 rambling set of farm-buildings, fronted by a fenced 
 enclosure, with a high gateway. By the dim light 
 of a suspended candle-lantern we could see the mov- 
 ing forms of a score of men and a long row of pick- 
 eted horses. They might be our missing police. 
 They might be a Spanish outpost. I think that if it 
 had been the whole of the Spanish army Johnston 
 would have challenged it just the same. We rode 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 89 
 
 up to tlie gate with the Krag-Jorgensen in the hol- 
 low of the sergeant's arm, and a couple of long-bar- 
 relled Colt's revolvers ready for instant use. Again 
 our preparation was needless. We had only come 
 upon a country pack-train preparing for an early 
 morning start to the distant city. "We rode into the 
 yard, and all dismounted except the sergeant on the 
 tall mule. He kept his perch like a sentinel on a 
 high tower. "While we were questioning the people 
 regarding the things we wished to know, the sergeant 
 called the captain's attention and announced the ap- 
 proach of a squad of horsemen. I shoved my bridle 
 into the hand of the nearest native and ranged up 
 alongside the captain, facing the gate. I saw some- 
 thing white in his hand. His revolver was an ivory- 
 handled weapon, a trophy of his skill as a pistol 
 shot. Behind us loomed the sergeant on the tall 
 mule, equally ready with the pair in front of him to 
 shoot if necessary. Again the pistols went back to 
 their holsters. The new arrivals were our missing 
 policemen with their prisoners. 
 
 It was a weird picture that was shown there in 
 that tropic midnight. The little squad of policemen 
 on their jaded horses, the group of natives in their 
 scant but picturesque raiment, towering over all the 
 sergeant on the tall mule, the whole thrown into 
 shadowy relief by the starlight, with bits of high 
 
90 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 light showing sharply in the rays of the lantern. All 
 was black and white in bustling movement around a 
 centre in which stood the captain and his interpreter 
 listening to the story told by the chief of police. 
 Briefly he had at last found his men and was bring- 
 ing them in. There they were — six of them. One 
 had a pass from an American army officer that would 
 have taken him anywhere, unquestioned, within the 
 American lines. For the other five, it is seldom that 
 one sees men who are quite as delighted at becoming 
 prisoners of war as was that quintette. They were 
 unarmed, but in the house from which one of them 
 was taken, the police had found two shot-guns which 
 would seriously imperil the life of anyone who might 
 attempt to use them, and an old-fashioned revolver 
 of French make, using the pin-fire cartridge. The 
 revolver disappeared in the crowd in the darkness. 
 I think that Johnston had an idea where it was. I 
 had something more than an idea. I was wearing 
 one of those shooting-coats made of light duck and 
 fitted with very large pockets. I found the pistol in 
 one of those pockets the next morning. It must 
 have fallen in somehow as it passed from hand to 
 hand. 
 
 That part of our work was done. We had found 
 our police and received our prisoners. We sent them 
 on their way to the city, appointing a rendezvous at 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SADDLE 91 
 
 a certain spot en route, for seven o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. Then we swung our tired legs over the backs 
 of our tired horses, to ride for another two hours to 
 a point where we could catch an hour or two of sleep 
 and join the police at the appointed time and place. 
 I shall remember that two hours' ride as long as I 
 live. After we had ridden until it seemed as if it 
 must be very near the morning, I called to the inter- 
 preter to ask how much farther we had to go. His 
 English was not of the best and he evidently con- 
 founded the meaning of the words " too "and "very," 
 for he replied that the place was " too near." I 
 heard a grunt from the sergeant and something about 
 the place as not being "too near" by some kind of a 
 sight. The qualifying adjective was lost by an op- 
 portune stumble on the part of the tall mule. Risk- 
 ing the character of the missing adjective I sung out 
 a cordial endorsement of the sergeant's reply. At 
 last the barking of the dogs in the valley far below 
 us, and a dim gray spot which could be nothing 
 other than a white building, gave us the welcome 
 sign that our journey was over. It had consumed 
 more than six hours since our second start. Our 
 tired brutes picked their way down the rough path 
 and brought us to the ample court-yard of a large 
 coffee estate. I have a vague idea of lights, greet- 
 ings, a cup of native coffee, a long passageway 
 
92 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 leading to a bedroom, and then — " Sleep, sore labor's 
 bath." 
 
 The whole experience was one of potential, rather 
 than actual adventure, but, as I have said, the Porto 
 Kican campaign was not rich in opportunities for 
 real adventures, particularly for newspaper corre- 
 spondents. 
 
VII 
 
 TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 
 
 " Shucks and Shacks " — Picturesque San German — " Hotel the Strug- 
 gle " — A Restless Night — A Native Description of the Engagement 
 at Hormigueros— Two Humble Heroes— A Notable Shrine— Beau- 
 tiful Mayaguez — A Miniature Street-car Line — Public Buildings 
 — The Casino 
 
 Among the Porto Rican towns from which we shall 
 probably be looking for election returns within a few 
 years, are Sabana Grande, San German, and Hormi- 
 gueros. All are in the southwestern part of the isl- 
 and. San German is the largest of the three, and 
 lies midway between the other two, along the road 
 from Ponce to Mayaguez. Yauco lies to the east- 
 ward of them, about ten miles from Sabana Grande. 
 
 If one turns the "b " in Sabana into Castilian, as 
 it is in Habana, he at once gets the clew to the mean- 
 ing of the name ; and it readily resolves itself into 
 "the great," or "large savannah," and "Sabana 
 Grande " describes itself as a broad, level, and fer- 
 tile plain. It is true that the place is not altogether 
 as level as a barn floor, but beyond the low range of 
 
 hills to the westward of Yauco, the traveller enters a 
 
 93 
 
94 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 broad and extensive valley, which occupies a large 
 portion of southwestern Porto Eico. It is a land of 
 corn and sugar-cane. The land is evidently of ex- 
 ceeding fertility, and in spite of years of cultivation 
 without fertilizers it still yields abundant harvests, 
 and might readily be made even more prolific. The 
 town itself is not much to boast of. There is the 
 usual iglesia, or church, fronting the usual open 
 square. There is a suitable proportion of the very 
 dirty- looking little stores which are common to such 
 villages. There is the same general air of decay 
 which characterizes the average Porto Bican village. 
 But Sabana Grande seems to possess an unusual 
 number of buildings of the genus " shack." It ap- 
 pears to be composed mainly of long rows of rough 
 and badly built shanties, which give the greater por- 
 tion of the town the appearance of being utterly 
 poverty stricken. Yet the people of the place do 
 not look any more dirty, ragged, or hungry than a 
 great many of their compatriots in other places. 
 
 Before many of the houses, immediately beside 
 the roadway, mats were spread upon which corn, 
 shelled from the cob, was drying in the sun. The 
 whole place seemed reeking with corn. Bushels of 
 it were thus drying in the bright sunshine. It hung 
 in great bunches from the rafters inside the little 
 dwellings, and lay in piles upon the porches. In 
 
TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 95 
 
 the fields it stood, some of young growth and some 
 of ripened ears ready for gathering. Apparently, 
 one might have boiled green corn upon his table, if 
 he so wished, every day of the year in Porto Eico. 
 It would mean but a little calculation of the time of 
 planting. One of the leading citizens, at whose 
 house I stopped in passing, gave me oranges and 
 pomegranates picked from the trees as we walked 
 through his garden. He showed me his young cof- 
 fee-shrubs, growing in the shade of the bananas. It 
 appears that it will not do to expose the coffee-plant 
 to the rays of the sun. It is, therefore, planted and 
 grown under the shade of the banana or some tree 
 whose growth outstrips the coffee in rapidity, and 
 under whose leaves the more sensitive shrub finds 
 the shelter which it needs. 
 
 San German is the next town on the route. It 
 appears to be bisected by Luna Street, with the 
 larger and more important portion of the place on 
 the north side. It is an old town, claiming a foun. 
 dation by Captain Miguel Toro, in 1511. The ap^ 
 pearance of some portions of it would indicate an es- 
 tablishment of even more ancient date. A photog- 
 rapher who possessed an acute sense of the artistic 
 could spend a week or two there very profitably, 
 though perhaps not very comfortably. The cathe- 
 dral, with its long flight of steps, almost as wide as 
 
96 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 the front of the edifice, would make a good subject, 
 and some of the picturesque people and children 
 could be posed on those stairs and some delightful 
 studies be obtained. I noticed an old ruin, perhaps 
 a church of an earlier date. With proper lights and 
 shadows, it would yield some capital bits for the 
 camera. So, too, with the town itself. It's narrow 
 streets should yield an abundant harvest for the 
 man with a good tripod instrument. But it is not a 
 place for snap-shots. Few places are, if one wants 
 pictures. The man who only wants a photograph 
 can get it anywhere. In San German there are old 
 iron fences of considerable height and elaboration of 
 design, with massive stone pillars, enclosing tangled 
 growths of tropical plants. There are plant- covered 
 balconies on houses of the better class, and artistic 
 dilapidation and decay among the houses of the 
 older portions of the place. 
 
 Of all the dingy and unattractive hotels which I 
 experienced on the island, the San German affair 
 was the worst. But there was a picture in the flight 
 of stone steps which led into it and opened at their 
 upper end upon a sort of arched semi-inclosure, 
 through which, from the stairs, the near-by hills 
 stood in beautiful relief. The hotel was of the kind 
 which one remembers, though not for its delights. 
 From the corner of the building hung the signboard. 
 
TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 97 
 
 " Fonda la Lucha." " Hotel the Struggle," would be 
 a literal translation of the name of this hostelry. 
 " Lucha " also means " strife." The special applica- 
 tion of the name to the hotel is left to the ideas of 
 the traveller. Possibly the proprietor struggles to 
 make a living out of the place. Possibly the mean- 
 ing touches the guest more closely than it does the 
 host. He was a clever man, mine host, pleasant and 
 obliging, but in his hotel I strove with ants on the 
 dining -table, and struggled with fleas in my bedroom. 
 I should hardly go as far as did Richard III., and 
 decline to "pass another such a night, though 'twere 
 to win a world of happy days," but I am not hungry 
 to duplicate it. 
 
 I had every reason to believe that I was the only 
 American in the city that night. I had no idea of 
 the nationality or of the political opinions of my host. 
 I presume that he was all right. But conversations 
 which I overheard, and the appearance of one or two 
 individuals who dropped in after nightfall, were not 
 wholly reassuring, and I judged it wise to put my 
 revolver under my pillow. "What with the fleas and 
 the feeling that I had best not sleep too soundly, the 
 amount of sleep which I did not get that night would 
 have well rested any man who was even more tired 
 than I was. But it was cheap amusement. For my 
 dinner, with a bottle of undrinkable wine, my lodg- 
 
98 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 ing, and my breakfast, I paid a sum equal to about 
 seventy-five cents in American money. 
 
 Hormigueros is not much of a town. Its chief 
 interest to Americans just now is the fact that its 
 vicinity gives the name to one of those little engage- 
 ments which, in this rather opera-bouffe campaign, 
 we denominate as "battles." There was a bit of 
 sharp infantry firing, with a slight casualty list for 
 both sides. But it was hardly even a skirmish fight. 
 My driver illustrated the scene with great animation 
 as I passed it on my way. His finger pointed out 
 the line of march of the " Americanos.'' The index 
 was suspended to indicate a certain spot. A vigor- 
 ous and staccato " Pom-m-m," meant that the artil- 
 lery had halted at that point and tried a shot or two. 
 Then the word "Espanol," an animated rotary 
 motion of the hands, and the pointing out of the 
 hills behind the village, made sufficiently clear the 
 manner in which the valiant Spaniards had tumbled 
 over each other in their efforts to get away behind 
 the summits which formed the picturesque back- 
 ground of the village of Hormigueros. It was not 
 much of a fight, but it put the American flag in the 
 place of a Spanish bandera over another Porto Eican 
 town. 
 
 The Spaniards might have stopped the Americans 
 twenty times within the next few miles. They might 
 
TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 99 
 
 have decimated the American ranks by guerilla fir- 
 ing. They might have played the mischief with us, 
 generally. But they appear to have been utterly 
 "rattled." They would seem to have been terror- 
 stricken by the appearance of an army which fired 
 as it moved forward, and always moved forward. 
 It was here that there occurred one of those little 
 exhibitions of individual courage which are of great- 
 er frequency in the ranks of our regular army than 
 is generally known to the public. Captain Hoyt's 
 company of the Eleventh Regular Infantry was in 
 advance. The Spanish troop were hunting cover 
 and falling back with great agility. The side of the 
 little hill which lay before the American lines was a 
 cleared field. Its top was wooded and formed an 
 admirable cover. The wood might be filled with 
 Mausers. Captain Hoyt hesitated about sending his 
 men across the clearing. Two men stepped from the 
 ranks. One of them had been in the army for some 
 yeaxs and had seen service on the plains. The other 
 was of recent enlistment. With as much coolness as 
 they would have shown in following a deer track, the 
 two started up the slope at a trot, and plunged into 
 the thicket. They soon reappeared with a cry to 
 "come along." Then they disappeared, to repeat 
 the process on the next hill. Who were they ? I do 
 not know. The army is full of such men. We hear 
 
100 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 very little about them. It is true that they might 
 be well advertised as The Heroes of Hormigueros, 
 because they did in a little way what Dewey and 
 Hobson did on a larger scale. It is the way of the 
 army and navy, that is all. All that is needed is the 
 opportunity. Had it been necessary or desirable, 
 the whole command would have gone as the two men 
 did. 
 
 The little hillside village of Hormigueros possesses, 
 in its church edifice, a venerated and widely known 
 point of interest. Overlooking the village and the 
 surrounding valley, stands the church of Our Lady 
 of Monserrate. It is a holy spot, and has for 
 many years been the gathering point for pilgrims 
 who come, not only from other parts of the island, 
 but, as well, from many of the adjacent islands 
 of the Antilles. Its special distinction as a point for 
 pilgrims arises from a glory borrowed from the cele- 
 brated Benedictine monastery in Spain, standing a 
 few miles from the city of Barcelona. The Spanish 
 monastery draws tens of thousands of pilgrims to its 
 doors every year because of its possession of a statue 
 said to have been carved by the apostle Luke, and 
 brought to Barcelona, in the year 50, by the apostle 
 Peter. The Hormigueros sanctuary would seem to 
 stand as the local representative of the shrine whose 
 name it bears. It is a picturesque structure, stand* 
 
TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 101 
 
 ing on the crest of a hill and reached by a long flight 
 of steps. From the fact that my driver pointed it 
 out to me as an army barracks, I infer that it was oc- 
 cupied by the Spanish troops before the arrival of 
 the American army. 
 
 The pamphlet, issued by the government for the 
 use of army officers, and entitled " Military Notes on 
 Porto Rico," contains, among some facts, a consider- 
 able assortment of misinformation. Its maps and its 
 statements are chiefly drawn from Spanish sources, 
 and display the general inaccuracy of detail which 
 marks the bulk of Spanish productions of that char- 
 acter. This pamphlet gives, under the head of 
 " Mayaguez," the following : " A city of 11,615 in- 
 habitants, with a jurisdiction numbering 28,026. The 
 majority of the population is white. It is the third 
 city in importance in the island, being situated in the 
 west part facing what is generally known as ' Mona 
 Channel.' It is a seaport of considerable commerce, 
 and is one hundred and two miles from San Juan." 
 A part of this is true, with limitations. Whatever 
 else may be said for it, there is no question that 
 Mayaguez is a beautifully situated city, and that it is 
 well worth a visit. Its general architecture is, natur- 
 ally, Spanish in its character. The greater number 
 of its buildings are of stone or brick, and are one 
 story in height. The wide portico extending across 
 
102 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 the front of the house, and raised from three to five 
 feet above the sidewalk upon which it immediately 
 borders, is the common fashion for the many well- 
 built and well-painted residences which abound on 
 the principal streets. Open doors and gates give 
 views of pleasant interiors, and of court-yards filled 
 with flowers and plants. 
 
 The streets are much wider than the usual thor- 
 oughfares of such places. Through some of them 
 there runs a quaint little tram-road with a gauge of 
 perhaps twenty-seven to thirty inches. The cars, 
 which run at quite frequent intervals, are drawn by 
 two of the little things commonly known as cabal- 
 los, which translates into "horses." This is a re- 
 flection on the horse family. These cars cannot ex- 
 ceed twelve feet in length, and seem hardly that. 
 Their width may be five and a half feet. They con- 
 sist of a platform with a roof from which hang red 
 and white striped curtains for protection against the 
 sun and rain. There are two double seats, dos-a-dos, 
 running across the car. The driver appears to divide 
 his attention between his horses and any Americans 
 who may ride with him. 
 
 The conductor is provided with a small pouch sus- 
 pended by a strap over his shoulder. This is a re- 
 ceptacle for the fares collected, and the repository for 
 a small book from which he tears a ticket for each 
 
TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 103 
 
 fare. He tears the ticket half in two as an indica- 
 tion that it has been used, and presents the mutilated 
 scrap to the passenger as a receipt for money paid. 
 This ticket, which is about two and one half inches 
 square, has a central circular imprint, of about the 
 diameter of a silver half-dollar, which reads, Socie- 
 dad Andnima, Tranvia de Mayaguez. Across the top 
 it reads, Conservese durante el trayecto, and across 
 the bottom, E inutilicese despues. A random trans- 
 lation of this would turn it into " Hang on to this 
 during your passage. It is good for nothing after- 
 wards." I was informed that the street railway 
 system was not remunerative, owing to the fact that 
 affairs were left entirely to a superintendent whom 
 nobody watched. It is now proposed to institute a 
 reform and make a shot for some dividends. To 
 that end, notices are flow posted in the cars, on the 
 under side of the roof, where one stands a fair 
 chance of breaking his neck while reading them. 
 They are to the effect that on and after the 28 de 
 Agosto de 1898, the fare will be increased from three 
 cents to five, Porto Bico money. 
 
 The city proper is built on a rounded knoll, whose 
 dome rises a hundred feet or so above the level of 
 the beautiful bay, whose waters break gently upon 
 its western base. The knoll is crowned by the cen- 
 tral square. In the middle of this square stands a 
 
104 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 tall statue of Christopher Columbus, facing toward 
 the sea to the westward. There is some conflict be- 
 tween different cities, of which Mayaguez is one, for 
 the honor of being the point at which Christopher 
 Columbus made his first landing on the island upon 
 the occasion of his second voyage to the islands of 
 the west. San Juan makes a claim which does not 
 appear to be very well founded, and has erected a 
 handsome monument to the memory of the distin- 
 guished navigator in one of its principal squares. 
 Aguadilla, a pretty little city on the western coast, 
 also presents a claim and has placed an imposing 
 shaft, almost upon the very edge of the water, at the 
 point which the citizens assert to have been the spot 
 where the great man first set his foot on the island of 
 Boriquen. Mayaguez also makes its claim for the 
 distinction of being Christopher's first landing-place. 
 In front of the monument is a somewhat imposing 
 city hall, while behind it is a rather fine old cathe- 
 dral, said to have been erected, I believe, in 1760. 
 Westward, on the slope of the hill, stand the capa- 
 cious infantry barracks, erected in 1848, and of suffi- 
 cient size to accommodate nearly the whole of an 
 American regiment. The city boasts of an elaborately 
 designed theatre, a commodious market-house, a hos- 
 pital, two asylums, a public library, electric lights, 
 and an ice factory. From a Spanish- American stand- 
 
TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 105 
 
 point, the city is quite modern and progressive. The 
 social element finds a centre in the casinos, of which 
 there are two. We should call them club - houses, 
 although certain features are introduced not wholly 
 common in American clubs. 
 
 I visited the one maintained and frequented by the 
 Porto Bican element. The other, of Spanish tenden- 
 cies and patronage, I did not see. My host for the 
 day, a Porto Eican who was full of enthusiasm for 
 the " American cause," informed me that he had 
 never set foot in the Spanish club. He said that it 
 was chiefly composed of men who hardly knew how 
 to wear a collar, who did not know at all how to 
 wear a coat, and who smelled of codfish. The Porto 
 Bican casino occupies a palatial private residence 
 rented for its purpose. At the head of the staircase 
 is a large hall with chairs and a small grand piano. 
 The spacious apartment occupying the entire front of 
 the second story is designed for theatricals, and is 
 equipped with a very complete little stage at one end. 
 In the body and rear of the building are card-rooms, 
 a library, a billiard-room, and a kitchen. Mayaguez 
 evidently pays some attention to the business of en- 
 joying itself. 
 
 The style of its residences and the demeanor of 
 the people indicate a large measure of refinement, 
 and a society of cultivated people. At the foot of 
 
106 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 the hill, alongside the water, one finds the wholesale 
 business of the place. The custom-house is a credit- 
 able structure, and the warehouses are commodious 
 and substantial. The harbor is not a particularly 
 good one, though it probably could be made such. 
 It is about three miles wide, and about a mile and 
 a half from the shore to its entrance, across which 
 there are dangerous shoals, requiring some caution 
 on the part of sailing-masters. Vessels are unloaded 
 by means of lighters, the usual way in Porto Bican 
 harbors. The exports of the place are chiefly sugar 
 and coffee, though a considerable quantity of fruit is 
 also sent out. The coffee is mainly of two grades. 
 The cheaper article finds its best market in Cuba, 
 and the finer article, which ranks with the Javan prod- 
 uct in quality and price, is almost entirely consumed 
 by Europeans, who know good coffee when they get it. 
 The American people do not seem to be very well 
 acquainted with the excellences of Porto Bican coffee. 
 The annual export of coffee from Mayaguez amounts 
 to nearly 10,000 tons. The quantity of sugar ex- 
 ported is also very largo, as the place is the shipping 
 port for an extensive section of sugar-raising country. 
 At present the Mayaguez hotels are not to be 
 highly recommended to American tourists, nor is the 
 place itself readily accessible, except by means of di- 
 rect steamship communication. Approaching from 
 
TYPICAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 107 
 
 either Ponce or San Juan, one has twenty-five or 
 thirty miles, by either route, which must be covered 
 by private conveyance, and the roads for the greater 
 part of the way are simply atrocious. After having 
 gone in by means of a carriage, I dreaded to go out 
 again, as one dreads a visit to the dentist. Some 
 day this will doubtless be changed, and beautiful 
 Mayaguez, with its lovely bay in front of it, and its 
 charming hills behind it, will be equipped with at- 
 tractive and comfortable hotels. The few miles of 
 well-made roads in its immediate vicinity are heavily 
 shaded avenues, with a picture in every rod of them. 
 There should be good boating and bathing in the 
 bay. Mayaguez might easily be made an exceedingly 
 popular winter-resort, and if a visitor could be estab- 
 lished in a comfortable hotel, there are many places 
 doing a thriving business as summer-resorts which 
 would hardly be in the running with Mayaguez. 
 
vin 
 
 FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 
 
 A Model Highway— A Bicycle Trip Worth Taking— Island Villages— 
 The Baths of Coamo — Good Luck for our Army — A Mountain 
 Drive— Passing the Outposts — Cayey and Guayama— Nature's 
 Bounty — System of Road Repairs — Porto Rican Road-houses. 
 
 I should not know where to go in the United 
 States to find a continuous hundred miles of highway 
 to rival, in its general excellence, the road between 
 Ponce and the capital of the island of Porto Rico. 
 Were the road like the general run of the roads on 
 the island, he Avho would essay the trip could safely 
 be counted as either a brave or a reckless man. The 
 line forms a part of a somewhat extensive system of 
 military highways which were projected by the Span- 
 ish Government and paid for by the islanders. Few 
 of them were completed more than a few miles from 
 the cities from which they started. This connecting 
 thoroughfare between the two chief cities was re- 
 garded, however, as of supreme importance, and was 
 finished for its entire length, and a most creditable 
 
 job was made of it. 
 
