Evening star., 1898-12-01

which the wash women spread their clean
linen to dry, that &. .evef' saw 1t has saw
ers, an almost finished system of water
works, which. afteSlit iSmade a capital Of
fense not to connect d house with the
sewer and water main, Ought to make tn,
place as healthy and attractive as chilly
people could desire to visit for the winter
seem to have accuepula1 ed in some of the
same style as was 'faghionabie ~ in cadis I
when Spain was Roman province and the
bull ring an arena for giadiators and lions,
and are solidly made of stone or brick From
out in the harborr-they- make, with their
forts at each en& an$adeal city for an
artist; and from She &lltops about Loa
Alta CLEAN like a mosaic setting in a costly
ring.
"Some of my acquaintances got sick with
malaria, cholerineS typhoid fever and so
forth. One was native of the island
Among the troops, some of whom / saw in
their hospital tents In the mountains on the
south side, dysentery seemed to be the pre-
vailing ailment. am not prepared to say
therefore, that people who do not know
how to take care of their health at home
and are not very wise anyhow had better
rush off to Porto Rico. A man can keep
well there, but 1t is something of an art.
Business Prospects.
Neither Is 1t advisable for people who
go there to get rich. Some few of them
might get rich but so do some of their
neighbors at home, and by similar meth
ods The people down there are not few
they are not savages; they will learn many
new things from us, but about Porto Rico
they will be the teachers They have been
there for centuries with a commercial con-
nection, more or less extensive, with the
cid md HOY tr;aJ
schemes and plans, and then forgotten
them, which some Americans will doubt
less think need only be applied to revolu-
uoniZe agriculture or business on the ISL
and. They have a society there for instruc-
ton and experiment in those lines which is
now eighty years old. Like a man reared
In the city who buys a farm, such Ameri-
cans will probably plant money an. reap
wisdom.
Nearly everybody In Porto Rico is learn
ing English, and the society 1 just men
toned has employed lecturer who teaches
1t nightly to flock of young gentlemen
and ladies who come in evening dress as
to the theater. 1 attended one evening. and
beslues a talk with the president and other
members, had the pleasure of seeing some
very indisputabe. but not startling propo-
sitions stated in English upon a blackboard
well, 1 am pretty busy and cannot un-
dertake to tell you all 1 know about Porto
Rico. The last time you interviewed me
on January - last-I told you about condi-
tions in Cuba. We have made good deal
OF history since then, and it seems like
three or four years ago.
Il was present at the arsenal at San Juan
at $50 o'clock in the evening of October 80
when the last Spanish soldiers and their
commander got into small boat to go to
their transport. They left a single electric
light burning in room near the water $
edge, and noiseessiy departed. 1t was an
impressive and rather melancholy scene
and l gazed at the black transport and the
misty mountains across the harbor, and the
silent vanishing of Spanish power seemed
more like dream than a reality"