Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1898-10-19

by itself, but is connected with bridges to
the main island, and is all walled in on the
coast side with heavy walls of masonry for
protection. 1t is small city, does not
cover much more territory than the village
OF Bellows Falls, but its population is over
$4,000. The streets are about 80 feet
wide and are all paved with blocks of blue
stone, imported from England, and are
kept very clean, all swept by hand every
day, and everything carted off and dumped
into the bay, where the tide carries the
refuse off. The buildings are all built Of
brick and plastered inside and out; all two
stories high, and the best of them have
marble floors and stairs. did not see
glass window on the island. They have
doors that swing into the rooms and blinds
that swing out, so they can shut whichever
they like. They have electric lights and
gas in San Juan but use the tallow candle
mostly.
The lower class of the Pc to Ricans live
in the lower part OF the houses, while the
better class live on the second floor, and
there is quite difference in the two. The
former you will see out very early in the
morning, running about the streets; the
children up to five and some a, old as eight
years, with not single piece of clothing
on, and when they do begin to dress the
boys get on pair of pants and the girls
dress. The older people are not much
better; the men wear shirt. pants and a
straw hat, and the average woman's dress
consists of three pieces. All go barefooted
with the exception of some Of the older
women, who wear cheap slippers. The
latter class, who are mostly Spanish, are
not seen much until afternoon and evening
then you will see them on the streets and
from two to five hundred or more prone
nading on the Plaza. The ladies will be
dressed very finely they wear low cut dress
es covered with lace, a broad brimmed hat
with half dozen or more ostrich tips, and
lots of jewelry, rings and wide bracelets.
Most are good looking and rather stately
in appearance. The gentlemen are not
quite as dressy and are rather inferior look
ing when compared with the ladies'
The market is very busy place from
5 in the morning until alb out 10 when every
thing is sold. Meat is killed every day
and sold out early. A man buys what he
wants, ties string around it and starts fol-
home, nothing is wrapped in paper, as it is
here. Chickens are all sold alive; man
will have 20 or more tied together by their
legs and swung over his shoulder and &c
about the street selling them for from &C
to 60 cents each. The natives have only
two meals day, a cup of coffee in the
morning, breakfast at II and dinner at 6
They eat quantities of onions and garlic,
red pepper and oil and drink much wine,
which is very cheap. Eggs are worth 70
cen is dc zen milk 10 cents quart. They
drive the cows about the streets and milk
as you may want it. One man drives four
or five COWS hitched together with as many
calves, muzzled and hitched together, tol
lowing. The teaming is done with oxen
yoked together with yoke about six feet
long and tied to their horns with ropes.
There are no bows and they are all hitched
to two-wheeled carts. The driver goes in
front of the oxen and drives them with a
pole from 10 to IA feet long with brs d
in it 1-2 inches long with which be
i, constantly goading them until the blood
runs down their sides. The horses they
have are small ponies which weigh from
five to seven or eight hundred they are
tough and will carry heavy load.
The merchants, sugar, coffee and tobacco
brokers for the most part live outside the
city on the line of railroad to Rio Piedrus :;
their houses are built like our beach houses
here and are painted In gay colors. The
trains stop to take on or let passengers off
at the houses the same as electric cars
would here.
There are some very fine stores in the
city but all the manufacturing is cigars,
cigarettes and an ice plant. Ice is worth
$3.50 per hundred and cigars 81 per hun
dred. We hired a team to carry US over
to Ponce and started at 5 80 in the morn
ing. Our team was pair OF ponies and a
heavy surry. We changed ponies six
tines in going so miles and arrived at 9 in
the evening. 1t was very pleasant drive
and fine road constructed by the Spanish
government with convict labor, and was
built of crushed stone so it was as hard as
pavement. The bridges are all of brick,
some have three or four arches and are
very high. The scenery is fine, as the
island is mountainous and the mountains
pointed on top. The natives live al
through these mountains in little huts about
12x16 with roofs of grass all they require
is good tight roof. They have field of
bananas and oranges and a patch of sweet
potatoes and live easily. The larger plan
tations are owned by men who are better
off and hire their work done. Coffee and
bananas are raised on the same ground, as