 108 
 
FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 109 
 
 The guide-book of military misinformation about 
 Porto Kico gives various figures as the distance be- 
 tween Ponce and San Juan. It is placed at sixty- 
 nine miles and at seventy miles. It is also given as 
 "exactly 134 kilometres." The latter is doubtless 
 correct, and it translates into near enough to a hun- 
 dred miles to be set down as a " century run." Al- 
 though the road crosses the mountains at an altitude 
 of nearly, if not quite, 3,500 feet, there is very little 
 of it which could not be traversed on a bicycle. 
 From the height of land, coming southward, a rider 
 could make a continuous coast of six or eight miles 
 without touching a pedal or dismounting for rough 
 spots. To the north of the backbone there is more 
 of level road, with sharper declivities, though there 
 is little or nothing which could rightly be regarded 
 as a steep hill either upon the northern or the south- 
 ern slope. After leaving Ponce, the road rises, by 
 an almost imperceptible incline, along and through 
 the foot-hills. The scenery is much like that of all 
 the other parts of the island through which I trav- 
 elled. Hills and mountains are always in sight upon 
 one side or the other, if not upon both sides. 
 
 The road passes through the burned town of Coto 
 Laurel, for the destruction of which sentences of 
 rather dubious justice were pronounced against five 
 men by the military commission which tried them 
 
110 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 for arson and pillage. It runs through the larger 
 village of Juana Diaz, which is like all other towns 
 of the island. There is the inevitable main street 
 with its shambling structures at either end, improv- 
 ing by degrees toward the middle, where there is the 
 inevitable church facing the inevitable plaza. Every- 
 where there is dirt and dilapidation. The streets 
 are dirty and the stores are equally so. There is no 
 air of neatness about either the towns or the people 
 who inhabit them. Except that it is little more of a 
 place, Coamo is like the others. The hotel dupli- 
 cated previous experiences in other hotels. It was 
 a dreary, barren, and cheerless place in which one 
 got something to eat and a place in which to sleep. 
 
 The town of Coamo is one of the oldest on the island. 
 It was founded in 1640. Its special distinction to-day 
 is its thermal baths, which make it a place of resort 
 not only for the Porto Eicans but for people from 
 many of the surrounding islands. It is not easy to 
 say just what will be done with these baths under the 
 new order of things. It is wholly probable that they 
 will become more widely known, and find a very great 
 increase in their patronage. Of the genuine merit of 
 the water as a cure for gout, rheumatism, and various 
 other complaints, there, can be no doubt. A judicious 
 exploitation of the place may lead to its establishment 
 as a fashionable Mecca for gouty and rheumatic 
 
FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 111 
 
 American pilgrims. There is no reason why it should 
 not find such a destiny. The situation of the town is 
 charming, and it is easily reached by a fine drive of 
 a little more than twenty miles. 
 
 Before the arrival of the Americans to disturb the 
 social routine of the island people, the baths of Coamo 
 offered no small attraction to its many guests in the 
 facilities which it presented for winning or losing a 
 few pesos, a year's income, or an entire fortune. Its 
 reputation as a Porto Eican Monte Carlo rivalled its 
 reputation as a Porto Rican Hot Springs. Gambling 
 appears to have been one of the features of the resort, 
 and many a visitor lost his money as well as his dis- 
 ease. 
 
 After leaving the town of Coamo, the road dips 
 sharply down, by what is probably the steepest grade 
 of the entire route from coast to coast, to a fine bridge 
 which spans a modest little river. Then begins the 
 gradual but continuous ascent to the top of the pass. 
 This road was one of the routes by which it was pro- 
 posed to reach the rear of San Juan for the assault 
 upon that city. 
 
 To the unmilitary observer it would seem wholly 
 futile to attempt the passage at all in the face of an 
 enemy. Probably it never was the purpose of the 
 American commander to do more than to make an 
 active demonstration along the direct line of march 
 
112 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 while endeavoring to drive out the enemy by move- 
 ments in flank and rear. But even that plan pre- 
 sented a desperate problem, and had General Miles 
 made a careful personal inspection of the ground over 
 which his troops were to fight, it is quite possible 
 that the whole outline of the campaign would have 
 been either changed or greatly modified. The confi- 
 dence of the Spanish commander in the strength of 
 his position was wholly warranted. The road presents 
 point after point of the greatest exposure, from which 
 but a mere handful of men could attack effectively only 
 for the few brief moments during which they could 
 withstand or outlive the fire of the enemy ; flank 
 movements could be made only by long and severe 
 climbing of hill-sides standing at very steep angles. 
 It is necessary to admit that the arrival of the notice 
 of a cessation of hostilities may have meant our sal- 
 vation from a sanguinary conflict, if not from a tempo- 
 rary defeat. 
 
 The winding of the road, as it bends in and out 
 around the folds and ridges of the steep hill-sides, 
 opens a series of ever-changing views in all directions. 
 At one moment the traveller may be looking directly 
 forward toward the top of the hill over which he 
 climbs. A few minutes later his back may be to- 
 ward his destination, while he finds himself facing 
 directly down the valley out of which he is climbing, 
 
FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 113 
 
 and looking upon the blue of the Caribbean Ocean in 
 the distance as the background of a mountain picture. 
 But I confess to a feeling of disappointment regard- 
 ing the scenery. I had heard such tales of its mar- 
 vellous beauty, its wild grandeur, and its overhanging 
 cliffs, that I was led to expect more than I found. 
 Beautiful it is, beyond denial, but I have seen scores 
 of spots in our own "White Mountains, the Allegha- 
 nies, and the Blue Bidge, which seem to me to be far 
 finer than anything seen along the journey across 
 Porto Bico. 
 
 On the occasion of my first trip across the island, 
 the outposts of both armies were stationed at points 
 near the crest of a hill, and within a short distance 
 of each other. To go beyond our lines it was neces- 
 sary to have a special pass from the military authori- 
 ties. This was obtained at the head-quarters of the 
 American forces, who were encamped just beyond 
 Coamo. There, my companions and myself were re- 
 ceived by General Ernst, the commanding officer, 
 with that courtesy and kindliness which are so gen- 
 erally characteristic of our officers of the regular 
 army. Immediately upon our introduction of our- 
 selves, and the statement of our plans and wishes, 
 General Ernst telegraphed to General Brooks, the 
 military commander of the island, afc San Juan, for 
 instructions. After a surprisingly brief interval, a 
 
114 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 favorable answer came back, and the hoped-for pass, 
 signed by General Ernst, was in our possession. 
 The road was opened to us to go outside the Ameri- 
 can lines. Not far from the summit we came to the 
 outpost of the Spanish lines, and were duly held up. 
 Our pass allowed us to go through the American 
 lines. Our further progress was a matter of courtesy 
 on the part of the Spaniards. But they made less 
 trouble for travellers, even for Americans, than did 
 our own people. Tet the formalities of the American 
 procedure, accompanied by the courtesy of the Amer- 
 ican general, were vastly preferable to the grim scowl 
 with which the Spanish captain permitted us to go 
 on our way. But he was wholly excusable. It was 
 hardly to be expected that he would fall on our necks 
 and bid us welcome. It was enough that he let us go. 
 
 From the top of the pass, northward, the character 
 of the scenery changes quite noticeably. It is less 
 wild and rugged, and there are evidences of a more 
 general and more diversified cultivation of the soil. 
 A short distance beyond the summit lies the town of 
 Aibonito. The place itself belies its name as accu- 
 rately as the surrounding hills and valleys support it. 
 " Ah ! Beautiful ! " is the translation of the name ; 
 but it is not a suitable description of the town itself. 
 
 Yet it is a wholly characteristic Porto Bican town. 
 Like the majority, it consists principally of a main 
 
FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 115 
 
 street, a large church, with a plaza before it, a few 
 central buildings of modest but dingy respectability, 
 and a broad surrounding fringe of shacks and shan- 
 ties. The principal difference between most of these 
 larger Porto Bican towns lies in the fact that some 
 are dirtier than others. 
 
 The next point on the way is Cayey. It is a 
 larger Aibonito, with fifty years of added dinginess 
 because of its earlier settlement. The directory of 
 the island states that Cayey is a place of cool and 
 pleasant temperature, producing coffee and all kinds 
 of cereals. The difference in temperature between 
 this region and the low coast-land is certainly very 
 marked. One is hardly warranted in making posi- 
 tive statements regarding comparative temperatures 
 unless supported by either a prolonged residence 
 in the sections compared, or by the statistics of a 
 weather bureau. But it was the common observation 
 of those who crossed the island that the breezes which 
 blew over the vicinity of Cayey brought a freshness 
 and an invigoration which were not found elsewhere 
 upon the island. There is, however, little doubt that 
 the nights of the place share the general drawback of 
 all the mountain area of Porto Rico. This lies in an 
 excess of moisture, a cool dampness to which it is 
 unwise and unsafe to expose one's self unduly. 
 
 At Cayey the main road is joined by the branch 
 
116 THE POETO EICO OP TO-DAY 
 
 which runs southward to Guayama. This road 
 crosses some of the highest hills of the island, and 
 presents some of the grandest views and most beau- 
 tiful scenery of the territory. The verdure is peren- 
 nial, and the time of year at which one might visit 
 the place would make practically no difference in the 
 richness of the foliage, which is the main feature of 
 any expedition for pleasure made through the island. 
 In all directions along this road from Cayey to 
 Guayama, as elsewhere in all parts of Porto Rico, 
 is a broad panorama of hills, their sides and tops 
 robed with the yellowish green of pasture lands, 
 the pale green of banana plantations, and the deep, 
 rich green of groves of mango, Indian laurel, and 
 other woods. One of the glories of the island is to 
 be seen during the summer months, when the tree 
 which the natives call the flamboyan is in blos- 
 som. It is a large and spreading tree, bearing great 
 clusters of flowers of a brilliant red color. It blos- 
 soms profusely, and gives a strikingly gorgeous 
 effect. The tree is quite common along the high- 
 ways, many having been planted as border trees. 
 While I failed to find the wealth of flora which I had 
 anticipated, the color-lover will have no ground for 
 dissatisfaction with the display which is offered 
 along any of the Porto Rican roadways. 
 
 Guayama is another town of some antiquity, hav- 
 
The Military Road near Ponce. 
 
FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 117 
 
 ing been founded in 1736, though its settlement 
 antedates that period. It is a coast town practically, 
 but it has no harbor worthy of the name. It fronts 
 upon an open roadstead which, though well sheltered 
 from the north, is exposed to winds from the south 
 and southeast, under which conditions the coast 
 reefs make it a somewhat dangerous harbor. There 
 is a better bay at the nearby village of Arroyo, 
 which is the usual port of entry for Guayama. The 
 American forces, under command of General Brooke, 
 made their landing at Arroyo, and proceeded from 
 there to Guayama. There is little of special interest 
 in either place. The region is one of the best sugar- 
 raising sections of the island, and there is the usual 
 promiscuous cultivation of small fruits and a few 
 vegetables. Guayama boasts of the finest church 
 edifice on the island. It has a frontage of some sixty 
 feet, and a depth of one hundred and thirty. Its in- 
 terior decorations and its altars are unusually good 
 for so small a place. None of the churches of the 
 island, however, are remarkably impressive. They 
 are well constructed, and some of them are quite 
 old, but all of them are wholly conventional in their 
 architecture, and such artistic effect as most of them 
 present is due rather to the decorations which time 
 and exposure have placed upon their walls, than to 
 any special skill of the architect. 
 
118 THE POETO RICO OP TO-DAY 
 
 Between Cayey and San Juan there is but one 
 town of any note until the suburban village of Bio 
 Piedras is reached, just outside the capital city. The 
 location and the surroundings of this town of Cagu- 
 as are admirable. In fact, it is location and sur- 
 roundings which give any of these island towns their 
 measure of attractiveness. Nature has been most 
 lavish in her distribution of beauty spots, and man 
 has done as much as could well be done to defile 
 them. There is a certain picturesqueness in a 
 thatched palm-leaf hut out in the country with a 
 harmonious setting of banana -plants, palms, and 
 mango-trees. But in fifty or a hundred shadeless 
 huts grouped together in a town there is nothing 
 save an effect of dirt and squalor. In thus clustering 
 around a larger centre the Porto Bican displays the 
 same gregarious tendency which leads the Chinese to 
 live on sampans at Shanghai, and thousands of peo- 
 ple to herd in crowded tenement-houses in New York 
 City. 
 
 Bio Piedras is a small suburban town a few miles 
 from San Juan. Some distinction is given it by rea- 
 son of its having been, during the Spanish regime, 
 the summer residence of the governor-general of the 
 island. The " summer palace " is a large and rather 
 rambling wooden structure in the rear of the cathe- 
 dral, heavily shaded by trees, and presenting no 
 
FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 119 
 
 special attraction except a beautifully shaded avenue 
 running through a very badly kept rear garden. This 
 building was placed at the disposal of, and was used 
 by, the American army head-quarters during the 
 weeks which preceded the evacuation of the capital. 
 
 Through all these towns there runs this splendid 
 military road. The system by which it is maintained 
 is admirable and effective. It is divided into sec- 
 tions varying from two to four or five kilometres, 
 and each section is provided with a brick building, 
 usually square, one story in height. These cam- 
 ineros, as they are called, are used as the dwelling- 
 houses of peons whose business is the repairing of 
 the roads. Each peon has his section, for which he 
 is held responsible, and his entire time is presumably 
 spent in supervision and repairs. Piles of broken 
 stone are kept along the roadside, and it is the work 
 of the peon to use this stone in the correction of any 
 defect immediately upon its appearance. The prin- 
 ciple employed is that excellent one of " a stitch in 
 time." One also finds a numerous sprinkling of an- 
 other pattern of " road house." These are little way- 
 side shanties which serve their vicinity as " stores," 
 and serve all comers who are afflicted with that kind 
 of a thirst, with such quantity of native rum as may 
 be desired. It is a sort of drunkard's paradise, 
 though one rarely encounters a drunken native. Ten 
 
120 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 centavos will give any man a very long start on the 
 road to a royal drunk. Porto Rican rum is not a 
 safe thing for a novice to use extensively in trying 
 chemical experiments with his internal organization. 
 It is potent and far reaching, and I should judge that 
 its continued use would be quite as wholesome as the 
 use of corrosive sublimate. There is, however, a dif- 
 ference. There is Porto Rico rum and Porto Rico 
 rum. 
 
 Not until the entire island shall have been equipped 
 with a system of arterial highways approximating in 
 their structure and their maintenance this main 
 road from Ponce to San Juan, will Porto Rico waken 
 to the possibilities of her resources. It is useless 
 to produce if the cost of transportation exceeds the 
 value of the product. The island is small, but the 
 possibility of two or three crops a year of some of 
 those articles which might well be among its chief 
 products, virtually doubles or trebles a large area of 
 its territory. Taxation of the island has been made 
 generally unpopular because of excessive imposition. 
 It would very likely cause much complaint and pro- 
 test for the new government to impose a tax for the 
 construction and maintenance of such a system of 
 highways. 
 
 The present demand is rather for a relief from tax- 
 ation than for the imposition of any tax beyond that 
 
FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN 121 
 
 required for the administration of affairs. Just now, 
 public improvement is a theory, a dream, a thing for 
 mahana. Roads like the one from Ponce to San 
 Juan are wanted all over the island, but no one wants 
 to pay for them. Probably the feeling will change 
 when the islanders shall have had some brief breath- 
 ing time and an opportunity to pull themselves to- 
 gether after their days of suspense and exciting 
 change. That which is now a somewhat vague desire 
 will become a demand which will find a ready and a 
 cheerful response. A few months of reasonable pros- 
 perity under the conditions which will doubtless fol- 
 low as a result of American control, will bring more 
 closely home to the people their need of better high- 
 ways. 
 
IX 
 
 HIGHWAYS 
 
 An Important Factor in Island Development— Present Highway Sys- 
 tem — A Hard Journey — The Bovimotor — The Boy and the 
 Coachman — Fun for the Boy, and Entertainment for the Audi- 
 ence—Porto Rican Drivers— The Need of Good Roads— Costly 
 Transportation— A Heavy Charge on Industries. 
 
 The development of the island of Porto Rico will 
 depend in great measure upon the improvement of 
 its facilities for inland transportation. The three 
 leading cities — San Juan, Ponce, and Mayaguez — are 
 situated on the coast. A few of the larger towns, 
 such as Arecibo, Aguadilla, and Fajardo are similar- 
 ly located. One or two, like Guayama and Huma- 
 cao, may also be reckoned as coast towns. These 
 all serve as outlets for the products of their vicinity, 
 and receive the greater portion of their purchases 
 from the outside world by steamer or sailing craft. 
 The interior, and long sections of coast-line, are de- 
 pendent upon pack-trains and bullock-carts. This 
 limits production by reason of the expense of trans- 
 portation, and unduly increases the cost of living, 
 
 for the same reason. 
 
 122 
 
HIGHWAYS 123 
 
 The comparatively limited district reached by mil- 
 itary roads possesses, in consequence of them, a 
 marked advantage over other sections. Only a small 
 portion of the island is touched by these highways. 
 The area of the island is, approximately, 3,600 
 square miles. It claims but 150 miles of respectable 
 highway. Some of this is as good as any to be 
 found anywhere in the United States. Some of it is 
 only fairly good, and some of it is more than doubt- 
 ful. This includes what are known as the military 
 roads. As the country is practically destitute of rail- 
 way facilities, the government conceived the idea of 
 constructing a complete system of military highways 
 throughout the island, over which troops could be 
 readily and speedily transferred from point to point, 
 and out of which the officials could make a fat thing 
 for themselves. The result was the present system — 
 which is, by just so much, better than none at all. 
 
 Aside from this possible 150 miles, one might 
 almost say there are no roads. There are certain 
 narrow ways set apart for road purposes, and used 
 for such when it is possible to use them. But they 
 are at all times abominable, and at frequent times 
 they are wholly impassable, even for the native bul- 
 lock teams. The common service for the interior, 
 and for many portions of the coast area, is the sad- 
 dle-horse for passengers, and the mule or the pack. 
 
124 THE POETO EIOO OP TO-DAY 
 
 horse for freight. This is sometimes carried in pan- 
 niers and sometimes in bulk packages, after the 
 manner of some of our wild Hocky Mountain re- 
 gions. In that country, however, the system is 
 sometimes imperative. Here it is needless. Good 
 roads are possible, and good roads are needed. 
 The island produces about 30,000 tons of coffee an- 
 nually. A very large percentage of this must be 
 transported from the plantations to the shipping 
 port in packages on the backs of mules or horses, 
 and often over what are mere bridle-paths cut into 
 the hill-sides. It is a laborious and expensive 
 method of doing business, and adds unduly to the 
 cost of the merchandise. 
 
 Aside from the question of the transportation of 
 merchandise, there is the matter of passenger traffic. 
 It is the affair of the people themselves if they see 
 fit to put up with the delays, the inconveniences, and 
 the discomforts which arise from the present custom. 
 It is perhaps nobody's business if every Porto Bican 
 is shaken into fragments, pounded into pulp, ham- 
 pered in his business, and handicapped in the mar- 
 ket, by reason of the roads over which he travels, or 
 by reason of the lack of them. But the people of 
 America have now an interest in the development of 
 the country. A new condition has arisen. American 
 tourists will soon be going there by hundreds and 
 
HIGHWAYS 125 
 
 by thousands, to see the beautiful island, with its 
 marvellously beautiful mountains and its wealth of 
 verdure. The capitalist will go to develop its re- 
 sources. The tourist cannot see the land, and the 
 capitalist will work against heavy odds, unless there 
 be passable roads over which the one may go for 
 pleasure and the other for profit. 
 
 One of my many experiences over these so-called 
 " country roads " was a journey from Ponce to Maya- 
 guez. The distance between the two cities is not far 
 from sixty miles. The first twenty-five miles or so, 
 to Tauco, one covers very comfortably in an hour 
 and a half by means of that little substitute for 
 a railroad which runs from Ponce to Tauco. The 
 man of the world who accepts what he finds and 
 makes no complaint about it, will be very well satis- 
 fied with what he finds at the little Hotel Victoria in 
 Yauco. The bed is good, the dinner is abundant and 
 good after the manner of Spanish dinners, and the 
 visitor will receive every possible courtesy and atten- 
 tion. The next morning he will start for Mayaguez, 
 unless he wishes to spend a pleasant day in pleasant 
 Yauco and Guanica. He may go in the saddle or 
 by carriage. Personally, I can find no pleasure on 
 board of a Porto Rican pony. The beasts are so 
 small that it seems a cruelty to put even ten stone 
 weight on their bony backs. Beyond that, it is my 
 
126 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 experience thus far that most of them give out com- 
 pletely after a trip of six or seven miles. Then they 
 must either be clubbed along or lugged along. 
 
 I therefore contracted for a carriage and pair from 
 Tauco to Mayaguez, with a relay at Sabana Grande. 
 I reached my destination in sections. I do not know 
 if the whole of me arrived or not. My knowledge of 
 anatomy is too superficial to enable me to determine 
 whether some portion of my system, conventional 
 but not vital, does not even now dangle from some 
 barbed-wire fence, or droop gracefully among the 
 cocoa-nuts at the top of some tall tree along the road 
 from Yauco to Mayaguez. As I have got along very 
 well since that occasion, I have concluded that either 
 the whole of me arrived, or that I can do without 
 anything which did not come. I have had much 
 experience with the rocky roads of the mountains of 
 Western Carolina. I have loitered along, hub deep 
 in the thick, black mud of Southern Illinois and of 
 Nebraska. But for rocks, mud, and general physical 
 discomfort, the first fifteen miles of that road from 
 Yauco to Mayaguez can give anything of which 
 I know in the United States ten to one, and win 
 out in a canter. Once we mired down completely 
 and had to be extracted by the citizens of the vicin- 
 ity. The horses lost their pluck; the driver lost 
 his temper; and I made some sacrifice of that 
 
HIGHWAYS 127 
 
 mental placidity which is advocated by the Socratic 
 school. 
 
 At another point I saw that any attempt to go on 
 would only result in the utter collapse of the horses. 
 I ordered a halt for the purpose of investigating pos- 
 sibilities and probabilities. While engaged in that 
 very unsatisfactory proceeding, a beneficent Provi- 
 dence sent along the road a native with a pair of 
 stout-looking black cattle with their yoke. I held up 
 the native and made a contract with him. It resulted 
 in the removal of the horses from the pole, and the 
 attachment to the carriage of the black bullocks. For 
 the greater part of the next six miles, those beasts 
 dragged me at a snail's pace through that black and 
 sticky mud. The spokes of the wheels were invisi- 
 ble, through the filling of the spaces with a solid 
 mass of Porto Bican highway. Once or twice, at 
 particularly treacherous-looking places, I alighted 
 and walked through the bordering fields to avoid 
 the risk of complete burial. 
 
 The one bright spot of that trip arose in a con- 
 versation which took place between my driver and 
 a native boy mounted on a remarkably alert native 
 pony. The boy and I enjoyed it. The driver did 
 not. The lad ranged up alongside and commented 
 unfavorably upon the driver's style and his manner 
 of handling his team. The horses were quite used 
 
128 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 up, and the driver was nearly so. For some two 
 miles that young rascal rode beside us and chaffed 
 and blackguarded that driver. He paid as little 
 heed to Jehu's voluble profanity, as he did to Jehu's 
 efforts to lash him or his pony with what was left of 
 Jehu's whip. He had fun with that driver. He 
 indulged in personal remarks. He commented on 
 the outfit, the style of the carriage, the build and 
 the action of the horses. Jehu's wrath was unlimit- 
 ed, but the boy had the call on him in rapidity of 
 motion, and the poor man was helpless. I was 
 rather sorry when the lad fired a parting shot and 
 turned into the yard of a wayside house. He did me 
 good. He took me out of a despondent and mud- 
 dy world and brightened the whole trip immeas- 
 urably. 
 
