Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE CITY OF SAN JUAN Porto Rico's Capital and Its Archaic Forts. FEW WOBLD-S QUAINTEST OITI. ?onnde? I by Por.ce de Leon and Older Than St. Angustine-Fort Walls That Are Utilized as a Cemetery-Yellow Fever Endemic There From Sanitary Neglect. V. In the forefront of Porto Rico's chronicles stand the names of two great men-Columbas, who discovered the is? land in 1493, and Ponce de Leon, who first settled it about 1510. The latter was governor of a province in Santo Do? mingo during the reign of Don Diego, son of the great Columbus, as viceroy of that island, and as reports were brought him of the fertility and mineral wealth of "Borihquen"-as the aborigi? nes called PoitoRico-Ponce went over* to investigate for himself. He landed on the west coast and there met the cacique, or chieftain, Agueynaba, who showed him such rich valleys and so many streams rippling over golden sands that the Spaniard lost no time in sending in a dec?ete of tbe city of Santo Domin? go, antedates Havana by six or seven years, St. Angnstine by mere than 50 years, and is contemporary with Bara? coa and Santiago de Cnha. It is regular? ly laid out in squares, with six streets running parallel with its longer axis and seven others crossing them at right angles, while two plazas and several ?maller squares, called plazuelas, offer places for promenade and recreation. Outside the walls,notably in the Marina, is a fine avenue and pleasure ground, and here also is the "valla de gallos," or cockpit, the custom house and the arsenal. Probably the largest structure within the walls is the Ballaja barracks, over? looking the parade gronnds and cover? ing with its "patio" a space of '77,700 square meters. The palace of the cap? tain general is au imposing edifice, and the Casa Blanca, or ancient castle of the founder, Ponce de Leon, with its wall? ed garden and surrounding palms, is the oldest as well as the most beautiful building in the capital. Other impor? tant buildings are the city hall, archi? episcopal palace, theater. Jesuit college, military hospital, church of Santo Do? mingo, the cathedral, with its spacious naves and altar of fine marbles, and the Church of La Providencia, where may be seen "Nuestra Senora de los Rem? edios," the special patroness cf the is The Awkwardness of Beine a Prince. The Prince of Wales is placed by fat; in the most difficult position of any English subject. Libeled incessantly, continuously and malignantly, silence is imposed on him by reasons of state If he patronizes the drama, for the neglect of "which the queen is persist ! ently blamed, the prince is depicted asia trifler, who finds in the society of mummers relief from the tedium of a wasted life. If he encourages our na? tional sports, he is a profligate and is compared with royal predecessors, whose conduct would certainly not commend itself today even to the stanchest supporters of monarchy. If he does not lavish money he does not possess, he is said to be stingy. If he makes au outlay on a church at Sand? ringham or a ball at Marlborough House, he is a spendthrift. Unworthy friendships are attributed to him with men upon whom he has never set eyes or wi oh whom he may perhaps have ex? changed a casual word. If he plays a game of cards, he is a gambler. Fierce as is the light that beats upon a throne, the cruel and searching illumi? nation of the prince's life inflicts on him the disabilities and responsibilities, while denying him either the power of the throne or the privileges of a private station.-Harper's Magazine. The English Broom. One of the botanical oddities of Massa? chusetts is the existence cf the English broom, which grows in only two places -in Sterling, this county, and in Sa? lem. It is not a native plant, and how I it got across the water is a mystery. Perhaps some homesick colonist caused it to be sent to him, that the hills about 1 his new home might have the familiar appearance of the old country. It is a beautiful golden yellow in color and ! grows in a compact, spirelike plant, , with blossoms close together. So snick are the stalks that, the pastures are like sheets of gold, and at first sight seem to be buttercups ia masses. Arba Pierce brought some cf it into the city and proposes to make a display of it at the exhibition of the horticultural society. Every one has heard of the broom. English and Scotch literature is full of it. It was the flower of the royal house of Plantagenet. In fact, the name Plan? taganet is the French for broom plant a genet. Their ancestor, the Count d'An? jou, wore a string of broom as a badge, therefore their name. The name broom is given it because of its usefulness for the purpose.