Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1900-04-12


neos in every detail ana military dis
ctpline IS very much in evidence. The
men seemed glad To see and be able
To ;alk with some people from home
as they expressed il; rhey We're very
much tlItci II >he time OF our visit
over HE rUmor ;ha; they were 20 be
sent back 70 ;hg states. although at
ne same time they expressed some re-
slet 81, having To leave after having
become accustomed and more or less
attached 10 the place ana It's sur
roundingS.
Ponce, the largest place on the
island, Is situated in the center of
the southern coast, The town itself is
,hrer miles inland ana the landing is
made Al Port Ponce ov f. Playa. This
city Is 10y far The mos; cosmopolitan
Of any We visited and more Americans
are 20 NE found &ere than in all the
rest ot he Sland ,his refers 10 civ
aauS ami not the military Here you
find the metropolitan Idea developed
t1 greater degree than anywhere
elsa good American hotel run by
an American, good schools. ,he opera
IN excellent fire department. and near
ly everything chat constitutes an up
ta-da,e town. We were entertained nj
the Casino club. Of which great many
Of tle Americans in Ponce are mem
beers, and received a most cordial wei
come from both these aud the native
members as We'll ana Il must he said
Of these latter that they are hospu-
able. cntcrt2nnG. refined and jealous
in ther efforts Jo establish mutual
relationship With Los Auelicanos,'
rhe next evening we attended a
promenade concert given by the Ponce
native band in the plaza, We uat-
orally expected to hear the strains of
some dreamy spanish waltz but were
| doomed 10 disappointment for our
ears were greeted with the opening
strains Of Georgia Campmeeting The
closing piece was The star Spangled
Banner and every man present re
moved his hat during the playing OF
1t This custom was established by
the American troops and the natives
have taken it mp and il certainly is
one excellent method of instilling
! Amercanism into their hitherto UNI
! patriotic selves, unpatriotic because
they felt that they had no country.
Ponce has many stores that it
may be proud Of and the ladies in the
party We're loud in their praises OF the
| lire of wares carried by certain Of the
G-y goods houses and not few pur-
chases We're made of lace goods, native
| linen fans of native manufacture and
! straw hats, all of which were of eX-
cellent quality and very reasonable in
price. This fact goes to show that the
products Of the island are not limited
to sugar, coffee ana tobacco
Fajardo on the east coast is beau
| tifully situated. Possessing a very
excellent harbor and being surrounded
| by attractive scenery it appeals to the
traveller at once. 1t is by far tn,
clearlcst place we visited and its peo-
pie have a thrifty appearance. There
| being no wharf we were forced t.
make a landing <s~ough The surf and
| be carried ashore on the. backs OF the
native boatmen. A member Of the
party received a baptism of salt water
bat considered it a part of the eXper-
fence and seemed none the worse for
| it as very few minutes in the tropic
! sun was sufficient to dry their cloth
| ing. A great deal Of shell work Is
done here and some of il is very hand
some chains, brooches, stiekpns aud
other articles are made from kind OF
shell peculiar 70 tho Porto Rican coast
al Ibis point. other varieties are also
found here, small and large. and Of all
the cOlors OF the rainbow. To the
south Of Faiardo ne great sugar plan
tations and for miles along the coast
one can Sc" nothing but sugar cane
Sugar being one Of the principle pro,
duets Of The island a great number OF
sugar plantations are met with, but a
strange thing in regard TO the raising
of these principal products Is that you
! find whole communities devoted to the
| raising Of one Of them without re-
gard 20 any of the rest OF course the
| fiat lands along the coast are better
adapted 70 sugar raising than some Of
| the more mountainous country OF the
! interior Of the island. A planter may
have on his property some fine sido
/ hill land whore tobacco or coffee would
flourish and yet he lets it stand idle and
is satisfied with his three crops Of
sugar cane year.
From fajardo through about 40
milcs Of the rouhnst sea We had yet eX
perienced brought US to San Juan
again. We were to make the trip
across the island via the great military
road from here to Ponce
Six O'Clock the next morning found
US ready TO start and our little party
presented quite a unique appearance
as We drove through the narrow
streets Id single file The trip was
made in two seated rigs drawn by a
g IL