The Story of the Philippines Part 41

At 11:40 a. m., General Brooke, Admiral Schley and General Gordon, the United States evacuation commissioners, came out of the palace with many naval officers and formed on the right side of the square. The streets behind the soldiers were thronged with townspeople, who stood waiting in dead silence.

At last the city clock struck 12, and the crowds, almost breathless and with eyes fixed upon the flagpole, watched for developments. At the sound of the first gun from Fort Morro, Major Dean and Lieutenant Castle, of General Brooke's staff, hoisted the stars and stripes, while the band played "The Star Spangled Banner." All heads were bared and the crowds cheered. Fort Morro, Fort San Cristobal and the United States revenue cutter Manning, lying in the harbor, fired twenty-one guns each.

Senor Munoz Rivera, who was president of the recent autonomist council of secretaries, and other officials of the late insular government were present at the proceedings. Many American flags were displayed.

Acknowledgment has been made of the better condition of Porto Rico than of Cuba, but the trail of the serpent of colonial Spanish government appears. Mr. Alfred Somamon writes in the Independent:

"The internal administration of the island disposes of a budget of about $3,300,000, and is a woeful example of corrupt officialism. Of this sum only about $650,000 is expended in the island, the remainder being applied to payment of interest on public debt, salaries of Spanish officials, army, navy, and other extra-insular expenditures. But the whole of the revenue is collected in the island."

An article of great value by Eugene Deland, appeared in the Chatauquan of September, on the characteristics of Porto Rico, and we present an extract, showing its admirable distinction of accurate information well set forth:

"The mountain slopes are covered with valuable timbers, cabinet and dye-woods, including mahogany, walnut, lignum vitae, ebony, and logwood, and various medicinal plants. Here, too, is the favorite zone of the coffee tree, which thrives best one thousand feet above sea level. The valleys and plains produce rich harvests of sugar-cane and tobacco. The amount of sugar yielded by a given area is said to be greater than in any other West Indian island. Rice, of the mountain variety and grown without flooding, nourishes almost any place and is a staple food of the laboring cla.s.ses. In addition to these products cotton and maize are commonly cultivated, and yams, plantains, oranges, bananas, cocoanuts, pineapples, and almost every other tropical fruit are grown in abundance. Among indigenous plants are several noted for their beautiful blossoms. Among these are the coccoloba, which grows mainly along the coasts and is distinguished by its large, yard-long purple spikes, and a talauma, with magnificent, ororous, white flowers.

"Of wild animal life Porto Rico has little. No poisonous serpents are found, but pestiferous insects, such as tarantulas, centipedes, scorpions, ticks, fleas, and mosquitos, supply this deficiency in a measure. All sorts of domestic animals are raised, and the excellent pasture-lands support large herds of cattle for export and home consumption, and ponies, whose superiority is recognized throughout the West Indies.

"The mineral wealth of the island is undeveloped, but traces of gold, copper, iron, lead, and coal are found. Salt is procured in considerable quant.i.ties from the lakes.

"Porto Rico carries on an extensive commerce, chiefly with Spain, the United States, Cuba, Germany, Great Britain, and France. In 1895 the volume of its trade was one-half greater than that of the larger British colony--Jamaica. The United States ranks second in amount of trade with the island. During the four years from 1893-96 Spain's trade with the colony averaged $11,402,888 annually, and the United States, $5,028,544. The total value of Porto Rican exports for 1896 was $18,341,430, and of imports, $18,282,690, making a total of $36,624,120, which was an excess over any previous year. The exports consist almost entirely of agricultural products. In 1895 coffee comprised about sixty per cent, and sugar about twenty-eight per cent, of their value; leaf tobacco, mola.s.ses, and honey came next. Maize, hides, fruits, nuts, and distilled spirits are also sent out in considerable quant.i.ties. Over one-half of the coffee exported goes to Spain and Cuba, as does most of the tobacco, which is said to be used in making the finest Havana cigars; the sugar and mola.s.ses are, for the most part, sent to the United States. Among imports, manufactured articles do not greatly exceed agricultural. Rice, fish, meat and lard, flour, and manufactured tobacco are the princ.i.p.al ones. Customs duties furnish about two-thirds of the Porto Rican revenue, which has for several years yielded greater returns to Spain than that of Cuba.