-Worcester (Mass.) Ga? zette. A Bismarck Dn ?1. A duel in which Bismarck was once engaged had a very amusing origin. It occurred when he was chief secretary of the Prussian legation at Frankfort He went much into society, and one Christmas attended a big ball. During the height of the festivities Bismarck's attention was directed to an exceedingly pompous individual who strutted about the room. This was a M. de Clancy, a noted French duelist Later on this im? portant individual took part in a dance, but having omitted -to leave his hat at the proper place had perforce to hold it out almost at arm's length while he danced. The spectacle tickled Bismarck immensely, and as the Frenchman came sailing majestically along Bismarck stepped forward and dropped a coin in? to the hat A duel was one of the next day's events. Though it was with pis? tols Bismarck escaped unhurt, while his adversary was wounded. Seeing the Sights. Even in these days of liberal educa? tion young women sometimes show how confused are the ideas shut up in their heads. Illustrative of this is the naive blunder which Edmondo de Amicis recounts in his story of a voy? age from Genoa to Buenos Ayres: The captain of the steamer which numbered the charming young blun? derer among its passengers met her one morning and said: "Signorina, we cross the tropic of cancer today. ':' "Oh, indeed!" she cried, with en? thusiasm. "Then we shall see some? thing at last" A Wedding Announcement. This is how the editor of the Hum? boldt (Kan.) Herald recently announc? ed his marriage: "Mr. F. A. McCarthy (that's us) and Miss Nannie Fisher (that's more of us) were united in marriage Wednesday, July 27, at 10 a. m. The ceremony was followed by a sumptuous repast which we have only a faint recollection of. Some way events seemed to crowd on each other then, and God has given us the best earthly thing within his gift The joy in a sweet wife is too great to be de? scribed-too sacred to be spoken of." t Too Much Eating. Gluttony has its victims, hardly less numerous than other vices. To overeat is to overburden the digestive organs to roch an extent that it will be impossi? ble for them to perform their duties properly. Deleterious products are cre? ated, and health is finally destroyed. A prominent judge used to say such men dig their graves with their teeth-and it is so. On the other hand, there aro those who eat too lil tie. All extremes are evils that experience should govern. -Exchange. An African Mother-in-law. A native has been committed to tho high court for trial for mutilating his mother-in-law by cutting off her ear. The native averred that his mather- ; in-law had attempted to entice her j daughter away from him, her lawful j husband, to some other nativo, and he i took the extreme measure of cutting oft* j her <;ar as a gentle hint to mind her j < own business.-Gwelo Times. Not Wanted. j ; "I have herc," ht; began, "a little i poem, the child of" "Sorry." interrupted tbeeditor, "but j I couldn't think of taking a child away j ' from its parent. "-Harlem Life. Come aod see U3 before buying or trudir?:. Wa can please yoa with a Wbife-Randie. FAVORITES OF NATURE. The Fields and Forests of the Philippines. A SOLL OF GEEAT FERTILITY. Six and Sometimes Seven Crops Are Raised In a Tear-One Acre Will Support & Family - Primitive Methods Still In Vogue In Agriculture and In Business. VL At Manila the climate is very much like that of Key West, but not so moist and unhealthful. On the high hills in northern Luzon tho cliruate is like that of northern Georgia in summer-clear, warm, dry and bracing. "Hie land has a fine natural drainage, so that there is almost no malarial fever. Epidemics are rarer than they are in this conntry. In the present century there has been one outbreak of cholera, which was confined chiefly to the Spanish cities, while there were no less than three in the United States in the same period. There is no yellow fever and no bubonic plague. The fertility of the soil can scarcely be exaggerated. Vegetation grows if possible too rapidly. The Chinese and half caste farmers near Manila, Iloilo and Zebu produce six and seven crops a year. A single acre will sustain a fam? ily in health and comfort. Under Span? ish rule, which, to describe it mildly, has been feudal and unintelligent, the agricultural output of the country was far up in the millions of dollars. Un THE PATIENT BUFFALO. der American rule it would be in? creased tenfold within five years. Thus in the Ungar industry the taxation is so heavy and so unwisely apportioned that it does not pay to cultivate the cane nor to use the latest machinery, as in Cuba. Yet the islands export upon an average 150,000 tons a year to the United States and Europe and nearly twice as much to China and Japan. So cheap is labor and so rich the harvest that with all the taxation and other obstacles a fair quality of sugar is pro? duced and sold for about 1 8-10 cents a pound. Under American rule there would be no export tax, there would be modern "batteries" at every sugar plantation, and a good quality could be delivered on board ship for scarcely more than 1 cent a pound, a figure so low that it would give the Philippine planters the natural monopoly of the markets of the world. Of the land available for sugar cane raising but a small portion has thus far been put in? to cultivation. The present plantation area could be increased eightfold, and the output per acre threefold, than the sugar industry of