 Ten miles or so before reaching Mayaguez, one 
 comes to a bit of military road, and finds a sweet 
 and precious relief, and an opportunity to get 
 enough of himself together to appear in human sem- 
 blance on his arrival in the city. This was not my 
 only experience, and I write from no temporary dis- 
 agreement with that particular stretch of road. 
 There are many miles like unto it, and I have tra- 
 versed some of them. But they are the only thing 
 which is to be found between the comparatively few 
 miles of good military road and the bridle-paths of 
 
HIGHWAYS 129 
 
 the mountains. I trust that none save the venture- 
 some, the robust, and those in search of experiences, 
 may be led into any attempt to travel by bridle- 
 paths. I have tried them in the daytime, and I 
 have tried them at night. On the whole, I think I 
 prefer to travel over them at night. One cannot 
 then see the difficulties and the dangers. One 
 knows, by the position of the horse, whether he is 
 climbing a wall or going down a precipice. He 
 knows when his horse is floundering in a bog-hole. 
 He knows when the horse is feeling for a foothold 
 on the bottom of some swift and rocky stream. 
 More than that, it is not necessary to know. The 
 best way under such circumstances is to drop the 
 bridle and hold the breath. One seems to have 
 more use for breath than for bridles. 
 
 Something could be done for human comfort in a 
 carriage-trip over these roads, if the Porto Rico 
 drivers could be taught how to drive. They seem to 
 have no desire or purpose except to " get there." Up 
 hill and down, over rough and over smooth, they 
 pound and flog their poor miserable beasts along, 
 with never a chance to rest or breathe. Remon- 
 strance is almost useless. Three times on my trip to 
 Mayaguez did I get out and stand before the horses 
 where my cochero could not start without running me 
 down. On another trip of eighteen miles over the 
 
130 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 mountains, my driver used three sets of horses, and 
 two of the pairs were utterly exhausted upon reach- 
 ing the end of their short stage. Not only are better 
 roads much needed, but better horses and better 
 drivers are almost equally so. But the two latter are 
 only desirable, while the first is a necessity for the 
 commercial interests of the land. 
 
 An idea prevails very widely among many of the 
 islanders that not only has the great government of 
 the United States come to give them a better gov- 
 ernment, but that it has also come to give them a 
 great many other things without their doing anything 
 themselves. It might not be at all a bad idea to give 
 them an object-lesson, right on the start, that would 
 afford them a clearer comprehension of the fact that 
 the aim of the United States Government is not so 
 much to give everybody all he wants, or to do every- 
 thing that anybody would like to have done, as it is 
 to enable its people to get things, and to do things, 
 for themselves. Therefore, if some fifty thousand or 
 so of Porto Eicans could be set at work on the high- 
 ways for a few weeks, under the supervision of com- 
 petent engineers, it might be a valuable lesson to 
 them, and at the same time, do something that very 
 much needs doing. 
 
 Of course, not all roads are equally bad. Nor are 
 the bad roads always at their worst. Something de- 
 
HIGHWAYS 131 
 
 pends upon the season of the year, the wetness of 
 the wet season, and the dryness of the dry season. 
 
 But, with the exception of the limited number of 
 miles of military highway, I could see no evidence 
 of any road system on the island, except that where 
 the people wanted to go, a passage was opened and 
 people rode over it. It must be admitted that the 
 natural conditions of the island are generally far 
 from being at all favorable for roadways. Along the 
 low lands of the coast there are many long stretches 
 of bog and swamp. These, when properly drained, 
 make the productive cane-fields. The soil is a rich, 
 black loam of considerable depth, which turns to a 
 sea of mud on the slightest provocation. At present 
 this black soil is both the bane and the blessing of 
 the sugar planter. It makes his crop, and it also 
 makes the mud-holes through which he must drag 
 his crop to get it to market. As the cane is cut 
 not far from the end of the rainy season, difficult or 
 impassable highways are clearly a serious and ex- 
 pensive obstacle in the cultivation of sugar-cane. 
 Cocoa-nuts, and a variety of small fruits, also find 
 the most favorable conditions for their growth along 
 these lowlands of the coast area. All are, of course, 
 subject to the same drawback to their extensive cul- 
 tivation which obtains in the case of sugar. 
 
 The mountain agriculturist is confronted with the 
 
132 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 same general adverse conditions as those which oc- 
 cur in the experience of the man of the lowlands, 
 though there are differences of detail. The soil of 
 the mountains, generally, lends itself more readily to 
 ' road construction. But in the mountains the rains 
 are heavier and more frequent, and nothing but roads 
 of superior construction are capable of withstanding 
 the gullying torrents which sometimes sweep the hill- 
 sides. Throughout the major portion of the island 
 the hill slopes are precipitous and deeply convo- 
 luted. Here and there one finds a comparatively 
 level basin, but they are infrequent and usually of 
 small area. Highways over the mountains would be 
 made to best advantage by the cutting of banks or 
 benches on the hill-sides, ascending by the easiest 
 possible grade, and winding in and out of the coves 
 and around the ridges to follow the convolutions. 
 Much care would be needed, and provision for prop- 
 er drainage and for bridges and culverts would be 
 almost imperative at the inner end of the greater 
 number of the coves. 
 
 As the lowlands make the best sugar lands, so do 
 the hills make the best coffee section. The island 
 should produce fifty thousand tons of coffee annu- 
 ally. At present the greater portion of the coffee crop 
 is carried to the coast in packs on the little island 
 ponies. The difference in cost of transporting fifty 
 
HIGHWAYS 133 
 
 thousand tons of coffee alone, by this method, and of 
 carrying by wagon over a good road, would, in a few 
 years pay for scores of miles of suitable roadway. 
 The mountain district of the island may be safely | 
 estimated at three-fourths of the entire area. 
 
 Of this territory, probably not more than five per I 
 cent, is under cultivation for commercial or market 
 purposes. Some portion of it is, of course, unsuit- j 
 able for agricultural purposes, and could only be used 
 for grazing. A small percentage would be unavail- 
 able for any purpose. This limited cultivation is in 
 a measure due to the lack of energy and ambition on 
 the part of the native people. But beyond that and 
 operating as a factor in the apathy of the natives, 
 has always stood the lack of encouragement to 
 greater activity. The difficulty and the undue cost 
 of transportation of products, have acted in some 
 cases as a limiting force, and in many cases as a 
 wholly prohibitive force. 
 
 The people of the island have been heavily taxed 
 for road construction, but the roads for which they 
 have paid have not been built. One will often hear 
 the remark through the country, that if they had all 
 for which they have paid, the highways would be 
 paved with gold. No repetition of this process is at 
 all needed. The United States have assumed con- 
 trol of the island with an assurance of the begin- 
 
134 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 ning of a new order of things. One of the planks 
 in the Porto Eico platform is relief from politi- 
 cal oppression and from the robbery, through taxa- 
 tion, of which the island people have been made 
 the victims. We have plenty of honest and skilful 
 engineers. If it were possible for us to send some 
 of them to Porto Eico to supervise the work and the 
 expenditure involved in the construction of an ade- 
 quate system of roads and highways, it would be a 
 most excellent investment for the island to borrow a 
 suitable sum of money for such a purpose. The isl- 
 and is now wholly free from debt. Financial obliga- 
 tion, per se, is no advantage to any country. Good 
 roads are an imperative need in the development of 
 Porto Eico. The assumption of a few millions of 
 dollars of obligation, to be honestly expended in 
 highway construction, would be an excellent and 
 profitable investment rather than a debt. State roads 
 are rapidly growing in favor here in the United 
 States where their construction is a convenience and 
 a desirability. In Porto Eico, the position goes be- 
 yond either of those points, and places good roads 
 in the list of absolute necessities. Without them, a 
 vast area of our new possession remains an uncul- 
 tivated wilderness. With them, hundreds of thou- 
 sands of acres can be utilized as profitably produc- 
 tive farms and plantations. 
 
RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 
 
 The Railways of To-day — The Ponce and Yauco Division — The Hu- 
 miliation of a Traveller — The Solitary Occupant of the Apartment 
 of the First Class— Familiar Sights in a Foreign Land — The Re- 
 quirements of the Island — Present System of Transportation — 
 Probable Benefits of Railway Extension — The United States in 
 the Telegraph Business — Cable Lines. 
 
 A few years ago the island of Porto Bico passed | 
 through a spasm of desire for progress and develop- [ 
 ment. I have been unable to learn positively whether < 
 the scheme for the construction of a railroad was 
 originated and developed by the people of the island 
 for their general benefit, or whether it was the work 
 of the particular set of officials who were then en- 
 gaged in the process of making a fortune out of the 
 island within the briefest possible time. But what- 
 ever the source of the idea, a railroad was projected \ 
 which should encircle the island. Work was begun 
 at different points, and the result of the work is 
 manifest to-day in the shape of three short stretches 
 of what passes for a railroad, and sundry officials 
 whose financial status was decidedly bettered by the 
 
 135 
 
136 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 enterprise. It is claimed that there are now one 
 hundred and forty-three miles of railroad in opera- 
 tion, with one hundred and seventy miles under con- 
 struction. Those in operation include the line from 
 Ponce to Tauco, on the south coast; the line from 
 Hormigueros to Aguadilla, passing through Maya- 
 guez, on the west coast ; and the line which runs 
 westward from San Juan, through Bayamon and Are- 
 cibo, to Camuy, on the northern coast. These are 
 all single-track roads, and of narrow gauge. The 
 equipment is decidedly primitive, and the whole af- 
 fair strikes an American as being rather toy-like. 
 
 Taking these outlines in more accurate detail, the 
 statement would be as follows : 
 
 The Ponce and Yauco division shows twenty-six 
 miles of main track, and passes through the villages 
 of Guayanilla and Tallaboa. The line from Hormi- 
 gueros to Aguadilla covers a fraction of over forty- 
 three miles of main track, and includes the city of 
 Mayaguez, and the towns of Auasco, Bincon, and 
 Aguada, along its route. From San Juan to Camuy 
 the line is seventy-four and one-third miles. Its 
 principal stations are Bayamon and Arecibo, though 
 it includes some half dozen more of less importance. 
 There is a line of some sixteen miles running from 
 San Juan, through Bio Piedras, to Carolina. There 
 is also a steam tram-line running from San Juan to 
 
RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 137 
 
 the suburban town of Bio Piedras. This is now said 
 to be in the hands of Chicago parties. 
 
 My first experience with this railway system will 
 serve as a fair illustration of the probable experience 
 of any travellers whose good fortune enables them to 
 exchange the miseries of a carriage journey around 
 the island, for the greater comfort of a railway trip 
 over a portion of the route. My objective point was 
 Mayaguez, and I decided to experiment in Porto 
 Bican railways to the extent of a trip to Yauco, the 
 termination of the road in the direction in which I 
 wished to go. On the southern border of the city of 
 Ponce, a few rods back from the highway, one sees a 
 rusty-looking building, of two stories in height, with 
 a half-effaced " Ponce " painted upon the end toward 
 the roadway. An investigation will reveal some 
 grass- covered tracks and sundry boxes on small 
 wheels which an active imagination will turn into 
 freight-cars. A further exercise of the imaginative 
 faculty enables one to determine that he is at the 
 Ponce station of the Compania de los Ferrocarriles 
 de Puerto Rico. Doors facing upon the grass-grown 
 trackway bear the following signs : Ynspeccion, Tele- 
 grafo, Oficina, and Equipages. The apartment desig- 
 nated as Equipages, is evidently the waiting-room, 
 and in one corner of it a window is indicated as the 
 ticket-officer by means of a sign marked, Despacho de 
 
138 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 Billetes. As I had never seen any sign of a moving 
 or a waiting train about the station during any of my 
 frequent journeys past the building, it seemed neces- 
 sary to obtain some information regarding time- 
 tables, wit* 
 
 I pegged away at my Spanish until I had evolved 
 a sentence which seemed of admirable construction 
 and entire correctness. At the station I found a man 
 who wore an official cap and a pleasant smile. He 
 wore other things also, but those were the most no- 
 ticeable. I faced him and proceeded to unload my 
 specimen of pure Castilian. " Que hora el tren para 
 Yauco ? " said I. I considered this as a masterpiece. 
 Por means " for," but had I said por Yauco it would, 
 in that connection, have meant " through Yauco," a 
 feat which was beyond the immediate possibilities of 
 the Compania de los Ferrocarriles de Puerto Rico, a 
 title which rather overweights the outfit. Therefore 
 para was the word, and I was proud of my accom- 
 plishments. But my pride took the usual tumble. 
 The genial official looked at me even more genially, 
 and replied : " 'E goes to Yauco at 'alf pas' four." 
 " The deuce he does," said I. " Look here, old chap, 
 your English seems to be an improvement on my 
 Spanish. Therefore, with your kind permission, we 
 will conduct our further negotiations in the tongue 
 which will soon become the established language of 
 
RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 139 
 
 this beautiful island." I fancy that this peroration 
 rather floored him, but he grinned very genially, and 
 we resorted to a compound of American and Spanish 
 monosyllables, and got along beautifully. 
 
 As there was no " 'alf pas' four " until the following i 
 day, I had ample time to prepare my mind and my sim- 
 ple luggage for the journey of thirty-five kilometres 
 from Ponce to Yauco. Shortly before the appointed 
 hour, I found what was called the tren standing on the 
 grass-plot in front of the station. It consisted of two 
 or three diminutive freight-cars, a toy mail-car, and a 
 couple of coaches of about the size of an American 
 street-car. The whole was drawn by a toy locomo- 
 tive. As a piece of mechanical skill, the engine was 
 open to little criticism. So far as its working parts 
 were visible, they presented every evidence of being 
 of the first class. It was of solid and substantial 
 structure, and of an English pattern, though, I think, 
 of Spanish make. The gauge of the track is three 
 feet eleven and a quarter inches. 
 
 One of the coaches was marked III. The other 
 was divided into two compartments, one finished in 
 plain wood, and marked II., the other upholstered 
 with leather, and marked I. The numerals indicated 
 the class. The third-class car was soon filled by the 
 waiting passengers. Evidently the third-class is the 
 popular and common mode of travel. The second- 
 
140 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 class compartment held four American soldiers, who 
 paid no fare. The imposing first-class compartment 
 held one American newspaper man and his gripsack. 
 The newspaper man regretted his ignorant act, and 
 trembled lest he be charged with ostentation. But 
 one American dollar for a railway trip of an hour and 
 a half does not strike an unsophisticated American 
 newspaper man as wildly extravagant — if his paper 
 pays the bill. 
 
 The train tore on its way at the frightful speed of 
 some sixteen miles an hour. The road runs through 
 beautiful country. It is not easy to find any country 
 here that is not beautiful. The line follows the coast 
 generally. Upon one side were frequent views of the 
 ocean, and upon the other a constant panorama of 
 exquisitely beautiful mountain scenery, with the rich 
 lights and shades of the evening sun resting on the 
 wrinkled sides of the hills. The road-bed is fairly 
 good, and the well-built culverts, where the line 
 crosses the little streams, might well be imitated by 
 many a railroad in the States. We ran past acres of 
 sugar-cane, and stopped at two little villages — Talla- 
 boa and Guayanilla. The engine-whistle screamed 
 at curves and crossings with all the vigor of which it 
 was capable, and with a volume and tone which sug- 
 gested those boyish instruments of ear-torture which 
 I used to make in days of youth out of an empty 
 
RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 141 
 
 tomato-can and waxed cord. I believe they were 
 called, very appropriately, " devil's fiddles." I got 
 rather tired of that engine-whistle, and beg to refer 
 the operators of the road to some of the statistics, 
 which show the cost of the locomotive whistle through 
 the waste of steam. 
 
 In spite of the wide difference in environment, and 
 in the difference of my mechanical and social sur- 
 roundings, I think that no other experience on the 
 island quite took me back to America as did that 
 little run on that pocket edition of a railroad. At 
 the little stations at which we stopped there was the 
 same group of curious idlers, the " committee of the 
 unemployed," gathered as self-appointed delegates to 
 " see the train come in," that will be found around 
 the depot of any country town in America. At Yauco, 
 a large percentage of the population had gathered for 
 the same purpose. Friends greeted the friends who 
 arrived, and the idlers gaped and stared in the most 
 conventional manner of their kind. A horde of urchins 
 and a few of larger growth clamored for the chance of 
 earning a few centavos by carrying one's satchels to 
 house or hotel. There was the familiar centrifugal 
 movement of the crowd as the train pulled in, the 
 familiar thronging about the steps as the passengers 
 alighted, and the usual reflux and dispersion immedi- 
 ately following. But the vision faded as I made my 
 
142 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 way to the hotel, and disappeared utterly when I 
 entered it. 
 
 Porto Eico needs a proper railway system, and it 
 needs American capital and American brains to build 
 it. The first company in the field is likely to hold a 
 monopoly, as a district which is hardly half the size 
 of the State of New Jersey does not present unlim- 
 ited chances for competition. It is therefore quite 
 desirable that such an enterprise be essayed by 
 bona-fide operators, and that no franchise be granted 
 to those whose aim is purely speculative, and who 
 are unsupported by the actual cash capital necessary 
 for construction and operation. The amount re- 
 quired would not be large, from the stand-point of 
 American railway investments, and the returns would 
 doubtless be ample. Some four to five hundred 
 miles of track are all that would be necessary, and 
 perhaps all that would be desirable, at present. The 
 I belt line should be completed. It would draw from 
 and supply the lowland border of the coast line, and 
 by doing so greatly economize in the expense of 
 marketing the sugar crop, which is the principal in- 
 dustry of that region. It would also open many pos- 
 sibilities in the direction of other agricultural indus- 
 tries. It would connect a considerable number of 
 the principal towns and cities, and so facilitate the 
 exchange of commodities locally. The present sys- 
 
RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 143 
 
 teni is by means of a small steamer which has 
 been wont to circle the island, stopping at a regular 
 line of ports. Its trips, though continuous, were 
 necessarily infrequent, and, for passengers, often too 
 tardy for satisfactory service. In a trip from San 
 Juan to Ponce, the choice lies between a drive of a 
 hundred miles across the island, or the water journey 
 around it. The drive is made, with relays, in about 
 fourteen hours. The cost, before the arrival of the 
 Americans, is said to have been sixteen pesos, or 
 about ten dollars, according to the rate of exchange. 
 Americans, all of whom were evidently regarded as 
 the possessors of more money than was good for 
 them, were charged from thirty to forty pesos for the 
 trip. 
 
 Fourteen hours in a carriage is a hard and tiring 
 journey even over that best of roads from San Juan 
 to Ponce. The alternative was the water journey, 
 which might take two days or more. This, in pleas- 
 ant weather, is a charming little voyage if one is in no 
 hurry, and is a good sailor. But the weather is not 
 always pleasant, the sea is not always smooth, and 
 one is sometimes in something of a hurry, even in 
 Porto Rico. Under the present system, there is no 
 such thing as prompt delivery of goods from place to 
 place on the island, unless it happen that a steamer 
 is about to start for the point to which the goods are 
 
144 THE PORTO RICO OP TO-DAY 
 
 to go. Manifestly, both travel, and foreign and do- 
 inestic traffic, are heavily handicapped through lack 
 of railroad facilities. 
 
 The belt line, with its deviations from the direct 
 course in order to strike certain points which should 
 be included in its route, would measure not far from 
 three hundred and fifty miles. It should be under 
 that rather than above it. Another line is needed 
 quite as much as this, if not more. The coast cities 
 and towns can be reached, in many cases, by the 
 water route. They are much less cut off than are 
 the inland points. Therefore, this other line should 
 cross the island from east to west, bisecting it as 
 equally as the topography of the region will permit. 
 The ground has already been looked over by compe- 
 tent authority, and a route has been partially deter- 
 mined which is pronounced wholly feasible. Such a 
 route should have its western terminus at Mayaguez, 
 run from there northeast to Lares, and from Lares 
 eastward to touch the best possible coast point by 
 the way of Caguas or Cayey. This, with the belt- 
 line, would run three generally parallel tracks across 
 the island from east to west, with a north and south 
 track at each end. As the island is something 
 less than forty miles in average width, such a 
 system would bring any and all parts of it within, 
 generally, ten miles of a railroad. Branch lines 
 
RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 145 
 
 could be run to points which promised a paying 
 traffic. 
 
 The motive power might be either steam or elec- 
 tricity, according to the economy of the one or the 
 other for the amount of business to be done. 
 Whether any or all of it would prove financially prof- 
 itable is largely a matter of speculation. The con- 
 struction of such a system would open up hundreds 
 of thousands of acres of available land, and greatly 
 enhance the value of real estate without necessarily 
 greatly increasing the cost of it to immediate pur- 
 chasers. The prices already asked for the land seem 
 far beyond a reasonable valuation under the present 
 conditions. The railway would turn what now seems 
 a fictitious value into an actual value. This system 
 may seem over-extensive for the island. It probably 
 is for the immediate time. But in just so far as it is 
 carried out, the resources of the island will be given 
 opportunity for development. Unless it is done, 
 Porto Rico is quite likely to stay where it now is — a 
 rich garden, uncultivated, neglected, wasted. 
 
 The cost of construction of such a railway is a 
 matter for the determination of experts. Most of 
 the coast line would run over fairly level land, but 
 some bridging and some fills would be needed. Bal- 
 lasting would be required in some of the boggy and 
 swampy land, but an ample supply of rock is readily 
 
146 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 available. Some skilful engineering work would be 
 required for the middle, or mountain, line. There 
 are ranges to be crossed at considerable altitudes, 
 and many of the gaps could only be reached by devi-^ 
 ous climbing up the precipitous hill-sides. All cost 
 of operations would best be estimated on an Ameri- 
 can basis, plus the cost of transportation. Labor is 
 abundant, and it should be cheap ; but its nominal 
 cost would be enhanced by reason of its inefficiency. 
 A dozen or two of experienced American section 
 hands would do the work of several scores of jabber- 
 ing Porto Rican peons, who have not been trained to 
 regular and persistent work. Rails would have to be 
 sent out, though there is a considerable stock already 
 piled up for a track which is said to be "under con- 
 struction." It is probable that there would be an 
 advantage in sending out cross-ties and bridge tim- 
 bers. There is wood on the island, but the greater 
 portion of it is either unsuitable, or else is too valua- 
 ble for such purposes. 
 
 I am unable to say in just whose hands the own- 
 ership of the present incomplete system rests. The 
 contract for its construction was given to a French 
 company, but if there was not some kind of a " stand 
 in " on the part of Spanish officials, it was an un- 
 usual piece of Spanish official conduct. This con- 
 tract, I am told, was once annulled because of the 
 
RAILEOADS AND TELEGRAPHS 147 
 
 failure of the contractors to fulfil the terms of the 
 agreement. The matter was patched up, probably 
 by the use of a little golden solder. It might be 
 possible for American investors to obtain this char- 
 ter and the railroad property at a reasonable price. 
 Failing that, or failing to oblige the present com- 
 pany to fulfil its contract with due promptness, it 
 might be advisable to run a new road wholly inde- 
 pendent of the old. The matter of the " inherent 
 righteousness " of such a proceeding might lie in 
 a question of equity, or it might lie in the ques- 
 tion of the honest act and intention of the present 
 owners. 
 
 The island is supplied with a fairly effective tele- 
 graph system, which extends to all the principal 
 towns and cities. Its methods and appliances are 
 not entirely up to date, but it has answered all pur- 
 poses. The property belonged to and was main- 
 tained by the government. Private messages were 
 accepted and forwarded at a fixed tariff, though gov- 
 ernment or official messages were given precedence 
 over all private or commercial communications. 
 With the transfer of the island, the system passes 
 into the hands of the United States Government. I 
 encountered a somewhat unique complaint regarding 
 the line after it had come into the hands of the 
 American officials. It was made by a leading mer- 
 
148 THE P0ET0 EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 chant of Mayaguez, and was to the effect that while 
 the wires were open to the public, as they had 
 formerly been, and every possible courtesy was ex- 
 tended, the public was not allowed to pay for the 
 transmission of despatches. The ground of this un- 
 usual kind of objection lay in the fact that, because 
 of this courtesy and gratuitous accommodation, mer- 
 chants felt reluctant to use the wires as freely as 
 they wished and as freely as they would if they had 
 been allowed to pay for the service. I think the 
 trouble has now been remedied. 
 
