oh == = SORE Oss e030 Be RR Be Tete Be Be 3e Pele toetiet 1 PORTORICO,OURNEWEST JEWEL: B 5 The True “Pearl of the Antilles”—Striking Feat- ures of This Rich Possession. 0s 2¢ Some of the interesting things about Porto Rico are not generally known. In size it ranks only as the fourth of the Greater Antilles, but in point of " density of population and general prosperity it takes the first place. It is one of the few countries in trepical America where the whites outnumber the other races. The best harbor in the island is Guanica, the most western port on the south coast. = Yellow fever never scourges Porto Rico as it does parts of Cuba, and although most of it is low-lying, and may be said to be very hilly rather than mountainous, it is one of the maogt healthful of tropi- cal islands. Though the harbor of Guanica, where our troops landed, is the best in the island, it is not visited by much shipping. The district immediately around it is low and swampy, and, | unless improvements have been made within the past two or three years, the roads are not equal in quality to the main roads marked on the map. Giuanica is the outlet for the produce of San German, Sabana Grade, and to to some extent of Yauco, which is on the railroad. Porto Rican ‘rebels’ have been particularly numerous in the western and southwestern dis- tricts, and many thousands of people there welcomed the day of General Miles’s coming asthe greatest in their lives. The largest city and the commercial capital of the island is Ponce, which lies three miles north of the port of Ponce, on a rich plain surrounded by gardens and plantations. hot springs in the neighborhood, which are highly appreciated by in- valids. Along the playa or beach in front of the port are extensive depots, in which the produce of the interior, forwarded through Ponce, the trading centre, is stored for shipment. At the last enumeration Ponce had a population of 37,545, while San Juan, the capital on the north coast, had only 23,414 inhabitants. Ponce has a number-of fine buildings, among which A MARKET SCENE OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SAN JUAN. are the Town Hall, the theatre, two churches, the Charity and the Wom- en’s Asylums, the barracks, the Cuban House, and the market. The road be- tween the city and the seaside is a beautiful promenade. The main highway of central Porto Rico runs from Ponce to San Juan in a northeasterly course through Juana Diaz, Coamo and Aibonito, where it goes almost eastward to Cayey, there to take a winding course to the north as far as Caguas, where it turns west to Aguas Buenas, and then goes de- «<cidedly north to San Juan through fuaynabo and Rio Piedras, making in all a distance of eighty-five miles. The distance from Ponce to San Juan in a straight lineis only forty-five miles. ‘The eastern part of the island is less densely peopled than the western, and as the east coast is on the wind- ward side and offers less protection | for shipping it is not so conveniently sitnated for trade. Here all the larger towne of the east lie inland, or at least some distance from the coast. These towns are in the hilly region amid rich coffee and extensive graz- ing lands. The harbor of San Juan, the capi- tal, is deep enough to admit large vessels, but its channel communicat- are There are | Over 800,000 people live in Porto Rico, and about two-thirds of them are white. Cuba is thirteen times larger than Porto Rico, and its popu- lation was not double that of the smaller island even before Weyler ex- terminated a third of the native Cubans. Besides Ponce and San Juan, the largest towns on the island Arecibe (30,000 inhabitants), Utuado (31,000), Mayaguez (28,000), San German (20,000), Yauco (25,000), did, they could not afford to, as their wages are very small. Life at San Juan and the ofher prin- cipal towns is very monotonous, the only amusements being retreta or con- cert by the military bands twice a week aud theatrical performances three or four evenings a week, matinees being given very seldom. The theatres are owned by the cities und rented to Eu- ropean companies travelling through the island at so much an evening. San Juan, built on a small island connected with the mainland by the San Antonio bridge, is quite a beauti- ful city, with straight but narrow streets and many fine buildings. It has several public institutions and col- leges, several churches and seven small parks, gmong them the Plazuela de Santiago, with a very good statue of Columbus. The city is lighted by gas supplied by an English company and by electricity supplied by a local cor- poration. Thereare eleven newspapers of all kinds, the principal one being La Correspondencia, a daily political paper, with a circulation of about 7000 Sli eA CA) SPEEA a a J. 3 pT J (ok ; ’He 3 44 4 4 ds ; s » 5 2A i a Dade Hi goa il wu i assm LL HTHF CORNER OF THE PLAZA DE LAS DELIOCIAS, IN PONCE, PORTO RICO, THE HEADQUARTERS OF GENERAL MILES’S ARMY. | | Juana Diaz (21,000), and there are about ten other towns with a popula- tion of 15,000 or over. In the past fifty years about half the population has gravitated to and around the towns, particularly those of the seaboard. They live in com- fortable houses and many of them have the means to purchase all the wares of the civilized world. Porto Rico abounds in sugar, coffee, tobacco, honey