The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-29

"th," will continue to say 'Pon- -thay" long after the red and yellow flag has gone down. Mayaguez is commonly
 May-ah-guez," without particular ac- cent on any syllable, Mayaguez, Ponce and San Juan are three coast points of triangle embracing the greater part of the island, Ponce is halfway point on the south coast. San Juan prevents the formation of 2 right-an- sled triangle by being on the north coast considerably east of the middle line.
 Mayaguez faces what is generally known as the Mona Passage" the mar row entrance to the Caribbean between Porto Rico and San Domingo. Accord ing to the memoranda of the depart- ment of state, there is little to be said of the industries of Mayaguez except that there are three manufactures of chocolate, which is for local consump- tion. Sugar, coffee, oranges, pineapples and cocoanuts are exported largely-all, except coffee, principally to the United States. Of sugar the muscovado goes to the United States and the centrifu- gal to Spain. Mayaguez is the second port for coffee, the average annual eX- port being one hundred and seventy thousand hundred weights, The quali- ty is of the best, ranging in price with Java and other first-rate brands. The lower grades are sent to Cuba. About fifty thousand bags of flour are import ed into this port every year from the United States, out of the one hundred and eighty thousand bags that are con- sumed in the whole island. The popu- lation is nearly twenty thousand, the majority white. The climate ie excel lent, the temperature never exceeding ninety degrees Fahrenheit. The city is connected by tram with the neighboring town of Aguadilla, and railroad is be- ing constructed to Lares, one of the large interior towns
 After Mayaguez comes a class of cit ies or large towns. of which Aguadilla is a fair sample. "Ah-wah- de-ya," as Americans will learn in time to call it., is the prinipal town and the port of Aguadilla district, in the northwest portion of the island, and has five thou sand inhabitants. Industries in the vi- cinity consist of the cultivation of su- gar cane, coffee, tobacco and cocoanuts and the distillation of rum from mo- lasses. In the town are three estab- lishments for preparing coffee. The climate is hot, but healthy; there is hardly ever yellow fever.
 Arecibo is town of from six to sev- en thousand population. It is situated on the north coast of Porto Rico, facing the Atlantic ocean, and some fifty miles distant by rail from San Juan. It is similar to all Spanish towns, with a plaza surrounded by the church and other public buildings in the center, and streets running from it in right angles forming regular squares. The buildings are constructed of wood and brick. The harbor is poor, being nothing more than an open roadstead exposed to the full force of the ocean, in which vessels during northerly winds can hardly lie in safety. Close in shore, on one side, dangerous reefs stretch, a constant | menace to vessels if the anchor does not hold. Into this harbor empties a narrow and shallow stream called the Rio Grande de Arecibo. Goods are con | veyed on this river to and from town in l flat-bottomed boats, with the aid of | long poles and by dint of much pushing