Puerto Rico and its resources . ish wines are concomitants, and terminating withthe inevitable black coffee and cigars or commendable custom prevails in Cuba andPuerto Eico, among the business men, of takingthe morning meal with their clerks, at a long tablespread in a veranda or corridor of their establish-ment. Between meals, or from about noon to three orfour oclock in the afternoon, all Puerto Eico in-dulges in the recuperative siesta, during whichtime it is as easy to drive a flourishing business ina cemetery as to attempt it in the commercial por-tion of a town or city. All
Puerto Rico and its resources . ish wines are concomitants, and terminating withthe inevitable black coffee and cigars or commendable custom prevails in Cuba andPuerto Eico, among the business men, of takingthe morning meal with their clerks, at a long tablespread in a veranda or corridor of their establish-ment. Between meals, or from about noon to three orfour oclock in the afternoon, all Puerto Eico in-dulges in the recuperative siesta, during whichtime it is as easy to drive a flourishing business ina cemetery as to attempt it in the commercial por-tion of a town or city. All tropical dwellers areearly risers; the principal business of the day istransacted in the morning, the afternoon being de-voted mainly to social calls, the clubs, casinos, prom-enades, and the evening also to recreation. Thusthey have established a certain system in their dailyduties, which doubtless, by its absence of friction,by insuring them against haste and worry, tends tothe preservation of health and prolongation of FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 195 In this survey of the West Indian householdwe should not overlook an important member, orrather adjunct, of it, the washerwoman. She isjust as black as she is painted, and that is usuallyvery black indeed. Her hand is against every man,and every mans hand ought to be against her, forshe maltreats mans belongings—his shirts and hiscuffs and collars—in a manner that is fearful to be-hold. She lives on the outskirts of civilization,and has no recognised status in society. ISTo oneknows whence she comes; but there she is, wait-ing for the steamer to land, and with an overgrownlad or stout boatman to assist her to seize and carryaway your soiled linen and cast-off clothing. Ifany article is particularly nice or valuable, sheappropriates that as her perquisite, or else so des-perately mauls it that it returns to you having nosemblance to anything you ever saw before, leastof all to anything you ever possessed. She has n
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Keywords: ., bookauthoroberfrederickafrederi, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890
