The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-06-25

far out inc Toe agricultural districts that ara
particularly rich In sugar. fruit. coffee. to.
iaceo and tho other products Of the island.
oil this VIII appeal to the American capitalist
who is coming to assist the islanders In max
Ing anew start In life, aud when. in addition
to all these advantages, he finds that the
people OF Ponce are progressive and recep-
tive, while those OF San Juan are like their
town, conservative and behind the times. ha
Will turn his attention to the smaller city. 10
the great advantage OF that section. The
prospects fer Ponce, therefore, are of the
brightest, aid II would not be surprising II
the city yet became the great trade center for
this part OF the world
While Ponce and San Juan are the business
centers Of the island, Mayaguez is by far the
prettiest TOW of the three. 1t is also one of
the mofi progressive places on the island and
is inhabited by people who are so industrious
that poverty is almost unknown-an unusual
condition of affairs for city in this part Of
the world.
In most OF the cities and towns OF Porto
Rico the Inhabitants are divided into four
classes-the Indians, of which there are few
still remaining on tho island the negroes
who numerically are about as strong us the
Indians, the spaniards and their descendants,
and the nalf breeds, who make up the bulk of
the population. Generally the color line is
not drawn very closely. but in this respect
Mayaguez is an exception. There the per-
centage OF whites is far in excess of that at
any other place and they keep their position
more closely.
While Mayaguez ranks but third CONNER
cially 1t manufactures more products than
both Of the other cities. While Ponce and
San Juan depend upon their exports and i'm
ports, Mayaguez has scores OF small indus
tries from which IT derives its wealth. 1t has
four big coffee mills and tannery that sup
lilies practically all the leather that is used
in the island, the leather being product of
the native vagl bark Besides this 1t has
several Chocolate factories and countless little
shops for the making Of straw hats baskets
saddles and for polishing and cutting the
tortoise she'll
In other respects Mayaguez is a pleasant
place of abode Its architecture is very at
tractige as compared with the heavy stone
structures that prevail In the larger cities,
end its conyeniences are quite modern. 1t has
a little street railroad. of extremely narrow
gauge but quite large enough for the traffic;
an electric light and power plant, an Ice plant
and a good water system. Its harbor, how
ever, is so poor that 1t can not hope to rank
CONNER cinlly with the other cities, where con-
dltions for the arrival and departure of yes
sells are OF a much more favorable character
=
ha. L
has seen all that the island has to offer in
this respect. or course there are towns,
thriving little places whose populations vary
from few hundred to few thousand, but
there are few of them that have many at
fractions from business point of view. Lares
is coffee center in the interior. in the vlcin
ity of which are to be found the richest coffee
lands on the island Cayey is q tobacco cen
ter, where there are ten or dozen Spanish
firms engaged in the making of cigars, and
Ceguas vale a large town, is dirty, I'M
healthy, and has little, II any, individuality, |
Wherever you NAV go, however, there are
attractive PAGES to be found and in short
time. II things continue to improve, there
will be no end of opportunities for those who
desire to settle In the country, either In mer- |
camille lines or as agricuturalists
The Inhabitants OF the island are generally |
more industrious than the Cubans, probably !
because OF the better character OF the coun |
try. While there are many Spaniards who are
still true tc their mother country, the mass
OF the people welcome the stranger and ex- |
tend hospitality to him most freely. The bet |
ter class fairly well educated. but the
poorer people are extremely ignorant The
facilities for good living on the island are ex-
cellent but the cooking like that OF Cuba, |
is abominable, being greasy and poisoned
with garlic. In the larger cities the hotels
and cafes have commenced to cater 10 the |
new trade that has come from the States and |
there one may obtain food that is eatable, but
the stranger soon tires of the methods of
cooking that still prevail generally on the
island.
Taking it all in all. therefore. the impress
sion that Porto Rico gives is much more ia
vorable than that which one derives from his
trims around Cuba, and It is probable that
this island will be prosperous and happy long
before the last member of the army of the
revolution has decided TO lay down his arms
and become once more a peaceful tiller of the
soil. Cuba has much more to recommend It,
but there is no end OF work to be done before
II will be nhabitable. Everything is ready
in Porto Rico. All that is needed is a settled
governmental policy and reasonable amount
Of Yankee push and Yankee capital,
George Alfred Edwards.
Essay on an Editor.
Metal Polisher.
We look into a cradle and behold male