Produced by Chuck Greif, Broward County Library and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net






The etext replicates the original book. Some obvious typographical
errors have been corrected; a list follows this etext. The author’s
incorrect and varied spellings of Spanish has not been corrected,
modernized or normalized.

[Illustration: FRANCISCO DE FRIAS

One of the foremost agricultural and economic scientists of his time,
Francisco de Frias y Jacott, Count of Pozos Dulces, was born in Havana
on September 24, 1809, and died in Paris, France, on October 24, 1877.
He studied in the United States and Europe, specializing in physics and
chemistry, and then sought to devote his genius to the economic welfare
of Cuba. He wrote notable works on Cattle Breeding, on Chemical
Research, and on Labor and Population. His patriotic spirit provoked
Captain-General Canedo to banish him for a time, but on his return as
editor of _El Siglo_ he conducted so powerful a campaign for social,
economic, political and administrative reforms that the Spanish
government was constrained to heed him and to plan new legislation for
Cuba. For this purpose it formed a Junta of Information, of which he was
a member representing Santa Clara. Upon the failure of that body he
wrote a memorable protest against the policy which had compelled that
result, and a year later removed to Paris.]




THE
HISTORY OF CUBA

BY

WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON

A.M., L.H.D.

Author of “A Century of Expansion,” “Four Centuries of
the Panama Canal,” “America’s Foreign Relations”

Honorary Professor of the History of American Foreign
Relations in New York University

_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_

VOLUME FIVE

[Illustration]

NEW YORK

B. F. BUCK & COMPANY, INC.

156 FIFTH AVENUE

1920

Copyright, 1920,
BY CENTURY HISTORY CO.

_All rights reserved_

ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL
LONDON, ENGLAND.

PRINTED IN U. S. A.


REPUBLICA DE CUBA

SECRETARIA DE AGRICULTURA, COMERCIO Y TRABAJO


Habana, Cuba,
July 11, 1919.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

The information in this volume pertaining to Cuba and her natural
resources, climate, soil, mines, forests, fisheries, agricultural
products, lands, rivers, harbors, mountains, mineral zones, quarries,
foreign and domestic commerce, business opportunities, etc., has been
compiled under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, Commerce
and Labor, and has been verified by the Bureau of Information.

It is intended to acquaint the world with the truth and actual facts in
regard to Cuba, and for the guidance of those who may be interested.

Respectfully,

[Illustration: signature]

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

COMMERCE & LABOR.




PREFACE


Nature designed Cuba for greatness. That salient fact is written large
and clear upon every page of the island’s history. He must lack vision
who can not discern it even in the annals of political, military and
social development of the Cuban nation. Although one of the earliest
lands in the Western Hemisphere to be discovered and colonized, it was
actually the last of all to be erected into political independence and
thus to enter into an opportunity for improving fully the incomparable
opulence of its natural endowment. No land ever shows of what it is
capable until it is permitted to do so for its own sake and in its own
name.

During the long and tedious centuries of Spanish domination, therefore,
the resources of Cuba remained largely latent. That is to be said in
full view of the notorious fact that the island was openly declared to
be “the milch cow of Spain.” In those two facts appears perhaps the most
impressive of all possible testimonies to the surpassing richness of the
island. If while it was a mere colony, only partially developed and
indeed with its resources only in part explored and imperfectly
understood, and with the supreme incentive to enterprise denied it--if
in these unfavorable circumstances, we say, it could be a source of so
great revenue to Spain and in spite of thus being plundered and drained
could still accumulate so considerable a competence for its own people,
what must its material opulence prove to be under its own free rule,
with every advantage and every encouragement for its full development
according to the knowledge of Twentieth Century science?

We need not be fanciful or visionary if we believe that some important
purpose was subserved in such withholding of Cuba from complete
development until so late a date. Her neighbors went on ahead,
developing their resources, and passing through all the political and
social vicissitudes of which colonial and national experience is
capable, inevitably with a great proportion of sheer loss through
ill-directed experimentation. Cuba on the contrary remained held in
abeyance until in the fulness of time she could profit from the
experience and example of others and thus gain her development at a
minimum of effort and expense and with a maximum of net profit.

The beneficent design of nature, to which we have alluded, is to be
seen, moreover, in the inherent conditions of insular existence. No
other great island of the world is so fortunate in its geographical
placing, either strategically or climatically, nor is any other
comparable with it in topography and material arrangement and
composition. It lies midway between the two great continents of the
Western Hemisphere, within easy reach of both across landlocked seas,
where it receives the commerce of both and serves as a mart of exchange
between them. Similarly it lies between the Temperate Zone and the
Torrid Zone, so as to receive at its very doors the products of each and
of both, the products, that is to say, of all the world. Nor is it less
significant that it lies directly upon the line of commerce and travel
not only between North and South but equally between East and West, on
the line of passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific and between the
lands which border the one and those which occupy the shores of the
other. Such strategic position--the strategy of commerce--is unique and
incommensurable in value.

Equally beneficent is the climatic situation of Cuba. Mathematically
lying just within the tropical zone, it in fact enjoys a temperance of
climate surpassing that of the temperate zone itself. It has all the
geniality of the regions which lie to the south of it, so that it can
produce all the fruits of the sultry tropics in profusion throughout a
year-round season of growth; yet it escapes the oppressive and
enervating heat which makes life in those lands burdensome to the
visitor and indolent to the native. It has the comfort and the tonic
properties of northern climes, yet without the trying and sometimes
disastrous fluctuations and extremes which too often there prevail. As a
result, Cuba can produce, if not always in fullest perfection yet with a
gratifying degree of success, practically all the vegetable life of the
world, from that which thrives close to the Arctic Circle to that which
luxuriates upon the Equator.

In coastal contour, and thus in profusion of fine harbors, Cuba enjoys
preeminence among the countries of the world. In varied contour of
mountain, valley and plain, in endowment with springs and rivers, she is
conspicuously fortunate. The often quoted tribute which her first
discoverer paid spontaneously to her magic beauty has been repeated and
confirmed uncounted times, with a deeper significance as it has been
found that the beauty of this island is not merely superficial but
intrinsic, and that Cuba is as hospitable to the interests and welfare
of the visitor and resident as she is fair to the passing eye.

It is a grateful task to dwell in these pages upon the varied and
opulent resources of the island, in all the natural conditions of the
mineral, the vegetable and the animal kingdoms. We shall see that the
hopes and dreams of the early conquerors, of rich mines of gold, have
been far more than realized in other ways which they knew not of. The
mines of what they regarded as base metals, and of metals unknown to
them, are richer far than they ever hoped deposits of the “precious”
metal to be, while the products of forests and plantations are
immeasurably richer still. Today Cuba stands before the world a
Treasure Island of incomparable worth even in her present estate, and of
an assured potentiality of future opulence which dazzles the
imagination.

We shall see, too, most grateful and inspiring of all, how at last the
people of Cuba have come into their own and are improving the vast
endowment with which nature has so bounteously provided them. It has
been only since they gained their independence that they could or would
do this; the result being that a score of years have seen more progress
than the twenty score preceding. Indeed we may say that the great bulk
of this progress has been achieved in the last six or seven years, the
earlier years of independence being unfortunately marred with untoward
circumstances of dissension and revolt which held in check the progress
which the island should have made. But with the final establishment of a
government capable of fulfilling all its appropriate functions, the
advance of Cuba has been and is to-day swift and unerring.

The taking advantage of natural conditions and resources through
scientific applications, the organization and administration of such
governmental institutions as best conduce to the security, the
prosperity and the happiness of a self-governing people, are agreeable
themes to contemplate and are profitable to study. We shall see how
agriculture, mining, manufactures and commerce have been promoted in
both extent and character. We shall see how all parts of the island
realm have been made accessible, for business or for pleasure, with
railroads and a marvellous system of highways for motor vehicles. We
shall learn of the sanitation of what was once a pestilence infested
land until it has become one of the three or four most healthful in the
world.

We shall see, too, the practical creation and universal development of a
scheme of free popular education which to-day gives to what was within
the memory of living men one of the most illiterate of countries such
school facilities as scarcely any other can surpass. If we were writing
in this volume of some long-established Commonwealth, with many
generations, perhaps centuries, of progress and culture behind it, we
should not be able to restrain our admiration of much that has been
accomplished. When we consider that we are writing of a land that
suffered nearly four centuries of repression and oppression, followed by
a dozen years of devastating strife, and less than twenty years ago
began to live the free life of a sovereign people, we are entranced with
amazement at the memory of what Cuba has been, with appreciation of what
she is, and with the assured promise of what she is to be.

It was a fascinating task to trace the story of her existence in its
many phases, largely of vicissitude, from the days of Diego Velasquez to
those of Mario Menocal. But that after all was a record of what has
been, of what has largely passed away. More welcome is it to contemplate
what Cuba actually is, in present realization and achievement, and to
scan with sane and discriminating vision the prospect of what she may be
and what, we may well believe with confidence, she will be. It is to
reveal the actual Cuba of to-day, and to suggest the surely promised
Cuba of to-morrow, that these pages are written. So far as they may seem
technical and statistical, their very dryness contains a potency of
suggestion surpassing the dreams of romance. So far as they may seem
touched with imagination, speculation, enthusiasm, they are still based
upon the practical and indubitable foundation of ascertained facts.
Their aim is to present to the world an accurate, comprehensive and
sympathetic living picture of the Twentieth Century Republic of Cuba,
and as such they are submitted to the reader with a cheerful confidence,
if not always in the adequacy of its treatment, at least in the
unfailing interest and merit of the theme.

January, 1920.

WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON.




CONTENTS

                                 PAGE

CHAPTER I. THE PEOPLE OF CUBA.....1

The People of Cuba--Hospitality Their Characteristic--Love of
Children--Founders of the Cuban Nation from the Southern Provinces of
Spain--An Admixture of French Blood--Immigration from Northern
Spain--English, Irish, Italian and German Immigrants--Colonists from the
United States.

CHAPTER II. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF CUBA.....10

The Topography of Cuba--Five Distinct Zones--The Mountain
Ranges--Plateaus and Plains--The Highest Peak in Cuba--The Organ
Mountains--Beautiful Valleys and Fertile Plains--Action of the Water
Courses--Character of the Soil.

CHAPTER III. THE CLIMATE OF CUBA.....19

The Climate of Cuba--Freedom from Extremes of Temperature--Influence of
the Trade Winds--No Ice and Little Frost--The Rainy Season and the Dry
Season--Gloomy Days Practically Unknown.

CHAPTER IV. PROVINCE OF HAVANA.....21

The Province of Havana--The Pivotal Province of the Island--Visits by
Columbus and Velasquez--Topography of the Province--Soil and
Products--Agricultural Wealth--The Fruit Industry--Manufacturing--The
Harbor of Havana--Transportation Facilities--The Water Supply--The
Climate--The Seat of Government and Social Centre of the Island.

CHAPTER V. PROVINCE OF PINAR DEL RIO.....34

The Province of Pinar del Rio--A Picturesque Region--Interesting
Topography--The Organ Mountains--The Vinales Valley--A Rare Palm
Tree--Hard Wood Timber--Agriculture--Harbors and Fishing
Interests--Tobacco Lands of the Vuelta Abajo--Coffee
Plantations--Mineral Resources.

CHAPTER VI. PROVINCE OF MATANZAS.....49

The Province of Matanzas--Comparatively Unimportant in History--A Great
Drainage and Traffic Canal--Rivers and Mountains--The Coast and
Islands--The Henequen Industry--The City of Matanzas--The Caves of
Bellamar--Sugar Production--Mineral Resources.

CHAPTER VII. PROVINCE OF SANTA CLARA.....60

The Province of Santa Clara--A Land of Great Variety of Scenes--Ancient
Gold-Seeking--The Mountain Ranges--Rich Lands of the Parks and
Valleys--Rivers and Lakes--Harbors--Cities of the Province--The “Swamp
of the Shoe”--Forests, Sugar Plantations, Tobacco, and
Coffee--Opportunities for Stock Raising.

CHAPTER VIII. PROVINCE OF CAMAGUEY.....71

The Province of Camaguey--Where Columbus First Landed--In the Days of
Velasquez--Events of the Ten Years’ War--Topography of the
Province--Mountain Ranges--Rivers and Coastal Lagoons--Harbors--Lack of
Railroads--The Sugar Industry--Minerals--American Colonies--Some Noted
Men.

CHAPTER IX. PROVINCE OF ORIENTE.....83

The Province of Oriente--Area and Topography--Mountains and Rivers--Fine
Harbors--Great Sugar Mills--Scene of the First Spanish Settlement in
Cuba--The Bay of Guantanamo--Santiago de Cuba--Copper
Mines--Manzanillo--The Cauto Valley--Sugar Plantations and Stock
Ranches--Timber and Minerals--American Colonies.

CHAPTER X. THE ISLE OF PINES.....99

The Isle of Pines--An Integral Part of Cuba--American Settlements and
Claims--Character of the Island--Infertile and Storm Swept--Vast
Deposits of Muck--Marble Quarries--Efforts to Promote Agricultural
Interests.

CHAPTER XI. MINES AND MINING.....104

Mines and Mining--The Early Quest of Gold--First Working of Copper
Mines--The Wealth of El Cobre--Copper in All Parts of Cuba--Operations
in Pinar del Rio--Vast Iron Deposits in Oriente--Nickel and
Manganese--Exports of Ore--American Investigation of Chrome
Deposits--Many Beds of Great Richness--Manganese and Chrome for All the
World.

CHAPTER XII. ASPHALT AND PETROLEUM.....126

Asphalt and Petroleum--Ocampo’s Early Discovery at Puerto
Carenas--Humboldt’s Reports of Petroleum Wells--Prospecting for Oil in
Many Places--Some Promising Wells--Asphalt Deposits of Great
Value--Prospects for Important Petroleum Developments.

CHAPTER XIII. FORESTRY.....135

Forestry--Vast Resources of Fine Woods Recklessly Squandered in Early
Times--Houses Built of Mahogany--Hundreds of Varieties of Valuable
Timber Trees--A Catalogue of Sixty of the Most Useful--Need of
Transportation for the Lumber Trade--Forests Owned by the State.

CHAPTER XIV. AGRICULTURE.....144

Agriculture--The Chief Interest of Cuba--Fertility of Soil, Geniality of
Climate, and Variety of Products--The Rainfall--Many Farmers
Specialists--The Government’s Experimental Station--Opportunities for
Stock-Raising--Work of the Department of Agriculture--Its Various
Bureaus--Value of Experimental Work Begun by General Wood and Extended
by President Menocal--Improving Live Stock--Fruit Growing--Grains and
Grasses--Combating Insect Pests--Bureau of Plant Sanitation.

CHAPTER XV. SUGAR.....160

“King Cane”--Cuba’s Crop and the World’s Production--Natural Conditions
Favorable to Sugar Culture--Extent of Lands Still Available--The
“Savana” and “Cienaga” Lands--Assured Projects for Draining Great
Swamps--Potential Increase of Sugar Production in Cuba--Methods of
Planting, Culture and Harvesting--The Labor Problem--Improved
Machinery--Something About the Principal Sugar Producing Concerns in
Cuba and the Men Who Have Created Them and Are Directing Them--The
Largest Sugar Company in the World--Cuba’s Assured Rank as the World’s
Chief Sugar Plantation.

CHAPTER XVI. TOBACCO.....183

The Tobacco Industry--First European Acquaintance with the Plant--The
Famous Fields of the Vuelta Abajo--Immense Productivity--Methods of
Culture and Harvesting--Various Regions of Tobacco Culture--Insect
Pests--Wholesale Use of Cheesecloth Canopies--Monetary Importance of the
Industry.

CHAPTER XVII. HENEQUEN.....190

The Henequen Industry--The Source of Binding Twine for the Wheat
Fields--Cuban Plantations Now Surpassing Those of Yucatan--Methods of
Growth and Manufacture--Magnitude of the Industry and Possibilities of
Further Extension.

CHAPTER XVIII. COFFEE.....197

The Coffee Industry--Early Plantations Which Were Neglected and
Abandoned--An Attractive Industry--Methods of Culture--Harvesting and
Marketing the Crop--Government Encouragement Being Given for Extension
of the Industry.

Chapter XIX. The Mango.....203

The Mango--The King of Oriental Fruits--Two Distinct Types in Cuba--All
Varieties Prolific--The Trees and the Fruits--Some of the Favorite
Varieties--Marketing and Use.

CHAPTER XX. CITRUS FRUITS.....211

Citrus Fruits--American Introduction of the Commercial
Industry--Varieties of Oranges--Comparison with Florida and California
Fruit--Grape Fruit in the Isle of Pines--Limes and Wild Oranges.

CHAPTER XXI. BANANAS, PINEAPPLES AND OTHER FRUITS.....219

Antiquity and Universality of the Banana--Its Many Uses--Commercial
Cultivation in Cuba--Methods of Culture--Varieties--Pineapple Culture in
Cuba--One of the Staple Crops--Difficulty of Marketing--The Canning
Industry--The Fruit of the Anon--The Zapote or Sapodilla--The
Tamarind--The Mamey--The Guava--The Mamoncillo--Figs of All
Varieties--The Aguacate.

CHAPTER XXII. GRAPES, CACAO, AND VANILLA.....232

Grape Culture Discouraged by Spain--Recent Development of the
Industry--Much Wine Drinking but Little Drunkenness--Food and Drink in
the Cacao--The Chocolate Industry--Culture and Manufacture of Cacao--The
Vanilla Bean--Methods of Gathering and Preparing the Crop.

CHAPTER XXIII. VEGETABLE GROWING.....240

Vegetable Growing in Cuba--Regions Most Suitable for the Industry--Seed
Brought from the United States--Winter Crops of Potatoes--Green Peppers
a Profitable Crop--Cultivation of Tomatoes and Egg Plants--Okra--Lima
Beans and String Beans--Squashes and Pumpkins--Desirability of the
Canning Industry--Utility of Irrigation--Prospects of Profit in Truck
Farming.

CHAPTER XXIV. STANDARD GRAINS AND FORAGE.....248

Indian Corn Indigenous--Improvements in Culture Desirable--Millet or
Kaffir Corn--Neglect of Wheat Growing--Culture of Upland
Rice--Possibilities of Swamp Rice Culture--Profusion of Meadow and
Pasture Grasses--Experiments with Alfalfa--Cultivation of Cow Peas and
Beans--Peanut Plantations.

CHAPTER XXV. ANIMALS.....257

Paucity of Native Fauna--Deer, Caprimys and Ant Eaters--The Sand Hill
Crane--Guinea Fowls, Turkeys and Quails--Buzzards, Sparrow Hawks,
Mocking Birds and Wild Pigeons--Varieties of Parrots--The Oriole--The
Tody--The Lizard Cuckoo--The Trogon--Water Birds.

CHAPTER XXVI. STOCK RAISING.....263

Introduction of Horses and Cattle by the Spaniards--Improvement in the
Quality of Stock--A Favorable Land for Cattle Ranges--Importation of
Blooded Stock from the United States and Europe--Introduction of the
Zebu--Great Profits in Hog Raising--Forage, Nuts and Root Crops for
Stock Food--Sheep and Goat Raising for Wool, Meat and Hides--Value of
the Angora Goat.

CHAPTER XXVII. POULTRY: BEES: SPONGES.....278

Recent Scientific Development of the Poultry Industry--President
Menocal’s Importations of Choice Stock--Opportunities for
Agriculture--Wild and Domesticated Bees--Varieties of Honey Yielding
Flowers--Large Exportations of Wax and Honey--Valuable Sponge Fisheries
on the Cuban Coast.

CHAPTER XXVIII. PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST.....284

Historic Interest of Havana Harbor--The Romance and Tragedy of El
Morro--“The Twelve Apostles”--The Vast Fortress of La Cabaña--The “Road
Without Hope”--A Scene of Slaughter--Cells of the Fortress Prison--The
Castillo de Punta--The Ancient City Walls--The Romance of La
Fuerza--Ancient Churches and Convents of Havana--The Cathedral and the
Tomb of Columbus--The San Francisco Convent--San Agustin--La
Merced--Santa Catalina--Santo Angel--Santa Clara--The Convent of
Belen--The Old Echarte Mansion--La Chorrera--Fort Cojimar--Some Ancient
Watch Towers and Fortresses--The Botanical Gardens.

CHAPTER XXIX. HAVANA.....303

The Charms of Havana--Early History of the City--Made the Capital of
Cuba--The Quarries from Which It Was Built--Something About Its
Principal Streets and Buildings--Various Sections of the City--On the
Road to the Almandares--Principe Hill--The University of Havana--The
Famous Prado--The National Theatre--The Central Park and Parque de
Colon--Colon Cemetery--Music in Havana--Favorite Drives and Resorts--The
Bathing Beach--Fishing--Jai Alai--Baseball--Horse
Racing--Golf--Buildings of the Various Government Departments--Memories
of the Old Presidential Palace--Some Fine New Buildings--The New
Presidential Palace--The New Capitol--The National Hospital.

CHAPTER XXX. A PARADISE OF PALM DRIVES.....326

A Paradise of Palm Drives--Splendor of the Flamboyans--The Road to
Guines--A Fine Drive to Matanzas--Roads from Havana to Guanajay,
Artemisa and the Ruby Hills--Old Military Roads Improved and
Extended--Fine Drives in Pinar del Rio--The Valley of Vinales--Some
Wonderful Landscapes and Seascapes--Roads Radiating from Matanzas--The
Roads of Santa Clara and Camaguey--Road Making Among the Mountains of
Oriente.

CHAPTER XXXI. BAYS AND HARBORS.....340

The Bays and Harbors of the Cuban Coasts--Bahia
Honda--Cabanas--Mariel--Havana--Matanzas--The Land-Locked Bay of
Cardenas--Santa Clara Bay--Sagua--Caibarien--The Bay of
Nuevitas--Manati--Puerto
Padre--Gibara--Banes--Nipe--Levisa--Baracoa--Guantanamo--Santiago--Manzanillo--Cienfuegos--Batabano--Santa
Cruz--Various Other Ports, Great and Small.

CHAPTER XXXII. RAILROAD SYSTEMS IN CUBA.....353

Origin of the Railroad Systems of Cuba--The United Railways of
Havana--The Matanzas Railway--Electric Lines Around Havana--The Great
Work of Sir William Van Horne--The Cuba Company’s Railroad System--The
Cuba Central Road--The North Shore Line--Other Lines and Branches
Existing or Projected.

CHAPTER XXXIII. MONEY AND BANKING.....361

Money and Banking in Cuba--The First Currency of the Island--The First
Monetary Crisis at Havana--Development of Modern Coinage and
Currency--Single Standard and Double Standard--Colonial Paper
Money--Stabilization of Currency Under American Rule--Statistics of
Shipments of Money--Coinage of Cuban Money Under the New
System--Financing the Foreign Commerce of the Island.

CHAPTER XXXIV. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.....367

The Educational System of Cuba--Influences of Clericalism--Work of
General Wood and Mr. Frye--Cooperation of Harvard University--Dr.
Lincoln de Zayas--The Teaching of English--Progress Under President
Menocal--Scope of the System--Some Special Schools--Normal Schools--The
Institute of Havana--The National University--Cooperation with the
United States--The Free Public Library.

CHAPTER XXXV. OCEAN TRANSPORTATION.....376

Importance of Ocean Transportation to the Insular Republic--Development
of the United Fruit Company--The Ward Line and Its Fleet--A Network of
Communications with All Parts of the World--Service of the Munson
Line--The Peninsular and Occidental Company--The Railroad Ferry Service
from Key West to Cuba--The Pinillos Izquierdo Line from Spain--The
Morgan or Southern Pacific Line--The Great Fleet of the Compagnie
General Transatlantique--A New Line from Japan--Customs Regulations--The
Consular Service of Cuba.

CHAPTER XXXVI. AMERICAN COLONIES IN CUBA.....390

American Colonies in Cuba--Founded After the War of
Independence--Pernicious Activities of Unscrupulous American
Speculators--Heroic Efforts of Illfounded Colonies--The Story of La
Gloria and Its Neighbors--Colonization of the Isle of Pines--The Colony
of Herradura--Various Colonies in Oriente--Inducements to Further
Colonization.




ILLUSTRATIONS


FULL PAGE PLATES

Francisco de Fri                      _Frontispiece_

                                             FACING
                                              PAGE

The Vinales Valley                              36

San Juan River, Matanzas                        54

On the Cauto River                              92

National Theatre, Central Park, Havana         144

The Gomez Building                             190

Pablo Desvernine                               284

In New Havana                                  296

Colon Park                                     306

An Avenue of Palms                             326

Grand Central Railway Station, Havana          354

Leopoldo Cancio                                362

The Chamber of Commerce, Havana                376


TEXT EMBELLISHMENTS

City Hall and Plaza, Cardenas            Page   56

A Mountain Road, Oriente                   “    84

Cuban Rural Home                           “   145

Fruit Vender, Havana                       “   209




THE HISTORY OF CUBA




CHAPTER I

THE PEOPLE OF CUBA


In the last analysis, of course, the people of a country have much to do
in making it what it is, or what it may be. From them must come the
life, energy, character and development. They will regulate its social
standing and fulfill the promise of its future. Society in Cuba, as in
nearly all long settled countries, is many sided, and while resembling,
more or less, that of all civilized communities, certain racial traits
stand out prominently in the Island Republic.

