, Tiilw 1ROrv OMAHA ILLUSTRATED BUB.
1 The Peons of Porto Rico.
* &j L. _
I ( Copyrighted , IS99 , by Frank Q. Carpenter. )
SAN JUAN. I'orto nico. July 1. ( Special
Correspondence of The Dee. ) Nine-tenths
of the people of I'orto Rico arc miserably
poor. Their rude huts , scattered over the
country , arc meaner thnn the mud hovels of
Egypt , and the rooms which form their tene
ments In the towns are moro thickly crowded
Uiin the slums of the cities of China. All
the property of this Island Is owned by a few
fairilles. Out of the 800,000 of Undo Sam's
now subjects 700,000 llvo from hand to mouth
and I venture that at least 500,000 during n
part of the year go to bed hungry.
Let us first look at the poor of the cities.
Wo > talk about hard times , but wo really do
not know what poverty Is. If our fnshlcn-
able girls who go about slumming should
take a trip to I'orto Hlco they could find an
ample field for their sympathy and tholr
curiosity. Take , for Instance , San Juan. Wo
have hero an average population of 400 to
the acre , and I venture there are moro 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 oftlcora there arc moro than 16,000
people insldo the walls. A large part of the
37.000 citizens are housed outside. The
sp co Insldo comprises eighty ncres , but con
siderably more than half of this Is taken up
A I'EON'S HOME.
In streets 'and plazas and the grounds of
Atorro castle and San Cristobal. Another
largo part Is devoted to stores and other
buildings , so that the people arc crowded
Into a very small section.
Tht > Human CIIVOM of Sim .Tumi.
They llvo , In fact. In quarters which arc
moro like caves or catacombs than the
homes of human beings. The town Is made
iv ? 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 stories are the
homos of the rich and well-to-do , who go
through the common hall to reach them.
The upper stories have large , airy and well
lighted apartments , and the well-to-do llvo
very comfortably.
'llio lower stories are made up of little
dens , the homes of the pcor. In them are
scores of rooms from ten to twelve feet
square , many of them without any light
except from ttio door , and with no ventila
tion at night except through holes cut out
ofv 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 arc taken outside during the
day time.
In going along the streets of San Juan you
can look through ttio halls and you eeo
that every hall ends In a court at the back.
Atyout this court open numerous rooms ,
each of which Is the homo of a Porto RIcan
family. Most of the rooms are so small
that the people do their cooking out In thn
court. It Js in the court that they wash1
their clothes , and It also forms their Inung *
Ing place.
Their water comes from a common cls-
tin , which Is usually right next to tl > o
posspinl and the common water closet for
I ho court.
When wo took charge of Son Juan our
health Inspectors found 1,500 cesspools In
the city , the most of them adjoining the
cisterns. They were nearly all full and nil
uithy. Many of thorn hnd not been cleaned
f r years , The majority were without ce
mented bottoms , and all wcro moro or IPSS
Iraky. It was Indeed a wonder that the
> .nolo population was not down with typhoid
fever , and you would think that they
" ould bo In this condition today. A great
deal of cleaning hns boon done , but not
until a thorough system of waterworks Is
established and tfio householders are forced
to put In modern conveniences can the poor
bpcomo sanitarily safe.
Iiiwlilc tlio Coiirtr * ,
During my stay hero I have visited many
Hit these courts and have taken pictures of
the people who llvo In thorn. Their Inmates
are as cleanly as could bo expected In their
crowded condition , and considering evory-
hlnq are remarkably peaceable. Few of
them have any furniture , with the excep
tion of perhaps a slnglo tnblo and chair.
'Kio cooking Is done on llttlo Iron bowls
filled with charcoal , The bowl Is about as
largo as a good-sized washbasin. It has a
hole In the bottom for draught , and It Is
BO email that only one thing can be cookrd
at a time. Each family has a cook ntovo of
thiskind , , and In some of the courts In thn
evening n dozen llttlo stoves will bo going
it onco.
The people who Inhabit the courts llvo
upon ttio work which they get In San Juan.
Few of the men rocelvo moro than 30 cents
a day , and many of the women who are
servants got much IPSH. When the Amerl-
Vane first came many of the children in the
courts wcro naked , but the nudity Is now
confined to the babies.