the Philippines could be easily irado into one of the greatest; tra?nes. It is the same with regard to hemp. I The fame of the manilla hemp is de- j served. The plant thrives there better than anywhere else so far as ropemak ing is concerned. Under Spanish ad? ministration the cultivation is barbar? ous, and the use of improved methods and machinery is practically prohibited by both taxation and public policy. Nevertheless the hemp trade grows from year to year. The average export is 650.000 bales, of which roughly speak? ing 40 per cent goes to the United States, 38 per cent to Great Britain and the remainder to Europe, Australia, China and Japan. There is an export tax upon hemp just as large as tho com? merce will bear. Under American rule, with scientific cultivation and labor | saving inventions, the output could be quickly doubled, the cost diminished and tho hemp market as well as the rope market controlled from Manila. Another giant industry is scarcely known to the American people, and that is the trade in tobacco, cigars and cigarettes. Very little comes to the United Slates. The annual production is about $12,000,000. Enormous quan? tities are sent to Great Britain, the con? tinent of Europe, China, Japan, India and Australia. The official output of ? cigars exported from the Philippines in j 1897 was over 150,000,000,000, and of tobacco more than 300,000 quintals. A fourth industry is the raising of ? coffee. The Manila berry has a very rich aroma, a good body and a medium strength. It is used largely in Spain, Italy and Fiance, but to a very small ' extent in the United States. Were it j cultivated as in Brazil, Venezuela or ; Mexico it would soon hold as high a ! position as ether Java er Mocha and could be made a source of great profit. Other industries which have struggled ! along under the tremendous barden of Spanish taxation are thos? of indigo, textiles besides hemp, straw, dye goods, bides, mothei of pearl, gum mastic, copra, preserved fish and line fruits. If agriculture in the Philippines offers a rich lield to capital, the foresrs are even more inviting. Thanks to fa? voring climate and soil, the land tends to forests, and wherever the people move away the soil is soon covered ? with, u sturdy growth of trees. Of tbe various woods time and space ; ?forbid even a list While all of the timbers are valuable many of the hard woods are of such hich Quality as to be :n demand by cabmen makers the world over. Over 40 kinds are found in the market possessing high utility, some having special virtues unknown to woods of temperate zones. The aranga, which provides trunks TO feet long, is j poisonous to sea worms, especially to the dreaded teredo. It is used in mak? ing wharfs and piers and also fer the outside planking of native vessels. More remarkable in this respect 3''e the antipolo and tbe beets, which are employed by Europeans as well as Ma? lays in shipbuilding. The wood which comes from the bullet tree is so strong that it can be driven into soft wood like a nail. It is used for tool handles, be? laying pins, policemen's clubs, banis? ters and newe!1* posts. The maboln is a handsome black wood with yellow dashes running through and is used for wainscoting and fine furniture. The guijo resembles the American hickory, but is even stronger and tougher. In Manila it is the favorite wood for the spokes and shafts cf carriages. The molave is ihe most valuable wood in the east and is perhaps, as is claimed by its friends, the king of all woods. It is very beautiful and possesses a tissue which is proof against insects on land and worms in water. It does not be? come waterlogged and grows straight and also crooked, so as to provide knees and angles. As it docs not decay it makes fine railway sleepers. It is ex? tremely strong, tough and durable. So great are the exactions of the Spanish administration that the export of lumber is insignificant. It hardly pays one to go into tho business even where the wood is intended for native consumption, much less where it is to be exported. A few ? opeans of enter? prise have tried tl . ^usiness, but be? cause of the obstacles thrown in their way by officialdom they have all retired and generally \*ith but little saved from the original capital. A description of the difficulties under Spanish rule will perhaps be tho best illustration that can be given. A merchant must first have a pass? port, which is to vised with great regu? larity by the local officials. Every time it is vised there is a fee to be paid. He must next obtain a "sedula personal." This is a document that is a happy or unhappy combination of a poll tax, a tax on personal estate and a tax on busi? ness. It ranges from $1 up to $75 and must be renewed every year. He must next take oat a license for the lumber business. He must then make application to the department of mines and forests for leave to cut tim? ber and must employ a lawyer if ho wants to get that leave within a year. He then goes to the bureau of forests, which apparently does nothing at all for its salaries and fees. Here he also em? ploys a