If asked to name the most prominent or salient characteristics
dominating the Cuban race, we should probably be justified in saying:
unfailing hospitality, exceptional courtesy, and unmeasurable love of
children.

Hospitality in Cuba is not a pose, but on the contrary is perfectly
natural, having descended from a long line of ancestors, as have the
beauty of eyes and teeth and color of hair. Hospitality among those of
higher education, like courtesy, is tempered with good form that
breeding has rendered an essential characteristic of the individual.
Journeying through the rural or remote sections, it is so manifestly
genuine that unless held back or retarded through diffidence or
suspicion, no one can avoid being deeply impressed with the extent to
which hospitality has pervaded every corner of the country.

John B. Henderson, the naturalist, in his “Cruise of the Barrera,”
refers to an occasion when, after serving coffee in the house of a
native family living far from contact with the outside world, a dollar
had been surreptitiously given to a child; and when the guests, whom he
had never seen before, were quite a mile away, the father came running
breathlessly down the mountain path to return the money, which he said
he could not possibly accept under any circumstances.

True courtesy, also, has kept hospitality close company in all grades of
society. Among the higher ranks of scholars, statesmen and Government
officials, the visitor who by chance has occasion to call on the Chief
of any Department, if said individual belongs to the old type of genuine
nobility, from the moment he crosses the threshold will note certain
polite forms that, while never obtrusive, are always in evidence.

No word, gesture or deed will come from the host that can possibly jar
the sensibilities of the visitor, no matter what his errand may be.
During his stay, courtesy will seem to pervade the atmosphere, and the
caller cannot help feeling absolutely at home. Upon leaving, he will be
made to feel that he has been more than welcome, and even if the topic
discussed or the nature of the errand has been delicate, he will realize
that he has been given all the consideration that one gentleman could
expect of another.

The educated Cuban is by birth, by nature and by training, a polished
gentleman and a diplomat; a man who will be at ease in any position, no
matter how difficult, and whose superior, socially or intellectually, is
seldom found in any court, committee or congregation of men. This all
prevailing trait of courtesy is also surprisingly manifest among those
who have had no advantages of education, and who have been denied the
wonderfully civilizing influence of travel and contact with the outside
world. Nor is this trait of courtesy and self possession confined by any
means to the man.

Love of children, and willingness to make any sacrifice for their
happiness, are perhaps exaggerated developments of the motherly
instinct. A man will be polite to you in Cuba even if he intends to sign
your death warrant the next moment. A Cuban mother will yield to any
caprice of her children, even although she may realize that in so doing
she endangers their future. As a result, Cuban children, although
lovable and affectionate, are not always well behaved or gentle
mannered. Still this depends largely, as it would in any country, on the
temperament and education of the mother, who in Cuba has all to do
towards forming the character of the child, especially the daughter, in
whose “bringing up” the father is supposed to take no immediate interest
or part.

The love which parents, rich or poor, educated or ignorant, bestow on
their children, no matter how many little ones may compose the family,
or how small the purse which feeds them, is proverbial. No child, even
of a far removed relative, is ever permitted to enter an institution of
charity if it can be avoided, but will find instead an immediate and
hearty welcome in the family of a man who may not know at times where to
look for money for the next day’s meal.

The original stock from which sprang the natives of Cuba, and from which
many of their traits undoubtedly came, reverts back to the followers of
Columbus, and to the old time conquerors of Mexico and the New World.
These gentlemanly adventurers were mostly from the southern provinces of
the Iberian Peninsula, whose blood was more or less mixed with that of
the Moor, and whose chief physical characteristics were regularity of
features, beauty of eyes, teeth and hair, and whose mental attributes
were dominated by pride, ambition, love of pomp and ceremony, with great
powers of endurance, a strong aversion to ordinary forms of labor,
exceptional courtesy, and an intelligence frequently marred with almost
unbelievable cruelty.

These original pioneers or soldiers of fortune in Cuba found the climate
exceedingly to their liking and, after love of conquest and adventure
had been tempered by increasing years, and the possible accumulation of
modest means, they settled down to quiet and fairly industrious lives
in the Pearl of the Antilles. From them sprang the true Cuban race, in
which still remain many of the physical, moral, and intellectual traits
of their ancestors.

Some of these early settlers made wives of comely Indian women, whose
beauty had captured their fancy, and while the influence of the kindly,
pleasure-loving “Cubenos” has not made any deep or striking impression
on the race, it may account for the quite common fondness of display and
love of gaiety found in the Cuban of today.

Next to the pioneers of Andalusia and southern Spain, it is probable
that the introduction of French blood has influenced the Cuban type and
life more than any other race foreign to the Island. Back in the
seventeenth century French traders and privateers made frequent visits
to Cuba, and some of them found Cuban wives, whose descendants afterward
became citizens of the country. Then again, in the very first years of
the nineteenth century, a large influx of French settlers, forced by
revolution from Santo Domingo, fled as refugees to Cuba and made for
themselves homes in Santiago and Santa Clara, whence with the increase
of Havana’s distinction as the capital, many of them transferred their
abiding place to that province and to Pinar del Rio, bringing with them
their experience as coffee growers; this in the early part of the
nineteenth century, becoming one of the most important industries of the
Island.

In the province of Havana, social life and the Cuban race itself, to a
certain extent, were influenced by the various officials and army
officers sent there from the mother country, many of whom found wives
and made homes in Havana, bringing with them the predominating traits
and customs of Madrid and other cities of Central Spain, which had given
them birth.

In later years, when Cuba began to obtain some prominence in the
industrial and commercial world, immigrants from the mother country came
to Havana in steadily increasing numbers. These were mostly from Galicia
and other northern coast provinces of Spain. They were a plodding,
frugal and industrious people, who, leaving a country that offered
little compensation for the hardest forms of labor, found easier work
and higher pay in Spain’s favorite colony.

The Gallego in Cuba, however, prefers the life of the city, in which he
plays quite an important part, since beginning at the very bottom of the
ladder, through patient thrift and industry, maintained throughout a
comparatively few years, he often succeeds in becoming the proprietor of
a bodega, the ubiquitous barber shop, the corner café, or the sumptuous
hotel on the Prado.

In the commercial life of the Island, he has a serious rival in the
Catalan, who, while possessed of many of the traits of the hard working
son of Galicia, is perhaps his superior in establishing successful
enterprises of larger scope. The Catalan seldom if ever fails in
business, and in energy, persistence and keen foresight, is quite the
equal of those most famous of all traders and men of commerce, the sons
of Israel.

Since the capture of Havana in 1763, when some of the members of the
English army, captivated by the climate, concluded to remain there
permanently, a small influx of English immigrants may be traced along
through the past century, but never in sufficient numbers to play a very
important part in the social or economical life of the country.
Nevertheless, those who came and remained as permanent residents of
Cuba, brought with them the elements of courage, thrift and integrity
which characterize the English colonist in all parts of the world.
Strange to relate, the general rule in regard to the unconformity of the
English, when living in foreign climes, does not seem to apply in Cuba.

The immigrant from Great Britain, who settled in Cuba, while leaving the
imprint of his character on his descendants, has nevertheless, sooner or
later, become in many respects a typical native of the country, adopting
even the language, and using it as his own, while his children, bright
blue eyed and keenly intelligent, are often permitted to remain
ignorant of their paternal tongue. Hence it is that we frequently meet
with Robert Smith, Henry Brown, Herbert Clews, Frank Godoy, Tom
Armstrong and Billy Patterson, sons or grandsons of former British
subjects, who would look at you in doubt and fail to comprehend if
saluted with such a common phrase as “a fine day” in English. Cuba has
appreciated the sterling value of the small English immigration that has
come to her shores, and only regrets that there is not more of it.

Quite a large sprinkling from the Emerald Isle have become permanent
residents of Cuba, and aside, perhaps, from a little trace of the
original brogue, it would be hard to distinguish them from the wide
awake Gallegos. The men of no race will so quickly adjust themselves to
circumstances, and become, as it were, members of the family, no matter
whether they settle in France, Italy, Spain, Cuba or the United States,
as will the immigrants from Ireland. The Irishman brings with him, and
always retains, his light-hearted, go-as-you-please and
take-it-as-it-comes characteristics, no matter where he settles. More
than all, the Irishman seldom makes trouble in any country but his own,
and seems not only content, but quite willing, to accept the customs of
his adopted country, even to the point of “running it” if opportunity
offers.

Why more Italians have not settled in Cuba, a country that in many
respects resembles some sections of southern Italy, is not easy to
determine, although it is probably due to a lack of propaganda on the
part of the Republic itself. Occasional commercial houses are found,
owned by Italians who have been residents there for many years, and a
few of the laboring class, seeking higher wages within the last few
years, have made their homes in Havana. Marvellous opportunities in the
various fields of agriculture wait the keen witted thrifty Italian in
Cuba. The certainty of a competence, if not a fortune, in small stock
raising and grape growing, evidently has not been brought to his
attention, otherwise more would have come and settled permanently in a
country with whose people, in their fondness for music, their religious
and social customs, they have much in common.

Of the Germans, of whom quite a number came to Cuba within the last
thirty years, a different tale is told. The Teuton who roams abroad
seems to come always with a definite purpose. He is diplomatic,
courteous, observing, hard working, but essentially selfish in his
motives, and makes no move the object of which is not to impress on the
land he visits, or in which he may become a permanent resident, every
custom, tradition and practice of the Fatherland that can possibly be
implanted in the country that has given him shelter or social
recognition. His club, his habits, his beer, his songs, his language and
his precepts of “Deutscher Ueber Alles,” are spread to the utmost of his
ability. But the German has been efficient and has catered in all his
commercial dealings to the customs, caprices and even to the vices or
weaknesses of the people with whom he trades and comes in contact. Hence
it is that, up to the outbreak of the war of 1914, Germany certainly had
the advantage over every competitor for trade from the Rio Grande to
Patagonia.

Strange as it may seem, although Cuba is no farther from American
territory in Florida than is Philadelphia from the City of New York,
there was very little immigration from the United States and almost no
citizens of that country, in spite of the attractions of the Pearl of
the Antilles, had apparently ever thought of making a home in Cuba,
until the Spanish-American War brought an army of occupation to the City
of Havana in the fall of 1898.

Following this army, as a result perhaps of favorable reports that came
from the lips of returning soldiers, quite an influx of Americans,
actuated by curiosity or motives of trade, came to Cuba and remained
here permanently, many marrying into Cuban families, purchasing farms,
or establishing branch houses and independent industries in the Island
Republic. Most of these have succeeded socially and financially.

The larger part of the American settlers of 1900 came from Florida, and
the Gulf States, although scattered throughout the various colonies of
the Island are found people from almost every State of the Union. While
the greater part of them, owing to the attractiveness and to better
transportation facilities have remained in or near Havana, quite a
number have settled in the Province of Camaguey, most of whom have
prospered there as stock raisers and followers of agricultural
industries.

The American as a rule, although of little experience as a colonizer,
has nevertheless readily adapted himself to circumstances, and had made
fast friends in his new surroundings. Many broad and excellent changes
have been brought about by this influx of citizens from the sister
Republic of the North. Most important of all was the introduction of an
excellent system of modern sanitation which the Cuban has appreciated
and followed with zeal. The absolute elimination of yellow fever and
every other disease common to the tropics, can be placed to the credit
of the country that became sponsor for Cuban Independence.

To this immigration may be attributed, also, many changes in Cuban
social life, especially the gradually broadening sphere of activity
among Cuban women, and the removal of some of the social barriers which
from the immemorial had placed her in the position of a treasured toy,
rather than that of an independent partner, and a responsible unit in
the game of life.

The impress of American influence on education, too, has been very
great, since almost the first move of the military forces that took
charge of the Island’s affairs with the exit of Spanish authority was to
establish in Cuba a public school system, and modern ideas of education.

To the American farmer and fruit grower of Florida was due also the
introduction of the citrus fruit industry, and the growing of
vegetables on a large scale for the northern market, and while these
enterprises are still, to a certain extent, in their infancy, many
millions of dollars have been added thus to the wealth of the Island. In
spite of what has been done, truth compels the statement, however, that
in the United States really little is known of Cuba and her
opportunities, although from the beginning of that country as a nation,
aside from Mexico, geographically Cuba has been her closest neighbor.

There are great possibilities for American enterprise in the Island
Republic, in agriculture, in stock raising, mining and other industries
that American genius in the near future will undoubtedly discover and
develop.




CHAPTER II

THE TOPOGRAPHY OF CUBA


Topographically the surface of Cuba may be divided into five rather
distinct zones, three of which are essentially mountainous. The first
includes the entire eastern third of the province of Oriente, together
with the greater part of its coast line, where the highest mountains of
the Island are found. The second includes the greater part of the
province of Camaguey, made up of gently rolling plains broken by
occasional hills or low mountains, that along the northern coast, and
again in the southeast center of the Province, rise to a height of
approximately 1500 feet above the general level.

The next is a mountainous district including the greater part of eastern
Santa Clara. The fourth comprises the western portion of this province
together with all of Matanzas and Havana. The surface of this middle
section is largely made up of rolling plains, broken here and there by
hills that rise a few hundred feet above the sea level.

The fifth includes the province of Pinar del Rio, the northern half of
which is traversed from one end to the other by several more or less
parallel ranges of sierras, with mean altitudes ranging from 1,000 to
2,000 feet, leaving the southern half of the Province a flat plain, into
which, along its northern edge, project spurs and foothills of the main
range.

The highest mountains of Cuba are located in the province of Oriente,
where their general elevation is somewhat higher than that of the
Allegheny or eastern ranges of the United States. The mountainous area
of this province is greater than that of the combined mountain areas of
all other parts of the Island. The mountains occur in groups, composed
of different kinds of rock, and have diverse structures, more or less
connected with one another.

The principal range is the Sierra Maestra, extending from Cabo Cruz to
the Bay of Guantanamo, forty miles east of Santiago. This chain is
continuous and of fairly uniform altitude, with the exception of a break
in the vicinity of Santiago where the wide basin of Santiago Bay cuts
across the main trend of the range. The highest peak of the Island is
known as Turquino, located near the middle of the Sierra Maestra, and
reaching an altitude of 8,642 feet.

The hills back of Santiago Bay, separating it from the Valley of the
Cauto, are similar in structure to the northern foothills of the main
sierra. In the western part of the range, the mountains rise abruptly
from the depths of the Caribbean Sea, but near the City of Santiago, and
to the eastward, they are separated from the ocean by a narrow coastal
plain, very much dissected. The streams which traverse it occupy valleys
several hundred feet in depth, while the remnants of the plateau appear
in the tops of the hills.

East of Guantanamo Bay there are mountains which are structurally
distinct from the Sierra Maestra, and these continue to Cape Maisi, the
eastern terminus of Cuba. To the west they rise abruptly from the ocean
bed, but further east, they are bordered by terraced foothills. Towards
the north they continue straight across the Island as features of bold
relief, connecting with the rugged Cuchillas of Baracoa, and with “El
Yunque” lying to the southwest.

Extending west from this eastern mass are high plateaus and mesas that
form the northern side of the great amphitheatre which drains into
Guantanamo Bay. Much of this section, when raised from the sea, was
probably a great elevated plain, cut up and eroded through the ages
since the seismic uplift that caused its birth.

The most prominent feature of the northern mountains of Oriente
Province, west of “El Yunque,” is the range comprising the Sierras
Cristal and Nipe. These extend east and west, but are separated into
several distinct masses by the Rio Sagua and the Rio Mayari, which break
through and empty into harbors on the north coast. The high country
south of these ranges has the character of a deeply dissected plateau,
the upper stratum of which is limestone.

The character of the surface would indicate that nearly all the
mountains of the eastern part of Oriente have been carved through
erosion of centuries from a high plateau, the summits of which are found
in “El Yunque” near Baracoa, and other flat topped mountains within the
drainage basins of the Mayari and the Sagua rivers. The flat summits of
the Sierra Nipe are probably remnants of the same great uplift.

Below this level are other benches or broad plateaus, the two most
prominent occurring respectively at 1500 and 2000 feet above sea level.
The highest summits rise to an altitude of 2800 or 3000 feet. The 2000
foot plateau of the Sierra Nipe alone includes an area estimated at not
less than 40 square miles. It would seem that these elevated plateaus
with their rich soils might be utilized for the production of wheat, and
some of the northern fruits that require a cooler temperature than that
found in other parts of Cuba.

In the province of Oriente, the various mountain groups form two
marginal ranges, which merge in the east, and diverge toward the west.
The southern range is far more continuous, while the northern is
composed of irregular groups separated by numerous river valleys.
Between these divergent ranges lies the broad undulating plain of the
famous Cauto Valley, which increases in width as it extends westward.
The northern half of this valley merges into the plains of Camaguey,
whose surface has been disturbed by volcanic uplifts only by a small
group known as the Najassa Hills, in the southeast center of the
province, and by the Sierra Cubitas Range, which parallels the coast
from the basin of Nuevitas Bay until it terminates in the isolated hill
known as Loma Cunagua.

The central mountainous region of the Island is located in the province
of Santa Clara, where a belt of mountains and hills following
approximately northeast and southwest lines, passes through the cities
of Sancti Spiritus and Santa Clara. Four groups are found here, one of
which lies southwest of Sancti Spiritus, and east of the Rio Agabama. A
second group is included between the valleys of the Agabama and the Rio
Arimao.

The highest peak of Santa Clara is known as Potrerillo, located seven
miles north of Trinidad, with an altitude of 2,900 feet. A third group
lies southeast of the city of Santa Clara, and includes the Sierra del
Escambray and the Alta de Agabama. The rounded hills of this region have
an altitude of about 1,000 feet although a few of the summits are
somewhat higher.

The fourth group consists of a line of hills, beginning 25 miles east of
Sagua la Grande, and extending into the province of Camaguey. The trend
of this range is transverse to the central mountain zone as a whole, but
it conforms in direction with the general geological structure of the
region.

East of the city of Santa Clara the hills of this last group merge with
those of the central portion of the province. The summits in the
northern line reach an altitude of only a thousand feet. The principal
members are known as the Sierra Morena, west of Sagua la Grande, Lomas
de Santa Fe, near Camaguani, the Sierra de Bamburanao, near Yaguajay,
and the Lomas of the Savanas, south of the last mentioned town.

In the province of Pinar del Rio, we find another system, or chain of
mountains, dominated by the Sierra de los Organos or Organ mountains.
These begin a little west of Guardiana Bay, with a chain of “magotes,”
known as the “Pena Blanca,” composed of tertiary limestone. These are
the result of a seismic upheaval running from north to south, almost at
right angles with the main axis of the chains that form the mountainous
vertebrae of the Island.

Between the city of Pinar del Rio and the north coast at La Esperanza,
the Organos are broken up into four or five parallel ridges, two of
which are composed of limestone, while the others are of slate,
sandstones and schists. The term “magote,” in Cuba, is applied to one of
the most interesting and strikingly beautiful mountain formations in the
world. They are evidently remnants of high ranges running usually from
east to west, and have resulted from the upheaval of tertiary strata
that dates back probably to the Jurassic period.

The soft white material of this limestone, through countless eons of
time, has been hammered by tropical rains that gradually washed away the
surface and carved their once ragged peaks into peculiar, round,
dome-shaped elevations that often rise perpendicularly to a height of
1,000 feet or more above the level grass plains that form their base.
Meanwhile the continual seepage of water formed great caverns within
that sooner or later caved in and fell, hastening thus the gradual
leveling to which all mountains are doomed as long as the world is
supplied with air and water. The softening and continual crumbling away
of the rock have formed a rich soil on which grows a wonderful wealth of
tropical vegetation, unlike anything known to other sections of Cuba, or
perhaps in the world.

The valley of the Vinales, lying between the City of Pinar del Rio and
the north coast, might well be called the garden of the “magotes,” since
not only is it surrounded by their precipitous walls, but several of
them, detached from the main chain, rise abruptly from the floor of the
valley, converting it into one of the most strangely beautiful spots in
the world.

John D. Henderson, the naturalist, in speaking of this region, says:
“The valley of the Vinales must not be compared with the Yosemite or
Grand Canon, or some famed Alpine passage, for it cannot display the
astounding contrasts of these, or of many well-known valleys among the
higher mountains of the world. We were all of us traveled men who viewed
this panorama, but all agreed that never before had we gazed on so
charming a sight. There are recesses among the Rocky Mountains of Canada
in which one gazes with awe and bated breath, where the very silence
oppresses, and the beholder instinctively reaches out for support to
guard against slipping into the awful chasm below. But the Valley of
Vinales, on the contrary, seems to soothe and lull the senses. Like
great birds suspended in the sky, we long to soar above it, and then
alighting within some palm grove, far below, to rejoice in its
atmosphere of perfect peace.”

A mountain maze of high, round-topped lomas dominates almost the entire
northern half of Pinar del Rio. It is the picturesque remnant of an
elevated plain that at some time in the geological life of the Island
was raised above the surface 1500, perhaps 2000, feet. This, through the
erosion of thousands of centuries, has been carved into great land
surges, without any particular alignment or system.

Straight up through the center of this mountainous area are projected a
series of more or less parallel limestone ridges. These, as a rule, have
an east and west axis, and attain a greater elevation than the lomas.
They are known as the Sierras de los Organos, although having many local
names at different points. Water and atmospheric agencies have carved
them into most fantastic shapes, so that they do, in places, present an
organ pipe appearance. They are almost always steep, often with vertical
walls or “paradones” that rise 1000 feet from the floor or base on which
they rest.

The northernmost range, running parallel to the Gulf Coast, is known as
the “Costanero.” The highest peak of Pinar del Rio is called Guajaibon,
which rises to an altitude of 3000 feet, with its base but very little
above the level of the sea. It is probably of Jurassic limestone and
forms the eastern outpost of the Costaneros.

The southern range of the Organos begins with an interesting peak known
as the Pan de Azucar, located only a few miles east of the Pena Blanca.
From this western sentinel with many breaks extends the great southern
chain of the Organos with its various groups of “magotes,” reaching
eastward throughout the entire province. At its extreme eastern terminus
we find a lower and detached ridge known as the Pan de Guanajay, which
passes for a few miles beyond the boundary line, and into the province
of Havana.

Surrounding the Organos from La Esperanza west, and bordering it also on
the south for a short distance east of the city of Pinar del Rio, are
ranges of round topped lomas, composed largely of sandstone, slate and
shale. The surface of these is covered with the small pines, scrubby
palms and undergrowth found only on poor soil.

From the Mulato River east, along the north coast, the character of the
lomas changes abruptly. Here we have deep rich soil covered with
splendid forests of hard woods, that reach up into the Organos some ten
miles back from the coast. Along the southern edge of the Organos, from
Herredura east, lies a charming narrow belt of rolling country covered
with a rich sandy loam that extends almost to the city of Artemisa.

Extensions, or occasional outcroppings, of the Pinar del Rio mountain
system, appear in the province of Havana, and continue on into Matanzas,
where another short coastal range appears, just west of the valley of
the Yumuri. This, as before stated, has its continuation in detached
ridges that extend along the entire north coast, with but few
interruptions, until merged into the mountain maze of eastern Oriente.

Outside of the mountainous districts thus described, the general surface
of Cuba is a gently undulating plain, with altitudes varying from only
a few feet above the sea level to 500 or 600 feet, near El Cristo in
Oriente. In Pinar del Rio it forms a piedmont plain that entirely
surrounds the mountain range. On the south this plain has a maximum
width of about 25 miles and ascends gradually from the shores of the
Caribbean at the rate of seven or eight feet to the mile until it
reaches the edge of the foothills along the line of the automobile
drive, connecting Havana with the capital of Pinar del Rio.

North of the mountain range the lowland belt is very much narrower and
in some places reaches a height of 200 feet as a rule deeply dissected,
so that in places only the level of the hill tops mark the position of
the original plain.

The two piedmont plains of Pinar del Rio unite at the eastern extremity
of the Organos Mountains and extend over the greater part of the
provinces of Havana and Matanzas and the western half of Santa Clara.
The divide as a rule is near the center of this plain, although the land
has a gradual slope from near its northern margin towards the south.

In the neighborhood of Havana, the elevation varies between 300 and 400
feet, continuing eastward to Cardenas. The streams flowing north have
lowered their channels as the land rose, and the surface drained by them
has become deeply dissected, while the streams flowing toward the south
have been but little affected by the elevation and remain generally in
very narrow channels.

