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.
