| Show itla ada 11 0 6 4 77 0 ta 1 1 I 1 0 aj pie of co M x au vi aparto A porto rican field laborer and his humble thatched H hut ut Prepa by the national geographic society washington D C 1 RICOS RICO S problems problems P PORTO that have flowed strangely enough in large part from improved sanitation and health and the consequent rapid increase in population have bave come more plainly into the view of the american people as a result of president hoovers trip to the island the area ot of porto rico Is only once and a halt half that of delaware but into its square miles are crowded more than a million and a half people nearly seven times the population of delaware this gives the island a population density of approximately to the square mile with in more ore laborers than there Is work to be done unemployment is a perennial evil and a job Is like an heirloom to be handed down from generation to generation whenever possible usually the plantation laborer and his entire family go barefoot because there tire arc no funds with which to buy shoes the young boys in the rural districts commonly run about with less than the proverbial fig leaf to clothe the them and suffer not at all thanks to the alie glorious climate food perforce Is both simple and scarce rice kice and beans with a little bit of salt cod appear on the table when the wage earners are employed but these are imported and cost money so they disappear when the job ends then bananas sweet potatoes and native vegetables raised on their small patches of ground must tide the families over until another period of employment begins the united states department of agriculture Is trying to induce the natives to raise belgian hares the rapidity with which these animals breed the quickness with which they attain maturity and the ease with which their food requirements are met in a tropical environment make them poor mans cattle par excellence hare flare raising would solve the jl ji baros meat ineat problem as perhaps no other industry could if one examines the census returns the conclusion will likely be drawn that porto rico has a high percentage of home owners but a very large proportion of these homes are merely thatched shacks costing perhaps 23 25 each plantation owners are glad to have natives build the shacks on their estates as a constant supply of cheap labor Is thus provided there are few mortgages as such buildings are not north w orth mortgaging the thatch made of rough grass or palm leaves Is sometimes used tor for side walls as well as for the roof though more frequently the walls are made of royal palm bark flattened tin cans and discarded corrugated metal sheets are also utilized homemade utensils dishes and utensils are largely homemade gourds geurds and discarded tin cans are substituted tor for the pots and pans of continental kitchens hammocks and floor door pallets ballets take the place of beds and chairs ebaire the rural laboring native Is known as dibaro ji baro which literally means lies escape from civilization good natured reconciled to a hard bard lot and a precarious existence a mixture of indian and spaniard he be combines the carefree ideals of the redskin and the impetuous temperament of the spaniard the dibaro inherits his bis name from the distant past after columbus discovered the island and ponce de leon awakened it a gold fever brought many adventurers who impressed the indians into service those natives who could escape fled to the interior away from their slave driving masters some of the pioneering spaniards made madd homes for themselves with native women by whom bom they had numerous children these all too often were turned adrift furthermore in the past spain sent to the island many petty offenders who sooner or later were released to wander inland from the civilization that fringed the coast out of diverse types and races has hag been bred the dibaro ile he la is no longer an escape from civilization A benevolent government Is trying to do all it can to improve bin lot to carry to him whatever it can of the blessings of health education and happiness one of the potent factors in the development of porto rico luco has been the constabulary system under american supervision the police force which under the spanish regime consisted of 0 less than officers and men inen when hen the island was formally taken over by the united states was replaced by military police under the command of general john R 13 Bro oliC in 1899 the present insular police of porto rico was mas organized with nith a force of six officers aud and guards men this was almost immediately increased to 18 10 officers and guards men with an officer of the united states army as inspector their work was confined to rural districts and towns of less than inhabitants with the municipal police guarding the larger cities efficient police in 1902 1002 a law was enacted which in trusted the protection of the entire island to this organization seven police districts were established each commanded by a captain a lieutenant and as many warrant officers as the chief might find necessary the headquarters of the chief are at san sanjuan juan it Is said that no state in the union has a force that does the entire policing of the commonwealth cities and rural districts alike and porto rico has for the protection of her population of loll less than policemen distributed over to 73 districts the insular police roughly divide the masses in porto rico into four categories for identification the urban dwellers who wear shoes and three other groups that proclaim the regions from which they come by the shape of their hare feet the with a broad flit flat foot can usually be designated as a worker in the cane lands along the f coast A native with short stubby feet usually comes from the tobacco districts where lie he uses them to plant his crop A man with overdeveloped great toes helpful in climbing probably comes from the hill country and the mountains where the coffee plantations abound the professional mendicants mendi cants of the island are a persistent band with any sort of shack sufficing tor for shelter with native fruits and vegetables available tor for food with a very tolerant law and no suffering from the rigors of climate the beggar has little to worry about saturday Is beggars day and stores offices and individuals lay in supplies of pennies in the larger establishments a clerk Is stationed near the door and as the mendicants mendi cants slip in he nonchalantly pushes several pennies to each the coins are usually accepted without thanks and as a just due liberal with beggars Beg garg salesmen going their rounds usually carry a pocketful of pennies as they make a better impression on customers if they are liberal with beggars As in most tropical couri countries tries the hyperbole Is a tremendously overworked figure of speech admire a natives horse his saddle his guo gun his dog his house and hell tell you in the most convincing tones that it Is yours but it Is f yours only after a manner of speaking ask him why his people talk in such prodigal fashion and he be will reply it Is the custom and custom Is law to them betting on horse races Is almost a passion every bettor contributes to a pool and the person who picks tho the winner takes the money in this way a dollar stands a chance of winning a thousand or more the average market place on sunday Is a riot of color and a beehive of animation afoot and on the peasant folk throng th the roads bringing flowers vegetables and fruits on their heads and in panniers pan slung on burros or hauled in oxcarts ox carts the rural and village people have very simple amusements the baptism of an infant Is the occasion of a feast or a dance from christmas to three kings day january 6 a succession of fiestas takes place A pig roast resembling the familiar barbecue of our southern states Is one of the culminating events of the native calendar on the eve of three kings day commemorating mem orating the bringing of gifts to the new born babe of bethlehem tile the children put bundles bundle of grass under their beds or outside the hen house 9 e so 0 that the camels of the kings will stop at their homes when their masters are distributing gifts |
