The Wilmington morning star., 1947-07-06
SUNDAY, JULY 8, l947

new 1roNt1eIS VI progress, are
pouring into the United States in
rapidly growing force via airborne
caravan.
Cut rate plane fares and the
fact that as citizens Puerto Ricans
may come and 60 at will, have
contributed to the rising influx.
Many small air travel companies
which have sprung up since the
war offer seasonal tickets costing
from SITS to $85 for the San Jaun.
New York flight and $28 to $50
for the reverse trip, compared to
the $3.50 fixed rate of regularly
scheduled airlines.
The Puerto Rican skyway wan.
derers cover in eight hours the
1000 miles between their tropical
homeland and Gotham-roughly
half the distance which the pill
grim fathers in the Mayflower
took weeks to traverse three cen
turtles ago.
The Puerto Ricans differ from
others who have poured across
Uncle Sans borders in the last
800 years in that thousands 20
home again.
Figures Of the immigration and
naturalization service of the us.
department Of justice show that
1875, 633 Puerto Ricans entered the
United States from 1888 to 1916,
but that 124, 9S3 left for Puerto
Rico in the same period, leaving
4 balance Of 70,650. However, the
number of those remaining each
wear mounted steadily from 1884
in 1898 to 22,500 in 1916.
A large percentage of the
Puerto Rican migrants converge
on New York. One section of East
Harlem, known as little Puerto
Rico, is rcputed to house the larg-
est group Of Puerto Ricans out
side the island.
There are also many in
Brooklyn and the Bronx. Most OF
them live in tenements.
Let's climb five flights to the
Harlem flat of R. R., where Mr..
R., his wife and their ten child.
rem from two to IS years old,
live in five rooms. Little Mrs. R.,
who is less than five feet tall,
opens the door to a crowded 1iv-
ing room, in one corner Of which
stands al overloaded ironing
board, flanked by a huge portrait OF
Franklin D. Roosevelt and two
American flags.
1--WE came here because there
Is 50 much better food and op-
portunity for the Children" says
Mrs. R., in 4 high pitched tense
voice. "We're a little crowded, but
we get along. Everybody has his
own bed"
Around the corner and up three
more flights is the tiny flat OF
J. v. L., a picture Trainer, and
his family Of five. cts hard to
get jobs in Puerto Rico and milk
is scarce" he explains. "It's bet
ter here, If you can find a place
to live"
AS he sits in his clean, shining,
orderly kitchen with its bright
lowered curtains, two white hens
on the living room sofa cluck soft
ly in the midday twilight Of ~he
room.
Puerto Ricans in New York do
both skilled and unskilled work.
Women make fine lingerie and
costume jcwelry; many men are
restaurant walters and cigar max
ers. A number run successful
little businesses in Harlem - I'M
detaking parlors, shops selling
candy, cigars, flowers, dresses. A
considerable number are enter
tanners, and there are some doc
tors and university students. One
Chicago employment c y
brought in a number OF Puerto
Rican girls to do domestic work.
But social workers report a large
number were unsuccessful be-
cause Of the difference between
American and Puerto Rlcan
housekeeping methods.
Why do Puerto Ricans quit their
homeland by the thousands?
The islands 1900, 900 inhabit-
ants are packed 618 to the square
mile, compared to Al in this coun-
try. Agriculture alone cannot sup
port them. Power and minerals
are scant. Efforts to build fac
tories presented problems. Jobs
and food are scarce. Housing gen.
orally is reduced to a minimum.
Even the most primitive sanitary
conditions are lacking for more
than half the population. Millions
Of dollars spent by Uncle Sam
over the years have failed to solve
the population problem.
Why, then, do they return? One
reason is that the cold northern
winters make sharp contrast to
Puerto Rico's mild sunny climate
and crowded city streets present
a very different picture from her
sunny fower-splashed country
side. Another reason is that
Puerto Rican people raise no color
bar on the island and resent 1t
elsewhere.
The Puerto Rican influx into
New York has intensified the pro-
blems arising from the housing
shortage and a slackening de-
mand for labor. Social workers re-
port that Puerto Ricans, who have
an agricultural background, find it
hard to obtain and hold industrial
jobs. They generally are first to
be dropped in lay-offs and increas-
ing numbers report unemploy-
ment since December. Doctors
say that tuberculosis is, high
among adults and that a number
suffer from malnutrition. The Ian