Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-09-07
Life In Porto Rice.

Life In Porto Rice.
tE. 8. Wilson in Ironton Reglster.1
San Juan, Porto Rico, Aug. 20. 1900
l have been SO mixed in my feelings
since my arrival here that could mo-
fulfill my promise to write the Regis
ter. The scenes are so new to me and
the noises so incoherent and mysteri.
Gus that could hardly straighten out
my ideas into letter.
This Is foreign land, truly; for
eign in people, in habitation, in nat
ural scenery, and in the very air that
keeps ones blood moving.
THE TRIP.
On my trip here before we landed
we sailed clear around to the south OF
the island to Ponce, a city buried In
tropical luxury, and where We first
caught sight Of the strange people with
their infinite chatter and their lazy
languid ways. Our vessel was the at
traction of a motley crowd in skiffs OF
all shapes and sizes, filled with new
fruits, which we didn't know how to
eat, and didn't want to IL we had
and this Is used by clipping off the
end with a machete and drinking the
milk. The remainder is thrown away.
I tried this tactical fluid and found 1t
delightful, though the impression de-
rived most OF its force from the assur-
ance that 1t was very wholesome. Some
fruits, notably the mango, we were
| warned against, but l tried 1t merely
to ascertain II it was true as told, that
eating a mango was like licking mo-
lasses off woody dog, but not having
had both experiences | couldn't verify
it.
CITY OF PONCE.
Ponce is a large city, the largest on
the island, but not the most pleasant.
The population is afflicted with much
poverty. l was told by a man living
there that twenty dead bodies were
found at the plaza one morning, and
death occurred from starvation. But
this was not long after the hurricane
year ago. which devastated the ISL
and in the Ponce region, beyond the
power of pen to describe. Driven by
want from the wildness around,
these poor natives came to Ponce for
relief and died when they get there.
In the very suffering of starvation they
die in silence and show no sign till
their white faces are turned up to the
sun. There is much starvation yet,
but it seems to be quite as logical, II
not as natural as the flowers grow or
the brooks run. In the very wealth of
nature, the muscle withers and the
heart stops frCm mere inanition and
decay. So very ofen these poor persons
look no higher than the dirt at their
feet. But truce to thecrizing now
There are brighter hopes for the island
than these sad stories raise, for better
days are drawing and under the influ-
ence of "Old Glory" starvation will
disappear and plenty fill the island.
COSTS THREE CENTS,
From Ponce we sailed back to May
aquez, where we stayed day. This
is quite an agreeable place. Many gar
dens, divers fruits, fair homes, clean
streets and people till your eyes tire
with looking at them. Some clean and
brightly dressed, but the many in SLOW
enl attire, and the small ones in no
attire at all. Here the horse car fits up
and down the narrow streets, and such
cars! Three cents 1t costs for a trip
from the seaside to the farthest sub
urb, and on the car are people with
fruits, chickens, laundry and every
thing one sells or carries in a tropical
cline. Everywhere one looks the CO.
coanut tree waves its lovely plumes
and clustering beneath the plumes is
a barrelfull or more OF the big green
nuts.