The population of sonic of the courts Is
largely made up of beggars. They are filled
with the lame , the halt and the blind.
San Juan lias moro professional beggars
than any town of lie slzo In tha 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
these who have money will always give
something to these who Jiavo not.
This Is especially so as to the blind.
Blindness prevails very largely , and It IB
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 blind
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 I'orto
Uico , and doubt not that It largely comes
somewhat from Insufficient food and heredi
tary diseases.
In the cities of Porto Rico there Is one
day of the week when the beggars ore ex
pected to go about asking alms. This has
always 'been ' the custom , and It Is so well
established that our governor general has
sanctioned It under American rule. The day
Is Saturday. On Ihls day every merchant
and business man expects a call from the
beggars and puts a pile of ccntavos ( coins ,
each worth six-tenths of a cent ) , on his
counter or deak. The beggars come In one
by one. They each take one coin and no
moro and then depart , blessing the giver.
TllC lCf > IIH.
The above Is the condition of the poor of
the towns. The pecns out In the country
faro far worse. The meanest negro of our
southern states Is richer than a score of
the farm laborers of Porto Rico. His cabin
is worth a dozen Porto RIcan shacks and
his monthly wages ore 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 slzo 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 cantavo and can be
spent nowhere else. Upon some of the
!
plantations money Is not paid at all. The
people are 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 sec 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 nock. 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
hero. The chief cases of Intoxication are
among our soldiers , and I have so far ee n
ten drunken Americans to every drunken
Porto RIcan.
RIcan.A
A Poor MUII'H Home.
I wish I could transport one of those Porto
RIcan huts to the United States. I would
palm loavco can bo lifted away during the
daytime. It has absolutely no furniture.
The family ele ps on the floor. The cooking
la done In a llttlo lean-to at the back upon
a flro bed of earth , the pot being raised
upon stones above the conls.
In this house , which I have described
from notes made In the hut Itself , there
were eight children , three of them stark
naked , and one of the three was G years
old. It was deformed , and could only cr.iwl
over the floor In Its nakedness. All the
children were exceedingly loan , although
tholr heads and eyes were good.
As I look about this hut , which belonged
to the peon of a rich coffee planter , 1 asked
Its owner why ho did not have a garden.
Ho replied that the planter did not allow his
laborers to have gardens , for then they
could raise what they wished to cat and
would not have to buy at his store.
Dy Inquiry I found this was so almost
everywhere. These people are Surrounded
by good land , but they dare not use it. (
Many of them may bo 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 "touchmo" stores
and buy the bananas which they use for
their evening meals. The streams are full
of fish , but they are not allowed to flah 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.
Men for Cliulrn.
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
bettor 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
be :
"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
got all the chiilrR they wanted. They thru
ashed If they could have one for each nioni-
ber of the family , and were dctllehlod wlirii
the reply was "Yen. "
SurprlMMl n ( Amcrlonit Money.
The peons have not yet gotten over ihu
sensation of receiving actual money for tli ir
work. They have been i ald In this wn > hy
the Americana , mid at first It surprised them
exceedingly. The men who worked at 1'onoo
and on the south coast said they had lit ver
seen so much money before. They ivm-
nicnted on the value of the American dollars ,
which were worth moro than tholr own dollars
lars , and 'today they are happy at being paid
In cash. During this spring the government
officials have had 11,000 of them at work
upon the road. This was to help the neopln
as much as to help the roads.
The greatest earn has to bo taken , how
ever , to sco that the peons actually get the
money. There Is always a gang about the
men on payday. Tills Is inndo up of o.\
A "TOUCH-ME" STORE.
,
A HUMAN CAVE OF SAN JUAN.
like to show President McKlnloy how eomo
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 coffee plantation , There are thousands
llko It all over Porto Rico. Hero Is how It
looks : It U made of poles about as big
around as your arm and palm leaves as thick
as the average book cover and about half as
wide as a page of this paper.
The framework , Including the bridge roof ,
Is of poles tied together. Then the palm
leaves are laid on and ether poles of about
the thickness of a broomstick are tied
horizontally across the walls of the IIOUBB to
keep the palm leaves together. The floor
of the hut Is of poles BO loosely put together
that oil the dirt drops through the cracks.
