July 23 , 1899. OMAHA ILLUSTRATED BBB.
r The Peons of Porto Rico.
' ( Copyrighted , 1S9D , by Frnnk Q. Carpenter. )
SAN JUAN , Porto nice , July 1. ( Special
Correspondence or The Bee. ) Nino-tenths
of the people of Porto Rico are miserably
poor. Their rude huts , scattered over the
country , are meaner than the mud hovels of
EJ'Pt. and the rooms which form their tene
ments In the towns are more thickly crowded
than the slums of the cities of China. All
the property of this Island Is owned by a few
fan-Hies. Out of the 800,000 of Undo Sam's
now subjects 700,000 live from hand to mouth
and I venture that at least 500,000 during a
part of the year go to bed hungry.
Let us first look at the poor of the cltlea.
Wo.talk about hard times , but we really do
not know what poverty Is. If our fashlcn-
able girls who go about slumming should
take a trip to Porto Rico they could find an
ample field for their sympathy and their
curiosity. Take , for Instance , San Juan. Wo
have hero an average population of 100 to
the acre , and I venture there are more than
a thousand souls sleeping tonight on this
aero where I am "writing. San Juan Is sur
rounded by walls , and by the count of our
health officers there are more than 16,000
people Insldo the walls. A large part of the
37,000 citizens are housed outside. The
spftco Insldo comprises eighty acres , but con
siderably more than half of this Is taken up
A PEON'S HOME.
In streets und plazas and the grounds of
Jlorro castle and San Crlstobel. Another
largo part Is devoted to stores and other
buildings , so that the people are crowded
Into a very small section.
Tin * Ilmiinii CIIVCM of Suit Juan.
They live , In fact. In quarters which are
more like caves or catacombs than the
homes of human beings. The town Is made
ivp of two-story houses built in blocks close
to the streets , ench house having a hall
running through the center. The houses , are
cf vast extent. Their upper stcrles are the
homes of the rich and well-to-do , who go
through tfjo common hall to reach them.
The upper stories have large , nlry and wfll
lighted apartments , and the well-to-do live
very comfortably.
'llio lower stories are made up of little
dens , the homes of the poor. In them are
scores of rooms from ton to twelve feet
square , many of them without any light
except from ttio door , and with no ventila
tion at night except through lioles cut out
of , the tops of the doors. In such rooms
families of six , ten , fifteen and sometimes
twenty live , sleeping on the floor or upon
cot beds , which are taken outside during the
day Urn a.
In going along the streets of San Juan you
can look through ttio lialls and you eeo
that every hall ends In a court at the back.
jVljout this court open numerous rooms ,
each of which Is the homo of a Porto Illcan
family. Moat of the rooms are so small
that the people do ttielr cooking out In thn
court. It Is In the court that they wash
their clothes , and it also forms their loung
ing place.
Tholr water comes from a common cls-
twn , which Is usually right next to the
i-osspiol and ( tie common water closet for
Iho court.
When wo took charge of San Juan our
health Inspectors found 1,500 cesspools In
the city , the most of them adjoining the
cisterns. TJioy wore nearly all full and all
filthy. Many of them had not been cleaned
fT years. The majority were without ce
mented bottoms , and all were moro or loss
l iky. It was Indeed a wonder that the
Ythplo population was not down with typhoid
fever , and you would think that they
ould bo In this condition todny. A great
deal of cleaning hns been done , but not
until a thorough system of waterworks Is
established and the householders are forced
to put In modern conveniences cnn the poor
bornmo sanitarily safe.
Tiixlile tinCourlH ,
During my stay hero I have visited many
hif these courts and have taken pictures of
the people who llvo In them. Their inmates
are as cleanly as could bo expected In their
crowded condition , and considering every
thing are remarkably peaceable. Few of
them have any furniture , with the excep
tion of perhaps a single table and chair.
