The Anaconda standard., 1899-01-05
It NEEDS A CLEANING
The City of San Juan is Indes-
cribably Filthy.
CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE
The Poor Glasses Only Live in the First
Stories-There Are No Sanitary Ar
rangements-Some Serious
Problems.

FTODlGIlS.
Correspondence of the Associated Press.
San Juan, Porto Rico, Dec. 1S.-In the
matter of cleanliness this city is de-
ceptive. If one comes from other island
towns to San Juan, or better yet, if one
comes from the average West Indian
port to San Juan, San Juan will at first
seem clean in comparison. This is be-
cause the streets Of Porto Rico's capital
are for the most part very well paved
and are kept actually fairly clean. A
comparison can be made to a shiny,
steel tire on very muddy wagon
wheel. The city streets then are for the
most part clean, but the houses and the
numberless interior courts and con-
Meeting alleyways are indescribably
dirty. If you ask what should be done
for the sanitation of the city you will
very likely be answered everything"
There is no doubt that the question
needs very thorough handling, and one
can well say that everything must be
done, for nothing to speak of has been
done in the past, and OF their own will
the people will do nothing to-day.
San Juan city is built on the western
end of a long and narrow island that
runs almost due east and west across
the northern side of San Juan harbor.
The northern side of this island is the
highest, being 60 or 70 feet above sea
level and from this ridge the land
slopes evenly to the south or harbor
side of the island. The harbor is large
and has an eastern and western en-
trance: the western entrance only can
a hu c ha asta antr
is shallow. But there is a fair current
of water through The harbor with each
slight raise and fall of the tide. The
prevailing winds are from the north.
A noticeable feature Of the city streets
is that the first floors. in cases where
the houses have two stories, are either
given over to offices or warehouses; or
are inha bited. by the poorer classes.
Every one knows that it is healthier to
live above the ground floor, conse-
quently all those who can afford to do
live there. A doctor of this city, man
who has studied the question of the
city's health, has declared that in order
to make the city stay clean and healthy,
these poorer classes, mostly composed
of negroes, should be driven away to
the country. This action he considers
imperative for the lasting success of
any measures toward city sanitation.
AS one walks through the strets one
catches glimpses of interior courts that
seem alive with people; enter these
courts and you are impressed with the
great number of people who live in
small spaces and deprived of air and
light Americans have wondered how
this city could house the 10000 inhabi-
tants attributed to it, visit to the
interiors of the houses would quickly
inform them. In these tenements the
sanitary arrangements are practically
nil. There are no public lavatories in
town, and the vast amount of clothes
that is weekly washed in this as in all
Central American cities is done in these
houses. Aleyways halls and crowded
rooms are forever hung with damp
clothing; dirty water stands in foul
tubs and so emptied into drains that
probably do not drain The houses are
crowded with naked children, food is
cooked over charcoal fires in any cor
ner, and all water comes from under
ground reservoirs in the yards that
catch the rain from the roofs. All the
water that the city has to-day is els
tern water. The mal-odors from these
many tenements blow out into the
streets and rise to the people who live
above. 1t is almost impossible to find
to-day in San Juan a second story for
living purposes under which there do
not reside several families with habits
such as is here described
Whether 'hsse peopl,' can be driven
10 lHe country Is d Inc ne
gro would prefer to live on eight square
feet of dirt in the capital than in the
fresh air of the country, and such tene-
ment property is highly profitable to
the owner here as elsewhere You can
not drive the negro to the open fields
unless you there provide shelter for
him, and even if you told him he must
move within three or six months he
would make no effort to find himself
quarters elsewhere. 1t would be neces-
sary to build houses for him in the
country and there make him remain.
Any such movement would be strongly
opposed by the property owner
While theoretically this action would
bring the best lasting results, its appli-
cation will be found difficult In case
1T cannot be done, the cleansing of the
city must be considered with these peo-
pie still in their homes. The natural
conditions of the town make a good
drainage system possible. There is am
pie fall from all points into the harbor.
Whether there is sufficient harbor flow
to carry away the matter thus drained
has never been determined. If there is
not, the eastern entrance might be suf-
ficiently enlarged to bring this about.
The Spaniards long ago started work
on system of water supply to be
brought from the country through
aqueducts, and this system was very
nearly completed when the war came
on. Unfortunately the Spaniards OBJ
tanned for their aqueduct condemned
pipes from Demerara, and to supply the
amount of water needed for San Juan
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