Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-12-22

I 1t was the 4th of December, everything
was in the glory of summer. Here
and there we passed little huts around
which naked children were playing
Some pleasant little country homes
deck the route, fit for fair abodes, in
deed, If one could never get tired of
the signing of the surf or the smiling
beauty of the orange groves. While
thus lettering along the sylvan lowell
ness of the tropics and breathing the
soft air perfumed by flowers and
rlpening fruits thought of the leafless
woods of my own home and the chill
ing blasts that sweep through their
black branches. and l wished l was
there.
A crowd marched uD the street this
afternoon carrying a United States flag
and a banner inscribed with these
words in Spanish: Down with mono
poly; down with the price of bread and
meat and the bad employer" They had
motley brass band which played the
Star SDangled Banner and other pa
triotic airs. Every fellow yelled all
he could. They drew up before the
Alcaldea and shouted and blew their
horns until they were out of breath.
and then paraded in dwindling num-
bers and spirits the other streets. These
bubbles in the social state are fire.
| taunted in every possible manner. No
doubt the Door fellows have a cause.
There is a bread and meat monopoly
here and the poor, who get but little
for their work, pay high for these
substantials In this region of wide
spread pastures meat is "a cents a
pound, and bread in proportion. But
other things are lower. A dozen ban
anas cost three cents; a dozen oranges
the same. Three cents is the price of
a bootblack, lemonade, or a ride on
the street cars. From here to San
Juan is 119 miles; yet eggs are 45 cents
| there and Is cents here. so sluggish
and obstructed is the circulation in this
little island.
Our landlady is Slowly moving
around to our American tastes This
morning for breakfast We had oatmeal,
boiled eggs and butter. The reason one
of our party assigned for the absence
of butter. for there had been none on
the table, was, the goat answered the
purpose. But more than the menu at
our hotel. is the front yard, which is
filled with all manner of tro2ical foli-
age, in the midst of which fountain
tinkles, and at night decks the moon
light with a myriad of diamonds
Here, of an evening we sit and look
ing across the vista of sparkling spray,
of quaint verdure, and pillared por-
tails beyond, up to where the mountains
make a sky line among the stars. and
talk. Americana and Porto Rican. in
both languages and every phase Of
shattered attempt between. Amid such
the charming senoras who abound, but
the fund of each others vernacular is
! SO insufficient that the effort to make
use of the gladsome occasion is awk-
ward and distressing.
They have the funniest way of
sprinkling the streets here. The water
is let into the cutters, where it flows
freely, and from there it is scooped out
with shovels and thrown over the
streets. To gather the water for this
purpose, one man goes ahead with
bag Of sand, which he puts into the
gutter and thus forms a Dool for the
men with the shovels to- SCOOP from.
This is very simple and primitive
way to sprinkle the streets, but it Is
very effective way, and it is done rap
idly.
| am here only for this week. In
the meantime Mrs. Wilson and
daughter, Gertrude, are pleasantly
established in palatial dwelling in
San Turce, a suburb of San Juan,
where the surges of the ocean cease
lessly ROLL, and the Kokee whistles the
! whole night long,