'W.o cooking Is done nn little Iron bowls
filled with charcoal. The bowl Is about as
largo as a good-sized washbasin. It hns a
hole In the bottom for draught , and it Is
so email that only one thing can be cooked
at a time. Knch family has a cook stove of
this .kind , and In some of the courts In the
evening a dozen little stoves will lie going
. ( I onco.
The people who Inhabit the courts llvo
upon the work which they get In San Juan.
Few of the men receive moro than 30 cents
a day , and many of the women who are
servants got much lees. When the Amerl-
first came many of the children In the
courts were naked , but the nudity Is now
confined to the babies.
The population of some of the courts Is
largely made up of beggars. They are filled
with thu lame , the halt and the blind.
San Juan 3ias moro professional beggars
than any town of Its size in the United
States. Indeed , beggars faro better here
than they do with us. The well-to-do people
ple of the Island are very charitable , and
thcso who have money will always give
something to those \iho have not.
This Is especially so as to the blind.
131lndness prevails very largely , and It is
considered an affliction of Providence. I
have seen men borrow money to bestow It
upon the blind when out of change at the
time they were accosted. Some of the blindness
* "
ness "Is caused by the pollen of the sugarcane
cano getting Into the eyes while working ,
and I am told that the laborers on the plan
tations are especially liable to It. I have
seen blind children in all parts of Porto
Rico , and doubt not that It largely comes
somewhat from Insufficient food and heredi
tary diseases.
In the cltlea of Porto Rico there is one
day of the week when the beggars are ex
pected to go about asking alms. This has
always 'been ' the custom , and It la so well
established that our governor general has
sanctioned it under American rule. The day
is Saturday. On this day every merchant
and business man expects a call from the
beggars and puts a pile of centavos ( coins ,
each worth six-tenths of a cent ) , on his
counter or desk. The beggars como In one
by one. They each take one coin and no
moro and then depart , blessing the giver.
The I'eoiin.
The above Is the condition of the poor of
the towns. The peons out In the country
faro far worse. The meanest negro of our
southern states la richer than a score of
the farm laborers of Porto Rico. His cabin
is worth a dozen Porto Rtcon shacks and
his monthly wages are equal to the earn
ings of many of these people for a year.
The nominal wages of the laboring classes
here Is 50 centavos a day , or 30 cents of our
money. Tills Is for first-class labor and Is
the highest sum that has been paid.
The average planter , however , does not
pay his men In money. He pays them In
tin disks , the size of a nickel , which are
only good at his little store on the planta
tion. Each of the disks Is labeled with his
initial. It represents a cemtavo and can be
spent nowhere else. Upon some of the
plantations money Is not paid at all. The
people ore given so many bananas for their
day's work and their steady work lasts only
for about five or six months of the year.
Sunday Is the peon's market day. On this
day you will see the country roads lined
with men , women and children on their way
to market. Each man carries a bottle , holdIng -
Ing It 'by ' a string tied to Its neck. The
usual bottle is a half-pint and It Is taken
to bring back the man's supply of rum for
the following week. A half pint Is not much ,
but this Is all ho wants , although rum IB
the national drink and he takes some every
morning before breakfast. Indeed , I have
been surprised to see so little drunkenness
here. The chief cases of intoxication are
among our soldiers , and I have so far seen
ton drunken Americans to every drunken
Porto RIcan.
RIcan.A
A I'oor MIUI'N Home.
I wish I could transport one of these Porto
Rlcan huts to the United States. -would
like to show President McKlnley how some
of his subjects are living on this beautiful
Island. The house I should choose would be
one of a common laborer's on a rich sugar
or coffco plantation. There are thousands
like it all over Porto Rico , Here is how it
looks : It is made of poles about as big
around as your arm and palm leaves as thick
as the average book cover and about half aa
wide as a page of this paper.