East of Cardenas the general elevation of the plain is low, sloping
gradually both north and south from the axis of the Island. Considerable
areas of this plain are found among the various mountain groups in the
eastern half of Santa Clara province, beyond which it extends over the
greater part of Camaguey and into Oriente. Here it reaches the northern
coast between isolated mountain groups, extending as far east as Nipe
Bay, and toward the south merges into the great Cauto Valley.

From Cabo Cruz the plain extends along the northern base of the Sierra
Maestra to the head of the Cauto valley. Its elevation near Manzanillo
is about 200 feet, whence it increases to 640 feet at El Cristo. In the
central section of Oriente, the Cauto River and its tributaries have cut
channels into this plain from 50 to 200 feet in depth. In the lower part
of the valley these channels are sometimes several miles across and are
occupied by alluvial flats or river bottoms. They decrease in width
towards the east and in the upper part of the valley become narrow
gorges.

A large part of this plain of Cuba, especially in the central provinces,
is underlaid by porous limestone, through which the surface waters have
found underground passages. This accounts for the fact that large areas
are occasionally devoid of flowing surface streams. The rain water sinks
into the ground as soon as it falls, and after flowing long distances
under ground, emerges in bold springs, such as those of the Almandares
that burst out of the river bank some eight miles south of the City of
Havana. Engineers of the rope and cordage plant, just north of the City
of Matanzas, while boring for water, found unexpectedly a swift, running
river, only ten feet below the surface, that has given them an
inexhaustible supply of excellent water.

Most of the plains of Cuba above indicated have been formed by the
erosion of its surface, and are covered with residual soil derived from
the underlying limestones. Where they consist of red or black clays they
are exceedingly fertile. Certain portions of the plains, especially
those bordering on the southern side of the mountains of Pinar del Rio,
are covered with a layer of sand and gravel, washed down from the
adjoining highlands, and are inferior in fertility to soils derived from
the erosion of limestone. Similar superficial deposits are met in the
vicinity of Cienfuegos, and in other sections of the Island, where the
plain forms a piedmont adjacent to highlands composed of silicious
rocks.




CHAPTER III

THE CLIMATE OF CUBA


Since on the climate of country depends largely its healthfulness,
nothing perhaps is of greater importance, especially to the man who
wishes to find some place where he may build his permanent home and
raise his family; to him this feature above all demands careful
consideration.

The most striking and perhaps the most important fact in regard to the
climate of Cuba is its freedom from those extremes of temperature which
are considered prejudicial to health in any country. The difference
between the mean annual temperature of winter and that of summer is only
twelve degrees, or from 76 degrees to 88 degrees. Even between the
coldest days of winter, when the mercury once went as low as 58 degrees,
and the extreme limit of summer, registered as 92 degrees, we have a
difference of only 34 degrees; and the extremes of summer are seldom
noticed, since the fresh northeast trade winds coming from the Atlantic
sweep across the Island, carrying away with them the heated atmosphere
of the interior.

The fact that the main axis of the Island, with its seven hundred mile
stretch of territory, extends from southeast to northwest, almost at
right angles to the general direction of the wind, plays a very
important part in the equability of Cuba’s climate. Then again, the
Island is completely surrounded by oceans, the temperature of which
remains constant, and this plays an important part in preventing
extremes of heat or cold.

Ice, of course, cannot form, and frost is found only on the tops of the
tallest mountain ranges. The few cold days during winter, when the
thermometer may drop to 60 after sundown, are the advance waves of
“Northers” that sweep down from the Dakotas, across Oklahoma and the
great plains of Texas, eventually reaching Cuba, but only after the
sting of the cold has been tempered in its passage of six hundred miles
across the Gulf of Mexico.

A temperature of 60 degrees in Cuba is not agreeable to the natives, or
even to those residents who once lived in northern climes. This may be
due to the fact that life in the Tropics has a tendency to thin the
blood, and to render it less resistant to low temperature; and also
because Cuban residences are largely of stone, brick or reinforced
concrete, with either tile or marble floors, and have no provision
whatever against cold. And, although the walls are heavy, the windows,
doors and openings are many times larger than those of residences in the
United States, hence the cold cannot readily be excluded as in other
countries. There is said to be but one fire-place in the Island of Cuba,
and that was built in the beautiful home of an American, near Guayabal,
just to remind him, he said, of the country whence he came.

Again in the matter of rainfall and its bearing on the climate of a
country, Cuba is very fortunate. The rains all come in the form of
showers during the summer months, from the middle of May until the end
of October, and serve to purify and temper the heat of summer. On the
other hand, the cooler months of winter are quite dry, and absolutely
free from the chilling rains, sleets, snows, mists and dampness, that
endanger the health, if not the life, of those less fortunate people who
dwell in latitudes close to 40 degrees.

Cloudy, gloomy days are almost unknown in Cuba, and the sun can be
depended upon to shine for at least thirty days every month, and
according to the testimony of physicians nothing is better than sunshine
to eliminate the germs of contagious diseases. Hence we can truthfully
says that in the matter of climate and health, Cuba asks no favor of any
country on earth.




CHAPTER IV

PROVINCE OF HAVANA


The Province of Havana, with its area of 3,171 square miles, is the
smallest in Cuba, and yet, owing to the city of Havana, capital of the
Republic, it plays a very important part in the social, political and
economic life of the Island.

Geographically, it is the pivotal province of Cuba, since the narrowest
place across the long arch-like stretch of the Island is found along the
border between Havana and Pinar del Rio, where only twenty-two miles lie
between the Mexican Gulf and the Caribbean Sea. The province proper
measures about thirty miles from north to south, with an average width
of fifty-five.

The topography of Havana includes a varied assortment of hills, ridges,
plateaus, valleys and plains, so that the scenery never becomes
monotonous; and with the numerous automobile drives that radiate from
the Capital, shaded with the luxuriant foliage of royal palms, bamboo
and other forms of tropical vegetation, it offers to the tourist and
traveler an almost endless panorama of charming change and pleasant
surprise. The average altitude of Havana province is slightly lower than
that of either Matanzas or Pinar del Rio, bordering on the east and
west.

Columbus, on his second voyage of discovery, cruised along the southern
coast of Cuba until he reached a point a little west of the Indian
village of Batabano. Here he heard of another island not far to the
south. Leaving the coast he threaded his way through shoals and
scattered keys, that even up to the present time have been only
imperfectly charted, and finally, on July 12, 1494, landed at some place
on the northern shore. He called this island the Evangelist. It is the
largest of a chain of keys running parallel with this part of the south
coast, irregular in form with an area of approximately eight hundred
square miles, and forms the southern half of the judicial district of
Havana.

Columbus remained here, taking on fresh water and wood, until July 25,
and then began his return voyage east, sailing over shoals that
displayed so many varying shades of green, purple and white, that his
mariners are said to have become alarmed.

Some twenty years later Diego Velasquez cruised along the southern coast
to a point west of the Guines River, where he founded a city, which he
called San Cristobal de la Havana. The fifty odd colonists whom he left
behind soon became dissatisfied with the general surroundings of the
spot which he had selected for their abiding place and moved over to the
north shore of the Island near the mouth of the Almandares River, which
they found in every way more agreeable as a place of permanent
residence. In 1519 a second move was made to the Bay of Carenas, where
they located permanently on the harbor, destined soon after to become
the most important port of the West Indies.

The inhabitants of that irregular group of palm thatched huts little
dreamed that four centuries later the Port of Havana would have a
foreign commerce whose tonnage is excelled by only one other in the
Western Hemisphere.

With the exception of the low, grass-covered plains of the southern
shore, the topography of the Province of Havana is undulating and
picturesque. The northern shore, throughout most of its length,
especially from the City of Havana west to Matanzas, rises more or less
abruptly from the beach until it reaches a rather uneven plateau,
several hundred feet above the level of the sea.

In the northwestern corner, some two miles back from the shore line, the
“Pan” or “Loma of Guayabon,” which is really a continuation of the Organ
Mountains of Pinar del Rio, forms a palm covered, picturesque ridge,
six hundred feet in height, extending from east to west for several
miles. Along the southern edge of this range of hills, runs a beautiful
automobile drive, connecting the capital with the city of Pinar del Rio,
the wonderful valley of the Vinales, Guane and the extreme western end
of the Island. A drive leading from the city of Guanajay extends fifty
miles northwest to the Bay of Bahia Honda, chosen originally as a
coaling station for the Navy, but never occupied.

In the east central part of the province lie two small mountains known
as the Tetas de Bejucal, and from them, extending in an easterly
direction into the Province of Matanzas, are broken ridges, plateaus,
and hills that form one of the connecting links between the Organ group
of mountains in the west, and the still higher cordilleras of the
Province of Oriente in the extreme east.

With the exception of the coastal plain running along the southern
boundary, the remainder of the province is undulating, more or less
hilly, and quite picturesque in its contour. A little east of the Tetas
de Bejucal, from the top of the divide that forms the water shed of the
province, looking south, one sees below him the Valley of the Guines,
known as the Garden of Havana. Thousands of acres are here spread out
before the view, all irrigated by the Guines River, whose source is in
the never failing springs that gush from the base of a mountain ridge in
the east center of the Province.

The rich soil of this section, furnished as it is with water throughout
the year, produces a marvelous yield of sugar cane, potatoes, tomatoes,
peppers, egg plants and other vegetables, affording an inexhaustible
supply during the winter to the capital, forty miles north. Engineers
are making a study of this river so that its water may be more
economically distributed and the acreage of irrigated lands greatly
increased.

In the southwestern quarter of Havana Province, known as the Tumbadero
District, experiments were first made in growing tobacco under cheese
cloth. These were so successful that in a few years Tumbadero, or Havana
wrappers, became famous for their fineness of texture, and within a
short time thousands of acres in that section were converted into
fields, or vegas, whose returns in tobacco leaf product were excelled in
value only by those of the celebrated Vuelta Abajo district of Pinar del
Rio. The towns of Alquizar and Guira de Melina were built and sustained
by the reputation of the Tumbadero wrapper, and the tobacco district was
soon extended well up into the center of the province, including Salud,
Rincon, San Antonio de los Banos, and Santiago de las Vegas. In the
northwestern corner of the Island, the rich valley extending south and
east of the “Pan de Guayabon,” including the towns of Caimito, Hoyo
Colorado, and Guayabal, has recently rivaled the Tumbadero district in
the excellence of its tobacco, and excels in citrus fruit.

Over three-fourths of Havana Province have been blessed with a
remarkably fertile soil, and although much of it has been under
cultivation for three centuries or more, with the judicious use of
fertilizers, the returns, either in fruit or vegetables, are very
gratifying to the small farmer.

Along the delightfully shaded automobile drives that radiate from the
Capital in nearly all directions, the price of land within thirty miles
of the city has risen so rapidly that it is being given over almost
entirely to suburban homes and country estates, maintained by the
wealthy residents of the capital. In a climate where frost is unknown,
where the foliage remains fresh and green throughout the winter, it is
comparatively easy to convert an ordinary farm into a veritable garden
of Eden.

One of the most beautiful places on the Island within the last few years
has been created by General Mario G. Menocal, President of the Republic.
It covers several hundred acres and is known as “El Chico,” or the
“Little One.” A commanding residence of Cuban colonial architecture,
standing a little back from the road, has been surrounded with beautiful
drives, lined with every variety of fruit tree, flower and ornamental
plant known to Cuba. The green lawn sweeps up to the stately building
occupied by President Menocal as a residence or country seat in summer.
On this place may be found many varieties of poultry, recently imported
from the United States for experimental purposes, in which the President
is deeply interested. Competent gardeners and caretakers are maintained,
with the result that “El Chico,” where General Menocal and his family
spend much of their time, has become one of the show places of the
Province.

Col. Jose Villalon, Secretary of Public Works, and Col. Charles
Hernandez, Director of Posts and Telegraph, have pretty country estates
located west of Havana, not far from El Chico.

The soil of the Province, throughout most of its extent, has been formed
through the erosion of tertiary limestone, colored in many places a
reddish brown of oxide of iron that has impregnated most of the soils of
Cuba. Just south of Havana, serpentine has obtruded through the
limestone along a belt some two or three miles in extent, and forms the
round topped hills in evidence from the bay.

The greater part of Havana Province, when found by the Spaniards, was
covered with forests of hard woods, that were gradually cut away during
the centuries in which the land has been tilled. The trees, according to
early records, included cedar, mahogany, acana, majagua and others,
still found in the mountainous districts and those sections of Cuba not
yet brought under cultivation. These valuable hard woods formed the
posts, joists, rafters, doors and windows of nearly all the old-time
residences of early days. Many buildings that have remained standing
through centuries, have ceilings that are supported by heavy carved
timbers of mahogany and give promise still of long years of service if
permitted to remain.

The basic wealth of the province, as in nearly all other sections of
Cuba, is dependent on agriculture, although since the inauguration of
the Republic in 1902, manufacturing and various other industries are
beginning to play a prominent part in her economical wealth.

In agricultural products, the Guines Valley previously referred to
undoubtedly produces greater returns than any other similar lands in
Cuba. Hundreds of thousands of crates of tomatoes, egg plants and other
vegetables, that have been raised through the whiter month by
irrigation, are shipped to the United States from December to April.
Thousands of barrels of Irish potatoes from the Guines Valley, also, are
sold in Philadelphia, New York and Boston during the month of March, at
prices averaging four dollars per hundred weight.

In the Valley of Caimito, Guayabal and Hoyo Colorado, large crops of
vegetables are shipped to the northern markets during the winter months,
when good prices are assured. A certainty of profit, however, can only
be depended on where irrigation from wells is secured.

Large acreages of pineapples are grown in the same district, although
the center of the pineapple industry in Havana today is located about
thirty miles east of the City, on the road to Matanzas. Over a million
crates every year are shipped out of Havana to the northern markets
between the middle of May and the middle of July.

It is probable that no section of either the West Indies or the United
States offers greater opportunities for the canning industry than is
found in Cuba at the present time, especially in the Province of Havana,
where facilities for transportation are plentiful. A general canning and
preserving plant, intelligently conducted, could be operated in this
province throughout the entire year. In this way all of the surplus
pineapples not shipped abroad could be utilized.

During the last few years several manufacturing industries have sprung
up on the outskirts of Havana, all of which seem to be yielding
satisfactory returns. Three large breweries are turning out a very good
grade of beer that is disposed of throughout the Island. The plants are
located in the suburbs of Havana, each surrounded by grounds rendered
attractive by landscape gardeners and furnishing places for recreation
and rest to both rich and poor on holidays, which are plentiful in Cuba.
A large up-to-date bottling plant, located just west of the City,
manufactures the containers for the output of the breweries.

Between the city of Havana and the suburb of Ceiba, a modern rubber tire
and tube factory has been established, and is said to be working on full
time with very satisfactory profits. Several large soap and perfume
factories, recently established, are supplying the demand for these
products with satisfaction, it is said, both to the manufacturer and the
consumer.

A number of brick yards and tile factories are located not far from the
City, the combined output of which is large. The erection of wooden
buildings within the city limits of Havana is not tolerated. In fact
they are not at all popular in Cuba since the climate is not conducive
to the preservation of wood, aside from cedar and mahogany or other hard
woods, which are too expensive for construction work. Limestone, easily
worked, and of a fine quality for this climate, is found in abundance,
hence it is that the vast amount of building going on at the present
time in Cuba makes heavy demands on both this material and brick, for
all constructive purposes.

Nature has again favored this Island in her large deposits of excellent
cement-clay, limestone and sand, which are essential to the manufacture
of cement. The Almandares factory located on the west bank of that river
has long been in successful operation. Within the last year another
large modern cement factory has been established on the eastern shores
of the harbor of Mariel, twenty-five miles west of Havana, and today is
turning out high-grade cement at the rate of six hundred barrels per
day.

Local factories have had a monopoly of the match-making industry in Cuba
for many years. Few, if any matches are imported from abroad, and may
never be, owing to the fact that the people of Cuba prefer the wax taper
match. Although short and rather inconvenient to those who are not
accustomed to this miniature candle, the flame burns longer and persists
more successfully in a breeze, hence it is probable that the Cuban match
will hold its own against all competitors. Quite a revenue is derived
from the penny stamp tax placed on each box of matches.

Large quantities of pine lumber are imported into Cuba from the Gulf
cities, especially from South Pascagoula, Miss., and Mobile. This
material is used throughout the island for interior work, sash, doors,
blinds, etc. Unless covered with paint, hard pine is not very lasting in
this climate, for which reasons, perhaps, show cases, fancy work and
ornamental doors are usually built of the native cedar and majagua,
which are practically impervious to either decay or attack from boring
insects.

The most important industry of the Province, from the monetary
viewpoint, at least, is the manufacture of cigars and cigarettes, which
are produced in greater quantity in Havana and throughout the province
than in any other part of the world. It is needless to state that the
cigars made in Havana from the celebrated Vuelta Abajo leaf are shipped
from this capital to all parts of the world, and may be found, it is
said, on the private desk of every crowned head in Europe. Large
shipments are made every year, also, to Japan and the Orient. Thousands
of men and girls are employed in this industry, the value of which, in
the export trade alone, amounts to over $30,000,000 a year.

The Province has but one harbor of any importance, the Bay of Havana,
located near the center of the north coast. It covers several square
miles, and although the entrance between the promontory of Morro and the
Punta is only a few hundred yards across, the channel is deep, perfectly
protected, and leads to an anchorage sufficient for large fleets of
vessels. The shore portions of the main body of the harbor were rather
shallow in early times, but during recent years have been well dredged
up to the edge of the surrounding wharves, thus reclaiming a large
amount of valuable land, and greatly increasing the capacity of the Bay
for shipping purposes.

Since the inauguration of the Republic in 1902, a series of large,
modern, perfectly equipped piers, built of concrete and iron, have been
extended out from the shore line of the western side of the bay, so that
the largest ships may now discharge and take on cargoes, eliminating
thus, to a great extent, the custom of lightering which prevailed only a
few years ago. Owing to the fact that nearly all the principal railroad
systems of Cuba radiate from the Capital, each with a terminal system
connecting with the wharves, the transportation facilities of this port
are superior to any others in Cuba.

Steam and sail vessels are leaving Havana for different parts of the
world every day in the year, and it is a fact of which the Republic has
reason to be proud, that under normal conditions, or up to the beginning
of the great war, a greater amount of tonnage entered and left the
Harbor of Havana than that of any other city of the Western hemisphere,
with the exception of New York. Dredging is still going on with new
wharves in process of construction and projected, so that today frontage
on the bay is valuable and hard to secure at any price.

Owing to its excellent transportation facilities and to the local market
furnished by the City of Havana itself, the growing of fruits and
vegetables, within a radius of one hundred miles from the capital, has
proved more profitable than in other parts of the Island.

Although several small streams flow to the north and south of the
dividing ridge, passing through the center of the Island, none of them,
either in length or depth, could well be termed rivers.

The Almandares, that has its origin in a group of magnificent springs
near the western center of the Province, meanders through a
comparatively level valley, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, some three
miles west of Havana Harbor. The mouth of this stream, with a depth of
twelve or fourteen feet, accommodates schooners that come for sand and
cement at the factory.

The Vento Springs, already referred to, are a most valuable asset of the
City of Havana, since the abundant flow of water, that through skilful
engineering has been conveyed some eight miles into the City, is of
excellent quality. The quantity of water, with economy, is sufficient,
according to engineering estimates, for a city of one or two millions.

In the latter part of the 16th century the Italian engineer Antonelli
cut several ditches across the intercepting ridges and brought water
from the Almandares River into the city of Havana, not only for domestic
purposes but in sufficient quantity to supply the ships that dropped
into port on their long voyages between Spain and the eastern coast of
Mexico.

On November 7, 1887, the famous Spanish engineer D. Francisco Albear y
Lara completed the present aqueduct and system of water works by which
the springs of Vento are made to contribute to the present Havana, with
its 360,000 inhabitants, a supply of excellent drinking water, although
only a small portion of the flow is utilized.

Owing to the peculiar coral and soft limestone formation on which the
soil of this province has been deposited, numerous lagoons and rivers
flow beneath the surface at various depths, ranging from 30 to 300 feet.
These, when found and tapped, furnish an abundance of splendid fresh
water, seldom contaminated with objectionable mineral matter. At the
Experimental Station at Santiago tiago de las Vegas, a magnificent
spring of water was discovered at a little over one hundred feet in
depth.

Other springs have formed a shallow lagoon just south of the city of
Caimito, the exit from which is furnished by a small swift running
stream, that after a surface flow of five or six miles suddenly plunges
down into the earth some forty feet or more, disappearing entirely from
view and never reappearing, as far as is known. Like many other streams
of this nature, it may come to the surface in the salt waters of the
Caribbean, off the south coast.

The disappearance of this river takes place within a hundred yards of
the railroad station, in the town of San Antonio de los Banos, and
furnishes rather an interesting sight for the tourist who is not
familiar with this peculiar phenomenon.

Although the City of Havana is considered one of the most delightful
winter resorts in the Western Hemisphere, there are many who claim, and
with reason perhaps, that the Capital has many advantages also as a
place in which to spend the summer. Many visitors from the Gulf States
in summer have been loath to leave Cuba.

The mean annual temperature of Havana varies only twelve degrees
throughout the year. During the winter the mercury plays between the two
extremes of 58 and 78 degrees, with an average of about 70. During the
summer the temperature varies from 75 to 88 degrees, although there are
occasional records where the mercury has reached 92 degrees. Even at
this temperature, however, no great inconvenience is experienced, since
the cool, strong, northeast winds, that blow from the Atlantic, straight
across the Island, sweep into the Caribbean the overheated atmosphere
that otherwise would hang over the land as it does in the interior of
large continents, even in latitudes as high as northern Canada.

This continual strong current of air, that blows from the Atlantic
during at least 300 days in the year, with its healthful, bracing
influence, tempers the heat of the sun that in latitude 22 is directly
overhead, and probably prevents sun strokes and heat prostrations,
which are absolutely unknown in Havana at any time of the year.

During the first Government of Intervention, American soldiers in the
months of July and August, 1900, put shingled roofs on barracks and
quarters built at Camp Columbia, in the suburbs of Havana, without the
slightest discomfort. Officers who questioned the men with more or less
anxiety, since they were not accustomed to the tropics, were laughed at
for their fears, the soldiers declaring that, “although the sun was a
little hot, the breeze was fine, and they didn’t feel any heat.” Of the
thousands of horses and mules brought from Kentucky and Missouri not one
has ever fallen, or suffered from heat prostration in the Island of
Cuba.

The nights are invariably cool, so much so that even in July and August,
during the early morning hours, a light covering is not uncomfortable.
There is every reason to believe that in the near future summer resorts
will be successfully established on many of the elevated plateaus and
mountainous parks in various sections of the Island.

The Province of Havana, even during the times of Spanish rule, had three
or four fine military drives radiating to the south and west of the
Capital. Since the inauguration of the Republic, these highways, shaded
with the evergreen laurel, the almendra, flamboyant and many varieties
of palm, including the royal and the cocoanut, have been converted into
magnificent automobile drives, to which have been added many kilometers
of splendidly paved roads known as carreteras, which connect the towns
and villages of the interior with each other as well as the capital with
the principal cities of other sections of Cuba.

Along these highways every three or four miles, are found road repair
stations supported by the Department of Public Works, in which laborers
to whom the keeping up of the road is assigned, live, and which shelter
the necessary rollers and road builders under their direction. These
stations are well built, well kept, and sometimes rather picturesque in
appearance. Their presence should be a guarantee of the permanence and
extension of good road-building in Cuba.

The political, social and commercial heart of the Republic of Cuba
centers in the city of Havana, hence the province shares more directly
in the national life and prosperity than any other. Cables, wireless
stations and passenger ships of various lines coming and going every day
in the year, maintain constant touch with outside world centers.

The Presidency, the various departments of the Federal Government, the
Army, Navy, higher Courts, Congress and Universities all pursue their
activities at the capital. The surrounding province, therefore, although
the smallest of the Island, will probably always remain the most
important political division of the Republic.




CHAPTER V

PROVINCE OF PINAR DEL RIO


Topographically, the Province of Pinar del Rio is perhaps the most
picturesquely beautiful in the Island. Owing also to its variety of
soils, mahogany red, jet black, mulatto or brown, and the grey sands of
the south and west, Pinar del Rio offers marvellous opportunities for
many agricultural industries. Tobacco, of which it produces over
$30,000,000 worth annually, has always been the most important product
of this section of Cuba.

This Province, with its area of 5,764 square miles, owing to the fact,
perhaps, that it lay west of Havana, the capital, and thus outside of
the line of traffic and settlement that began in the eastern end of the
Island, has played historically and politically a comparatively small
part in the story of the Pearl of the Antilles. Its capital, Pinar del
Rio, located about one hundred and twenty-five miles west of Havana, on
the Western Railroad, was founded in 1776, and claims today a population
of 12,000 people.

