Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-11

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she would have her daughter play the plano
| for me. To-day Is Sunday" she said. land
! am a Methodist, and do not think 1t
just right for her to play on Sunday" And
this said in a land of the '.papaloi'' and
| 'mamaloi" and "voodooism," Of snake wor-
| ship and human sacrifice.
Upon expressing my surprise at the preva-
| lence OF the English tongue here, the re-
| mark follows that Puerto Plata is quite q
cosmopolitan city. But that scarcely ex-
| presses IT, 1t might more correctly be call
| ca an Americanized city. When 1t is stated
| that. the chairman Of the town council and
| mayor of the city is an American citizen
| there Is more significance in this one fact
eione than could be expressed in a column
" fora Newspaper discussion The law allows
| foreigners to be elected as members of the
| town council on the same footing as ma
| yves, or citizens Of the republic. Two of
IT'S members at the present time are Ameri-
cans, and at one time there were five for
| e'gners on the board, while only four others
were Dominicans, and four Of these for
| elsners were the consular representatives
OF their governments Where else in the
| world can such a liberal state of affairs in
| respect to local government be found as
| TINS! Yet this Is land known more than
ahy o'mer Tor Its pure military despotsm
| "nere liberty is fiction.
| Ownership Of Land.
Another seeming Inconsistency with the
prevailing notions at home regarding this
| country Is the fact that the people pay no
olrect tax The mayor tells me that even
| .heush The law taxed these people, it would
DC next to impossible to collect it, 1t seems
10 De traditional with them that the land
| that they possess, whether measured by
ieW square Varas, or hundreds of acres is
theirs by right of heritage and no govern
me NJ mas any right to levy tax upon it
any more than they have a right to tax the
air We brea the. And for the same reason
no ones title to land can be annulIed or
declared void The original owner may
and fha
years, but upon his return or on the claim
| OF his heirs, the title is still good
AS an Illustration of this the property on
which the largest club house in Puerto
rata is bullt belongs to a priest who left
the Island many years ago and was last
| heard of in Paris. The parties interested
| IN obtaining possession of this land spent
two years in trying to get hold of the
| priest or of his heirs to buy from them the
property, but all their efforts were without
result. Finally they built upon the prop
erty, but before doing so they were re-
CURED to enter into contract agree
ment of some sort with the government by
which they bound II emselves to pay for the
l@Ed whenever tie owner his heirs
should appeal and make the proper claim
for 1t. In case the price should prove UNI
satisfactory to the owners of the improve
ment, then the claimant is required by law
to purchase the building whatever i'm
provements there may be on the land.
The population of Puerto Plata is placed
| at about 5000. The revenue for its munich
pal government, support of public schools,
street rerairng, cleaning, lighting and
other exp enditures for the current year is
figured at So. coo, 5000 less than the year
previous. This money is obtained from
certain percentage of the custom house
dues, licerses on business enterprises, the
slaughter of cattle, rental of stalls in the
public market, and licenses for running
public conveyances Evidently, judging by
the general appearance of the city, the
amount is economically expended.
The minutes of the sessions of the COM
mon council of Puerto Plata are printed in
the form of a municipal record and dis
tributed gratis. A glance at a copy of one
of these records is a revelation in itself.
1t is headed with the motto, IF you would
deepen the foundation of democracy, widen
the sphere of action of the common coun-
Gil" From tive CLEAN the information
that lotteries are prohibited by law, except
in certain cases where it is proposed to
raise money for charitable purposes, or for
the purpose of some benevolent institution,
such was considered the building of a
new Masonic temple, now in course of con-
struction. report is presented which re-
suits in a. resolution calling on the chief of
police to watch carefully the sale of meat
in order that the correct weight be given
and the people not cheated. We learn. fur
Their that the retail price of this necessary
commodity is fixed by law. Attention is
called in report of the inspector to the
unsatisfactory condition in which he has
found the bakeries. A communication Is
notifying the council that smallpox and
typhoid fever have broken out in the ports
of San Juan and Mayaguez, Porto Rico,
and the chairman of the sanitary board of
the port is instructed to Immediately take
the necessary precautions to prevent the
entrance of these terrible epidemics.
A Young Ladies' School.
Accompanied by the mayor visited two
of the public schools, the primary school
fo, hoy lodi ba
principal of the young ladies' school is no
less a person than the wife of the lieuten-
ant governor of the port. The school is
held in an ordinary building, and consists
of several classes of girls from the age of
girls, young ladies, formed a normal class.
and were preparing for their examinations
which would entitle them to certificates as
teachers. We were present when the in
structresS examined these young ladies in
ancient history. She took seat In front
of her class and the young ladies answered
her questions called upon without rising,
in soft, pleasant tones, as though convers-
ing in their own drawing room instead of
passing a public examination before the
mayor of the city and visiting foreigner.
i The questions asked by the instructress
were put without referring to any text
book whatever
One of the ladies' at loss to account for
the advance of the Phoencians in civilza-
ton the nations which lay back of
them. was set on the right line by her in
structress. with the question:
why is Puerto Plata more civilized than
our interi0 towns?"
The young lady's face promptly bright
ened up, as she replied:
Because Puerto Plata is a seaport town,
and the inhabitants are more in contact
with foreigners. from whom they learn
other methods than their own"
And may find it to be. Puerto Plata,
from it's contact with the outside world,
may be far ahead of the interior towns,
where, 1t is claimed by the writer's in our
home journals, the negro regns with his
cocomacacque stick supreme, but so far 1
have not only no evidence of any such
regime In the island, but 1 am assured by
natives and foreigners alike that in time of
peace l can travel from one end of the re-
public to the other without the least danger
of molestation from any one. l am assured
that such a thing highway robbery is
unknown in the island. and that instead of
the white man being despised he is looked
up to by the black man. who more or less
aspires to his attachments.
Politeness of Mexican Children.
From the Rural Home.
In Mexico a group of lads from seven