"The climate of Porto Rico is considered the healthiest in the Antilles. The heat is considerably less than at Santiago de Cuba, a degree and a half farther north. The thermometer seldom goes above 90 degrees. Pure water is readily obtained in most of the island. Yellow fever seldom occurs, and never away from the coast. The rainy season begins the first of June and ends the last of December, but the heavy downpours do not come on until about August 1st.

"In density of population also this island ranks first among the West Indies, having half as many inhabitants as Cuba, more than eleven times as large. Of its 807,000 people, 326,000 are colored and many of the others of mixed blood. They differ little from other Spanish-Americans, being fond of ease, courteous, and hospitable, and, as in other Spanish countries, the common people are illiterate, public education having been grievously neglected. The natives are the agriculturists of the country, and are a majority in the interior, while the Spaniards, who control business and commerce, are found mainly in the towns and cities.

"The numerous good harbors have naturally dotted the seaboard with cities and towns of greater or less commercial importance. San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, Aguadilla, Arecibo and Fajardo all carry on extensive trade. Intercourse between coast towns is readily had by water, but is to be facilitated by a railroad around the island, of which 137 miles have been built and 170 miles more projected. The public highways of the island are in better condition than one might expect. According to a recent report of United States Consul Stewart, of San Juan, there are about one hundred and fifty miles of good road. The best of this is the military highway connecting Ponce on the southern coast with San Juan on the northern. This is a macadamized road, so excellently built and so well kept up that a recent traveler in the island says a bicycle corps could go over it without dismounting. Whether it is solid enough to stand the transportation of artillery and heavy army trains we shall soon know. Of telegraph lines Porto Rico has four hundred and seventy miles, and two cables connect it with the outside world, one running from Ponce and the other from San Juan."

Mr. Alfred Solomon, already quoted as an instructive contributor to the Independent, writes:

"The population of Porto Rico, some 800,000, is essentially agricultural. A varied climate, sultry in the lowlands, refres.h.i.+ng and invigorating in the mountain ranges, makes possible the cultivation of almost every variety of known crop--sugar, tobacco, coffee, annatto, maze, cotton and ginger are extensively grown; but there are still thousands of acres of virgin lands awaiting the capitalist. Tropical fruits flourish in abundance, and the sugar-pine is well known in our market, where it brings a higher price than any other pine imported. Hardwood and fancy cabinet wood trees fill the forests, and await the woodman's ax. Among these are some specimens of unexampled beauty, notably a tree, the wood of which, when polished, resembles veined marble, and another, rivaling in beauty the feathers in a peac.o.c.k's tail. Precious metals abound, although systematic effort has never been directed to the locating of paying veins. Rivers and rivulets are plenty, and water-power is abundant; and the regime should see the installation of power plants and electric lighting all over the island, within a short time after occupation. On the lowlands, large tracts of pasturage under guinea gra.s.s and malojilla feed thousands of sleek cattle, but, as an article of food, mutton is almost unknown. The native pony, small, wiry and untirable, has a world-wide reputation, and for long journeys is unequaled, possessing a gait, as they say in the island, like an arm-chair.

"Perhaps a third of the population of the island is of African descent; but, strangely enough, the colored people are only to be found on the coast, and are the fishermen, boatmen and laborers of the seaports. The cultivation of the crops is entirely in the hands of the jibaro, or peasant, who is seldom of direct Spanish descent, while the financiering and exportation is conducted almost entirely by peninsulares, or Spanish-born colonists, who monopolize every branch of commerce to the exclusion of the colonian-born subject.

"Coffee planting is largely engaged in, returning from ten to fifteen per cent. on capital. Improved transportation facilities, abolition of export dues and the consolidation of small estates would, doubtless, help toward better results. This crop is marketed in Europe--London, Havre and Barcelona--where better prices are obtainable than in New York. With the exception of a few plantations in strong hands, most of this property could be purchased at a fair valuation, and would prove to be a very profitable investment.

"Cocoa grows wild on the lowlands, but has not been cultivated to any appreciable extent. Small consignments sent to Europe have been p.r.o.nounced superior to the Caracas bean. The tree takes a longer period than coffee to come to maturity and bear fruit; but once in bearing the current expenses are less and the yield far greater. The same remarks apply to the cultivation of rubber, which, although a most profitable staple with an ever-increasing market, has received no attention whatever.

