The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-23
ORT RICiS KITES.
Men and Women AS Well as Bows Inter-
ested in Flying Them.

On the long slopes of brilliant green grass
that stretch away from the walls OF Cristobal
Colon and dwindle down into the city Of San
Juan, a great crowd OF curious and noisy men,
women and children stand every morning.
gesticulating half madly at one another. talk
ing very fast and occasionally breaking up into
little groups. more excited than the rest.
Above their heads there is always a fiotilla OF
big kites. ducking. diving. floating upward, and
performing queer tricks as they fiirt and play
with the ocean wind billowing inward from the
southern sea.
One great red paper monster darted swiftly
upward above the others on one occasion.
Then a shout went up from the crowd. II
seemed to be having a race with q blue one
sailing dangerously near; A hundred trHm-
raised frantirally IN tn" air. shaking I'VE end
ten peso notes, Offering bets on the red; The
3" the betting went on. amid trcmend3us ex-
element. more noticeable thana public demon
s%trati9n IN honor Of the G2Gyrrh4"r.GenGTa ii,,,,o
Catanian. unwound several yards Of string that
Guided his airship; Its tai was long striped
Of cardboard all along its graceful length, Lit:
tie American taGs to "a d. f ron IT,, the tn Gdf% 6r %i
Rican was n diplomat. like his brothers. And
when he unwGund the guiding lever. a. oncGtho
blue shot W. huddled close beside the red Tor
a moment. and then a once. with an incompre;
hensible movement. il darted across the faceo OF
its antagonist ana III a momeht me lalter was
floating downward uncontro,lahly toward Ihe
ground. The sharp, curved KNIFE Win Whlch
the blu" was hurdcned had severed the string
OF the red, and the latter had lost and the vic,
torious kite few upward like n newly liberated
bird. "
The knife is n necessary and Legitimate bur
den Of every kite that enters the betting ring.
and this seems to enhance the uncertainty, OF
the sport. and It REQUIRES n magniln%mt hiS,
antagonist. The skill which men and even
boys display In this respect Is sometimes al
most astounding.
In Il country where cocklRntlhG Is a natlohh!
sport. and where bulltghtlng. would be III
vogue II the American. authorities would per:
nit. where gambling is the chief paStlme OF
both mon and women, it is somewhat surpris;
ing that so mild n practice AS kltehying shnulu
The element Of chance. however. ana the
right TO unlimited and unrestricted betting.
has carried it swiftly into popular FAVOR ana so
" In Porto Rico Laurie. now moved to Havana;
was for years tn" potcntate OF kites lie used
To- sit in the sun there under the soft blue sky,
way up on the hill near old IrlStobal colon,
with little heaps OF long. slender sticks carved
from the big redwood tree, MS litsirpnt Stool
! beside him. ns he Whitfield with Il long. keen
blade like a machetr,
From TN" hands 81 the old Iunan tEer" ms
come many a prizewinneT. One was 2 Ieet IN
height and 3 feet in width. and II was Gov
cred over with the nag o! tuha, am II bore I.
self haughtily in the wind. Its ,lyer tossed II
it'Ir.w achattering crowd bigger than a Go
mnz uarad,, and Il felt its importance, for II
rugged h~atefully a. the, string ana struggled
with emotional Jerks to be free. IL was so sym
wild with cheering, and a little Cuban police
officer. in the brand new regulation biue UNI.
form, with silver decorations, tried to assert
his authority IN vain.