 A good deal of damage was done to the system by 
 the Spanish troops as they fell back across the island. 
 Wires were cut and poles were thrown down. As 
 the American forces moved forward, the damages 
 were repaired by the Signal Corps of our army. 
 There has been a pronounced objection in many 
 quarters in the United States to the government 
 ownership of telegraph lines, but the fates have de- 
 creed that, for a time at least, the United States 
 Government shall be the proprietor of some five 
 hundred miles of telegraph line with some fifty or 
 more offices in different parts of the island. The sub- 
 marine telegraph system is controlled by the West 
 India and Panama Telegraph Company, which oper- 
 ates under a contract having several years yet to run. 
 The cable service of the island is a monopoly. With 
 
RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS 149 
 
 a half-built and wholly inadequate railway service, a 
 government ownership of the local telegraph line 
 and a foreign monopoly of the cable connection, 
 some interesting problems are presented in the de- 
 partments of railways and telegraphs in Porto Bico. 
 
XI 
 
 INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 
 
 Our New Farm — Mining Possibilities and Timber Lands — The Out- 
 look for Sugar — The Coffee Industry — Encouragement in To- 
 bacco-growing — Obstacles to Export Fruit Trade— Cattle-raising 
 
 I — An American Bermuda — Victims of Manana. 
 
 Poeto Rico is evidently a farm, and not a work- 
 shop. Its resources are almost exclusively agricult- 
 ural. There is a theory of mining possibilities, but 
 thus far I have been unable to find any foundation 
 for it. What foundation there is seems to lie in two 
 directions. One of these appears in the old tales of 
 nearly four hundred years ago, when the discoverers 
 of the island and its early settlers claimed the new 
 possession as a land of gold. The other appears in 
 the old saying that "the wish is the father of the 
 thought." If there be gold there, it seems strange 
 that four hundred years of hunger for the yellow 
 metal should not have established the fact of its 
 presence beyond all doubt. Iron is there, and also 
 copper and galena. But until these metals become 
 less readily and less economically available in scores 
 
 150 
 
INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 151 
 
 of other places, there is little to encourage invest- 
 ment in their development in Porto Rico. Still, 
 mining possibilities are always questions for determi- 
 nation by mining experts, and valuable properties 
 may even yet be found to exist on the island. 
 
 There is little encouragement in timber. There 
 are some fine woods on the island, but the commer- 
 cial supply is very limited. The area throughout 
 which such woods are to be found is of comparatively 
 small extent, and is exceedingly rough in character. 
 A moderate amount of highly valuable timber might 
 be got out at a reasonable cost, but the greater por- 
 tion of what there is is of mountain growth, and its 
 removal would involve the construction of roads or 
 logways through a country which is even rougher 
 than our Southern mountains. Some logs can and 
 will be taken out at profitable prices, but there is 
 hardly enough of timber-land to make any very ex- 
 tensive business. 
 
 It is chiefly to the cultivation of the rich and fertile 
 soil of the island that we must look for its industrial 
 wealth. There we enter a promising field. Sugar, 
 coffee, and tobacco are now its principal products, 
 with rum and Porto Rico molasses as important by- 
 products. At present sugar-raising is a somewhat 
 doubtful enterprise. The low price of raw sugar dur- 
 ing recent years has caused the suspension of opera- 
 
152 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 tions on a large number of plantations in different 
 parts of the island. The possibility of cane-raising 
 at a profit under the conditions likely to be presented 
 by the market for some time to come is an open 
 question. How much might be accomplished by the 
 application of thoroughly systematic business meth- 
 ods upon the plantation, I am unable to say. That 
 does not seem to be a common practice. It may be 
 that Porto Eican sugar has seen its best days. There 
 are other lands in which the cane is produced with 
 less of labor and less of risk than in Porto Bico. 
 
 Weather conditions sometimes interfere to the 
 serious injury or loss of crops. Different conditions 
 during the same year may be presented in different 
 parts of the island. There may be excessive rains or 
 excessive drought in certain portions, while in other 
 portions the conditions may be entirely favorable. 
 Many acres of sugar land of excellent quality can be 
 bought. 
 
 Out of some of them good money could doubtless 
 be made by the application of good business methods 
 and the adoption of the best of modern machinery. 
 But the investment is too speculative for any save 
 those who fully understand the work, and who are 
 possessed of capital enough for its successful prose- 
 cution. The business requires considerable capital, 
 as each plantation should operate its own mill, and 
 
INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 153 
 
 an area of land must be cultivated which will war- 
 rant the erection and operation of the mill. The per- 
 centage of saccharine matter carried by Porto Eican 
 cane is said to be high, and it is possible that this 
 percentage, backed by the most effective machinery 
 obtainable, might equalize or more than equalize the 
 advantages presented in cane-growth in other dis- 
 tricts. An economy for all sugar plantations will be 
 effected by the construction of an improved highway 
 system, and the introduction of the belt-line railroad 
 around the island, by which the present expensive 
 system of hauling the sugar to export points on the 
 coast would be greatly modified. There are few 
 lines of business that will warrant the hauling of a 
 product on slow- moving bullock-teams, over miles of 
 rocks or through miles of mud. An improvement in 
 transportation facilities may mean the salvation of 
 many acres of sugar lands. 
 
 Porto Eico now produces from twenty-five to thirty 
 thousand tons of coffee annually. Very little of this 
 comes to the United States, and few of us have any 
 idea of the excellence of the Porto Eican product. 
 The finest grade is consumed on the European conti- 
 nent. Most of the inferior grades are sent to Cuba. 
 European prices are about the same as the price on 
 the Java article. The great majority of American 
 coffee-drinkers are content with the cheaper coffee 
 
154 THE POETO EICO OP TO-DAY 
 
 which is obtained chiefly from the lowlands of South 
 America. Those who are more particular about 
 their palates sip from the fragrant cup a decoction 
 which they firmly believe has come from the Persian 
 Gulf or from far-famed Java. But " Mocha " and 
 "Java" are now little more than trade terms for 
 coffee of certain kinds rather than for coffee from 
 certain localities. Most of that which we drink 
 under those very respectable old titles, comes to 
 us from the mountain districts of South America. 
 Those who may be disposed to question this state- 
 ment are referred to the custom-house reports for 
 recent years, where they will find statements to show 
 the quantity which we have imported of genuine 
 Mocha and Java within the last ten years or so. 
 They may then calculate how far that quantity would 
 go in filling the demand. 
 
 Lowland coffee yields more abundantly, but yields 
 an inferior article. Upland, or hill-grown coffee is 
 less prolific, but its quality is superior. The Porto 
 Bican coffee is all hill grown. The principal coffee 
 ,district is among the hills of the western third of the 
 island. The conditions there are particularly favora- 
 ble for its production. Coffee raising is a profitable 
 industry. At least, I have yet to see a coffee-planter 
 who was not in comfortable circumstances, and many 
 of them are rich. Of course, there are those of small 
 
INDUSTEIAL POSSIBILITIES 155 
 
 possessions who raise a little coffee, men of an acre 
 or two of ground in the coffee district. But they are 
 not regarded as coffee planters. Coffee-planting as | 
 a business means a plantation with several hundred . 
 acres under cultivation. Then it pays. There is f 
 room for some extension of the industry, though I 
 am told by one whose information I regard as wholly 
 competent, that it is very doubtful if the entire crop 
 which the island could be made to produce would 
 much more than double the present output. 
 
 But coffee raising is no more a bonanza than is 
 sugar raising. High winds may shake the berries 
 from the plants, and may even play havoc with the 
 entire plantation. Constant watchfulness must be 
 maintained, and much careful and diligent work 
 expended. The plants must be pruned to prevent 
 an overgrowth which would cause deterioration of 
 the quality of the berry, and increase the labor and 
 difficulty of gathering. The industry requires either 
 a considerable capital or a number of years of 
 growth from a comparatively small investment. In 
 either case time is involved. Nursery slips of a 
 year's growth are set out to form the plantation, and 
 two years are required before bearing. The plant 
 reaches its full bearing at about the fifth year, and 
 its life of service covers about twenty years. Neither 
 sugar nor coffee appears to be a business for small 
 
156 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 farmers. The attempt has been made to encourage 
 the cultivation of cane on small plantations, bj the 
 erection of central mills operated on the general 
 business plan of the country creamery in the United 
 States. But these have not resulted in any marked 
 success, and some have been complete failures. This 
 is probably due in large measure to the lack of 
 energy and ambition on the part of the small pro- 
 prietors in the vicinity of the mills. Small plantings 
 of coffee might be depended on as a "cash crop," 
 serving the same purpose as the little cotton patch 
 of many of the negroes of the Southern States. In 
 coffee, as in sugar, it would appear that the average 
 small planter does not find enough need for cash to 
 induce him to do a little work to get it. 
 
 Another possible industry presents itself in the 
 cultivation of tobacco. Thousands of acres of land 
 are entirely suitable for this crop, and a considera- 
 ble business is already done. I am told by tobacco 
 dealers in this country that the Porto Rican leaf has 
 but little standing here. It was my own experience 
 as a smoker, and that of scores of other Americans 
 with whom I discussed the topic, that certain brands 
 of Porto Rico cigars made a very satisfactory smoke, 
 while the majority could only be classified as vile- 
 There was little evidence of any effort to do anything 
 more with the native tobacco than to plant it, let it 
 
INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 157 
 
 grow, and after a crude process of curing, to make it 
 up into a crude cigar, or into the cigarettes which 
 the natives consume in vast quantity. It was also 
 sold in long ropy " plugs " in stores and at the mar- 
 ket-places. The prevailing idea among the Ameri- 
 can visitors was that if certain varieties of leaf were 
 planted and properly cultivated, a profitable indus- 
 try could readily be established. It was also thought 
 that if a properly cured leaf were made into cigars, 
 in a proper manner, the result would be a superior 
 and readily salable article. The tobacco of the isl- 
 and has a distinct flavor of its own, which would 
 prove wholly acceptable to a large number of users 
 of the weed. 
 
 The people of the island claim that much of their 
 best tobacco now goes to Cuba, where it is manu- 
 factured, and shipped to the United States as a high 
 grade of Cuban product. I can see no reason to be- 
 lieve that any special effort has been made toward 
 the development of the Porto Rican weed to its 
 highest stage of perfection, and I can see no reason 
 to doubt that business intelligence applied to tobac- 
 co culture and manufacture on the island will some 
 day make Porto Rican cigars a choice article for the 
 American smoker. As it is now, one may buy there, 
 for two and a half to three dollars a hundred, cigars 
 which average on an equality with those which retail 
 
158 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 in the States at three for a quarter. But they are 
 not well made or well finished, and the tobacco it- 
 self is but poorly cultivated and indifferently cured. 
 I am well satisfied that thousands of acres of the rich 
 soil could be made immensely profitable by the cul- 
 tivation of tobacco for high-grade cigars. 
 
 The possibilities of an export trade in fruits and 
 vegetables is a somewhat complicated question. Co- 
 coa-nuts, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, and all trop- 
 ical fruits grow, or can be made to grow, in abun- 
 dance. The difficulty with the more prominent of 
 these is along the line of competition with strongly 
 established concerns now drawing their supplies 
 from other sources. Operators already engaged in 
 the fruit business have their connection for supply, 
 and their channels for outlet, already determined 
 and well in hand. They own warehouses and steam- 
 ships adapted and constructed for their business. 
 Large capital would probably be required to obtain 
 an equal footing in the home market for fruit, in 
 competition with the older houses. In pineapples, 
 there would come the competition with a rapidly 
 extending industry in Florida, which has a mani- 
 fest advantage in facility for reaching the market. 
 Oranges and grape-fruit offer encouraging prospects. 
 The oranges already grown under no careful cultiva- 
 tion, are of a quality and size which insures a supe- 
 
INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 159 
 
 rior fruit if better cared for. The crop would be 
 wholly safe from danger or frost, and though no more 
 of a " sure thing " than any other industry, here or 
 there, the outlook for prospective orange growers is 
 highly encouraging. 
 
 There are also many possibilities in vegetable 
 gardening. The possibility of several crops a year 
 would seem to mark the region as one eminently 
 favorable for vegetable canning. There is no natural 
 reason why Porto Rico should not be an American 
 Bermuda for the production of such vegetables as 
 are now imported from that island. It might also 
 prove a serious competitor for Florida in winter 
 garden products. The climate and general conditions 
 of life in Porto Rico would be more agreeable than 
 those of Southern Florida. The present system of 
 market gardening is not clearly indicative of the 
 possibilities of the island. It is, however, a fair 
 inference that if present results can be attained by 
 present methods, the application of intelligent and 
 careful methods under a systematic management 
 would produce a far more desirable result. To such 
 an improvement obstacles are presented in two di- 
 rections. There is little to encourage a belief that 
 the native people will be disposed to make a radical 
 change in their nature and habits, and transform 
 themselves from a lazy, easy-going, and, in the main, 
 
160 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 idle people, into active and energetic workers. On 
 the other hand, there is little encouragement for 
 active and energetic workers to go to the island. 
 Their success and prosperity would be too greatly 
 dependent upon a sufficient general extension of 
 special industries to offer much inducement for 
 emigration. 
 
 The raising of beef cattle may also be included 
 among the possible industries. The breed already 
 raised upon the island is of good quality, though 
 of no more than an ordinary size. The average 
 weight will probably be not far from eleven hundred 
 to thirteen hundred pounds. Large areas in the in- 
 terior could be utilized for cattle-raising, and there 
 are tracts along the coast-lands which would be more 
 readily available for this purpose than for any other. 
 Pork and pork products are imported in important 
 quantity, and there should be a promising opportu- 
 nity for a limited number to engage in hog-raising. 
 Range land in the interior could be obtained at rea- 
 sonable prices and the animals turned loose upon it 
 to feed on plantains and edible roots. Corn, for 
 fattening, grows readily throughout the island. 
 
 Of mechanical industry there is now little or noth- 
 ing. It is doubtful if the local market is large 
 enough to warrant any extensive industry in any 
 line. Raw materials for almost any business would 
 
INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 161 
 
 have to be imported, and the education of a race to 
 persistent day in and day out labor, would be no 
 simple matter. Most of the industry with which the 
 native people have been at all acquainted, has been 
 of a nature which permitted them to consult their 
 personal inclinations to a considerable extent. The 
 tones of the mandate which implies man's starvation 
 if he will not work are but feebly heard in Porto 
 Rico, and nature weakens the force of even so much 
 of it as may be heard, by a lavish bounty which re- 
 duces the necessity for work to its minimum. Even 
 those who go to the island, either in search of a live- 
 lihood or for fortune-making, will speedily fall into 
 the ways of the place and, more or less consciously, 
 adopt the local manana as an object of worship. 
 Porto Rico will be developed — some time, but its de- 
 velopment is far from likely to proceed at a pace 
 which will at all rival the growth of our "Western 
 States. If we must have outlying islands, Porto Rico 
 is one of the best and most promising that could be 
 had at all. 
 
 Whatever may be the result of increased contact 
 between these people and ourselves, however much or 
 little they may adopt of American customs and hab- 
 its in many things which are now widely different, 
 one thing is quite certain, and that is that any settlers 
 on the island will soon drop into the prevalent in* 
 
162 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 dolence. It is in the air and in the life. For a time 
 it is possible to fight it, but the conviction grows that 
 ultimately one must yield to it, and accept mana- 
 na as the law of life. It is not the intense heat, for, 
 measured by the thermometer, the heat is not so 
 very intense, and in most places it is tempered by a 
 breeze which elsewhere would doubtless be refresh- 
 ing. But it is hardly so there. The air is dull and 
 heavy, and one grows listless. Physical exertion of 
 any kind becomes a bore, and mental exertion be- 
 comes almost an impossibility. How it would be if 
 one could get a restful sleep I cannot say. I regret 
 that I have not been able to try that. In the hotel 
 sleeping-dungeon, one lies and stifles until he rouses 
 in the morning, unrested and unrefreshed. The very 
 necessary mosquito-canopy excludes any air which 
 may be in circulation with the impenetrability of 
 sheet-iron, while it is no more effective against mos- 
 quitoes than a barbed-wire fence would be. One 
 might in time become used to it all and find life there 
 as pleasant as it is anywhere. But before he reaches 
 that point he will land in the clutches of potent, 
 implacable, irresistible manana. With an income, a 
 comfortable home, and nothing to do, Porto Rico is 
 on the borders of Lotus Land. 
 
XII 
 
 COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 
 
 Ephemeral Trade — Problems for the Merchants — Arrival of the 
 Commercial Army— Disappointed Speculators and Promoters — 
 Local Productions — The Volume of Imports — The Export Trade 
 — Porto Rican Business Methods — Influence of Tariff— Outlook 
 for Americans. 
 
 For the first two or three weeks of our occupation 
 of a part of the island, business was a secondary con- 
 sideration. Everybody was having a kind of holiday, 
 except the hundreds of laborers, truckmen, and boat- 
 men, for whom our operations furnished abundant 
 employment. The majority had their attention and 
 interest divided by novel and stirring scenes. It was 
 a time of excitement. Troops of cavalry, artillery, 
 and infantry were coming and going in every direc- 
 tion. The streets were filled with sight-seers, and 
 business men stood in their shop-doors to watch the 
 little military drama which was being played for their 
 benefit. During this period certain lines of business 
 experienced an unprecedented activity. The de- 
 mand for eatables and for drinkables was some- 
 thing beyond Porto Eican ideas. Pedlers of fruit, 
 
 163 
 
164 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 cakes, and home-made confectionery (save the mark) 
 appeared by the score. They came in swarms and 
 droves. They pervaded the city and the camps. 
 But that is not business. 
 
 After the first days of turmoil things began to 
 settle a little. Shoppers, soldiers and sailors, of- 
 ficers and men, newspaper correspondents, and a few 
 other civilians, filled the stores in search of curios 
 and mementos, and for the purpose of replenishing 
 wardrobes. That meant many sales and many pesos 
 in Porto Bican cash-boxes. But even that was not 
 business. It represented only a brief and temporary 
 condition. The rush of it was soon over, and the 
 dispersion of troops to other points left Porto Bico 
 to settle still farther into its usual state. The set- 
 tling process continued with the return of troops to the 
 States, and matters rapidly dropped into the normal 
 groove. Merchants looked over stocks depleted 
 through several months of uncertain political and 
 commercial conditions, and considered their replen- 
 ishment. 
 
 The first problem was the cheapest market in 
 which to place their orders, and there came a trouble. 
 The cheapest market to-day might be the dearest 
 to-morrow. A merchant might place an order for 
 domestics in Manchester, and an order for cutlery in 
 Elberfeld, only to find, upon the arrival of the goods, 
 
COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 165 
 
 that the wares which B, his neighbor, had ordered a 
 few days later from New York enabled B to sell at 
 less than A's cost price, with ample margin of profit 
 to B. The gates to the Porto Bican merchant's mil- 
 lennium were not immediately opened to him, and 
 he groped in outer darkness, hoping for a ray of 
 light, and grumbling at the new government which 
 hid it from him. 
 
 The question was one of tariff rates, and no man 
 knew what would be done about them. For many 
 weeks matters remained in this uncertain state, and 
 there was much of serious complaint among the local 
 merchants. They wanted goods and were quite 
 ready to buy them, but the question of the proper 
 market in which to make their purchases hinged on 
 the action of the American Government. If Porto 
 Rico were to be given a territorial form of government, 
 with free exchange of commodities with the United 
 States, American wares would present economic ad- 
 vantages over goods from Europe. If some special 
 arrangement were made for our new possessions, and 
 a general tariff applied to all imports, the advantage, 
 on some lines, would lie with European manufactures. 
 Orders for goods were held back, and merchants felt 
 that they were losing opportunities. 
 
 This tariff question presented itself also as an im- 
 pediment to the operations of American business 
 
166 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 men. American commerce followed sharply upon 
 the heels of the American army. Within two weeks 
 of the military occupation of the island, a steamer 
 arrived out bringing the advance guard of the com- 
 mercial army. The first to land was the representa- 
 tive of a large tobacco establishment. The second 
 represented a brewery. On the same steamer came 
 a little bunch of general prospectors, and a group of 
 men interested in railway contracts. The tobacco 
 man stayed, and the beer man stayed, and both did a 
 fairly satisfactory business. The general prospec- 
 tors talked much of the value of real estate and the 
 possibility of speculation. Then they went home. 
 The railroad men surveyed the situation from the 
 stand-points of the Hotel Francais and the Ponce 
 plaza, and packed their grips for a return by the first 
 steamer. The closing days of August brought other 
 steamers. All carried as many passengers as their 
 cabin accommodations would permit. Among them 
 were a few whose aims were wholly legitimate and 
 whose journey was warranted. Some of these were 
 representatives of reliable houses who had come for 
 general information regarding a market for their par- 
 ticular wares. Few of them saw much encourage- 
 ment, and most of them returned by the first boat 
 they could catch. 
 
 The great majority of the arrivals consisted of the 
 
COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 167 
 
 purely speculative element. Very many of them 
 were young men who had just about enough money 
 to get them out, to keep them on the island for a 
 week or two, and to get them home again. Those 
 who were wise went home as soon as they could. 
 The prominence given to the island of Porto Eico 
 during the early months of 1898, and much talk of 
 its importance as a strategic point, and of its richness 
 and fertility, would seem to have greatly magnified 
 the spot in the minds of the general American public, 
 both with regard to its area and its commercial im- 
 portance. The long months of talking and planning 
 for the invasion and conquest of the island, and the 
 great army which it was proposed to send there ap- 
 pear to have given a decidedly mistaken and exag- 
 gerated idea regarding the entire situation. 
 
 In comparative figures, Porto Rico is less than half 
 the size of the State of New Jersey. It would take 
 about fourteen Porto Eicos to cover the State of New 
 York. Three Ehode Islands would cover Porto Eico 
 and leave enough margin for a foot-path around it. 
 Less than one hundred miles will measure its length, 
 and less than forty miles, its width. We have but 
 one or two States in the Union so densely populated 
 as Porto Eico. Its average to the square mile ex- 
 ceeds that of Connecticut, New York, or New Jersey, 
 and far exceeds that of Ohio or Illinois. It is not a 
 
168 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 wild, new country for commercial or speculative ex- 
 ploitation. Its settlement antedates that of America. 
 San Juan had been established for more than fifty 
 years when Menendez built his fort at St. Augustine, 
 and had seen twenty different governors of the island 
 before Virginia Dare was born. 
 
 Yet with all this comparative density of popula- 
 tion, with all the richness of the soil of the island, 
 with a people whose numbers are but a little less 
 than those who make their homes in Brooklyn, the en- 
 tire trade of the island, domestic and foreign, export 
 and import, is less than that of many an American 
 city with one-tenth of its number of inhabitants. A 
 notable discrepancy arises in the figures given for the 
 exports and imports. This is partly due to the diffi- 
 culty of obtaining accurate statistics, and partly to 
 the complication of the terms " dollars " and " pesos." 
 The terms are often made interchangeable, but the 
 coins are not, except at variable rates of exchange 
 which makes it difficult to convert the one into the 
 other with any accuracy. In the following schedule, 
 the values are represented in American dollars. 
 
 The local trade in local products is chiefly con- 
 fined to the morning market for table supplies, 
 which is held in all the cities and larger towns. 
 The total imports and exports hardly reach a gross 
 amount of thirty millions of dollars a year, and the 
 
COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 169 
 
 imports exceed the exports by a couple of millions. 
 I have been unable to find any statistics which I was 
 willing to accept as wholly reliable. So far as I can 
 learn, no complete report has been submitted by the 
 United States consul, and there are discrepancies 
 which I cannot reconcile in the published reports of 
 the English consul and those of the Dutch consul. 
 I can, therefore, only give figures which are approxi- 
 mate, though they are sufficiently close for general 
 purposes. 
 
