TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: JANUARY 21. 1912.
United States Has Revolutionized the Island of Porto Rico
(Corsrlght. BU, by Frank G. Carpenter.)
fT' iTHIXUTO.V. D. C.-Vncle
I iAl " sreatest victory In
I W I Rtc be to do with a
' A worm. I have written how
bo baa ratoed tbe Island from
beggary to prosperity, and
"' Ma foreign trade baa beet multiplied
per cant. How tba wealth of the peo
P'e has riant from almost nothing to
' per family, and how they are now
aTP-wIng rleb off of coffee, tobacco and
scar. Further on In this letter I will
tell bow mountain trails have been
aajsd to stone roads, and bow Jostle
atnd saod ovsrnmsnt bava taken tbe
alee of disorder and graft.
I'ncte Sam's fight with the worm has
been bigger than any of these. And
till the worm Is so small that yon
could Isy It on the little fingernail of
your baby and It would lust reaeb
amund tba edge where the nail Is
P-lned to tba flesh. Nevertheless at
be time w took bold of the island It
"was fussing tbe life and strsngtb out
a K per cent of the people. Almost
very one had it. We did not know
what was the matter." We thought the
Perue Rlosns'were a degenerate nation
and (hat their pasty. PS shins, flabby
wiis.-les and larkadatsiral wsys
lxgddiutry and could not be changed.
seme time before we discovered that
'J am naturally as strong as we are
snnt that their weakness existed because
shcy were sick. It all 'came from this
ami worm which- was gnawing the!
whsls.
"Dr. Makferd Discovers Meek wera
The presence of"he- parasite was dts-
eove:d In 19M by Major Bailey K. Ash-
ford, d United States army surgeon, and
elnoe then; a great fight has gone on
agqr nst It. resulting In the cure of hun
drels ef thousands and In confining its
rw aces to tbe jjeoraet classes ef- labor.
er a he-are-far off In the mountains.
Ttrrvilscovery- of this worm In Porto
T! cn led to our knowledge of It in the
M uthem states and to the great hook
-worm experiments which have been taken
Tiixlrr.th. Rockefeller fund to control It.
Tho first actirs hookworm campaign.
however, was undertaken by Major Ash
font in Porto Rico, and today there are
forry-flve dlepensartee scattered over the
Island to wMrh such - patients come to
lo t rated. , Daring the last year MUo
men, asm en and Children have been
doctored at' these ' dispensaries, and of
tlieia W.J hsva keen ' completely cured
and 7. WO mors art stlfi Improrlng under
treatment. In all th Island more than
3 U.CI1 have keen treated, and the hook
iM has been practically jrlptd out of
tbe towns and Milages.
Tbe Deadly Hookworm.
It Is dne to the work In Porto Rico
that we now know all about tha hook
worm and how to control lb It is be
lirred to have been brought there from
Africa at the time tha first slaves were
imported. It Is known to hare existed
aim tig tha African pygmies and It is
tltfught lo have coma, to Parto Rico In
1.. with the founding of tha first three
S'tsar plantations. The worm began its
ovk In the lowlands and gradually made
tlx sy through the Island. It Is now
irtrongest In the mountains and It Is
found slnSost everywhere on the ooffe
J! Ill:: A L rfr ' I
, - . ,7 c i
51 4 Tl J, r. 5aJ :T- ' r' tm"m'J '
(AK e Tav- - J l . lime 2T?rr Camerio gJi
isles.
Trw bookworm comes from an egg
wiilch hatohes out In tbe earth twenty
four hours after It Is laid. It la said to
tier r batch anywhere els than In the
earth, and it la tha worm Itself that
or u wis Into the body of tba man. It
arflra, arts-In -4irougb tha feet. The
Tree t of the Porto Klran Isborars ga bare.
-fooled, and during tba rainy season, when
tho ground Is wet end damp, a scratch
or sore on the skin enables the parasite
to crawl In. A poor ststs of health
uakes Us ravages easy. There was a
aroat Incrvass of tha disease after the
k'Srlcane of 1Mb. at wtilch time thousands-were
practically starving and the
(t of the people was low.
' The entrance of the worm through tht
a'.ln hag been prevented by nerauadlng
ti e people to wear shoes and watch out
fi-r tbeir feet during wet weather. In
many of the rural districts the sanitary
sv -editions are still bad and parte of the
country ara peppered wfth the worms and
their eggs. ' "
Una csn easily tell the men, women and
dilhlrsu who ara being estsn up by
these parasltea. They look weak, pale,
dull and flabby, and It is almost Impos
sible for them to do more than hslf work.