The framework , including the bridge roof ,
Is of poles tied together. Then the palm
loaves are laid on and other poles of about
the thickness of a broomstick are tied
horizontally across the walls of the house to
keep the palm leaves together. The floor
of the hut Is of poles eo loosely put together
that all the dirt drops through the cracks.
The roof Is so poorly made that the rain
drips through , and at night the cold broeeoe
whistle through the walls.
The hut has no windows. Its door of
palm leaves con bo lifted away during the
daytime , It has absolutely no furniture.
The family Bleeps on the floor. The cooking
is done in a. little loan-to at the back upon
a flro bed of earth , the pot being raised
upon stones above the coals.
In this house , which I have described
from notes made In the hut Itself , there
wore eight children , three of them stark
naked , and ono of the three waa 5 years
old. It was deformed , and could only crawl
over the floor In Its nakedness. All the
children were exceedingly loan , although
their heads and eyes were good.
As I look about this hut , which belonged
to the peon of a rich coffee planter , I asked
Its owner why ho did not have a garden.
He replied that the planter did not allow his
laborers to have gardens , for then they
could raise what they wished to eat and
would not have to buy at his store.
By Inquiry I found this was so almost
everywhere. These people are surrounded
got all the chairs they wanted. They then
asked If they could have ono for each member -
ber of the family , and wore delighted when
the reply was "Yes. "
Surprlneil nt American Money.
The peons have not yet gotten over the
sensation of receiving actual money for their
work. They have been paid In this way by
the Americans , and at first It surprised thorn
exceedingly. The men who worked at Ponci-
and on the south coast said they had never
seen so much money before. They com
mented on the value of the American dollars ,
which wore worth moro than their own dollars
lars , and 'today ' they are happy at being paid
In cosh. During this spring the government
ofllclals have had 11,000 of them at work
upon the road. This was to help the people
as much as to help the roads.
The greatest care has to bo taken , however -
over , to see that the peons actually get the
money. There Is always a gang about the
men on payday. This Is made up of ex-
A "TOUCH-ME" STORE.
by gcod land , but they dare not use It.
'Many ' of them < may be working among the
bananas all day and at the close have to
take the tin disks they receive In pay and
walk a mile perhaps to the "touchme" stores
and buy the bananas which they use for
their evening meals. The streams are full
of fish , but they are not allowed to fish In
them because the -waters belong to their
masters. They will be arrested If they steal
vegetables , and they dare not cut a stick
without the consent of the men for whom
they work.
TaxliiKT Men fur ClinirN.
It was for a long time a wonder to me
that there was no furniture In the houses.
I found only a few rude beds and now and
then a hammock or so In the huts of the
better class. It was very rare to see a
table or a chair. I asked one man why this
was so. He replied that the possession of
chairs largely Increased his tax rate. Said
ho :
"I once 'bought ' two chairs and brought
them homo , and for a time my wife and
myself enjoyed them after our hard day's
work in the field. Then the tax assessor
came along and wanted to Increase my
taxes three pesos. I asked him why , and
A HUMAN CAVE OF SAN JUAN.
said I had Just the same possessions on
which I had been taxed before. But he re
plied : 'You have furniture now. See those
chairs and that table. You have become n
rich man and must pay more taxes. '
Then , ' said I , 'If I did not have this furni
ture my taxes would be the same ? ' 'Yes , '
he replied. "
" < A11 right , ' said I , 'I will fix It. ' And I
took the two chairs and table outside and
smashed them to pieces. "
This system of taxation prevailed through
a great part of the country , and today the
peons are Just beginning to realize that
they can buy a little furniture and not be
taxed for it. A number of the men who
have been working on the roads for the gov
ernment were told this by their American
overseers. They came back again and again
to ask If it was really true that they could
buy chairs for their homes without being
taxed for them. They were told they could
o\erseers and others who pretend they have
claims on the wages of the men.
Sometimes there la a planter who makes
demands for alleged debts and thus tries to
get a percentage of the wages.
