West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1899-05-11
JUST FROM PORTO RICO.
what Our Soldiers Say OF the People
Over There and Their Manners and
Customs.

A'N'h 'hc regular army, on their
way home from Porto Rico, where
they had been for several months
with our Army Of Invasion and DC
cupation. Some had been mus
tered out and others were coming
ing home on furlough. There
were soldiers from three infantry
regiments and from one cavalry
regiment and one heavy artillery.
Nearly all were bringing home
relics and souvenirs Of various
kinds, consisting OF old Spanish
guns. swords, pistols, bayonets,
bullets, shells and pieces of shells,
knives and dsggers, machetes, pic
lures, etc.
The boys were tanned and sun
burnt from the hot climate over
there, but seemed to be in good
health, but the main point of this
story and what we want to tell
more particularly than anything
else, is that every ono of the
soldiers we talked with denounced
the Porto Ricans in unmeasured
terms and swore that they were the
LATEST, dirtiest lot of no account
beggars they had ever met with
anywhere and would steal every
thing in sight and could out lie the
devil himself. They declared thew
would not work and were tho big.
gest set of towards they had ever
seen anywhere. Didn't know how
to fight at all and couldn't use any
weapon except knife or machete,
or corn cutter" as the boys
called it and half, dozen Regulars
could run a whole company of
them. They would work one or
two days week and then off till
they eat that upNike the "Nation"
around here. They are not in it
In rough and tumble fight at all
and do not seem TO know how to
stand up and fight with their fist
like the English and Americans,
but If they can stab you In the
back or slip knife under your
RIBS in the dark, they will do it
very quickly if you give them any
offense or become too attentive to
their women, as they are very
Jealous and the girls over there
being very partial to our soldiers,
the boys had to 30 on their guard
all their time and never go out
after dark alone. The soldiers
declared that even the women and
children carried a knife about them
somewhere and all learned to do
this soon as they got big enough to
run around, like the "coons" in
this country carrying a razor. The
soldiers soon learned TO let their
women alone as owing to their
loose code Of morals and extreme
lack of personal cleanliness, they
were nearly all diseased in some
way and while some Of them are
pretty when they are young, they
soon get old and broken down and
sickly and ugly, aAd early 20 to
their graves and the bone-yard.
This latter is no joke, as every
grave yard has a bone.yord some
where about, where will be found a
great pile Of human bones, thrown
together in an indiscriminate mass.
Under the rules of their church
they are not allowed TO bury only
IN the "holy" ground Of tho old,
old cemeteries, near some cathedral
hundreds Of years ole and this has
been filed up many years ago and
every time q new grave IS dug,
bones are thrown up and collected
and carried and dumped ia the
common pile.
The soldiers were unanimous in
declaring that we had made a very
poor bargain IN acquiring Porto
Rico and that her people would
never make good citizens or be any
account 70 Us Whatever and that it
was shame for the government TO
be spending SO much money on
such a worthless gang Of beggars.
About tho only thing that our
soldiers ore doing or have been
doing over there 10 to clean up he
filth-of tho towns aud cities that
bas been accommodating for centuries
aud breeding disease and death 20
The inhabitants who we're too law
and careless TO clean it up. Our
boys kicked on being compelled 10
do this kind Of dirty work for an
unaUUreCiativ and thapkI-ro 1e,t ~