BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1901-10-10
lu The RlIIl Good.

One Of the first facts, and the most dis
agreeable one to boot, TO st1ka the attention
u . stranger. or even An observAnt Citisen ID
! scalk around town, 10 the unanitery oondit.
'on OF most OF our back streets. Ia suoh
Itrests as San Sebastian, the side STREET /
from Tetuan st. 70 tho Msrins. Plsss end
the little narrow alleys leading down
to the sea from the Gale de Oomerci,,
IAe scent ID nsuseous to "a extreme
and the sigkt 10 just ~ bad. Filth and
eHcretA ID dotted all along tae sides Of
the road forming an eye sore In what iss
itself not pleasant locality, and should /
some unwary stroller chance to wander toI
the borders Of the beaten road be is almostI
sure to saIk near spot that u especially oss
fepsive. Even more 90 10 this the case ID. & |
side street extending from the corner Of ftheI
Finlay Offices to Tetuan st. That Skfptt
opening out on the most imposing part cti
the city, should be allowed TO become
grass grown dumping ground .for whoever
chooses to use It as such constitutes mensce
70 public health WHY'S not the system Of
public lavAtories adopted BY the govern.
nentf
Ithas proven very successful linother West
indian Capitals, notably In Port Of Spain
he Capital Of Trinidad where public wash
-oom can be found In ell Of the squares, and
IN every locality where one is considered TO-
% desirable. The advantages Of such q
system not only to the general population,
nut also to the sanitary condition Of the
own, and the improvement Of the streets.
question are plainly evident The bull.
dings are made Of light sheet iron, measure
rom seven to eight feet 10 height, and from
eight TO twelve feet In circumference. They
are well ventilated, durable, B private
s1d though not strictly ornamental are far
from being an unsightly feature IN any public
resort. They require very lit le attendance,
and being built on tie same principle
% water closet, and connected with the un
'dergrouod sewer p'pes, can sssily bs kept
clean and wholesome at very email expense.
Another thing that is needed here like
every Il ng else that ID needed 10 Porto Rice)
needed pretty badly, are free public fresh sater
ha'k that would enable, the general public
be obtain deceit bath on the payment Ct
small fee. 1t 10 generally ksown that
sea sater 10 useless a. seleanser, either Of the
'dy, or Of clothes. And yet large rer
centsge o. the worthy poor ere compelled to
resort to the sea Tor ordinary bathing pur-
poses, through lack Of conven,e1ce for obtain.
ing fresh ater in the desired quantity. Com
parisoEs are odious, but ct some times they
serve very useful purpose. Bridgetown
the capital Of Barbados, has lie public fresh
water 6aths, - has San Thomas. also Poit
Of Spain. In the latter, the Government
owns the largest. Il is built Of stoce
throughout, 10 about 80 feet long BY 80 w,ds,
and 10 divided into two paris, one for women
and the her for men. In the centre Of
each apAftment . urge concrete bath b
sunk on slant, one end betDg only q #.
deep, while the other attains . depth OF 6 Il.
Thus every one can be sure Of bath to suit
their taste, from the child who 10 ''atraid,n p
to the man who wants &, "plunge.n A
charge Of two cents bath IL leYled from eli,
aud it may be said piik certainty that sell
dom does the days s.iAkep fall below $3.50,
many days Saturdays & Sunday mernihe1
especially, bringing ~ high "a IS to %.
The only paj ment Of cash for expenses
would consist Of the salaries Of boy to taxa
the money, and keep sn account Of the d65's
esrnings; and watchmau TO- enforce any
rules that may be requisite for the consea
vance OF law and ordsr. There 10 little 81
no reason, why such 90 instifuliOn should
not be erected here and as It can be madg
self supporting, II not entirely, At least ii
part, ths cost Of the building would be abeut
tke only expense required. Such, boon as
the erection of Q Public Bath house would
not fail to be appreciated By the inhabitants,
and would 60 far towards estAbIiahIng 1
nra .y,apal In, ,nrnvav,aue IL ,,1,lsS R.SfsI
OEe thing more, cannot be TOO repeatedly
iorced home to the attention o. public men,
10 the standing danger to the community In
the present inefiiciency Of the local fire bri
gade to cope with anything in the shOps Of :
really serious fire. In 1894 Port Of Spain
was rayaged BY . Gre that swept away so
per cent. Of bar business houses. In the
enquiry that followed in the coarts regard.
ing the cause Of the FIRE, nothing tcas elici.
ted but she fact that the Streets were too
narrow and that given favorable Wind, fira
on one side Of the street could easily leap
across the other side and on throngh the
town. Now there sre few capitais IN the
West Indies, that this fact interests more
closely than San Juan.
Tksre 10 NOT . really wide street IN Tia
toNn, given and large ffe In the eastern
part Of the town during strong wind, and
the results may we'll Be disastrous. No rel
medy can be spplied 70 this defect until snl
authorised government takes the matter I'M
hand and improves the Fire Dept, But
straugest Of aIi, 10 the fact, that 90 lsrgs 81
town as San Juan with 20 large an Amsri.l
can element in it's population should be co.
old fashioned and poss6s 90 few Of the neCess
aries OF modern civilization, especially
wken il is remembered that Porto Rico isl
an American Country, and that the boast
of the American citisen Is that be Is Of 81
race, who holds indisputed possession Of 8
reputation for Progressiveness and s.Hustl.
ingn Yet--here il Porto Rico--a part oil
the United Sfates--and one which will take
. lot Of 'Hustlingn to bring into any thing
like up to date style still stepping slowly
while the majority Of our British Island
neighbours, are 20 sschickp and stylish a.
possible, with nearly every modern improve.
ment visible Ia their capitals.