Many of the men have never received real
money before and they hardly know what to
do with It. The government paymaster
told the men that the money was their own
and that no one else had any right to It and
they should take It home and spend it for
themselves. Following the crowd also weru
peddlers and gamblers , who hoped to get the
money of the poor peons as soon as it was
paid. The government Is regulating these
things as far as possible and In time the
peon will be able to take care of hlmso'.f.
The stores on the plantations are much
like the "touch-me" stores of our coal
mining districts , save that they have no
goods to speak of. Their stocks in trade
are made up of codfish , Jerked beef , ba
nanas and Porto Rican rum.
Some of them have bread and some have
clothing. These stores should bo abolished
and 'the ' planters forced to pay in cash rather
than in store orders. Methods should bo
adopted by which every peon can have a gar
den and bo taught to cultivate and accu
mulate for himself. Ho should bo allowed
to have of .chance for a living and should be
protected In his rights. So far the Spaniards
have run everything for the rich. They
have done all they could to keep the poor In
Ignorance , and today nlno , out of every ten
people In Porto Rico cannot read nor write.
Education should bo compulsory , and
schools should bo everywhere.
They Have Jtiiiinna StomncliN ,
Speaking of starvation in Porto Rico , this
is the only part of Undo Sam's dominion
where wo can ever have a famine. The eoll
here Is rich , but If there should bo such
weather conditions as to cause a failure of
the banana crop , many of the poor people
would die of starvation. The food of many
Is made up of bananas. Not ono man in a
dozen has any meat to speak of , and the
faces of the people are bloodless. They look
aenomlc , and are BO. As It is , the mortality
Is very great. The poor have so little
strength , owing to insufficient and Improper
food , that when they grow sick they die.
It Is only the urollflcness of the people
that keeps up the population. The babies
fairly swarm. And such babies. After they
have reached the banana-eating ace they
get what is called here the "banana stem
ach. " They have to fill their little bellies
full In order to contain enough to sustain
life , and the average child here has an ab
domen which i > rotrudes like that of a beer-
drinking alderman. It Is as tight as a
drum and his legs below It are BO weak that
they look like plpo stems walking around
with the great load above.
The majority of the peons are whites , al
though there are many raulattoos and not a
few nenroes. They have good faces and are
naturally Intelligent. They are very quiet
and peaceable. They ore kind to their
families and are , on the whole , good citizens ,
I am told by Americans who have employed
them that they are excellent workers and
that they are glad to do all they cnn to
earn their money. They work from sunrise
until sunset and are as reliable as the aver
age American workmen. Some trouble Is
had as to the numerous holidays and feast
days , which have been customary , but the
most of the men will do their work irre
spective of these , asking for Sunday only ,
PRANK Q. CARPENTER.
Told Out of Court
A boy 14 years of age , who said "ho did
not know ho hud a soul , that ho did not
know what morals meant or moral re
sponsibility , " when asked as to the nature
of an o.ith said "If ho told ono story ho
would go to the legislature , If ho told two
ho would go to congress. "
A popular Judge recently took a pleasure
drive through the country with a party of
four ( of whom his wife was one ) . Rolling
along In a whlto high-built trap , they seem
to have been taken for high rollers , a an
Innocent-looking countryman , of whom the
judge blandly Inquired for a hotel , replied :
"Yes , there Is a hotel right down yonder ,
but It's a tcmperanco hotel. "
How a greater trouble overshadows a
lesser was aptly Illustrated In ono of the
minor courts , relates the Detroit Free Press.
The accused was a big , strong , honest-faced
Oornian , greatly excited and disposed to do
moro talking than Is permissible under
such circumstances. The court distinctly
said that the big man was charged with
disturbing the peace and asked him
whether ho was guilty or not guilty.
"Dot vos uot'lng , shudgo , " came the re
sponse. "Dor prew'ry ho hired mo tor
drive dot vagon. Tony Veltcrs , ho say ,
'Shake , it vos besser and you yoln dor
union , ' und den ho say vhy I dond't vnlt a
lectio and see how vos it. So I vnlt.
