The streets of San Juan
present so many novel sights to our wandering eyes that we wish to look
about first.
STREET SCENES.
We have been told that we could walk all over the town in an hour, and
we resolve to try it.
[Illustration: A STREET IN SAN JUAN.]
The streets are narrow and dark, but well paved and clean. They ought to
be clean, for they are swept by hand every day. The sidewalks are so
narrow that only two of us can walk abreast, so we take to the road.
This is used as a highway for people as well as vehicles.
Naked little children of all ages and colors play about the streets and
on the sidewalks. Colored men and women, smoking black cigars, saunter
idly about. Street venders carrying their stores upon their heads or
backs, or in large panniers upon tiny ponies, fill the air with cries
announcing their wares.
Judging from the number of the venders of drinks we see on the streets,
every one in San Juan is thirsty. We are, at any rate, and very
delicious we find their ices and sherbets, their iced orange, lemon and
strawberry waters, iced cherries, milk, coffee and chocolate.
[Illustration: DULCE (SWEETMEAT) SELLERS IN PUERTO RICO.]
Fruit sellers under the arcades and in stalls tempt us with their
attractive wares; but the fruits are new and strange to us, and we
hesitate about buying.
The hack drivers are asleep on closed carriages at the hack stand. Long
lines of clumsy carts, with high wheels, rumble over the cobblestone
pavements with a dreadful clatter.
In the open doorways of shops we see men and women manufacturing
articles for sale. Some are making chairs, some shoes, some jewelry,
some boxes, and, in one place, we see a number of workmen making
coffins.
We are interested in observing that flags of different colors are used
as signs, and that the walls are painted with brilliant pictures. In the
quarter near the sea, the brandy stores, built of reeds, have round them
swarms of beggars of every degree.
The laundry shop we find just outside the city, beside a large creek. A
laundry not built by hands! Here women stand knee-deep in the stream,
with the hot sun beating down upon their heads. They are doing their
laundry work. The clothes are cleaned by soaking them in water and
pounding them with stones. We wonder if there are any buttons left on
the clothes after this treatment, and resolve not to trust our clothes
to this laundry.
We note outside the city wall a broad concrete walk; along this walk
seats, trees, and rude statues; and between the walk and the wall an
ornamental garden.
Having now taken a general stroll, we will rest up preparatory to our
visit to the points of special interest.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN SAN JUAN.
We are now ready to visit the places of unusual interest about the
capital city. The most noted buildings are the governor's palace, the
cathedral, the city hall, the arsenal, the buildings used as quarters
for the troops, the forts, the castles of Morro and San Cristobal, the
house which Ponce de Leon built, the palace of the bishop, the theater,
the hospital, the orphan asylum, the poorhouse, the jail, the library,
and the colleges.
In the heart of the town, facing the City Hall, the guide shows us a
public plaza; and under the frowning walls of San Cristobal, on the
outskirts of the city, he points out another. These plazas are flat,
open spaces, paved with cement and surrounded by rows of shade trees.
In the plaza of Columbus, on the outskirts of the city, is a handsome
statue of Columbus. Facing this plaza is the grand theater.
In the cool of the evening, the people gather in these plazas, and
listen to the music of the band.
One of the most interesting buildings in the, city to us is the "White
House of Ponce de Leon." It is still standing where it looked northward
over the sea so long ago.
On the side toward the bay is an old wall, and beyond this is a
beautiful garden and rows of palm trees. From the windows we get a fine
view of the bay.
The people of San Juan have honored its founder with a statue, which
stands in the center of one of its plazas.
His remains are preserved in a leaden box in the church of Santo
Domingo.
We find the famous Morro Castle to be a small military town in itself,
with houses, chapel, barracks, dungeons, water tanks, warehouses, and
also a light tower, a signal station, and a light-saving station.
This ancient fort is the beginning of the wall which surrounds the city.
THE MARKET PLACE.
Look at these people coming in from the country! Our guide says they are
going to the market place. Let us follow them and see what a Puerto
Rican market place is.
Here it is, situated near the ocean. The court is formed with stones,
and it contains booths for fruits, vegetables, and produce of all kinds.
[Illustration: GOING TO MARKET.]
Dear me! what a busy, noisy place! People from every race and nation
seem to be gathered here. Big people, little people, babies, roosters,
dogs, donkeys, horses! What talking, shouting, laughing, crying,
crowing, barking, and braying!
Men are smoking, lounging about, and bragging about their game-cocks;
women are making small purchases and gossiping with neighbors; babies
are tumbling about on the ground, devouring bits of fruit that come in
their way: but all are good-natured.
Each market man or woman has a place assigned, and within this space or
in a booth are piled high heaps of fruits and vegetables.
