The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-30

Spanish beaux. According to the Ell
quette Of Spain which prevails in Porto
Rico, young man cannot engage in
conversation with his sweetheart upon
the street. He dare not call upon her
expecting to find her alone, and in case
there is another man paying attention to
her he is not supposed to interfere. The
Americans will not regard the rules Of
Spanish etiquette, and at present the
chances seem to be all in their favor.
SOCIAL LIFE IN SAN JUAN.
I was surprised to see so many women
at this ball. did not think there were
so many pretty girls on the island. 1t is
only at such times W. see the better
classes of Porto Rico women. They sell
dom go upon the streets. They do not
hang out of the windows or over the bal
comics, as the South American girls do,
and in short they are very exclusive. 1t
Is only few of them that go out to
walk in the plaza when the military
bands play, and you might be for months
in Porto Rico and not know that it had
a -four hundred"
I believe the better class Porto Ricans
| are very friendly toward the Americans
This feeling has been materially bettered
by the conduct of some of our army off,
| Gals, and especially by Gen. Fred Grant
and his wife Mrs. Grant is accustomed
to entertaining, and during her stay here
| she gave receptions and dinners every
| week. To her receptions the Porto Ricans
were glad to come, and here they met the
wives of the officers of our army and
navy and the officers themselves. Other
Americans who were in San Juan were
| invited, and in this way pleasant relatlons
| have been established.
WHITE HOUSE OF SAN JUAN.
| It might pay Uncle Sam to allow our
| governor general at Porto Rico sum
| for entertaining 1t would do much to
teach the Porto Ricans American ways
| and to bring them into accord with US.
| Gen. Henry did not entertain much dur
| ing his stay but this was probably be-
cause his wife was not very well.
The government palace is well adapted
to receptions. 1t is, you know, the home
| of the captain general, which came into
| our hands during the war. 1t is an i'm
mense building of two stories, having, I
| judge, at least two score rooms. A num-
Der of these are now devoted to offices,
but there is left almost as much room
as in the white house, and Gen. Davis
has several magnificent parlors.
| Entering the palace, you go In between
| two of our soldiers and walk up a wide
| staircase, by a stack of rifles, past a
| mirror draped with two American flags,
| to the second floor. This is the living
| part of the palace. Turning to the left,
you first enter the reception room, which
| is as large as the ordinary parlor, and
| thence pass on into the drawing room,
which is about fifty feet long, twenty-five
feet wide and twenty feet high. 1t is
f1oored with white and black marble. Its
walls are frescoed in lilac and gilt and
the room is almost covered with large
mirrors.
The drawing room, like the rest of the
palace, is furnished just it was when
the Spanish left 1t. Uncle Sam bought
the furniture, including the piano, the
billiard table and the carriage and
horses, which our governor general
drives. The palace, in fact, looks more
like a Spanish dwelling house than an
American one. The chairs are OF
Austrian Brentwood, and they are ar
ranged about marble tables in Spanish
style. Upon some of the walls are pic.
lures of Spanish scenery painted in oils
and as you go out of the drawing room
into the music room you pass bronze
statues of Spanish knights in arrnor or
pedestals of black marble
| l particularly examined the piano /
was made in Barcelona, and it is sait
that 1t originally cost 81, 600.
| Beyond the music room is the billiard
room, where the Spanish officials cracked
the ivory balls which our officials craci
now. This room has windows looking on
upon the palace gardens, the bay an(
MORO castle. From it you can see tn,
Casa Blanca, another government build
Ing, which stands upon the foundations O
house in which Ponce de Leon Hvet
several hundred years ago. The palace
itself was begun In the sixteenth cen
fury, although it was not finished unit
1S4S
HOW PORTO RICANS LIVE.
1t seems strange to Americans to hav
the parlors and reception rooms on TIL
second floor. This is the custom in mos
of the towns of Porto Rico. The rich PEG
pie of San Juan all live in the secont
stories of their houses, the lower floor
being given up to the poor. Out In tht
country the houses of the richest farm
ers have store houses. granaries or sta
bles beneath them, and you have to go VI
long steps to get to the front door.
The average eoUntry house has ~