"Corn is raised in quant.i.ties insufficient for home consumption. Of this cereal three crops can be obtained in two years; sometimes two a year. The demand is constant, and the price always remunerative.

"In Porto Rico, as in most other West Indian islands, sugar is king. In the treatment of this product the lack of capital has been sadly felt. Planters possess only the most primitive machinery, and in the extraction of the juice from the cane the proportion of saccharine matter has been exceedingly small. Great outlay is necessary for the installation of a complete modern crus.h.i.+ng and centrifugal plant."

A flattering picture of our new possessions is drawn in McClure's Magazine, by Mr. George B. Waldron.

"Here, then, are Cuba and Porto Rico in the Atlantic, and the Hawaiian and Philippine groups in the Pacific, whose destiny has become intertwined with our own. Their combined area is 168,000 square miles, equaling New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Their population is about 10,000,000, or perhaps one-half of that of these nine home States. The Philippines, with three-quarters of the entire population, and Porto Rico, with 800,000 people, alone approach our own Eastern States in density. Cuba, prior to the war, was about as well populated as Virginia, and the Hawaiian group is as well peopled as Kansas. What, then, can these islands do for us?

"Americans use more sugar in proportion to population than any other nation of the world. The total consumption last year was not less than 2,500,000 tons. This is enough to make a pyramid that would overtop the tallest pyramid of Egyptian fame. Of this total, 2,200,000 tons came from foreign countries, the Spanish possessions and Hawaii sending about twenty-five per cent. Five years earlier, when our imports were less by half a million tons, these islands supplied double this quant.i.ty, or nearly two-thirds of the nation's entire sugar import. But that was before Cuba had been devastated by war and when she was exporting 1,100,000 tons of sugar to other countries. Restore Cuba to her former fertility, and the total sugar crop of these islands will reach 1,500,000 tons, or two-thirds our present foreign demand."

There is much more in Mr. Waldron's summary of the vast addition that has been made to our resources, by the occupation and possession of the islands that have recently been gathered under our wings by the force of our arms. It is enough to know that with the tropical islands we have gained, we have in our hands the potentialities, the luxuries, the boundless resources including, as we may, and must, Alaska, of all the zones of the great globe that we inhabit in such ample measure.

The following notes were compiled for the information of the army, and embody all reliable information available.

The notes were intended to supplement the military map of Porto Rico. The following books and works were consulted and matter from them freely used in the preparation of the notes: Guia Geografico Militar de Espana y Provincias Ultramarinas, 1879; Espana, sus Monumentos y Artes, su Naturaleza e Historia, 1887; Compendio de Geografia Militar de Espana y Portugal, 1882; Anuario de Comercio de Espana, 1896; Anuario Militar de Espana, 1898; Reclus, Nouvelle Geographic Universelle, 1891; Advance Sheets American Consular Reports, 1898; An Account of the Present State of the Island of Porto Rico, 1834; The Statesman's Year Book, 1898.

Situation.--Porto Rico is situated in the Torrid Zone, in the easternmost part of the Antilles, between lat.i.tude 17 deg. 54 min. and 18 deg. 30 min. 40 sec. N. and longitude 61 deg. 54 min. 26 sec. and 63 deg. 32 min. 32 sec. W. of Madrid. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic, on the east and south by the sea of the Antilles, and on the west by the Mona Channel.

Size.--The island of Porto Rico, the fourth in size of the Antilles, has, according to a recent report of the British consul (1897), an extent of about 3,668 square miles--35 miles broad and 95 miles long. It is of an oblong form., extending from east to west.

Population.--Porto Rico is the first among the Antilles in density of population and in prosperity. The Statesman's Year Book, 1898, gives the population (1887) at 813,937, of which over 300,000 are negroes, this being one of the few countries of tropical America where the number of whites exceeds that of other races. The whites and colored, however, are all striving in the same movement of civilization, and are gradually becoming more alike in ideas and manners. Among the white population the number of males exceeds the number of females, which is the contrary of all European countries. This is partly explained by the fact that the immigrants are mostly males. On an average the births exceed the deaths by double. The eastern portion of the island is less populous than the western.

