The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-16
Methods of Purchasing and Selling,
and Wages Paid Employees for
Working Fifteen Hours q Day.
SALES OF GOODS BY PEDDLERS
THE STORES ARE SMALL, BUT THEY
ARE CROWDED WITH BUYERS.
A Visit OF Inspection to the Markets
and Something About the Peculiar.
Tastes of the People.

walk with me this morning through the
city of San Juan. We are in the capital OF.
Porto Rico, one of the strangest of all the
new towns which Uncle Sam has taken
from Spain. What a queer piece of Yankee
property it is. 1t Is only the American flags
which fly from the buildings, our soldier
boys upon the streets and the heavy
wagons drawn by army mules, which are
gathering UP the garbage, that remind US
of home. g.
The houses are of brick, covered with
stucco. They are painted all colors of the
rainbow, and their green shutters cover
holes in the walls, without glass or window
frames. Most Of the shutters are open now.
for 1t is day. At night they will be sealed
up as tight as a drumhead, and the only
ventilation will come through the little
square holes in the shutter. each of the
size Of a playing card.
We can see into the houses as we go along
the Streets. The ground floors are as open
as the homes Of Japan. There a woman is
combing her hair. Next door one sits with
a hand sewing machine on her lap, while
another in the same family is making her
toilet in full sight of the passers-by.
The room along the sidewalks are work.
shops by day and sleeping place by night
Here is a shoemaker, with his boys sitting
at their benches about him. all pegging and
sewing. The wife. a rather pretty young
girl, is running a machine az the back and
a bright-eyed. nude baby rolls about on
the floor.
Next door is a grocery and farther on are
dressmakers' establishments. See, each has
a half dozen or more black and brown Porto
Rican girls working machines or sewing
- slt- -. L-.J Utara g. N c1..a
store further on. AS We pass 1t we see that
it has a little stall just off at one side, out
Of the top of which a lady's head peeps.
| That Is the stall where women go when
| they try on their shoes. They are very
| chary of showing their ankles, although
their children or little sisters may be trot-
ting around half naked.
IN THE SHOPS AT SAN JUAN.
But let US take a close look at the stores.
They are like caves walled with shelves.
| They seem exceedingly small. but they are
| filled with buyers and sellers. For a week
| after I came here I thought San Juan had
| TO business to speak of. 1 know better now.
| These little caves or box-like. rooms are
only show rooms and sample rooms to the
| great quarters at the back, which are filled
| with all sorts OF goods. I find that some
| Of the merchants carry large stocks, and
| that not a few do a business of several hun
| dred thousand dollars a year.
The most of the trading is done in cash,
| although it was different before the war.
Then credit was given from coffee crop to
coffee crop, but now all money transactions
| are unsettled AID trade Is suffering from
| change of government. The rich Spaniards
have left, and the Americans who have so
far come are not money s%penders. They
| are army and navy officials who make most
Of their purchases of the commissary de-
| partment. They receive comparatively small
| salaries, and much Of their money goes
back to America.
But here we are at a dry goods establish
ment. 1t IS one of the biggest of San Juan.
I know the merchant, and he will show us
over his store. The little oubby hole we en-
ter Is walled with shelves. 1t has hardly
room for the clerks to turn around in, and
you would not suppose that the stock all
told was worth more than $1,000. You are
mistaken. This man has 100000 worth of
goods packed way in the rear. He Is a
large wholesale dealer and he has several
branch stores in San Juan. We walk with
him through one dark room after another
filled with boxes and bales. Some of the
goods are yet unopened. They lie in their
original packages awaiting orders. We find
the same thing in the drug stores, in the
hardware stores, and. in fact. in all stores.
The Porto Ricans do a big business and
they are good merchants. They are indeed
such sharp traders that you find few Jews
In Porto Rico. They can. l am told, give
the Jews odds and beat them. 1t is doubtful
whether the Americans can get much of a
foothold here as merchants. The Porto Ri
cans are clannish; they like to patronize
their own people. They care. however. for
the dollar, and it may be that the competi-
ton Of prices will make a difference.
QUEER BUSINESS SIGNS.
All the business of Porto Rico is done in
Spanish. 1t would be foolish for our peo'
pie to send commercial travellers here whc
canno speak Spanish. and an American
merchant who did not understand the Ian
guaee would fare badly. The business sign.
here are in Spanish. You see them ovel
the stores. They are not the names of tn,
owners and give no indication Of the char
acter Of the goods for sale. There is on,
named La Perla,, or THE Pearl" 1t is
notion store. Opposite it is a dry goods es
tablishment over which / see the words "E
Gallo de Oro.' or THE Golden Cock" Will,
further down the street is a hardware stor,
labeled THE Flower Of July" There is
store here labeled La Nina" or 9Th,
Maiden" which really sells gentlemen
shirts and hats. and a barber shop labeled
La Hija de Borinquen," THE Daughter o
Borinquen.' A man never puts his Owl
name over his store. 1 suppose he choose:
the name OF the mascot which he thinks 4
to bring him luck.
/ am much interested In the Porto Ricar
clerks. We see many Of them as we wall
through the streets. Some do not weal
coats nor vests. but clean white shirts anC
pantaloons, with a fancy belt between
They are sleek looking. dapper young dan
dies, and excellent statesmen. Their wages
however. would not keep a New York clerl
in cigars-and soda water. The average sal
airy is 10 pesos a month and board. Dis
count the pesos at 40 per cent. and you hav,
a salary OF six American dollars. and yol
can cut down the board TO about the same
ratio. II consists OF a cup of coffee ant
a piece OF dry bread for breakfast. OF
soup. meat and vegetables an6 a dessert fo
luncheon. and of about the same for dinner
The clerks live In the back rooms OF thu
. stores on the ground floor. Each has hi