and wax, which have enriched the island, and many of the people are well-to-do. A very large part of the island’s trade has been carried on with the United States, whose corn, flour, salt meat, fish and lumber are imported in return for sugar, molasses and coffee. The natives have little taste for sea faring and most of their foreign trade is carried in foreign bot- toms. : Porto Rico is rich in natural Dbless- ings, and for a tropical region is very healthful. - For some inscrutable rea- son Spain has given the inhabitants far better treatment than she has the natives of Cuba. She has dealt with the island as though it were a Spanish province instead of merely a colony to be bled by Spanish officials for the en- richment of themselves and the mother country. In fact, the island has been politically a province of Spain for over twenty years. Spain has had little to do directly with internal improve- ments in the island, but she has so far kept her heavy hand oft the people that there was an opportunity for the spirit of enterprise to develop. The result is that Porto Rico has about 150 miles of railroad, and as much more under construction; and a system of wagon roads leading to all the impor- tant trading eentres that surpass any- thing of the sort seen in most parts of Spain herself. The stretches of rail- road parallel with the coast are long links in the line that isto make the en- tire circuit of the island, with short branches to all the seaports and the inland markets. | The mode of life is very similar to | that of the European countries except | for some slight differences due to the {hot climate. Fashions for men and | women * alike are introduced from | Spain, and especially from Paris and | London. The well to do in the prin- cipal towns dress just like people in Enropean countries, men wearing wool- en clothes all the year round. The ETN a Th RY TE RA 1 Y oR : AAA iy A Vg EP hr I RL Sesdtes, Hr Bin)? Yeidr. “Ve : fad AGEL | HY IES i Lh nN CHARACTERISTIC SCENE ON THE MAIN HIGHWAY OF CENTRAL PORTO RICO WHICH RUNS FROM PONCE TO SAN JUAN. ing with the sea is winding and diffi- cult and can be navigated safely only with the aid of a pilot. One of the leading seaports of the island is Aguadilla on the west coast, which has the advantage of a spacipus bay sheltered from the trade winds. Here are shipped the sugar and coffee of the northwest part of the island. There are even or eight ports of les- ser importance. young women dress very elaborate- ly, and all wear hats, the Spanish mantilla being worn only by elderly | women. ln the small towns men dress | $642,000. | after the fashion of the cities, but wear igen fabrics, as woolen clothes are very uncomfortable, are considered a { luxury, and are worn on holy days and Sundays only. Laborers and farm hands do not wear coats er shoes. copies, which is equal to that of {the other papers combined. There is a local telephone company, but no water except that of the cisterns. A reser- ‘voir was projected and the plap was approved by the Government ‘some fifty years ago, but owing to the man- ana system it has not been finished yet. The history of the Spanish adminis- tration in the island is one of cruelty and corruption. The Spaniards began by exterminating the native Indian rsa I NN | aL 28 it =. \ am | ZN MN, | A PORTO RICAN DAMSEL. population, which some historians place as large as 500,000, in less than a century. Every branch of the ad- ministration of the island has been conducted under a system of corrup- tion, the law was constantly violated by the Spaniards and the natives were deprived of their rights. At elections the Spanish or Conservative party al- ways won, notwithstanding the fact that it was in a large minority. The liberty of the press was un- known. Articles printed in the Mad- rid or other Spanish papers attacking the Government could not be repro- duced by any Porto Rican paper with- out the editors being punished, even if the article in question had not been considered ground for prosecution by the authorities in Spain. No more than nineteen persons were allowed to meet in any place on the island without special permission of the Government, and a representative of the Mayor of the town had to at tend meetings to see that nothing was done or said against ‘‘the integrity of the nation.” Licenses were required for every: thing, even for a dancing party. These are some of the things which caused the people at Ponce to cheer the Americans who took possession of the town. Chief among the staple products it coffee. The average yearly expori from 1892 to 1896 was 49,229,00( pounds, valued at $10,872,000. The area of production can be doubled It grows almost without care. Next to coffee comes sugar. Mo lasses, too, has been exported in large quantities and the product could be increased. Cotton has been almost at a stand still for the same reasons as in Cubs —Dbecause of the heavy taxes fmposeéd by Spain. Besides, coffee is more profitable and demands less care. The | tobacco yield is large. Between 189% {and 1896 the average yearly exports were 3,534,000 pounds, with a valueo: Annitto, mace; cocoa | ginger, rice and oranges are also cul | tivated. | Under the Spanish rule the vas. ! forests were never turned to profit. { Hardwood is abundant. Faney cabi. | net woods and beautiful