Soil.--The ground is very fertile, being suitable for the cultivation of cane, coffee, rice, and other products raised in Cuba, which island Porto Rico resembles in richness and fertility.

Climate.--The climate is hot and moist, the medium temperature reaching 104 degs. F. Constant rains and winds from the east cool the heavy atmosphere of the low regions. On the heights of the Central Cordillera the temperature is healthy and agreeable.

Iron rusts and becomes consumed, so that nothing can be constructed of this metal. Even bronze artillery has to be covered with a strong varnish to protect it from the damp winds.

Although one would suppose that all the large islands in the Tropics enjoyed the same climate, yet from the greater mortality observed in Jamaica, St. Domingo, and Cuba, as compared with Porto Rico, one is inclined to believe that this latter island is much more congenial than any of the former to the health of Europeans. The heat, the rains, and the seasons are, with very trifling variations, the same in all. But the number of mountains and running streams, which are everywhere in view in Porto Rico, and the general cultivation of the land, may powerfully contribute to purify the atmosphere and render it salubrious to man. The only difference of temperature to be observed throughout the island is due to alt.i.tude, a change which is common to every country under the influence of the Tropics.

In the mountains the inhabitants enjoy the coolness of spring, while the valleys would be uninhabitable were it not for the daily breeze which blows generally from the northeast and east. For example, in Ponce the noonday sun is felt in all its rigor, while at the village of Adjuntas, 4 leagues distant in the interior of the mountains, the traveler feels invigorated by the refres.h.i.+ng breezes of a temperate clime. At one place the thermometers is as high as 90 deg., while in another it is sometimes under 60 deg. Although the seasons are not so distinctly marked in this climate as they are in Europe (the trees being always green), yet there is a distinction to be made between them. The division into wet and dry seasons (winter and summer) does not give a proper idea of the seasons in this island; for on the north coast it sometimes rains almost the whole year, while sometimes for twelve or fourteen months not a drop of rain falls on the south coast. However, in the mountains at the south there are daily showers. Last year, for example, in the months of November, December, and January the north winds blew with violence, accompanied by heavy showers of rain, while this year (1832) in the same months, it has scarcely blown a whole day from that point of the compa.s.s, nor has it rained for a whole month. Therefore, the climate of the north and south coasts of this island, although under the same tropical influence, are essentially different.

As in all tropical countries, the year is divided into two seasons--the dry and the rainy. In general, the rainy season commences in August and ends the last of December, southerly and westerly winds prevailing during this period. The rainfall is excessive, often inundating fields and forming extensive lagoons. The exhalations from these lagoons give rise to a number of diseases, but, nevertheless, Porto Rico is one of the healthiest islands of the archipelago.

In the month of May the rains commence, not with the fury of a deluge, as in the months of August and September, but heavier than any rain experienced in Europe. Peals of thunder reverberating through the mountains give a warning of their approach, and the sun breaking through the clouds promotes the prolific vegetation of the fields with its vivifying heat. The heat at this season is equal to the summer of Europe, and the nights are cool and pleasant; but the dews are heavy and pernicious to health. The following meteorological observations, carefully made by Don Jose Ma. Vertez, a Captain of the Spanish navy, will exhibit the average range of temperature:

Ds of heat observed in the capital of Porto Rico, taking a medium of five years.

Degrees of Heat Observed in the Capital of Porto Rico, Taking a Medium of Five Years.

Hours of the Day. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Seven in the morning 72 72 1/2 74 78 78 82 85 86 80 1/2 77 75 75 Noon 82 81 82 83 85 86 90 92 88 85 84 80 Five in the evening 78 74 78 80 81 84 87 90 83 82 80 79

The weather, after a fifteen or twenty days' rain, clears up and the sun, whose heat has been hitherto moderated by partial clouds and showers of rain, seems, as it were, set in a cloudless sky. The cattle in the pastures look for the shade of the trees, and a perfect calm pervades the whole face of nature from sunrise till between 10 and 11 o'clock in the morning, when the sea breeze sets in. The leaves of the trees seem as if afraid to move, and the sea, without a wave or ruffle on its vast expanse, appears like an immense mirror. Man partakes in the general languor as well as the vegetable and brute creation.

