Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-02-08
PORTO RICO shown
LIMITED IN AREA
100 Miles in Length. IS Miles
Wide. Supporting Popula-
ton of 100000.

When Col Lindbereh few over Porto
Rico he could see practically all OF
the island at one time
"Rectangular In shape. Porto Rico
has an area a third less than tina:
OF Connecticut n lrac'h of 100 miles
an average width ot 30 miles"
writes John Oliver la GORGE iii a COM
mUnica;:ou to the National GEOGRAPHIC
Society
The island supports population
Of $500 600" continues the bulletin
The harhNr Of It's Genital, san Juan
on, of the finest III the Western
Hemisphere. has b>cn dredscd to n
depth Of IS feet and will enlov ever
increasing importance as coalin2 sta.
ton for The transatlantic routes TO
TIE Panama Canal
IN Path of Trade Winds.
For a tropical land. the White:
climate IS unusually free from OK
ceSsive heat. and t.e abundant rain
fall over most Of the island gives vcce-
tati0u perennial luXuriance. Since
Il lies III the pati! of the trade winds,
with lis mountains in the central por-
ton Of the island the humidity is rare
ly oppressive,
The mountain scenery is wild and
beautiful! The main range, known a.
the Cord!llera Central. runs from east
70 west. with slopes sweeping over a
vide area toward the north and rising
sharply from, the south, leaving in the
latter direction an aliuv!al plain only
10 10 Is miles wide between the peaks
ar1 the sea
The. magnificent main highways
ever these mountains make the match
less scenery en,oyablv accessible to the
vacation rlotorist
will F,9i i>:rsNr.1- c,7S
n every part Of The island. San .I,lan
.tseI. was q settlement half q century
before s.. Augustine. Fla. tho Oldest
town in the United States came into
bcin- ard a full century before the
Pi,orin7s landed al Plymouth Rock it
began to take or the scrlalance Of
city
Charters in Island History.
"Eut it is tn progress o: Porto Rico
End the Porto Rlcans since the advent
Ct thu United States, barely a quarter
Of a century ago, that furnishes the
most engaging and inspiring chapter
in the history ~ the island
Under tie American regime. the
amount OF sugar e::pcrted has increased
sey, ntolo coi.2c exports have
doubled III qual1tv and trebed in
value. and tobacco shipments have like
v.ss scored marvellous gains
When the Unia'd States took over
Porto Rico the frl1 industry as such,
was unknown Too " the island ships
annually millions o. dollars worth OF
the fms: pincapn'es. grapefruit and
similar products to- distant markets
The drive against illiteracy and ig-
no-ance and the fs;ht against sickness
and death have bten marked By tri-
Un,plls that two decades ago would
not have been thought possible
$500 Schools in Operation.
when the Uni.d States entered
Porto Rico there was not a single
building from San Juan to Ponce, Or
from Mayagcez 10 T'unta Santiago, de-
voted exclusively To school work and
nine-tenths of the csliidren of school
age were without educational advan-
teres. To-Day there are nearly $500
schools in the island. and the number
o: pupils has increased more than sly
fo,i.
When the American occupation ke-
gan, the military road between San
Juan and Ponce Vas the only highway
worthy Of the name In all the island