Evening Star Newspaper, April 26, 1925, Page 71

ILLUSTRATED FEATURES MAGAZINE SECTION The Sundiy Sta | — Part 5—8 Pages WASHINGTON, FICTION AND D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 26, 1925. Porto Ricos 27 Y BY GIDEON A. LYON, 1 the western coast of Porto Rico just south of the city of Aguadilla fs a curving beach broken by a little river and lined with cocoanut Here on the 19th of November, 93, Christopher Columbus landed in ‘discovery.” He had on his first voy- mge the previous year discovered the gsland of Santo Domingo, which he had called Hispaniola, and he was now continuing his search for the great far-eastern continent, where he hoped to find vast stores of gold and other riches. When he touched the shores of Porto Rico he knew that it was an island, and he was not inter- ested in it bevond the fact that from the little river he was able to obtain fresh water for his ships. He soon sailed away on his never-ending qm-\‘l‘ for the golden eastern continent. | Columbus named the island San Juan de atista, in honor of St. John | the Baptist. When Ponce de Leon, | who was with S'olumbus at the time of | the discovery, returned to the island| in 1508 he found the harbor where the present vital is located and eall ed it “Puerto o ate of riches."* 1 er th re re. ver the island Porto » and the capital Juan. yday plans are under consideration | the establishment at the point of discovery of Porto Rico by Co- park. with appropriate morials to co nemorate his land- | A few yards back from the beach stand the remains of a monu ruined by the earthquake of a few years ago, erected in 1893 to mark” the 400th anniversary of the| Janding | On the south shore of the island is | similar stretch of beach, where, 405 ears after the discovery by Colum- Ay 25, 1898, another historic | was effected, that of Ameri- | ops under Gen. Miles. It is now | point, the site of the city of which is actually the playa port Guayama, one of the in nt centers of the sugar industry Porto Rico, | No monument marks the spot of the | ‘American la ne is proposed. None is needed. The pier that stretches out into the waters of the, Caribbean from which the lighters leave with their loads of sugar for the g anchored in the roadstead | a monument to that occa sion nds for the improvement | ' 4n the condition of Porto Rico that has | Tesulted from that military maneuver. | Nearly 27 years have elapsed sinc the American troops landed at Arroyo, years more marked with progress and development than all the 405 years | betwe the two historic debarkatiol The A can fla then brought ashore floated over Porto Ric from that day to this. Beneath it Porto Rico has advanced in every re spect, has developed from a laxzard, | exploited colonfal possession into a thriving, happy and prosperous com ity And the United ates has its service there demonst acity for the helpful, pre and sympathetic administration affairs of a people of alien natiorality * x % % . IT has been my good fortune to be| able to visit Porto Rico recently to observe that development after a little more than a quarter of a cen- | tury of American administration. I trust to be able to cause the readers of The Star to appreciate what has been accomplished under the flag that ‘was planted at Arroyo in July, 1898. When the United States u r the treaty of Paris took sovereignty over | P Rico, it found -the is'and in | grievous need of practically all the es- | sentials of modern social orvganiza- tion The reat body of the people was desperately poor. They were but newly freed from virtual peonage, with few facilities for their educati with slight hope for their industriali advancement, with small encourage- ment for the development of their | citizenship ain had, under pres- . Bure of political need, granted a meas. | ure of autonomy which had not vet | taken effect, and which it was pected would not be permitted to in- dure If the crisis compelling its adop- tion should pass. The at majority of the people were spiritles denseély illiterate Today Porto Rico is a land of plen- tv. with hundreds of schools filled to capacity with eager children, with the standards of living immeasureably im- | proved, with 1,000 miles of improved | linking together all parts | nd, with a fight against | deep-seated, debilitating disease vir- | tually won, with prosperity prevailing | in all branches of industry and & culture. Porto Rico is now virtuz governing community. Through the tiberal action of Congress the people make their own laws in a legislature of their selection, with the executive sdministration in the main in_the | hands of their own citizens. They have zained a degree of autonomy that was never possible under the| » old sove gnty They have no re. gret for the change of fi On the | contrary they are proud of their| status as Americans. To tell the story in full Forto Rico’s advance durin; derful quarter of a century would take too much space’than is herey available. It is an inspiration to an American—a Continental, to use the correct designation of one from the