Evening star., 1898-12-17
MAILS IN PORTO RICO
Uncle Sam Introducing the American
Facilities.
NATIVES AVERSE 70 LETTER WRITING
The Spanish Methods Subordinate
Comfort and Convenience.
MATTERS OF REVENU
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
SAN JUAN. Porto Rico.

SAN JUAN, Porto Rico.
November %. 1S9S.
1t will be some time before any revenue
can be gained by the government of the
United States over and above the necessary
operating expenses of post offices in Porto
Rico. There are many reasons for this, the
principal one being that the Porto Ricans
are not addicted to the letter-writing habit
TO any great extent. They prefer to make
their communications to each other per-
sonaily, and for this purpose they often
take long and tedious trips which could be
obviated by the use of paper, envelopes and
postage stamps.
Business men of Porto Rico share in the
general dislike so prevalent among the
other inhabitants of Porto Rico, and will
not write letters under any circumstances
If they can get out of 1t. Hitherto, when
merchant Of the ts.>,-.a desired to make
purchases to replenish his stock, it has
been customary to get aboard a sailing
vessel or steamship and go direct to the
market where the goods could be purchased
instead of trusting letters to the mails. as
IN the United States. When Iutcrrogated
on this subject the universal reply of the
business man of Porto Rico has been that
he could go TO the market where he
wished To purchase goods lust as quick as
letter could be written and forwarded,
and there would be no delay of any sort,
aIiHpUSn MS business IDlgnJ SOilDr BY his
enforced absence.
With the advent of the American forces
however, all this has been materially
changed, and the merchants are not only
willing. but anxious to avail themselves Of
the dccOnmOdatl tons of the United States
postal service ut every pJss BILE opportunity
lnasmuCh as the rates for transmitting
money are considerably below the CHARGES
made by the banks, ercuants who desire
to send money away from Porto Rico come
into the local post offices and demand
money orders IN many eases the amounts
which they desire to send away reach sew
eTal thousand dollars, but owing to the fact
that there was nothing of the sort at
tempted under the Spanish regime the busi-
ness men OF Porto Rico still have a great
deal to learn about registered letters and
money orders.
One merchant n Ponce, who speaks
English fiuently and -oes a rushing busi-
ness among the Americans. citizens and
soldiers, temporarily sojourning in the is
iand, came TO me persona-iy and desired
TO be instructed as to the manner in which
he should fill out money order blank the
sum involved being about 81 500 When it
was explained to him how easy it was to
send money in large OF small amounts all
over the United States he expressed the
greatest amazement that such thing could
be done a Sucn a trifiing cost TO the send
er or the money order. Under the Span
ish regime IL would have been necessary
to have feed dozen or more officials in
the post office department before the money
order, If there had been such a system
would have been permitted to leave Ponce
The Spanish Way.
My observations and Investigations of the
postal system In vogue when the Amcri-
cans took formal possession of Porto Rico
convinced me that the Spanish officials had
subordinated the comfort and convenience
Of the public to their personal ends Not
only were there numerous unnecessary at
taches, but no particular attention seemed
TO be paid TO mall matter when it was re
ceived. II ii suited the convenience of the
official in charge the letter or package re-
ceived at his office might be delivered the
same day 1t came 1t might be held for
week or longer until IT suited the letter car
rier TO make the delivery. Great stacks of
letters addressed to inhabitants of the is
land were found in waste baskets, piled up
In boxes or stuck away in pigeonholes,
when the local post offices were turned
over TO the employees of the United States
Post Once Department, who followed the
army of occupation from Ponce on the
south 10 San Juan on the north coast of
Porto Rico and restored order out OF chaos
and confusion.
In some of the smaller offices on the is
land the number of attaches ranged from
a dozen TO twenty-five or thirty under the
Spanish regime, while under the admins
tration Of the United States post office the
highest number of employees at the largest
offices will not exceed seven or eight per-
Il
Spaniards had been found indispensable,
the work of the Office only necesstated the
employment OF one or two energetic Amer
leans. These employees. Of course, were ex-
elusive Of the letter carriers, who were paid
so much for each letter delivered to a pri-
vate individual and a lump sum per month
for deliveries made 20 business concerns or
corporations. 1t was customary to exact
the payment of l cent from private indi-
viduals for each letter delivered while the
business houses paid about an average of
IS month, no matter whether the deliver
les were large or small.
Nobody would get very rich in Porto Rico
IN delivering mail matter under the Span
ism regime and at San Juan, the capital.
there were only eight business concerns
who considered their business Of sufficient
Importance to justify them in renting pri-
Vate boxes from which they could get their
mail any time they saw fit.
Change Effected.
There has been a great change in existing
conditions, so far as the postal service is
concerned, al San Juan since its occupa-
ton by the American forces the latter part
Of October of this year. This place with
m estimated population OF 10000 trans
acted all OF its postal business and teIe-
graph business jointly in a little tumble
down shanty on a side street remote from
the business center OF the town. When
Gen. BrCoke's forces entered San Juan, Oc-
tober Is. they found the Spanish lottery
company in possession of one of the most
desirably located buildings facing the plaza
There was a big lottery wheel operated
In this building every day and a force
of fifty men were employed in doing the
work of the lottery company. When it was
represented TO Gen. Brooke that this build
ing would make an ideal location for a
post offlcs at San Juan, he gave the lot
terry company Just two hours notice to va
cate the premises, which were then turned
over to the Post Office Department repre-
sentatives, and II has since been used
for facilitating the transportation of mail
matter. This building is probably the best
located post Office in Porto Rico, and is a
substantially built stone structure with am
pie conveniences on the first floor for the
adfiyal and departure of mails Besides