The roof Is BO poorly made that the rain
drips through , and at night the cold browses
whistle through the walla.
The hut has no windows. Its door of
Bald I had just the Bainu possessions on
which I had been taxed before. Hut ho re
plied : 'You have furniture now. See those
chairs and that tnblo. You have become n
rich man and must pay moro taxes. '
'Then , ' said I , 'It 1 did not have this furni
ture my taxes would bo the same ? ' 'Yoa , '
he replied. "
" Wll 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 llttlo furniture and not be
taxed for It. A number nf the mon who
have boon working on the roads for the gov
ernment were lold this by their American
overseers. They came back again and again
to ask If It was really true that they could
buy chairs for tholr homes without being
taxed for them. They were told they could
cnorseors and others who pretend they hnvo
claims on the wages of the men.
Sometimes there Is a planter who makes
demands for alleged debts and thus trios to
got a percentage of the wages.
Many of the men have never received mil
money baforo 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 homo and spend It for
themselves. Following the crowd also worn
peddlers and gnmblors , who hoped to get the
money of the poor peons as soon UH it wuu
paid. The government Is regulating UICHO
things ns far ns possible and In llmu the
poun will bo able to take care of himself.
The stores on the plantations are much
llko the "touch-mo" stores of our coal
mining districts , save that they have no
goods to speak of. Tholr 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 at chance for a living and should bo
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 nlna out of every ten
people In Porto Rico cannot read nor write.
Education should bo compulsory , and
schools should bo everywhere.
They Have lliiiiniiii StoiiincliN.
Speaking of starvation In Porto Rico , this
Is the only part of Undo Sam's dominion
where wo can over have a famlno. The Boll
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 dlo of starvation , The food of many
Is made up of bananas. Not one man In a
dozen has any meat to speak of , and the
faces of the people are bloodless. They look
aonomlc , and are so. As It is , the mortality
Is very groat. The poor have BO llttlo
strength , owing to Insufficient and Improper
food , that when they grow lck they dlo.
It la only the prollflcncos of the people
that keeps up the population. The bablos
fairly nwarm. And such babies. After they
have reached the banana-eating cue they
get what Is called here the "banana stem
ach. " They have to fill their llttlo bellies ,
full in order to contain enough to sustain
life , and the average child hero has an ab
domen which jirotrudcs llko that of a beer-
drinking nldcnnan. It Is as tight as a
drum and his legs below It are HO weak that
they look llko nlpo atoms walking around
with the great load above ,
The majority of the peons are whites , al
though there tire many mulattoes and not a
few negroes. They have good focee and are
naturally Intelligent , They are very quiet
and peaceable , They arc kind to tholr
families and are , on the wliolo , 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 can 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 mon will do their work Irre
spective of those , asking for Sunday only ,
PRANK O. OARPENTBR.
Told Out of Court
A boy 14 year * of ai > , who said "ho did
not know ho hnd a soul , that ho did not
know what morals monnt or moral ro-
dpoimlblltty. " whoii nnkud ns to thu nature
of nn oath said "If lu > told one story ho
would go to the loglslnturo , If ho told two
IIP would go to congross. "
A popular judge recently took a ploamiro
drive through the country with a pnrty of
four ( nf whom his wlfo was one ) . Rolling
along In a whlto high-built trap , they HOC in
to liuvo boon taken for high rollers , an an
Innocent-looking countryman , of whom tha
judge blandly Inquired for n hotel , ropllod :
"Yos , tho.ro Is n hotel right down yonder ,
but It's n temperance hotol. "
How a greater trouble ovor.slwdows n
lesser wns aptly Illustrated In ono of the
minor courts , rulnlcs the Detroit Frco Press.
The ucciiHod wns a big , strong , hoiiost-faccd
Cinnan , greatly excited and disposed to do
moro talking than Is punulsslhlo under
such elreumstnncos. The court distinctly
said that thn big 'limn ' was charged with
disturbing thu pence and nnkod him
whether ho was guilty or not guilty.
"Dot VIH mil'lng , nhudgv , " came the ro-
spoiiHo. "Dor prow'ry ho hired mo lor
drlvo tint vngon. Tony Voltors , ho Buy ,
'Shako , It vos bcsser and you ynln dur
union , ' und don ho say vhy 1 dond't vnlt a
leotlo and see how VOH It. So 1 vnlt.
