Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-02-16
POINTS FOR cOLoNIsIs.
What 1t Costs TO Reside in Cuba and Porto
Rico.

Rico.
For the first time in history citizen
| of the United States has an opportunity
to try colonization in the tropics under
| his own flag.
under the domination of Uncle Sam is
| Porto Rico. There Is only one direct line
TO this island. and that is from New
| York. You may go by either sailing YES
| ing to the price YOU want to pay. First
class passage to Porto Rico by steamship
| occupying from five and one-half to six
the steerage is So. The landing i places aces
| are San Juan and Ponce. Each passen-
| ger is permitted TO carry $50 pounds of
baggage free. Freight charge on house
hold goods is sixteen cents per cubic foot.
| If you want to go by way of Havana the
| expense is about the same.
While 1t is true that we cannot say
| that Cuba is a possession of the United
| States. or about to become so. We are
unquestionably going to have IA great deal
| to do with the development of that coun-
| try. 1t is true that Porto Rico is the
We consider Cuba, as it certainly will be.
a great field for the emigrant from the
United States. the cost and methods of
going there will be of interest. 1t takes
Just four days to go from New York to
havana, and the cost is $3i, so and Sla
according to the quarters the passenger
engages. There is no direct line to Santi-
| ago. all passengers proceeding via Ha-
vana, the time occupied by the journey
being seven days. Cost of passage is S65
s45 and $50. Vessels sail for Havana from
all along the Eastern Atlantic coast. and
If the person going there is willing 10
submit to very plain fare and certain
amount of discomfort he can make the
passage at about one-third the rate Civ
Ell above, provided he will take one of
the little trading vessels.
The person who wishes to go to the
Philippine Islands will save time and
| money by going either across the conti-
nent by rail or via the lsthmus of Pan
ANA. In either case the fare will be
$3.50 to the city of Manila.
To reach Guam. the one island of the
Ladrones where our government seeks TO
establish coaling station, as routes OF
travel exist at present. one must either
pay from $50 TO SO extra to inuuce the
Mania steamer to stop there on its way
out. or else must stop at Hong Kong and
await an opportunity to take passage in
vessel going to Guam.
Most Americans who go to Ponce rent
rooms and dine at some other place. In
the suburbs. where houses are most cas-
lily obtainab BILE. a good house costs from
S2o to $50 month A suite of two rooms
s. Il week. If it is desired to keep house.
one must pay 81 ii barrel for an inferior
quality of flour. As for meat. poultry
about one-half the prices charged in the
United States.
AS for clothing. almost every one wears
linen suits which cost $3.50 or IS each
Naturally it is necessary to have a num-
Der of these. but the Porto Rico women
will wash them for very little-so little
that to the American it seems nothing at
all.
In Havana. Santiago and other Cuban
cities the cost of living in hotels aver
ages 81 a day. In American boarding
houses the charge is from $50 to $40 Il
month. Outside the cities the cost of liv-
ing is much less than in the United
States Potatoes are very cheap. Land
is about the same price as in the United
States Flour is s. a barrel. Beef. with
the bones in. costs twelve cents pound:
with the bones removed, twenty cents =
pound. All kinds of fish are plentiful
and much cheaper than here. The milk
is of very poor quality. and the Ameri-
can who wants to start a dairy farm
will practically have the fled for his
own. American CONDENSED mix costs
twenty-five cents Il can. The native veg
etabes are much cheaper than IN the
United States of a better quality and
| always in season. Rice costs from eight
potatoes for big family in the city can
! be bought for five cents. and in the coun..
try less Than half that. Fruits-those of
the tropics-are very cheap.
There is 70 scarcity of houses in CUBA.
such as they are: ard II very good one
indeed can be secured for $12 month:
Linen is the principal clothing worn. and
here a suit costs from So to 81. The ma
terial comes from France. Germany and
Belgium Very little silk is seen and no
heavy clothes at all. Shoes cost about
the same as in the United states straw
hats are cheaper and very much better
The favorite materials for women $
dresses are lawn and percale and these
cost from twenty-five cents to Il dollar a
ward Percale comes from the United
States.
A very good servant can be hired for
| 81 a month, the very best only receiving
al3.
The cost of living and the facts con
corning the clothing worn in the Phil
ippines are much the same as in Porto
Rico. with the exception OF the fact that
occasionally heavy clothing is needed be-
cause of the fearful storms that every
| now and then burst Upon the islands.
In every one of the places where the
| raising of the Stars and Stripes has at
| tracted the eye of the emigrant a person
with a desire to make money and de-
| termination to economic can succeed
The emigration movement has already
j 1