Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1928-09-27
ROMANCE BOUNDS
IN OLD P(x.TO RICO
1t Was From Juan That Ponce
de Leon S )ut When He Dis
covered F. IA; Ameriea Aided it
to Rise + osperity

Porto Rico and its storm-swept
capital, San Juan, are described in
the following bulletin of the Nation
al Geographic Society based upon a
communication to the Washington
headquarters of the society from its
vice president, DR.. John Oliver La
Gorge.
st was from the city of San Juan
that the adventurous Ponce de Leon
set sail, like another Jason in search
of the Golden Fleece for the full
fillment of his charming, if boyish,
dream of finding the Fountain of
Youth, which, we all recall, resulted
in the discovery of the southernmost
end of the United States, Florida.
"The story of the islands rise to
prosperity and well-being under
American direction of it's affairs con-
stitutes one of the greatest romances
of government in modern times.
Rectangular in shape, with an
area a third less than that of Con-
necticut, a length of 100 miles, an
average width of 80 miles and 800
miles of coast line, Porto Rico has
a population of 100000.
"The harbor of It's capital, San
Juan, one of the finest in the west
ern hemisphere, has been dredged to
a depth of So feet and will enjoy
ever-increasing Importance as a
coaling station for the transatlantic
routes to the Panama Canal.
"For a tropical land, the winter
climate is unusually free from ex-
cessive heat, and the abundant rain
fall over most of the island gives
vegetation a perennial luxuriance.
Since it lies in the path of the trade
winds, with it's mountains in the CEN
tral portion of the island, the hu-
midity is rarely oppressive.
The mountain scenery is wild and
beautiful. The main range, known
as the Cordillera Central, runs from
east to west with slopes sweeping
over a wide area toward the north
and rising sharply from the south,
leaving in the latter direction an
alluvial plain only ten to fifteen
miles wide between the peaks and
the sea- s-- z
North of the main range there is
fine foothill region famous for its
scenery, the Sierra de Luquillo,
where the Indians made their last
stand. Ell Yunque, the central peak
Of these hills, long enjoyed the rep
utation of being the highest of the
island, it's isolation giving it that ap-
pearance.
"But mountain climbers with their
barometers, have forced it to sur
render its prestige to some of the
peaks in the Cordillera Central. Ell
Yunque is 3,4S3 feet high, while Ala
de la Pieda, in the central range,
reaches a height Of 1898 feet.
Zone will find history and romance
in every part of the island. San
Juan itself was settlement half a
century before St. Augustine, Fla,
the oldest town in the United States,
came into being, and full century
before the Pilgrims landed at Ply
mouth Rock it began to take on the
semblance of city. More than two
and a half centuries ago, before the
United States began to build the
White House in Washington, Spain
started the construction of the Casa
Blanca, the government palace.
"But it is the progress of Porto
Rico and Porto Ricans since the ad-
vent of the United States, barely "a
quarter of century ago, that fur
nishes the most engaging and inspir-
ing chapter in the history of the is
land. Within little more than a
year of the cession of Porto Rico to
the United States by Spain under the
Treaty Of Paris Dec. 10, 1898.
American occupation of the island
has ceased to be military and had
become economic.
"The six states of Central America
Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
have an aggregate area sixty times
as great as that of Porto Rico and
a population more than four times
as large; yet their combined exports
and imports are less than hers.
''The republic of Haiti, three times
as large and nearly ytwice as popu-
lous, buys less than one-sixth as
much in the markets of the world
and sends less than one-seventh as
much to the consuming centers of
the earth.
Certainly, only a region favored
highly by nature and developed in
tensively by man could stand out so
brilliantly in comparison with ad-
jacent lands.
''Under the American regime the
amount of sugar exported increased
sevenfold; coffee exports doubled in
quantity and trebled in value and
tobacco shipments have likewise
scored marvellous gains.
eff the forty-eight States of the
american Union were as densely
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