Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-06-16

known to reach 10O, 900 tons. This sugar
is separated from the cane in mills
owned hitherto by Spanish and Eng
lish capital.
Sixty years ago a writer described
Puerto Rico as 1.-The most lovely of all
those regions of loneliness washed by
the Caribbean sea- Given such an is
land, possessing every variety of trop-
ical landscape, fertile from the noun
tain SUBMITS to the brink of the sea,
rich in pasture fields, shaded with beau
tiful groves of cocoa palms. moistened
by 1900 streams, with here and there a
hot spring, and already opened to in
ternal commerce by improved high
ways and new railroad girding the
entire coast, it is difficult to prophesy
as to the progress a few hundred Yankee
capitalists might make The pasture
lands in the north and east are superior
to those of the other Antilles. Herds
Craze on the thousands of hills. Hun
dreds of cattle are exported yearly,
while the islands to the south depend
upon these green fields for their homes.
Besides sugar, tobacco and coffee, the
American settler might successfully
raise cotton, rice, maize, fax, jut for
sugar bags, cassia for making SIENNA,
incense, lumber, dye and cabinet woods.
Upon this table he might well afford
the most luscious fruits of the tropics,
pineapples, citron, oranges, lemons and
melons, with fresh ginger and other
spices, all cultivated at home or near
by. Gold, once mined in great quanti-
ties, is still found, as well as coal and
salt.
Travellers generally agree that the eli
mate of Puerto Rico is more agreeable
and healthful than that of any of the
other Antilles. The average daily tenn
perature is so degrees Fahrenheit, but
a cooling north breeze is generally prev
| alent during the hottest days. Land
winds, so disagreeable in the other An
TILES, are seldom felt, though tropical
hurricanes are apt to make things live
| ly at any time between July and Oc-
tober. The torest-covered mountains,
which extend from east to west, with
| the length of the island, produce a
| marked difference in the climate be-
| tween their opposite proclivities. The
| district of the north. comprising the
| greater portion of the island, is Wis
| tied by frequent showers, while the
southern district is often without rain
| for months at time.
In San Juan, the capital. where our
naval station viii doubtless be per-
manently located, yellow fever threat
| ems the lives of foreigners who stop in
the crowded and dirty streets, but in
the suburbs, where the permanent for
| eign colony is located, the air is pure
| and wholesome. With his modern ideas
as to municipal hygi.1e, Uncle Sam will
make short work of these ill-drained
thoroughfares and stamp out Yellow
| Jack in short order. The city has a
populate of 5000.
| In ancient times the chief fort or
| castle was called the moro" or Moor
ish tower, because 1t was generally
| round; and San Juan, like Havana, has
| its MORO as the most prominent point
| of its fortifications- 1t stands on bluff
iutting out from the city walls and has
| a lighthouse Immediately in the rear
of it. Against the seaward front Of the
massive walls the ocean pounds and
thunders, but the landward harbor is
quiet and safe for any craft. 4 broad