The record-union., 1898-09-25

GERS quarters. bomb proofs and dun
geons by the sea.
This ancient citadel is the initial
point Of the wall which surrounds the
city and which has a line of connected
bastions, with moats, guarded gates,
portculIis and battlements, 'fortale-
zas," semi projecting sentry
turrets-in fact, all the defenses of.
walled town or city of the middle ages.
On the Atlantic shore, which is steep
and against which the heavy surgeS
roll continuously, a wall Of modern con-
struction connects the Morro with the
castle of San Cristobal, which faces
oceanward and also guards the ap-
proaches from the mainland. The castle
is entered by a ramp, on the hlghest
part of the hill, to the Inequalities OF
which the fortification is accommodate
ed IT can concentrate its ire IN any
direction and controls the city ana IN
ner harbor by the Caballero tort, with
its twenty-five great guns. stretching
from harbor to sea front, san CrlSto-
bal dominates the inland situation ana
has practically three tiers OF batteries
behind fortifications in great part cut
out of the solid rock.
Though the fortifications as we nno
them now were planned in 1b5o ana
nearly completed by 1914, San Crlstopal
in it's entirety was not finished untll
lust before the outbreak of the Amer
lean revolution, or about 1IlI Stlil'
with it's outworks, consisting OF re-
dam resting on the highest part OF the
eIacis and called Fort Abamco on ac
count of it's fan shape, its moat anu
modern batteries, San Cristobal would
have been a fort difficult to storm ana
take had our soldiers been compelleu
to attack it.
In addition to the stone walls, some
of them nearly 100 feet high, whlch
| inclose the city, there are the outlying
forts of San Antonio and san
/ Geronimo, which defend the prldges
inland. and on a small islet off the
harbor mouth is the small but strong
| fort of Canuelo, between when ana
| the MORO less than thousand yards
distant, all large ships must pass 10
! make this port A chain was formerly
! stretched between the Morro and can
! uelCs in wartime but during the re-
! cent trouble, and after the lombard
/ ment of San Juan by our fleet, yes
/ sci was sunk there and the harpor
mined
| The harbor of San Juan is one OF
/ the best in the island, and the IN
! tramuraI city is one of the Oldest ana
/ ouaintest in the new world. 1T was
| founded within a decade of the city OF
! Santo Domingo, antedates Havana by
! six or seven years, St Augustine by
more than fifty years, and is contem-
porary with Barbacoa and Santiago de
/ Cuba. 1t is regularly laid out In
| squares. with six streets running par
! ailel with it's longer axis and seven
| others crossing them at right angles,
while two plazas and several smaller
squares, called plaZuelas, offer places
for promenade and recreation. Outside
/ the walls, notably in the Marina, is a
/ fine avenue and pleasing ground, and
/ here also is the "valla de gallos," or
cockpit the custom house and the ar
/ senal.
Probably the largest structure within
the walls is the Ballaia Barracks, over
! looking the parade grounds and cover
/ ing with its patio" a space of l1,IOO
square meters. The palace of the Cap
tain General is an imposing edifice, and
! the Casa Blanca. or ancient castle of
the founder, Ponce de Leon, with its