Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-26
PROVED CONDITIONS
Need is Less P9ss.i$ Than It Was in
r0rto Rico.
Seed Planted After the Great Storm
Beginning to fteld-Good Eff
feet Of Public Works.
Correspondence of The Evening Star.

San JUAN P. r., October 1S, 1899.
1t was recently my good fortune to &C.
company the agent sent out by the insular
board Of charities Of Porto Rico to investi-
gate the distribution Of storm ratiens'' at
the towns of Manati, Arecibo, Iltuado,
Lares and Aguadilla. Two facts were very
forcfbly impressed upon my mind by what
saw at these points and others.
FIRST, that need, dire and urgent need,
does exist, and, secondly, that such need is
unnecessary.
OF the existence of 1t, evidence Of all
kinds Is only too abundant. Hungry hordes
at every point of distribution bore witness
to this fact. while along the road the tracks
OF the specter Of hunger, grim and gaunt,
We're plainly evident. Evident in the num-
Der OF miserable novels, often constructed
out of the scattered fragments of the roofs,
beneath which whole families were shelter
ed.evident in the baroness of the coffee
and banana growth-evident in the silence
of the sugar mills whose fires had been
blown out by that terrible blast of August
evidence of the non-necessity of this con-
d1t1on OF affairs Is not less abundant.
The quick response that nature makes to
even the slightest effort to cooperate with
her in the production of almost every form
or vegetable food, the abundance of the
most fertile soil, the profuseness of her
gifts in all varieties of the kindly fruits
of the earth" the quick succession of sun
shine and shower, insures not only the
oance of its necessities and even luxuries to
any one who will supplement even in a
slight degree the efforts of nature
In spite of this, though, the deardfully
aenemfc appearance of so many, especially
those of the rural districts. testifies to the
long continuance of period of semi-star-
walton, which, it is said, has been the nor
NAL condition here for centuries.
Improvement I'm Conditions.
That the present need is decreasing is in
Dictated in the suspension of storm ra-
tons" at San Juan and other points, as
noted in previous letter
Already the seed sown first after the
storm is beginning to yield returns, and
with the coffee crop nearly ready for har-
vest the work so furnished will enable
many to dispense with other means of sup
port.
The recent granting of franchise to the
New York and Porto Rico Steamship Com
pany for the construction of the new wharf
at San Juan will go far toward improving
the condition by furnishing what is the
crying need of the hour-work.- This work
which will begin November 1, will give
steady employment to about 200 laborers
for six months and will put in circulation
about $40, 600.
Another prospective aid to the re-estab-
Eshment of prosperity is the naval station
which, it is said. will be started in the near
future. Some delay in beginning this work
has been caused by the opposition from
some quarters to the site proposed, which,
it is claimed, will interfere with the growth
of San Juan.
A new site, lying the outskirts of San
turce. suburban town. and embracing
about 2J0 acres, has been suggested Shops
and dry docks for the construction of all
kinds of marine vehicles are to be built
The establishment of this station will be a
most important step toward the creation
of permanent prosperity.
Sanitary Measures.
Now that the food question SO far as it
relates to quantity is becoming of less
Importance, attention is being turned to
the consideration Of the quality, and an
order looking to the prevention and detec-
ton of food adulteration has recently been
issued, presumably at the suggestion of the
board of health.
Measures also being taken to have q
thorough chemical examination made of
the water sources of the island to deter
mine the fitness of the water for drinking
and ordinary domestic uses.
engaging the attention of the health board
is the examination of all medical practition-
eIs, dentists, druggists, embalmers, &c.
There has never been on this island
medical school, but there were under the
old regime what were known as subdelega-
lions Of medicine and pharmacy, which
were supposed to pass judgment on the fit
ness of the candidate to practice his pro-
fession His success or failure in these ex-
aminations seemed to have depended more
on the fullness of his purse than on his
mind. En- one case that I've heard of doubt
as to the fitness of the candidate was dis
PEELED only after a fee Of 800 pesos had
been extracted from him. But the times
have changed and these things will change