Porto Rico Part 3

The population, by the way, has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the present century.

Ponce, named after Ponce de Leon, is the largest city and the one of the most commercial importance upon the island. It is beautifully situated about three miles north of the port of Ponce, in a fertile plain, and is surrounded by plantations and gardens. It is the terminus of one of the three short railroads which have been constructed, and along the beach in front of the port are large warehouses, where the produce, forwarded through Ponce, which is the trading centre, is stored for s.h.i.+pment. The population of Ponce has been estimated at 44,500 inhabitants, and this is probably not far from the actual truth.

Ponce has quite a number of fine buildings, including the town hall, the theatre, two churches, the charity and the woman's asylums, the barracks, the Cuban House and the market. Between the city and the seash.o.r.e is an excellent road which forms a beautiful promenade.

Near Ponce are hot springs which are quite famous and held in high estimation by invalids.

The capital of Porto Rico is San Juan, which in many respects has always been the most important city. It is on the north coast, and as has already been stated, was founded by Ponce de Leon in 1510. It now has a population of 31,250 inhabitants, which includes the town and its suburbs.

The situation of San Juan is somewhat peculiar, as it is built on a high and narrow peninsula, which is separated from the mainland by shallow water spanned by a bridge known as the San Antonio.

The town is about half a mile wide, inclosed by high walls of masonry, which are very picturesque, and with their portcullis gates and battlements recall vividly to one's mind the description of mediaeval times.

The bluff is crowned by Morro Castle, rendered familiar to Americans in the recent war.

San Juan is really quite a beautiful place with straight and narrow streets and many imposing buildings. It has a number of public inst.i.tutions and colleges, several churches, and seven small parks.

Among the latter may be mentioned the Plazuela de Santiago, in which is an excellent statue of Columbus.

It was on the western end of the island that Ponce de Leon built the governor's palace, which is enclosed within the Santa Catalina fortifications, where are also the cathedral, town house and theatre.

This portion of the city is now known as Pueblo Viego, and is the seat of an Episcopal see, which is subordinate to the bishop of Santiago de Cuba.

The city is lighted by gas, which is controlled by an English company, and it also has an electric plant under local management.

There is a local telephone company.

There are eleven newspapers of various descriptions, the chief one being La Correspondencia, a local political paper, which has a circulation of seven thousand copies, more than that of all the other papers put together.

The water is obtained entirely from cisterns. About fifty years ago a project was formed to build a reservoir, and the plans were approved by the government. But, with that spirit of procrastination so characteristic of the Spanish, in all public and private walks of life, and which is known as manana, the reservoir has never been completed.

The harbor of San Juan is in almost all respects a very fine one. On the east and south it is surrounded by swamps, and on the west it is protected by the islands of Cabra and Cabrita, which are practically connected to the mainland by sandbars. There are strong fortifications which guard the entrance to the outer harbor.

The inner harbor is s.p.a.cious and landlocked. It has been dredged to a uniform depth of twenty-nine feet from the docks to the anchorage.

The old city is divided into four wards, three of which are outside of the fortifications. The houses are of stone, or brick, and from the roofs beautiful sea views may be obtained. In the patio or court of almost every house there is a garden.

Besides Ponce and San Juan, the largest towns on the island are Arecibo (30,000 inhabitants), Utuado (31,000), Mauaguez (28,000), San German (20,000) Yanco (25,000), and Juana Diaz (21,000). There are also about a dozen other towns with a population of 15,000 or over.

These figures are only approximate, as no regular census has been taken in ten years, and even then the Spanish officials were none too correct.

Railways on the island can as yet be said to be only in their infancy.

There is only about 150 miles of railroad, with about as much more in construction. It is intended to have stretches of railroad parallel with the coast, which shall make the entire circuit of the island. From these there will be short branches to all the seaports and inland markets.

The cart roads are very primitive, some of them being little better than cattle tracks. There is, however, be it remembered, one fine road, which extends across the island from San Juan to Ponce.