Ktates—to stand on the Plaza at San ‘H'n. the capital, and to see on every and the tokens of Uncle Sam’s good work as guardian of the fortunes of | these people. To be sure, he will probably hear no other speech than | &panish, for that remains and will doubtless always remain the common speech of the people, -despite the teaching of English in all the schools. | public and private. But he will see | sixns of activity t an only have been the result of constructive gov- ernmental development in the foster- ing of industrials, in the spread of education, in the campaign against | disease, for which the United States| hus beén responsible. s | alms '3 the bun ment, i Landin i a e 4 = ir busy sus- | | detail of this won- | EAVIN an Juan to drive through | the country over the great system ot perfect highways—more than 800 fmiles of the 1,000 which have been built since the Stars and Stripes were hoisted—the continental observer will &ee the land tilled to the summits of the many hills that make the island, @< Columbus said to Queen Isabella upon his return to Spain, look like a crumpled handkerchief. He will see sizns of thrift and industry on every hand Having been told, perhaps, that the gouthern side of the island is arid, lacking sufficient rainfall to nourish the crops, he will be surprised to find hevond the great divide that separates the well watered northern half from the sparsely moistened southern sec- | tion equally fertile fields and abundant the result of the enterprise junder American administration that has impounded the waters on the crests to distribute them in irrigation over a thirsty soil crops, In the cities he will see many,_hands When Sovereignty ization. Pass The Great Body of Its People Was Desperately Poor ed to This. Government Under Treaty of Par Island l.acked Practically.All the I With Few Facilities for Education and Slight Hope for Industrial Advancement. sentials of Modern Social Organ- Today It Is a Land of Plenty, With Hundreds of Schools, Standards of Living Greatly Improved and Activity Marked in Industry and Agriculture. Old gpanish Cemetery under of Moro castle _ et the watl San Juan s some buildings for public purposes, | and will be told that most of them | are schools, These i attractive schoolhouses dot the for the convenience of children they mainly on thoroughfare roads. They are rising now in the rural districts, substantial and well equipped in token of the new spirit of education that is the key- note of the insular administration. Many small structures, some of them little more than huts, are still serving s schools, before each of them rising a staff carrying the American flag. That flag floats throughout Porto Rico. It is, however, most frequently the token of the public school. Some- times it hangs from a mere stalk of bamboo while waiting for a better ff. It is the proud duty of the children to hoist and lower it morn ing and evening, for which privilege they eagerly compete. There is still poverty in Porto Rico, at times distressing pover! It would be absurd to say that all the people are perfectly happy and and abundantly supplied. Just so it would be preposterous to assert that all the people in the States are blessed with unfailing abundance. A great many of the people of Porto Rico live in hovels, straw-thatched and stilted. In the cities large numbers of them swarm in the tenements, the former homes of affluence now gone to seed. But there are also in the cities of the States far more noisome tene- ments, far more densely packed. The poorer people of Porto Rico, whatever else may befall them, hav the blessing of the purest air. They live in land of rich productiven with life-sustaining food always av able. Food is easily produced. While there is privation, no one starves. They have the advantage of the most jealous and watchful attention of a mpathetic government for their physical welfare. They have another decided advantage over the extremely poor of the orthern States. The: are never faced with the problem of finding fuel to keep warm in Winter Nature is almost uniformly kind to) them. On only the rarest of occar 4 h are contented | b; {cus, crotons and many other flowers - and plants. sions has she shown an angry mood, ing her toll. Good order prevails in Porto Rico, for there is a high degree of respe for the w. Only when sct agitators arouse them with fa cendiary teachings do they man hostility. Though they come from a somewhat excitable, emotional the Porto Ricans are exceptiona well mannered. In their normal de. meanor they are quiet, yet they are social and always ready for gay as- semblage. * ¥k %k ¥ "TO the eye of the visitor Porto Rico is a surprising panorama of great beauty. For a small island it is an unusual combination of mountain and sea. The shore line is exceptionally tractive, with its tropical verdure, its indentations and its closely ap-| proaching sentinels of the mountain ranges that bisect the island from east to west. In the distance rise these higher hills, reaching a height of more than 4,000 feet—not gigantic mountains, but in proportion to their setting great masses, usually capped v clouds. Within half an hour of motoring from the sea one is lost in these mountain folds as completely as though the ocean were huudreds of miles distant. 7 There is no monotony of scene in Porto Rico. Picture after picture pre- sents itself to the eye with a vivid spectrum of ever changing color. The humblest jibaro, or hill dweller, shows his love of the beautiful by cultivating flowering or high-colored shrubbery in tront of his little hut. Thus the road- side is aglow with the most delicate s well as the most brilliant hues, in combinations of bougainvillea, hibis- o broad are the sweeps of valley hands, with mist-shrouded peaks clos- ing them in; so startling are the changes of perspective, curve and color; so varied are the formations, so picturesque the foliage and the archi- tecture, that one wonders that artists are not at work everywhere, painting or sketching. For here is an exhaust- less treasure house of beauty, differ ing from anything to be found in the States, and all within four days g { which e Capitol of Porto Rico. utder co Al Bemains of Memoria Lau,ding place nea nstractioww W" 1 at Columbars' r Aguadille. ew Yo Porto Rico should be vis- ited by hundreds of painters instead of the dozen or the score who have found their way there and have prof- ited greatly from their experience. When he returns to San Juan the visitor sees the capital with a new vision. Built upon an island ap- proached by an attenuated neck of land, San Juan has long since out- grown itself and is now spread far afield. The old city is huddled com- pactly on the western tip of the is- land. In the Spanish times the peo- ple clustered for protection beneath the sheltering walls of two great forts, El Morro and San Cristobal, loom on the seaward side. Morro occupies the extreme tip of the promontory, after the usual fash- ion in Spanish fort building. At the time of the American “bombardment’ in 1898, which was merely a shelling of. the harbor in search for Cervera’s fleet—which was not there—there ‘were few habitations east of the Plaza de Colon, where rises a beautiful statue of the discoverer. Now San Juan has gone far to the east. It in- cludes the suburb. of Santurce and that of Martin Pena. It has grown to a population of 75,000. In a few years it will have 100,000, covering a very large area. In Santurce have risen and are i ing many new dwellings, of artistic design and_substantial construction. They are all detached, each with its own garden space. Many of them are of the typical “patio” type, while oth- ers are of the bungalow school of de- sign. The general effect is highly at- tractive. * SHORT distance out of the old town, in the suburb of Martin Pena, is one of the most interesting developments in Porto Rico, the work- ingmen’s villag®. The insular govern- ment, under the provisions of the * * * erected nearly a thousand small dwell- ings, both of wood and of concrete. These are let to selected occupants—se- lected in the sense that care is taken to choose dependable, industrious ten- ants—at small rates. After a certain period the occupants become the own- ers. In other words, the government sells these houses to the people at low prices on the easy payment plan. This experiment in government- promoted housing for the working people has proved a decided success. The occupants have been drawn out of the city slums, in the deeps of which disease were undernourished. At first some trouble was encourtered in ‘he matter of collecting the rent Mischievous socialistic agitators sought to persuade the‘occupants that they were entitled to the properties without paying anything for them. Soviet ideas. But the - government went ahead and ousted those who were thus' wilfully delinquent, sub- stituting new ocupants from the long waiting list of applicants, and since then there has been little or no trou- ble on the score of payment. Additional territory has been ac- quired and more dwellings are even now being built. The demand for them far excceds the supply.” The houses are substantially bullt, each with a small space of ground for table garden cultivation, with' complete sanitary equipment. It is believed that great progress will by this means be made in the flight against disease and that the working people will be- come much more contented. Another important improvement is in progress, the reclamation of a large area of marshy land lying east of the harbor. The bay sweeps east- ward in a succession of lagoons, the shores of which have fillled in the course of years and it is now planned to solidify these spaces by dredging the channels and filling the low areas, precisely as was done in the creation iy o spread and families | installments. | | times, JAJOME ALTO s i Y i Landing place of Am 9 ‘Pjn 1898, ?4;1 Ke Governors Summer Home 11 the Mountaing ericawTroops royo “Columbus Founlain’ at Aguadilia. @wo. work is at present in progress. Ali the land thus reclaimed or created will belong to the insular