grained woods They do not care to do so, and, if they , resembling :xazbie are among the ‘sewers, proaucts almosg entirely l’orto Rico's own. Like Cuba, the island has ex- tensive mines and quarries. The principal deposits are iron, gold, cop- per, zine, coal and salt. Salt is the only one worked to any extent. Again, as in Cuba, there are scarcely any railways, and the few are short and disconnected. The wagon ways are good, outside the cities as weli as in them. Water works are needed everywhere, and the drainage in all the cities except Ponce is bad. In Ponce only are there underground These flow into the harbor, whose outlet should be widened, fot only to allow the escape of the drain- age, but to afford easier and less per- ilous access. CGERMANY'S "WOMAN BISMARCK.” Countess Waldersee, an American Girl, Has a Remarkable Influence With Emperor William. As a little girl Mary Esther Lea played among the flour barrels and currant boxes of her father’s grocery store on Front street in New York City. But that was many years ago. Now the little girl is a white haired and regal lady, with the title of princess. More than that, she it is who is the power behind the German throne, who is known as the ‘female Bismarck” and who, it is believed, brought about the Kaiser’s marriage. Her title is Princess von Noer, and she is a powerful influence in the great palace at Berlin. Her history is most interesting and unusual. Her father left Connecticut in 1810 and began a small grocery busi- ness in New York City. Though he was financially successful, when he died, in 1853, he left but a very small fortune to his family. Mrs. Lea, un- able to afford the expensive living in New York, bundled up her little fam- ily and went to Stutgart. Here the cldest daughter married Baron von VWaechter. He soon became Ambas- sador from Wurtenberg to Paris, and in- due course of time Mrs. Lea and ner other daughters found themselves n the social set of the great French sapital. Other important marriages same about. Mary Esther, the roungest girl, found a fast and affec- donate friend in Princess Louise of 3chleswig-Holstein. Through her she ormed the acquaintance of the father of the princess, an old widower, who mmediately fell desperately in love vith the beautiful and bright little American girl. To compensate for marrying the daughter of a grocer the Prince gave up his title and accepted the simpler designation of Count von Noer, which was given to him by the Aastrian Emperor. The groom was sixty-four years old, the bride twenty- four. Six months later the venerable husband died and his rich and vouth- ful widow settled down in Vienna. There she won the esteem of the Austrian Emperor, and he created her Princess of Noer in her own right. A few years after being made a princess the one time daughter of a grocer met Count von Waldersee. A marriage between them took place in 1866. These two brilliant and tactful people went to Berlin, and in a few months the countess was a social power. Her particular ambition was to marry her grand niece by her first marriage, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, to Prince Will- iam of Prussia, the present Emperor of Germany. The mother of the prince raised great objections, but the Princess von Noer was persistent and tactful and planning, and the wedding was celebrated. Prince William and his bride were both devoted to the one who helped along the rough way of their courtship, and their gratitude has been unceasing. When Princess Augusta Victoria became Impress she was more than ever under the sway of her American aunt. von Noer's present desire 18 about the most cordial rel between the country of her 1 her adopted land. Her influ#hel over the Kaiser is as strong as in thy days when she made opportunities® for him to meet his pretty little: Gerfnan sweetheart. E. 1 pe em eft Trials of Field Marshals: The London Naval and Military Record says that a new rule was re- ‘cently framed for the guidance of field marshals. It was, with other regula- tions, put into type, and appeared in proof as follows: “1972 Field Marshals—TField Mar- shals will wear buckskin pantaloons, jack boots and gilt spurs only, at drawing-rooms, aud on all such ocea- sions.” Tt is almost nunecessary to add that as soon as attention was called to the fact that in such a meagre costume fieid marshals would create some sen- nt a drowing-roon tle orde: was varied. sation Garb Between Dresses and Trousers. ‘While it is unquestionably true that trousers are worn by extremely small boys, the kilted skirt still has a place and fills the inevitable gap between BOY'S DRESS. dresses and genuine mannish garb. The suit shown in the illustration is made of dark blue galatea with collar and shield of white duck and trimming of blue braid, but pijue, gingham and linen crash, as well as flannel and serge, are equally suitable. The blouse is fitted with shoulder and underarm seams only and pouches well over the belt at both back and front. The neck is cut low and fin- ished with a genuine sailor collar which is seamed to the edge. The sleeves are one-seamed and have the @ 200000 > THE REALM 9800 OF FASHION. © their children. With women’s progress in political and social freedom and in education, the young Empress has great symyathy, and she is said to have had a good deal to do