The telegraph system is also in a very incomplete state and is poorly managed.

There is one line of cable which runs to Cuba, Mexico, Panama and the coasts of the South American continent, and another which connects the island with St. Thomas, Jamaica, and thus the rest of the world.

CHAPTER V.

RESOURCES.

It is somewhat difficult to tell exactly what is the commercial value of the new colonial possessions which the Spanish-American war has placed at the disposal of the United States. The figures are naturally based upon the conditions which prevailed under Spanish rule.

But, all for all, it may be said that Porto Rico, taking into consideration its area, has been the most valuable of all Spain's colonial possessions.

For some reason, which seems to be inscrutable, Spain has given the inhabitants of Porto Rico far better treatment than she accorded to the natives of Cuba. She dealt with the island more as if it were a Spanish province than a colony to be bled to the fullest extent possible for the financial benefit of Spanish officials and the mother country. Quite the contrary has been the case in Cuba and the Philippines.

It may be stated that, as a matter of fact, Porto Rico has been, in a political sense, a province of Spain for the past twenty years.

Spain has paid but little attention to internal improvements, but this has been an advantage. For with her heavy hand relaxed, the people have had a certain opportunity to develop such spirit of enterprise as they possessed.

Porto Rico, in proportion to its size, is immensely wealthy. It is very doubtful if the Philippines can equal it in richness, square foot for square foot.

With the island in the possession of the United States and with the abolishment of the differential duties in favor of the Spanish government, its geographical position will undoubtedly cause most of its commerce to flow to and from the ports of the United States.

There will be a market furnished for great quant.i.ties of food products, textile fabrics, iron, steel and coal. From the island the United States will chiefly receive coffee, tobacco and sugar. Indeed it may be said that in the line of coffee cultivation, the greatest development of Porto Rico may be expected in the near future.

Mr. John Beggs, whom we have quoted before, says that Porto Rico is one of the finest pieces of property on the earth's surface. May it prove so in the hands of the United States!

The soil of Porto Rico is of remarkable fertility. Its dominant industries may be said to be agriculture and lumbering.

In the elevated regions, most of the vegetable productions of the temperate zone can be grown.

More than five hundred varieties of trees can be found in the forests of the island, many of which are very valuable, and the plains are full of palms, oranges and other fruit-bearing trees. There are several very interesting trees, especially a beautiful _Talauma_, with immense white odorous flowers and silvery leaves. This tree is exceedingly ornamental.

It is used for lumber and called Sabiuo. A _Kirtella_ with crimson flowers is also rather common. A tree which is called Ortegon by the natives is found at high alt.i.tudes, but chiefly near the coast. It has immense purple spikes, more than a yard long, and is very striking. It seems to be confined to Porto Rico and Hayti. There are many varieties of cabinet and dye woods, including mahogany, ebony, lignum vitae, cedar and logwood. Plants valuable in the arts and pharmacy abound. Tropical fruits grow everywhere to perfection.

The chief products of Porto Rico, outside of lumber, may be said to be sugar, coffee, tobacco, rice, honey and wax, and these have greatly enriched the island, making many of the people well-to-do.

Sugarcane is cultivated on the fertile plains, yielding three hogsheads on an average per acre without any manure.

An excellent grade of coffee is produced, and it does not appear that as yet any blight has perceptibly affected the shrubs.

Rice is very commonly cultivated on the hills in the Sierra. It must be a kind of mountain variety, as no inundation or other kind of watering is used.

Rice and plaintain are in fact the staple food of the natives.

Cotton and maize are also raised to a certain extent.

There should in the future be an industry from the manufacture of tannin extracts from the bark of Coccolala, Rhizophora and the pods of various acacias, the latter of which are a great nuisance on account of their rapid growth.

There are a long number of fruits on the island, such as cherries, guava plums, juicy mangoes and bell apples.

Edwin Emerson, Jr., a war correspondent, speaks of some of the fruits as follows: