Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Report on the Island of Porto Rico: Its Population, Civil Government, Commerce, Industries, Productions, Roads, Tariff, and Currency, With Recommendations
The climate is tropical, but not torrid. Though the heat is con tinuous, it is not extreme. The thermometer rarely rises to The highest monthly average on record in nine years in San Juan was 86 (in June, The hottest day in that period gave a tempera ture of but there was only one such day. The temperature is equable, and rises or falls through a very limited range. The highest point reached by the thermometer in San Juan in the period from November, 1898, to July, 1899, inclusive, was the -month of June. This was for one day only, and on no other day of that month did the temperature exceed The lowest range in the same period was The winter season extends from October or November to March, inclusive. No really Oppressive weather was seen in the capi tal during those months in 1898 - 99. Showers came frequently, but were of short duration and were mostly at night. Every day the unfailing trade winds blow from the east or southeast, making the air delightfully fresh. The nights are cool and comfortable. The sum mer season is marked by a slight increase in the average temperature, much more rain, and a great deal of humidity. The continuity of the heat and the unfavorable conditions for evaporation of perspiration make the climate somewhat enervating. San Juan has an elevation of only about 100 feet. In the mountains the higher elevations dimin ish the amount of heat, and Aibonito, Cayey, and Utuado are con sidered as remarkably cool cities.
Occasionally the island is visited by a disastrous hurricane. The first record of one of these tropical terrors was in July, 1515. They come at irregular intervals and with varying degrees Of force. The most Violent storm the island ever knew, according to history, was in August, 1772, when houses were demolished, trees uprooted, planta tions ?ooded, and many people killed. In September, 1806, there was another visitation of less destructiveness, and still another in September, 1819. The latter was followed by a famine. The hurri cane of October, 1867, was very severe. In August, 1886, the south coast was ravaged and the coffee plantations in the southwest snfiered severely. The last furious storm occurred August 8, 1899, and was terribly destructive, particularly on the eastern and southern coasts and in the interior. Humacao was well-nigh destroyed; Yabucoa, in the beautiful valley of the same name south of Humacao, was a heap Of ruins, and but little was left of the old town and port of Arroyo. The damages at Ponce and at the port of Ponce, on the south, were extremely heavy. The streets were swept by a ?ood and many houses were torn from their foundations. The crops of coffee and cane were quite generally destroyed in the east, in the south, and in the interior, and orange and other fruit trees were uprooted or stripped by the vio lence of the wind. Arecibo, on the north coast, directly across the island from Ponce, also suffered great injuries. Between and persons lost their lives, and the destruction of live stock was very great. The fall of rain was enormous, amounting to inches at Juana Diaz, north of Ponce, in twenty-four hours.
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