The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-07-20

QUEER OLD SAN JUAN.
A Fine Specimen of II Walled Town With
Moat, Gatas and llattleMonts,

Fine Specimen of II Walled Town Wit
Moat, Gates and Isattlements.
San IYap y a perfect epselman o
a walled town. With portcllIls WQa'
gates aud batllelnenN Built 5es
$50 years ago. It Il still in good con
dition and repair. The walls are pic
turesque, and represent 4 stupendoli
work aud cost In themselves. Insid
the walls the city Is laid Off in rcguIa
squares, six parallel streets runuin,
In the direction of the length of fh,
island and seven at right angles Thu
houses are closely and compactly bull
of brick, usually of two stories, stuc
coed on the outside, and painted in q
variety Of colors. The upper floors
are occupied by the more respectable
people, willie the ground floors. al.
most without exception. are given up
to negroes and the poorer classes, who
crowd one upon another In the most
! appalling manner. The population
within the walls Is estimated at 90.
GOO. and most Of 1t lives on the ground
! floors. In one small room with film.
sy partition a whole family will re-.
side.
The ground floors of the whole town
reek with filth. and conditions are
most unsanltary. In tropical conn.
try, where disease readily prevails,
the consequences of such herding may
be easily inferred. There is no run.
ming water in the town. The entire
population depends on rain water
caught on the fiat roofs Of the build.
ings and conducted to the cistern,
which occupies the greater part of the
courtyard that Is an essential part
of Spanish houses. the world over, but
that here, on account of the crowded
conditions. Is small. There Is no sew.
erage, except for surface water and
sinks, while vaults are In every house
and occupy whatever remaining space
there may be in the patios not taken
up by the cisterns. The risk Of con.
Eliminating the water is great, and in
dry seasons the supply is entirely ex-
hnusted Epidemics are frequent, and
the town is alive with verlnln, mos.
Quit0s and dogs.
The streets are wider than in the
older part of Havana. and will admit
two carriages abreast The sidewalks
are narrow, and in places will &C.
comodate only one person. The pave.
ments are of II composition manurac.
lured in England from slag, pleasant
and even and durable when DO heavy
strain Is brought to bear upon them,
out easily broken and unit for heavy
traffic. The streets are swept once a
lay by hand, and, strange to say, nre
Kept very clean. From its Topographic.
al situation the town should be
healthy, but II is not. The soil under
he city Is clay mixed with lime, So
lard as TO be almost like rock. 1t Is
Consequently impcrvious to water and
a good natural draines &C.
The trade wind blows strong and
icsh, and through the harbor runs a |
'rcam OF sea water at Il speed of not !
css than three miles an hour. With
Lrse conditions no contagious dis.
ases If properly taken care of, couid
Xist Without them the place would
% a veritable plague spot
Besides the town within the walls,
here are small portions Just outside,
allied the Marina and Puerta de Tier.
a, containing 1000 or 5000 inhabI.
ints each There are also two su.
urhs one. San Turce approached Dy
ne only road leading out of the city,
nj the other, Catano, across the bay,
cached by ferry. The Marina aud
ie two suburbs are situated on sandy
oints or splits, and the latter are sur.
bundled by mangrove swamps. The
niirc population of the city and su.
llrbs, according to the census of 1857,
as 2I,O0O 1t is now lS98) estimated
10000. One-half of the population
insists Of negroes and mixed races.
Wouldn't To u Peace Soldier.
The patriotism of Charles Il. Jacobs
this city came to the surface yes
'rday In manner that won the
lvoruble opinion of all the officers of
'e United States recruiting otfiee
re. On Jan. "a last Jacobs enlisted
it'll Capt. Black and was assigned to
c Sixteenth Infantry, and sent at
ice to Fort Sherman, Idaho, where
: remained for two months. Finding
g us Of q regular army private at
remote frontier post irksome he,
'out the middle of March, took
'rcnch leave" Of the camp and made
acks eastward as fast as possible.
rcording to his statement he came
most directly to his city, where he
s remained ever since. As the local
iccrs never met him after his re.
IN, his presence In this city was not
spectcd and no watch was kept for
N especially.
treat was the surprise In the re.
nilins office yesterday morning
lcn n brother-in-lnw of the youp,
IN came to the office and opened he.
tiations with Capt. Black on the ,
TT Of the culprit for means whereby
could return to his regiment.
thing definite was accomplished
this interview, but In the afternoon T
sister of the recruit presented hcr-
+, and, after short tnlk, arranged =,
matter satisfactorily to all con. v
ned. and in few minutes after \
! left the Office she returned with u
robs. who, in talk with Capt =
ick, stated his desire to return to j
~. Accordingly, that officer fur
he'd the necessary transportation, r,
] jacobs last night left to rcJon his
,tment at Tampa with a note In his
session from Capt. Black giving !e
a all due credit for returning to his 9,
y In time of war after deserving in AT
c of peace. la
n view of all the circumstances, IL NJ
regarded as certain that the exlcut
the punishment to be melted out to
obs will be a few days in the te
lr1h"use and n fine of few dol. &c
5. Before leaving he expressed a.
lsclf AZ feeling easier in his mind -.
the knowledge Tint he was doing Hi
duty again. There Is vast dic.
'nce In the penalty for assertion in
g Of peace and in time of war. At IN
sent the penalty for desertion is death, %a
stl