"I'urdy gwli-k dur bom ho say , 'Shako ,
you can got your moneys und give up your
ilcnin. Wo VCH a union prowory. I say I
vould see Tony and nsk him vnt dor reason - *
son mil him dot he ndwlso mo out of a yoh.
Vhon I find Tuny ho say did I haf some
eoiisu , und I told him ho vns schninrdrr und
I vos und ho didn't know iiot'lngH. "
"Hut they say that you argued with a club
und that Tony's strongest proposition wns
a brick. "
"Dot vos nod dor bolnt , schudgu. Vet I
vant dor find oult IB , how do > I slant on dor
mil in labor giioHtlonV"
There are pleasantries about courts and
lawyers , and Attorney W. 15. Halo IB not
exempt from the rule , reports thu Minne
apolis Times. In conversation with n group
of well known Imrrlators recently ho told
them how ho cnino to lore his first case.
"It wnw nn asmuilt and battery cnso , " ho
said , "nnd I wns counsel for the complain
ing witness. Unfortunately for him , IrlBh
wit defeated mo. The defendant , nn Irish
man nnd the aggressor In the light , wan
charged among other things wlih having
chowcd my cllont'H thumb. That ho hnd
masticated the mombur WIIB admitted. At
the same tlmo the attempt wim nindo to nhow
that ho hnd dene so only In sulf-dcfoiiHo.
On the stand hu toBtilled that whllu Htondlly
closing his grinders on the thumb ho had
yoflod to his wife , forty rodn away , to como
to his assistance. Anil slio had responded.
"I had a very high opinion of my nblllty
to corner a wltnera nnd make him con
tradict himself , oven nl that onrly dale.
This was whore I thought I had him 'g.lng. '
" 'Do yen Inonn to Bay , ' I united , 'that at
llio same tlmo that you had your tooth
tightly comproBflud on his 'thumb ' so as to
maku articulation , If at all possible , very
Indistinct , you nevortliolusB managed to
innko enough noise to nttract your wlfo ,
forty rods away ? '
" 'Sure , an' yer pint In well taken , ' ho
replied. ' 01 don't know Jlst how Ol man
aged to do It incsllf. Hut 01 think 01 kin
Illustrate It If yebo wlllln' to put yur
thumb In mo moiit. '
"Noodlcra to Bay , I did not cnro to have
It acted out. Ho mmlo a great , big hit
with the jury , nnd I why , I lost the ICIIHO. "
Holes in Indiana
They nro having a terrible tlmo down "on
llio banks of the Wahnsh , " reports the Chicago
cage Tribune , In half n dozen places In that
section of the wtato the bottom has dropped
out and nobody has been able to fill up the
holes. Over nl Ilnllvnr , In Wnbash county ,
oovornl hundred foot of highway got tired
and simply dropped out of sight. The county
cnmmlHslnncrH 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 & Erlo railroad found that
their track near Dlsko was apparently built
upon water and ojient three years to mnko a
solid foundation under It. Thuy prircd In
thousands of cars of filling with apparently
no effect , so they built n spur three tulles
long around the opening nnd admitted tholr
defeat.
Last week trouble ) broke out near Laketon ,
In Pleasant towiiBhlp. This now hole , according -
cording to voracious cnrruspnnduntH , has a
tremendous and Impartial aimetlto. H wval-
lows up stones , timbers , earth , and what
ever IB thrown Into It , nnd cries for more.
It oven refuses to bo bridged , the founda
tions breaking off nnd falling Into llio hulo
oarh tlrno the attempt to crops the chanm
hns boon made , The road supervisor * * ac
knowledged lhat It was too much for them
and have referred the cnso to the county
commissioners , who went out In n body last
Friday and hold n mcollng not too near the
edge of the hole to determine what should
be done about It ,
Evangelistic Movement
Mr. Moody nays : "Tho coming venr in
America , I believe , Is going to see n wide
spread evangelistic movement In which , I
trust , thousands may be reached by the
churchoH , " Ho adds : "Dostruptlvenoss on the
one Dido and the no loss ovll spirit of In
tolerance on the ether sldo have wrought
wide dissensions In America. "
