The state herald., 1920-05-25

Uulbot9
8aA Jose. Porto Rice.-ln ths ~
fbv weeks upward Of . dessa Forte
Aicaas. resident o. transieats In east
srn Santo Domingo. have bsen nsR>
dsrsd By frensied Santo Dominieaae
amer fashion that BY its method ~
barbaric romance parallels the fanso
"Sleiiian vespers' that wers the to-
ror sf Frenchmen In times gone. Trav-
elers arriving here tell Of the metho1
being pursued by the Santo Domial-
cans. who. In spite Of the efforts q
American marines. continue their -
sassinations.
For, be It known. the latest additIoo
to the Latin.American ''gayety Of N.
tions" Is vendetta between the SaRte
DomInicans md the Porto Ricana
This seems to have ns Its basis q
Dominican hatred Of Americans. The
Porto Ricans In their support OF the
American administration and In 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
Domlnicnns. who hate the American
occupation with Ms much fire. It seems.
MS did the FilIpinos in the days Of
Ayuinaldo.
Marines Are Victims.
An American marine. now and then,
falls n victim TO Dominican bullets or
machetcs, II the marine be alone and
beset by n dozen enemies. But the
many Porto Rlcnns who have visited
the Dominican end OF the island arc
easier prey and nrc suffering for their
loyalty TO the United States.
Naturally, since the Dominican nnd
the Porto Rlcan are OF Spanish speech.
seemingly possible evasion presents
itself. Why cannot the Porto Rican.
II captured by Dominican bandltti.
pose MS nailveT lie does. and thnt Ia
where the Dominlcan 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 rs much ms between
Georgian and native OF Maine Sa.
when the suspected Porto Rlcan Ii
captured he Is commanded to decinIm
Z sentence. always the same. and %
hIs pronunciation depends his fate.
The sentence In thus:
"Ei perro de Ramon no tiene rnbo.
porque Rafael Sc 10 ha robado."
II this has amy local or political sig
nihcancs. the Porto Ricnns have not
discovered it-but they have dIscov-
cred II has much Importance. II means
almost a nursery text-"Rnmon's
dog hiss no tall because Rafael haa
stolen it."
All In the ~"
II II all In the "R..-Just A. the chief
difference between southern and north
ern dialect In the United Stntes IL 10
the pronunciation Of that letter. The
Dominican rolls tho "R" n little md
the double "R" = great dcnl with al.
most Castilinn perfection. but the
Porto Rican swallows his "R's." not
~ the American southerner does By
mere omission, but with cultural
swallow. Even II the captive Porto
Rican knows the meaning Of the text
he may roll an IN" or two To begin
with. but there nre so many In the
sentence he IN sure to swallow a few
n he does. down come the mnchctes
He 10 qusrtered NJ dcftiy IN master
butcher cuts q spring lamb.
Perhaps this worthy custom IL orig
Inai with the Dominican. and perhaps
some learned bandit got the idea from
Italian history. In the Slcilian Yes
pess. the demand put to the lucklesa
Frenchmsn on that famous CbriStfuas
eve wss, "Dica 'cicsri.'" When be
pronounced II 'ssesseri." he died. Just
- the Porto Rioan todays dies whea
he guips mn "R." The native SIciiisn
pronounced Il "checchcri."
The meaning Of "riccsi" n known
II merely Ii tho CHIC poa Tint IL grown
In Mexico nnd staple food In Sicily
known IN America ~ the "Rorbunso"
and sometimes encountered In ths
soup OF mn Italian table d'hote In New
yort.