 Cotton goods appear to be the largest item among 
 the imports, and they represent a trade of two or 
 three millions of dollars, varying from year to year, 
 according to the prices and the success or failure of 
 the crop products of the island. Bice is imported to 
 the value of one and a half to two millions of dollars. 
 Elour, chiefly from the United States, approximates 
 three-quarters of a million dollars. Dried, salt, and 
 pickled fish, of which Canada seems to obtain the 
 lion's share of the trade, represents a million to a 
 million and a quarter. The United States has the 
 major portion of a trade in pork and pork products, 
 which about equals the fish business. Woollen 
 goods are, naturally, of but limited consumption in 
 so warm a climate, and the trade is probably less 
 than $150,000 in amount. Agricultural implements 
 represent a business of three to four hundred thou- 
 
170 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 sand dollars. Boots and shoes, almost exclusively 
 from Spain, represent some five or six hundred thou- 
 sand. Chinaware, glassware, lumber, coal, soap, fur- 
 niture, and other articles of general use and con- 
 sumption represent amounts varying from one to 
 three or four hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 The most astonishing thing in the whole list of 
 importations is the item of vegetable and garden 
 products. These are imported into that county, 
 which is in itself but a natural garden, in which can 
 and should be raised every form of vegetable neces- 
 sary or desirable for consumption, and the annual 
 value of the imports approximates $400,000, and the 
 weight 7,000 tons. The island uses $150,000 worth 
 of imported candles and $50,000 worth of imported 
 butter yearly. It uses two to three hundred thou- 
 sand dollars' worth of cheese, of which the Nether- 
 lands have, for the last few years, furnished much 
 the greater part. Uruguay and the Argentine supply 
 it with one to three thousand tons of jerked beef 
 annually. "Wine, beers, and liquors take something 
 more than a half a million a year out of the country. 
 
 Among Porto Rican exports coffee is the heaviest 
 item. This reaches an average valuation of some 
 $8,000,000 a year. Sugar ranks next, and approxi- 
 mates three to four million dollars. Tobacco goes 
 to the extent of some half a million, and molasses 
 
COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 171 
 
 touches about the same figure. Hides, cattle, tim- 
 ber, and fruit are represented in the list, but their 
 value is comparatively inconsiderable. Guano, to 
 the extent of half a million a year, appears in the 
 reports for some years ; but I am unable to account 
 for either the article or the amount. Some corn has 
 been sent to Cuba, some native rum to Spain, and 
 some bay rum to France and to the United States. 
 
 It will thus be seen that, as yet, the island offers 
 but a comparatively limited amount of business, 
 either in buying or selling. 
 
 The island is no place for those who go in the 
 hope of picking up something to do. None but the 
 capitalist, the investor, or the business man with 
 money for his business should go to Porto Rico with 
 anything more in view than an outing or a vacation. 
 As things are at present, there is little enough to in- 
 terest the capitalist or the investor. The man who 
 is looking for a job should look for it at home ; his 
 chances here are infinitely better than they are 
 there. There is absolutely nothing for the position- 
 hunter, for the clerk, or for the workman. In time 
 there may be something, but it will be, at the least, 
 many months before such opportunities are open, 
 and even then they will be few. Until then the case 
 is hopeless, and those who go will but do as their 
 predecessors have done — come home again, poorer 
 
172 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 and wiser men. If a young man can afford to spend 
 a couple of hundred dollars in the purchase of that 
 particular form of wisdom, the opportunity is open 
 to him there on the island. If he cannot afford it, 
 he will do better not to risk it. 
 
 Merchants will find little to do there, except to 
 glean a certain amount of information of rather doubt- 
 ful accuracy, until the question of tariff rates shall 
 have been definitely settled. There is now nothing 
 on which to base any plans or calculations for busi- 
 ness operations. The native merchants are complain- 
 ing seriously. They are waiting to place orders for 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of goods, to 
 replenish stocks which have been depleted through 
 many months of uncertain trade conditions, and are 
 losing business which they have been led to expect 
 would be open to them almost immediately after the 
 American occupation of the different cities in which 
 they are located. Nor is it at all easy for an American 
 to obtain any definite information or accurate details 
 regarding any particular line of business and its pos- 
 sibilities. Local commercial methods are not reduced 
 to the system which prevails among American busi- 
 ness men. The Porto Bican merchant buys and sells, 
 but I failed to find evidence of that close study of 
 business and business methods by which the Amer- 
 ican merchant increases his trade and his profits. 
 
>,.. ; $ 
 
 Home of the Peons. 
 
COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 173 
 
 It would seem to the American that a few good 
 American stores would be a benefit to the island and 
 a profit to their proprietors. But it is to be remem- 
 bered that these people have their own ideas, their 
 own tastes, and their own customs, to which ours 
 would be as foreign, and probably as unsatisfactory, 
 as theirs are to us. They may prefer to buy their 
 confectionery in a bar-room. They may prefer hag- 
 gling over prices instead of being charged a definite 
 and fixed price. They may regard windows in stores 
 and in houses as an abomination. They are the ones 
 most affected by those things, and not we. They are 
 entirely satisfied with a small cup of coffee and a bit 
 of dry bread in the morning, and with a midday 
 lunch, called breakfast, which consists of the same 
 things as the six or seven o'clock dinner, except that 
 breakfast begins with a fried egg, and dinner with a 
 plate of soup. 
 
 Dry-goods stores are numerous and the stocks seem 
 fairly good, though often they appear incongruous by 
 their variety. One buys a yard of calico or a saddle, 
 a mantilla or a machete, in the same store. " Who 
 bringeth much brings something unto many," says 
 the prologue in "Faust." That would seem to be 
 the idea of the Porto Eican city merchant. The 
 druggist— and there are many druggists — confines his 
 wares mainly to his particular line. The tailor may 
 
174 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 or may not carry a line of shirts and hats. A few 
 zapateria may sell only shoes, but many of those com- 
 binations of dry-goods, hardware, crockery, and sad- 
 dlery, carry also a line of shoes and slippers. The 
 bakery (panaderia) may also sell cigars, cigarettes, 
 and liquors, as may the purveyor of canned goods 
 and delicatessen. 
 
 There may be a system to it all, but the stranger 
 cannot tell where he may find the thing he wants. In 
 Ponce I bought a glass of milk, for consumption on 
 the premises, and some cigarettes, at the same place 
 at which I purchased sardines, guava jelly, and fresh 
 eggs. In Yauco I purchased cigars at a store where 
 I might have purchased pencils, ink, and school- 
 books. In a store in Mayaguez I was offered foun- 
 tain-pens, slippers, straw hats, children's toys, and 
 furniture in the same establishment. If one wishes 
 curios or souvenirs which are distinctive of the island, 
 it is difficult to find them. Few things are manu- 
 factured there. Straw hats of local construction are 
 easily obtainable, but one does not care for straw 
 hats for souvenirs. One is offered fans, mantillas, 
 and that sort of things, made in Spain, but the same 
 things can be had in New York at lower prices and 
 in greater variety. 
 
 A heavy percentage of the population consists of a 
 class which buys but little. From my observations, 
 
COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 175 
 
 in both city and country, I should say there was little 
 encouragement for dealers in boots and shoes. Men, 
 women, and children, go barefooted. Barefooted 
 they work in the fields. Barefooted they go along 
 the roads and about the towns. Shoes are worn, of 
 course. But neither in Ponce nor in Mayaguez, two 
 of the three largest cities, is there a stock of boots and 
 shoes in any one store which would be considered 
 half a stock in an American city of half their size. 
 In those I have seen there have been few goods of 
 American manufacture. 
 
 Much the same remarks are true as regards cloth- 
 ing. The great majority of Porto Bicans do not 
 burden themselves with garments, or with a vast 
 assortment of them. An old hat, a ragged shirt, and 
 a pair of dirty cotton or linen trousers, appear to 
 constitute the entire outfit of most of those whom 
 one meets in going about the country, and of a very 
 noticeable proportion of those seen in the towns. 
 Feminine apparel appears to be equally limited along 
 its special line of construction. There is little to 
 be said about juvenile apparel. Sometimes it con- 
 sists of a rag; sometimes it does not. Hats are 
 a local industry. The material used is some form 
 of native grass, and a twenty-five cent hat will last 
 a year or two. In house furnishing the same gen- 
 eral condition obtains. Dwellings throughout the 
 
176 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-BAY 
 
 country are of simple construction and simply fur- 
 nished. 
 
 There are many articles of American manufacture 
 which, if tariff conditions will permit, ought to be 
 successfully introduced into the Porto Kican market. 
 But there would seem to be little chance for Amer- 
 ican wholesale or retail stores. For the present, at 
 least, little can be done. There must be some def- 
 inite adjustment of the tariff question. The recog- 
 nition, or even a tentative recognition, of Porto Bico 
 as a part of the United States, would do much to 
 solve many difficulties. It would give to merchants 
 there a working basis. Commercially, there can be 
 no question that the inclusion of the island as an 
 integral part of the United States would be of mu- 
 tual advantage. It would give to the people there 
 a broader commercial life, and to us it would give 
 the greater part of what market there is. If to the 
 island is given some form of colonial government, 
 with power to regulate its own customs duties and 
 taxes, its trade with the States on the American 
 continent will be greatly restricted, with no resultant 
 benefit to the people. It would also be placed in a 
 political situation which I am well convinced would 
 be objectionable to the clearest thinking people of 
 the island. They would prefer to be a spoke in the 
 American wheel, rather than a fly upon its rim. 
 
COMMERCE ON THE ISLAND 177 
 
 The free opening of .the ports of the island to the 
 entry of American goods would give us practically 
 the whole of their trade. Nor would this operate to 
 the disadvantage of the people of the island. We 
 must assume that there will be, in any event, a duty 
 placed on imports from Europe. Free American 
 goods versus European goods plus a necessary tar- 
 iff, would economize the cost of living for the ma- 
 jority if not for all. The Porto Rican merchant can 
 now purchase domestics and sheetings, as he does, 
 in Liverpool and Manchester, at a lower figure than 
 he can in New York. An equal tariff on both would 
 exclude the American article. The freedom of the 
 port to the American product would put those goods 
 on the retail market at lower prices than those at 
 which they are now sold. The same applies to other 
 lines which may be regarded as necessaries. The 
 duty on flour has been enormous. Our trade in that 
 article could be very greatly extended and advantage 
 come to both parties. So also with some if not with 
 all forms of paper : Paper bags for grocers and other 
 merchants are a luxury there. They are so costly 
 that they might almost be hung on the walls as 
 ornaments. We can place both flour and paper on 
 the island with profit to ourselves and with advantage 
 to the islanders. We can do many things with bene- 
 ficial commercial results to ourselves and to them, 
 
178 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 and the sooner we get the gates open the better it 
 will be for both. 
 
 Under wise laws and a just and equitable system 
 of taxation, with a suitable railway system and im- 
 proved highways, and with the ports of the United 
 States and of the islands open to the exchange of 
 commodities, free of duty, a very material increase of 
 the business of the island will inevitably follow. It 
 is quite possible to double the trade within the next 
 ten or fifteen years. There will be some wild- cat 
 speculation, some unwise investment, and some loss 
 to investors. The schemer and the promoter will 
 find victims who will put their money into companies 
 whose future is wholly hopeless. But along with 
 that there may reasonably be expected a steady 
 growth and improvement. But it will come by 
 gradual increase and development, and not by a sud- 
 den bound. 
 
 Eetail trade and local commerce are in the hands 
 of men who understand it. They know the island 
 people and their requirements. Their ways, ideas, 
 and tastes, are not altogether like ours, but they will, 
 for many years, be better suited for the business of 
 the island. Here and there an American may find a 
 promising opening, and some may find a profitable 
 trade, but, in the main, the American will be handi- 
 capped by his ignorance of the needs of the market 
 
COMMEECE ON THE ISLAND 179 
 
 and the tastes of the people. Porto Kican merchants 
 and Porto Eican people may not be up to our times, 
 but they are up to their own, and they have their own 
 pace in progress. This pace may now be somewhat 
 accelerated, but efforts to force it unduly are not 
 likely to meet with any marked success. 
 
XIII 
 
 OLLA PODRIDA 
 
 The Best Way to Travel on the Island — Sleeping Accommodations — 
 Conservative Farmers — Food Staples of the Peasantry — The 
 Temperature and Its Results — The Educational Question — Schools 
 and School-houses of San Juan — Points of Interest — Pretty Girls 
 — Cost of City Government — The " Color " Question — Porto 
 Rican Homes. 
 
 Would anyone go to Porto Rico for a novel ex- 
 perience amid unfamiliar scenes in a strange land ? 
 Let him take with him a limited supply of baggage, 
 the less the better, within reasonable limits, but let 
 him carry with him an unlimited supply of determi- 
 nation to put up with whatever he gets. Would any 
 one go for comfort ? Let him take with him his own 
 hotel, and his own carriage and horses and driver. 
 To one accustomed to the facilities, the conveniences, 
 and the comforts of the modern American hotel, the 
 Porto Rican affair, in which one eats and sleeps, if 
 sleep he can, offers little beyond an opportunity to 
 be uncomfortable. 
 
 The Porto Rican may enjoy his life as keenly as 
 
 does anyone, but it is after a manner of his own, and 
 
 180 
 
OLLA PODRIDA 181 
 
 that manner would be far from acceptable to the 
 average right-minded American. There should be 
 several moderate-sized fortunes lying around on the 
 island for enterprising American bonifaces who will 
 go there and erect modern hotels on American prin- 
 ciples. They need not be palatial. The prime requi- 
 site would be that they be provided with windows 
 that will admit light and air. One is led to imagine 
 that the Porto Bican has some bitter feud with both 
 of those rather desirable provisions of nature, so 
 diligently does he seek to exclude them from his 
 buildings, and particularly from his sleeping-rooms. 
 
 This applies equally to hotels and to dwelling- 
 houses. I have been in many Porto Bican houses. 
 I have been in the homes of the wealthy, in the dwell- 
 ings of the middle classes, and in the huts of the 
 indigent. I have seen but few rooms which had 
 anything whatever that would recommend them as 
 sleeping apartments. The salon and the dining- 
 room may be spacious and airy. The bed-chamber 
 will be a den in the most unsuitable corner, small, 
 dark, and cheerless. There may be good reason for 
 this. It is quite probable that the people of Porto 
 Bico are better judges of what is good for them than 
 any stranger could be. The night-air of the island 
 is of doubtful wholesomeness. It may well be that, 
 without stopping too closely to analyze his reasons, 
 
182 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 the Porto Rican sleeps in what the average Ameri- 
 can would regard as an air-tight box, for the purpose 
 of avoiding a greater evil. That which to a stranger 
 seems a serious discomfort, becomes an accustomed 
 habit of life, and its discomfort is not noticed as it 
 is by the stranger. To fevers arising from a night- 
 air laden with more or less poisonous exhalations 
 from the rank growth of tropical vegetation one be- 
 comes less readily accustomed. 
 
 For the exclusion of light there is less apparent 
 reason. It is true that the admission of light means 
 also the admission of some measure of heat. Any in- 
 crease in temperature is unnecessary, and any means 
 of reducing it is not without its advantages. It is 
 possible also that the cause of the infrequent use of 
 glass runs back to a time when glass was an article of 
 such costliness that its use was practically prohib- 
 ited. Conservatism is a marked trait of the island 
 people, and the custom of using wooden shutters in 
 the place of windows may be an inheritance from 
 many generations. 
 
 This same conservatism manifests itself in many 
 of the habits and customs of the Porto Ricans. Our 
 working oxen are attached to their load so that the 
 strain comes upon the neck and shoulder, where it 
 is supported and backed by the weight of the whole 
 body. In Porto Rico the attachment is made to the 
 
OLLA PODRIDA 183 
 
 base of the horns, the pull coming from the neck and 
 the head, after the manner of the ancient Egyptians. 
 Perhaps from habit, though possibly from other 
 causes, the average Porto Rican farmer ploughs with 
 a pointed stick. The trunk of a small tree of suitable 
 length and diameter forms the beam, which is at- 
 tached to the yoke at its outer end. At its inner 
 end, adjusted at a proper angle, a strong connection 
 is made with another piece of timber which, by its 
 length and position, serves both as share for cutting 
 and handle for guiding. Some American ploughs are 
 in the market, but thus far they have not found a 
 read}*- sale. The island methods of cooking are also 
 primitive from an American stand-point, though they 
 are doubtless better adapted to the needs and the 
 conditions of the island than the American contriv- 
 ances would be. 
 
 It is to be remembered that the majority of the 
 islanders are of the peasant class. Their wants are 
 few and simple. Their incomes do not admit any 
 elaborate table supply. Many of them live at a con- 
 siderable distance from any market, and many ar- 
 ticles of table consumption cannot be kept for any 
 length of time in so hot a country. Nor is there 
 necessity for the hearty food which is required by 
 those of a more northern climate. What corn-bread 
 is to the poorer classes of our Southern States, the 
 
184 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 plantain is to many of the Porto Kican peasantry. 
 It forms the staple diet of many people. It is 
 cooked by boiling, roasting in ashes, or by frying. 
 No American pattern of kitchen-stove is needed for 
 that purpose. The same obtains with rice and beans, 
 both of which figure largely in the Porto Eican bill 
 of fare. In the homes of probably the majority of 
 the people of the island, the American cooking-stove 
 would be only a super-heated nuisance. A goodly 
 number of dwellers in the cities might well find the 
 American kerosene-stove a desirable substitute for 
 the little metal basket of charcoal which is now the 
 usual means of cooking, and the same implement 
 should find some sale through the country. 
 
 Aside from any other questions which may affect 
 the menu of Porto Eican households, that of the 
 avoidance of any unnecessary heat is one of no little 
 importance. Nature supplies all the caloric that is 
 really required, and the production of. any greater 
 heat than is absolutely necessary for simple forms of 
 cookery is to add unduly to physical discomfort 
 within the house. The climate of Porto Eico is not 
 easily described, though all who write with reference 
 to the island are supposed to say something about it. 
 The weather bureau which has been established by 
 the American authorities since our occupation of the 
 island, will do much to simplify the process of de- 
 
OLLA PODRIDA 185 
 
 scription of climatic conditions. One will now be 
 able to quote statistics from the weather reports in- 
 stead of attempting to describe his personal sensa- 
 tions. 
 
 It is quite safe to start a Porto Rico weather 
 story with the proposition that it is never cold in 
 Porto Rico. A citizen of Ponce, whose English was 
 somewhat limited, said to me, " We never change our 
 clothes in Porto Rico." He did not mean exactly 
 what he said, but he was probably correct in his 
 meaning that the same weight and kind of clothing 
 could be worn the year around with entire comfort. 
 I question if an overcoat could be bought anywhere 
 on the island. So far as I was able to learn there is 
 never a time when even a light top-coat is either 
 necessary or desirable. High up among the hills the 
 thermometer sometimes gets down into the fifties, 
 but even that is unusual. The lowest temperature 
 recorded in San Juan within twenty years, is given 
 by Mr. Hill, in his recently published volume on 
 " Cuba and Porto Rico," as 57.2°. 
 
 It is the upper end of the thermometer which has 
 the most work to do. There is more wear and tear 
 on the tube between 75° and 95° than on any other 
 portion of its length. It is not often that the mer- 
 cury goes above 95°, and that is not reached on 
 many days in the year. Eighty to 90° is the usual 
 
186 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 run for the summer months, with an average drop of 
 six or seven degrees for the remaining months. The 
 temperature of the island is remarkably equable. 
 The heat, throughout the greater part of the year, is 
 tempered by the ocean breezes from the northeast. 
 During what are our winter months, this wind swings 
 around into the north. But the breeze is constant. 
 Naturally the heat is great in the direct rays of the 
 sun, but the large area of our own Southern States is 
 open to the same criticism. It is always advisable 
 to avoid either work or exposure at midday. That 
 is the practice of the native people. In the larger 
 places many of the stores are closed during the noon 
 hours, and commercial Porto Hico takes advantage 
 of the general quiet to go home to its breakfast. 
 
 Nature is really a very kindly old dame, after all. 
 Just as she usually interposes the relief of uncon- 
 sciousness when a certain measure of pain is reached 
 by a sufferer, so, too, in countries where more than a 
 certain degree of active physical exercise becomes in- 
 jurious, she interposes a disinclination for exercise. 
 Speaking perhaps more exactly, in hot climates she 
 makes men lazy. That is one of her wise provisions 
 for the benefit of the human race. Along with this 
 disinclination for energetic work, she pours out a lav- 
 ish bounty which makes energetic work quite needless. 
 It is not so much the excessive heat of Porto Rico 
 
OLLA PODRIDA 187 
 
 that affects one's natural energy. Nor is it that the 
 heat is especially trying, physically. The result is 
 due rather to its continuity and to its character. 
 There are hotter days in New York and in Washing- 
 ton than those which come to Ponce and to San 
 Juan. But, with the exception of occasional brief 
 periods, our northern nights are cooler, and they 
 bring a relief which does not come to the cities of 
 the island. There is also an indescribable difference 
 in the character of the heat. Porto Eican heat saps 
 the energies, both physical and mental. The physi- 
 cal disinclination is accompanied by a mental indif- 
 ference. It is a beautiful country in which to have 
 a large and airy house with broad, shaded verandas, 
 where one can swing in a hammock and read inter- 
 esting novels and smoke a pipe, if he has a servant 
 to fill the pipe. Otherwise he will smoke cigarettes, 
 as the natives do, because it is so much less work to 
 light a cigarette than it is to fill a pipe. 
 
 For the reading - matter which one might need 
 under such charmingly lazy conditions, it would be 
 quite necessary to depend wholly upon a home sup- 
 ply. The island is not a literary centre. A few in- 
 significant book-shops may be found in some of the 
 larger cities, but the assortment carried is small, and 
 consists mainly of Spanish novels, with a scattering 
 mixture of French productions. A few bulky vol- 
 
188 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 limes of statistics and reports are also obtainable, as 
 are sundry volumes of history. San Juan lias a 
 small public library. But the Porto Eicans gener- 
 ally are not a reading people. Illiteracy is a well- 
 pronounced epidemic. The census of 1887 gives the 
 following table : 
 
 Male. Female. Total. 
 
 Able to read and write 57,216 39,651 96,867 
 
 Able to read only 5,662 8,851 14,513 
 
 Unable to read or write 341,409 353,919 695,328 
 
 404,287 402,421 806,708 
 
 This shows, broadly, eighty-six per cent, of the 
 population as wholly illiterate, with twelve per cent, 
 able to read and write and two per cent, able to 
 read only. Such statements as this, however, need 
 a measure of qualification. The 806,708, given 
 as the population, includes all ages from the newly 
 born infant, upward. Some percentage of these, 
 such as those under school-age, should be excepted 
 from estimates, and percentages be based on the re- 
 maining number, including only those for whom 
 reading and writing are a possibility. Such a state- 
 ment could probably be obtained from a complete 
 census report. 
 
 The United States authorities give twenty per cent, 
 as the proportion of children of school-age in the en- 
 tire population. Assuming this figure as sufficiently 
 
OLLA PODEIDA 189 
 
 accurate for general purposes in other lands, we 
 should find 161,340 as the number of Porto Kican 
 children of school age. The public provision for the 
 education of these includes not far from four hun- 
 dred and fifty school buildings, or about one for each 
 four hundred pupils. But this also needs some quali- 
 fication. Private schools and private instruction are 
 factors in the general question. There is also the 
 fact of variation in localities. For instance, the city 
 of San Juan is better equipped than some of the 
 rural districts. The same will apply to others of the 
 larger centres. In the fiscal report of San Juan for 
 the year 1897, there are entries of payments made as 
 follows : For one male and one female teacher for the 
 Escuelas superiores, the sum of 1,500 pesos each ; for 
 one male and one female assistant for the same 
 schools, the sum of 540 pesos each ; for six male and 
 six female teachers of the first class for the Escuelas 
 MunicipaleSy the sum of 720 pesos each ; for one male 
 and one female teacher of the second class, the sum 
 of 540 pesos each. 
 
