The evening times., 1898-11-09
KEPT IN SLAVERY.
An Old Negro Woman's story of
Ignorance in Porte Rico.
(From the Indianapolis Ne

When the Twenty ty-seventh Indiana Bat
terry was encamped near Ponce, Porto
Rico, members of the battery were en-
tertained on several occasions by an old
colored woman who had been a resident
of the island for the last quarter of
century. She was native of the British
Island OF St. Thomas but could still talk
good English after all the years among
Spanish-speaking islanders. Her intense
hatred of the Spanish was equaled only
by the feeling the boys of the battery
entertained for the centipeds which were
so abundantly harvested the first few
days The ''old woman" as she was
called by everyone, was extremely re-
ligious, and her love for the Americans
was of the kind read of in the Bible.
The battery boys We're particularly ia
Vored by her attentions. Almost every
evening she came TO the camp. where
she would seat herself, surrounded by the
soldiers, all eager to listen to her dis
course on the religious and political fu-
ture OF the island. She was usually ac-
companied by her daughter, good look
ing mulatto girl about eighteen years
old, but who could speak nothing but
Spanish.
On several occasions these two women
brought basket filled with plain island
food and they could never be induced
to accept money for its contents. This
was fortunate for the boys, as the
scarcity of money at this time made the
camp poor pickings in financial way
for all vendors.
The old woman was a fluent talker for
an uneducated person, and her knowI-
edge of the affairs of the island was ex-
tensive. In her talk. one evening, she
described a class of slavery that still ex-
listed on the island. She described graph
ically a trip through the interior of The
island about two years before. and her
experience with the class of people who
carried on business of slavery that
was countenanced by the government Off
cials. The laborers, or slaves as the
were called, worked on the plantations
in every capacity, with no financial re-
muneration, and Were kept in ignorance
or anything outside of the mountain
ranches and plantations. They have
never learned that there is no licensed
slavery, and they believe they are owned
body and soul by the Spaniards
Natives from the sea coast are never
allowed to come about, and a suspect"
or stray coon. as the soldiers called
a colored man. was never allowed TO stop
or converse with these so-called slaves
In reciting their experiences. the old
woman said she was told to make herself
scarce at every place along the route. but
Sie hdu fndHdSeu 10 talk to a number,
fronA whom she gained her information.
On one occasion she was told to fly for
her life, and she fled. The natives at this
place seemed to be aware of their condi-
ton, but to make a dash for liberty meant
Imprisonment for some other offense
The method of vaccinating the natives
would lead Americans to believe that the
sole object was economy instead of pro-
lection against the dreaded smallpox
Vaccination is compulsory and il causes
the authorities no end of trouble to round
up the superstitious natives in order TO
proceed with this simple operation
The poorer classes of Spaniards are
first vaccinated, and they are then detain
ed until the scab FORMS in case, it
takes. ~ When fully developed, the scabs
are remover and used to inocculate the
arms of natives. This plan is followed
until all are vaccnated
In the course of her description of this.
the old woman was asked as to her own
family, and she said that rather than
have one drop of Spanish blood In the
veins of her children, she would prefer to
see them die and so far she had been
able to pay for the services of a physi-
clan when this momentous occasion came
around. She said no member of her fam
ily had ever been in the employ of
Spaniard, preferring to hustle in other
quarters for necessaries of life
The native women of Porto Rico marry
very early in life. The writer talked
with one who had live a few years on
the island of st. Thomas, and was able
to talk English. She was twenty-four
years old, had been married for thirteen
years, and she had daughter twelve
years old