"Purdy gwlck der boas he say , 'Shake ,
you can get your moneys und give up your
deam. Wo vcs a union prowery. I say I
vould see Tony and ask him vet dor rea
son mil him dot he adwlso me out of a yob.
Vhen I find Tony ho say did I hnf some
sense , und I told him he vos schmarder und
I vos und ho didn't know not'lngs. "
"But they say that you argued with a club
nd that Tony's strongest proposition was
a brick. "
"Dot vos nod dor boint , schudge. Vet I
vant der find ouit Is , how do I slant on der
union labor guestlon ? "
There are pleasantries about courts and
lawyers , and Attorney W. E. Halo Is not
exempt from the rule , reports the Minne
apolis Times. In conversation with a group
of well known barristers recently ho told
them how he came to lore his first case.
"It was an assault and battery case , " hu
said , "and I was counsel fur the complain
ing witness. Unfortunately for him , Irish
wit defeated me. The defendant , an Irish
man and the aggressor In the fight , was
charged among other things with having
chewed my client's thumb. That ho had
masticated the member \\as admitted. At
the same tlmo the attempt was made to show
that he had dene so only In self-defense.
On the stand he testified that while steadily
closing his grinders on the thumb he had
yo'ried to his wife , forty rodH away , to come
to his assistance. And she had responded.
"I had a very high opinion of my ability
to corner a witness and make him con
tradict himself , even at that early date.
Thla was where I thought I had him 'glng , '
" 'Do you mean to say , ' I asked , 'that at
the same time that you had your teeth
tightly compressed on his 'thumb so as to
make articulation , if at all possible , very
indistinct , you nevertheless managed to
make enough noise to attract your wife ,
forty rods away ? '
" 'Sure , an1 yer pint la well taken , ' he
replied. ' 01 don't know Jlst how 01 man
aged to do it mcsllf. But 01 think Ol kin
illustrate It if yez be wlllln' to put yer
thumb In me mout. '
"Needless to say , I did not nnro to have
It acted out. Ho made a great , big hit
with the Jury , and I why , I lost the case. "
Holes in Indiana
They are having a terrible time down "on
the banks of the Wabash , " reports the Chicago
cage Tribune. In half a dozen places in that
bectlon of thd state the bottom has dropped
out and nobody has teen able to fill up the
holes. Over at Bolivar , In Wnbash county ,
Bflvcral hundred feet of highway got tired
and simply dropped out of sight. The county
commissioners dumped a considerable portion
tion of the township Into the cavity , but it
still yawned for more. They finally gave It
up nnd built a bridge over the chasm.
The Chicago & Erie railroad found that
tholr track near DIsko was apparently built
upon water and spent three years to make a
solid foundation under It. They poured In
thousands of cars of filling with apparently
no effect , so they built a spur three miles
long around the opening and admitted tholr
defeat.
Last week trouble broke out near Laketon ,
In Pleasant township. This new hole , ac
cording to veracious correspondents , haw i
tremendous and Impartial apppllto. It mval-
lows up stones , timbers , earth , and what
ever Is thrown Into It , and cries for more.
It even refuses to bo bridged , the founda
tions breaking off and falling Into the hole
each tlmo the attempt to crops the chamn
has been mado. The road supervisors ac
knowledged that It was too much for them
nnd have referred the case to the county
commissioners , who went out In a body last
Friday and held a meeting not too near the
edge of the hole to determine what should
be done about It.
Evangelistic Movement
Mr. Moody says"The coming vear in
America , I believe , Is going to see a wide
spread ovangellhtlc movement In which , I
trust , thousands may be reached by the
churches. " He adds : "DcstrurtlvencBs on the
one side nnd the no less evil spirit of In
tolerance on the other side have wrought
wide dissensions in America. "