The delightful aroma and flavor of the tobacco grown in the section of
which this city is the center, and whose quality has been equaled in no
other place, has rendered this province, in one way at least, famous
throughout the entire civilized world.

The topography of the province is more distinctly marked than that of
any other in Cuba. The greater part of the surface, including the entire
southern half, together with the coast plains between the mountains and
the Gulf of Mexico, is quite level. Rising almost abruptly from the flat
surface, we have the western terminus of the great central chain of
mountains that forms the backbone of the Island. This begins near the
shores of Guadiana Bay and extends in a northeasterly direction
throughout almost the entire length of the Province. The main or central
ridge of the Pinar del Rio system is known as the Sierra de Los Organos,
or Organ Mountains, owing probably to the fact that the sides of these
mountains, in many places, form great perpendicular fluted columns,
whose giant organ like shafts reach upward for hundreds of feet.

From this western terminal point the mountains rapidly widen out like an
arrow head, so that between San Juan y Martinez on the south, and Malos
Aguas on the north, the foot hills approach close to both coasts. On the
south, however, they quickly recede towards the Capital, some twenty
miles north, whence they continue throughout the northern center of the
Province in a line more or less direct, leaving the southern half a
great, broad level plain.

On the north coast, from the harbor of San Gayetano east, the mountains
with their adjacent foothills follow more closely the shore line, until
at Bahia Honda, sixty miles west of the city of Havana, they come almost
down to the head of the harbor, gradually receding a little from this
point east, until the chain disappears some ten miles west of the
boundary line that separates Pinar del Rio from Havana.

Strange as it may seem, nature in her mysterious caprice has twice
repeated the form of a shoe at separate points in the outline of the
south coast of Cuba. The first, known as the Peninsula of the Zapata,
with its definitely formed heel and toe, is in the Province of Santa
Clara; and again a second perfect shoe; that resembles with its high
heel set well forward a slightly exaggerated type of the shoe so popular
with the women of Cuba and all Latin American countries, forms the
extreme western terminus of the Island and is almost separated from the
mainland by a chain of shallow lakes. It extends from Cape Francis on
the east to Cape San Antonio, some seventy-five miles west, with an
average width of only about ten miles. Just in front of the heel we have
the indentation known as the Bay of Corrientes, while on the opposite
side, or top of the foot, lies the quiet and protected Bay of Guadiana.
The lighthouse of Cape San Antonio is located on the extreme western
point. From the toe to the heel, following the arch of the foot for
forty miles, runs a low range of hills that introduce the mountain
system of Cuba, developing later into the great central chain that
continues to the other end of the Island.

Between the City of Pinar del Rio and Vinales, the range is broken up
into three parallel ridges, the central one composed of limestone, while
the other are of slates, schists and sand. The highest peak, known as
the Pan de Guajaibon, has an altitude that has been variously estimated
from 2500 to 3,000 feet. It rises abruptly from the narrow plain of the
north coast, about eight miles, southwest of the harbor of Bahia Honda,
and is difficult of ascent. The various parks, plateaus and circular
basins or sumideros, often of large extent, with subterranean exits,
form strangely picturesque spots that burst on the traveler, mounted on
his sturdy sure footed pony, unexpectedly, and if a lover of scenery he
will leave with sincere regret.

One of these charming valleys, known as Vinales, lies between two
prominent ridges, about twenty miles north of the City of Pinar del Rio,
and is in many respects the most glorious bit of scenery in all the West
Indies. A splendid macadamized automobile drive winds from the capital
up along the foot hills to the crest of the ridge, whence it descends,
crosses the valley, cuts through the northernmost ridge, and continues
on to La Esperanza, on the north shore of the Province.

[Illustration: THE VINALES VALLEY

A scene in the heart of the wonderland of Pinar del Rio, which
innumerable tourists have declared second to no other spot in the world
in romantic beauty and fascinating charm. The combination of cliffs and
plain, with the rich coloring of tropical flora, is so bewildering as to
create the illusion of a stage-setting made for scenic effect by some
master artist.]

Rex Beach, the novelist, writer and traveler, looked down from his auto
into the valley for the first time in 1916. Stopping the machine
suddenly, he jumped to the ground and stood spellbound, looking down
into that beautiful basin, over a thousand feet below. After a
moment’s pause he exclaimed: “I have visited every spot of interest from
northern Alaska to Panama, and traveled through many countries, but
never before in my life have I met anything so picturesquely,
dramatically beautiful as this valley, this dream garden that lies at
our feet. There is nothing like it in the Western Hemisphere, probably
not in all the world.”

The length of the basin is not over twenty miles while its width varies
from three to ten. The floor is level, covered with rich waving grass,
watered by a little stream, that comes meandering through the valley,
dives beneath a mountain range, afterwards to reappear from a
grotto-like opening on the northern side, beyond the valley, whence its
waters eventually find their home in the Gulf of Mexico.

The peculiar, almost unreal, indentations of the northern ridge are
silhouetted so vividly against the sky above that from the southern
shore of the valley one is inclined at times to believe them
fantastically formed clouds. The remarkable feature, however, of Vinales
lies in the peculiar round-topped mountains that rise abruptly from the
level surface below, and project themselves perpendicularly into the
air, to a height varying from 1,200 to 2,000 feet.

Unique imposing formations, resulting from millions of years of tropical
rains and rock erosion, are covered with dense forests of strange palms
and thousands of rare plants, whose varied foliage seems to be peculiar
to this isolated spot in the western central part of Pinar del Rio.
These singular dome-like lomas of Vinales, looming up so unexpectedly
from the valley below, are usually accessible from one side, although
but very few people seem to have taken the trouble to climb to their
summits. All of these mountains and foothills, composed of limestone
formations, are honeycombed with caves, some of them of rare beauty.

Shortly after the founding of the Republic, a group of men composed
mostly of naturalists and scientists, representing the Smithsonian and
like institutions in the United States, together with several Cuban
enthusiasts in the study of nature, spent several months studying the
fauna and flora of the Vinales Valley. In fact they rambled and worked
through most of the line of foothills that traverse Pinar del Rio
between its central ridges and the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the party
were specialists in tertiary fossils, others in the myriad varieties of
submarine life. These latter spent considerable time studying the
various species of radiata, mollusca, crustacea and allied forms of life
on the inner side of the long coral barrier reef which parallels the
shore of the province of Pinar del Rio, from Bahia Honda to Cape San
Antonio. Many new varieties of the snail family, also, were discovered
and studied.

In this connection it may be stated that a very rare variety of the palm
family, the Microoyco Calocoma, commonly called the Cork Palm, found
only in Pinar del Rio, seems, owing perhaps to some unfavorable change
in climate or surrounding conditions, to be disappearing from earth. Not
more than seventy specimens are known to exist and these are all growing
in an isolated spot in the mountains back of Consolacion del Sur.
Several of them have been transplanted to the grounds of the Government
Experimental Station for study and care. One also has been removed to
the grounds of the President’s home at El Chico. The palms are not tall,
none reaching a height of more than twenty feet, with a diameter of
perhaps eight inches.

This rare palm is one of those miraculous survivals of the carboniferous
age that by some strange protecting influence have survived all the
great seismic upheaval and geological changes wrought on the earth’s
surface during the millions of years since the epoch, when this and
similar varieties of carboniferous plants were the kings of the
vegetable world. Their dead forms are frequently found imprinted in the
coal fields of Pennsylvania and Brazil, but only in Cuba has this
family of ancient palms persisted, mute survival of an antiquity that
probably antedates any other living thing on earth. So slow is the
growth of this remarkable plant, that only one crown of leaves appears
each year. By simply counting the circles of scars left by the fallen
leaves, it is clearly demonstrated that many of these remnants of a
remote geological past were living in the mountains of Pinar del Rio
long before Columbus dreamed of another continent. Some of them are
today over a thousand years old, and may have antedated the fall of
Rome, if not the birth of Christ on earth.

A strange variety of indigenous wild legumes, belonging probably to the
cow-pea tribe, is found growing luxuriantly in the low sandy soil of the
southwestern coast. The vine forms a splendid cover crop of which cattle
are very fond, while the peas, although small, are delicious eating.
Plants of the lily family are found in great quantities in some of the
fresh water lagoons of this Province, the ashes of which furnish 60% of
high-grade potash.

Back in the mountains of Pinar del Rio, an exploring party from the
Experimental Station came across, most unexpectedly, a little group of
five immense black walnut trees. No one knows whence came the seed from
which they sprung, since the district has never been settled, and the
black walnut is not known in any other part of the Island. It is quite
probable that many, if not all, of the forest trees of a commercial
value in the Gulf States, and perhaps further north, would thrive in
Cuba if planted there.

There is much fine, valuable hard-wood timber in the mountain ranges of
Pinar del Rio, between Vinales and Bahia Honda, but lack of facility for
the removal to the coast will probably cause it to remain unmolested for
some years to come.

The extreme length of Pinar del Rio, from southwest to northeast, in a
straight line, is nearly two hundred miles, while its average width is
fifty. The rivers and streams all have their sources in the central
divide, and flow to the north and south, emptying into the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. None of these, of course, are available
for navigation more than a few miles up from their mouths, and while
serving as drainage streams during the rainy season, many of them,
unfortunately, cease to flow during the dry months of February and
March.

Some of them, with sources in large springs, back in the mountains,
could be used very advantageously, with small expense, for irrigation
purposes, thus rendering adjoining lands, especially in the tobacco and
vegetable district, doubly valuable. With the control of the water
supply, the profit to be made from these lands, on which three or four
crops may be gathered a year, would seem almost incredible, especially
if compared with the returns of similar lands in the United States.

As an illustration, in any of the rich sandy soils bordering streams
like the Rio Hondo or Las Cabezas of the south coast, or the Manimani or
the Mulata of the north coast, whose waters are always available for
irrigation purposes, in January, February or March corn and cow peas may
be planted on the same ground in the early spring. Crops from these may
be gathered in late May or June, and the same land planted in carita
beans, sweet potatoes or squash, that may be removed in September,
leaving the field to be again planted in October with tobacco, peanuts,
yuca, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, egg plants or okra, that when
gathered in January and February will bring splendid returns in either
the local markets of Havana, or the early spring markets of the Atlantic
and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

The short streams flowing from the mountain chains along the north coast
are the Mariel, the Manimani, the Mulata, the San Marcos, the Guacamayo,
the Caimito and Mantua, and the Rio Salado. Returning on the south coast
we have the Cabeza, the Guama, Ovas, Hondo, Herradura, San Diego, Los
Palacios, Bacuranabo, Sabanal and the Bayale.

The northern coast of Pinar del Rio is fortunate in having three of the
finest harbors of Cuba, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. First, the
beautiful Bay of Mariel, located about 30 miles west of Havana, has a
narrow, deep entrance with a lighthouse on the eastern point, and the
Government Quarantine Station for foreign ships on the western side at
the entrance. This Bay rapidly widens out into a large deep basin, three
miles in length from north to south, with an average width of perhaps a
mile, together with several prolongations towards the west, all
furnishing excellent anchorage and securely protected against any
possible weather.

The shores of Mariel are beautiful. Palm covered bluffs several hundred
feet in height rise almost abruptly from the eastern side of the Bay. On
top of this promontory or plateau is located a fine two-story building,
erected in 1905 as a club house, but occupied at the present time by
Cuba’s Naval Academy. The view from the crest over the surrounding
country, with its tall mountains in the distance, its forest covered
foothills and great valleys planted in sugar cane to the south and west,
with the Gulf of Mexico lying off to the north, presents a picture of
rare tropical beauty.

Between this promontory and the lighthouse a modern cement factory was
built in 1917, turning out at the present time 1,000 barrels of Portland
Cement per day, while near the head of the Bay, a narrow gauge railroad,
bringing asphalt from back in the foothills, terminates alongside the
shipping wharf.

The quaint little fishing village of Mariel is located on the shore at
the southern end of the Bay. Its inhabitants, although leading rather an
uneventful life, seem quite content to remain, although Havana is less
than thirty miles distant over a splendid automobile drive; one of the
most beautiful in Cuba. The Quarantine Station is splendidly equipped
and always in readiness to take care of any ship’s crew or passengers
that may be detained by orders of the authorities in Havana. Mariel,
owing to its natural beauty and its proximity to Havana, is frequently
visited by President Menocal in his yacht, and furnishes a delightful,
cool resting place for anyone during the summer season.

Ten or twelve miles further west, we have the Bay of Cabanas, another
perfectly land-locked harbor, whose deep entrance is divided by an
island into two channels. These open out into a wide picturesque expanse
of water, extending east and west for some ten miles or more, with an
average width of two or three.

On the small island that almost obscures the mouth of the harbor from
the sea, a little old Spanish fort, with its obsolete guns, up to the
present unmolested, bears mute evidence to those times when visits of
pirates, with the equally troublesome corsairs of France and England,
were common, and provision for defense was absolutely necessary. The
village of Cabanas, in order to secure better protection from the danger
mentioned, is located two or three miles back from the eastern end of
the harbor.

Great fields of sugar cane surround the Bay on all sides. These, of
course, have been greatly extended since the European War and the
increased demand for sugar. A beautiful automobile drive that branches
from the main line or Pinar del Rio road, at Guanajay, passes along the
crest of the ridge of hills back of the Bay of Cabanas, for over ten
miles, giving at almost every turn a new view to this beautiful sheet of
water. Once known to the outside world, this magnificent Bay of Cabanas
would soon become a popular resort for private yachts that spend the
winter season in tropical waters.

Fifteen miles further west, this same winding, hill-climbing,
macadamized Government driveway, reaches another splendid harbor known
as Bahia Honda, or Deep Bay. Like most of the bays of Cuba, the entrance
to this, although comparatively narrow, is deep, and with two range
lights maintained for the purposes of easy access day and night. This
harbor extends back from the Gulf of Mexico some seven or eight miles,
with an average width of three or four, furnishing good anchorage for
ships of any draught.

Bahia Honda was selected by the United States Government in 1902, as a
coaling station, a large body of land on the western shore being
reserved for that purpose. Owing, however, to the completion of the
Panama Canal later, and to the consequent advantages of having a naval
station closer to the line of maritime travel, between Panama and the
Atlantic Coast, Bahia Honda was surrendered to the Government of Cuba
and Guantanamo became the principal United States Naval Station for the
West Indies.

The harbor of Bahia Honda, dotted with islands, and with comparatively
high lands extending all along its western and southern shores, offers
the same advantages, not alone for an extensive commerce, but as a
rendezvous for foreign yachts and pleasure craft, during the closed
season or winter months of the north. The little village bearing the
same name, two miles back from the Bay, is reached by a branch from the
main driveway connecting Bahia Honda with Havana and intermediate
cities.

The Bay of La Esperanza, one hundred miles west of Havana, is inclosed
by the long chain of islands and coral reefs known as the “Colorados,”
that lie some eight or ten miles off the mainland, and protect
three-fourths of the shore of Pinar del Rio from the heavy waves of the
Gulf of Mexico. The entrance to this and adjacent bays is through narrow
breaks in the barrier reef. Its waters have an average depth of only two
or three fathoms; nevertheless considerable amounts of copper ore are
shipped from the mines some fifteen miles back in the mountains during
all seasons of the year.

Along the western shore of the main body of this Province, we have the
harbors of Dimas and Mantua. Like the Esperanza, they are comparatively
shallow bays, entered through breaks in the Colorado Reefs, but still
available for moderate draft vessels in all seasons of the year.

In the angle of the ankle, formed by the shoe-like extension of the
Province of Pinar del Rio, we have a beautiful wide indentation of the
coast known as Guardiana Bay. On the shores, some ten years ago, was
located a Canadian colony, but, owing to its isolation, and lack of
transportation of all kinds, it has since been practically abandoned.
This settlement, like the Isle of Pines, had little to recommend it
except its beautiful climate and its perfect immunity from the cares and
troubles of the outside world.

Aside from wide, deep indentations from the sea, and shallow landing
places at the mouths of rivers, the south coast of Pinar del Rio has
nothing to offer in the shape of harbors. Nevertheless, owing to the
presence of long lines of outlying keys, and to the fact that northerly
winds produce only smooth water off these shores, there is considerable
local traffic carried on between various places on the south coast and
Batabano, whence connection with Havana is secured by rail. A large part
of the charcoal used in the capital is cut from the low lying forests
that cover almost the entire length of Pinar del Rio’s south coast.

Across the ankle-like connection between the mainland and the peninsula
forming the western extremity of the Island a depression runs from
Guardiana Bay on the west to the Bay of Cortez on the east. Numerous
fresh water lagoons or inland lakes lie so close that a small amount of
dredging would cut a canal from one shore to the other, and save thus
over a hundred miles of travel for local coasting vessels. At the
present time these lakes, with their rich growth of aquatic plants,
furnish a retreat during the winter season for many varieties of wild
ducks, which the game laws of Cuba are endeavoring to protect. Wild deer
are also very plentiful throughout the greater part of the Province,
especially in the mountainous districts and in the jungles of the south
coast.

The capital, Pinar del Rio, is a modern and rather attractive little
city of some 12,000 inhabitants, located on a gentle rise of ground in
the western center of the Province. Immediately surrounding it is the
celebrated tobacco district known as the Vuelta Abajo, or Lower Turn, so
called, perhaps, owing to the fact that the coast line of this section
recedes rapidly towards the south and west.

The choice lands of this locality cover a relatively small area, not
over thirty miles from east to west and less than half that distance
from north to south. And even within this circumscribed area, the best
tobacco is grown only in little vegas, or oases, whose soil seems to
contain mineral elements the character of which has never been
discovered, but that nevertheless give to the plant a peculiarly
delightful aroma and flavor, not known to the tobacco of any other part
of the world. As a result, the price of these little vegas, so favored
by Nature, is very high, often running into thousands of dollars per
acre.

Pinar del Rio is connected with Havana by the Western Railway, that
traverses almost the entire length of the Province, terminating at the
present time at the town of Guane within thirty miles of Guardiana Bay.
This railroad furnishes transportation for the great level plains,
together with the fertile foot hills that occupy the southern half of
the Province.

An extension of the line has been granted and contracts signed carrying
it around the western terminus of the Organ Mountains, whence it will
follow the line of the north shore, returning east to Havana. This line
when completed will furnish transportation to the entire length of the
coast lands bordering on the Gulf of Mexico.

Along the Western Road are a number of prosperous little cities or
villages, with populations varying from two to eight thousand, including
Artemisa, Candelaria, San Cristobal, Taco-Taco, Los Palacios,
Herradura, Consolacion del Sur, Ovas, etc., all of which are located
along the foothills, and in the tobacco district is known as the Partido
or Semi Vuelta. Beyond Pinar del Rio, we have San Luis, Martinez and
Guane, which claim to be within the charmed zone of Vuelta Abajo.

Tobacco is also grown around the little town of Vinales, nestling in the
center of that valley, and in nearly all of the foothills that border
the north coast; hence the tobacco industry in this end of the Island,
greatly exceeds in value, that of sugar cane, which up to the beginning
of the great war, was grown only in the basins of rich heavy soil
surrounding the harbors of Mariel, Cabanas and Bahia Honda. There are
seven ingenios or sugar mills within the limits of this province that
produced together 645,000 bags of sugar in 1918.

The growing of fruits and vegetables, especially since the birth of the
Republic, was introduced into Pinar del Rio as an industry by Americans,
many of whom settled along the line of the Western Road, many of these,
taking advantage of the rich sandy loams between the railroad line and
the Organ Mountains, have built up a really important industry not
before known to Cuba.

An American colony was started at Herradura, one hundred miles west of
Havana in 1902. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the little settlement
gave nearly all of their capital and energy to the planting of citrus
fruit groves, which as a whole, have rather disappointed their owners.
This was not because the growing of citrus fruit cannot be successfully
carried on in Pinar del Rio, but was in most instances owing to the fact
that the areas planted were very much larger than the available help
could possibly handle and care for intelligently; hence many groves,
lacking this care, have lapsed into grazing lands, whence they came.

The growing of vegetables, green peppers, tomatoes, egg plants and
beans, especially where farms were located near enough to streams to
provide irrigation during the months of January, February and March,
has proven very profitable, and within the near future will undoubtedly
be still further extended.

In the early part of the 19th century, and for that matter, up to the
abolition of slavery in 1878, the production of coffee in the
mountainous districts of Pinar del Rio was the chief industry in the
Province. Beautiful estates, the ruins of which are frequently scattered
along the line of the Organ Mountains, especially in that section of the
range included between San Cristobal and Bahia Honda, and splendid
country homes with approaches cut from the main highways of travel up
into these delightful picturesque retreats, were occupied during the
summer months by prominent citizens of Havana, who found the growing of
coffee both profitable and agreeable. The coffee trees still grow,
although uncared for, and many thousand of pounds are still brought out
of this almost forgotten district, on mule back, to be sold to the
country groceries of Bahia Honda and San Cristobal, where the green
beans bring twenty dollars per hundred weight.

With the introduction of colonists from the Canary Islands, Italy, and
other countries who love the fresh air of the mountains, and who do not
object to the isolation which naturally follows a residence in remote
sections, there is every reason to believe that the coffee industry will
again be resumed. The settlement of these hills and vales with families
whose children can assist in the picking of berries, will make the
growing of coffee a great success.

Until 1913 the mining interests of Pinar del Rio were practically
ignored, in spite of the fact that several excavations or shafts, that
had been worked many years before, gave evidence of the existence of
copper. It was in this year that Luciano Diaz, formerly Secretary of
Public Works, became interested in the district known as Matahambre.
Competent mining engineers, brought from the United States, assured Mr.
Diaz that his claim was valuable, and merited the investment of
capital. This proved to be true, since the mine has produced high-grade
copper at the rate of about five million dollars per year since the date
of its opening.

Valuable deposits of manganese, too, have been recently discovered in
the western end of the province, and will undoubtedly be developed in
the near future. Excellent iron ore is found in the same chain, west of
the capital, but owing to the difficulties of transportation, the mines
have never been operated. Asphalt, asbestos and other substances used in
the commercial world, are found at various points along the range, and
await only intelligent direction and capital for their development.

Although Narciso Lopez, with his unfortunate followers, endeavored to
arouse the people of this Province against the iniquities of Spanish
rule in the year 1852, the revolution had never reached the west until
the winter of 1896, when General Antonio Maceo, with his army of Cuban
veterans, carried the “invasion of the Occident” to its ultimate
objective. After one of the most skilfully conducted campaigns known to
history, he rested for a few weeks in the little town of Mantua, within
a few miles of the extreme western shore of Cuba.

The crossing of the Trocha, that had been built between the harbor of
Mariel and the south coast, by this invading army, was very distasteful
to General Weyler, who soon filled Pinar del Rio with well armed
regiments and gave Maceo battle for more than a year. Short of
ammunition, and in a section of the country where it was almost
impossible for the expedition to aid him, General Maceo was compelled to
keep up a running fight for many months, and in the Organ Mountains and
in their various spurs toward the north coast were fought some of the
most stubbornly contested engagements of the War of Independence.




CHAPTER VI

PROVINCE OF MATANZAS


Historically the province of Matanzas has played a comparatively
unimportant part in the various events that have influenced the destiny
of the Island. In the early days of conquest, little mention of the
district was made. Grijalva, however, with a small body of men, was the
first of the Spanish conquerors who, pushing his way along the northern
coast of Cuba, reached the harbor now known as Matanzas on October 8,
1518. A very substantial fort of the same excellent style of military
architecture as that seen in Havana, was erected on the western shore of
the Bay of Matanzas to protect the city from invasion, in the middle of
the eighteenth century.

The province of Matanzas joins Havana on the east and has an area of
3,257 square miles. The surface as a whole is comparatively level,
although the chain of mountains, which forms the backbone of the entire
Island, is represented along the center of Matanzas in a series of low
peaks and foothills sloping away to the northwest corner, in which the
capital, Matanzas, is located on a bay of the same name.

Across the eastern center of the Province of Matanzas, nature left a
depression that extends from the north coast at Cardenas, almost if not
quite, to the shore of the Caribbean, at the Bay of Cochinos. The
elevation above the sea level is so slight throughout this belt that a
series of fresh water lagoons, swamps and low lands, without natural
drainage of any kind, has rendered the district almost useless for
agriculture and grazing purposes during the rainy season. Between the
months of May and November this section is frequently flooded so that
animals occasionally perish and crops are frequently destroyed.

To relieve the situation a drainage canal was proposed a few years ago,
that should furnish an artificial exit for the surplus water into the
Bay of Cardenas. The length of the proposed canal was thirty miles, and
work began on the big ditch in 1916. At the present time it is
practically completed, at a cost of approximately five millions of
dollars. Its width varies from sixteen to forty-four meters, carrying an
average depth of one and a half meters, or five feet.

