Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-11-26

been written about
,-4SsS a. the island, it would
SEEM which nearly everybody desires to
know. We have been told that it is para
d1siacal, coming but a little short of a
heaven on earth; also that it is Internal
reaching down well toward the confines of
the other place" Now comes Acting Con-
sui Hanna with word or TWO of warning
against accepting Porto Rico at it's face
value.
Wen, after all has been said, what Is it's
real value to the American, looking for a
country where work will be easier and his
burden lighter than in this? He has tried
the klondike and it has not panned out so
very rich, after all. Now he turns with
hopeful anticfpations to the other extreme
the tropics. 1t has occurred to him that
this island is really our very first aCouiSi-
ton within that charmed globe girdle lying
between the two American tropics.
And it is Il fact hat Porto Rico is the
first tropical country we have ever pos
sessed. Il is the only territory under the
American flag and on the Atlantic coast
where We can raise our own coffee tea
perhaps, cinchona, spices and purely trop-
ical fruits. Tropical agriculture will in the
near future engage the attention of our
bucolic scientists, and it has already been
announced that the Department of Agri-
culture will soon send a man. or men, to
investigate its methods and profits.
A Restricted Field.
If ! might be allowed to express an opin-
ion, l should say that there is likely to be
an opening in this direction. But, at the
best, it will be a somewhat restricted field
By exercising the same energies and pa
thence that are necessary here to insure
success at farming. doubtless an American
can advance more rapidly i'll Porto Rico
than in this country. But he will be ham,
percd by many things not likely here. For
instance, while he can raise Dineapples and
tobacco, cacao and coffee, and vegeta bles
enough to subsist him meanwhile will grow
almost spontaneously, yet he will be far
away from market. He viii have to COM
pete with natives to whom choice viands are
unheard-Of Injuries. and who consider a
shirt as quite a superiority. Then. again, the
climate Will be against him. He will start
out with a will to clear the forest and till
the land. but in few months climatic in
fuences Will be TOO strong for him and he
Will probably spend more time in me shade
lolling in 4 hammock, than working in the
sun.
Consul Hanna also advises against going
to Porto Rico as place for Investment:
at least, TO wait until things have settled
d little. But, even SO, those who are thnre
now have an adVantu GO that the later ar
rivals will miss. We have already ..card
OF vast coffee holdings changing names and
A
hencr We may hear Of their profits.
A. IA Health Resort.
SUN, whie ii may b, impossible to predict
the outcome of an investment there, either
in labor or capital, yet it appears to the
writer that Porto Rico is certain to be d
great winter and health resort for the
wealthy and peripatetic inyaijds Of the
United States
q he In L
hamas, even to the Windward Islands ard
south America, in search of curative wa
ters and tropical climate. Livery tropical
region containing the much-souGht coInbi-
nation has hitherto been under Il Foreign
flag. In the Bermudas, even though the
leading hotels are run by American land
lords, and visitors from tne United Sales
a!on9 prevent the Islands from dccaG4nce,
yet we cannot acquire holdings OF realty
there. We are looked upon as aliens,
which, indeed, we are, and have 40 rights
peculiar to residents under their own Gag.
But in Porto Rico W. shall soon have
every right We enjoy in the United States
and added thereto a tropical climate and
benefcent fountains of perpetual youth"
Ponce de Leon. who was once governor of
the Island, was not quite satisfied with its
advantages, and undertook Il voyage in
search of the fountain of rnjuvcnes ,cnce
which resulted in the discovery If Florida
The fountain he sought was really in tie
bahamas, but he made another voyage, in
152l, and was wounded by an indian ar
row, which caused his DEATH That the
story of his death was caused by heart
failure on being presented by a bill for
beard by a Florida hotel proprietor is a
nalicious fabrication on its 1ace.
What Ponce de Leon Missed.
But, while We will accord all due respect
to Ponce de Leon for his many virtues
Enough they appear to haye been more
imaginary than reaD, yet We cannot believe
that he was much of a fighter. In the only
expedition he made to the south of the
island, in pursuit of the fierce Caribs he
was badly beaten and driv4l back home
with a damaged reputation. In Florida, also,
as we nave seen, he was finally discounted,
ana in the island Itself the Indians gave
him more than he could attend to- for a
while, combining him and his friends TO he
settlements they had founded on the coasts
1t was owing to the fact mat during his
residence in the island the ITIiins held the
Interior region that he VAS not acquainted
with the springs having curative virtues
within the confines OF his own domain.
Had he been, he might rot have gone OF
looking for Florida. and mus his life might
have be n prolonged and the poets deprived
of fruitful theme.
However, there are today many springs
having hot and chalyieate waters ard
more than locally famous, in Porto Rico
These alone would prove the making of
r,any fortunes in the UTit.l States, and
tfeSe alone VIII doubtless attract investors
looking to the erection of hotels and SAM
tariums. There is, i'll the first place, TO
re ally good hotel in the island; that is none
up to the grade of the average hotel at cur
Sc aside and mountain resorts. San Juan
tie capital, with its magnificent walls and
Notifications, Its unsurpassed situation,
ancient StruC lures identified with the times
when American history was young; its pop
uation with foreign speech ard dress, and
its glorious SEA and mountain views will
certainly attract a large number of winter
visitors, not to mention the many who Nj
go there from business motives and make
that place their headquarters.
Delightfully."- Diversified.
A magnificent mountain road connects
San Juan with the fine city of Ponce on the
southern coast, giving a glorious drive in
coach or diligence of seventy miles. And it
will be hard to find a stretch of country
more delightfully."- diversified than this with
it's towering mountains, deep gorges, hills
covered with tree ferns and bamboos high
ways lined with cocoa palms, plantations
on which coffee and cacao are cultivated,