The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-23

and the area of the island Is not sufti-
ciently great to produce a breeze from
the land, 50 that a night spent in
Porto Rican house gives the stranger
the impression of being imprisoned in
an oven. In spite of the torrid temper
ature, however, the island is healthy.
The health rate of the country does not
depend upon it's temperature; some OF
the hottest regions in the world are
also among the healtiest, and the alb
sence of very large cities which might
serve as breeding places of diseases
is probably one factor in the health
of Porto Rico.
There is one singular thing about
the island i'm which it differs from
every other of its size in the world
There are no digenous quadrupcds and
very few wild birds. the largest being
the parrot. The island makes up, how
ever, Cor it's lack of native qGadrupcds
by the astonishing abundance and
size of it's rats These animals were
unknown in Porto Rico until imported
by the Spaniards. but now they are
the pest of every household, the bane
Of every planter. for while they
will dpvOur indiscriminately anything
eatahlc they have q penChany for
sugar and sugar cane and many an un-
| luckily planter has gone out in his fields
mornings To find his entire crop has been
ruined by swarm of rats, the ro-
| dents gnawing off the stalks at the
| bottom in order to suck the juices, Tor
| the Spanish rat has a sweet-tooth ana
| knows a good thing when he tastes II.
The population of Porto Rico was by
! the last ceusus S1@,937, OF this number
| 800. 600 were negroes. Those who have
visited the island are not slow to
| affirm that to judge from the looks OF
! the remainde- there is considerable
admixturc of negro blood in nearly all
J the rest of the pOpula tiOn. 1t is prOba-
| BILE that the process of amalgantation
| has had something to do with darken-
| ing the Porto RiCan complexion. but too
much reliance must not be placed upon
| color in the tropics. The island is one
| of the few places on earth where whites
| and blacks work together in the same
| field without the superior race feeling
| that their association is a degradation.
| The term work, however, should be
understood with the fact in mind that
il is used in allusiOn to the tropics,
| for labor in the tropical zone differs
very materially from the same article
Z
orer under the equator has a strongly
defined conviction that much work.
like much study, is a weariness of the
flesh and he is heartily opposed to
wcarying his flesh unnecessarily. a
couple of hours in the early morn
ing, the same amount late in the after
noon, satisfies the conscience of the
Porto Rican laborar: during the rest
of the time he smokes and eats gos-
sips with his neighbors and last hut
not least he sleeps, for there is more
sleeping done on the island, both in
summer and in wipter. than on any
other area of similar size on the face
of the earth.
The blacks in Porto Rico are not
now slaves, and it was a great relief
to the populations, both white and
coloreG, when slavery came to an end,
for the blacks of Porto Rico have al
ways been known as the most turbu-
lent. insubordinate and dangerous
slaves of any Spanish colony. During
the slavery days there was scarcely
a year in which there was not a SER
vile insurrection in some part of the
island. and runaway slaves formed
themselves into bands and made every
road in Porto Rico dangerous. When
planters undertook to make a journey
Of any length they always provided an
armed escort, without which there was
a strong probability that their bodies
would be found somewhere on the
road. The reason for the turbulence
of the Porto Rican slaves, as compar-
ed with the Africans in other parts
of Spanish America. is peculiar as il
lustrating both the difference between
the negro tribes of Africa and the
power of heredity. The earliest Porto
Rican planters were under the influence
of a Spanish company, which also had
large possessions and trading stations
on the Zulu coast. Most of the slaves
sent to Porto RiCa We're from the
Zulu country, and although great mum
hers We're only children when they left
the Dark Continent. the boys grew ur
with the same fearless spirit that has
always been shown by the men of this
military race, and as soon as they
reached mans estate their turbulence
; manifested itself i'm serVile insurrec-
tions. Most Of the other Spanish colo.
MES were provided with negroes from
the west coast and of temper much
more tractable. In consequence Of thi,
of the slaves, no colony has had the
trouble with its slaves as Porto Rico
and the emancipation was thus hailed
with as much satisfaction by the
whites as by the blacks,
Outside of the principal towns thcr,
is little to interest the tourist in Porte
Rico. The blacks, who form 50 con,
| Cidpra HE an element of the pOpula tion
freed from the necessity of labor by
the abundance with which nature pro
duces everything necessary to life, ren
dered by the heat Of the climate AYERS,
to eNertion Of any kind, live I'm
. style as primitive as that Of thc
Congo Valley. Grass huts, thatcheC
with palm leaves and straw, form thei
shelter, a few rags for their clothing.
In the towns, besides the old-fash
ioned houses, which do not. however
differ greatly from those of Spain 30
years ago, there is not much to attrac
the attention of the curious. Evidence
Of a former turbulent state of the coun
try are found in the sentry boxes q
, stone at the corners of the walls whicl
overlook the public squares and at tn
street corners, indicating where ono
; strict watch was kept, not only for tn
coming of a foreign foe, but also fo
. signs Of domestic insurrection, Will
: the old gates of San Juan cemeter
, date almost back to the time of Co
5 lumbus. Not far from the capital /
j Casa Banco, once the castle and coun
= try home of Ponce de Leon, who rule
: here in royal state, and in a leade
box in the cathedral are the bones o
y | the man who is NOW rapnaFf1 hapa1 t,,i N