The possibility of eventually converting this drainage canal into an
avenue of traffic, between the north and the south coasts, furnishing
thus water, or cheap transportation, between Havana, Matanzas, Cardenas
and Cienfuegos, or other ports on the south coast, has naturally
appealed to engineers who have studied the terrain. There are no
engineering difficulties that would prevent a canal of this kind from
being converted into a deep ship canal across the Island which would
shorten the distance between New York and Panama by at least two hundred
miles. Steamers bound north from Panama would then cross the Caribbean,
pass through from Cochinos Bay to Cardenas, entering at once the Gulf
Stream, the force of whose current would still further shorten the time
between Panama and Pacific ports on the south, and all Atlantic ports
north of Cuba. The engineering problem could not be more simple, since
it is merely a question of dredging through earth and soft limestone
rock for a distance of seventy-five miles, taking advantage, as does the
present drainage canal, of the Auton River, where it empties into
Cardenas Bay. That such a saving of time and distance will some day be
consummated is more than probable. Not only the economics and benefits
to be derived from such a shortening of miles between local points in
times of peace, but the strategic advantage of the short cut for naval
units in time of war, are more than manifest to any one at all familiar
with the geography of Cuba and the West Indies. Cuba, for commercial and
economical reasons, is deeply interested in the construction of a canal
that would make the Province of Matanzas an intersea gateway, not only
for her own coastwise trade, but for much of the northbound traffic that
in the near future will carry millions of tons of raw material from the
west coast of South America to the great manufacturing centers of the
North Atlantic.

Running parallel with the north shore, a short series of remarkable
hills rise abruptly from the surrounding level plain to an altitude of a
thousand feet or more. One of these is known as the “Pan de Matanzas,”
whose round, palm covered top may be seen for many miles at sea. Ships
coming from New York usually make this peak above the horizon before any
other part of the Island comes into view.

The Yumuri River, at some time in the remote geological past cut its way
through these hills and found exit in Matanzas Bay. The valley lying
between two of these parallel ridges, through which the Yumuri flows,
has been rendered famous by Alexander Humboldt, who visiting the spot in
the winter of 1800, traveling over most of South and Central America,
pronounced it the most beautiful valley in the world. No terms of praise
are too great to bestow on the Yumuri; but in truth it must be said that
Humboldt had never seen the Valley of Vinales, one hundred and thirty
miles west, or he would probably have hesitated in bestowing such
superlative praise on the Yumuri.

Only a few miles south of the Yumuri, another river known as the San
Juan has broken through the ridge which lies along the western shore,
and empties its waters into the bay. Another small stream, the Canima,
pouring its waters into the Bay, a little further east, flows through a
series of limestone cliffs covered with a wealth of tropical forest and
furnishes a source of recreation to visitors and many people of the
capital, who make excursions to the head of navigation in motor
launches.

The Province has an average length of about 70 miles, with a width from
north to south of fifty miles, and forms a fairly regular parallelogram.
From the center of the coast line a narrow neck of land, known as the
Punta Hicaco, projects out toward the northeast for some fifteen miles,
inclosing the Bay of Cardenas on the west. The outer shore of this strip
of land, known as El Veradero, forms the finest bathing beach in all
Cuba, to which those who do not find it convenient to visit the United
States in summer, can come during the warmer months.

A chain of islands varying in size from little keys of a half acre to
that of Cayo Romano, seventy miles long, extends from a few miles east
of Punta Hicaco, along the north shore of Cuba to the Harbor of
Nuevitas, a distance of three hundred miles. The Bay of Cardenas,
although large in extent is rather shallow in comparison with most
harbors of Cuba. Extensive dredging, however, has rendered it available
for steamers of 20-foot draft.

The southern boundary of the Province is formed by the River Gonzalo,
fairly deep throughout half its length, but obstructed by shoals at the
mouth. The upper extension of this stream, known as Hanabana, flows
along the larger part of its eastern boundary. Just south of the Gonzalo
River lies the great Cienaga de Zapato, or Swamp of the Shoe, which
belongs to the Province of Santa Clara. The land along the northern bank
of the river is also low and marshy, with sharp limestone rocks
frequently cropping out on the surface. Of navigable rivers, Matanzas
has really none worthy of mention but with railroads it is quite well
supplied.

The surface as a whole is slightly rolling and has long been under
cultivation, especially in the production of sugar cane, for which
nearly all of this section is excellently adapted. There are forty sugar
plantations in active operation in Matanzas Province, producing in 1917
over four million sacks. The cultivation of sugar cane, as in other
provinces, is the chief source of wealth and yields the greatest
revenue.

In recent years, or since revolutions have practically destroyed the
industries of Yucatan, capital has been attracted to the cultivation of
henequen, and to the extraction of the fibre known as sisal, from which
not only rope and cables are made, but also binding twine, so essential
to the wheat crop of the United States.

Leaving the city of Cardenas, which promises soon to be another great
sisal center, and traveling west over the automobile drive towards
Matanzas, a perfect panorama of growing henequen is spread out on both
sides of the road as far as the eye can reach. The peculiar bluish green
color of the fields of this valuable textile plant, dotted as they are
with royal palms, produce a fascinating effect as one passes through
league after league of henequen.

There are many limestone hills, plateaus and plains in Matanzas
Province, whose surface, covered with a thin layer of rich red soil, is
especially adapted to the growth and cultivation of henequen, and it is
quite possible that the sisal industry, in a short time, may equal if
not excel in importance the sugar industry of the province.

Some twenty years ago a complete plant was established in the city of
Matanzas for the manufacture of cables, cordage and binding twine for
the local market. Thousands of acres of barren hillsides south of the
city were planted in henequen at that time, and have since furnished
enough raw material to keep this rope factory going throughout the
entire year. The decortator, or machine by which the sisal is separated
from the pulp of the leaves, is located near the crest of the hill,
about a half a mile back of the factory. From this point down to the
plain below, the green fresh sisal is conveyed by gravity in iron
baskets, where it is received by women and spread out on wire lines to
dry. Twenty-four hours later it is carried into the factory and there
spun into rope of all sizes, from binding twine to the twelve-inch
hawsers. Water was found alongside the factory only a few feet below the
surface, where an underground stream furnishes an inexhaustible supply.

Several millions were invested in the Matanzas henequen industry,
started by a company of Germans, who recently sold out to local and
foreign capitalists. It is said that the capacity of the plant will be
greatly increased.

The city of Matanzas, capital of the Province, is spread out over the
side and along the base of the low hill that forms the western shore of
the Bay. Although not possessing the wealth of Havana, the general
appearance of the city, with its substantial stone buildings, gives
every evidence of prosperity and comfort. Its population numbers
approximately 40,000, the greater part of whom are interested in sugar,
henequen and other local industries of the section.

Matanzas was first settled in 1693, but the modern city is laid out with
wide streets, the oldest of which as usual radiate from the central
plaza or city park, a quaint square ornamented with oriental palms and
tropical flowers. The most pretentious drive of this provincial capital,
however, has been built along the shore of the bay, a beautiful wide
avenue lined with laurels and with statues of various local heroes,
which add greatly to its interest. The view from the opposite side of
the bay is excelled only by that of Havana from the heights of Cabanas.

Just back of the City, or rather on the edge of its northwestern
boundary, perched on the front of a commanding promontory known as La
Loma de Monserrate, is located a quaint little cathedral dedicated to
the Virgin of El Cobre. The altar and background of the nave are
constructed of cork, brought from Spain for that purpose many years ago.
From the crest of this flat topped hill, protected on the north by a
stone wall, with spacious seats of the same material, under the shade of
laurel trees, the traveller has spread before him a beautiful view
of the Yumuri Valley, over which Humboldt gazed with admiration some
hundred years ago.

[Illustration: SAN JUAN RIVER, MATANZAS

Second only to Havana itself on the northern coast of Cuba is the great
commercial and residence city of Matanzas. Instead of standing upon the
shore of a land-locked bay, however, Matanzas is built on the banks of
the San Juan River, a broad, deep stream affording admirable facilities
for navigation, and lined for a considerable distance partly with
handsome houses and business buildings and partly with busy docks and
wharves, thronged with vessels of all descriptions.]

Leading from the Capital are several very beautiful automobile drives;
one reaching out towards the north and rounding the eastern terminus of
the Yumuri Valley, gives a beautiful view of that charming basin as it
stretches away toward the west.

Another delightful drive sweeps along the south shore towards Cardenas.
A few miles from Matanzas, however, a sharp turn to the right leads up
on to the summit of the ridge south of Matanzas. The drive passes
through the long stretches of henequen fields whose plants furnish the
fibre to the factory near the railway station.

On the crest of the plateau, under the shade of a small grove of trees,
is found an odd little building that serves as the entrance to the
Bellamar Caves. This famous underground resort is quite well known to
tourists who visit Cuba in the winter season. Visitors are lowered by
means of an elevator to a depth considerably below the level of the sea,
after which guides take the party in charge and lead the way through
several miles of interesting underground passages, ornamented with
stalactites, stalagmites and other beautiful formations peculiar to
those old time waterways that forced their tortuous channels through the
bowels of the earth thousands of years ago.

Many of these formations are of a peculiar pearl white with a delicate
texture that resembles Parian marble and gives a metal-like ring when
struck. The entire cave is lighted with electricity and entrance to the
more inaccessible spots has been rendered possible through artificial
steps and balustrades. The city of Matanzas furnished an interesting and
pleasant spot in which the tourist can spend a few days agreeably.

The harbor of Matanzas is a wide mouthed roadstead, cutting back from
the Atlantic some five or six miles with a width varying from three to
four. Dredging within recent years has greatly improved the port,
although with deep draft vessels, lightering is still necessary to
convey freight from the warehouses out to the various places of
anchorage.

[Illustration: CITY HALL AND PLAZA, CARDENAS]

The view of the City, covering the slopes of the hills on the west as
you enter the bay, is very attractive. Since the Province of Matanzas
has no harbors on the south coast, nearly all the sugar produced in her
forty big mills is shipped from either Matanzas or Cardenas, both of
which are connected with railroads that tap the various agricultural
sections lying south of them.

The second city of the Province, Cardenas, is located on Cardenas Bay, a
large and well protected harbor thirty miles east of Matanzas. In
comparison with most of the harbors, however, it is comparatively
shallow, needing a good deal of dredging to make it available for deep
draft vessels. Cardenas, like Matanzas, is comparatively modern, with
wide streets, regularly laid out. The old square, with its statue of
Columbus, has been recently remodeled at considerable cost.

The first serious indication of revolt on the part of the Cuban people
against the rule of Spain, was started here by General Narciso Lopez,
who landed at Cardenas with 600 men, mostly Americans from New Orleans,
on May 19, 1850. Within a few hours they had captured the Spanish
garrison and made prisoners of Governor Serrute and several of his
officials. The city was theirs, but to the unspeakable chagrin of
General Lopez, only one man came to his aid on Cuban soil, and before
nightfall, after defeating a Spanish column sent to oppose him, the
disappointed revolutionist abandoned the city, and with his followers
embarked for Key West.

It was on May 11, 1898, that Cardenas Bay became the scene of an
engagement between blockading vessels of the United States fleet and the
Spanish batteries, in which Ensign Worth Badgley was killed, he being
the first officer to lose his life in the war.

The exportation of sugar from the rich lands tributary to this bay has
always given Cardenas importance as a shipping point and rendered it,
for a city of only 30,000, quite a wealthy and prosperous community.
Many beautiful residences have been built along its stately avenues, and
the great henequen industry recently started in the great fields to the
west will add, undoubtedly, to the wealth of the locality. Splendid
stone warehouses line the shore for a mile or more, with a capacity
sufficient to hold in storage while necessary the enormous crop of sugar
that is produced in the province.

The presence of naphtha and many surface indications of oil deposits
south and east of the City of Cardenas have rendered that section
attractive as a field of exploration. Up to the present time, however,
no paying wells have been found, although many expert oil men are still
confident that the entire district from Cardenas to Itabo, and even
further east, will some day prove a valuable field for petroleum
products.

Midway between Cardenas and the City of Matanzas, just north of the
beautiful highway connecting these two cities, rises a range of low
serpentine hills, whose altitude is approximately five hundred feet.
These peculiarly symmetrical, round, loaf-like elevations above the
level surface of the surrounding country, are covered with a short
scrubby growth of thorny brush, and several varieties of maguey, of the
century plant family. Nothing else will grow on these serpentine hills;
hence in most respects they are decidedly unattractive. Since the
beginning of the international war, however, and the great demand for
chrome, some local mineralogists noted that little streams and rivulets
running down these hills left deposits of a peculiar black, glistening
sand. This sand, when analyzed, proved to come from the erosion of
chromite, the mineral so much in demand by the smelting industry of the
United States for hardening steel. In the spring of 1918 two well-known
mining engineers and geologists, with instructions from Washington,
visited several of these serpentine hills and found valuable deposits of
chromite that will probably furnish a very profitable source of this
much sought-for mineral and add greatly to the mining industry of this
province.

During the War of Independence, Generals Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez
led the invading columns of the Revolutionary Army into this Province
for the first time, in the fall of 1896. The great beds of dead leaves
lying between rows of cane, dried by the November winds, formed useful
material for the insurgent armies. The torch once applied to this vast
tinder box, with the prevailing easterly winds, all Matanzas was aflame.
Under cover of the great canopy of smoke which rose over the land, the
invading armies of the Occident swept rapidly on through the Province,
fighting only when compelled to, since the object of the invasion was to
carry the war into Havana and Pinar del Rio, where Revolution had never
before been known.

The vast cane fields that today line the railroad tracks on both sides,
bear no evidence of the ravages of Revolution, while handsome modern
mills, many of which have been erected since the beginning of the great
European War of 1914, have helped to feed the world with sugar that
could be obtained in sufficient quantities in no other place.




CHAPTER VII

PROVINCE OF SANTA CLARA


Probably in no part of Cuba is the topography more varied or the scenery
more beautiful than in the Province of Santa Clara, with its area of
8,250 square miles. Mountain, valley, table land and plain seem to be
thrown together in this, the central section of the Island, in reckless
yet picturesque confusion. The main system of mountains, extending
throughout the entire length of Cuba, disappears and reappears along the
northern coast of Santa Clara, thus permitting easy communication
between her rich central plains, covered with sugar estates, and her
harbors on the coast.

In the southwestern center of this province, we have another group of
mountains, foot hills and fertile valleys, in which are located some of
the old coffee estates of slavery days, established at the close of the
18th century, shortly after the negro uprising in Santo Domingo. These
cafetales, in the early half of the following century, made Cuban coffee
famous throughout the world. Nestling within this mountain cradle lies
the city of Trinidad, founded by Diego Velasquez in January, 1514. The
presence of gold, which the Indians panned from the waters of the Arimo
River, rendered Trinidad an important center for the early Spanish
conquerors during the first years of Cuban history. Sancti Spiritus,
lying on the edge of a fertile plateau, some forty-five miles to the
northeast, was founded a few months later.

Gold was the god of the Spanish conquerors, and to secure it was their
chief aim and ambition. Its discovery in this section of Santa Clara
brought hope to them and despair to the Indians, on whom the former
depended for labor with which to dig this precious metal from the earth.
Velasquez found the natives of Trinidad, like those of Oriente, a
gentle, confiding people, who asked only permission to live as they had
always done; tilling the soil, fishing, visiting and dancing, at which
they were most clever, an ideal and harmless life, suited to their
tastes. They grew corn, sweet potatoes, tobacco and yucca, from which
they made their cazaba bread, still used by the country people of the
present day. The Spaniards, however, soon changed this earthly dream of
ease and joy into one of arduous and repugnant toil, rather than to
submit to which, many of them committed suicide by poison and by
drowning.

Velasquez, enthusiastic over the locality of his newly founded city,
Trinidad, despatched at once one of his caravels to La Espanola in Santo
Domingo, with orders to bring back cattle, mares and other material
necessary to further the interests of the new settlement. And so it came
to pass that this section of southern Santa Clara, with its fertile
lands, beautiful scenery and promise of gold, played an important part
in the early colonization of the Island.

The desire to accumulate wealth through the toil of the unhappy Indians,
of whom the Spaniards made slaves, tempted even Las Casas, the great
defender of the Cuban aborigines, to accept assignment of them as a gift
from the crown, so that he might share something of the prosperity of
the early conquerors. It is reported that Las Casas repented this
departure from the path of rectitude and afterwards was led to indorse
the importation of African slaves in order to save the Cuban Indians
from extermination.

It was on the banks of the beautiful Arimo, some twenty-five miles east
of Trinidad, that this celebrated old historian and defender of the
faith maintained his ranch and other worldly possessions. Throughout the
sixteenth century this section of Santa Clara was an important station
on the line of travel between Santiago de Cuba and Havana.

Caravels leaving “Tierra Firme,” or the great continent of South
America, that had been discovered, frequently made this shore, on the
other side of the Caribbean, or were driven against it by storms, the
crews afterwards reaching Santiago de Cuba by travel overland, along the
south coast. Owing probably to the fact that all of this coast, from the
mouth of the Zaza River east to the Cauto, is low, covered with dense
jungle, reports reached Spain to the effect that the most of Cuba was a
swamp, which is far from the truth, since by far the greatest portion of
the Island is rolling and mountainous.

More than half of Santa Clara is hilly and broken, although owing to the
fertility of the soil this interferes but little with the agricultural
development of the Province.

The mountains of Santa Clara form the central zone of the great volcanic
upheaval that raised Cuba from the depths of the Caribbean. A broad belt
or double chain lies between the city of Santa Clara and Sancti
Spiritus. Another ridge, just south of the latter city, extends from the
Tunas de Zaza railroad to a point east of the Manatee River, near the
harbor of Cienfuegos. A second group lies between the valleys of the
rivers Arimao and Agabama, names taken from the original appellations
given them by the Indians.

The highest peak of this central region, called Potrerillo, is located
some seven miles north of Trinidad and reaches an altitude of about
3,000 feet. The mountains of this group extend northwest as far as the
Manicaragua Valley. A third group, lying southeast of the city of Santa
Clara, includes the Sierra del Escambray and the Sierra de Agabama. The
average altitude of these latter hills is only about a thousand feet.

Another range of hills begins at a point on the north coast of the
Province, twenty-five miles east of Sagua la Orande, and runs parallel
with the north shore of the Island into the Province of Camaguey, in the
western edge of which it disappears in the great level prairies of that
region. The highest peaks of this group are the Sierra Morena, west of
Sagua la Grande, and the Lomas de Santa Fe, near Camajuani. A little
further east they are known as the Lomas de Las Sabanas.

With the exception of the northern coast range, the other ranges of
Santa Clara have resulted from seismic forces, working apparently at
right angles to the main line of upheaval, leaving the tangled mass of
hills and valleys characteristic of this great central zone of the
Province. What is known as the schistose or pre-cretaceous limestones of
Trinidad, are supposed to be the oldest geological formations in the
Island of Cuba.

From the foot of the Sierra de Morena, near the north coast, a wide,
comparatively level plain sweeps across the province to the Caribbean
Sea, broken only at a few points by one or two abrupt hills, northeast
of Cienfuegos. Lying between the northern chain of mountains and the
coast, we find quite a broad area of rich level land washed by the salt
water lagoons of the north shore.

Again, in the extreme southeast corner of Santa Clara, is found another
large tract comprising perhaps a thousand square miles, located between
the Zaza and the two Jatabonico rivers that form the boundary between
the province and Camaguey.

Between the various chains of mountains and hills that cut the province
of Santa Clara into hundreds of parks and valleys, are exceptionally
rich lands, sufficiently level for cultivation. The Manicaragua Valley,
sloping towards the eastern edge of the Bay of Cienfuegos, is noted for
an excellent quality of tobacco grown in that region.

Of navigable rivers, owing to the short plains between the various
divides and the coast line, there are practically none in Santa Clara,
although many of the streams have considerable length, and are utilized
for floating logs to the coast during the rainy season. The Arimao,
with its falls, known as the Habanillo, is a picturesque and beautiful
stream, rising in the mountains of the southern central zone and flowing
in a westerly direction, until it empties into the Bay of Cienfuegos.

The Canao, another small stream with its source near the city of Santa
Clara, takes a southwesterly course and empties into the same bay. The
Damiji flows south to and into Cienfuegos Harbor. The Hanabana rises in
the northwestern extremity of the province, and, flowing south and west,
forms much of its western boundary until it empties into a little lake a
few miles north of the Bay of Cochinos, known as El Tesoro or Treasure
Lake. From this a continuation of the river known as the Gonzalo runs
due west throughout the entire length of the Cienaga de Zapata until it
empties into Broa Bay, an eastern extension of the Gulf of Batabano.

The Manatee River is a small stream with its origin in the center of the
nest of mountains that lie north of Trinidad; it flows south until it
empties into the Caribbean, midway between the ports of Casilda and
Tunas de Zaza. The Zaza River has its origin in a number of tributary
streams in the northeast corner of the Province, whence it wanders
through many twists and turns between hills and ridges until it finally
passes into the level lands of the southwest corner of the Province,
whence it eventually finds its way to the Caribbean. This stream,
although troubled with bars just beyond its mouth, has a considerable
depth for some twenty or more miles.

The most important river commercially in this Province, known as the
Sagua, rises a little west of the capital, Santa Clara, and flows in a
northerly direction until it empties into the Bay across from the Sagua
Light on the north coast. The city of Sagua la Grande, a small but
aristocratic place, is located about twenty miles from the mouth of the
river, and is the distributing point for that section of the province.
The river is navigable for small boats from the port of Isabella to the
city above. Another small stream, known as the Sagua la Chica, empties
into the Bay, about midway between La Isabella and the port of
Caibarien.

The southern coast of the province of Santa Clara, not including the
indentations of gulfs and bays, is approximately two hundred and fifty
miles long. This, of course, includes the great western extension of the
Zapata peninsula, whose shore line alone is one hundred miles in length.
The northern shore, bordering on the great lagoon that separates it from
the Atlantic, measures one hundred and fifty miles, forming thus for the
province an irregular parallelogram whose average width north to south
is about seventy-five miles.

In the center of the south coast we find the harbor of Cienfuegos, a
beautiful, perfectly land-locked, deep water bay, dotted with islands,
from whose eastern shores tall mountains loom up on the near horizon in
majestic beauty. One of the picturesque old forts of the early
eighteenth century on the west bank of the channel guards the approach
to the entrance of the harbor. Some ten miles back, located on a gently
sloping rise of ground, is the city of Cienfuegos, which next to
Santiago de Cuba is the most important shipping port on the southern
coast.

As far as definitely known, this port was first entered by the old
Spanish conqueror Ocampo, in 1508. No definite settlement was made
however, until 1819, when refugees from the insurrection of Santo
Domingo established a colony, from which rose the present city of
Cienfuegos. These involuntary immigrants from Santo Domingo were coffee
growers in their own country, and from their efforts splendid coffee
plantations were soon located in the rich valleys and on the mountain
sides that lay off towards the northeast. Large groves of coffee,
struggling under the dense forest shade, still survive in these
mountains, from which the natives of the district bring out on mule back
large crops of excellent coffee that have been grown under difficulties.

The city of Cienfuegos, or a Hundred Fires, is substantially built of
stone and brick, with wide streets, radiating from a large central
plaza, as in all Spanish cities the favorite meeting place where people
discuss the topics of the day, and listen to the evening concerts of the
municipal band. There are several social clubs in Cienfuegos and a very
good theatre, together with the city hall and hospital, which are
creditable to the community. The population is estimated at 36,000.

Sancti Spiritus is one of the seven cities founded by Diego Velasquez in
1514, and still bears every evidence of its antiquity. Its streets are
crooked and but little has been done to bring the city into line with
modern progress. This is owing largely to the fact of its being located
twenty-five miles back from the southern coast, and some ten miles off
the main railroad line, connecting the eastern and western sections of
the Island. It lies on the edge of the plateau, east of the mountain
group of southern Santa Clara. An old, tall-towered church still bears
the date of its founding by Velasquez. The city has a population of
approximately 15,000.

Santa Clara, the capital, is located almost in the center of the
province, well above the sea level. Its wide, well kept streets are
suggestive of health and prosperity. It was founded in 1689, and until
1900 was the eastern terminus of the main railroad line running east
from Havana. Rich fertile lands surround Santa Clara, while the mining
interests a little to the south, although not at present developed, give
every promise of future importance. Copper ore of excellent quality has
been found in a number of places between Santa Clara and Trinidad, while
silver, zinc and gold are found in the same zone, but up to the present
not in quantities that would justify the investment of capital in their
development. Ten thousand tons of asphalt are mined annually not far
from the city, and considerable tobacco is grown in the surrounding
country. The population is estimated at 15,000.

Sagua la Grande is located on the Sagua River, twenty miles up from the
port of La Isabella. It is a comparatively modern city, with wide
streets, and is the distributing point for the large sugar estates of
that section. Its population is 12,000.