lawyer and finally obtains the requisite authorization to go ahead. He must then go to the forest country and make an arrangement with the choppers direct or with a chief, which agreement must be submitted to the authorities, approved, sealed and stamped. Here there is another large batch of fees. Under the law, if any formality is omitted even by the government clerk himself, the merchant is liable to ar? rest, fine and imprisonment. Then, to prevent the woodchoppers from becom? ing a burden upon the state-an event of which a Spanish official has a deep, theoretic horror-all of them must have payment in advance, often one-half of their wages for two or three months. If during that time there aro symptoms of insurrection in the ' district and the soldiers drive out the woodchoppers, the merchant is helpless. He has also to pay an inspector to see tha* the wick? ed woodcutters fell the proper trees. The merchant must then engage por? ters to move the logs to the nearest wa? ter course or coasc port, and must here pay in advance as before. He is also called upon to pay several local taxes, where the work goes on, and a general tax on the timber and the business done. When the logs reach his mill, they are inspected by another off* tal, and when they are exported they are again inspected, and he must in addi? tion pay an export tax. If the normal price of a log is $1, and that is about what an ordinary log costs in a land where a strong man gets 9 cents a day. the various taxes, fees, bribes, lost ad? vances and accidents bring it up to ?15 or $20 before it is put on bo<uxL of a ship to be sent to another land. It is difficult to understand how a government can be so cruel and so fool? ish. China is but 600 miles from the Philippines, and the demand for lum? ber there is perpetual. It is so great j A CHINESE JUNK IN MANILA BAY. that logs are shipped from the interior of Fokien, nearly 500 miles to Hong? kong. They are also shipped from Java and Borneo and sold nz a handsome profit. Ship timi.ors are brought to Hongkong all the way from Oregon, j Washington and Vancouver. The Phil- j ippines ought ta have nearly all this j trade, but have almost nono. If the ; same system prevailed io. the islands j as prevails in Xow York state, they : would liave an export lumber business ; of several million dollars por year with? in a short timo. There aro 20,000.000 logs ia the Phil? ippines which aro in marketable shape, while the. number used is scarcely over 50.000 a year. WILLIAM E. S. FALKS, Th- "Wbite" runs licht. The "White" eewfi richr. Nunnally's fine Candie? rrceired fresh, i -wict- a week at China's Drag Store. THE CAERTE li PIGEON MYSTERY OF THE METHOD BY WHICH ?T FINDS ITS WAY. How a French Scientist Tries to Explain the Taking of Bearings and Homeward Flight by These Swift Winged Messen? gers of the Air. The faculty possessed by many ani? mals for finding their -way home through an unknown region has always been more or less of a mystery. It rises to its height in the case of the carrier pigeon, and its would be explainers fall. back cn expedients that- range all the way from a mysterious special sense of "orientation" down to everyday or-.x? dinary observation of landmarks, such as man uses when he finds his way. Most authorities are now inclined to take a middle course, and believe that the pigeon finds its way by methods more or less ordinary, but by a very extraordinarily skilled combination of them. "We translate below part of an article ort the subject, contributed by M. A. Thauzies to the Revue Scientifique. r The author's assumption that the ani? mal organism is sensitive to magnetic conditions is contrary to scientific ob? servation and experiment, but this is only a detail of his theory and does not materially affect it M. Thauzies, after giving reasons for rejecting the theory of a special sense and other hypotheses < put forth on the subject, proceeds to state tho following facts which he be? lieves to be firmly established: "First.-Well trained pigeons, even if taken very far away-say severals hundred miles from the pigeon cot get their bearings, in a normal atmos? phere, with wonderful promptness, without turning about in other direc-* tions and without rising to a great height Before one can count 50 they have disappeared. "Second.-These same pigeons, left in open air in their baskets several min- . ntes before releasing them, while they are given food and drink, look around them, walk to and fro, evidently study? ing the sky, until, having found out, * doubtless, what they sought, they re? main quiet. Then, if the baskets are opened, they fly off low and almost horizontally, without zigzags and in a straight line in the proper direction. "Third.-The same pigeons, trans p irted to a strange region-that is, for instance, where they must make a southerly journey when they are accus? tomed to make a northerly* one, betray a striking degree of disquietude in their baskets at the moment of der^rtare^, They seem to be surprised, and some? what taken aback. As soon as they are free they fly off eastward, making large . ellipses toward the sun. Then they ex? plore in all directions, but they always* return to the east with a patient tenaci? ty that seems to signify that there is the key of the problem, and that there alone will be found its solution. After several minutes of this, having reached an altitude of 150 to 200 yards, they disappear in the proper direction. "Fourth.