The nights, although warm, are delightfully clear and serene at this season. Objects may be clearly distinguished at the distance of several hundred yards, so that one may even shoot by moonlight. The months of June and July offer very little variation in the weather or temperature. In August a suffocating heat reigns throughout the day, and at night it is useless to seek for coolness; a faint zephyr is succeeded by a calm of several hours. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, and the body, weakened by perspiration, becomes languid; the appet.i.te fails, and the mosquitos, buzzing about the ears by day and night, perplex and annoy by their stings, while the fevers of the tropics attack Europeans with sudden and irresistible violence. This is the most sickly season for the European. The thermometer frequently exceeds 90 deg. The clouds exhibit a menacing appearance, portending the approach of the heavy autumnal rains, which pour down like a deluge. About the middle of September it appears as if all the vapors of the ocean had acc.u.mulated in one point of the heavens. The rain comes down like an immense quant.i.ty of water poured through a sieve; it excludes from the view every surrounding object, and in half an hour the whole surface of the earth becomes an immense sheet of water. The rivers are swollen and overflow their banks, the low lands are completely inundated, and the smallest brooks become deep and rapid torrents.

In the month of October the weather becomes sensibly cooler than during the preceding months, and in November the north and northeast winds generally set in, diffusing an agreeable coolness through the surrounding atmosphere. The body becomes braced and active, and the convalescent feels its genial influence. The north wind is accompanied (with few exceptions) by heavy showers of rain on the north coast; and the sea rolls on that coast with tempestuous violence, while the south coast remains perfectly calm.

When the fury of the north wind abates, it is succeeded by fine weather and a clear sky. Nothing can exceed the climate of Porto Rico at this season; one can only compare it to the month of May in the delightful Province of Andalusia, where the cold of winter and the burning heat of summer are tempered by the cool freshness of spring. This is considered to be the healthiest season of the year, when a European may visit the tropics without fear.

The small islands, dest.i.tute of wood and high mountains, which have a powerful effect in attracting the clouds, suffer much from drought. It sometimes happens that in Curacao, St. Bartholomews, and other islands there are whole years without a drop of rain, and after exhausting their cisterns the inhabitants are compelled to import water from the rivers of other islands.

"The land breeze" is an advantage which the large islands derive from the inequality of their surface; for as soon as the sea breeze dies away, the hot air of the valleys being rarified, ascends toward the tops of the mountains, and is there condensed by cold, which makes it specifically heavier than it was before; it then descends back to the valleys on both sides of the ridge. Hence a night wind (blowing on all sides from the land toward the sh.o.r.e) is felt in all the mountainous countries under the torrid zone. On the north sh.o.r.e the wind comes from the south, and on the south sh.o.r.e from the north.

Storms.--The hurricanes which visit the island, and which obey the general laws of tropical cyclones, are one of the worst scourges of the country. For hours before the appearance of this terrible phenomenon the sea appears calm; the waves come from a long distance very gently until near the sh.o.r.e, when they suddenly rise as if impelled by a superior force, das.h.i.+ng against the land with extraordinary violence and fearful noise. Together with this sign, the air is noticed to be disturbed, the sun red, and the stars obscured by vapor which seems to magnify them. A strong odor is perceived in the sea, which is sulphureous in the waters of rivers, and there are sudden changes in the wind. These omens, together with the signs of uneasiness manifested by various animals, foretell the proximity of a hurricane.

This is a sort of whirlwind, accompanied by rain, thunder and lightning, sometimes by earthquake shocks, and always by the most terrible and devastating circ.u.mstances that can possibly combine to ruin a country in a few hours. A clear, serene day is followed by the darkest night; the delightful view offered by woods and prairies is diverted into the deary waste of a cruel winter; the tallest and most robust cedar trees are uprooted, broken off bodily, and hurled into a heap; roofs, balconies, and windows of houses are carried through the air like dry leaves, and in all directions are seen houses and estates laid waste and thrown into confusion.

The fierce roar of the water and of the trees being destroyed by the winds, the cries and moans of persons, the bellowing of cattle and neighing of horses, which are being carried from place to place by the whirlwinds, the torrents of water inundating the fields, and a deluge of fire being let loose in flashes and streaks of lightning, seem to announce the last convulsions of the universe and the death agonies of nature itself.