Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-05-30
POINTS ABOUT PORTO RICO.
of the Island Brought Out in
Recent Lecture.

"Our Caribbean Possession. Porto
lico," was described in an illustrated
lecture at the Art gallery one even
ng lately before the Brooklyn insti-
:ute, by Miss Anne Rhodes, of-West
New Brighton, Staten Island. It was
discovered to be a pleasing country
With great natural advantages. but to
have had many of these overpowered
BY misrule and by the lack of santa
ion due to the ignorant condition of
he lnha bitants. And yet the lecturer
vas so fair-minded in her citing forth
If these facts that even Porto Rican
must have felt her genuine interest
the welfare of his country, reports
he New York Times
Starting from this harbor in winter,
pictures showed the ice-covered yes
ie1 and ice-filled water, which condi-
ions rapidly changed as the south
.rn trip was made, the most striking
evidence being in the increased blue
less of the water when the gulf
stream was entered. Flying fish and
other peculiar features of the south
,rn waters entertained the passen-
gers until at last the island was
reached and the old fort, FL Moro,
rowned upon the northerners. It's
walls are 20 feet thick and the Ma tives
say it is impregna BILE, certainly it with
tOOd the shells from American ships.
The trip up the narrow and tortuous
channel to San Juan was the occasion
IF many interesting views and the de-
icent from the vessel into the small
boats which conveyed the passengers
10 shore was made with much discom-
fort. The wharf, built by the steam
ship company, was disliked by the ig
norant people and in less than year
was mysteriously burned. Efforts to
rebuild it were met with opposition
nstigated by those who control the
lighters of the harbor. The city is
quaint and pretty and the people are
mixture of whites of all ma tionalities
spanish predominating) negroes and
Indians. This gives varying shades of
color, form and face, but has produced
fragile people who age early and
lie young.
Before going inland other minor
ports were visited. Aguadilla, where
Columbus landed when he discovered
he island in 1894, and filled his water
asks; Mayaguez, the third city of
he island in size. built at the top and
tramway; Ponce, which equals San
Juan in the number of it's inha bitants
and whose landing place is La Playa
(the fort). Arroyo is the port of the
great sugar district. AS in all the
other water-side towns everything is
primitive.
From Arroyo a good military road
leads across the island, which is we'll
first town reached is Guayama, whose
miles of surrounding sugar planta-
tons have made the people wealthy.
At Jobos is a fine new sugar mill run
by American enterprise which handles
from 100 to $50 tons of sugar a day.
twenty tons is considered good out
put for the native mills. Other large
mills, called "Centrales.'' have been
built near Ponce and will be ready for
work next January. Quaint scenes
and travelling parties, steep passes,
picturesque views. fruit orchards of
Ill varieties-13 kinds of bananas be-
ing known-furnished beautiful or in
teres ting lantern slides, taken along
the road. San Juan was entered again,
this time from the land side, over the
fine bridge of San Antonio, which
spans the tidal river that makes the
.ity an island and leads to the Puerto
di Santiago under the shadow of the
stately old fortress of San Cristobel,
which guards the land approach as
Ell Moro does that from the sea. San
Juan is called Spanish anu not a
Porto Rican city.
little by little" said Miss Rhodes,
sit is emerging from centuries of neg
let and not by steps SO short as we
are sometimes given to suppose. Pres
emily it will be beauty-spot in our
possessions and probably a health re-
sort, as its possibilities are great in
that line as we'll as in other directions
of development and prosperity"
Force of Gravity Over the Oceans.