-The earlier in Uiemorn-^ ing they are released the more promps is their success in getting their direc? tion. After noon, even in calm weather, and even if the distance is small, their orientation is dull, slow, wavering and without vivacity. "Fifth.-When the day coincides with a change of the moon, the orienta? tion both at the point cf departure ana* also on the route becomes difficult, the birds return slowly and at long inter? vals. "Sixth.-Finally, even when~fch3 slgM seems everywhere clear, if the atmos? phere is undergoing any of those invisi ! ble disturbances that are revealed only by the most delicate instruineuts of our observatories, the pigeons, as in th? preceding case, hesitate, lag behind and sometimes take double the time that would be necessary for their journey under other circumstances. * "What must be concluded from these facts? "The carrier pigeon, a bird eminent^ ly electric, and of excessive nervous sus? ceptibility, is also endowed with pro? digiously sensitive vision and with spe? cial intelligence that cannot be doubted. The indefatigable excursions that it makes, especially in the morning, often to considerable distances around its cot, and to all points of the compass, accustom it to a great number of mag? netic and visual sensations whose va? rious characteristics it learns to distin? guish according to the region where it is and to the hour of the day. By whaf mav be called its sense of touch and bv its sight it registers, as it were, like a11^ delicate mechanism, impressions as varied as they are complex, which, re? sulting in the concerted action of the organism, enable it to determine in given place, at a given moment, the di? rection in which the dovecot will be* found. "This power of discernment increases with the accumulation of heredity of what may be called 'local instinct.' This is why the carrier pigeon is not satisfactory unless it has behind it an ancestral Imo of carrier pigeons living in the same region. This is why when, for any cause, the air is disturbed, even j to a degree imperceptible to man, the I pigeon's element of investigation, its \ means of getting its bearings being dif- j feront and insufficient, it looks abouj, ] hesitates, gets irs direction with diffi- j cultyand sometimes even is lost,"- j Literary Digest. Chalk as a Coal Saver. To make half a ton of coal go as 15 | hundredweight place a quantity of / chalk in the grates. Once heated this is j practically inexhaustible from comblas- j tion and gives out great heat. Place the I chalk ar the back of each of your fires in nearly equal proportions with the coal. Full satisfaction will be felt both as to the cheerfulness and as to the warmth of the fire, and the saving I throughout the winter will be at the rate ot 2? per cent.-Excbnnc? J 1 'I j?.- ,? ? -:-1 SAN JUAN CHURCH CONTAINING ASHES OP PONCE DE LEON. 1 overa strong force of soldiers and esta Jishing himself as governor of this ne and promising conn try. The town he founded was called O parra, now known as Pueblo Viejo, n< far from the present city of San Jua: for the site of which it was soon aft abandoned. San Juan, the capital, o cnpies the western end of a small islar on the north coast about 2}? miles i length and half a mile in av?rai breadth. It is connected with the mai] land by a causeway and two bridge defended by small forts, and, lying i it does between its fine harbor and stretch of marshy lagoons on one sid and the Atlantic on the other, its pos t?on is almost impregnable. The natural advantages for defens were early seized upon, and the nortl -west end of the island, which is bini and precipitous, is crowned by the fan ed Morro Castle, which was complete in the year 15S4. The shape of this eas tie is that of an obtuse angle, wit three tiers of batteries facing the sea placed one above the other, so that thei fires will cross. The Morro is the citade and is a small military town in itseli with barracks, chapel, bakehouse, im men se water tanks, warehouses, officers quarters, bomb proofs and dungeons b; the sea. This ancient citadel is the initia poiDt of the wall which surrounds thi city and which has a line of connect?e bastions, with moats, guarded gates portcullis and battlements, "fortale zas,'* semi basti on s, projecting sent?n turrets-in fact, all the defenses of ? walled town or city of the middle ages;. On the Atlantic shore, which is steer and against which the heavy surges roi continuously, a wall of modern con struction connects the Morro with tfci castle of San Cristobal, which faces oceanward and also guards the ap? proaches from the mainland. The castle is entered by a ramp, on the highest part of the hill, to the inequalities ol which the fortification is accommodated. It