The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1899-04-20
FROM PORTO RICO.
An Interesting Letter From a
Former Big Stone Gap Boy.

Former Big Stone Gap Boy.
The following is an extract from
letter written to a friend at Big Stone
Gap by Lieut.. NJ. NJ. Mills, Of the 5th Z
S. Artillery, Regulars. Mr.. Mills is al
old Big Stone Gap boy and has man!
friends and relatives here who watch hi,
upward career with great interest and sat.
isfacIion. He graduated with high honor'
in all departments at the Virginia M%ilitar!
Institute, and was an Instructor in the
Institute last year when the Spanish wal
came on. His high standing as a student
and a military man at the Institute, at
tracted the attention of the president, and
he appointed him as a Second Lieutenant
in the standing army, which is a life
position subject to promotion, and assign
ed him to the artillery, which is the most
desirable branch of the service. His
battery was stationed on Staten Island,
in New York harbOr, until a few weeks
ago when it was ordered to Porto Rico.
This letter gives some of Dir. Mills first
Impressions of the island and its people.
Mr.. Mills is a boy of whom Big Stone
Gap aud Southwest Virginia may well be
proud; he will be heard from in the future.
SAN JUAS, PoRro RICO, March %, 1879.
As ! have nothing else to do this
] q, (fo,un I 1aVo rognlVnI IN write Vnn
according TO promise and tell YOU some
thing of Porto Rico. Things are about
like they were when we first arrived, ex-
cept that it is getting hotter every day.
The thermometer registers over ~ III the
shade, and | think at times it is not equal
TO the occasion. We can sleep well at
nights, however, for they are generally
cool. The heat is greatest from early
morning till midday. 1t has rained on an
average about four times per day since
our arrival, and this is not til rainy sea-
son either. AT times during the day 1t is
so hot one can hardly live, aud IN less
than Il half hour an OvercOat would not go
badly, but the cold wave is soon gone and
it is AS hot as ever. The winds begin to
blow in the afternoon, and toward dark
there is a stiff breeze.
The majority of the people here do very
little work during the hot part OF the day.
We drink boiled water, and as a rule !
take it Just as hot as | can stand it. 1t is
the custom of the country TO take Il cup OF
coffee on getting up, and then eat nothing
else until breakfast, which we have about
IL o'clock. They have regular dinner at
& p. m. We have an American cook,
thank goodness, and have three square
meals a day. The natives cook everything
in garlic, and the scent nearly knocks one
down when going along the streets oil
San Juan. | had a garlic dinner the day
after | landed, and ! thought it would kill
me. ! shall never tackle another.
Things are quiet enough here now, but
am satisfied these natives have no love
for the Americans, or the American
soldiers. If they had the arms to do 1t
with and the nerve, | IN sure there would
be an outbreak among them any 0ment.
They have been buIldozed, brOwbeaten
and harrassed by the Spaniards so long,
that they have not anything left but a
sullen spirit. They are apparently salts
fed with their lot and with the u. >.
Government, but whenever they are given
a chance to open their mouths it is clear
they are not. | had never dreamed before
that any people were so low as these
are. Until Gen. Henry issued an
prohibiting it, nearly every child
under ten years went naked, and many
older than that even. A great many Of
them will not wear any more clothes than
the law requires now. In some parts of
the city, the children 90 naked yet, but
they run like deer when they see an
American coming. Of course, there are a
intelligent ones, but Gen. Henry told
me the day we arrived that re was having ,
trouble with them, and that they wanted
o rule the earth. | understand that Gen. a
Henry is very much disliked by them be-
of his order requiring them TO wear
@
! like the country some better than | !
lid when | first arrived. Around the city
lere, the land is very sandy and poor, but
in the country it is very fertile Z,
nd only needs the application OF modern :.
gricultural implements to make it yield
arge crops. The oranges here are the ,
nest and largest | have ever seen, and
ave received practically no cultivation.
II my opinion, this country and Cuba will -
e the principal source of our orange "
upply in the future. The growth of coffee ,
receiving more attention than anything
lse. 49,
What the |. ). Government wants with
lis dried-up, lizard-eaten island is more "
IAN | can understand. The Committee
Congress was here recently on a
iree week stay, to study the situation
nd make "A report to the President.
Ope the report will be unfavOrable, and
hereby knock any further consideration ,,
the question in the head. | think the :,
should sell out all these new c.
and get out OF mere Just as Il
ION AS possible. This island is the best e,
all the evils, but even this is the worst 3.
ace an American soldier ever came to.
he morals of the people of all classes is .
'mething frightful. There are seven -,
of smallpox, four or five cases OF w.
and about one hundred cases of n
her lOathsome diseases in the city now. =;
yerything is understood here, the men -
ID women are all small, and most of them r.
black as tar, with peaked shoulders and ~
stomachs. All the beasts of burden ~
o are small, and most of the cases where "
u see u man riding Il horse, it would he
ore proper for the horse to be riding the u
an. ! am telling you these things so you n
ay understand just what and whom we, g
soldiers, have the honor to be looking 10
ter, guarding and taking care Of in m
neral. &c
Our battery is situated on a bluff about ~
Re hundred feet high, overlooking the