The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-30

body was borne through the streets expos
ed TO the rays Of the sun. I need not say
that il made "A ghastly sight. this cortege.
When the boy pallbearers arrived at the
cemetery, the grave digger took matters
In hand, and the body was incOntinently
dumped into the ground without the COZ
fin, for In Porto Rico, especially in the
interior. collins are rarely sold outright;
they are simply rented out by the under
takers. and they are not devised at all
to be placed in the ground. Not alone
that, but even the ground in the Gene
teries is only rented for specified periods,
and if the rental Of plots is not promptly
paid the bodies are simply removed from
the cemeteries TO the nearest boneyard.
While the Porto Ricans are kindly and
hospitable, tncir ignorance is great and
their credulity is almost beyond belief.
For example, the Porto Ricans were told
by the Spanish soldiers, before the landing
Of the Americans, that the United States
soldiers were possessed of two heads and
were cannibals of the deepest dye. The poor
folks believed the story implicitly, and
their relief when they found that our
troops were quite like ordinary human be-
ings was pathetic. There are places in
the interior even now where the peop.e be-
leve that Americans belong to a two-head-
ed species of the human family A little
girl in Manau examined me with big-eyed
wonder for several days after my arrival
She finally edged up to me and asked me
in childish Spanish where I kept the other
one
other what?' I asked her.
Your other head she replied, and at
length succeeded in convincing the little
one that I had no superfluous No. head
concealed anywhere.
In a number of the small inland places
where l visited I was the first American
woman the natives had ever seen, and 1
was a distinct curiosity to them. They fol-
lowed me about in embarrassing droves,
calling me America Throughout the isl
and the natives are crazy TO learn Eng
fish, wherefore I don't blame them a great
deal, for the language they now speak is
only 10 be called Spanish by courtesy. 1t
is the most extraordinary tumble of Span
ish, Indian Africanese and Portuguese i'm
aginable. | speak of course, of the patois
of the inferior people. The high class
Porto Ricans speak probably, purer ar
ticle of Spanish than the Spaniards them
selves-the old, uncontaminated Spanish
THE contrast between splendor and
squalor is everywhere notable throughout
Porto Rico. The very rich people live on
estates Of dazzling magnifcenCe surround
ed by every conceivable luxury while the
poverty of the inferior people is often pitt
able.
The scenery is everywhere inspiring
but one cannot live on scenery alone. It
should be said at once that the food sup
Piled on Porto Rican tables-even on the
very best-is very bad 1t would not pass
muster on the table of a third-rate Wash
ington boarding house. The tropical meats
of course, are unbelievedy bad, and there
is little or no butter. OF course their fruits
are superb but one wearies of tropical
fruits-I have found that out.
Let me say something that Is true even
if it is not startling-it is a delightful
thing to live in the United States"