Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1926-03-03
SHADOWS.
Mrs. ALA NJ. Forster.

Emphasizing to the eye,
Flecked by the shadoWs-io
bright,
And halts the passerby.
The trees would stand in cold array
AS desert. be the earth,
If shadows never lent their grace
And brought the lights to birth.
,rba artist knows their priceless worth,
They crown his work, and show
The glory of his magic brush,
When blending colors flow.
So human lives In shadows Oft
of weakness and of doubt,
Are wisely colored, brought Alright,
With shine and shadow fraught.
San Juan, Feb. II, 1926.
Dear Aunt Madge and all other NJ b. .
There has been so much gong on
here since the first of the year mat
do not know hardly where to begin
I am so | can get around again.
although for quite a while l was
sbutin. After the wound from the
knitting needle uGdltu, a
mo on the other foot, causing bad
infection. Imagine! a mosquito IN
January. we are on the water front,
and they are very thick all the year
7 have been out in the country
about fifty miles to a beautiful pace
aho1lt nine miles from Areclbo. Inc
friends l visited own farm OF n1ty-
eight acres of grapefruit trees, >Ihe
frnit is delicious l know, for | ate all
wanted. | was there five days. One
dav we went to Arecibo, very
pretty city and went to the shore
where the colonel shot himself. We
visited the stores and looked around.
We saw two funeral professions.
I was much interested, as they seem
very queer to me. Most of the natives,
unless they are very rich, hire the
casket The body is wound up in
sheet and placed in one OF these
Baskets which are fixed up fancy, with
bright colors, and placed on two poles
1t is carried on the shoulders OIL -FOUR
peons, or men hired for that purpose
A few men follow, with children
1t looks very weird indeed, TO see thls
casllet. all bedecled with tassels ana
bright-colored paper, and swayng as
the men walk with their swinging
gait. When they get to the cemetery
the body is removed from the casket
and placed in the ground without even
a box The casket is then returned to
the owner OF course, the higher class
of Porto Ricans are able to have
casket made.
We did not have time to go around
much. but when l go again We will see
more of the city and l can write
about it.
Now the tourist boats are coming
and going, and the merchants are very
busy trying to make extra money out
of the tourists. Prices have gone up
on everything, so we are not buying
After the tourist season is over every
| thing drops
The carnival begins ten days before
| Lent l wish l had time to write about
| it, They certainly have wild time
| for that length of time. l will just
! give an outline of what it is like. All
| of the plazas, streets and stores are
! decorated. The carnival began this
| year on February 8. They were sup
! posed to go out on the island and find
| the king. We We're on top of San
! Christobal to see his grand entrance.
a large parade came along the public
highway. His car was fixed to repre-
sent throne, and he did look very
| gorgeous. The next afternoon the
| queen made her triumphant entrance
| number of launches, very prettly
decked with banners, went out on the
| ocean and found her The launch she
came in was very grand, with a throne
| on which she sat We had open house,
so we could see it all from the
porch. Her king, the governor, mayor
and other notables were at the gate to
meet her. a silver key to the city
was given her, for one year.
That night she was crowned. 1t was
| a beautiful sight, with wonderful
! pageant. The throne represented a
| ring box lined with red, and when the
! queen and all of the ladies in waiting
were in this box, it looked like an i'm
mense ring set with pearls and dia-
monds. Every night there We're
dances, horribles, parading, and much
excitement The natives are very ex-
citable, anyway.
We went up last night at y o'clock
/ to see the funeral of the carnival Of
1926, for the queen was supposed to die
| at that time, and the king burned. I
wish you all could see this. l try to
take in everything possible, and wish
| / could explain it better.
| Al