The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-12-07

civil service, has written to the editor of
The Star an exceedingly interesting letter
descriptive of the strange life and scenes in
that island dependency of Uncle Sam. We
give below the letter in full, knowing that
every resident will be interested in know
ing Of the work that is being done by
Reynoldsville boy in strange land.
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
November IS, 1910.
Charles S. Lord,
Reynoldsville, Pa.
Dear Friend
~ 1 will not attempt to give an elaborate
description of Puerto Rico, but will try to
give you my first impressions in chronolo-
gical order. and also my subsequent views.
After leaving Goods country" as every
American calls the States, for six days we
were sailing on the Atlantic ocean, and the
voyage as whole was very pleasant for
as, though some Of it was not.
When we landed in San Juan, it seemed
as though the fates had conspired to make
our first impression unpleasant. You may
remember that Puerto Rico had just
suffered from one of the worst hurricanes
that they have ever had. For that reason
San Juan was in darkness and the roofs Of
many of the houses were blown off and
everything was in disorder. This, however,
was the least of our troubles. The great
wind had brought with it an epidemic of
mosquitoes, and as we were the latest
arrivals, they seemed to take an unholy
delight in making our stay pleasant.
might add that we are still bothered with
them.
After we had seen the Commissioner OF
Education we started out to see the city
and it was very interesting to say the
least. The most striking, and also the
most common sight, was so many little
children running around naked. Inas-
much as San Juan is supposed to be
American it seemed strange that so many
children were allowed to run around
naked, but after one is here few weeks,
you soon realize that Puerto Rico is for
Puerto Ricans No matter how much we
try to teach them the English language,
they will still be Puerto Ricans and
Spanish will always be their mother
! tongue.
The next sight that would attract your
attention, are the many different colored
houses All colors Of the rainbow are
depicted here, and must say that while
we were out on the bay, it looked very
picturesque with its fringe Of palm trees
running along the waters edge.
The first place of interest that we visited
was the grave yard. Possibly this would
not appeal to everyone as place Of
interest, but when you consider that
Ponce de Leon is buried here, it seemed
worth while, for Ponce de Leon and his
wonderful dream of eternal youth has
always been fascinating tale for all
students of history. But what was more
fascinating and horrible, because horrible
and gruesome things always seem to appeal
to people, was the manner in which the
Puerto Ricans bury their dead. The poor
people rent shelf for the body, and as a
rule, at the end of five years, the rent ex-
pires and the owners of the cemetery take
the coffin from its niche and take the bones
(because by that time the flesh has
,evsporated, so to speak) and throw them
into great heap at the end Of the
cemetery. / had the gruesome pleasure Of
seeing this and it was appalling to see the
thousands and thousands of human bones
lying there exposed to all kinds Of weather
This practice, l am informed still
prevails.
We next visited the two forts, MORO
Castle and San Christobal, and they
proved very interesting, being especially so
to one who has lived in town of the
interior.
The face of Morro Castle rises from the
water with height of at least 100 feet Of
solid masonry 1t was magnificent, as well
as imposing, but as / looked at it. saw
three large holes in its face, mementos Of
the Spanish-American war, where the
great guns from our warships, after firing
few shots, forced the Spaniards to haul
down the Yellow and Gold, to be replaced
by the Red, White and Blue, which is
still waving there. And just want to say
that one does not appreciate what Old
Glory means until you get in another
country.
As we looked down from Moro Castle
we could see Leper's Island, and number
Of lepers running around on their living
tomb. 1t was the saddest sight have
ever seen. They are doomed to stay there,
suffering living death, until real death
comes to relieve them.
on to the right was the small pox camp,
well filed with the poor natives who were
unable to pay for better and could not get |