The hatchet. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1883-19??, 1900-06-10

and the branches spread widely
Sugar-cane plantations can be start
ed i'm far less time, but while coffee
is largely grown on the hillsides ana
clear to their tops, bottom lands are
the best for cane, and these are not
so easy to secure in Porto Rico. Cane
requires but little cultivation, and 1t
grows ten years i'm this country with
out replanting. The cost of extracting
the sugar from the stalk Is about
twenty dollars on the gross product
of over three hundred dollars per acre
1t may be added that in Louisiana,
sugar cane must be replanted every
three years. The cost of machinery
for extraction-the cnrines, the boil
ers. the watts and the crushers-is
heavy, but the grower Of small means
can take his cane to the mill very
much as the farmer in the States used
10 take his corn, the miller returning
the finished product after deducting
toll. Good sugar cane land is easily
worth one hundred dollars an acre ana
is usually held mt far higher value
Tobacco land is worth quite as much
as cane land, and no better tobacco
can be grown on earth than on the ISL
and. For the man of small means
fruit raising offers far greater attrac-
ton than anything else he can engage
I'm. Fine oranges grow abundantly
without cultivation, and the expert
enced grower who introduces the Cal
ifornia navel fruit on the island VIII
make n fortune. Land suitable FOR
fruit can be had ut n comparatively
low figure and with low freight rates
and a line of steamers making the dis
lance from San Juan TO New York in
three days, there can be no cOmpetl-
ton from other sources of supply
Native Stores.
The general merchant will do well
to keep away from the island at pres
ent. Almost every other house on the
military road from Ponce to San Juan
is a general store, and while the prin-
cipal article of traffic Is rum, they all
carry a supply of such goods as are
of common use and the cOnsumptVe
capacity of the average native Is at
present woefully limited. 1t is notice
able that the average native buys his
sugar. coffee rice, and indeed, most
of his groceries, by the single penny's
worth.
The country needs a railway system
to assist in its development and fu-
ture prosperity, but it will require a
! Jim Hill or Vanderbilt, with the pa
thence of job, to wait for its success
! full operation. A good deal has been
said about a railroad around the ISL
and The present status of Porto RI
can railways is this; In 1873 a report
was presented to the minister of the
colonies embodying study made by
the engineer and head of public works
with the view of constructing rail
road which should start from the CAPT
tai, and passing through all the chic
towns near or on the coast, return t
the point Of departure, thus encirclini
the island. The provincial authorities
finally let out the contract and gay'
the exclusive franchise to a Frencl
company for nlnety-nine years ant
the guaranteed interest of eight pc
cent on the cost of construction. Tn
company promised to complete tn
line in six years, but it did not carr.
out its contract, nor has the islan'
treasurer paid its promised eight pc
cent interest. At present there ar
one hundred and twenty-seven mile
of completed railroad under this con
tract and considerably more partl
constructed The rOadbed is fairl
good. but the running stock is of e2
tremely inferior quality. and the rail
in many places are well consumed o
made badly defective by the damp ell
mate. Coal for fuel is imported fror
the United States. The speed of train
is twelve or fourteen miles per houl
There are first, second and third elias
cars, and the fare is five, three, an
two cents respectively, Spanish MOI
ey. per kilometer. A fleet Of light drai
fast steamers around the island woul
prove far more remuneratiye at pre-
ent than the railroad but the time
coming when the latter, with spurs
the smaller towns and in the hands {
American operators, will pay hanC
! somely.
Military Road and the People.
The construction Of railroad acro'
: the island from Ponce to San Jua
would be an engineering feat quite 6
difficult as that Of crossing the ALI
or the Rockies. Twenty miles baC
= from the coast on either side are SUI
cesslons or networks of sierras an
hills of varying height, some of the
I rising almost perpendicularly. The nj
itary road switches back and fort
for miles at angles so sharp that Il
pedestrian can often save time and e
fort as well rs distance, by climbir
!. on his hands and knees from one tut
}. to the other, a distance of not mo
: than fifty feet.
> After careful observation and STUD
: | am unable to see anything TO a
{ mire mental, moral or physical, in Il
: average Porto Rican native. 1t mu
J not be forgotten that he is either
/ product Of darkest Africa or of Spa
. or n mixture OF both, and it has be-
;, my experience that the better citiz,
u is the one of Spanish blood.
Although the island is of maryelo