Xoxt of them sre-sffllcted with neusee,
vomiting, hesdsches and palpitation of
11m heart, and with some these symptoms
continue for years, while others gradu
ally fade away and die.
reed aa Keel Bleed.
But let me tell you liow the worm
works. The doctors say It feeda en tbe
red corpuscles of tha blood. This Is the
life-giving fluid, and a goad healthy man
ought to have five or sit millions of them
In every cubic millimeter of all tbe blood
that flows through but veins. Not long
aga. Inasmuch as I was tar under par. 1
had my own blood examined- A doctor
3ubbed a pin Into my ear and took out a
drop ef my bleed and tested it He found
that there were over five million red
corpuscles per cube, and even this num
ber made him sr-ske his head and look
serious. New tbe Porto Mean -with the
hookworm has only two and one-half
million of these red cerpusoles, so you
csn see where he stands. Another part
of my teat was aa to tba hemonlobln.
whh.li glas relates to the quality of this
l!ood. If tha test rises to let per cent It
Is excellent. My test showed K, and now
nftsr treatment It has risen to ninety.
The average Porto Mean with tbe worm
hjs only m per oent af I list stuff in him,
and nevertheless upon such physical
condition he has bad to labor from day
light to dark on tbe sugar eatatea and In
tlie eofrse plantations. He has bee a
sick man all tbe time, but be baa bad to
work. Tbe curing of hundreds of thou
sands af suck people Is a part, of what
Uncle Sam baa done in Porto 3k-s.
A taaltarr Island.
Indeed, tbe present plans of he govern
ment are such that tha island Is now
about aa sanitary aa any rart of Latin
Amerlta, At the time we ook hold the
death rate waa about forty per thousand.
It Is new onty twenty-two, -per thousand, j
ami Oils compares favo.-sjity with any
other similarly populated e jentry.
We havs practically vised out tbe
smallpox. When 1 TlsVd the Islsnd
twelve years ago It wis raging, and at
that time our governmtnt undertook the
greatest vaccination !tb of all history.
It had the army star, to work to vacci
nats tne whole peof Je, There were at
least Ws.Nt sore a ana on the Island
during my stay, ao-1 the people were so
disabled In places t! ml work practically
stopped. Among the plsces I visited was
a vaccina farm. War re the army eurgeona
had iJM cattle ranging from eight
BiouUia to a year old. They used these
to get vsecine m attar, tailing as many as
too I points fro c a aingle beast- Since
then the vaeci nation haa kept up from
time to time. Twenty-six thousand per
sons were vacc.naled last year, and tbsi
Qua
doctors keep their eyes on the children.
As a result there la no smallpox In Porto
Rico, and very few cases of varioloid.
The' Water Papply.
At the time we took charge tha water
supply was bad almost everywhere. The
strsama were used as publlo sewer and
tha people took their drinking water from
them. In all of tha cities I fourd wells
not far from tha cesspools, snd the
doctors estimated that U.CO houses bad
ojaterns whose water waa polluted In that
way. Tha custom of burying tha dead
waa another source of disease. The
cemeteries were crowded and great piles
of skulls and other human bones were
found In seme of them. Uncle Sam bai
caused new cemeteries to be opened, and
he haa established In remote dlatriots
many new ones, where free burial Is
given to the poor.
Porto Rico has now Its own heslth de
partment, with an advisory board, con
sisting of a health supervisor, a physician,
a druggist, a lawyer and a civil engineer.
great deal is being dona to wine out
tuberculosis and tha general condition of
the people Is 100 per cent better than It
has been before,
Aatosaeblle Roads for Parte Rica,
Next to the bookworm, one of the big
gest things Uncle Sam has done In Porto
Rico has been In the good roads move
went. He baa started the work, and the
people have furnished the money .to da
the business.
There Is ao part of tbe United States
which has such a road development
has had Porto Rico since we took bold.
At that time the island had ITS miles of
good highways. These were built by the
Bpanlarda end mainly for military pur
poses. They consisted of one long mad
across the mountains from the Caribbean
to the Atlantic and some branch
roads pinning hero and there. These
military roads were as good as any drive
way m the United Slates. They were
as smooth aa tha floor, without pebble
or ruts, and they wound their way in
assy slopes aver the mountains. In soma
places they hung to tha sides of the hills
snd in others 'they ntade Innumerable
horseshoe curves so that you could see
tbe road above and below you. I wept
ever . that road In IN and I waa told It
had coat about tS.0u9 a mil.
