Evening star., 1899-03-11
LATE TRIP TO PORTO RICO
Theme Of Addresses Before the National
Geographic Society.
Messrs. Wilson and Hill of q. 8. Geo<
logical survey Give Results
of Their observations.

"A Recent 1T1p 10 f'Ordo RICO was tnc
theme Of the addresses made last evening
at the meeting Of the National Geographic
Society at the Columbian University, the
large hall of which was packed to its ut
most capacity. Prof. Alexander Graham
Bell, president of the society, presided and
introduced the speakers. These were
Messrs. H. NJ Wilson and Robert T. Hill
of the United States geological survey.
Mr.. Wilson made the first address. His
mission to Porto Rico was, he said, pri-
marily to investigate the minerals of the
island and incidentally to study its topo3-
raphy. After giving an account of its dis
covery by Columbus in 1893 and how it's
riches We're hidden from the knowledge of
the civilized world for more than 800 years,
he expressed the opinion that Porto Rico
was possession that under American rule
will become invaluable to the people of the
United States. The climate is. he said,
magnificent.
Porto Rico comprises also number of
small islands, the largest of which is Mona,
which is in the Mona channel, and is chiefly
valuable because of its rich guano deposits.
The population of Porto Rico is about S15,-
0U0, of whom more than 100000 are white,
1900 negroes, and the remainder are mixed
races. They live scattered through the is
land, comparatively few being in the cities
and towns. The two largest cities are San
Ponce, 22,0O6.
he ohiy SteG FSau III tfiP 1SidHu Is
is known as the military road, which ex
tends from San Juan to Ponce 1t is kept
in fine condition, but during the Spanish
rule the expense was enormous. 1t Is rs
kilometers in length and cost as much to
build it as 1t cost the British to build 4,ooo
miles in Jamaica.
viewed From the Sea.
The general aspect of the island from the
sea is mountainous. The coast has very
few good harbors. and none is very de-
sirabe at present being not large enough
to accommodate vessels of large draught,
and difficult of access. Although the island
is only about i 900 miles long. there are
within its borders some 1900 or ! 800 rivers,
of greater or less extent, and all flow into
the sea independently. The average rain
fell during the year at San Juan is fifty
four inches. or about ten inches more than
usually falls in Washington, but there are
some places in Porto Rico where the aver
age annual rainfall is not more than TWEEN
ty incnes while in 1893 at one of the towns
there was no rain for thirteen months.
The cattle of Porto Rico are of larger
size than the average of those found in our
land, and are the most valuable product
of the island The horses are, however.
very small being but little larger than
Shetland ponies. They are very sure-footed,
and can climb heights that the American
horses can not As a result the former are
very popular with tourists. The Porto
Rican horses carry the mail from San Juan
to Ponce eighty miles. in about twen-
ty-one hours. There are frequent relays,
but the little animals keep in gallop dur
ing the greater part of the journey.
There are a number of country roads, but
each is Independent of the other, starting
from certain point and terminating in the
mud
Two Discoveries.
Mr.. HILL who followed Mr. Wilson said
the greatest day in the history of Porto
Rico was when it was discovered by Chris
her Cpll1p1buc ba
was when it was rediscovered in July last
by General Miles. He could mot he said
agree with those who enthusiast ticaily
optimistic regarding Porto Rico. He
thought in many lines there was nearly
much development could be obtained.
The population is, he said. 321 to the square
mile. There is room On the island for scien-
tific farmers, who can show the natives
how to raise oranges. bananas and small
fruits for export, in which lines the Porto
RicanS are very deficient, but he did not,
believe that Americans can give them any
points raising sugar cane or coffee. Mr..
Hill was particularly impressed, he said /
with the fact that there is a vast amount of
unemployed labor in Porto Rico, and Ameri-
can capitalists who go there to invest
money in railroad and other engineering en-
terprises will find that they can get manual
work done very cheaply.
Railroads are very badly needed, those In
existence being narrow-gauge and few in
number, and very badly managed. Mr. Hill
told many interesting incidents of the peo-
pie of Porto Rico. closing with a thrilling
account of a Sunday night promenade in
san Juan. During the playing by the Amer
lean band of various tunes, each person
walked, stood or sat, as he or she was in
clined, and no especial attention was paid to
the music, but all at once there was a
change The promenading ceased. the
dancing stopped, every man took off his hat
and stood with respectful attention: the
band was playing THE Star Spangled Ban
ner."
As Mr.. Hill uttered the last four words
of his address the audience broke out into
enthusiastic applause, which was continued
until the meeting was declared adjourned
Both addresses were illustrated with num-
erous lantern Slides, thrown on a screen