The Port of Caibarien has grown into considerable importance owing to
the large amount of sugar brought in by the different railroads, for
storage in the big stone warehouses that line the wharf. Shoal water
necessitates lightering out some fifteen miles to a splendid anchorage
under the lee of Cayo Frances, on the outer edge of the great salt water
lagoon which envelops the entire north coast of Santa Clara. The
population is 7,000.

Five miles west, on the line between Caibarien and Santa Clara, is the
little old city of Remedios, that once occupied a place on the coast,
but was compelled by the unfriendly visits of pirates, as were many
other cities in Cuba in the olden days, to move back from the sea shore,
so that the inhabitants could be warned of an approaching enemy. Around
Remedios, large fields of tobacco furnish the chief source of income to
this city of six or seven thousand people.

The great “Cienaga de Zapata,” or Swamp of the Shoe, so called on
account of its strange resemblance to a heeled moccasin, although
geographically a part of the Province of Matanzas, has nevertheless
always been included in the boundaries of Santa Clara. Its length from
east to west is about sixty-five miles, with an average width from north
to south of twenty. Many plans, at different times since the first
Government of Intervention, have been formed for the drainage and
reclaiming of this great swamp of the Caribbean, whose area is
approximately twelve hundred square miles.

Nearly all of the surface is covered with hard wood timber, growing in a
vast expanse of water, varying in depth from one to three feet. Owing
to its lack of incline in any direction, reclamation of this isolated
territory is not easy, although the land, after the timber was removed
and the water once disposed of, would probably be very valuable.

Enormous deposits of peat and black vegetable muck, cover the western
shores of this peninsula and will, when utilized for either fuel,
fertilizer or gas production, be an important source of revenue, as will
its forests of hard wood, when transportation to the coast is rendered
possible.

Just east of the heel of the “Zapata” and some forty miles west of the
harbor of Cienfuegos, a deep, open, wide-mouthed roadstead projects from
the Caribbean some eighteen miles into the land, almost connecting with
the little lake known as “El Tesero” or Treasure, located at the most
southerly point of the Province of Matanzas. This roadstead, known as
the Bay of Cochinos, furnishes shelter from all winds excepting those
from the south, against which there is no protection, although abutments
thrown out from the shore might give artificial shelter, and thus render
it a fairly safe harbor.

Quite a large forest of valuable woods lies a few miles back from the
coast, between Cochinos Bay and the harbor of Cienfuegos. The broken
surface of the dog teeth rocks, however, upon which this forest stands,
renders the removal of logs difficult and dangerous, since iron shoes
will not protect the feet of draft animals used in the transport of wood
to the coast. A narrow strip of very good vegetable land, running only a
mile or so back from the beach, extends along this section of the coast
for about twenty-five miles, awaiting the intelligent efforts of some
future gardener to produce potatoes and other vegetables on a large
scale for spring shipments to Cienfuegos.

The great source of wealth of the Province of Santa Clara, of course, is
sugar, and to that industry nearly all of her industrial energies are at
present devoted. Seventy great sugar estates, with modern mills, are
located within the Province, yielding an annual production of
approximately eight million sacks of sugar, each weighing 225 pounds.
The fertility of Santa Clara soil has never been exhausted, and the
great network of railroads covering the Province furnishes easy
transportation to the harbors of Cienfuegos, Sagua and Caibarien.
Considerable amounts of sugar are also shipped from Casilda, the port of
Trinidad on the south coast, and some from Tunas de Zaza, at the mouth
of the Zaza River, thirty miles further east. The sugar produced in the
Province in 1918 was valued at eighty million dollars.

The tobacco of Santa Clara Province, although not of the standard
quality obtained in the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Havana,
still forms a very important industry. That coming from the Manicaragua
Valley, northeast of Cienfuegos, has obtained a good reputation for its
excellent flavor.

Coffee culture in the mountains and valleys lying between Trinidad and
Sancti Spiritus, introduced by French refugees from the Island of Santo
Domingo the first years of the last century, was at one time a very
important industry. With the introduction of machinery for hulling and
polishing the beans, and with better facilities for the removal of the
crop to the coast, there is every reason to believe that this industry,
in the near future, will resume some of the importance which it enjoyed
half a century ago, or before the abolition of slavery rendered picking
the berries expensive, since this work can be done only by hand. The
growing of coffee offers a delightful and profitable occupation to large
families, since the work of gathering and caring for the berries is a
very pleasant occupation for women and children.

Owing to the fertility of the soil of Santa Clara, the abundance of
shade, rich grass, and plentiful streams of clear running water flowing
from the mountains, there is perhaps no section of Cuba that offers
greater inducement to the stock raiser.

The breeding of fine horses, of high-grade hogs, of angora goats, sheep
and milch cows, will undoubtedly, when the attention of capital is
called to the natural advantages of this section of the country, rival
even the sugar industry of the Province. In no part of the world could
moderate sized herds of fine animals be better cared for than on the
high table lands and rich valleys of Santa Clara.

Santa Clara bore its part in the trials and sufferings endured by the
patriots of Cuba in the War of Independence. The range of mountains
between Sancti Spiritus and Trinidad, during those four fearful years,
furnished a safe retreat for the Cuban forces, when the soldiers of
Spain, abundantly supplied with ammunition, which their opponents never
enjoyed, pressed them too hard. It was in these dense forests and rocky
recesses which Nature had provided that the great old chieftain, General
Maximo Gomez, in the last years of the war, defied the forces of Spain.




CHAPTER VIII

PROVINCE OF CAMAGUEY


According to the log of the _Santa Maria_, the first glimpse of the
Island of Cuba enjoyed by Christopher Columbus, sailing as he did in a
southwesterly course across the Bahama Banks, is supposed by many to
have been at some point along the northern coast of what is now known as
the Province of Camaguey. The area of this Province, including Cayos
Romano, Guajaba, Sabinal and Coco, is approximately 11,000 square miles.
The general trend of the coast lines is similar to those of the Province
of Santa Clara, and the length of each is approximately one hundred and
seventy-five miles. The average width of the province is eighty miles,
although between the southern extension of Santa Cruz del Sur and the
mouth of the harbor of Nuevitas, we have a hundred miles.

The same gentle graceful inoffensive natives were found in this section
of Cuba as those who first received the Spanish conquerors at Baracoa
and other places in the Island. Those of the great plains belonging to
this province were known as Camagueyanos, and although for many years
Spain called this section of the island Puerto Principe, the musical
Indian term stuck, and with the inauguration of the Republic in 1901,
the name of Camaguey was officially given to this part of Cuba.

In the year 1515, Diego Velasquez, with his fever for founding cities,
established a colony on the shore of the Bay of Nuevitas, and christened
it Puerto Principe. In those early days, however, there was no rest for
the unprotected, hence the first settlement was moved in a short time to
another locality not definitely known, but a year later the city was
permanently established in the center of the province, about fifty miles
from either shore, where it remains today, with many features of its
antiquity still in evidence.

The first of the old Spanish adventurers who succeeded in making himself
both famous and rich without flagrant trespass of law, was Vasco
Porcallo de Figueroa, one of the original settlers whom Velasquez left
in the City of Puerto Principe founded in 1515. This sturdy old pioneer
did not bother with gold mining, but succeeded in securing large grants
of land in the fertile plains of Camaguey, where he raised great herds
of cattle and horses, exercising at the same time a decidedly despotic
influence over the natives and everyone else in that region.

Vasco, although spending more than half of the year in the cities of
Puerto Principe and Sancti Spiritus, had a retreat of his own, probably
some place in the Sierra de Cubitas, where he held princely sway and
guarded his wealth from intrusive buccaneers and other ambitious
adventurers of those times. It was he who, meeting Hernando de Soto on
his arrival at Santiago de Cuba, escorted that famous explorer across
the beautiful rolling country of Camaguey, which he seemed to consider
as his own special domain, and finally accepted the position of second
in command in that unfortunate expedition of De Soto into the Peninsula
of Florida in 1539. Fighting the savage Seminoles was not however to his
taste, and the old man returned to Havana inside of a year, mounted his
horse and rode home, firmly convinced, he said, that Camaguey was the
only country for a white man to live and die in.

Even with the removal of the capital far into the interior, the
peacefully inclined citizens were not free from molestation and
unwelcome visits. During the middle of the seventeenth century, the
famous English corsair, Henry Morgan, afterwards Governor of Jamaica,
paid his respects to several Cuban cities, including Puerto Principe.
In 1668 he crossed the Caribbean with twelve boats and seven hundred
English followers, intending to attack Havana. He afterward changed his
mind, however, and landing in the Bay of Santa Maria began his march on
the capital of Camaguey.

The inhabitants made a desperate resistance, the Mayor and many of his
followers being killed, but the town was finally compelled to surrender
and submit to being sacked, during which process many women and children
were burned to death in a church behind whose barred doors they had
taken refuge. Morgan finally retired from Puerto Principe with his booty
of $50,000 and five hundred head of cattle.

During the Ten Years’ War the province of Camaguey became the center of
active military operations. The inhabitants of this section had
descended from the best families of Spain, who had emigrated from the
Mother Country centuries before. They were men of refinement and
education, men whose prosperity and contact with the outside world had
made life impossible under the oppressive laws of the Spanish monarchy.

Ignacio Agramonte, a scion of one of the best known families of
Camaguey, was a born leader of men, and soon found himself in command of
the Cuban forces. The struggle was an ill advised one, because the odds
in numbers were too great, and the resources of the Cubans were so
limited that success was impossible. The effort of General Agramonte and
his followers, all men of note and social standing, was a brave one, and
the sacrifice of the women, the mothers, sisters and daughters, of that
period, were not surpassed by any country in its fight for liberty.

But the unfortunate death of General Agramonte, and the long uphill
struggle, brought about the inevitable. The treaty of Zanjon in 1878 was
ultimately forced upon the revolutionists, many of whom afterwards
emigrated with their families to the United States, where some have
remained as permanent citizens of that Republic; among others, Doctor
Enrique Agramonte, a brother of Ignacio, who after fighting through the
ten tiresome years, left his country, never to return.

In the more recent struggles for Cuban liberty, known as the War of
Independence, Camaguey again took a prominent part and General Maximo
Gomez, who had succeeded Agramonte at his death, and General Antonio
Maceo, had the satisfaction of carrying the campaign of the Occident,
from Oriente, across Camaguey, where they defeated the Spanish forces in
several battles, and in the winter of 1896 led their victorious troops
in three parallel invading columns, to the extreme western end of the
Island. Thus the revolution was carried for the first time in history
beyond the Jucaro and Moron Trocha, or fortified ditch, near the western
border of Camaguey.

Narrow crooked streets still prevail in some parts of Camaguey and the
erection of modern buildings, that has become so common in Havana, has
not reached this quiet old municipality of the plains which still lives
and breathes an atmosphere smacking of centuries past.

Topographically, although the surface of Camaguey, in altitude and
contour, varies much, it is, as a whole, far more level than any other
province in the Island. Great fertile savannas and grass covered plains
predominate in almost every part. The potreros, or grazing lands, of
Camaguey, have made it famous as the breeding place par excellence for
horses and cattle, and its equal is not found anywhere in the West
Indies.

In spite of the comparatively level nature of the country, with the
exception of the low, heavily covered forest belt that sweeps along the
entire southern coast, extending back from ten to twenty-five miles, the
rest of the province partakes more of the character of an elevated
plateau, interspersed with low ranges of mountains and foothills, which
give pleasing diversity to the general aspect of the country.

The longest range in Camaguey is a continuation of the great central
chain, that follows the trend of the Island. It begins with a prominent
peak known as the Loma Cunagua, which rises abruptly from the low level
savannas ten miles east of the town of Moron in the northwestern corner
of the Province. A little further southeast, the range again appears and
finally develops into the Sierra de Cubitas, which follows the direction
of the north coast, terminating finally in the picturesque peak of
Tubaque, on the Maximo River.

A small stream, known as the Rio Yaguey, sweeps west along the southern
edge of this ridge and finally breaks through its western end, emptying
into the lagoon or Bay of Cayo Romano. A parallel range of lower hills,
with various spurs, lies a little south of the main Sierra de Cubitas.
The bountifully watered prairies, valleys and parks south and west of
these hills form the ideal grazing ground of the Pearl of the Antilles.
Several large herds of fine hogs and cattle, recently established in
this section, will soon play an important part in the meat supply of
Cuba.

As in Santa Clara, an independent group, or nest, of low peaks and
beautiful forest covered hills, occupies the southeastern center of the
Province of Camaguey. The lands in this section are very fertile and the
delightful variety of hill, valley and plain renders it a very
attractive country in which to make one’s permanent home. Several
elevations of moderate altitude, known as lomas, rise from the more
level country, a little to the north of the above mentioned district,
and form something of a connecting link between the Najasa, or mountains
of the southwest, and the Sierra de Cubitas of the north shore.

As before mentioned, several chains of the north coast, originating in
Santa Clara, sweep over and terminate in Camaguey, some ten or fifteen
miles east of the boundary line. The mountains of this district, owing
to the fact that they were distant from the coast, have never been
denuded of their virgin forests, and with the opening of the Cuba
Railroad, connecting Santa Clara with Santiago de Cuba on the south
coast, and the Bay of Nipe on the north, a considerable quantity of
valuable timber has been taken out within recent years.

Camaguey has no rivers of importance, although numerous streams flowing
from the central plateaus, toward both the northern and southern coast,
are utilized during the rainy season to float logs to shipping points.
These short streams, varying from ten to thirty miles in length, each
form basins or valleys of rich grass lands that are always in demand for
stock raising. Between the Jatobonico del Sur, which forms a part of the
western boundary of the Province, and the Rio Jobobo, which forms the
southeastern boundary, are more than a dozen streams emptying into the
Caribbean. Among these are Los Guiros, the Altamiro, the Najasa and the
Sevilla.

The Najasa has its origin a little south of the City of Camaguey, and
passes through a heavily timbered country, carrying many logs to the
landing of Santa Cruz del Sur. A railroad was surveyed from the latter
city to the capital some years ago, but has never been completed.

On the north coast, between the Jatibonico del Norte, which forms the
northwestern boundary, and the Puentes Grandes, forming the
northeastern, we have some ten or a dozen short streams, among the most
important of which are the Rio de los Perros, emptying into the Lagoon
of Turaguanao; the Rio Caonao emptying into the lagoon of Romano; the
Jiguey, cutting through the western extremity of the Sierra de Cubitas
and emptying into the eastern end of the above mentioned lake; the Rio
Maximo, rising on the south side of the chain, sweeping around its
eastern end and emptying into the Bay of Sabinal; and the Saramaguacan,
one of the longest in the province, rising in the mountains of the
Najasa, whence it flows in a northeasterly direction and empties into
the harbor of Nuevitas. Both the Chambas and the Rio Caonao, when not
obstructed by mud bars at their mouths, are navigable for light draft
schooners and sloops, for some twelve or fifteen miles into the
interior.

At no point on the south Coast of Camaguey can be found any harbor
worthy of the name, although at Jucaro, Santa Cruz del Sur and Romero,
considerable timber and sugar are shipped from piers that extend out
into the shallow waters of the Jucaro and Guacanabo gulfs.

The long system of salt water bays or lagoons, beginning at Punta Hicaco
in Matanzas, continues along the entire north coast of Camaguey and
terminates in the beautiful harbor of Nuevitas. The lagoons of Camaguey
are formed by a series of keys or islands, of which Cayo Romano,
seventy-five miles in length, with an average width of ten miles, is the
most important.

Although most of the area of this island is covered with a dense jungle
of low trees, the eastern end rises to quite a high promontory, with
more or less arable land, planted at the present time in henequen, and
yielding a very good revenue to the owner. An unknown number of wild
ponies, variously estimated at from six hundred to two thousand, inhabit
the jungles of Cayo Romano, living largely on the leaves of the forest,
and consequently degenerating in size and form to such an extent that
they have a very little commercial value.

Cayo Coco, really an extension of Romano, reaches out to the westward
some fifteen miles further, while the Island of Guajaba, separated by a
narrow pass with only three feet of water, incloses the beautiful harbor
of Guanaja. Sabinal, some 25 miles in length by ten or twelve in width,
forms the northern shore of the harbor of Nuevitas. On the latter key
there is fairly good grazing ground and much territory that eventually
will probably be planted in henequen, as is the promontory of Nuevitas,
just north of the city of that name.

These salt water lakes or bays are often twenty-five miles or more in
length by ten wide and with an average depth of fifteen feet.
Unfortunately, not only are they separated by narrow passes seldom
carrying over three feet, but exit to the ocean for any craft drawing
over five or six feet is very difficult to find.

The harbor of Nuevitas, in the northwestern corner of the Province, is
one of the finest in the Island. Its width varies from three to ten
miles, while its length is approximately twenty, carrying excellent deep
water anchorage throughout almost its entire extent. A peculiar
river-like opening, six miles in length, deep and narrow, connects it
with the Atlantic Ocean.

In proportion to its size, the province of Camaguey has less railroad
mileage than any other in the Island. Until 1902, when Sir William Van
Horn, late President of the Cuba Company, connected the City of Santa
Clara by rail with Santiago de Cuba, there were but two railroads in
that section of the country. One, the Camaguey & Nuevitas Road,
connected the capital with practically the only shipping point on the
north coast. Another, built many years before, for military purposes,
connected the town of San Ferrando, on the north coast, with Jucaro on
the south coast, and ran parallel with what was known as the Trocha, a
military ditch about eighty kilometers in length, with two story
concrete forts at each kilometer, and low dug-outs, or shooting boxes,
located midway between the principal forts. The ground was cleared on
either side of the railroad for a kilometer, while on both sides a
perfect network of barbed wire, fastened by staples to the top of wood
stakes, rendered it difficult for either infantry or cavalry to cross
from one side to the other. This modern military device was established
by the Spanish forces in 1895, so as to prevent the Cubans from carrying
the revolution into Santa Clara and the western provinces.

As in the other provinces of Cuba, cane growing and the making of sugar
forms the chief industry, although, owing to the wonderfully rich
potreros, or grazing lands of Camaguey, the raising of live stock in the
near future will doubtless rival all other sources of wealth in that
section.

There are twenty sugar mills in the province with a production of
approximately 3,000,000 bags. The two mills at Las Minas and Redencion,
between Camaguey and Nuevitas, have been in operation for many years,
but with the opening up of the Van Horn railroad a new impetus was given
to sugar production, and during the past ten years, some eighteen new
mills have been established at various points along the railroad where
lands were fertile and comparatively cheap.

A line known as the North Shore Railroad of Cuba, connecting the city of
Nuevitas with Caibarien, in Santa Clara Province, some 200 miles west,
was surveyed and capital for it was promised, in 1914. The breaking out
of the European war delayed work on the road, but its completion can be
assured in the near future.

Several large sugar estates have been located along the line that will
open up a territory rich in soil and natural resources. Important iron
mines, too, in the foothills of the Sierra de Cubitas, are waiting only
this transportation to add an important revenue to the Province. A great
deal of valuable timber will be available when the line is in operation.

Owing to the large beds of valuable ore belonging to the mineral zone of
the Cubitas, it is quite probable that the mining industry will some day
rank next to that of general farming in Camaguey, although as far as
natural advantages are concerned, there is no industry which in the end
can rival that of stock raising.

During 1895, the first year of the War of Independence, over a million
head of sleek, fat cattle were registered in the Province of Camaguey,
where the grasses are so rich that an average of seventy head can be
kept in condition throughout the year on a hundred acres of land. The
two grasses commonly found in Camaguey were both brought from abroad. Of
these, the Guinea, imported from western Africa, grows luxuriantly on
all the plateaus and higher lands of the province, while the Parana, a
long running grass from the Argentine, does best in the lower lands and
savannas. One stock man of Camaguey at least, has succeeded in producing
splendid fields of alfalfa, from which seven or eight cuttings are taken
each year.

Fruits of all kinds, especially oranges and pineapples, grow luxuriantly
in this Province, but owing to the lack of transportation, the railroad
haul to Havana being practically prohibitory, shipments of fruit and
vegetables to the northern markets are confined almost entirely to a
steamer which leaves the harbor of Nuevitas once every two weeks.

Owing perhaps to the rich and comparatively cheap lands offered by the
Province of Camaguey, more Americans are said to have settled in this
section than in any other part of Cuba. The first colony, called La
Gloria, was located in 1900 on the beautiful bay of Guanaja or Turkey
Bay, some five or six miles back from the shore. The location, although
healthful and in a productive country, was most unfortunate as far as
transportation facilities were concerned. Two hundred or more families
made clearings in the forests of the Cubitas, and there made for
themselves homes under adverse circumstances. The worst of these was the
isolation of the spot, and lack of communication with any city or town
nearer than Camaguey, some forty-five miles southwest, or Nuevitas,
forty miles east; without railroads, wagon roads, or even water
communication by vessels drawing over seven feet.

The Zanja, or ditch, some three miles in length, connecting the harbor
of Nuevitas with Guanaja Bay, was recently dredged to a depth of three
or four feet, so that launches can now pass from La Gloria to Nuevitas,
but aside from the fertility of the soil, there was but little to
commend La Gloria as a place of permanent residence. Only grit and
perseverance on the part of sturdy Americans has sustained them during
the past sixteen years. But they concluded to make the best of the
situation in which they found themselves, and are producing nearly
everything needed for their subsistence. A considerable amount also of
farm produce and fruit will soon be shipped to northern markets from the
harbor of Nuevitas. A very creditable agricultural fair is held in La
Gloria each winter, and the contents of the weekly paper seems to bear
every evidence of progress and content. In spite of adverse conditions,
the people of La Gloria have prospered and enjoy there many comforts not
found in colder climates, and with the opening up of the North Shore
Road, this really attractive section of country, which includes several
smaller colonies scattered along the water front, will be brought in
close touch once more with the civilization of the outside world.

Another colony, also unfortunate in its location, was established at
Ceballos on the Jucaro and Moron railroad, about eight miles north of
its junction with the Cuba Company road at Ciego de Avila. The soil was
well adapted to the growth of citrus fruit, and large groves were laid
out by Americans, some ten or twelve years ago, along the line of the
old clearing that bordered the Trocha. The groves, as far as nature
could provide, were successful, but the excessive freight rates between
Ceballos and either the city of Havana or the Bay of Nipe, have proved
discouraging to the original settlers.

Several smaller colonies have been located along the Cuba Company’s
railway and the line connecting the city of Camaguey with Nuevitas, but
again the long distance between these points and large markets, either
local or foreign, have worked to the disadvantage of the growers. If
stock raising instead of fruit growing had occupied the time and
attention of these American pioneers, more satisfactory results would
have been obtained.

Nuevitas, located on the southern shore of the harbor of that name, is a
modern city with wide streets and a population of approximately 7,000
people. Its location, at the terminus of the Camaguey Railroad, and on
the only harbor of the north coast, renders it a place of considerable
commercial importance, since large quantities of sugar, lumber and
livestock leave the port during the year, while coasting steamers of
local lines touch every few days.

Camaguey, the capital of the Province, so long known as Puerto Principe,
has a population of about 45,000 people. The natives of this city have
long enjoyed and merited an enviable reputation for integrity,
intelligence and social standing, traits that were inherited from a
number of excellent families who came to Cuba from Southern Spain in the
early colonial days. The rich grazing lands of Camaguey and the
salubrious climate, not only of the north coast, but of the great
plateaus of the interior, were very attractive to the better class of
pioneers who came over in the sixteenth century in search of peace,
permanent homes and wealth based on legitimate industry.

There is no section of the Island more highly esteemed for the integrity
of its people than that of the isolated, aristocratic city of Camaguey,
such as the families of Agramonte, Betancourt, Cisneros, Luaces,
Sanchez, Quesada and Varona. Nearly all these families through the long
painful Ten Years’ War suffered privations, followed by exile and loss
of everything but pride, dignity and good names.

Most of them made permanent homes in the United States, but many of
their children, educated in the land that gave their parents shelter,
have returned to their native country and occupied positions of trust
and responsibility in the new Republic.




CHAPTER IX

PROVINCE OF ORIENTE


The Province of Oriente, called by Spain Santiago de Cuba, forms the
eastern extremity of the Island, and is not only the largest in area,
but, owing to the exceptional fertility of its soil, the great number of
magnificent harbors, the size and extent of its plains and valleys,
together with the untold wealth of its mines of iron, copper, manganese,
chrome and other minerals, it must be considered industrially as one of
the most important provinces of Cuba.

Its area consists of 14,213 square miles, its form is triangular, Cape
Maysi, the eastern terminus of the island, forming the apex of the
triangle, while the base, with a length of about one hundred miles,
extends from Cabo Cruz along the Manzanillo coast to the north shore.
One side of the triangle, formed by the south coast, has a length of
nearly 250 miles, while another, without counting the convolutions of
the sea coast, borders for two hundred miles on the Atlantic.

Mountain chains follow both the north and south shores of Oriente, while
about one-third of its area, which composes the eastern section, is a
great tangle or nest of irregular mountains, flat top domes, plateaus,
and foothills, with their intervening basins, parks and valleys.