government, and will probably be let or sold to private interests for the erection of the warehouses, factories and docking | facilities of which the rapidly grow- ing business of Porto Rico is in urg- ent need | A new “carratera,” which is the generic name for a thorougfare, is now being constructed along a por- tion of this already reclaimed harbor land to relieve the main. carratera which connects old San Juan with the lateiy developed suburbs. This will be a broad street capable of caring for a heavy volume of traffic, similar to the present carratera, which at the rush hours—nearly every hour of day- light seems to be & rush hour in San Juan—is inadequate for the peak of the load. At the “ne«k of the bottle,{ where the single road crosses the la- goon near its junction with the sea, branching in one direction to.the Con: dado suburb and in-another to San- turce and by a diversion to the nearby separate city of Rio Pjedras, new bridge work is in progress to relieve a serious, and at times dangerous, congestion. IN a few years—perhaps two or three, so rapidly is building work carried on in Porto Rico—the present carratera will be flanked by a series of handsome buildings of a public and semi-public character, making it one of the most attractive cities in the American tropics. Already several structures are in use, initially, on the way east from the old city, the art- istic Spanish Casino, opposite which * ok ok K Then come other strikingly designed buildings, such as the Atheneum, the Y. M. C. A, and the Public Library. Some distance beyond this group will rise the already started new Capi- tol of Porto Rico, which was planned some years ago and actually begun, but checked in construction, though now again under way. It will be a massive, imposing structure. Just beyond it to the east is rsing also the School for Tropical Medicine. | The carratera is a scene of intense gmestead act of the Lexislature, has 'of Rotomae Park in Washington, The. potivity, There is & throp of trafio, rises one of the largest public schools. | | plaza. motor cars their quaint ‘‘guaguas” or busses, with mottoes and brazen ad vertisilg signs painted upon their sides; trucks, all rushing to and fro, all usually well filled. Everything in a hurr The sound of the com- pressed air drills trimming the window casings in the new Capitol to conform to the altered plans and the steam riveters on the new bridges give an accent of pulsing life. Where is the somnolence that one has been led to expect to find in the tropics? Up to noon and after 2 o’clock in the afternoon everybody is busy. Far out in the country the fleld hands are hustling in the fields to cut the cane and get it to the mills. The road menders are diligently at | work to keep the highways in their state of perfection that is the pride of Porto Rico. In the cities artisans are active.. The tradesmen are alert in the transaction of business. San Juan—indeed, all Porto Rico—is as much alive as any other American city. But at 12 o'clock the scene changes. Merchants_close and lock the doors of their shops and go home to luncheon and siesta. For two hours San Juan, like all other cities in the island, rests from business. The guaguas continue their dashes through the narrow streets, with their hubs barely missing those of parked motor cars, or darting in competition for ‘fares” waiting at the established “stops,” but few people are abroad and few fares are to be had. At 2 o'clock San Juan revives and con- tinues at high speed until 6. Then the pulse slows down and by 7 o’clock it is possible to drive through the streets and along the carratera without much risk of collision. * ox ok K NTIL the new Capitol is com- pleted San Juan will lack im- pressive structural evidence of gov- ernmental activity, outside of the schoolhouses that rise on every hand. The Legislature sits on the second floor of a large but unimportant-looking building” cornering on the central! Many of the administrative offices are established .in a commo- dious but badly congested old struc- ture adjacent, fronting on the plaza. | filed claim | recommended allow ears of Progress Under American Rule The municipal government of San Juan is housed in a more elaborate building, also fronting on the plaza The fact is that during the past 20 years the government has far out | Brown its quarters and is now spread | out widely. The attorney general nd the department of justice are in the “Pink Palace,” once the home of the lieutenant governor in Spanish near Government House. The department of education is in an old structure adjoining Work on the Capitol w: for the better part of tw ing what has euphemi to be known as the * ness"—the administration of a gov- ernor with whom the Legislature clashed. Many of Porto Rico’s activi- ties were checked during that period, h was in effect an interregnum Now a different condition prevails Anothe rnor sits at the execu tive desk at La Fortaleza, which is the panish name for the Gov- ernment House, a governor who has won the esteem., and affection, and the