can concentrate its fire in any direc? tion and controls the city and inner har? bor by the Caballero fort, with its 22 great guns. Stretching from harbor to sea front, San Cristobal dominates the inland situation and has practically three tiers of batteries behind fortifica? tions in great part cut out of the solid rock. Though the fortifications as we find them now were planned in 1630 and nearly completed by 1641, San Cristobal in its entirety was not finished until just before the outbreak of the Ameri? can Revolution, or about 1771. Still, with its outworks, consisting of a redam resting on the highest part of the glacis and called Fort Abanico on account of its fan shape, its moat and modern bat? teries, Sau Cristobal would have been a fort difficult to storm and take had our soldiers been compelled to attack it. In addition to the stone walls, some of them nearly 100 feet high, which inclose the city, there are the outlying forts of San Antonio and San Geronimo, which defend the bridges inland, and on a small islet off thc harbor mouth is the small but strong fort of Canuelo, between which and the Morro, less thaa a thousand yards distant, all large ships must pass to make this port. A chain was formerly stretched between the Morro and Cauuelos in wartime, but during the recent trouble and after tho bombardment of San Juan by our fleet a vessel was sunk there and the harbor mined. The harbor of San Juan is one of tho best in the island, and the intramural city is one of the oldest and quaintest in the new world. It was founded with land, with ber $1',500 cloak and he: $20,000 collection of jewels. There are private clubs and casinos a spacious market place, and last, bu by no means least, -a cemetery jost un der the northern wall, with a sen tn turret jutting over the gate, whicl gives entrance through the glacis of th( Morra In this cemetery may be observ ed peculiar methods of inhumation, bj which the wealthy are placed in th( j stone cells of a vast "colnmbaiium' j against the wall of tho fort, and th? poorer classes merely buried in rented j graves, from which they are ejected at I the expiration of a short term of years. The effluvia from this practically in? tramural cemetery, the emanations from j the sinks and sewage, the filthy streets j and crowded dwellings, make San Juan j (what nature never intended it should be, with its elevated situation and soil impervious to water, pure or foul) a possible plague center for the breeding of tropical diseases. It is the only city in the island in which yellow fever is said to be endemic, and what with the trade winds blowing strong across it from the sea and the swift sea current flowing out of the harbor there is no ex? cuse whatever for these local conditions I so favorable to contagious diseases. I The urban population is estimated at about 30,000, probably one-half being negroes and people of mixed blood, domiciled in about 1,000 houses. Not I more than half of thts? houses are over ! two stories in height. They are plainly but massively built, of "mamposteria," or stone and mortar, with flat roofs, jutting balconies, and generally sur? round a "patio," or inner court, where I sometimes a fountain or plat of flowers makes an attractive spot for the gather? ing of the family. The architecture is essentially Spanish, the streets are nar I row, and the sidewalks in places are j scarcely wide enough for two persons ? walking abreast. The supply of water I is meager and is derived mainly from j tbe clouds and stored in cisterns. When 1 the city shall have become an American i winter resort, as doubtless it will in I time, it is to be hoped that a system of ! sanitation and sewage will be estab j lished, and that water will be brought I from the hills not far away, where the supply is unlimited and of the purest quality. Duriug two-thirds of the year the climate is mild and agreeable, yet the most prevalent diseases among the natives, it is said, are consumption, bronchitis and catarrh. A railroad has been projected to con? nect ail the centers of population near tho coast, and of the estimated 400 miles about 130 have been built, in? cluding the line from San Juan to a little beyond Arecibo, also on the north coast. There are about 150 miles of ex? cellent roads in the island, the chief highway being that connecting San Juan with Ponce, on the south coast, and thence extending around the west coast to Aguadilla. A cart road runs inside the coast lint*, and there are per? haps 1,000 miles of trails and paths. Few of tho streams aro bridged, aud some of them are impassable in the rainy season. The scenery around ?au Juan as well as cf (he entire island is picturesque in the extreme, and a treat for tourists is a "diligencia" ride over the magnificent j road connecting with Ponce, which ! winds through gorges and over motin - ! tains, across vast sugar estates and past ? purling streams, revealing at each ! turn bits of tropical scenery that are j worth going far to see, and glimpses of people peculiar to this mountainous is? land in the tropic seas. FREDERICK A. OBED.