The island is well supplied with limestone, which makes an excellent building material. Marble, also, is easily obtained. Along the coast are occasional marshes where salt is prepared for market.
OUR JOURNEY'S END.
Our month in Puerto Rico is drawing to a close, and the good ship which is to bear us homeward is waiting in the harbor.
We make a last farewell tour of the shops in San Juan, and buy a few gifts for the friends at home: a green parrot to please sister; a tortoise-shell comb for mother; a cane for father, a native hat for brother, and a calabash drinking bowl for the school museum.
It is with reluctant steps that we make our way to the ship. The clear sky, the perfect climate, the constant verdure, the wonderful plants and trees, and the beautiful mountain scenery make Puerto Rico one of the most attractive lands to be found anywhere.
Although the roads are in a deplorable condition, a new system has been planned, and will probably be soon completed.
Though the country may lack school buildings, the cities and towns are better provided with other public buildings than most places of the same size in the United States. And the eagerness with which the people seize upon the statements that their children are to be given the same opportunity for an education as children in the United States have, indicates that the schoolhouses will soon dot the island.
The streets of the smallest villages are paved, and all contain some place of recreation and attempts at ornamentation. Each village has one or more public squares laid out with trees, walks, flowers, seats, and usually with a band stand in the center.
We do not find these improvements in all our own small towns. But the people need better schools, more nourishing food, and improved methods of farming. Sanitary measures need to be introduced into the homes and communities. Harbors need to be dredged, that ships may come closer to land. The water power of many rushing streams needs to be chained and made to generate electricity, to grind corn, to hull coffee, to cook food, to pull cars, and to light cities.
There should also be fountains, baths, and sewers; the land in certain sections should be irrigated, and the streams should be bridged, that means for travel and transportation may be afforded.