The herald., 1898-11-06

and we shall be in full possession of
all parts of the island. I should say
that the best prospects for Yankee
energy on the island are offered by the
opportunities of supplying very nota-
BILE deficiency in transportation facili-
ties. Almost no railroads are to be
found there, and Of electric roads I
saw none.
Porto Rico has no manufactures
that amount to anything, and the lack
of them suggests a great opening for
American money and ideas. They
make Panama hats on a very consid-
cradle scale, and particularly fine ones,
on the island, but that cannot be re-
garded as an industry of much import
ance. Hitherto labor there has been
quite cheap. but the price of 1T is apt to
go up rapidly under the inspiration of
Yankee methods. Naturally, the rais-
ing of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, all Of
which are produced in immense guam
titles by the fertile soil, will attract
capital from this country. Also, might
add the growing of tropical fruits.
Said Colonel Michler aide to General
Miles:
There are fine opportunities for
Americans in Porto Rico, and they are
ready to be grasped right now. AL
ready capitalists from this country are
going in there and are obtaining all
sorts of concessions. They are buying
up hot springs, which on the island are
used for baths, and are investing in
transportation enterprises. Five miles
;al, h.
road that connects Ponce with San
Juan, are mineral hot springs which
compare favorably with those of AK
les Bains in France The baths there
are delightful and are taken in hot or
cold water. the water as it comes from
the springs being sometimes cooled and
reheated to please the faStidiouS.
Il should say that a most promising
opening was available in the culture of
coffee. This appeals to me particularly
because I am fond of coffee, and the
Porto Rican berry is of wonderfully
fine flavor. The grades of coffee con-
sidered in Paris to be the highest, and
which bring the best price in that
metropolis of gourmets, are from Porto
Rico. 1t seems astonishing to learn,
what assure you is the fact, that S0.-
900, 900 pounds of coffee were exported
last year from Porto Rico"
Said Colonel Allen, who was on the
island with General Miles recently:
Porto Rico to-day is full of Ameri-
cans who have millions behind them.
One finds them browsing about over
most of the island, looking for conces-
sions and for profitable schemes to pro-
mote Now is the time to go there, If
you are going with any speculative or
industrial idea. A few days from now
all the Spanish troops will have been
sent away. Transportation is the busi-
ness into which most of the enterprise
| ing Yankees seem inclined to go. 1t
| represents the problem of the imme-
date future of Porto Rico. At present
there is only one railway on the island,
running from Ponce to Yauco, and 1t Is
in French hands"
Said General Gilmore:
"The island of Porto Rico is as open
now as it ever will be. I should say
that railroads and sugar growing af-
forded the best opportunities for Amer
leans and American money. Under the
new regime Porto Rico gives promise
of substantial future, and it may yet
be recognized as the Winter Newport
of this Countrywide favored resort Of
| rich people who desire to avoid the in
clemency of northern climate"
| Said Colonel John Biddle, who
brought Spanish battle flag back
from Porto Rico:
'In Porto Rico there are no factories,
no coal, no tramways. and no lumber.
Those facts afford fairly adequate sug-
gestions as to opportunities open to
| Americans. There are telegraphs all
over the island, the princial points
being connected by wire, but there are
| no telephones. There used to be q
| tramway between Ponce and the Playa,
| or port of the town, covering a distance
| of about three miles, but it was done
away with for very queer cause, IL
| the gossip I heard on the subject is
correct 1t is alleged that the company
! which owned the road had a contract
with the Spanish government by which
it was obliged to pay a certain sum to
the latter every time a car ran off the
track. So whenever the government
got hard up, it put distractions on the
track, and thus was enabled to collect.
At last the company got tired OF this
and went out of business.
There was q plan which row Is sure
to be carried out before long, to build
railroad all around the island. The
contract for its construction was given
to the French government, but 1t never
advanced very far. The money gave
out, and it was abandoned, the enter
prise earning for itself the name of the
Petit Panama. 1t may be that this
name was applied because of jobbery,
actual or suspected, but of this have
no knowledge The fact Is, however,
that, as things stand at present, frag-
ments of the projected road are scat
tered all over the island. 1t has been
carried fifteen miles to the westward
of Ponce, and twenty-five miles out
from San Juan. There is bit Of II,
too, near Managuez, but these parts
are not connected. 1t seems that the
expense involved was underestinlated.
Surveys were made for the whole
route.
MANY agricultural industries in
Porto Rico invite American attention.
Among these are the growing of coffee,
tobacco and sugar. There is no agri-
cultural machinery of the modern kind,
old fashioned plows being still used in
the fields. On the other hand, the ma
chinery for sugar making is first rate
and of the most improved kind, just as
it is in Cuba, which is so far behind
the age in most other mechanical mat
ters. 1 saw no factories in Porto Rico
except some that We're engaged in the
production of matches and Of chOco-
late. There are about 100000 people on
the island. who will doubtless require