The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-09

New York; twice as many as Pennsylvania
and three times as many as Indiana or ILL.,
nois; six times as many as Missouri or
Georgia and almost nine times. as many as
louisiana With such conditions it would
seem a poor place for our farmers, who
need at least a square mile to turn
around in.
I see 1t stated that there are 10000 people
living in the cities of Porto Rico. 1 don't
believe It. The country has only three cities
of any size, and all the towns are over
estimated. San Juan has, 1t is said, $1,000
people. but if so half of these live in the
suburbs. BY the estimates of the health
officers who made a careful canvass, there
are only 1900 people living inside the walls,
and this section constitutes the city proper.
Mayaguez has perhaps 10000 people and
Ponce between 10000 and $1,000.
The most of the so-called cities of Porto
Rico would bs considered little more than
villages in the States. The land is divided
up into municipalities, but each municipal
ity contains not only the village by which
1t is governed, but all the people living for
miles around. so that town or 500 or 1000
is often put down as having from six to ten
times that number. i find, In fact, the fig
ures and statements put down in the books
They are made up from unreliable data,
and the most of them come from Spanish
books from fifty to hundred years old.
THE CLIMATE.
Take for instance, the climate. About a
generation ago some Spanard wrote that
Porto Rico was a country OF catarrh, con-
sumption and bronchitis. He stated that
the hot. moist climate caused dysenteries
haI
as to health. This statement has to large
extent been copied and has created a Sc
rious misimpression. Our army surgeons tell
me that the contrary is the truth and find
that the Americans who havs come to Porto
Rico have. as a rule, improved in health.
Take myself. When / left Washington
was considered troubled with the nasal ca
tarrh for which that city is famous.
brought with me an atomizer and other
remedies. The moment landed at San Juan
my catarrh left me and have not had
sign of 1t during my stay here. One of the
captain quartermasters has had a similar
experience, and / have met a number of
people who have been cured of catarrh and
bronchitis since landing in Porto Rico.
L was talking to-day with Mr.. Harrison,
the manager of the San Juan & Rio Piedras
Il think Porto Rico will eventually be a
sanitarium for Americans who are broken
down nervously. Take my own case.
was afflicted with nervous prostration when
l was in Chicago. 1 could not sleep and
could not work. 1 have improved every
| hour since came to Porto Rico and 1 have
| been at my desk from in the morning an
til every day. l am doing what would
1 b, ar;p
know, the organization of this railroad, but
| 1t does not seem to affect me. Every one
| sleeps here.
There Is another thing about the cli-
mate continued Mr.. Harrison, that
should be contradicted, and that is as to
consumption. 1 have looked for 1t and
cannot see many evidences of it. In our
streets cars We do not have the disgusting
hawking and splitting that you find in the
| United States. You will not see it on the
streets and don't believe that the disease
| exists"
| 1t is not hot here except in the middle of
the day, and then no warmer than in the
| United States. I doubt whether Porto Rico
ever gets so hot as some parts of Ohio and
Indiana in the summer, and there is no
question but that the Porto Ricans would
| roast in Washington in July and August.
The air here is full of moisture but there
| is a breeze always blowing which makes it
rather pleasant than otherwise. The aver
age daily temperature the year around ID
about 80 degrees, and here at San Juan
the mean monthly temperature deduced
| from observations of more than twenty
years is less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
| In this period the thermometer only rose
| thrice to 80 degrees and 1t never fell below
81 degrees.
| With so much humidity even this heat
would be oppressive If it were not for the
breezes which come from the north Allan
tic. They are full of ozone and they stimu-
| late you like a cocktail. / find that 1 am
daily doing too much. firing myself out be-
fore 1 know it, and only realizing that I
| am worn out when sit down. This is espe-
| pecially so on the coastal plains. Further
i back on the high lands the air is cooler
| and more stimulating. In fact, should say
that Porto Rico is fully as healthful coun-
| try as any of our Southern States.
| WHOLESALE VACCINATION.
| And this brings me to the question of the
smallpox, which has been reported as rag
| ing down here this year. There have been
some cases and the most of them have been
| removed to an island near San Juan or put
| into hospitals apart from the rest of the
people. The poor among the Porto Ricans
| herd together in such a way that it is a
wonder the whole island is not infected with
the disease / will describe their life later.
| At present 1 believe there are no smallpox
/ cases left.
| The most remarkable thing in connection
| with the smallpox was the vaccination OF
the whole population under our army sur
geons. When / arrived in San Juan every
man, woman and child had sore arms.
saw sore arms on every country road. Sore
| armed men worked in the fields, sore-armed
| women stood at the doors of the houses
| with sore-armed babies in their arms, and
I saw them by hundreds in every city and
| village as I travelled through the interior
venture that there were at least 10000
| sore arms here at that time.
In many cases the vaccination took sc
seriously as to make large scars, and 1t was
not uncommon to see babies with scabs or
their arms as big as a quarter of dollar
In going through the poorest quarters of the
cities and studying the life there pretended
at times to be a government Inspector, ant
took a look at the arms of the people e.
an excuse for entering the houses to Sc,
how they lived. and failed to find any who
were not more or less afflicted.
The vaccination of this enormous rumbe
| within few weeks was one of the srea
feats OF modern surgery. A few months
after Uncle Sam took possession 1t wa.
Il ~