The age-herald., 1898-07-21
REAL GEM OF
 THE ANTILLES


 aid.
 If Cuba be the ''Pearl of the Antilles,' which is open to doubt, Porto Rico is its diamond, its ruby, its Koh-i-ncor. the most precious stone in the carcanet which Span- ish luck and enterprise plucked from the misty, mysterious regions of the west four centuries ago. It is inferior to Cuba only in the attribute of size In fertility of soil, in salubrity of climate in strategic posi- ton and in the character of its people, which after all, is the most serious con- dition confronting any country which de- sires to annex or govern the West Indies, it is far superior. It Is, indeed well worth having, which cannot be said of every colo nial possession on the rent-roll of Spain.
 Porto Rico lies at the Windward end Of the Antillean chain. It is 2,OOO miles dis tant from some parts of Cuba, which shows that 1t runs a long way to the east It affords an excellent vantage for the con- trol of the Caribbean sea trade. It Is so far out into the Atlantic that the establish ment of a coaling station upon its soil would be of immense advantage to our ships in case of further troubles with Flu ropean nations. It is capable of growing sugar coffee fruits and other tropic Sta- ples in the greatest abundance. In propor- tion to size it has paid Spain more money than any other one of its colonies. Its cli- mate is tolerable in summer, delightful in winter and healthy always. Its air lacks the enervating quality common to the at- mosphere of lands farther to the west. It has lain for cons smiling in setting or blue and waiting only touch of northern energy to make it the fairest island of the seas This war has cost the United States millions upon millions and the blow has almost killed Father Hidalgo, but it is Porto Rico's opportunity to become that which it should be-that which it would have been if owned for centuries by any country in the world save Spain.
 It is not filled by malarious swamps like those which have made pesthouse or Cuba. "It offers" in the language of Con- sul Hanna, "every advantage and induce ment for the best people on earth to go and make their homes there." As class it's people are far superior to the Cubans. They are good-looking, happy and prosper ous They have had the time, and have taken the pains to obtain some education. The negroes are an inconsiderable part of the population, being heavily in the minor ity. Mixed bloods are less common than in other Spanish-American lands. There are many Spaniards, but their assertion has been that they belong to Porto Rico and not to Spain just as many of the immigrant Englishmen fought for the American colony in the revolution. Porto Rico is the only West Indian island of which this is true, and the fact speaks loudly not only for the virtues of the land and climate but for the character of the natives, who seem to have absorbed the Spaniards and made good westerners of them. The dominant popu- letien is the Creole, by which is meant, of course, white persons of Spanish or French blood. They are clean, healthy, intelli- gent, honorable and brave utterly different from the hungry horde of "alies" which ate the American army out of bacon and hardtack before Santiago, then rolled corn shuck cigarettes, lay down in the shade and refused to assist in building roads. The women are the handsomest of all West Indians, and do not break" or grow old so early as their sisters of the other islands their lasting qualities being due in part to unInixed blood, but more largely to an equable and invigorating climate. The deadiiest foe to physical strength and beauty in the tropics is incompetence in the use of alcohol, and the Porto Ricans, male and female, are notably sober.
 Yellow fever, scourge of all the Spanish main, is not epidemic to Porto Rico as it is in all of the coastwise cities of Cuba. pr. Salicrup, noted physician of New York, who is a native of the island and practiced there for many years, once assured me that in a large experience of the dreaded disease he had never met a case which, strictly speaking, originated on the island. It has