The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-23


than 5000 people inside the walls A
large part of the $1,000 citizens are housed
outside. The space inside comprises eigh-
ty acres, but considerably more than
half Of this is taken up in streets and
plazas and the grounds of Moro castle
and San Christobel Another large part
is devoted to stores and other buildings,
30 that the people are crowded into a
very small section.
HUMAN CAVES OF SAN JUAN
They live.in fact, in quarters which are
more like caves or catacombs than the
homes Of human beings The town is
made up Of two-story houses built In
blocks close to the streets, each house
having hall running through the center.
The houses are of vast extent. Their
upper stories are the home of the rich
and well-to-do, who go through the COM
mon hall to reach them. The upper sto-
ries have large, airy and well lighted
apartments, and the well-to-do live yerv
comfortably.
The lower stories are made up of little
dens, the homes Of the poor In them
are scores OF rooms from ten to twelve
feet square, many of them without anv
light except from the door, and with mo
ventilation at night except through holes
cut out of the tops of the doors. In such
rooms families Of six, ten, fifteen and
sometimes twenty-five, sleeping on the
floor or upon cot beds, which are taken
outside during the day time.
In going along the streets OF San Juan
you can look through the halls and Won
see that every hall ends in a court at
the back. About this court open numer-
Gus rooms, each Of which is the home of
a Porto Rican family. Most of the rooms
are so small that the people do their
cooking out in the court. It IS in the
court that they wash their clothes, and
1t also forms their lounging place
Their water comes from a common els
tern, which is usually right next to the
cesspool and the common water closet
for the court.
When we took charge OF San Juan our
health inspectors found l. $40 cesspooIs in
the city, the most of them adjoining the
cisternS. They were nearly all full and
all filthy. Many of them had not been
cleaned for years. The majority were
without cemented bottoms, and all were
more or less leaky. It was indeed a won
der that the whole population was not
down with typhoid fever, and you would
think that they would be in this condi-
ton today. A great deal of cleaning has
been done, but not until a thorough sys-
tenn of water works Is established and
the householders are forced to put in
modern conveniences can the poor be-
come sanitarily safe.
INSIDE THE COURTS.
During my stay here ] have visited
many Of these courts and have taken
pictures Of the people who live In them.
Their inmates are as Clearly as could
be expected in their crowded condition.
and considering everything are remark
ably peaceable. Few of them have any
furniture, with the exception of perhaps
9 single table and chair. The cooking is
done on. little iron bowls filled with char
coal. The bowl IS about as large as a
good-sized washbasin. It has a hole in
the bottom fer draught, and 1t is so
small that orly one thing can be cooked
at time. Each family has a cook stove
Of this kind, and in some Of the courts
In the evening q dozen little stoves will
be going at once.
The people who inhabit the courts live
upon the work which they get in San
Juan. Few of the men receive more than
thirty cents day, and many of the
women who are servants get much less.
When the Americans first came many of
the children IN the courts were naked.
put the nudity is now confined to the
babies.
pEG0ARs OF SAN JUAN.
The population of some of the courts is
largely made up of beggars They are
filled with the lame, the halt and the
blind.
San Juan has more professional beggars
than any town of the size in the United
States. Indeed. beggars fare better here