While the main chain, or mountainous vertebrae, seems to disappear in
the Sierra de Cubitas of Camaguey, it reappears again, just west of the
Bay of Manati, in the extreme northern part of the province, and extends
along the north shore at broken intervals, until it finally melts into
that great eastern nest of volcanic upheavals that forms the eastern end
of the Island. From this north shore chain, innumerable spurs are thrown
off to the southward between Manati and Nipe Bay, reaching sometimes
twenty-five or thirty miles back into the interior.

[Illustration: A MOUNTAIN ROAD, ORIENTE]

Along the southern shore of Oriente from Cabo Cruz to Cabo Maysi,
ascending at times abruptly from the beach, and at others dropping back
a little, we have the longest and tallest mountain range of Cuba. One
peak, known as Turquino, located midway between the city of Santiago de
Cuba and Cape Cruz, reaches an altitude of 8,642 feet.

From the crest of this range, known as the Sierra Maestra, the great
network of spurs are thrown off to the north toward the valley of the
Cauto, while between these mountain offshoots several of the Cauto’s
most important tributaries, including the Cautill, Contraemaestre and
Brazos del Cauto, have their sources.

Most of the mountainous districts are still covered with dense tropical
forests that contain over three hundred varieties of hard woods, the
cost of transportation alone preventing their being cut and marketed.

The interior of the Province, from the Mayari River west, is the largest
valley in Cuba, with a virgin soil marvellously rich through which runs
the Cauto River, emptying into the Caribbean Sea, a little north of the
City of Manzanillo. This stream, with its tributaries, forms the most
extensive waterway in the Island.

A tributary on the north known as the Rio Salado, rising south of the
city of Holguin, flows in a westerly direction and empties into the
Cauto just above the landing of Guamo, some fifteen miles from the
Caribbean. Small streams empty into all of the numerous deep water gulfs
and bays that indent the north coast of Oriente. Each serves its purpose
in draining adjacent lands, but none, with the exception of the Mayari,
is navigable. This stream, the most important perhaps of the north
coast, rises in the eastern center of the Province, cutting its way west
along the base of the Crystal Mountains, until it reaches their western
end, whence it makes a sharp turn to the north, and after tumbling over
the falls, gradually descends and empties into Nipe Bay.

The Sagua de Tanamo and its tributaries drain quite a large basin east
of the Mayari, and empty into the Gulf of Tanamo. The Moa, a short
stream, rises not far from the Tanamo but flows north to the ocean. The
Toa, flowing east, cuts through valleys for fifty miles, and finally
empties into the Atlantic thirty miles west of Cape Maysi.

But little is known of this river; and like many of the streams which
for countless centuries have been cutting their tortuous ways through
the table lands and gorges of the eastern part of Oriente, its shores
have seldom been visited by human beings since the Siboney Indians, who
once made that section their home, gave up trying to be Christians and
took their chances of happiness on the other side of the “Great
Divide.”

The Harbor of Puentes Grandes, that separates Oriente from Camaguey on
the north coast, is sufficiently deep for ordinary draft vessels, but
owing to sand spits and coral reefs that extend for some distance out
into the Atlantic, and to the fact that good harbors lie within a few
miles on either side, commerce up to the present has never sought this
place as a port of entry.

About twelve miles east, however, we have the Bay of Manati with a
fairly easy entrance and an elbow-like channel that will give anchorage
to vessels drawing fathoms. On the shore of Manati Bay has been
established a very fine sugar mill surrounded by thousands of acres of
cane grown in the Yarigua Valley. Sugar is exported from this port
directly to the United States.

Within the next twenty-five miles, east, are found two well protected
harbors, Malagueta and Puerto Padre. The latter is the deeper and more
important, owing to the large basin of fertile lands immediately
surrounding it. Puerto Padre has excellent anchorage and belongs to the
type of narrow mouthed bays so common to the north coast of Cuba.

On the eastern shore of Puerto Padre are located two of the Cuban
American Sugar Company’s largest mills, “El Chaparra” and “Las
Delicias,” each with a capacity of 600,000 bags of sugar per year. These
two mills are considered, both in location and equipment, among the
finest in the world. The sugar, of course, is shipped directly from
Puerto Padre to New York, rendering them independent of railroad
transportation, and consequently large revenue producing properties.

General Mario Menocal, General Manager of the Cuban American Company’s
mills, began his great industrial career at Chaparra, which he left to
assume the Presidency of the Republic in 1913. It is a very neat little
city, with wide avenues, comfortable homes, good schools and many of the
conveniences of much larger places. President Menocal visits Chaparra
several times during the grinding season each year.

Some thirty-five miles east we have the large open roadstead of Jibara,
with sufficient depth of water to provide for shipping, but with very
little protection from northerly gales. On the western side of this
harbor is located the city of Jibara, which forms the shipping place for
the rich Holguin district, some thirty miles south.

Some forty miles further east, around the bold Punta de Lucrecia, we
have another fine, deep-water, perfectly protected harbor, known as the
Bay of Banes, whose rich valleys lying to the south and west contribute
cane to the Ingenio Boston, belonging to the United Fruit Company, whose
output is approximately half a million bags of sugar per year.

Southeast of Banes, about fifteen miles, we reach the entrance of the
Bay of Nipe, considered one of the finest and best protected harbors in
the world. Its entrance is sufficiently wide for ships to pass in or out
at ease, while the bay itself furnishes forty-seven miles of deep water
anchorage.

Nipe Bay is a little round inland sea, measuring ten miles from north to
south by fifteen from east to west. The Mayari River flows into the bay
from the southern shore and furnishes, for light draft boats,
transportation to the city, some six miles up the river. On the north
shore of the bay is located the town of Antilla, terminus of the
northern extension of the Cuba Company’s lines, and one of the most
important shipping places on the north coast. On the Bay of Nipe is
located the Ingenio Preston, one of the finest sugar mills in Cuba,
contributing 371,000 bags in the year 1918 to the sugar stock of the
world.

Some seven or eight miles east of the entrance of Nipe lies another
large, beautiful, land-locked bay, or rather two bays, separated by a
tongue of land extending into the entrance of the harbor and known as
Lavisa and Cabonico, both of which are deep, although the first
mentioned, with a length of eight miles and a width of six, is the
larger of the two. The shores of both these harbors are covered with
magnificent hardwood forests, most of which have remained intact. The
lands surrounding them are rich, and will, within a very short time,
probably be converted into large sugar estates. These beautiful virgin
forests, with their marvellously fertile soil, surrounding the harbors
of Lavisa and Cabonico, might have been purchased ten years ago at
prices varying from eight to twelve dollars an acre. In 1918 they were
sold at fifty dollars per acre, and were easily worth twice that sum.

Fifteen miles further east we have another fine deep-water harbor known
as Tanamo. Its entrance is comparatively easy, and although the bay is
very irregular in shape, the channel furnishes good anchorage for fairly
deep draft vessels. The Sagua de Tanamo River, whose tributaries drain
the rich valleys south of the bay, has its source in the great nest of
mountains in the eastern end of Oriente.

Baracoa, some twenty miles east, is a small, picturesque anchorage, but
with almost no protection against northerly winds, and for this reason
cannot rank as a first class port, although a good deal of shipping
leaves it during the year, the cargoes consisting mostly of cocoanuts
and bananas, for which this district has always been quite a center of
production in Oriente.

It was on this harbor that Diego Velasquez made the first settlement in
Cuba, in the year 1512. He called it the city of Nuestra Senora de la
Asuncion, but the original Indian name of Baracoa has remained attached
to the spot where Spanish civilization began in the Pearl of the
Antilles.

It was here that General Antonio Maceo with a little band of thirty men
landed from Costa Rica in March, 1895, and began the War of
Independence, which ultimately led to the formation of the Republic of
Cuba.

Rounding Cape Maysi at the extreme eastern end of Cuba, and following
the south coast, no harbor is found until we reach Guantanamo Bay,
nearly a hundred miles west. This magnificent harbor was first visited
by Columbus on his second voyage when he sailed along the south coast in
1494. The celebrated navigator referred to it as “Puerto Grande,” but
the original Indian name of Guantanamo again replaced that of the white
invaders.

The Bay of Guantanamo is considered one of the finest harbors in the
world. It was selected from all the ports of Cuba by Captain Lucien
Young in 1901 as the best site for a naval station in the West Indies
for the United States Navy. Arrangements were later made between Cuba
and authorities in Washington, by which it was formally ceded for that
purpose. Not only is Guantanamo a large bay, extending some fifteen
miles up into the interior, but its mouth is sufficiently wide and deep
to permit three first-class men of war to enter or leave the harbor
abreast at full speed, without danger of collision or contact with the
channel’s edge on either side.

The Guantanamo River, after draining the great wide valleys that lie to
the north and west, enters the Bay on the western shore. The City of
Guantanamo, some fifteen miles back, is connected by rail with the
coast, and also with the city of Santiago de Cuba, fifty miles further
west. It was founded toward the end of the eighteenth century by French
refugees from Santo Domingo, and has at present a population of 28,000.

Eleven large sugar estates are located in the Guantanamo valley, which
is one of the largest cane producers in Oriente.

Fifty miles further west we find the harbor of Santiago de Cuba,
absolutely land-locked, and probably the most beautiful of all in the
West Indies. Its entrance, between two headlands, is narrow and might
easily escape observation unless the passing vessel were less than a
mile from shore. Rounding the high promontory of the east, with its
old-fashioned fort of the middle eighteenth century, one enters a
magnificent bay, dotted with palm covered islands, gradually opening
and spreading out towards the north. Its winding channels present
changing views at every turn, until the main or upper bay is reached, on
the northern shore of which is located the city of Santiago de Cuba,
that for half a century after its founding in 1515 was the capital of
Cuba.

Santiago played a very important part in the early history, or colonial
days, of the Pearl of the Antilles, passing through the trials and
tribulations that befell the first white settlers in this part of the
Western Hemisphere. Not many years after its founding, it was sacked and
burned by French corsairs.

Santiago was one of the few cities in all Cuba that retained the names
given them by their Spanish founders. It was here in June, 1538, that
Hernando de Soto, appointed Governor by the King of Spain, recruited men
for that unfortunate expedition into the great unknown territory across
the Gulf, which cost him his life, although his name became immortal as
the discoverer of the Mississippi River.

Santiago became famous in American history through the destruction of
Cervera’s fleet by Admirals Sampson and Schley, and the capitulation of
the city to United States forces in July, 1898. It has a population of
about 45,000. The city lies on the southern slope of the plateau, rising
from the bay towards the interior. Its streets are well laid out and
fairly wide, with several charming little parks, or plazas, such as are
found in all Latin American cities.

The commercial standing of the city is based on the heavy shipments of
sugar and ores, iron, copper and manganese mined in the surrounding
mountains. The building of the Cuba Company’s railroad connecting it
with the other end of the Island and with the Bay of Nipe on the north
coast, did much towards increasing the importance of Santiago. The
outlying districts of the city are reached by a splendid system of
automobile drives, surveyed and begun at the instigation of General
Leonard Wood, then governor of the Province, in 1900. These well-built,
macadamized carreteras wind around hills and beautiful valleys, many of
which have a historic interest, especially the crest of the Loma San
Juan, or San Juan Hill, captured by the American forces in the summer of
1898. A unique kiosk has been built on the summit of this hill from
which a view of El Caney, over toward the east, and many other points
which figured in that sharp, brief engagement, are indicated on brass
tablets, whose pointed arrows, together with accompanying descriptions,
give quite a comprehensive idea of the battle which loosened the grip of
the Spanish monarchy on the Pearl of the Antilles, and made Cuban
liberty possible for all time to come. In the valley just below is a
beautiful Ceiba tree, under which the peace agreement between American
and Spanish commanders was concluded in July, 1898. The grounds are
inclosed by an iron fence with various inscriptions instructive and
interesting.

Santiago is named in honor of the Patron Saint of Spain, and the
Archbishop of Cuba, in keeping with custom and early traditions, still
makes his headquarters in this picturesque and historically interesting
capital of the Province of Oriente.

Between Santiago and Cabo Cruz, one hundred and fifty miles west, is but
one harbor worthy of mention, the Bay of Portillo, a rather shallow
although well protected indentation of the south coast. On the rich
level lands at the base of the mountains back of and around the harbor
of Portillo, grow enormous fields of cane, feeding the mill on the
western side of the bay. Several other indentations of the south coast
furnish landing places from which either timber or agricultural products
may be shipped, when southerly winds do not endanger the anchorage. A
small harbor known as Media Luna, between Cabo Cruz and Manzanillo,
forms the shipping place of the Ingenio Isabel, which produced 175,000
sacks of sugar in 1918.

The somewhat shallow harbor of Manzanillo is located at the mouth of a
small stream in the Sierra Maestra. Vessels of more than fifteen feet
draft, find the Manzanillo channel somewhat difficult. The city itself
is comparatively modern, with wide streets regularly planned and laid
out. Its population is about 18,000, although the municipal district
contains some 35,000 inhabitants. Manzanillo is one of the chief
shipping ports and distributing points for the rich valley of the Cauto,
the largest valley by far in Cuba. This river during the rainy season is
navigable for river boats for some hundred miles to the interior. Bars
that have formed near its mouth on the west shore of Guacanabo Gulf
prevent the navigation of deeper craft.

The City of Bayamo, located on the Bayamo River, a tributary of the
Cauto, is connected by the southern branch of the Cuba Company’s
Railroad with Manzanillo, twenty-five miles west, and also with Santiago
de Cuba. It was one of the original seven cities founded by Diego
Velasquez in 1514. In the early days of colonial occupation, Bayamo
passed through the same period of trials and tribulations that afflicted
nearly all of the early settlements in Cuba.

Historically it has never been prominent as the birth-place of struggles
in which the natives of Cuba endeavored to throw off the yoke of Spain.
It was the home of Cespedes, the first revolutionary President of the
Island, who freed his slaves in 1868, and with a small force of men
raised the cry known as the “Crita de Baire,” that started the Ten
Years’ War.

Again, in February, 1895, General Bartolome Maso with his son and a few
loyal companions left his home in the city of Bayamo, and at his farm
called “Yara” declared war against the armies of the Spanish Monarchy,
never surrendering until Independence was eventually secured through the
defeat of Spain by American forces in 1898. The city, although boasting
only of some 5,000 inhabitants, is located in the fertile plains of
the Cauto Valley, known throughout the world as the largest sugar cane
basin ever placed under cultivation. The Cuban National Hymn had its
origin in this little city and is known as the “Himno de Bayamo.”

[Illustration: ON THE CAUTO RIVER

The Cauto River, traversing Oriente Province, is the largest stream in
Cuba, and is of inestimable value for navigation, for water supply, and
for drainage. It is the salient feature of many fine landscape scenes,
ranging from the idyllic to the majestic.]

Holguin, located in the northern center of the Island, among picturesque
hills and fertile valleys, is the most important city in northern
Oriente. It was founded in 1720, receiving its charter in 1751, and
boasts of a population of about 10,000. The harbor of Gibaro,
twenty-five miles north, with which it is connected by rail, is the
shipping port of the Holguin district. The country is very healthful and
long noted as a section in which Cuban fruits acquire perhaps their
greatest perfection. Americans living in this city, within the last ten
years, have established splendid nurseries, known throughout the Island.

Victoria de las Tunas, a small city located on the Cuba Company’s
Railroad, some 20 miles from the western boundary of the Province,
acquired celebrity in the War of Independence owing to its capture after
a siege of several days by the Cuban forces under General Calixto
Garcia, in the fall of 1897.

It was in this engagement that Mario Menocal, then Chief of Staff with
the rank of Colonel in the insurgent forces, distinguished himself
through a brilliant charge made at a critical moment, in which he led
his Cuban cavalry against the well equipped forces of Spain. Colonel
Menocal was wounded in this engagement, but as a reward for intelligent
and courageous action he was shortly afterward made Brigadier General,
and given command of the insurgent forces in the Province of Havana,
which he held up to the time of the Spanish surrender in 1898.

An incident indicative of the character and discipline of the Cuban
forces took place at the capture of Victoria de las Tunas, when General
Calixto Garcia, after caring for the Spanish wounded, furnished an
escort to protect his prisoners and non-combatants who wished to leave
the city, in a march overland to the town of Manati, where they were
delivered into the safe keeping of the Spanish authorities, as the
Cubans were unable to keep prisoners owing to shortage of food. General
Calixto Garcia was a native of Holguin, owing to which fact, perhaps,
much consideration was shown to both persons and property in the
surrounding district, where he had both friends and relatives.

The sugar industry, of course, as in all provinces but Pinar del Rio, is
the chief source of wealth in Oriente. The entire northeastern half,
including the great valley of the Cauto River, as well as the rich lands
in the valley of Guantanamo, and the basin surrounding the Bay of Nipe,
are devoted almost entirely to the production of sugar. The European War
of 1914 gave a great impetus to this industry, owing to the demands made
by the allies for this staple food product. An illustration of this may
be found in the increased acreage of cane in Oriente between the years
of 1913 and 1918. In 1913 Oriente was producing 3,698,000 bags, while in
1918 the sugar crop reach 6,463,000 bags. Forty-two large sugar centrals
are in operation in Oriente at the present time, with a marked increase
each year.

Next in importance to the production of sugar ranks stock raising.
Thousands of acres that cover the plateaus, foothills, mountains, parks
and valleys, supplied as they are with an abundance of fresh water and
splendid grass, furnish strong inducements to the stock grower of
Oriente, who has nothing to fear from cold, snow, drought or storm. The
profits of stock raising where the business is conducted under
intelligent management, are certainties, which is true of all sections
of the Island adapted to this industry.

Coffee, as in the provinces of Santa Clara and Pinar del Rio, owes its
introduction into Cuba to the French refugees who, driven by revolution
out of Santo Domingo, fled to Cuba and settled there in the first years
of the nineteenth century. The large profits that have resulted from
the cultivation of sugar cane have undoubtedly drawn capital from the
coffee industry, and unless a sufficient amount of cheap labor can be
secured, the gathering of this crop is not always profitable. In spite
of the rather heavy tariff, and the excellent quality of the bean, it is
compelled to compete with the imported article from Porto Rico and other
countries. It is quite probable, too, that through years of neglect in
cultivation, the habit of prolific bearing has deteriorated.

The rich, narrow, deep soiled vales among the tangled mountains that
cover the eastern extremity of the province are especially adapted to
the growth of cacao, but in spite of most satisfactory returns most of
the farmers of Cuba seem to prefer life in the open potreros, with its
cultivation of sugar cane and care of live stock, to that of comparative
retirement, imposed upon those who devote themselves to coffee and cacao
in the mountainous districts. Cacao, nevertheless, owing to the more
extensive manufacture of chocolate in all parts of the world, is in
increasing demand, and it is practically certain that the near future
will bring immigrants from mountainous countries, who will find the
cultivation of both coffee and cacao to their liking, as well as to
their permanent profit.

But very little tobacco is grown in Oriente, aside from that which has
long been cultivated on the banks of the Mayari River. In the
neighborhood of the little village bearing that name, considerable
tobacco of an inferior grade has been grown for many years, The German
Government up to the blockading of her ports in 1914, consumed almost
the entire Mayari crop, the soldiers of that country seeming to prefer
it to any other tobacco.

More valuable timber grows in the interior of Oriente than in any other
part of Cuba, and much of it will probably remain standing until more
economical methods are introduced by which logs can be conveyed to the
coast for shipment. Large amounts of cedar and mahogany are exported
every year from Oriente, especially from the valley of Sagua de Tanamo,
which empties into Tanamo Bay on the north coast.

Several American colonies have been located in the different parts of
this province, most of them devoting their energies to the growing of
fruits and vegetables that are shipped to northern markets from the
terminus of the railroad at Antilla, on Nipe Bay. Some of them, too,
have built up stock farms that are giving splendid results.

Owing to the size of the province, and its comparatively few
inhabitants, greater opportunities for colonization are found here than
in the western end of the Island. Thousands of acres of magnificent
lands, at present owned in huge tracts, are still available for purchase
and division into small farms. These would furnish homes for families
that might be brought from Italy and the Canary Islands greatly to the
profit of the Republic itself as well as to the immigrants. People of
this class are especially desired in Oriente, and every effort is being
made by the Government to encourage their immigration, since energy,
combined with a fair degree of intelligence, on the rich lands of this
section of Cuba, can result only in success.

The mineral wealth of Oriente is undoubtedly greater than that of any of
the other provinces. Although both iron and copper have been mined here
for many years, the mineral zones of the Island have never been fully
exploited, or even intelligently prospected, by men familiar with the
mining industry. Copper was discovered by the early Spanish conquerors
and mined at El Cobre, in the early years of the 16th century. The ore
deposits of this mine have never been exhausted, and are still worked
with profit. The same mineral has been discovered in other sections of
the province, but owing to lack of transportation facilities, but little
effort has been made towards mining it. The Spanish Iron Company, for
more than a half century, has been taking iron ore from the sides of
the mountains on the coast, just east of the city of Santiago de Cuba,
and shipping it from the port of Daquiri.

These mines are in the form of terraces, that are cut into the sides of
the mountains, so that the ore can be easily withdrawn and shipped to
the United States for smelting purposes. These properties have recently
changed hands, and with the investment of greater capital will soon be
put into a still higher state of production.

Perhaps the most profitable iron mines in the Republic are those owned
by the Bethlehem Steel Company, in the Valley of the Mayari, some
eighteen or twenty miles back from the coast. The mineral here is easily
removed from the surface, and sent by gravity down to the large reducing
mills on the shore of the Bay, where most of the waste material is
washed out with water. The iron ore of Oriente is of a very high grade
and is impregnated with a sufficient amount of nickel to add greatly to
its value.

The recent demand for chrome, brought about by the enormous increase in
the consumption of steel in the United States, brought the chrome
districts of the world, including those of Cuba, into considerable
prominence. The great shortage of tonnage, too, made it inconvenient to
bring chrome from Brazil. Recent investigations made in Cuba, however,
demonstrated the fact that this Province alone, with the investment of a
few hundred thousand dollars in road building, can supply the mills of
the United States with all the chrome and manganese needed for the
development of the steel industries. Several manganese mines are being
worked at the present time, most of them on the northern slope of the
Sierra Maestra, whence the ore is conveyed by rail to Santiago de Cuba
and shipped to Atlantic ports, where the demand is greatest.

The development of the mining industry in Oriente has hardly begun, but
with the enormous amount of iron and copper that will be needed for
building purposes throughout the world in the near future, there is
every reason to believe that this province will have an opportunity to
open up and to work many of her mines, with very satisfactory returns on
the capital invested.




CHAPTER X

THE ISLE OF PINES


Although from the early days of Spanish conquest the Isle of Pines was
considered by Spain as an integral part of Cuba, as are Cayo Romano and
all other adjacent islands, in the treaty of Paris that concluded the
controversy in regard to Spain’s possessions in the West Indies the Isle
of Pines was referred to as a locality distinct in itself, and as
possibly not coming within the jurisdiction of Cuban territory.

A rule placed on any mariner’s chart of the West Indies, connecting in a
straight line Cabo Cruz, in the Province of Oriente, and Cape San
Antonio, the western extremity of Cuba, includes the Isle of Pines
within the limits of the seismic uplift which formed the Pearl of the
Antilles. More than all, during much of the geological history of the
region across the shallow sandy bed, covered now with only a few fathoms
of water, the Isle of Pines was connected by land with Cuba.

During the first government of American intervention, several ambitious
citizens of the United States bought large tracts of territory in the
Isle of Pines, whose owners considered them of so little value that they
parted with them at prices varying from 75¢ to $1.25 per acre. These
properties were immediately divided up into small farms, varying from
five to forty acres, and placed on the market in the United States. With
glowing descriptions of the country they were sold at prices gradually
increased from $15 to $50 and even $75 an acre.

In view of the beautiful printed matter so widely distributed, and the
values which fertile farming lands in the United States had acquired in
recent years, these prices apparently did not seem exorbitant,
especially to men of means, who during the greater part of their
experiences had fought out the struggle of life in the cold northwest.
Many Americans were thus induced to come and settle in the Isle of
Pines, with the hope, if not of amassing a fortune as pictured in the
alluring terms of the propaganda, at least of securing a competence for
their declining years.

More than all, the Isle of Pines was thoroughly advertised throughout
the American Union as belonging to the United States, whose emblem of
Liberty floated as an indication of ownership never to be lowered. This
matter of ownership was finally brought before the Congress of the
United States and through treaty with the Republic of Cuba, afterwards
confirmed by decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, was
definitely settled in favor of the smaller Republic. Cuba, in
consideration of the waiving of all American claims on the Isle of
Pines, agreed to cede to the United States coaling stations at Bahia
Honda and Guantanamo. Thus the disputed territory retained its original
position as the southern half of the judicial district of the Province
of Havana.

