Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-02

is four of Uncle Sans government mules.
They will go slow or as fast as we like,
and we shall get relays of new mules at
noon every day.
The Military Road.
The route we shall take shall be over the
famous military road, made at an enor-
nous cost by the Spaniards. 1t winds its
way across the mountains from the coast
of the Caribbean sea to that of the Allan
tic through of the most beautiful
regions of the world. 1t is SO smooth and
free from dust that you will not need to
wearzotd clothes. and you can ride as COM
fortably upon it upon your asphalt or
macadam at home.
| despair of giving you a conception of
this highway. There is nothing better in
the United States. It is smoother than the
driveways of Central Park. New York, and
better constructed than the roads in Sol
diers Home Park at Washington. There
is not pebble. not a rut in it, and still it
has been cut right cut Of the mountains
1t is twenty feet wide and more winding
than the Mississippi river. AT times as we
go over 1t we shall be hanging to the sides
OF precpices and we shall wind about in
Vulnerable horse shoe curves. Now the
road may be seen both above and below
us. and again may trace its wanderings
for miles about the hills.
How the Road is Kept.
As we go we shall see hundreds of poems
working on the road. They are thought to
have a fat job for they have employment
all the year round. They toll from sunrise
to sunset and their wages are 30 cents a
day. AT intervals along the road we pass
square buildings the homes of the officials
in charge. Each gang has its overSeer.
whose chief sign of office is a leather bag.
much like "A woman's shopping bag, in
which he carries the money to pay oft the
men.
The length of the military road is eighty
one miles | refer to the main trunk line.
There are branches. over which shall
go which make thirty forty miles more,
giving us a trip of more than leo miles.
Maj. Hill, the civil engineer in charge of
the public works of Porto Rico, says that
the Standards had altogether eleven mil
itary roads and that their original plans
included the whole island. He estimates
that the cost of this road over which we
are gong was probably S2.mo,oH- 1t was.
however. constructed after the eXtravaSant
methods of the Spaniards and if made to-
day it should not cost more than $4,000 a
mile.
Through the Sugar Plantations.
We begin our ride at Playa. the port for
Ponce. driving first to Ponce city. two
miles away. We go past the OK carts and
pack trains which are bringing goods to
the coast. stop moment at the commits
sary department for supplies and then
make our way out through the sugar plan
tations to the foot of the mountains
Vast 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 buildings, the sugar
factories their smoke stacks leaning.
it were. against the sky. The most of the
coast is lined with sugar plantations, the
most Of which of vast extent, and not
a few of which are making fortunes for
their owners.
We go over mountain streams in which
scnres of washerwenlen. bare footed and
l.,r IL. 0exf Ia he OF a
pounding the dirt out OF the clothes. Others
have spread the washed garments out on
the grass and are .prini1ling them from
the streams in order to bleach them.
Ina the Hills.
Now we are on the edge of the hills
How dry they look in the distance. Many
of them seem rough and bare. They make
us think of the Aneghenies in August-for
at this point miss the rich tropical lux
uriance we expected to find in Porto Rico
1t will be different further on.
Notice how the clouds rest the tops
of the mount aims. Many of the peaks are
hidden and ieecy white masses nestle here
and there on the higher slopes This is
throughout Porto Rico. There is plenty
of sun, b,u the hot rays are often tenn
pered by clouds. The air is moist, but
there is always a breeze. and even at mid
day in the mountains the heat is not very
unpleasant.
Many OF the hills are covered with grass.
There one upon winch iat cattle are
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 are
SO sharp that you cannot crawl over them,
and they serve well to keep in the stock
The Country Houses.
Where are the farm houses and where
are the barns! Farm houses as we know
them are not to be seen in Porto Rico.
Here and there Is the home of 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 houses are built high off the ground. |
and. as in the cities, the well-to-do people
all live upstairs.
AS to barns. there is. venture. not one
in the country. The cattle and horses feed
ont of doors all the year round. 1t is never
cold here and there is always good pasture.
All along the road and scattered over the
hills we see the homes of the poems They
are little shacks made of boards or palm
bark They are so poor that you would
not think them fit for your cow. You could
put UP any one of them for less than s..
and few are more than fifteen feet square.
We see more of theSe shacks as we go on
our way up the hills. Some of titem are
to be reached only by mule paths and are
in such steep places that it would seem
that even a mule could not climb up to
them. Still those little huts are the homes