Charlevoix county herald., 1920-01-09

San Jose, Porto Rico.-In the last
few weeks upward of dozen Porto
Ricans, resident or transients in east
ern Santo Domingo, have been MUIR
dered by frenzied Santo Dominicans
after fashion that by its method and
barbaric romance parallels the famed
"Sicilian Vespers" that were the ter
rOr of Frenchmen in times gone. Trav-
elers arriving here tell of the method
being pursued by the Santo Domini-
cans, who, in spite of the efforts Of
American marines, continue their as
sassinatiOns.
For, be ii known, the latest addition
to the Latin-American 'gayety of ma
tons" is vendetta between the Santo
DOminicans and the Porto Ricans
This seems to have as its basis
Dominican hatred Of Americans. The
Porto Ricans in their support of the
American administration and I'm their
activity in the war in raising troops
and helping float the Liberty loans
have gained the admiration of the
Yankees but lost the respect of the
DOminicans, who hate the American
occupation with as much fire, it seems,
as did the Filipinos in the days of
Aguinaldo.
Marines Are Victims.
An American marine, now and then,
falls victim to Dominican bullets or
machetes, If the marine be alone and
beset by a dozen enemies. But the
many Porto Ricans who have visited
the Dominican end of the island are
easier prey and are suffering for their
loyalty to the United States.
Naturally, since tie Dominican and
the Porto Rican are of Spanish speech,
Il seemingly possible evasion presents
itself. Why cannot the Porto Rican.
If captured by Dominican banditti,
pose as a native? He does, and that is
where the Dominican Vespers come
In.
There is even more difference be-
tween the dialects of the races in the
West Indies than there is on the con-
tinent-sometimes as much as between
Georgian and native of Maine So,
when the suspected Porto Rican is
captured he is commanded to declaim
sentence, always the same, and on
his pronunciation depends his fate.
The sentence is thus:
''El perro de Ramon no tiene rabo,
porque Rafael Sc 10 ha rObadO."
If this has any local or political sig
nificance, the Porto Ricans have not
discovered it-but they have discov-
cred il has much Importance. 1t means
almost nursery text-"Ramon's
dog has no tail because Rafael has
stolen it."
All in the "R."
1t is all in the "R"-just as the chief
difference between southern and north
ern dialect in the United States is in
the pronunciation of that letter. The
Dominican rolls the "R" a little and
the double "R" a great deal with al
most Castilian perfection, but the
Porto Rican swallows his "R's," not
as the American southerner does by
mere omission, but with cultural
swallow. Even if the captive Porto
Rican knows the meaning of the text,
he may roll an ar" or two to begin
with, but there are so many In the
sentence he is sure to swallow a few.
If he does, down come the machetes.
He is quartered as deftly as master
butcher cuts a spring lamb.
Perhaps this worthy custom is orig
inal with the Dominican, and perhaps
some learned bandit got the idea from
Italian history. In the Sicilian YES
pers, the demand put to the luckless
Frenchmen on that famous Christmas
eve was, "Dca 'ciceri.'" When he
pronounced it 'seesseri," he died, just
as the Porto Rican todays dies when
he gulps an ar" The native Sicilian
pronounced ii "cheecheri."
The meaning of "ciceri" is known
II merely is the Chic pea that is grown
in Mexico and a staple food in Sicily
known In America as the "garbanzo"
and sometimes encountered In the
soup of an Italian table d'hote in New
York.