The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-25
SCRAP BOOK FOR TO-DAY

The festival of St. James, Apostle, will be widely observed to-day, but nowhere else so enthusiastically as in Spain, as the son of Zebedee has for centuries been honored as the patron saint of that country.
 There is a tradition, firmly held by all Spaniards, that St. James visited Spain and first planted the seeds of Christianity in that country. St.eJa- go di Compostellas Spain, claims the possession of the bones of the apos- tie, and it is there that St. James Day is most elaborate1y celebrated.
 St. James is also one of the most popular of the saints in England and Scotland, and his name-the Hebrew Yakob or Jacob, meaning the sup planter, has been borne by many of the kings of those countries, and was given to the official London palace of the royal family. With the ex- ceptlon of John, James continues to be the most generally used of Chris tian names in both Great Britain and America.
 St. James and his brother, St. John were acong the three apostles chosen as the familiar companions of Jesus Both of the sons of the fisherman Zebedee followed their fathers occu- patton before their call to attend the Messiah. The zeal and bo1dness of the brothers gained for them the appeIa- tion of Boanerges, or Sons of thun- der" St. James suffered martyrdom by the sword, and according to Gle ment of Alexandria his accuser was so much affected by the Saints con fessfon of faith that he at once pro fessed himself a Christian, and was beheaded immediately after him.
 Since the American occupation of Porto Rico fifteen years ago to-day the people of that island have celebrated. the twenty-fifth of July as their prin- cipal patriotic holiday. The Stars and Stripes, first hoisted over Porto Rico on July 25, 1898, will fly to-day from thousands of hagstaffs, and there will be general jubilation.
 The true measure of the civilization of a people may best be taken by ob- serving them at their play and mar .ry-making. Judged by this standard. Porto Ricans have made great strides in the fifteen years of what many of them are pleased to call their in dependence" Under Spanish domin- ation, bulI-fghting and cooking mains were the favortte sports of Porto Rfcans. The program for to-day's observance in Ponce, San Juan and other cities includes parades, patriotic oratory, fireworks, horse racing dane ing and baseball, and cruel pastimes of the Spanish regime are little more than a memory.
 It was Lieut. Commander (after- ward Rear AdmiraD Richard Vain wright who first raised the United States banner on Porto Rican soil He was in command of the little Glouces- ter,' and had played the part of a hero in the naval battle at Santiago earlier in the same month. The Gloucester owing to it's slight draught, was sent in to take possession of the village of Guanica, fifteen miles from Ponce A ar-fxy a few six-pounders had been flung into the hills back of the town, and occu- pied the town after a brief and spir- itless resistance on the part of a few natives Bechto1d, chief Quartermas- ter, and Lacey, a yeoman, were order ed to lower the flag of Spain, and the Stars and Stripes were then raised over a rude fort in the main street which was christened Fort Vain ExxiTht'' g For the most part the