ponderous that it requires a volume of steam all out of proportion to
the energy actually needed, and wasteful methods in the extraction of
the syrup residue after crystallization, obtain. Yankee machinery,
coupled with Yankee push, will cause a wonderful difference in the cost
of the finished product.

"At the same time the manner of herding the hangs on these huge
plantations must surely be changed. Such conditions exist in the
quarters that a mere recital would be unprintable, and from an
examination I made of the quarters of a very large estate I came away
ill mentally and physically."

Members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have a
great field before them in this island. The inhabitants are the most
cruel in their handling of beasts of burden and, in fact, of all living
creatures below the grade of mankind that could be imagined.

Oxen and bulls furnish the principal means of merchandise
transportation. They are yoked together with a huge horn rising upon the
neck just back of the horns and held in place by bandages around the
forehead. The driver carries a goad about five feet in length, in the
end of which is inserted a sharp steel point about one inch long. This
is used so freely that it is common to see streams of blood running down
the sides of the poor maltreated beasts. Not satisfied with using the
sharp end, the inhuman drivers frequently deliver terrific blows with
the butt across the tender noses of their charges.

Many an American soldier has knocked down these cruel drivers for their
abuse of the patient beasts, but the drivers do not improve with the
thrashing. The American military authorities have imported several
American yokes and an effort is to be made to compel their use instead
of the timber of torture which now obtains.

An author of the last century has this to say about the Porto Ricans:

"They are well proportioned and delicately organized; at the same time
they lack vigor, are slow and indolent, possess vivid imaginations, are
vain and inconstant, though hospitable to strangers, and ardent lovers
of liberty."

Referring to the mixture of races, the same author continues:

"From this variety of mixture has resulted a character equivocal and
ambiguous, but peculiarly Porto Rican. The heat of the climate has made
them lazy, to which end also the fertility of the soil has conduced; the
solitary life of the country residents has rendered them morose and
disput