Today you will find roads liks that con
necting the chief parts of Porto Rica,
snd yon can go In an automobile all over
tha island. The roads have cost only
10,M a mil and they are now spending
about to per mile per annum to keep
them la order. Tba aggregate length of
the macadam road I such that if they
wars placed end end they would reach
from New York almost to Chioago. and
that would be better automobile road
than If It were composed ef atrip from
the best roads of Nsw Enclsnd.
In addition to this wagon road have
been made In th mountain eoaaacting
with these automobile highway and new
trails have been cut as that transporta
tion I everywhere possible.
A great deal of tba business of the
country Is now dona by automobiles. There
ars mora thaa toe In use and mora are
added every day. There were something
Ilk a hundred new ones last year. There
are regular lines of freight and passenger
motor care between the chief dues, and
regular automobile busses rut) aver the
military road from Ban Jusa to Potto. As
It is now, one can leave Saa Juan after
breakfast In the morning and be at Ponce,
on th southern aid of th Island, for
lunch. It used to hustle one ta get there
la two days
The -New Mease Reada,
When I waa In Porto Rice, at tha cioss
of the wsr. there waa only an tm
railway. This was mad up of short
strips running from Saa Juan around to
Ponce, with numerous breaks. It was
part of a system that had bean planned
to belt tbe island, but only bits of which
had been built.
Sine we have taken bold thla road haa
been Improved and extended. The breaks
have been filled, and tha steam car now
ran dear along the northern and west
ern ends of tha island from Ban Juan to
Poace. and from there to tha port of
Ouayama. This complete four-fifths of
tba circuit of th Island, and, la addi
tion, there art many short line railroads
which supply th sugar plantations, a
very little more track would give roads
through all the coast lands of Porto Rico.
In IKS tha car service waa miserable.
The passenger coaches were little better
than our box freight car and It waa a
rar occasion when th dinky angln did
not break dowa. Tsdar there are good
American locomotive and comfortsbl
passing er care , ; 1
ateassabla (a Parts Rlcw. r
Sine th t'nlted State took bold ef
Porta Rica, th steamship line connect
ing with It has steadily Improved. New
one bav been added, and the Island ha
now steamers for all parts of tba world,
Tha wharfs of San Juan and Poors are
crow dad with Ameriraa goods. There are
now twelve different line which call at
Porto Rleo. Th chief anas going to th
United Butte srs ttis New Tork and
Porto Rica Steamship Una, tha Red D
linn and tha Insular line. Tha latter
haa tbree steamer which ply regularly
between New .York and tiaa Juan. The
Red D a as five.. which call at San Juan
on their way lo Veoesuela, and the lew
Turk and Porte Rice line ba a weekly
service. It boats leaving New York even
Saturday, and reaching Porte Rica
Wednesdsy. Th far m tt sr. Ha. Th
Spanish Transatlantic- company plies
between Spala and Santo Domingo, call
ing at Saa Juan, and a French II n awe
from Franc to Haiti, calling at tha cam
pert. The Hamburf-Ajnerlean sn ha
boata to Iorto Rico, and there are Italia
and Cuban boat as wall. One can go to
Porto- Rico from the United States two or
three times every week.
Poet nd Tele giro es.
Th telegraphi and postal aervtc of
th island, which was very poor ten
years ago. Is now as good as that of any
part of our country. The United States
government manages the postofflcea, and
tbe telegraph system la tinder the gov
ernment of Porto Rico, being directed by
Its Department of tha interior. There
are thirty-seven telegraph stations,, cov
ering all the larger places, and these are
oonnected by telephone with all the
smaller towns. Message ara aeat by tel
egraph and transmitted from th sta
tions by telephone. The telephone are
owned by private parties. The Island has
also a good cable service, connecting it
with alt parts of the world, and ft has
wireless telegraph stations maintained by
the United States navy. It haa also street
railwaya run by electricity, and San Juan
and other citlre are lighted by the power
project of th Cpmerio dam.
Porto Rleo Pare It Osva Bill.
When a British colony paye Ita own
bills it Is considered a sueceaa. That Js
what Porto Rico does nsw. The total
coat ef the government and all the ex-
of the Islsnd come out of tht
Porto Rican treasury, which Is filled br
Porto Rlcao taxes. Th United states
has no expense whatsoever, exoept th
keeping of the regiment of troops, con
sisting altogether of t0 or cob, tha pri
vate of whom are Porto Rlcana. Th
officer only ara Americana,
Tha governing Is dona by th natives.
