Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-07-06
THE POOR OF PORTO RICO.
Their Lives, Though Hard, Are Noa Without a Pleasant and
 Picturesque SfdA


 It has often been said that lone halh of the world does not know how the other half lives" The island of Porto Rico is a small part of what has been to us the .'other half" of the world. | shall try to tell you something of life as 1t Is lived and seen by the lnission- aries in the little mountain town of Lares, says Mrs. Charles B.. Scott in the American missionary. The town it. self is situated in valley in the midst of beautiful hills, ever green with the foliage of the orange, the bana na and the coffee. Naturally shut in from the outside world by the mountains. crossed only on pony back over the narrow mountain paths, the people here continue in their accustomed ways, unaffected by the influences which have made so many changes in the towns and cities of the coast Life in such a place is necessarily simple and the missionaries find it easy to do without many of the so-called necessi- ties of the homeland, and are como fortable and content sleeping on th4 canvas-coyered cots, with dressing tables made from drygoods boxes and draped with muslin, and a curtaim across one corner of the room instead of a closet.
 After the, work of the day is oven the family find rest and comfort in tho pleasant, airy living rooms, but for the all important refreshing of tho body they are dependent upon the ofw fees of the cook; so you, as well aM they, may have some interest in oun good-natured black Candida, whox when she is not in the kitchen, Is hoId~ ing the American baby. much to tho satisfaction of both.
 The Porto Rican stove is especiaIiN interesting. In shape it is somethinx3 like carpenters bench, about tw&a feet wide, five feet long and as high as an ordinary table. The outsida frame is of wood, and when the kitchS en is being freshly painted the stoya must not be neglected. The top and made are made of bricks and celnentN so arranged as to leave an openinM running from end tot end below thel fireplaces for draft. Along the top and at regular intervals are four from s inches deep, so set into the stove that the tops are on a level with the top of the stove. A maid who often neg- iects one fire would feel overburdened with the care of these four separatel fires at the same time, as is necessar ry with these stoves. The Americang housewife who prefers to have hen food baked can use a gasoline oven over one of these fires and the result is quite satisfactory.
 But even this oven, however crude and inconyenient, is seen only in the better homes of Porto Rico. After goodenatured Candida has finished hen days work and has found her way down the hill along the steep, narrow path that leads to "Shacktown,'s where she lives,if she wishes to pre- pare an evening meal for hungry chiI- dren she will bring out from the cor- ner of the room an empty oil canwhich had been given her by the missionaryy and which has been fitted up by the tAnsmith with grate near the top and an opening below for a draft. Tha making of the stove has cost her % cents, and she possesses better outd fit for cooking than many of hen neigh- bors. The writer had one of thesa stoves made for her own use, and, as it can be easily carried about, it isveru convenient. Many times has she sat on 8 low bench and popped corn oveN the coals in the oil can stove, whilG one or more wondering natives stood around seeing the operation for the first time, and afterward some oh them would try to pop their own corn Charcoal is the fuel used in these stoves, but many of the poor people are too poor to buy charcoal and make their fire with bits of wood and sticka which can be picked up.
 Small, green banans are the anosH common food of the poor peoples cooked with little codf1sh they are considered a great treat If want td give especial pleasure to my cook fur@ ,iish the bananas and codfish and shH will prepare her favorite dish.
 To the housekeeper who is providina for the needs of large family the daily supply of milk is important, and in the home of the missionaries we can alA ways depend upon the coming of MaryJ the milkwoman. She walks barefooted two or three miles often coming through the mud and pouring rain IA you go to her home you will find ai house, standing in the midst of oran9a and banana trees and the fragrant ooka foe, itself the only thing to mar the beauty of the tropical landscape. Ind side you will find her three childreas@ not as clean as herself, and in room still less so. All tho time that the Snother is gone, which is usuaa2y hal4 the day, these children are alone, cars ing for one another, and the oldest iz only six years of age. Father? They have none. Like thousands Of children in this beautiful island, they have no father to own thens- Although thes2 fathers sometimes live with their fans flies, it is with the sanction neither o6 priest or magistrate. This conditiom of morals is accounted for when we ara told that in the past the ma arriare cera>4