The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-09-02
STORY OF PORTO RICO.
Interesting Letter Received From the
Island by a Hutchinson Man.

Hutchinson, Sept. 1.-The following
letter dated August II, was received by
Mr.. E. L. iced of this city from his
brother, Henry w. Teed. Mr.. Teed went
to Porto Rico with the United States
signal corps. He was formerly a news
paper man, at one time assistant tele-
graph editor of the New York World,
and has been connected with several
big eastern papers. The letter is an in
teresting one and is dated from ArrayO,
Porto Rico. In it he says:
I'VE have not seen any fighting as yet
though the sounds of conflict and roar
of cannon in the mountains not far
away are distinctly heard in our camp,
and when the shells and shot strike
on the side of the mountain the effect,
which is most terrific, is perfectly dis
cernable with the naked eye from
of the most lovely climates ever visit
ed. Though very warm in the day time
there is always a cool breeze from the
mountains and at night a thick wool
en- blanket does not feel at all uncOm-
Portable.
This country is very similar to that
of Colorado. Along the shore is a lev
ell strip of land which is devoted chiefly
to sugar cane, corn, bananas, etc. Back
of this the mountains rise abruptly to
a height above the clouds. There is an
abundance of all kinds of tropical fruit
growing here, especially cOcOanuts, or
anges, lemons, mangoldS, bananas,
grapes, etc. The natives are much
elated that Uncle Sam has released
them from bondage and the Spanish
yoke.
Though in some ways they are no
better than heathens, or the American
Indians, in other ways they are bright
naturally. In this town there are some
very pretty places and their gardens
are Respondent with flowers, palms and
cactus, the latter as high as a two story
house. They have no windows of glass
in the houses, only the hole and the
wooden shutters. The floors are bare.
eli
the floor, with pads under them. They
are of all colOrs, from the blacklist AZ
rican to a copper color. The children
run around without even a breechclout
on, and the women and men are not
much more substantially clad. The
women are slovenly, dirty looking
class of the gentler sex and all smoke
big black cigars, from almost the babes
to the old gray headed ones. They live
principally on fruit and are the worst
beggars ever saw.
Some things are very cheap, while
other things are beyond the reach of
ordinary mortals. One dollar is worth
two of the Spanish, and for 10 cents of
their money one can get fifteen good
Havana cigars, They have no bread
here but have rolls such as we get in
cities, and they are 5 cents each and
eggs are Is cents a piece, though I am
told that before the army came here
they were a drug on the market, the
same as fruit and cOcOanutS; the latter
costs 2 cents, or 1 in our money. There
is no whisky in this country. but they
sell rum at a cent a glass. and one glass
is all that any American would ever
care for unless he diluted it with water
or wine; it is worse than pure alcohol
Some of the boys got full on the stuff
and they were crazy as lunatics for
hours.
"One peculiar feature is that among
the natives there is no marriage law.
If two like each other they agree to live
together so long as the feeling is mutual
but should a jar occur in the family
they separate with as little ceremony
as they join forces. They divide up the
effects and children and go cunning for
another partner