confidence the Porto Rican people. Horace Towner, formerly member of ( ress from Towa, for some vears in of the House committee on affairs, and. therefore, it his appoint ment, tw ell acquainted with the f Porto Rico and with its representative citi zens, through the visits of the latter to Washington and through his own visits to the island. during the p: activities have been renewed, sus nded works have been resumed, vernmental activities have been speeded up in all directiens. A cor dial relationship prevails between La Fortaleza and the legislative cham bers. An era of good feeling has been established. It will continue, with Dbeneficent results for the welfare of Porto and the advancement of its commercial interests as long as there presides in Government House n a man in whom Porto mfidence as one who seeks ive a just administration of sland which Christopher Colum overed in 1493 and which umn - rediscovered in 1898 Was Horse a Loss? When is a lightning not This stra s suspended ars, dur- ically come ite unpleasant- # of M n cha insul the tim problems adi st two years horse struck indrum in real life has been answered by Controller Gen- eral McCarl, in perplexing fashion—in fact, most perplexing to Second Lieut T. J. Randolph, Cavalry, U. S who lost the horse when the lightning struck It all happened the dark of September 8, 19 ‘uster, Mich., 1 Lieut Arm; fit untry from one ther. The one fine Lieut dead ‘by nd stormy . between nd Fort Randolph s en route Army post Cavalry horses, animal which be. Randolph, were icket line on an Pokangon, Mich. < became frightened and pulling at their tethers begun to play, and as the re almost mad with fright 4 am., a bolt of lghtning struck the animals. Six were killed instantly. Among them was the prize mount of Lieut. Randolph. Now the lieutenant, having paid §135 for his horse, felt the Govern- ment should reimburse him, so he local board of officers nce of the claim but a board of officers in the office of the chief of flnance disapproved { the recommendation. Feeling an fn- | justice, the lieutenant appealed again, | the board reconsidered its recommen: dutions. and referred the claim to | the Secretary of War, who forwarded it to the controller general. In sendin the appeal to the co | troller zeneral, the Secretary of War | sent along an opinion of the ;udge advocate general of the Army say- |ing that Randolph lost his hor: | while engaged on “authorized military dut There is a law which au- | thorizes reimbursement to an Army | officer of the value of his property, | provided it was lost under certain cir cumstances, including one that “the cha was engaged in authorized mil; duties in connection there- with Lieut fered Sheridar with b longed to picketed to juealed A ant 24 Randolph thought he suf The board of Army offi cers reviewi the case thought the horse was a “loss,” so did the judge |advocate general of the Army. he chief of finance, agreeing the horse ad, however, said it was not a * The con- a loss that the horse was not a loes, and that the Government cannot pay for the animal. Now Lieut. Randolph is at a loss to know how he n get $135 to make up the loss he sustained when he lost the horse which has been declared by the controller general not to be a loss. Largest Dinosaur. V\ORD has just been received of the discovery of the largest fossil dinosaur bones on record by an expe- dition, under W. E. Cutler of the British Museum. which has for the past year been working in the dino- saur heds in Targanyika, formerly German East Africa. The prize find so far uncovered is a shoulder blade six feet two inches across. The dino- saur beds of Tanganyika were dis- covered and partly worked by the Ger- mans before the war, and many inter- esting remains have been found there. There is a close resemblance between the dinosaur fauna of Africa and that of Western North America, especially {in the case of the Stegosaurs or arm ored dinosaurs. Even the newly dis covered giant has American kin, though this particular dinosaur is rep: resented in American finds only by two-limb bones. Do Ferns Harm Trees? OME of our most beautiful ferns may fall under the ban which the Government is placing on goose- berries and barberries, according to C. A. Weatherby, noted fern spe- cialist. He reports that species of rust attacking balsam fire with de- structive force are found to have ferns for their alternate hosts. Both Eastern and Western balsams are infected and ferns guilty of trans- mitting their diseases are found on both coasts. Among them are the beech fern, the sensitive fern, the marsh fern, the Western lady ferns, brackens and polypodies. Smallest Visible Objects. A CCORDING to Sir William Brags of London, the tiniest things which the human eye can see are the black spots and patches some- times visible in soap bubbles. These black areas are so thin that if the soap bubbles could be magnified to the size of the earth and the thick ness of the enveloping film increased in proportion, the film would then be ounly the thickness of a sheet of giass, 2 2