 Assuming the population of San Juan at the pres- 
 ent time to be 25,000, which is not far out of the way, 
 and taking twenty per cent, as the relative proportion 
 of children of school age, we find a school-age popu- 
 lation of 5,000. For the education of these, payments 
 are made to eighteen teachers, or one teacher for 
 
190 THE PORTO KICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 each two hundred and seventy-seven pupils. This 
 estimate, and others of similar character made from 
 the reports of other cities and towns, would indicate 
 that some of the teachers in the country districts are 
 in charge of some very large schools if all the pos- 
 sible scholars of their districts are duly attentive to 
 the opportunities presented for an education. From 
 other entries in the San Juan fiscal report, I infer 
 that each of these eighteen teachers is provided with 
 a separate school building, and I infer also that the 
 buildings are not owned by the city, but are rented 
 from private owners. The terms used are Asignacion 
 para alquila de casas, etc., or, practically, " appropria- 
 tion for renting of houses," etc. The sum paid for 
 the rental of twelve buildings for the municipal 
 schools of the first class, is 4,320 pesos, or 360 
 pesos for each. The peso is worth from fifty to 
 sixty cents in our money, according to the local 
 rate of exchange. It is wholly evident that there 
 is some room for educational reform on our new 
 island. 
 
 Of all the special points of interest on the island, 
 San Juan naturally presents the strongest attractions. 
 Although the small town of Aguada, on the west 
 coast, is perhaps the successful rival of San Juan in 
 point of priority of establishment, the capital city 
 was the more important place even in the year 1511, 
 
Looking Westward from Fort San Cristobal— Morro in the Distance. 
 
 Looking- Eastward from Morro — San Cristobal in the Distance. 
 
OLLA PODRIDA 191 
 
 which is the date claimed by both as the time of their 
 founding. San Juan was the head-quarters, if not the 
 home, of Ponce de Leon during the brief time of his 
 governorship of the island. A portion of the gov- 
 ernment building known as the Casa Blanca — the 
 " White House," is shown as the house which that 
 doughty hero occupied during his stay on the island. 
 The massive forts and the extensive fortifications of 
 the city are full of interest for travellers. The Morro 
 and Cristobal are a mine of wealth for the photog- 
 rapher with an eye for the artistic. But, at the 
 present time, those who enter there leave their cam- 
 eras behind — with the sentinel at the gateway. 
 Uncle Sam does not approve the photographing of 
 the interiors of his coast defences. 
 
 Aside from the fortifications and their immediate 
 surroundings one can see the city of San Juan in a 
 very few minutes. But, like all other places, one 
 may study indefinitely. I am unable to comment 
 upon the life of the city, because of the abnormal 
 conditions which existed at the time of my visit. All 
 was in a state of suspense. The commission was in 
 sitting, preparing the terms and time of the evacua- 
 tion, and Spanish troops were being assembled for 
 their departure for the Peninsula. The time, in it- 
 self, was deeply interesting, but it gave no adequate 
 idea of the real social or commercial life of the place. 
 
192 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 More even than is customary, the ladies of the city 
 remained in seclusion. 
 
 I have been asked by a number of frivolous young 
 persons of both sexes if I saw any of those delightful 
 creations known as "pretty girls," on the island. I 
 have been obliged to confess that I saw but few 
 such, though I have asserted a very positive convic- 
 tion that they are to be found there in great numbers. 
 I can at least testify to three in one family of my 
 acquaintance, and can make oath to their powers of 
 delightful entertainment. I have no reason to think 
 that this trio monopolized the beauty of the young 
 ladies of the island, but they surely had enough to 
 give to many who needed it, and still have enough 
 left to warrant any observer in pronouncing them 
 beautiful. I met and saw a few others, but the prin- 
 cipal supply of them was concealed by wooden blinds 
 and shutters. 
 
 Information, of its particular kind, is found in the 
 fiscal report of the city. The salary of the alcalde is 
 2,500 pesos per annum. The police force consists of 
 two officers and forty-four guards. The pay of the 
 guards is 360 pesos per annum, a sum equivalent to 
 about two hundred dollars of our money. The city 
 possesses a steam fire-engine for which, fortunately, 
 there is little necessity. The engine is drawn by 
 oxen, and its rush to a conflagration is quite devoid 
 
OLLA PODKIDA 193 
 
 of that thrill of excitement which is caused by the 
 plunging gallop of an American fire-department team. 
 The idea of the oxen probably comes from the fact 
 that there is hardly enough work to do to make it 
 profitable to maintain a stable of large horses, while 
 the little island ponies would never do at all. The 
 municipality is lighted by five hundred electric lights 
 at a cost of thirty-six pesos a year for each light. 
 Street cleaning costs 5,000 pesos per year. The total 
 expenses for the year 1897 are classified as follows : 
 
 Pesos. 
 
 City officials 24,417 
 
 Police Department 17,485 
 
 Fire Department, Lighting, Street Cleaning, etc. . 49,260 
 
 Public Instruction 27, 660 
 
 Public Works 6,550 
 
 Public Correction 26,351 
 
 Interest account, etc 120, 635 
 
 City Improvements, including new water- works. . . 249,163 
 Municipal Charities, including Hospitals, Free 
 
 Medical Service, etc 28, 962 
 
 Special Appropriation 3, 000 
 
 Total 598,483 
 
 Some explanation is needed here regarding the 
 item which occurs in this statement, under the head 
 of Interest Account. That implies a debt, and it was 
 claimed by citizens that neither the island nor its 
 
194 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY" 
 
 cities carried any bonded indebtedness. A distinc- 
 tion appears to be made between borrowed money 
 and bonded debt. For various publi * improvements, 
 such as water- works, etc., the municipality of San 
 Juan has borrowed money from the banks. But the 
 amount is so inconsiderable, and the resources of the 
 city so ample, that comparatively little importance is 
 attached to it. The same may also be true of other 
 cities. 
 
 A problem of no little difficulty is presented in the 
 determination of the population of the island along 
 its lines of race and color. The census of 1887 gives 
 the following table : 
 
 Blancos (white) 480,267 
 
 Pardos (gray) 248,690 
 
 Morenos (brown or swarthy) 77, 751 
 
 Total 806,708 
 
 These figures are of somewhat doubtful accuracy. 
 It has been the custom of Spanish officials to mis- 
 represent the relative numbers of whites and blacks 
 in the Spanish colonies and dependencies, and there 
 is some reason for belief that Porto Eico has not 
 been excepted from this custom. It is, however, a 
 fact that Porto Eico is unique among the West Ind- 
 ian islands, in the numerical excess of whites over 
 black in its population. The above list is probably 
 
OLLA PODEIDA 195 
 
 in error in that it includes among the " blancos " a 
 greater or less number whom we in America would 
 regard as "colored," because of some indication of 
 African blood, whether or not that were the source 
 from which the color was derived. Those whites 
 whose whiteness would ever be mistaken for that of 
 the Anglo-Saxon, are not numerous on the island. 
 " White," from the Spanish stand-point, includes 
 many of those of that color with which all are familiar 
 in the faces of some Spaniards, and many West Ind- 
 ians whose veins carry no drop of negro blood. The 
 group indicated as " pardos " includes those whom 
 we should class as "mulattos," while we should 
 probably group the " morenos " with the " blacks." 
 The census list enumerates no " blacks," yet there 
 are such on the island in noticeable numbers. Race 
 lines are drawn to some extent, socially; but race 
 lines, as we know them in America, can hardly be 
 said to exist. 
 
 A more hospitable people than our new citizens 
 is not to be found. There is a hesitancy about ex- 
 tending promiscuous invitations to newly made ac- 
 quaintances to visit them in their homes. But when 
 the invitation does come, it comes heartily, and it is 
 heartily supported by the entertainment which lies 
 behind it. Porto Rican homes may strike the Amer- 
 ican visitor as bare and inartistic. He may miss 
 
196 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 the rugs, the portieres, the pictures, and many of 
 the fanciful trifles to which we are accustomed in 
 this country. But their absence is due largely to 
 other reasons than the lack of a developed artistic 
 taste. Bugs and fabrics of other kinds are encourag- 
 ing breeding-places for that prolific denizen of all 
 tropical countries, the pulex irritans. There is a cool- 
 ness in tinted and white walls, and in wooden and 
 wicker chairs, which is, in such a country, a mani- 
 fest advantage over the hot stuffiness of upholstery. 
 If one visits his friends only to see their houses, he 
 may not be wholly pleased with his visits to Porto 
 Eican homes. If he goes to meet the people, he will 
 find them charming, and their home-life delightful. 
 
XIV 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND 
 
 Military Skill vs. the " Dispensations of Providence " — The Plan 
 of the Porto Rico Campaign — A Unique Expedition — General 
 Schwan's Sweep to the West— Difference in American and Span- 
 ish Methods in Warfare — Discomforts of a Tropical Campaign — 
 An Unwritten Story — Our Insignificant Casualties. 
 
 General Shafter's argument concerning the San- 
 tiago campaign, is the only argument of the whole 
 of the military operations of the Spanish-American 
 engagement of 1898 : We won. We forced our op- 
 ponent to surrender the territory which she had 
 held for centuries. Our navy has commanded the 
 plaudits of the world. Our War Department has 
 merited a sharper criticism and a heavier penalty 
 than is likely to fall upon it. Our military opera- 
 tions, in camp or in field, have brought us little credit 
 excepting that which lies in the fact that we won. 
 Of military skill, of able strategy, of well-conceived 
 and well- executed plan, we have little to boast. The 
 admission is humiliating, but it is the truth. Again 
 and again, I have heard from the lips of officers of 
 
 our regular army the words, " Surely the Lord has 
 
 197 
 
198 THE P0ET0 EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 been on our side." Probably this has come from no 
 religious desire to give honor to the " Lord of Hosts." 
 It has come rather as the official testimony of ex- 
 perts that our military victories have been chiefly due 
 to something other than the wisdom and skill of our 
 military leaders. Politics have dominated where mil- 
 itary science should have ruled supreme. Incom- 
 petent and inexperienced civilians have been ap- 
 pointed to positions which demanded the services of 
 trained and qualified men, and the operations of the 
 line have been obstructed by the blunders and tan- 
 gles of the staff service. 
 
 Out of all this unsavory mass of mismanagement, 
 with its train of unnecessary hardship and sickness, 
 it is pleasant to find even one little incident which 
 cannot be justly criticised. It occurred during the 
 campaign in Porto Bico, and, through a somewhat 
 unusual occurrence, little of public attention has 
 been called to it. 
 
 By one of those mysterious dispensations for 
 which it is difficult to account, the only one of the 
 four expeditions which started across the island of 
 Porto Bico, and met with any special degree of suc- 
 cess, was unaccompanied by any regular newspaper 
 correspondent. At the time of this movement all of 
 the correspondents then on the island were engaged 
 in watching operations which seemed to be of much 
 
THE CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND 199 
 
 greater importance than that little sweep of a few 
 troops around the western part of the island. 
 
 It was a small expedition, composed of regulars 
 and commanded by a regular army officer, Brigadier- 
 General Schwan. General Brooke, General Henry, 
 and General Wilson were in command of the other 
 expeditions, and it was assumed, from the number of 
 their forces and from the routes which they were to 
 follow, that any of these presented opportunities for 
 more interesting and more important news-matter 
 than did that of General Schwan with his little bunch 
 of regulars. That was where an opportunity was 
 lost. As an important and interesting campaign, 
 none of the others even rivalled Schwan's move 
 around the western coast. No one of the others met 
 with such success. No one of them saw so much of 
 active service. No one covered so much territory, or 
 covered so much in so short a time. No one raised 
 the American flag in so many towns and cities. 
 
 General Henry was sent across the island, from 
 Ponce, almost due northward to Arecibo. His com- 
 mand was a small one, and it went into a country 
 which had already been opened up by General Stone 
 and the Engineer and Signal Corps, which had en- 
 tered Adjuntas and Utuado, and was even then on 
 the outskirts of Arecibo, on the northern coast. 
 Some importance seemed to be given to this expe- 
 
200 THE POETO EICO OP TO-DAY 
 
 dition by rumors that the general-in-chief would fol- 
 low that route and enter San Juan by the way of 
 Arecibo. General Brooke had landed at Arroyo, and 
 was holding that jplace and Guayama, and was pre- 
 paring for his move upon the rear of the Spanish 
 forces which were said to be behind strong entrench- 
 ments at Aibonito. General Wilson commanded 
 what was plainly intended to be the main expedition 
 to San Juan until, by his junction with General 
 Brooke at Aibonito, the command of both expedi- 
 tions, which would then be formed into one army, 
 would devolve upon General Brooke, the ranking 
 officer, and the commanding officer of the corps in 
 which General Wilson commanded a division. There 
 was no doubt that this double expedition constituted 
 the focal point in the campaign, and that Aibonito 
 was regarded as the locality of a decisive battle. It 
 was known that the Spanish troops were there, and 
 that they were making their position into a sort of 
 modern little Thermopylae. 
 
 But the army delayed at Guayama. It was said 
 that they were waiting for supplies which could not 
 be unloaded because of rough water and scarcity of 
 lighters. There were supplies at Ponce and a road of 
 forty miles, bad, but passable under military neces- 
 sity, from that point to Guayama. It was said that 
 they were waiting for artillery which was on board 
 
THE CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND 201 
 
 the Massachusetts, then lying stranded on a reef, 
 while all the available vessels and lighters in the 
 harbor of Ponce were working their hardest to un- 
 load her and drag her off before she was pounded to 
 pieces. If artillery was wanted, there were two 
 batteries of the Seventh Eegulars, Lemly's and 
 McComb's, in camp at Ponce. They were equipped 
 with the new pattern, smokeless-powder guns, and 
 neither of them fired a shot, and neither was sent 
 where it could fire a shot throughout the campaign. 
 
 "With the Mayaguez expedition under General 
 Schwan, the case was different. He got ready and 
 started out. The force consisted of about thirteen 
 hundred regulars of the Eleventh Infantry, two bat- 
 teries of regular artillery, and one troop of regular 
 cavalry. It was to make a general sweep of the west 
 coast and the country behind it, eastward to the 
 route taken by General Henry. 
 
 Some of the troops had been landed at Guanica 
 and some at Ponce. A junction was effected at 
 Yauco, and the whole started on its westward trip as 
 an independent expedition. It possessed one or two 
 peculiarities. A brigadier-general commanded what 
 was barely more than a single regiment. It included 
 all three arms of the service, which was wholly cor- 
 rect, though its artillery detachment was entirely out 
 of all proportion to the infantry. A platoon of two 
 
202 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 guns is all the artillery which is usually supposed to 
 accompany a regiment of infantry, though the point 
 is necessarily elastic and dependent upon general 
 conditions. As a matter of fact, a single platoon was 
 all that did any service on this trip. 
 
 The command started in a very business-like way, 
 and appears to have kept up that attitude through- 
 out its course. It was accompanied by its wagon- 
 train, and it kept moving. Beyond Yauco it was the 
 first in the field. In front of it was a force which 
 was its numerical equal, if not its superior. It occu- 
 pied Sabana Grande and San German practically 
 without opposition. Sabana Grande is the centre of 
 a municipal jurisdiction which includes a population 
 of 9,000 or 10,000. San German is a city of 8,000, 
 with a jurisdiction covering 30,000. About six miles 
 beyond San German, midway between that place 
 and Mayaguez, the troops encountered their first real 
 opposition. At that point, a mile or so to the north- 
 ward of the main highway, there stands the village of 
 Hormigueros, a small town upon the hill-side. Here 
 an engagement took place. It was short and sharp. 
 The Spanish force had every advantage of position, 
 and had known of the approach of the American 
 force in ample time to give it full opportunity to 
 make its position a strong one. The rolling foot- 
 hills of the western end of the island's central range, 
 
THE CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND 203 
 
 presented all that an army of defence could ask in 
 the way of strategic situation. But the army of 
 Spain stayed not for defences. It fired a few volleys, 
 rose, scattered, and fled like a flock of quail. It had 
 encountered something quite new to its military ex- 
 perience. It did not understand men who followed 
 at a run the bullets they had fired. They did not 
 approve an opponent who fired as he advanced, and 
 advanced as he fired, but always advanced. While it 
 is hardly the correct expression, courtesy suggests 
 that we say that they " retired," they " fell back." 
 They did fall back, and fell over each other in doing 
 so. The Americans followed them. 
 
 Mayaguez was occupied practically without re- 
 sistance, and the army pushed on toward Aguadilla 
 and Lares. Anasco was occupied, and Aguada was 
 virtually occupied. The Spanish troops fell back 
 toward Lares, with the Americans in hot pursuit. 
 They were overtaken on the banks of a river near 
 Las Marias, and a rather snappy little engagement 
 took place. General Schwan's report, I think, gave 
 the Spanish loss as five killed and fourteen wounded. 
 Pie told me that later reports received from those 
 who came in and from those who were brought in, 
 assured him that the losses from the American firing 
 and from death by drowning in crossing the river, 
 were very many times the number reported. Las 
 
204 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 Marias was occupied, and the troops pushed onward 
 toward Lares and toward Aguadilla. Then came the 
 truce. Another twenty-four hours would undoubt- 
 edly have found General Schwan in possession of 
 both places, and in control of all the western part of 
 the island. Both places had been practically evacu- 
 ated. The American losses throughout the whole 
 campaign amounted to two men killed and one officer 
 and seventeen men wounded. 
 
 It was not a grand campaign. It was not an affair 
 of which a thrilling history could be written. It oc- 
 cupied barely more than a week. But it was well- 
 planned and well executed, and only came short of 
 complete success through the proclamation of the 
 armistice before it was possible to cover the whole 
 territory. But it was not a picnic. The hospital 
 records will show that. Of the dangers and hard- 
 ships of such a march it is difficult to obtain an ade- 
 quate idea Avithout some practical knowledge of the 
 conditions under which it was made. Nor were the 
 troops unduly crowded forward. There was no dis- 
 regard of life or health. The hardships were only 
 the inevitable attendants of the conditions. If the 
 march was to be made at all, it could only be made 
 as it was made. 
 
 To understand what it means to march through 
 drenching rains, and under broiling sun, sleeping at 
 
THE CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND 205 
 
 night on damp ground and under heavy dews, one 
 needs to try a little of it. I had a very little of it 
 one day, and got all I wanted, when I accompanied a 
 little bunch of the Engineer Corps on a trip across 
 the hills for about eighteen miles. It was not a very 
 bad day either, though we came through a half-dozen 
 mountain showers, which, as I had lost my rain coat 
 the day before, turned me, body and clothing, into a 
 soaked and saturated pulp. I became rather more 
 than a "demned, damp, moist, unpleasant body." 
 Most of the men had their ponchos, but they are a 
 sorry protection against such storms. Then the 
 hot sun would come out and turn everything into a 
 steam-bath with an apparent temperature of several 
 thousand degrees. But I was better off than my 
 companions, for I had a horse to which I could re- 
 sort if I saw fit, though I was very glad to use him 
 for the benefit of some of the boys, who were limping 
 and hobbling painfully along with blistered feet in 
 worn-out shoes. I saw enough of it, however, to 
 understand fairly well what that sort of thing means. 
 The merit of the Mayaguez expedition lies in the 
 prompt and business-like way in which it was carried 
 out, in the pluck and the hardihood displayed by the 
 troops who were engaged in it, in the valor shown in 
 such encounters with the enemy as came in their 
 way, and in their patient endurance of hardship and 
 
206 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 discomfort. Honor lies with these men of our regular 
 army, with the Eleventh Regiment of Infantry, with 
 Troop A of the Fifth Cavalry, with C Battery of the 
 Third and D Battery of the Fifth Artillery. It would 
 also seem fitting that, if there be any stars going as 
 rewards of merit for services during the campaign in 
 Porto Rico, a pair of them be presented to Brigadier- 
 General Schwan, the commander of the expedition in 
 the western part of the island, and thus enable that 
 officer to round out a career of nearly forty years of 
 service in the United States army, from a private in 
 the ranks upward, as a major-general. 
 
 The great story of the Porto Rico campaign has 
 not yet been written. It is possible that it may 
 never be written. In view of the outcome of the 
 Porto Rican affair, it is possible that the incident 
 which, in all probability, would have constituted the 
 vital feature of it all, loses its significance and be- 
 comes a mere matter of detail, interesting only to 
 military specialists. It would be work for an expert 
 in military science who was well up in the history of 
 war and warfare. This unwritten story might well 
 bear the title, "Would we have been whipped at 
 Aibonito ? " 
 
 I have alluded to the position as that of a modern 
 Thermopylae. It perhaps more nearly resembled 
 Plevna, with Spaniards for Turks, and Americans for 
 
THE CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND 207 
 
 Russians. When the American officer called upon 
 I the Spaniards to surrender upon that somewhat time- 
 worn ground of avoidance of bloodshed, the Spanish 
 leader was not wholly without warrant in replying 
 that if the Americans wished to avoid bloodshed, 
 they would give over their attempt to force the 
 passes to Aibonito and Cayey. Those are not his 
 exact words, but they contain the meaning of his 
 message. As the fight did not come off, we may 
 bluster as we will about what we would have done if 
 it had come off. The opening attack of General 
 "Wilson's division on the main road was more of 
 a failure than a success. There are those who were 
 in the line on the Guayama road who do not hesi- 
 tate to say that had the engagement proceeded in- 
 stead of being stopped by the arrival of the news 
 of the protocol, the casualties would have been terri- 
 ble and defeat a probability. 
 
 It is probable that the situation was correctly 
 summed up by an officer whose opinion I asked con- 
 cerning it. He was wholly familiar with the ground, 
 and as he wore a star upon his shoulder-straps, his 
 opinion was not that of a novice. His reply to my 
 question, whether we could have carried the pass, 
 was both concise and comprehensive. " Yes," he 
 said, " we could — in time." 
 
 General Schwan's unique little expedition scored 
 
208 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 an unqualified success. General Henry's expedition 
 did nothing that would have received six lines in the 
 newspapers during the Civil War. General "Wilson's 
 division executed a clever movement on a small scale 
 at Coamo. General Brooke's division did a very small 
 amount of miniature warfare at Guayama. But none 
 of it was real war, as we understand the term from 
 such experiences as the Civil "War, the Franco-Prus- 
 sian, the Russo-Turkish, and the Crimean. In a 
 three weeks' campaign, during which a dozen engage- 
 ments were reported, our total casualties amounted 
 to three men killed, and four officers and thirty-six 
 men wounded. 
 
 Of the discomfort, privations, and sufferings of our 
 troops the story has been fully told in the newspa- 
 pers. Much of this was wholly unavoidable, though 
 very much might have been prevented or modified 
 by a more efficient staff service, and by the properly 
 systematized organization of such an expedition. 
 But, as General Shafter says of the Santiago cam- 
 paign, so may we say of the Porto Eican : "We won. 
 
XV 
 
 UNDER THE OLD REGIME 
 
 Exaggerated Idea of Spanish Oppression— Heavily Taxed, but Virtually 
 Free from Debt — A Citizen's Complaints — A Nineteenth Century 
 Inquisition — Taxes for Special Purposes — Annexation Preferred 
 to Autonomy — The Hope of the People. 
 
 " "What everybody believes must be true " is a 
 sweeping proposition. It is too sweeping to be ac- 
 cepted at its full value. One of the things which 
 " everybody believes " is that Spanish domination in 
 Porto Rico, like Spanish rule elsewhere, came little 
 short of being intolerable. Americans have heard 
 much of misrule, oppression, cruelty, and burdensome 
 taxation. We have heard so much of it, and have 
 heard so little in contradiction, that we have come to 
 a general acceptance of almost anything that might 
 be said in condemnation of the Spanish Government 
 in Porto Rico and elsewhere. 
 
