The Porto Rico of to-day; pen pictures of the people and the country

Prefatory Note

In the preparation of this book, it has not been the purpose of the writer to produce a guide-book, an economic treatise, or a hand-book of military science. Yet all these, and other topics, are treated with more or less fulness in its pages. The work is based upon a series of letters furnished to The Evening Post of New York, during the months of August, September, and October, 1898, which have been revised and amplified for this purpose. As a correspondent for that paper, the writer accompanied one of the first detachments of the army of invasion to Porto Rico, and remained on the island until after the conclusion of the campaign by the raising of the American flag over the city of San Juan, on October 18th. The purpose of this book then is to present a picture of the people and of the country as the author saw them, and to throw light upon the commercial possibilities in our new possession that lie within the reach of American business men.

A. G. E.

Contents

I

Marching Orders — The Composition and Command of the Porto Rico Expedition — Uncertainty Regarding its Movement — Confusion of Orders — The Embarkation from Tampa, . . Page i

II

Some Faults in Troop Transportation— Unnecessary Exposure to Danger— Soldiers Killing Time— Grumbling at the Commissary — Food of Officers and Privates— A Midnight Excitement — Encounter with the Eagle on the Blockading Line — Arrival at Ponce, Page ii

III

Porto Rico or Puerto Rico— The Carib Title— Boriquen— First Impressions of the Island— The Harbor of Ponce— Unloading Transports — Soldiers as Stevedores — Mutual Curiosity — La Playa — The City of Ponce— Appearance of the Common People — Pedlers — The Island Ponies— Shopping Experiences — Courtesy from a Citizen, Page 26

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IV

Our Reception— Busy Days — Two Centres of Activity — Amusements — Police Department — Fire Department — The Market — Ponce Stores— A Lesson in Spanish, Page 47

V

The Town of Yauco— The Sunday Morning Market— Fruits and Vegetables — Jacky and the Natives — Guanica — Our First Landing Place — A Horse Trade — On the Road to Adjuntas — A Mountain Town— The Good Padre — The Kitchen-maid and her Cigar, Page 62

VI

Correspondents on the Firing-line — An Excited Chief of Police — Beyond the Outposts— A Search for Willing Prisoners — A Blind Trail — A Spaniard's Hospitality — Midnight Encounters— Friends or Foes — Unwilling Rough Riders — A Striking Picture — The Capture—" Too Near " Home, Page 78

VII

" Shucks and Shacks " — Picturesque San German — " Hotel the Struggle " — A Restless Night — A Native Description of the Engagement at Hormigueros — Two Humble Heroes— A Notable Shrine — Beautiful Mayaguez — A Miniature Street-car Line — Public Buildings — The Casino, . s Page 93

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VIII

A Model Highway — A Bicycle Trip Worth Taking— Island Villages — The Baths of Coamo — Good Luck for our Army — A Mountain Drive— Passing the Outposts — Cayey and Guayama— Nature's Bounty — System of Road Repairs — Porto Rican Road-houses, Page 108

IX

An Important Factor in Island Development— Present Highway System— A Hard Journey — The Bovimotor — The Boy and the Coachman — Fun for the Boy, and Entertainment for the Audience—Porto Rican Drivers— The Need of Good Roads— Costly Transportation — A Heavy Charge on Industries, . . Page 122

X

The Railways of To-day — The Ponce and Yauco Division — The Humiliation of a Traveller — The Solitary Occupant of the Apartment of the First Class— Familiar Sights in a Foreign Land — The Requirements of the Island — Present System of Transportation — Probable Benefits of Railway Extension — The United States in the Telegraph Business— Cable Lines, Page 133

XI

Our New Farm — Mining Possibilities and Timber Lands — The Outlook for Sugar — The Coffee. Industry — Encouragement in Tobacco-growing—Obstacles to Export Fruit Trade— Cattle-raising — An American Bermuda — Victims of Mariana, . . . Page 130

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XII

Ephemeral Trade — Problems for the Merchants — Arrival of the Commercial Army— Disappointed Speculators and Promoters — Local Productions — The Volume of Imports — The Export Trade — Porto Rican Business Methods — Influence of Tariff— Outlook for Americans, Page i6j

XIII

The Best Way to Travel on the Island — Sleeping Accommodations — Conservative Farmers — Food Staples of the Peasantry — The Temperature and Its Results — The Educational Question — Schools and School-houses of San Juan — Points of Interest — Pretty Girls — Cost of City Government — The " Color " Question — Porto Rican Homes, , Page 180

XIV

Military Skill vs. the " Dispensations of Providence "—The Plan of the Porto Rico Campaign — A Unique Expedition — General Schwan's Sweep to the West — Difference in American and Spanish Methods in Warfare — Discomforts of a Tropical Campaign — An Unwritten Story— Our Insignificant Casualties, . Page 197

XV Under The Old Regime

Exaggerated Idea of Spanish Oppression — Heavily Taxed, but Virtually Free from Debt — A Citizen's Complaints — A Nineteenth Century Inquisition — Taxes for Special Purposes — Annexation Preferred to Autonomy — The Hope of the People, . , . . ■ Page 20b

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