With the exeeption of the governor gen
eral and a limited number of officials ap
pointed by th president. There Is a
legislature, conirtMIng of two houses, one
S' which, known as the executive couo
I. Is appointed by the president, and
tbe other, the house of delegates, Is
elected by the peopler There are eleven
members In th executive council and
thirty-five In the house of delegates, and
they maks all the laws for the Island.
The thirty-five members are sleeted every
two years from seven electoral districts.
Each of the districts baa free delegates.
Both of them houses srs now In session.
the assembly having convened the second
Nonas y n January. It WHI alt slur
day s. The executive council remains In
session throughout tbe year, for It la
necessary that It confirm the appoint
ment made by Ihe governor hi order that
they be valid accordlr . ta law.
Jaatlcw la Part Rlrav. .
In th day of th Spaniard Justice In
Porto Rica waa a matter of bargain and
asle. The man who had th moat money
got the decision of the courts in his
favor, and even today the Judges ara still
offered bribes. I beard of a case In which
a woman the other day called upon the
sttomey general and asked him Just how
much money It would Uko to get her
son oat of prison. She said aha had beea
saving for the last fir year, or aver
sine ha had committed manslaughter,
and that she thought ah had now
enough to buy him out. It waa hard for
ittorney general to make her see
1 4 1 IT" a 111 J..IV
J
-HVsVWYV
Aaiejfjeia Colonial JKza&-SajzuMH
that sieney could not comnenaat for
crlme.i.
Today th Judicial system ef Porto
Rlc much Ilk that af th United
State. There ara fifty-eight Justice of
lb nesos, but they cannot fin a man
mar thaa lit or Imprison him for more
(ban .thirty days Their Jurisdiction I
limited to violation of municipal ordi
nance and petty crime. They ara much
like our nolle Judges. There ara sleo mu
nicipal oeurte, whsr suits are tried In
which tha amount does not axeWd tCaVo.
Tba officer ef these an elected by pop
ular vote, and each for a term of feur
years. Above these are the district courta,
the prosecuting attorneys of which ana
appointed by the governor, and. higher
still, the supreme court, composed of five
judge appointed by the president. Thl
court st is at Pan Juan, and It pasaiasci
general appellate Jurisdiction ever the
Island. -
A Saaalah t'eaatry Wltkeat tiraft.
On of the most remarkable things In
Porto Rico has been tha elimination of
graft. Under the former government
everything was bribery. and oorruptlon.
Nothing could be done without greasing
th It Thing palm of Ik officio le, and
thls was so evea to the recording of
devda snd all transfers of property. Ev
erything waa taxed, even to tbe mull- j
est bit of furniture of a banana-rosifed j
attack. Tha poor had no rights that the ;
rich were bound to respect, and U cast '
money to get a hearing la th courts. j
At tbe lime we toe hold there were I
i3t prisoners la the Jails awaillag trial. I
and many of them did not knew the I
charges upaa which they had beea ar-
rested. One man bad beea kept la arteo !
for five month for atealtng aa empty
bag. aad another a year for strallng a !
chicken. A third prisoner, charged with '
MtaDag a hog. had been kept la Jail a
year awaiting ats trial. The court of j
Port Rico then cost tltc.sot a year la'
salaries alone, and awry official had a -'
Isrgo allowance far writing natrrtata.
Today all the account of the udand I
Pass through th hands at aadltora so- !
ktcted by our Treasury deportment, and j
wtwtj v-n mast e aaaiaxactoniy ac-
eoontod for. Thl U so of all branch of
th government, and It I ImpoaaiM fur :
any af th puWIe money t be spent ath- ,
erwla (ban s mid dowa by th law.
PRANK O, CARPE.XTER. I
(evBwjsFBajLcr.
Sanatorium
This Institution U tb enlr one
la th central west with sepal at
buildings altaated la their own
ample grounds, vat Mlral
distinct and rendering It possible
lo riasaify case. Tha on bctldlnc
9 rag fitted for sad devotad to tha
treat meat of noocoata clous aad
Boamaatal diseases, bo others ba
ll. g admitted. Th .(her Kott
Cottars be tug designed for and
devoted ta tha excluslr traatatant
at select msntsi canes, reaulrtng
tor a time watchfu! ear and spe
cial aursiag.
aSrsrWi rfeeetlans.
Good Intonttona need careful nursing to '
them from going into early de
cline. The way for a man to convince a girl '.
she ought to marry him Is for her fx t tree ;
to try la convince her aha ought not to. ,
A mas waata to march In a poilKrai ,
pared srhare b ss Ignored and a wemsn
te ga ta a raoaotlan when aha la snubbed. '
-New York Press.