 It is not my purpose to essay any whitewashing of 
 Spanish colonial government. Its follies and its mis- 
 deeds stain too deeply the pages of its history for 
 
 any apologies or any whitewashing process. But it 
 
 209 
 
210 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 is possible that we have been misled into an exagger- 
 ated idea of the extent of Spain's crimes. Through- 
 out my experience in Porto Rico, I kept in mind this 
 question of Spanish oppression on the island. I 
 heard endless complaints from the island people. 
 But they were, with few exceptions, general and not 
 specific. This led me to some deeper probing. The 
 outcome was the opinion that the Porto Rican has 
 his story of wrongs, real and imaginary ; the Span- 
 iard and the Spanish sympathizer have their opin- 
 ions ; and the only thing which appears to be reason- 
 ably certain in the matter is that the views of all 
 classes will be magnified, each from its special point. 
 From the most reliable channels of information 
 which have been open to me — and some of them are 
 quite unimpeachable — I can only conclude that the 
 system of Spanish government in Porto Rico, taken as 
 a system, was admirably constructed. Its laws were 
 adequate and were, in the main, just and equitable. 
 From those who know something of these laws I 
 hear no complaint of the laws themselves. The 
 trouble, then, must be in the abuse of the law by un- 
 scrupulous officials. There is one point which is 
 strikingly unique, and for which some credit seems 
 to be due to the Spaniard. Whether it be that the 
 laws make such a thing impossible, or to whatever 
 cause the condition is attributable, I believe that I 
 
UNDER THE OLD KEGIME 211 
 
 am correct in saying that Porto Eico, both as a whole, 
 and in the districts and the municipalities which con- 
 stitute that whole, has no bonded indebtedness. I 
 can learn of none in any part of the island, and the 
 people tell me there is none. Taxes may have been 
 excessive arid they may have been unjust, but in 
 view of the absence of city and general bonded in- 
 debtedness, it is but just to the Spaniards to admit 
 that they have not " worked the island for all it was 
 worth." Its 3,600 square miles of rich, fertile soil ; 
 its populous districts, and its well-to-do little cities 
 and towns, would each and all of them have been 
 capable of carrying a bonded indebtedness whose 
 principal might have gone "where it would do the 
 most good." 
 
 But the charges are direct of oppression and of in- 
 justice. From talks with many Porto Eicans I am 
 led to the conclusion that it was injustice rather 
 than oppression which galled. Yet I could but smile 
 when talking with one of the most intelligent Porto 
 Eicans of my acquaintance. I was seeking definite 
 charges. " Our courts are corrupt, and our judges 
 are corruptible. Their favorable decision can be, 
 and is, a matter of purchase," he said. I could only 
 remark that this was unfortunate, but neither unique 
 nor original with Porto Eico. " A part of the taxes 
 which we pay only goes to enrich those who impose 
 
212 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 the tax," lie continued. I murmured something 
 about having heard rumors of similar proceedings in 
 my own country. "We have no real voice in our 
 own government. We may have a nominal voice, 
 but we really have no actual voice," was his third 
 charge. I fancy that a somewhat dreamy look 
 crossed my face as I replied that it was quite open 
 to question whether the average American citizen 
 has as much of a voice in his government as he thinks 
 he has. But the fact stands that the people of 
 Porto Rico and the world at large believe that Porto 
 Rico has been misgoverned, and that her governors 
 have enriched themselves at her expense. 
 
 I endeavored to obtain a list of the taxes imposed, 
 but was unable to do so, for the reason that so many 
 of them were special taxes and of what may be called 
 local application. The severity of these taxes has 
 restricted trade and commerce, and has, in some 
 cases, impoverished taxpayers through making a 
 continuance of their operations impossible. I am 
 told that, aside from the tariff on merchandise, 
 through the custom-house, there was no system of 
 general taxation applied throughout the island by 
 the insular government. It is possible that the state- 
 ment may be true. But it is wholly certain that 
 there was collusion and co-operation for mutual ben- 
 efit between the appointees who imposed the many 
 
UNDER THE OLD REGIME 213 
 
 and diversified local taxes, and the officials of the 
 central government who appointed them. Yet it 
 might be quite as difficult to obtain absolute proof of 
 this, as it would be to account for appropriations 
 made by some state and city governments at home. 
 The evidence is inferential rather than direct. It 
 stands as follows : Vast sums have been collected by 
 taxation ; no one can see what has been done with 
 more than a fraction of the collections ; officials who 
 came out from Spain either poor or having but little 
 have returned within a brief time possessed of ample 
 means ; from three to five years seems to be enough 
 to turn a Lazarus into a Dives, provided Lazarus has 
 a "pull " in Madrid that will send him to Porto Eico 
 in an official capacity. 
 
 One of the most burdensome and objectionable 
 taxes imposed was that which was known as the 
 "consumer's tax." It was of local application, and 
 varied somewhat in different localities. It was im- 
 posed upon all articles of consumption brought into 
 the city or town for sale. It amounted to a local 
 tariff upon everything which the merchant offered for 
 sale in his store, or which was offered by the little 
 market-gardener from the suburbs, who brought in a 
 basket of eggs or vegetables. Naturally, it very great- 
 ly increased the cost of living, while it also tended to 
 a limitation of opportunity for the small farmer. 
 
214 THE POETO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 Another tax was that known as the " domiciliary 
 certificate " (cedula de vecindad). It appeared to be 
 a kind of graduated poll-tax, which had nothing to do 
 with the right to vote. It was a certificate of resi- 
 dence and occupation in any given community, and 
 its possession and presentation seem to have been 
 imperative in everything from a horse trade to ad- 
 mission as a pupil in a medical college. Its terms 
 were as follows : 
 
 PeBOB per year. 
 
 Certificate of the first class , 25.00 
 
 Certificate of the second class 12. 50 
 
 Certificate of the third class 6. 00 
 
 Certificate of the fourth class 5. 00 
 
 Certificate of the fifth class 2.00 
 
 Certificate of the sixth class 1.00 
 
 Certificate of the seventh class 25 
 
 Certificate of the eighth class 10 
 
 In the first class were included those whose in- 
 come amounted to 20,000 pesos per annum, or over. 
 The others were as follows, the figures indicating the 
 income : 
 
 Pesos. 
 
 Second class 6,250 to 19,999 
 
 Third class 3,250 to 6,249 
 
 Fourth class 2,000 to 3,249 
 
 Fifth class 750 to 1,999 
 
 Sixth class 375 to 749 
 
 Seventh class Less than 375 
 
UNDER THE OLD REGIME 215 
 
 The eighth class applied to laborers whose work 
 was irregular and whose little income was variable, 
 to men out of employment, etc. I do not understand 
 that the tax was compulsory, but it was represented 
 to me as essential to all men in all walks of life. Be- 
 yond these there were special taxes for special pur- 
 poses, for the war in Cuba, for a hospital for the 
 sick, for roads, railroads, telegraphs, for definite pur- 
 poses on the island, and for definite purposes on the 
 peninsula. There were fees to be paid for legal 
 documents, civil and criminal, which were invalid un- 
 less they bore the official stamp. 
 
 All contracts, wills, and documents made before a 
 notary were required to be written on specially 
 stamped paper, costing from fifteen cents to twenty 
 dollars a sheet, according to the position of the 
 maker of the instrument among the twelve different 
 classes. Stamped paper for cases before civil and 
 criminal courts cost from three cents to twenty-five 
 dollars a sheet. Additional sheets, for papers of 
 unusual length, could be had at twenty-five cents the 
 sheet. 
 
 But while the long and involved list of taxes 
 stands as a fact, there are ample evidences that all 
 the people of Porto Rico have not been taxed to 
 death. There are thousands of comfortable homes, 
 thousands of men of apparently comfortable incomes. 
 
216 THE POETO RICO OP TO-DAY 
 
 Nor are these all Spaniards, protected and favored 
 by the officials. There are many well-to-do Porto 
 Bicans. The mass of the people is like the mass 
 elsewhere, in Italy, in Mexico, in China. They are 
 poor, and they are accustomed to poverty. Life is a 
 simple matter in the sunny island, and they are no 
 more discontented than the millions elsewhere. 
 
 I quite failed to see wherein the Porto Eican had 
 so much more cause for grumbling than has the av- 
 erage of humanity elsewhere. Beggars were numer- 
 ous, but there were no signs of suffering poverty. 
 The beggars were largely of the " lame, the halt, and 
 the blind," incapacitated for manual labor. 
 
 But these conditions are by no means peculiar to 
 Porto Bico, and there are many places where abject 
 poverty is more apparent, and complaint less vigor- 
 ous. Complaint of something is universal. We of 
 the United States do our full share of it. We com- 
 plain of our taxes, our laws, and our administration. 
 The protectionist and the free-trader alike complain 
 of the tariff. The workingman complains of the 
 greed of the capitalist, and the capitalist complains 
 of the unreasonable demands of the workingman. 
 The Porto Bicans have made the most that they 
 could out of the fact that they have been subjects 
 ruled by an outside power, and have been given 
 little or no voice in the regulation of their own af- 
 
UNDEK THE OLD EEGIME 217 
 
 fairs. Of this and of one other thing they complain 
 more bitterly than they do about their taxes. They 
 charge the government with marked partiality toward 
 Spanish residents. Taxation was unequal, and when 
 opposed to the Spaniard before the courts the Porto 
 Eicans found no justice. These constitute the com- 
 plaints of the more intelligent, as I have met them. 
 They are the demand of men for fair-play, self-gov- 
 ernment, and individuality. 
 
 According to statements made to me by one of the 
 leading men of the Autonomist party in Porto Kico, 
 that party is far better satisfied to have the island 
 come under American control than it would have 
 been with any form of autonomy or independence. 
 Autonomy was regarded as greatly preferable to 
 Spanish rule and robbery, when there was no thought 
 or hope for American occupation. The argument 
 used is that, as a part of the United States, the isl- 
 and will share the progress, the development, and 
 the freedom of that country, whose moral and phys- 
 ical support it will now have in all its relations 
 with other countries. As an independent govern- 
 ment it would become as Yenezuela, Hayti, San Do- 
 mingo, et at, torn with domestic dissension and 
 frequent political revolutions. 
 
 The prevailing belief is that Porto Rico will be 
 developed, and that Porto Ricans will be enriched, 
 
218 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 by the advent of American people and American 
 capital. The people have heard of American wealth 
 and energy, of our development and enrichment of all 
 that we touch, and they look for personal advantages 
 to arise from our control of their island. They are 
 not a naturally energetic people. The tropical sun 
 acts, as usual, as a negative force in the matter of 
 active industry. But they appear to recognize cer- 
 tain possibilities of which their island is capable, and 
 to have, at least, a theoretical idea of their develop- 
 ment. In spite of all talk of Spanish robbery and 
 oppression, of heavy taxes and financial imposition, 
 there are wealthy men on the island of Porto Rico. 
 The majority are poor, as the majority are almost 
 universally. There is no doubt that there is little 
 opportunity for the poor man. He can make what 
 passes for a living — that is, he can live and his fam- 
 ily can live. But land is dear, and the island ap- 
 pears to be a place for capital to develop in ways 
 that will enrich the investor and give to its employ- 
 ees a better opportunity for a better living. 
 
XVI 
 
 ADIOS! ESPANA 
 
 A Brief but Impressive Ceremony — The De Profundis of Spanish 
 Rule — Amicable Relations — Admiral Sampson's System of Ven- 
 tilation for Public Buildings — The Fortifications of San Juan — 
 The Soldiers of the Boy King — Their Repatriation — The Law of 
 Karma. 
 
 The Governor's Palace in San Juan stands across 
 the western end of Fortaleza Street. It is a large 
 and somewhat imposing structure, though of no im- 
 pressive style of architecture. In the shade of an 
 angle formed by the junction of a wing with the main 
 building, there stood, a little before twelve o'clock at 
 noon, on October 18th, some two score officers of the 
 American army and navy. They were all in so much 
 of dress uniform as their campaign outfit permitted, 
 and wore their side arms. With them were six or 
 eight civilians, some in dress and some in frock coats. 
 These were foreign consuls, and members of the in- 
 sular government of the island of Porto Rico. 
 
 Immediately in front of this group, and facing the 
 
 arched portal of the Palace, stood the regimental 
 
 219 
 
220 THE POKTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 band of the Eleventh United States Infantry. Be- 
 hind the band, filling the street from curb to curb, 
 stood two battalions of the Eleventh. Their uni- 
 form consisted of campaign hats, blue flannel shirts, 
 trousers of the kind furnished to the troops for the 
 campaign in the tropics, and the brown regulation 
 leggings. They presented no brilliant spectacle, 
 those tall, sunburned soldier-men, but the Span- 
 iards in the western part of the island ran away 
 from them a few weeks before. Behind the infantry, 
 Troop H of the Sixth United States Cavalry sat on 
 their big bay horses, with drawn sabres. They pre- 
 sented no more gorgeous appearance than did their 
 fellows who stood in front of them, but the Sixth 
 Cavalry, or any part of it, is the Sixth. 
 
 On the balcony of the first story of the Palace 
 stood a little group of ladies and gentlemen. Among 
 them was Mrs. Gordon, whose husband stood with 
 his associates, Admiral Schley, and General Brooke, 
 of the United States Commission, among the group 
 of officials. Outside the military lines and up the 
 adjacent streets, on roofs and balconies, and at the 
 windows of the Palace and other buildings of the 
 vicinity, were soldiers and civilians, ladies and chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Just before the stroke of noon all movement ceases, 
 all voices are still. The heads of all officials are 
 
ADIOS ! ESPAftA 221 
 
 bared, as are the heads of all spectators who are 
 blessed with any sense of the fitness of things. 
 There is an instant of impressive silence. To all 
 save the shallow and the thoughtless the moment is 
 one of deep solemnity. Many eyes are wet, and 
 many a lip quivers with intensity of feeling. Into 
 the grave of the past there fall four centuries of his- 
 tory of Spanish power in sea-girt Porto Rico. It 
 is the end of a long life, mis-spent if you will, but 
 venerable in its antiquity if in nothing else. Then 
 upon the hushed air there sounds the musical note 
 of a distant bell slowly striking the hour. Upon its 
 third stroke a second bell chimes in, and then a 
 third. While they are still sounding, there comes 
 the roar of the signal-gun, fired by Major Day of 
 the Fifth United States Artillery, from the walls of 
 the old Morro. Before the sound of the gun has 
 died away, the band strikes up the sweet strains of 
 our national anfchem, as the Stars and Stripes are 
 slowly hauled to the masthead on the top of the 
 Palace by Major Dean and Lieutenant Castle of 
 General Brooke's personal staff. With the dying 
 notes of " The Star-Spangled Banner " the specta- 
 tors give three hearty cheers, the inevitable, en- 
 thusiast howls " tiger-r-r-r," and the ceremony is 
 over. The troops march away to their barracks; 
 carriages drive up to take the officials to their homes 
 
222 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 or to the hotels, and the little crowd of spectators 
 melts away in different directions. 
 
 It was all a quiet affair. There was no excite- 
 ment, and but little enthusiasm. An hour after its 
 close the streets had assumed their wonted appear- 
 ance. There was little to show that anything im- 
 portant had taken place, that by this brief ceremony 
 Spain's power on the island of Porto Kico had ended 
 forever. There was little to indicate a change, ex- 
 cept that over the grim walls of the Morro, over the 
 frowning heights of San Cristobal, and over all the 
 public buildings of the city, there shone the bright 
 colors of the red, white, and blue, instead of the red 
 and yellow of Spain. 
 
 There was a deal of handshaking among the two or 
 three hundred American civilians gathered in the city. 
 A cork or two popped, and a few less effervescent 
 and more economical throat-moisteners went down 
 
 to an accompaniment of, "Well! Here's to " 
 
 whatever it might be. Blue flannel shirts and cam- 
 paign hats took the place of linen blouses and white 
 helmets on the streets, as the Krag-Jorgensen was 
 substituted for the Mauser and the old-pattern 
 Remington. Here and there a native showed the 
 new national colors, and a few householders and 
 merchants displayed the American flag. But the 
 event had been anticipated. Flag-raising in Porto 
 
adios! espaSU. 223 
 
 Rico had got to be an old story. The citizens of 
 San Juan had already become quite familiar with the 
 appearance of American soldiers and civilians on 
 their streets, and the proportion of ardent supporters 
 of the new government was not of sufficient strength 
 to lead to any very effusive demonstrations on the 
 part of citizens. 
 
 Under the circumstances, all was best as it was. It 
 was far better than any great parade of armed troops. 
 It was better that there were no long speeches and 
 ceremonial forms. We have hardly laid a big enough 
 egg to warrant our doing any great amount of cack- 
 ling. All was done that was necessary. The national 
 salute of twenty-one guns was fired from the differ- 
 ent forts, and the American ships in the harbor were 
 dressed from stem to topmast, and from topmast to 
 stern, with all their bunting. The revenue-cutter 
 Manning was the only government vessel there, ex- 
 cept two or three transports. She echoed the cannon 
 from the forts with the proper twenty-one shots from 
 her guns. 
 
 None of the Spanish Commission was present at 
 the ceremonies at the palace. Some had gone to 
 Spain, and the one who was still there did not attend. 
 By a special invitation extended by the United States 
 Commission, all the chiefs of the insular government 
 were among the guests of the occasion, as were also 
 
224 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 the different foreign consuls. The people of the city 
 were happily disappointed in their apprehensions of 
 disturbance on the part of the anti-Spanish element, 
 and the order which garrisoned the city with the 
 Eleventh Eegulars eliminated much of the danger of 
 rowdyism on the part of our soldiers. 
 
 The war in Porto Rico is over. It ends with much 
 of hopeful outlook for the future. Much will de- 
 pend on the judgment, the tact, and the breadth of 
 view of our officials. There are a few small clouds 
 in the morning sky, but they will be easily dissi- 
 pated, and the coming years should be a time of sure 
 and steady growth and development for this spot for 
 which a beneficent Creator has done so much. 
 
 The days which preceded this simple but impres- 
 sive ceremony presented a peculiarly interesting 
 study for the observer of unusual situations. It 
 was the twilight of Spanish domination in the island. 
 One might easily grow sentimental over it, for, cruel 
 and unjust as may have been the Spanish rule on the 
 island, there was a pathos in its downfall. It was 
 the end of an old life and the beginning of a new. 
 
 A different condition was presented in the old city 
 of San Juan from that which obtained in Ponce, 
 in Mayaguez, and elsewhere. In those places the 
 American occupation was an affair of some abrupt- 
 ness. It had not been immediately anticipated by 
 
ADIOS ! ESPANA 225 
 
 the people, and the appearance of a large body of 
 fighting men was followed by the hasty and precipi- 
 tate departure of the Spanish garrisons. There was 
 another point of essential difference. In the terri- 
 tory first occupied by the Americans the native 
 Porto Eican element, with its strongly indicated dis- 
 position to welcome the change in its rulers, was 
 very greatly in excess of the Spanish population and 
 that class which is counted as of Spanish sympathies. 
 In San Juan the condition was reversed. The Span- 
 ish element there outnumbers the Porto Eican by 
 about three to one. 
 
 From such a situation it might reasonably be in- 
 ferred that, prior to the arrival of the American 
 army, there would be some such manifestations as 
 those which appeared in some of our Southern cities 
 just before the outbreak of the Civil War, in Paris 
 upon the declaration of war with Germany, and else- 
 where under similar conditions. But I saw nothing 
 of the sort. Here and there one got an ungracious 
 look; here and there a merchant was neither very 
 alert nor very courteous in attending to the wants of 
 an American customer. But of an open, overt act of 
 any kind which could reasonably be construed into 
 an intended insult, or which clearly displayed any 
 bitter animosity, I saw no sign, nor did I hear of 
 any. There in what it would hardly be an exagger- 
 
226 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 ation to class as a Spanish hot-bed, dominated by 
 Spaniards and Spanish sympathizers, and filled with 
 the -soldiers of the -Spanish army, there was a little 
 handful of Americans. Encamped some fifteen miles 
 or so outside of the city, to the southeast, was the 
 troop of United States cavalry which served as an 
 escort to Major-General Brooke, United States com- 
 missioner and general in command of all the Ameri- 
 can forces on the island. A score or more of Ameri- 
 can civilians, journalists, and merchants investigating 
 commercial questions, were quartered in the two 
 leading hotels. Or, rather, they were quartered in 
 the leading hotel, the Inglaterra, and another, the 
 Francia, which bears to the Inglaterra about the 
 same relation that the old Metropolitan Hotel in 
 New York would bear, were it still standing, to the 
 "Waldorf-Astoria. 
 
 The rest of the American contingent was repre- 
 sented by the commission and its staff. It was only 
 a small group among so many who could hardly be 
 expected to regard the people of America with the 
 most kindly of feelings. But until all possible dan- 
 ger had passed, down there in the harbor, within a 
 few hundred yards of any part of the little island 
 upon which stands the city proper of San Juan, there 
 lay a little bunch of graceful, but grim-looking, slate- 
 colored vessels showing the bright folds of the 
 
ADIOS ! ESPAftA 227 
 
 American flag. The fact that these could have mate- 
 rially altered the architectural lines of the city in the 
 course of a short hour or two, may have had some 
 influence as a restraining element. But it is more 
 probable that the absence of any aggressive or pro- 
 testing demonstration arose from a general accept- 
 ance of the situation, and a realization of the useless- 
 ness of any disturbance. 
 
 All was quiet and peaceful. But wait — I am in er- 
 ror. San Juan can never be regarded as " quiet " so 
 long as it tolerates the cries of street venders who, in 
 the continuity of their howling and its harshness, 
 turn the strains of the New York representative of the 
 same fraternity into the occasional warblings of angel 
 bands. But peaceful it certainly was in San Juan. 
 There was but little business being done. There 
 was none of that long procession of bullock-teams 
 and army-wagons, none of that hurrying of carriages 
 to and fro, which was a noticeable feature of the city 
 of Ponce. The only busy places in San Juan were 
 the cafes. The Mallorquina is the best and most 
 fashionable of these, and during a part of the day, 
 and a considerable part of the night, it and its rivals 
 were thronged by a somewhat curious mixture of 
 Spanish and American uniforms, military and naval, 
 with Spanish and Porto Bican and American civil- 
 ians all hobnobbing sociably together, elbow to 
 
228 THE PORTO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 elbow, over ices and glasses of mild and cooling 
 drinks. There was little drunkenness, and such as 
 there was, I regret to say, was American. 
 
 Conflicting reports have gone out with reference 
 to the extent of the damage done to the city by Ad- 
 miral Sampson during his brief use of the place as a 
 target for his guns. It is a fact that the city gen- 
 erally shows but little sign of having been used as 
 an object for target-practice. Here and there some 
 of the taller buildings show scratches and minor 
 gaps made in their superstructure by low-flying 
 shells which were intended to pass over the city, and 
 drop upon any possible Spanish squadron which 
 might be hidden in the inner bay. But in the walls 
 of some of the military buildings immediately upon 
 the northern shore, and in the walls of some of the 
 structures in their vicinity, one sees a number of 
 holes, which are evidently the result of a definite 
 purpose to make holes in them. It may be that 
 little damage was done. I can only say that I have 
 no wish to have any buildings which may come into 
 my possession at any time ventilated by the system 
 employed by Admiral Sampson upon some of these 
 Spanish barracks and fortifications. 
 
 There is little question that the deliberate and 
 sustained bombardment of San Juan by an Amer- 
 ican squadron, having the demolition of the city as 
 
adios ! espaRa 229 
 
 its intent and purpose, would have very speedily 
 reduced the major portion of it to dust and ashes. 
 That it was not done is due solely to the fact that 
 it was never attempted. Enough was done to neces- 
 sitate the use of a considerable quantity of bricks 
 and mortar in repairing damages, and, at the time 
 of the Sampson episode, to drive the majority of the 
 people of the city, many of them clad only in the 
 scantiest of habiliments, and some of them robed 
 only in sheets, in the dim light of the early morn- 
 ing, to seek refuge and shelter in the mountains of 
 Bayamon. 
 