with the concessions just granted to women doctors. Frills For the Dresses. Many of the pretty silk, crepe de chine and veiling dresses are finished with three tiny frills of ribbon, lap- ping each other, and gathered mod- erately full. These frills, though not novelties, are newer than those made of the dress goods, and they are given a novel effect by the deft manner in which they are adjusted, and by the beauty of the various two-toned or double-faced ribbons used. If the frills are made a bittoo wide the effect is spoiled. They must not measure, all told, more than three inches: there- fore, ribbonsa trifle over an inch wide are the proper selection. Passing of a Famous Millinery. Owing to the growth of Paris, France, the once famous milliner’s shop, “A la Belle Anglaise,” in the Place du Roule, will shortly disappear. It was founded in 1765. Elizabeth Foster, the Duchess of Devonshire. Mme. Recamier, Pauline Bonaparte and Marie Antoinette patronized the place, and Chateaubriand bought his cravats there. It is a picturesque lit- tle house, one story high. The Fashionable Lorgnon. The newest lorgnon or fan chain is made of small pieces of red coral un- evenly cut. It reminds the average woman of her childhood days when she wore a white frock with ared sash fulness at the wrists laid in narrow pleats which are stitched into place. The skirt is straight and hemmed at the lower edge. Thefulness is laid in box pleats and the upper edge is seamed to a fitted waist which holds it securely into place, a placket being placed at the centre back. The shield portion which completes the neck is faced into the fitted waist, so avoiding all unnecessary complication. To make this dress for a boy of four years of age four yards of material twenty-seven inches wide will be re- quired. : Ladies’ Blouse Waist. Lilac and white striped taffeta with shield of tucked and sailor collar of plain white edged with frill of Liberty ton model shown in the large engrav- | ing one of the most effective of the | fancy blouse waists. | The waist is arranged over fitted | linings that close in centre front, | which may be omitted if not desired. The fronts are gathered at the shoul- ders and waist line and pouch fashion- ably in centre over the belt. ; bust between the edges of which the The shield is sewed to the right lining . front and closes with the standing col- + lar over the left shoulder and under J edge of sailor collar. The full back is gathered aml arranged to a square yoke, whieh presents a flat adjustment under the sailor collar, gathers at the waist line collecting the fulness in cen- tre. The large sailor collar with pointed ends is a stylish feature of this waist. Under its edges ends of lilac satin rib- bon are tacked and tied in a smart sailor knot at the front. The two-seamed sleeves are mounted on fitted linings, the fulnessat the top being gathered to puff out stylishly and the wrists are completed with frills of Liberty silk. Belt of lilac satin with gold buckle. To make this waist for a lady of medium size will require two and one- quarter yards of material forty-four inches wide. Concessions to Women Doctors. Concessions have been made to women doctors in Russia. It has been officially announced that they shall be equally entitled with men to all State privileges connected with their pro- fession. This includes both political and social rights; it will open to them all official posts and will entitle them to pensions, which will not be taken silk combined to make the May Man- | | The V opening ends just below the | | 1s gathered in five evenly spaced rows, shield is disclosed, the standing col- | . lar and shield being tucked before be- {ing shaped as shown by the cut. away by marriage, and may descend to | FANCY BLOUSE WAIST. and a long chain of these little coral beads wound round and round her neck. Any woman who had the fore- sight to save her coral beads has on hand a fashionable chain, for there is next to no change in them. A Handsome Sailor Gown. A handsome model for an autumn tailor gown is made of pale heliotrope cloth in a bourette weave, figured with tufts of white camel’s-hair. The jacket of heliotrope cloth turns back with re- vers of olive-green velvet, showing a blouse vest of white cloth braided in green and gold, with narrow belt to match. The skirt is open up each side to the waist, revealing panels of white cloth with cloth straps crossing them. piped with velvet and almost covered with the green and gold braidwork. A French Organdy Design. French organdy, showing a bluet design, with green leaves on a white ground, is here tastefully decorated with blue baby ribbon and white lace. The full waist has the front and back shaped in one portion with a perfectly straight upper edge. This which are distributed over the neck of the gleve-fitted lining which sup- ports the fulness. Smooth underarm gores separate the full fronts and back, and the lining closes in centre WOMAN'S BLOUSE WAIST. front. The full waist may olose at the left shoulder and un lerarm seam, or the more practical centre-front closing is quite possible and can -be readily made invisible, if so preferred. To make this waist for a woman of medium size two and one-half yards { of material forty-four inches wide will be required.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers