Destitution In Porto Rico

Provincetown, Mass., July 12.- Captain McKenna of the British brr Ethel, who arrived here from Arceil j. Porto Rico, for orders, brings a sto y of great destitution at San Juan ar. I other places and a deep interest amorthe inhabitants of the Island in the progress of the war. Captain McKenna left Arceibo June 21. At that time reports from all parts of Porto Rico indicated a condition among the natives nearly bordering on starvation. At Arceibo flour was selling at $1 a pound, salt flsh 30 cents per pound and other provisions at a price so high that none but the wealthy could get them. Captain McKenna said that while he was at Arceibo he fed on an average fifty persons per day. Several American and British newspapers reached Captain McKenna while he lay at Arceibo and he says that the nativea actually fought to get possession of them, so eager were they to learn of the progress of the war. All classes are praying for a speedy settlement of hostilities and the majority express sympathy with the United States, whose efforts, they believe, will result in bringing them relief from the irksome rule of Spain.