The Harrison times., 1917-06-02
A Relic Of the Past.

WHICH IiStH rum lhc scat at llt en-
trance of San Juan harbOr like a spec
tre of the past. There is something
startling in this apparation of stone
and cement with its battle SCARED
walls, silent sentry boxes and gaping
port holes. We somehow expect those
things when travelling on the other
side, but to find them here, four days
from New York, and surmOunted by
the Stars and Stripes, fixes ones at.
tention on the incOngruity of things
as they are.
MORO Castle and her sister forts,
San Sebastian and San Christobal
were the especial pet projects of early
Spanish politicians. The Spanish pork
barrel was rolled for all it was worth
and the results were enough to make a
modern congressman tear up his riv-
ers and harbOrs appropriations with
shame and envy Every Spanish gal
leon was expected to bring a few
blocks of granite to Porto Rico. The
wealth of Mexico and Peru was Law
ished on the Notifications and roads
of Porto Rico, and the lives of a race
of natives long extinct were worn out
in slavish toll on Porto Rico public
works.
And they were well built. They
stand today in many places as strong
as ever, and while only a grim me-
mento of a style of warfare long ex-
tinct, they are precious relic which
our government would do well to pre-
serve.
A Fort That Never Fell.
Against these impregnable walls
came English, French, Dutch and a
whole horde of pirates and buccaneers,
but without success. Indeed Admiral
Sampson in 1898 took a few pot shots
at the ancient citadel and his imprint
remains today but he sailed on with
out reducing the structure. Sir Fran
els Drake came the nearest to captur-
ing the place but disease finally Grip
pied his troops and he sailed away
leaving his cannon behind, which
same cannon were afterwards used to
cast bronze statue of Ponce de Leon
which stands in San Jose Plaza in
the City of San Juan.
The Walled City.
San Juan, the walled city" of which
ell of the foregoing has reference, is
the capital city and the largest. The
population is given all the way from
fifty to sixty-five thousand. It has a
fine harbor which for the past two and
a half years has been used as a haven
of refuge by three German boats, two
merchant and one converted raider
formerly British. Built on an island
it naturally has but one means of
egress-a narrow bridged neck to the
east of the city, similar to the Bronx
of our own metropolis. Out on this
road and practically joining the city
we find the American settlement in
the village of Santurce. Here we have
bungalows built in a country where
bungalows are worth while The Am
erican has builded well and he has al
lowed nature free hand in clothing
the premises with tropic verdure. The
beautiful and fruitful cocoanut palm
the various climbing vines and the
gorgeous tropic blossoms parting here
and there to afford glimpse Of the
distant blue, blue sea, form a picture
impossible to describe and only faint
ly to be pictured, for no artist can
paint the glorious colorings of this
tropic landscape.
Having left San Juan by the one and
only road it might be well to men.
ton the roads, for the automobile and
the roads are the first things to catch
the travellers attention, The Spanish
engineers knew how to build roads.
There is no doubt Of this. All the
American government had to do was
to furnish the top dressing for the
roadbeds were perfect. While as be.
fore mentioned the island is scarcely
100 miles in length over all, there are
over 500 miles of perfect roads and no
snow banks. 1t is motorists para
disc and appreciated, which is proven
by the fact that Porto Rico has car
to almost every square mile Of ter.
ritory,
Next week we will devote a little
time to study OF the people and the
changes brought about by the Ameri.
can occupation,
LOU d. MacWETHY.