The Territory Won
_General Schwan returns to Mayaguez_--_Business and pleasure_--_A custom
we abolished_--_Extent of the district captured by our brigade_
--_Aguadllla_--_Facilities for transportation_--_Labor and
the laborer_--_The cost of living_--_Rents and real estate_--_Skilled
workmen_--_A word about investments_.
On August 16, in obedience to orders from Army Headquarters, General Schwan
left the bulk of his troops in the positions they had respectively occupied
at the time of the receipt of the truce, and, accompanied by the artillery,
returned to Mayaguez. The people of this city had not yet recovered from
the ferment into which they had been thrown by our advent, and went about
in a state of tremulous titillation, expecting I know not what. At any
rate, it did not seem to arrive; and after a day or two had passed without
any sign of fell intent upon our part the merchants allowed themselves to
be coaxed back into their places of business. The cafés were once more
thronged. Semi-weekly concerts were given in the Plaza Principal by the
band of the Eleventh Infantry and the Banda del Bomberos, in alternation.
Balls, dinner-parties, and flirtations resumed their interrupted course,
gathering new zest and brilliancy from the foreign element within the
gates. All the Americans began to study Spanish, and all the Puerto Ricans
to study English, without particularly gratifying results on either side.
Cocking-mains, local games of chance, and more hectic immoralities were set
forth for the delectation of the private soldiers; while I have personal
knowledge of at least one quasi-clandestine bullfight, that may be best
described as a furtive fizzle.
Strict measures were taken by the brigade commander to prevent
anything resembling disorderly conduct among his men, and though these
laurel-crowned heroes, under the influence of a wonderfully cheap rum, were
seized at odd moments with an evident desire to start the war all over
again, there was not much difficulty encountered in maintaining a degree of
decorum that was highly satisfactory.
The sanitation of the municipality was rigorously inquired into, and
regulated; but it is only justice to the residents of Mayaguez to say that
little reform was necessary in this regard, as the current statistics of
mortality and disease amply proved. Of the few changes made, however, one
may be specifically mentioned.
[Illustration: A Ruined Church along our Line of March.]
[Illustration: A Puerto Rican Laundry.]
It was the custom whenever a peasant died to carry the corpse to the
cemetery in a coffin hired at transient rates, and then, having dumped the
deceased into a shallow grave, to return what is facetiously known as the
"wooden overcoat" to its original owner, for further service. This was bad
enough, considering the danger of infection thus engendered; but much worse
remains behind. It seems that the plot of ground reserved for dead paupers
was very circumscribed. So it had become necessary to bury four or five
bodies in the same hole, the last one in being perhaps no more than six
inches from the light of day. And, as if this state of affairs were not
already sufficiently horrible, we found that the congestion was sometimes
still further relieved by a wholesale emptying of graves, the bones thus
removed being thrown into some adjacent corner above ground, where they lay
undisturbed in the hot sunshine and smelt to heaven. This ghastly practice
was summarily stopped.
* * * * *
If you will take a map of Puerto Rico and cut off the western section by
drawing a line from Guanica through Lares to Camuy, you will see at once
the extent of the territory brought under American control by General
Schwan. The principal towns of this section, in addition to those already
described, are Aguadilla, Maricao, Añasco, Cabo Rojo, Lares, and Las
Marias; but none of these places are important enough to call for detailed
notice, with the possible exception of the first-named. This city,
Aguadilla, while it has a population of only 5,500, is notable as being the
most picturesque town on the entire island. It is the capital and port of
the surrounding district; and, though the climate is hot, it is remarkably
healthful. The site is a stretch of shore facing Mona Channel, between
Cape Borinquen and the Rio Culebrinas. Directly behind rises the steep
green-crested Jaicoa Mountain, its slopes covered with orange, lemon, and
palm trees in bewildering profusion; while half-way to the summit there
gushes forth a fairylike, crystal stream, which flows directly through the
town before emptying into the bay. An antique church and a little fort of
11 guns, called Conception, add to the scenic beauty of the picture, when
viewed from the sea. Tourists will probably spoil this lovely town before
the end of another decade, but at present it is a quivering page of
romance.
[Illustration: On the Road to Lares.]
[Illustration: The Best Outfit in our Wagon Train.]
Of the facilities for transportation in this part of Puerto Rico, it may
be said that they are either extremely good or extremely bad. The former
condition prevails generally in the valleys, and the latter among the hills
toward the interior. There are several interrupted lines of railroad, and
burros are used to a considerable extent by the inland planters; but far
the greater part of communication and carriage is accomplished by way of
the sea.
Labor here, as elsewhere in the tropics, is to be had very cheaply, but is
uncertain, sluggish, and dishonest. A man for plantation work can be hired
for almost nothing a day, but he will not earn even that unless he is
driven at the point of a machete. The local peon desires to toil no longer
than is necessary to obtain the bare wherewithal to fill his belly. Then
he dreams away the remainder of the day, smoking the eternal cigarette;
perhaps rousing himself sufficiently to pick the strings of a guitar in the
cool of the evening--and this, at least, the beggar does well. He is not
at all ambitious to improve his condition, and he will never be any better
than he is to-day. Probably he will be much worse. He will cut throats and
burn haciendas all the gay year round if he is not allowed to gang his ain
gait. We are going to reform him, of course; but--the day will come when
we shall be ashamed to look Spain in the face. In Cuba this man's brothers
were known as "patriots"; which meant that they were soldiers when there
was any work to be done, and laborers when fighting was on hand. In my
opinion, they are vicious beasts.
The cost of living naturally hinges upon the price of labor; and so one
may eat and drink in Puerto Rico for a trifle more than a song. Fruit and
vegetables are cheap and plentiful, though flour is so costly as to be
almost a luxury; while the meats are neither low in price nor good in
quality. Excellent fowls are to be had for very little money. Milk is dear
and dangerous; butter is only known as it appears in cans from Denmark; and
all the other dairy products are of the meanest description. Still, one can
live with pleasure and comfort upon the many peculiarly native articles of
subsistence in common use.
[Illustration: "Promenade of the Fleas" in Yauco.]
[Illustration: When only One Man gets a Letter.]
Rents are low, but satisfactory houses are seldom to be had when they are
wanted.
There is always room in the hotels of the larger towns; and, until one can
build for himself, a hotel offers a very pleasant substitute--at a slightly
increased expense. Land, for building purposes, or in an unimproved state,
can be leased for a sum that is almost nominal, except in a few highly
favored localities. Purchasers of land are more than likely to find
themselves immediately embroiled in a lawsuit over the title. If no flaw
exists in your title, then it does exist in one that was drawn up a hundred
years ago; and in either case the result is the same--you lose.
Skilled workmen in any branch of industry will not find a good field for
their abilities in Puerto Rico, at least not for a few years to come. If
there were any demand for their services,--which there isn't,--they would
not be able to command anything approaching the standard of wages usual in
the United States.
To the investor, dairy farms, ice-plants, transportation schemes, and
bar-rooms offer tempting possibilities,--I reserve agriculture for separate
consideration,--but it cannot be too forcibly emphasized that plenty of
money, good-health, patience, and a smattering of the Spanish language are
absolutely indispensable requisites to the foreigner trying to do business
on this island.
[Illustration: The "Weary Travellers' Spring," near Añasco.]
[Illustration: A Crude Sugar Mill near Las Marias.]