Hotel Flanders
13S-1ST West 47 th StTeet,
K. V. CITY.
SOU Kect Kast af Broadwaj.
A modern fireproof botes In th
heart of tee theater, dim sad betel
district: convenient la all car Una.
An escecHlensvl rchestra. Roonaa
wltn premie bath K per day.
Prom Urand Central matlee, Broad
way ears without transfer. Press
Pmnsylvsnhk eltsttea, tth Avssne
cars without transfer. Booklet on
request.
If. R. SHARKS, Prop. '
J
1
Make ThU Your Home in Chicago
Tb world't tnoe patiiiiieiil people soak th
CONORESS HOTEL, their Boras whan ta
&icro. kl tlsbsrsta aauismam, dearer p
Buhwiiinntt and parfactlesl of ai at a snearno
th saaxS'llks comfort of swot (asst.
k MMwaWksV teas!
- . s
Oonsrso Kioto. Annox
fmmtttf JTseara s sawtrtsm jlaaaa
tisstsd aa Mkaigan Bsalsaai i. Ovwlaoi Great Part
aad Leks MasVsJaa
B.S t.rraaa,
I'll
statkTssmarm.aaasataa, 4 J
j '. y
All the Tdnc-quality of the $200
in this one
Instmmeats
at $59
which is the spot-cash price but
which includes an outfit of 12 double
disc records (24 selections) ( ' if
And you can pay for it at
the rate of 55 a month;
Wo agree to deliver to aajr address in
Omaha, ona of these Grafonolaa. together with
aa assortment of 12 doubla-dirg records 124
aalartlorit) to bo selected bjr us, or by rou If
rod prefer. In addition w Include, free, ooo "Domon.
gtratlon" doublo-dlac record.
Tbo machic and tha record will be tent on tares days'
frco trio to any homo to tho city.
80 confident aro that the instrument will please ovoa
tho most critical, that w agre to refund all money paid by
any purchaser who may sot in ovary way be satisfied, with
th instrument
An unconditional guarantee as to material uni workmanship accompanies
each instrument sold, tbe guarantee being signed by tbe manufacturers and
countersigned by ut. ,
This is tho tint offer of thit sort we ever mad. We do It sow because wo
Intend either to place' a Grafooola In every home In Omaha, or at least give every
householder In Omaha an opportunity to own one.
. eassnsssswxfsBsssasTJfc, X.
Tht Instrument:
the
This beautiful Grafonola "Fav
orite." the first Inatrumsnt of this
latest Improved typo to be offered
at earthing like Its price. Is prob
ably th best that Ita price will
ever buy. It seems pretty clear
that the limit ha been reached.
A a musical Inatrumsnt, it Is all
that any mnaical Inetrument can
be, and all that those coating :ot
can claim to be.
Th cabinet la built of the
choicest mahogany for ef beauti
ful quarter-sawn oak) polished
like the cesllleet plana
The "Favorite' piays any also
of record three at ana winding,
and ran be rewound while run
ning, the motor being a power
ful trlple-aprlng drive absolute
ly silent and always positive snd
reliable. The lone arm leada tha
sound w-vvea fron.- the reproducer
Into the sound chamber, where It
la amplified and poured sut
through tba front, aubject to re
duction In volume by tbe partial
or complete closing of the double
doors, rhs stsrt-aod-stsp lever la
combined with a apeed regulator
lever, sll In bandy reach. Tbe turn
table stand aseva the top of the
rsbliwt when the ltd le raised, ad
mitting assy access te tbe record
Bad needle.
J Inetrument that any
man. of any maano. mar k mtlZi
t wn an. us. isr . iff.Ume
Thi Rsiordi:
ef records w havs ad.,,,.,,
Th outfit
elected from tb beat aolllna and
meet popular of all classes, and
Includes th famu Sextette from
-'Lucia- and tbe equally famous
Qusrtstt from "Rigolstto." which
ought to be sxtrsmsly Intsreetlng
to any of your frtsnda who owa
talking machines and have paid
til for thoaa two selection slon.
Tou are at liberty te wake your
own selection of racer da if yon
prefer.
t tliaa
Hons, w will sirs rou. ...
of ocr -Demonstration" double
dle raoard. wktch everybody ad
mits I worth at least sixty cents
ef say snaa'a raensy. All ef these
record srs gaaraateed te be sup
erior to ail ethers la tea, ta sur
faes sod ta durability.
Call, write or telephone any dealer, or
COLUMBIA PHONOGRAPH CO. Gen'l Distributors
T:thsss Dsuf, 19SS; Ind. A-23M
1311 FARNAM STREET
OMAHA
1