12 A GAZETTEER OF PORTO RICO. [bull. 183. 
Means of internal communication are verj^ scanty. There are alto- 
gether 159 miles of railroad in the island, but they are in disconnected 
pieces and closely parallel the coast, none extending into the interior. 
There is one good wagon road extending across the island from San 
Juan to Cayey and thence to Ponce, with a branch irom Cayey to 
Guayama, and short roads in other directions, the total length of good 
reads in the island being about 285 miles. These were built by the 
Spanish authorities for military purposes. Aside from these, the 
so-called roads of the island are mere trails, few of them passable for 
wheeled vehicles at any time, and commonly only for saddle animals 
or foot travel. 
As a result of this condition, internal trade is very small in volume 
and is confined mainly to the coast line. Indeed, there are few civi- 
lized communities whose individuals are so nearly isolated and have 
so little intercommunication as this. 
In 1897 the total assessed value of property was $28,867,928, and 
the true value was estimated to be $150,000,000, or about $170 per capita 
of the population. The average per capita wealth of the people of the 
United States is estimated to be in excess of $1,000, a comparison 
which speaks volumes concerning the poverty of the people of Porto 
Rico. The mortgage indebtedness of the people in 1897 was not less 
than $18,010,000. 
In 1899 the facilities for education consisted, in the main, of public 
schools. Of 467 schools 412 were maintained at public expense, the 
remainder being private schools. All the schools had a seating 
capacity of but 29,164. The number of teachers was 623, and the 
number of pupils in attendance was 27,018. The number of children 
attending school was but a small part of those of school age. The 
prevailing religion is, of course, the Catholic, with which church practi- 
cally all the population are connected. 
