The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-03
IN THE MOUNTAINS OF PORTO RICO.
One Hundred Miles Among Our West Indian Hills With
Government Mules.

Queer Features of Life In the country-somethins
About Tobacco FieIds-A Land of Palms and
Rananas Where Oranges Four Cents a
Dozen Cotton Grows Trees-A Look
Tropics.
Copyrighted 1892 by Frank G. Carpenter
SAN JUAN, Porto Rico, Aug 12.--Let Us take
q trip together over Uncle Sans new island. /
give you idea of its beauty without you go
with We will start at Ponce and travel lelsurey
across Porto Rico, making notes upon the way. We
shall go over trip 1 recently made and repro
duce it in the notes took the ground. Our con-
yeyanee is a battery wagon, such as is used by
Uncle Sans telegraphic operators in time OF war
1t is big hall bed room, and so fitted out with
long cushioned seats that sit up or lie down
at will. Our motive power is four of Uncle Sans
government mules. They will go as slow or as fast
as we like and shall get relays of new mules
at every day.
THE MILITARY ROAD.
The route we shall take shah be over the famous
military road, made at enormous cost 10y the
Spaniards. 1t winds its way across the mountains
from the coast of the Caribbean to that of the
Atlantic through one of the most beautiful regions
of the world. 1t is smooth and free from dust
that you will need to old clothes, and you
can ride as comfortably upon it upon your as
phalt or macadam at home
1 despair of giving you conception Of this high
way. There is nothing better i'll the United States
1t is smoother than the driveways of Central Park,
New York and better constructed than the roads
IN Soldiers Home park at washington. There Is not
81 pebble not rut in it, and still it has been cut
right out of the mountains 1t is twenty feet wide
and more winding than the Mississippi river. AT
times as we go over it shall be hanging to the
sides of preepices, and we shall wind about nnum-
cradle horse shoe curves. Now the road may be
seen both above and below u.s. and again we may
trace it's wanderings for miles about the hills.
HOW THE ROAD is KEPT.
AS we go we shall see hundreds Of poems work
ing the road They are thought to have rat
job for they have employment all the year round.
They toll from sunrise to sunset and their wages are
80 cents day At intervals along the road we pass
square buildings the of the officials in charge.
Each gang has it's overseer, whose chief sign of
office is leather bag, much like woman's shopping
bag in which he carries the money to pay Off the
mon
The length of the military road is eighty-one
miles 1 refer to the main trunk line. There are
branches over which shall CO. which make thirty
or forty miles more, giving us trip of more than
100 miles.
Mai Hill, the civil engineer in charge of the
public works of Porto Rico says that the Spaniards
had altogether eleven military roads, and that their
original plans included the whole island He estE
mates that the cost of this road which we
are going was probably 100000. 1t was, how
ever constructed after the extrayagant methods of
the Spaniards and if made today it should not cost
more than $4,000 mile.
THROUGH THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS.
We begin our ride at Playa, the port for Ponce
driving first to Ponce city, two miles away. We &C
past the carts and pack trains which are bring
ing goods to the coast, stop moment at the COM
missa1y department for supplies and then make our
way cut through the sugar plantations to the foot
of the mountains.
Vast cane fields are to be everywhere seen ON
both sides. The black earth is covered with rich
growth of pale green out of which rise large build
ings sugar factories their smoke stacks leaning,
as it were against the sky The most of the coast
is lined with sugar plantations. the most of which
are of vast extent, and not a few Of which are
making fortunes for their owners.
We go over mountain streams in which scores
of washerwomen bare footed and bare legged, are
sitting the water and pounding the dirt out of the
clothes Oilers have spread the washed garments out
on the grass and are sprinkng them from the
streams in order to bleach them.
IN THE HILLS.
Now we are the edge of the hills. Howedry
they look in the distance. Many of them seem
rough and bare. They make think of the Al
legliauies in August-for at this point miss the
rich tropical luXurianee expected TO find In
Porto Ricoa@It will be different further
Notice how the clouds rest the tops of tue
mountains Many Of the peaks are hidden and feecy
white masses nestle here and there on the higher
Slopes This is throughout Porto Rico. There
is plenty Of but the hot rays are often tempered
bysclouds The air is moist but there is always a
breeze and even at midday in the mountains the
heat is not very unpleasant.
Many of the hills covered with grass, There
is one upon which fat cattle feeding, and here
is another which looks for all the world like any field
of the United States 1t is fenced with barbed wire
Further on are fields bounded by prickly hedges of
wild pineapples. The pines sharp that you
cannot crawl ever them, and they well to keep
In the stock.
THE COUNTRY HOUSES.
Where are the farm houses and where the
barns? Farm houses we know them are not to
be seen in Porto Rico Here and there is the home
of a planter, a building made of boards with holes
in the walls for windows and with pair of stairs
reaching from the ground to it's first floor. The