 But now that the disturbance is all over, and wo 
 have had opportunity for competent official exami- 
 nation of the fortifications of the city, it will be no 
 more than common honesty for us to acknowledge 
 that we must have pounded away at those massive 
 walls for an indefinite time before we could have 
 compelled them to haul down their flag. This fact 
 makes for our own advantage if it ever becomes 
 necessary for us to defend our new possession. 
 Equipped with modern guns aimed by American 
 gunners, the forts of San Juan could be made ex- 
 tremely offensive and dangerous to an attacking fleet. 
 It is even quite probable that in a sustained bom- 
 bardment the American fleet would not have come 
 off scathless from the Spanish defence. A few well- 
 
230 THE POETO EICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 aimed shots, or even a few chance shots, from Morro, 
 from San Cristobal, or from the eastward extending 
 fortification, might easily have cost us a vessel or two 
 and a few hundred lives. Had San Juan been de- 
 fended, as it might readily have been, against attack 
 by land or sea, the story of the Porto Rican cam- 
 paign would have been one of tragedy rather than 
 semi-comedy. 
 
 We had little opportunity to note the fighting 
 quality of the Spanish soldiers in Porto Rico. We 
 had no real battles with them. But in one depart- 
 ment of their military life, these men commanded 
 the respect of all who observed their conduct. Dur- 
 ing the three weeks preceding their embarkation for 
 the Peninsula, I saw upward of 5,000 Spanish sol- 
 diers. The streets of the city of San Juan were full 
 of them at all hours of the day. Within that time 
 they received, not only the arrears of their pay, but 
 two months' pay in advance as well. They had 
 money and there is an ample supply of cafes and 
 saloons in the city. I have yet to see an intoxicated 
 Spanish soldier. A friend tells me that he saw two 
 whom he describes as being "just gentlemanly drunk." 
 Quiet, orderly, respectful in demeanor, though not re- 
 markably soldierly in their bearing, the troops of the 
 boy king have received the highest praise for their 
 conduct from all with whom I have discussed them. 
 
St. John's Church, San Juan, showing the Effects of the Bombardment. 
 
ADIOS ! ESPANA 231 
 
 Among the soldiers who turned their faces to the 
 land of their homes and of their own people, were 
 those who cast many a backward look and who felt 
 and expressed their keen regret that they must go. 
 Some regretted the conditions under which they 
 went, for, gloss it as they might with talk of the 
 preservation of honor, they went defeated, and they 
 went not because they would, but because they 
 must. Some will return. There are those who, 
 charmed by all that nature has done to make the 
 island so rich and so attractive, announced their pur- 
 pose to come back and make their homes there, even 
 though it meant the spending of their lives under the 
 flag of those who had been their opponents, and ap- 
 parently their enemies. They had established ties of 
 friendship during their stay. Not a few were bound 
 by even closer ties. Some had married women of 
 the island, and their children are Porto Eicans. 
 Some were glad to go. Many seemed to be wholly 
 indifferent. Orders sent them there, and orders sent 
 them back again. It was not their affair, and the 
 future government of Porto Eico, whether it be Span- 
 iard or by Yankee, was nothing to them. 
 
 I had fancied that the process of embarkation 
 would be attended by many evidences of emotion, of 
 joy or sorrow, of pleasure or regret. There was little 
 display of feeling. The transports which were to 
 
232 THE PORTO RICO OF TO-DAY 
 
 take those who were to go by the expedition of 
 October 3d and 4th, lay at anchor a hundred yards 
 or so from the sea-wall. In squads and in companies 
 the troops marched to the water-front and waited 
 their turn to be packed on the lighters upon which 
 they were ferried across to the ships. Here and there 
 a hat was waved and a voice called a farewell mes- 
 sage. There was little enthusiasm of any kind, little 
 show of interest. The quiet was not the subdued 
 quiet of sadness, but rather that of general indiffer- 
 ence. There were spectators, but no crowd. 
 
 The Isla de Panay and the Satrustegui, the ships 
 provided for this detachment, were fine, large vessels 
 from Barcelona. The Panay is said to have taken 
 1,600 soldiers and some civilians, while the Satrus- 
 tegui is reported as having carried 2,300. Whether 
 these figures be accurate or not, there is no question 
 that they were packed about as solidly as a box of 
 figs. As the vessels lay in the harbor, their decks 
 presented a dense mass of human forms moving 
 about in a slow but restless entanglement, with a 
 bordering fringe of other figures which hung along 
 and over the rail upon both sides of the ships. 
 Many of the transports which have taken our own 
 troops to ports in the Antilles have been thought to 
 be well packed with passengers, and there has been 
 some complaint because of it. Some of the dissatis- 
 
ADIOS ! ESPAftA 233 
 
 fied might have learned a lesson or two in troop 
 transportation had they been assigned a passage on 
 board these Spanish vessels. It would have been of 
 more interest than pleasure to make the trip with 
 these returning troops, for the purpose of noting 
 the accommodations, and the quantity and quality of 
 the food supplied to them. I have my doubts about 
 a menu which included the canned beef and the 
 salmon, the beans and tomatoes, which some of those 
 who went out there on the Mohawk, the D. H. Miller, 
 and the Massachusetts found so unpalatable. 
 
 The evacuation of the city of San Juan, the Spanish 
 stronghold upon the island, the focal point of Span- 
 ish people and Spanish influence, was the closing of 
 the gate of an old homestead which has seen gener- 
 ation after generation come and go for four hundred 
 years. The mortgage upon the broad and fertile 
 acres has been foreclosed by the operation of that 
 inexorable law which says : " That which a man sow- 
 eth, that shall he also reap." The property passes 
 into the hands of others who, it is much to be hoped, 
 will deal wisely and honestly with it. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Ad juntas, 65, 68, 79, 80, 199; the 
 population, 67 ; the approach to, 
 69-71 ; location, 72; the city hall, 
 73; the police force, 74; the 
 parish priest, 74-76; the sale of 
 liquor, 76 ; natural surroundings, 
 77 
 
 Agricultural implements, 169 
 
 Agricultural products : 
 Coffee, 72, 95, 106, 124, 132-133, 
 
 151, 153-155, 170 
 Corn, 94-95, 160, 171 
 Sugar, 106, 117, 131, 142, 151-153, 
 
 156, 170 
 Tobacco, 44, 151, 156-158, 170. 
 
 See Cigars 
 Vegetables and fruits, 64, 159- 
 160, 170. See Fruits 
 
 Aguada, 136, 190, 203 
 
 Aguadilla, 104, 122, 136, 203, 204 
 
 Aibonito, 114-115, 200, 206, 207 
 
 Aflasco, 136, 203 
 
 Arecibo, 68, 79, 122, 136, 199, 
 200 
 
 Arroyo, 117, 200 
 
 Bat bum, 171 
 
 Bayamon, 136, 229 
 
 Beans, 1S4 
 
 Beef, amount of, imported, 170 
 
 Books, 187 
 
 Boots and shoes, the trade in, 170, 
 
 174, 175 
 Boriquen, 26, 27, 29, 104 
 
 Brooke, General, 6, 10, 199, 208, 
 
 220, 221, 226 
 Butter, 170 
 
 Cables, 148-149 
 
 Caguas, 118, 144 
 
 Camuy, 136 
 
 Candles, 170 
 
 Carolina, 136 
 
 Casino, the, at Mayaguez, 105 
 
 Cattle-raising, 160, 171 
 
 Cayey, 115, 116, 144, 207 
 
 Cheese, 170 
 
 Chinaware, 170 
 
 Church architecture, 117 
 
 Cigars, 44, 77, 156-158 
 
 Clothing, 175 
 
 Coal, 170 
 
 Coamo, 110, 113, 208 ; the baths of, 
 111 
 
 Cocoa-nuts, 63, 131, 158 
 
 Coffee, the crops and the industry, 
 72, 95, 151; amount exported, 106, 
 170 ; annual output of the island, 
 124, 153 ; expenses of transporta- 
 tion, 124 ; possibilities of the in- 
 dustry, 132-133, 155; the chief 
 district, 154 ; coffee raising profit- 
 able, 154-155, but labor and time 
 involved, 155-156 
 
 Commerce, effect of tariff rates on 
 the problem of, 165 ; prospects 
 of, 166 et seq.; business methods 
 in Porto Bico, 172 et seq.; the 
 
 235 
 
236 
 
 INDEX 
 
 commercial advantage of annex- 
 ation, 176-179. See Industries. 
 
 Cooking, 184 
 
 Copper, 150 
 
 Corn, 94-95, 160, 171 
 
 Coto Laurel, 109 
 
 Cotton goods, 169 
 
 Cristobal. See San Cristobal 
 
 Cuba, 4, 21 ; tobacco exported to, 
 157 
 
 Gold, 150 
 
 Grape fruit, 1 58 
 
 Guanica, 25, 63, 66, 125, 201 ; situ- 
 ation of, 62, 67 
 
 Guano, 171 
 
 Guayama, 200 ; the road to, 116 ; 
 the church, 117 ; a transporta- 
 tion centre, 122 ; General Brooke 
 at, 208 
 
 Guayanilla, 136, 140 
 
 Daiquibi, 24 
 
 Dress, the, of Porto Ricans, 39, 
 
 175 
 Dry-goods, 173. See Shops. 
 
 Ernst, General, 6, 10, 113, 114 
 Exports: 
 
 Cattle, 171 
 
 Coffee, 72, 106, 153, 157, 179 
 
 Corn, 171 
 
 Fruits and vegetables, 158-159, 
 171 
 
 Guano, 171 
 
 Hides, 171 
 
 Lumber, 171 
 
 Molasses, 170 
 
 Rum, 171 
 
 Sugar, 106, 151-153, 179 
 
 Tobacco, 156-158, 170 
 
 See also Commerce, Industries 
 
 Fajardo, 25, 122 
 
 Pish, 169 
 
 Flour, 44, 169, 177 
 
 Francis, Hotel, 48, 50, 166 
 
 Fruits, 64, 131 ; obstacles to the 
 export fruit-trade, 158 ; amount 
 exported, 171. See Cocoa-nuts, 
 Mangoes, Oranges 
 
 Galena, 150 
 Glassware, 170 
 
 Hats, 174-175 
 
 Henry, General, 66, 68, 79, 80; the 
 expedition of, 199-201, 208 
 
 Hides, 171 
 
 Highways, 122 et seq. ; the road 
 from Ponce to San Juan, 108- 
 121 ; repairs, 119 ; new roads 
 needed, 120-121 ; military roads, 
 123 ; roads required to assist in 
 American development of the 
 island, 124-125, 178; driving 
 through mud, 126-128; Porto 
 Ricans bad drivers, 129-130 ; ad- 
 verse conditions in the soil, 131- 
 132; mountain highways, 132; 
 a suggested method of developing 
 Porto Rico, 133-134 ; effect of a 
 new highway system on sugar- 
 raising, 153 
 
 Hormigueros, 93, 98, 136 ; Captain 
 Hoyt at, 99 ; the church of Our 
 Lady of Monserrate, 100; the 
 battle at, 202-203 
 
 Hotels, 180-181 
 
 Houses, 70, 73, 101, 102 ; furnish- 
 ings of, 176 ; bed-chambers, 181- 
 182 ; hospitality versus furni- 
 ture, 195-196 
 
 Humacao, 122 
 
 Ice, 44 
 Illiteracy, 187-190 
 
INDEX 
 
 237 
 
 Imports, 1G6 ; annual value of va- 
 rious imports estimated, 168-170 
 Industries : 
 Cattle-raising, 160, 171 
 Coffee-growing, 72, 95, 124, 132- 
 
 133, 151, 153-156 
 Fruit-raising, 131, 158-159 
 Lumbering, 151 
 Mechanical industries; 160 
 Mining, 150-151 
 
 Sugar-raising, 131 ; in Guayama, 
 117 ; handicapped by cost of 
 transportation, 142; possibili- 
 ties of, 151-153 ; small planta- 
 tions, 156 
 , Tobacco-growing, 151, 156-158 
 Vegetable-gardening, 64, 159- 
 
 160,170 
 See Agricultural Products, Man- 
 ufactures, and Commerce 
 Iron, 150 
 Isla de Panay, 232 
 
 Johnston, Captain, the expedi- 
 tion of, 80 et seq. 
 Juana Diaz, 110 
 
 La Plata. See Playa, La 
 Labor, inefficiency of, 146 ; little 
 
 encouragement in the situation, 
 
 171-172 
 Land, the cost of, 145, 160 
 Lares, 80, 144, 203, 204 
 Las Marias, 203, 204 
 Lee, General Pitzhugh, 1, 2, 5 
 Leon, Ponce de, 191 
 Liquors, sale of, 77 ; amount of, 
 
 imported, 170. See Rum 
 Lumber, 146, 151, 170, 171 
 
 Mangoes, 39, 40, 41, 64, 158 
 Manufactures : 
 Cigars, 44, 77, 156-15S 
 
 Hats, 174, 175 
 
 Ice, 44 
 
 Molasses, 151, 170 
 
 Rum, 77, 119-120, 151, 171 
 
 Marketing, Sunday, 63-65 
 
 Mayaguez, 56, 93, 122, 136, 137, 
 144, 174, 175, 202, 205, 224; 
 houses, 101 ; streets and street 
 cars, 102-103 ; the Columbus 
 monument, 104 ; the Casino, 105 ; 
 the harbor, 106 ; exports, 106 ; 
 its attractiveness, 107; from 
 Yauco to Mayaguez, 125 et seq. ; 
 the Mayaguez expedition of Gen- 
 eral Schwan, 201-208 ; Mayaguez 
 occupied by American soldiers, 
 203 
 
 Mechanical industries, 160 
 
 Miles, General, 7, 10, 25, 29, 112 
 
 Miller, the D. H., 9, 31, 233; voy- 
 age of the, 11-25 
 
 Millon, Padre Antonio, 74 
 
 Mining, 150-151 
 
 Mohawk, the, 13, 233 
 
 Molasses, 151, 170 
 
 Morro, the, 191, 221, 222, 230 
 
 Negroes, 194-195 
 
 Oranges, 64, 158-159 
 
 Paper, 177 
 
 Pedlers, 40, 163 
 
 Peso, value of the, 190 
 
 Pine-apples, 64, 158 
 
 Pines, the Isle of, 21 
 
 Plantain, 184 
 
 Playa, La, 34, 35, 52; activity in, 
 
 48-50 
 Ploughing, 183 
 Ponce, 25, 32, 65, 76, 78, 79, 93, 107, 
 
 122, 125, 199, 200, 201, 224, 227; 
 
 natural surroundings, 30-31 ; the 
 
238 
 
 INDEX 
 
 port city of La Playa, 34, 35 ; the 
 city proper, 36 ; the park, and the 
 cathedral, 37 ; activity along the 
 Ponce road, 38 ; the people, 39, 
 40; shops, 43-44, 57-58, 174-175; 
 the crowd at La Playa, 48-49 ; 
 the Hotel Francais, 50; Ponce 
 from the stranger's point of view, 
 52 ; the theatre of La Perla, the 
 casino, and the promenade on the 
 plaza, 53 ; the police department, 
 54 ; the fire department, 55 ; the 
 market, 56 ; the road to San Juan, 
 108 ; the Ponce and Yauco rail- 
 road, 136 ; the railway station at 
 Ponce, 137; by rail to Yauco, 
 139 et seq.; the cost of a drive to 
 San Juan, 143 
 
 Ponce, the San Juan road from, 
 the great excellence of, 108-109 ; 
 Juana Diaz and Coamo, 110-111; 
 exposed as a military road, 112; 
 scenery, 113 ; Aibonito and 
 Cayey, 114-115 ; trees, 116 ; Gua- 
 yama, and sugar-raising, 117, 
 Rio Piedras, 118; repairing the 
 road, 119; the need of new high- 
 ways, 120-121 ; cost of travel 
 over, 143 
 
 Ponies,. 34, 41-42, 71, 102, 125-126; 
 better horses needed in Porto 
 Rico, 130 
 
 Pork, 160, 169 
 
 Porto Rico, 1, 2, 3, et passim ; the 
 departure of the Porto Rican ex- 
 pedition, 1-10 ; the Carib name 
 of the island, 26-27 ; the Spanish 
 name, 28-29 ; first impressions of 
 the island, 30 et seq.; area, 123, 
 167, 211 ; number of miles of 
 highway, 123 ; character of the 
 soil, 131-132 ; relative area of the 
 mountain district, 133 ; railroads, 
 
 135 et seq. ; belt and cross country 
 lines, 144 et seq.; industrial pos- 
 sibilities, 150 et seq.; an " Ameri- 
 can Bermuda," 159 ; commerce, 
 163 et seq.; density of the popu- 
 lation, 167 ; advantages of an- 
 nexation to the United States, 
 176-179, 217-218; the peasant 
 population, 183 ; climate, 184- 
 187; illiteracy, 187-190; propor- 
 tion of the white to the dark 
 population, 194-195 ; Porto Rican 
 hospitality, 195 - 196 ; ideas of 
 Spanish oppression exaggerated, 
 209 et seq.; good government, 
 210; freedom from debt, 811; 
 taxation, 212 etseq.; poverty and 
 wealth, 215, 216 ; the sacrifice of 
 Spanish power, 219 et seq. 
 
 Railways, lack of, 123 ; number 
 of miles operated, 135-136; 
 routes, 136 ; the railway station 
 at Ponce, 1 37 ; by rail from Ponce 
 to Yauco, 139 et seq.; a railway 
 system needed in Porto Rico, 
 142, 153, 178 ; the belt line, 135, 
 142, 144 ; a cross-country line 
 desirable, 144; the expense of 
 construction, 145 et seq.; owner- 
 ship of the present system, 146- 
 147 
 
 Rice, 169, 184 
 
 Rincon, 136 
 
 Rio Piedras, 118, 136, 137 
 
 Road houses, 119 
 
 Roads. See Highways 
 
 Rum, Porto Rican, 77, 119, 120, 
 151, 171 
 
 Sabana Grande, 93, 126 ; houses, 
 94 ; corn and coffee, 95 ; popu- 
 lation of, 202 
 
INDEX 
 
 239 
 
 Samana Bay, 24, 25 
 
 San Cristobal, 191, 222, 230 
 
 San German, 93 ; picturesqueness 
 of, 95; "Hotel the Struggle," 
 96-97 ; population, 202 
 
 San Juan, 2, 28, 79, 107, 111, 113, 
 122, 136, 143, 200, 233 ; the monu- 
 ment to Columbus, 104 ; the road 
 to Ponce, 108 ; the expense of a 
 drive to Ponce, 143 ; antiquity of 
 San Juan, 168 ; schools, 189-190; 
 attractions of the city, 190-191 ; 
 fortifications, 191, 229 ; ex- 
 penses of the municipal govern- 
 ment, 192 et seq. ; the ox-cart 
 fire-engine, 192 ; the Governor's 
 Palace, 219 ; an impressive cere- 
 mony, 219 et seq.; the large 
 Spanish element, 224-225; a 
 quiet city, 227 ; the Mallor- 
 quina, 227 ; the damage done by 
 Admiral Sampson's fleet, 228 ; 
 Spanish soldiers in San Juan, 
 230 et seq. 
 
 San Juan road, the, from Ponce, 
 108 ; excellence of, as a bicycle 
 path, 109 ; Juana Diaz and 
 Coamo, 110-111 ; exposed as a 
 military road, 112 ; scenery, 113 ; 
 Aibonito and Cayey, 114-115; 
 trees, 116 ; Guayama and sugar- 
 raising, 117 ; Rio Piedras, 118 ; 
 repairing the road, 119; new 
 highways needed, 120-121 ; driv- 
 ing from San Juan to Ponce, 143 
 
 San Juan Bautista, 28, 29 
 
 Santiago, 8, 9, 10, 25, 32 
 
 Santiago expedition, the, 4, 7 
 
 Satrustegui, the, 232 
 
 Schools, 188-190 
 
 Schwan, Brigadier - General, the 
 campaign of, 199, 201-208 
 
 " Shacks," 94 
 
 Shafter, General, 197, 208 
 
 Shoes, 170, 174, 175 
 
 Shops, 43 et seq., 57 et seq., 76, 94, 
 173 et seq. 
 
 Smoking, enjoyed by women, 77 
 
 Spain, products of, in Porto Rico, 
 43, 170, 174 ; sacrifice of the 
 power of, in Porto Rico, 219 et 
 seq. 
 
 Spanish, the traveller's vocabulary 
 of, 59-61 
 
 Stone, General Roy, 68, 199 
 
 Street-cars, 102-103 
 
 Street-lights, 193 
 
 Sugar raising, extent of, and 
 amount of the product exported, 
 106, 170 ; in the vicinity of Gua- 
 yama, 117 ; the black soil both 
 the bane and the blessing of the 
 planter, 131 ; the lowlands the 
 best sugar lands, 132; effect of 
 railway improvements on the in- 
 dustry, 142, 153 ; possibilities of, 
 151 et seq. ; amount of capital 
 required, 152 ; small plantations, 
 156 
 
 Tallaboa, 136, 140 
 
 Tariff, 165, 172, 176, 177 
 
 Taxes, 120-121. 212-215 
 
 Telegraphs, the present system of, 
 147 et seq.; under American con- 
 trol, 148 ; cable lines, 148-149 
 
 Timber. See Lumber 
 
 Tobacco, 151 ; possibilities of to- 
 bacco raising, 156 et seq. ; Porto 
 Rican cigars, 44, 77, 157-158, 
 174 ; amount of, exported, 170 
 
 Toro, Captain Miguel, 95 
 
 Transportation, 120, 122; common 
 modes of, 123 ; roads needed, 
 124-125; railways needed to de- 
 velop sugar-raising and other in- 
 
240 
 
 INDEX 
 
 dustries, 142, 153; transporta- 
 tion by water, 143 ; the best way 
 to travel, 180. See also High- 
 ways, Railways 
 Trees, 116 
 
 Utuado, 75, 76, 79, 199 
 
 Vegetable-gabdening, 64, 159- 
 
 160, 170 
 Villas, 70. See also Houses 
 
 Wilson, General, 199, 200, 207, 
 
 208 
 Woollen goods, 169 
 
 YAUCO, 93, 174, 201, 202; location, 
 62 ; the plaza, 63 ; Sunday mar- 
 keting, 63-65 ; the Guanica road, 
 66 ; Hotel Victoria, 125 ; the road 
 to Mayaguez, 126 ; the Ponce and 
 Yauco railroad, 136 ct seq. 
 
er the Spanish administration, was open 
 
TF.T.F.r.RAPH T.TNF.S AND STATIONS TN PORTO RTfY 
 
— ), and boundaries of the departments (••••••). 
 
PORTO RICO AND ITS COAST LINE. 
 
 . (lowing the light-houses (•), cities (@), towns (O), military roads ( ), country roads ( ), railways ( ), railways in process of construction (— . — . — ), and boundaries of the depan 
 
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 mark a decided advance over anything that even Mr. 
 Davis has written heretofore." — Boston Herald. 
 
 OUR NAVY IN THE 
 WAR WITH SPAIN 
 
 By JOHN R. SPEARS 
 
 Author of '" The History of Our Navy " 
 
 With 125 illustrations from photographs and 
 with charts and diagrams. umo, $2.00 
 
 ««A/fR- SPEARS has plainly put his best efforts into 
 A.Y1 that mighty combat, the sea-Gettysburg of the 
 war, the death-grapple of Cervera's ships and 
 Sampson's. His story of the action of July 3d is superb. 
 It is the most lucid and comprehensive description which 
 has yet been laid before the American people, and it is 
 made all the more valuable by the official chart of the 
 ships' courses which accompanies it. As a whole, Mr. 
 Spears's book is not only true to technical details, but it 
 is a spirited and admirable piece of literary workmanship. 
 It is one of the few volumes out of the many hurriedly 
 issued in the wake of the war which will endure the test 
 of time and stand as a faithful, competent picture to 
 future generations." — Boston Journal. 
 
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 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, NEW YORK 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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