The Island contains approximately 1200 square miles, a third or more of
which is occupied by a large swamp bounded on the north by a depression
running east and west across the Island, and extending to its southern
shore on the Caribbean. The soil as a rule is sandy and poor, lacking
nearly all the essential elements of plant food, and hence, for
successful agriculture, needs large quantities of fertilizer.

The natural drainage of the Island is good, and the climatic conditions
are almost identical with those of Cuba. Aside from poverty of soil,
that which has most obstructed its prosperity is its geographical
position, lying as it does some fifty miles from the mainland, within
the curve formed by the concave littoral of the southern shore, from
which it is separated by shallow seas and sand bars. The only harbor
with sufficient depth for ocean going steamers is the open roadstead of
La Ensenada de Siguanea, which furnishes little or no protection from
heavy western winds. Vessels plying between the Isle of Pines and the
United States are compelled to go several hundred miles out of their way
in rounding the western extremity of Cuba.

All products raised in the Isle of Pines at the present time are shipped
on light draft steamers to the landing of Batabano, whence they are
transferred to a branch of the United Railways of Havana and carried
across Cuba to the wharves of the capital for export. This loss of time
and breaking of bulk has been, of course, disadvantageous to the fruit
and vegetable growers of the Isle of Pines. Nevertheless large
shipments, especially of grape fruit, have been made, and during those
seasons in which Florida has suffered from frost, the returns to the
grower have been very satisfactory.

Unfortunately, too, this interesting outpost of the Republic of Cuba
lies directly within the path of the cyclones which during the months of
September and October form in the Lesser Antilles to the southwest, and
travelling northwesterly rake the Caimeros, the Isle of Pines and the
extreme western end of Cuba. These great whirling storms usually pass
through the straits between Cape San Antonio and Yucatan, following the
curve of the western Gulf States until exhausted in the forests of
northern Florida and Georgia. The cyclone of October, 1917, destroyed
all the fruit of the Isle of Pines and practically ruined the citrus
groves, greatly discouraging the people who had devoted so many years of
time and toil to their care and development.

In spite of these disadvantages, however, the greater part of the
Americans who have made their homes in the Isle of Pines, with genuine
Yankee grit, refuse to lose courage, and have started all over again to
restore those sections that were temporarily devastated. The Isle of
Pines is not an attractive place for the man of small means, since
considerable capital is absolutely necessary for successful agriculture
in that section. Nevertheless, there is every reason to believe that
with time, and intelligently directed effort, the Island may eventually
become a really valuable asset to the Republic.

There seems to be no reason why the great deposits of muck from the
swamps which form the southern part of the Island, lying also along the
coast of the mainland in many places, might not be transferred to those
soils of the Isle of Pines lacking in humus, and thus in time build a
foundation of sufficient fertility to produce almost any crop desired.

In the northern half of the Isle of Pines are several low mountains, or
ridges and hills, especially on either side of Nueva Gerona, which are
composed largely of crystalline marble known as the Gerona marble. It is
probable also that this same material forms part of the Sierra Pequena,
or Little Ridge, located a few miles east, as well as that of the Sierra
de Canada seen in the distance.

This marble is thoroughly crystalline, retaining little or no trace of
organism that it may originally have held. The greater part of it is
rather coarse, although there are some beds of fine white statuary
marble. The color varies from pure white to dark grey, with strongly
marked banding in places. These rocks probably belong to the Paleozoic
age, although the crystalline character of the material renders the
period of their origin somewhat doubtful. In some beds the impurities of
the original limestone have recrystallized and formed silicate minerals,
chiefly fibrous hornblende. This deposit of marble has been estimated to
be not less than 2,000 feet in thickness.

The drinking water of the Isle of Pines is abundant, and like that of
nearly all other parts of Cuba is of excellent quality. Several mineral
springs exist which have a local reputation for medicinal properties.
Many beautiful homes, and miles of splendid driveways, have been built
by the property owners of the Isle of Pines, who have a natural pride in
its beauty and development.

To those pioneers from the United States who have done so much towards
the regeneration and building up of this section, that has always been
agriculturally despised, or at least ignored by the natives, the
Government of Cuba feels greatly indebted, and it realizes fully that
only through immigration of this kind will this excellent work be
continued. Agricultural fairs, to which the Government of Cuba
contributes a generous amount for prizes, are held each year in the
Island, and social life among the residents, enlivened as it is by
visitors from the north during the winter season, is said to be
charming.

The principal cities are Nueva Gerona and Santa Fe, while numberless
small colonies are found every few miles along the highways that have
been built within the last ten years. The Isle of Pines has an
attractive future and many of the rosy dreams of the early American
pioneers, with time, patience and capital, will undoubtedly be
realized.




CHAPTER XI

MINES AND MINING


After a lapse of more than four centuries, there are grounds for
believing that the dreams of the early Spanish conquerors, who overran
Cuba shortly after its discovery by Columbus, may be realized, though
not exactly as they expected. Gold may never be found in paying
quantities, yet the mineral wealth of the Island may exceed in value its
present agricultural output, which amounts annually to hundreds of
millions of dollars. The followers of Columbus as a rule cared little
for the more quiet pursuits of agriculture, but were obsessed with a
craving for the precious metals, and during the first half of the 16th
century, with the aid of the Indians, mined and shipped a sufficient
amount of gold to encourage greatly the rulers of Spain, who were quite
as persistent in their craze for the yellow metal as were the pioneers
of the New World.

Narvaez, Velasquez’s most active lieutenant, at the head of 150 men in
1512, marched from Oriente westward in a wild search for gold. Samples
of this metal were found in various places and sent back to Velasquez,
who forwarded them to King Ferdinand. The seven cities founded within
the next two years were said to have been selected, not owing to the
fertility of their soil or on account of advantageous locations, but
solely with reference to their proximity to gold deposits.

In spite of these early discoveries, however, the amount of gold found
in Cuba, although encouraging at the time, has never approached the
value of other metals far more common and found in almost unlimited
quantities. The district that first seems to have yielded a fair amount
of gold was along the shores of the Arimao River, where the Cubenos
panned a few hundred dollars in nuggets from the bed of the stream, and
this determined the location of the city of Trinidad in 1514.

The first and largest shipment of gold from the Island of Cuba,
amounting to $12,437, was forwarded to Spain in the summer of 1515, and
was converted into coin of the realm by the King. Since the royal share
was one-fifth of all produced, it would seem that the total yield during
the first four years in Cuba amounted to $62,000.

The large quantities of gold found in Mexico by Cortez, some ten years
later, so greatly excited the Spanish conquerors in their quest for this
metal, that gold mining in Cuba gradually became an abandoned industry,
and by 1535 had practically ceased. Since that time there have been no
discoveries that would seem to justify further search.

Some time during the year 1529, copper was discovered on the crest of a
hill known as Cardenillo, about ten miles west of Santiago de Cuba.
Mines in this vicinity had apparently been previously worked by the
Cubeno Indians, who did not enlighten the Spaniards in regard to their
existence. The value of the find was not recognized until a certain
bell-maker, returning as a passenger from Mexico, visited the mines and
analyzed samples of the ore. As a result of his report the people of
Santiago soon became aroused over the prospective value of the find and
petitioned the crown for experts and facilities with which to develop
the mine.

Dr. Ledoux, the famous French metallurgist, carefully analyzed the ore
from these mines, and as a result reached the conclusion that the
natives of Cuba, although apparently making no use of the copper
themselves, had trafficked with the Indians of Florida, since in the
many assays made of the copper relics of those tribes, it was found that
the same percentage of silver and gold were contained in them as was
found in the ore of the Cuban deposits. No other copper ores known have
percentages of silver and gold so closely identical to those of “El
Cobre.”

Little was done, however, toward the development of the Santiago mines
until 1540, when the Spanish crown found itself short of material with
which to make castings for its artillery and ordered an investigation of
the Cuban copper deposits. In April of 1540, a German returning from a
Flemish settlement in Venezluela visited “El Cobre” and entered into an
agreement with the town council to work the mine. The ore yielded,
according to the records, from 55% to 60% of pure copper, carrying with
it also gold and silver. Samples were again sent to Spain to be tested
by the crown. In 1514 forty negroes were set to work in the mines, under
the direction of Gaspar Lomanes, and smelted some 15,000 pounds.

In 1546 the German referred to above, John Tezel of Nuremberg, returned
from Germany, where he had carried samples of ore from the “El Cobre”
and reported it “medium rich in quality and very plentiful in quantity.”
Tezel spent the remainder of his life, 20 years, in exploiting the
copper of that section.

Up to 1545 Juan Lobera had shipped 9,000 pounds of Cuban Copper to
Spain. In the spring of 1547 still further shipments that had arrived in
Seville and were ordered cast into artillery to be placed in the first
fort in Cuba, La Fuerza, for the protection of the City of Havana. Three
cannon were cast, of which one, a falconet, burst in the making, and was
perhaps responsible for the report that Cuban copper was of “an
intractable quality.”

Don Gabriel Montalvo, appointed Governor of Cuba in 1573, was much
impressed by the reports he had heard of the rich copper deposits near
the city of Santiago de Cuba, and visited some of the old workings, but
found the native Cubenos very reluctant to give him information in
regard to mineral deposits, fearing evidently that they would be
compelled to work in them as miners.

A copper deposit was soon afterwards found near Havana, and samples of
ore were forwarded to Spain with the request that 50 negroes be detailed
to exploit the mine. The quality of the ore was apparently satisfactory
for the casting of cannon, and the king ordered that it be used for
ballast in ships returning from Havana, in order to furnish material for
the Royal Spanish Navy.

In 1580, some mining was done, but the find soon proved to be a pocket
and not a true vein, and the cost of transportation to Havana was
declared prohibitive, in spite of the fact that it showed a “fifth part
good copper.” Other copper mines were afterwards reported in the
neighborhood of Bayamo, near the southeastern center of the Province of
Oriente.

In May, 1587, although comparatively little copper had been taken from
“El Cobre” mine, due largely to lack of food crops in the vicinity with
which to supply the slaves, the Governor reported that “There is so much
metal, and the mines are so numerous that they could supply the world
with copper, and only lately there is news of a new mine of even better
metal than the rest.”

Effective work in these mines began in 1599. The much needed protection
from the incursion of pirates and privateers, that had long preyed on
Spain’s possessions in the West Indies, revived industries of all kinds
in Cuba, especially copper mining and ship-building. Juan de Texeda, who
had been commissioned by the King to go to Havana and do what he could
towards protecting the rich shipments of gold that were being sent from
Mexico to Spain against the attacks of the English Admiral, Drake,
sampled Cuban copper and pronounced it excellent. On the site of the
present Maestranza Building, now devoted to the Department of Public
Works and the Public Library, Texeda soon established a foundry, where
he “cast the copper into both cannon and kettles.”

The mining of copper with profit depends on the price of the metal in
the market and on the cost of extracting and transporting the ore to the
smelter. This, of course, is true with all metals, hence it frequently
happens that mines containing abundant ore are not worked, owing to the
fact that the cost of production, when taken into consideration with the
market price, eliminates the possibility of profit. During the past
century the mines of “El Cobre” and vicinity, the extent of whose
deposits seem to be almost unlimited, have been worked at such times and
to such an extent as the market price of the ore would seem to justify.

Indications, such as boulders that through seismic disturbances or
erosion seem to have rolled down from their original beds, and
occasional outcroppings of copper-bearing ore, are found in every
Province of the Island, although up to 1790 but few explorations worthy
of mention were made outside of the Province of Oriente. The demands for
metals of all kinds, especially chrome, manganese and copper, have
resulted in more or less desultory prospecting since 1915, which has
resulted in finding outcroppings of copper scattered throughout the
mountains of Pinar del Rio. Claims have been located near Mantua,
Vinales, Las Acostas, Santa Lucia, Pinar del Rio, and at various places
between La Esperenza and Bahia Honda along the north coast.

Reports of copper or “claims,” resulting from traces found, have been
made also in the Isle of Pines and at Minas, only a short distance east
of the city of Havana, in that province. Copper claims have been
registered near Pueblo Nuevo, too, in the Province of Matanzas. In the
province of Santa Clara, claims have been recorded in the districts of
Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Sancti Spiritus. Several very promising copper
mines have been opened up in this province that will undoubtedly yield a
profit if worked under intelligent management and with the judicious
employment of capital. In the Province of Camaguey, copper has been
discovered near Minas, and as several different places along the line of
the Sierra de Cubitas. In Oriente, copper claims have been registered
near Holguin and Bayamo, while “El Cobre,” of course, has been famous
for its yield of ore since the days of the Spanish conquerors.

The excessive demand for copper resulting from the War in Europe,
together with the high prices offered for that metal, recalled the fact
that many years ago Spanish engineers and prospectors, among the hills
of Pinar del Rio, frequently found small outcroppings of copper ore, and
in some cases sank shafts for short distances, where the ore had been
removed and carried to the coast on mule back. The low price of copper
at that time, however, and the scarcity of labor following the abolition
of slavery at the conclusion of the Ten Years’ War, discouraged serious
work on the part of the old timers, traces of whose efforts still remain
at various points along the northern slope of the Organos Mountains.

The first record we have of the exploration of the mineral zone in which
the famous copper mine of this Province was discovered, dates back to
1790, but it resulted in no definite or profitable work. An English
company of which General Narciso Lopez was president, during the early
part of the 19th century, made some explorations in the district of El
Brujo and Cacarajicara, located in the mountains back of Bahia Honda;
but the defeat of Lopez’s revolutionary forces, and his subsequent
execution in 1851, put an end to the effort.

Shortly after the Spanish American War, Col. John Jacob Astor, the
American millionaire, became interested in the copper deposits of Pinar
del Rio, which resulted in the establishment of several claims, none of
which, however, were developed. Shortly after this a Mr. Argudin located
claims known as Regelia and Jesus Sacramento, the former only two
kilometers from that of the mine Matahambre. A small amount of
preliminary work was done, but apparently proved unpromising.

In 1912 Alfredo Porta, a well-known citizen and politician of Pinar del
Rio, interested Mr. Luciano Diaz, a former Secretary of the Treasury and
a man of some means, in a claim which he had denounced some eight
kilometers back from La Esperanza, on the north coast of the province.
Messrs. Porta and Diaz secured the services of an experienced mining
engineer, Mr. Morse, who visited the district, made a careful survey of
the claim, and informed the owners that in his estimate Matahambre was
worthy of the investment of any amount of capital, since the grade of
the ore, and the amount exposed through Mr. Morse’s preliminary work,
was sufficient to place it in the list of paying mineral properties.

Work began at Matahambre in the early part of 1913 under the technical
direction of C. L. Constant, of New York. During the first year a number
of galleries, only a little below the surface, were thrown out in
different directions. Paying ore found in these galleries was very
promising. The first two carloads of ore, shipped by rail from the City
of Pinar del Rio to Havana, sold for a sufficient amount of money to pay
for all of the preliminary work that had been done. In 1915, a shaft was
sunk to a depth of 100 feet and afterwards carried down to the 400-foot
level, where it about reached the level of the sea. Later this shaft was
sent down 150 feet further. The ore taken out at the 400-foot level
proved to be the highest grade of all found, although it is said that no
ore was encountered at any depth that was not of sufficient value more
than to pay for the cost of mining. In fact the percentage of gold and
silver in many cases has paid for the expense of mining the copper. In
1918, six shafts, known as 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, were in operation, and
all yielding excellent ore. There are some 15 different varieties of
copper ore taken from Matahambre.

The ore for some time was conveyed to the docks at Santa Lucia with mule
teams and motor trucks. These were eventually replaced by wire cables
and the ore was sent to the coast by gravity, greatly decreasing the
cost of transportation. Splendid wharves and receiving sheds, dumps,
etc., have been built at Santa Lucia, whence the ore is lightered out to
deep water anchorage. Fully 300 tons a day are now being removed and
conveyed to the landing. An average of 8,000 tons a month is shipped in
steamers that can take aboard 800 tons a day. This mineral is consigned
to the United States Metal Refining Company. In 1916, thirty-three
steamers carried 75,000 tons of mineral to this Company.

Quite a little city has sprung up around the mine, and 2,000 men are
given employment by the Company. Comfortable quarters have been erected
for the officials, employees and other members of the force. A large
amount of ore was mined in 1918 and held for the completion of a new
concentration plant, which will enable the Company to utilize ore which
under war freight rates would not have been profitable to export.
Following the demise of Sr. Luciano Diaz, his son Antonio Diaz assumed
control and is carrying on the work of the proposed improvements.

At the time of the closing of the Spanish régime in Cuba, fourteen
mineral claims had been made in the Province of Pinar del Rio. Between
1909 and 1911, 212 were denounced, including 48 of the Company headed by
Mr. Astor. From 1911 to 1918, 2970 claims were registered in the Bureau
of Mines. A large proportion of the interest in copper mining in Pinar
del Rio was undoubtedly the result of the wonderful wealth that has come
from Matahambre, the ore from which mined in 1916 was valued at
$5,500,000.

Not until the early part of the 19th century did the presence of those
enormous deposits of iron ore found throughout the mountain districts of
Oriente present themselves to the outside world as a profitable
commercial proposition.

Nearly all of the great iron deposits of Oriente lie within a few feet
of the surface; and on the southern slopes of the Sierra Maestra it is
necessary only to scrape the dirt from the side of the hills, take out
the ore and send it down to the sea coast by gravity. Similar conditions
exist at the Mayari mines on the north coast, just back of Nipe Bay,
where the deposits need nothing but washing with cold water. The soil
being thus removed at little cost, the iron is ready for shipment to the
smelters of the United States.

In spite of the fact that this ore was found to be equal to the best
Swedish, and that nature in her own laboratories had supplied the
requisite amount of nickel and manganese, making these mines of Oriente
perhaps the most valuable in the world, but little attention has been
paid to this marvellously rich source of minerals, beyond those few who
are drawing dividends from the industry. The recent purchase of the
Spanish American Iron Company’s holdings at Daiquiri for $32,000,000,
however, has called the attention of mining interests in the United
States to the fact that millions of tons of untouched ore still lie in
the eastern provinces of Cuba. Twenty-five percent of the area of
Oriente contains wonderful deposits of ore, mostly iron, and awaits only
the necessary capital to place it on the markets of the world.

This nickeliferous iron ore, in which the presence of nickel, so
essential to the making of steel, has been contributed by nature in just
the right proportions, is found in large quantities also in the
provinces of Camaguey and Pinar del Rio. The extent of these mineral
deposits is not yet known, but millions of tons are in sight, awaiting
only cheap transportation to bring them into the markets of the world,
where the grade and quality of the ore will undoubtedly command
satisfactory prices.

Up to the present time nearly all of the iron ore exported from Cuba
comes from the large deposits of Oriente. The iron on the south coast is
loaded into the steamers from the wharves at Daiquiri and Juraguay. That
on the north coast, brought down from the Mayari mines, is shipped from
the harbor of Nuevitas.

Below are given the tons of copper and iron shipped from Cuba during the
year from July, 1917, to June, 1918:

                             IRON    COPPER
                             tons     tons
  July to December, 1917   272,403  41,809
  January to June, 1918    218,301  52,569
  Total                    490,704  94,378

On the south side of the Sierra de Cubitas, in the Province of Camaguey,
a distinctly marked zone of this excellent iron ore runs parallel to the
main chain of the Cubitas for many miles. Grass covered hills, rising
more or less abruptly from the surface, seem to be composed of solid
masses of iron ore. So great is the value of this mineral zone that the
North Shore Road of Cuba, now under construction and practically
completed from its eastern deep water terminus on Nuevitas Harbor to the
Maximo River just east of the Sierra de Cubitas, was primarily intended
as a means of exploiting and conveying the ore from this zone to the sea
coast.

In the western portion of the Organ Mountains of Pinar del Rio, other
deposits of nickeliferous iron have been denounced and registered,
although the cost of building a railroad to deep water on the north
coast up to the present prevented the development of the mines, located
about 20 miles southeast of Arroyo de Mantua.

With the enormous amount of constructive work that will undoubtedly
follow the great European War, in which iron and steel will play such an
important part, there is every reason to believe that capital will be
forthcoming with which to build the necessary roads and to develop the
nickel bearing iron ores of Cuba.

Structural steel, today and in the future, will probably play a greater
part in the world’s progress and development than any other one of the
products of nature. The demand for steel, of course, was greatly
accentuated by the European conflict, without which modern warfare would
be practically impossible. The splendid steel turned out in our mills of
today would be impossible of manufacture without the addition of a
certain percentage of either manganese or chrome. The alloys of these
two metals with iron gives steel its elasticity, hardness and real
value.

Manganese ores are found in California, Colorado, Arkansas, Georgia,
Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia, but nowhere within the limits of the
United States have the United States have the deposits of manganese
proved to be sufficiently extensive to supply the domestic requirements
of the country, even in normal times. The total output of manganese in
the United States in 1901 was less than 12,000 tons. Southern Russia
contains very large deposits of the metal, but up to 1919, 70% to 80% of
the manganese consumed in the United States had been brought from the
interior of Southern Brazil.

The immediate and imperative demand for both manganese and chrome,
impelled the Government at Washington to seek other sources, closer by,
in order to save the time consumed in securing shipments from Brazil.

Small amounts of manganese had been secured from Cuba during the ten
years previous to the War, but the extent of these deposits remained
unknown until, in the spring of 1918, the United States Geological
Survey and Bureau of Mines sent two expert engineers, Messrs. Albert
Burch, consulting engineer of the Bureau of Mines, and Ernest F.
Burchard, geologist of the United States Geological Survey, to Cuba in
order to ascertain the quality and quantity of manganese and chrome that
might be furnished by that Republic.

The party reached Havana in the latter part of February, and were there
joined by Sr. E. I. Montoulieu, a Cuban mining engineer, detailed by the
Treasury Department to act as an escort and associate throughout
research work in the Island. During the two months of their stay these
gentlemen made a rapid survey of the more important chrome and manganese
zones, the report of which was made to the United States Government in
September of 1918.

The chrome deposits, which up to the time of the visit of these
engineers had attracted attention in Cuba, are all located within
distances varying from ten to twenty-five miles from the north coast of
the Island. Some twelve groups were examined which displayed
considerable diversity in quality, size and accessibility.

Manganese claims have been registered near Mantua and Vinales, in the
Province of Pinar del Rio, but time did not permit an extended study of
those deposits. Valuable manganese deposits of known value are found
also in the districts of Cienfuegos and Trinidad in the Province of
Santa Clara. By far the largest deposits of this ore, and the only ones
that are being extensively worked, are located in the Province of
Oriente.

The most westerly deposit of chrome visited was found in the eastern
part of Havana province, and two others were located, one near Coliser,
in the Province of Matanzas, another near Canasi, and a third near the
automobile drive about half way between the City of Matanzas and
Cardenas. In the province of Camaguey, only a few miles north of the
city, valuable deposits of chrome were found quite accessible to the
railroad for shipment. Other chrome deposits were found in Oriente; one
near Holguin, another south of Nipe Bay, and three groups in the
mountains not far from the coast between Punta Corda and Baracoa.

All of the chrome deposits examined by these engineers were found in
serpentinized basic rocks. The ore lies in lenticular and tabular
masses, ranging in thickness from one to more than fifty feet. The ore
is generally fine grained to medium coarse, and runs from spotted
material, consisting of black grains of chromite ranging in diameter
from 1/30 to 1/4 of an inch, embedded in light green serpentine, to a
solid black material containing little or no visible serpentine.

Most of the masses of ore are highly inclined and certain of them are
exposed in ravines, on steep hillsides and in mountainous or hilly
regions. The deposits west of Nipe Bay are in areas of moderate relief,
and those near Camaguey are in an area of very low relief. The deposits
in the eastern part of Oriente, which are the largest visited, are in a
mountainous country and very difficult of access.

In Havana Province small pockets of chrome ore have been found about two
miles south of Canasi, ten miles from the railroad. A little mining has
been done and about 600 tons of ore shipped.

In Matanzas Province small deposits of chrome were visited on the “Jack”
claim, seven miles northwest of the railroad station on Mocha, and on
the Anna Maria claim ten miles west of Cardenas. The latter is only two
miles from the railroad but no ore had been shipped from it.
Considerable development work has been done on the “Jack” claim and
about 450 tons of ore were on hand in February of 1918.

Another promising claim was located in a group of several serpentine
hills that rise from the comparatively level surface about a mile north
of kilometer 36, on the automobile drive between Cardenas and Matanzas.
The outcropping chrome and loose lumps of float, found on the surface,
were of high grade, exceeding probably 50%.

Since the visit of the American engineers another very promising
chromite claim has been located some four kilometers from the railroad,
near Coliseo, in the Province of Matanzas. The owners of this claim
announce an unlimited quantity of good grade ore, and were shipping in
the winter of 1918 and 1919 two carloads of ore per day to the United
States by rail, using the Havana and Key West Ferry. Messrs. Burch and
Burchard state in their report that the geological conditions in the
areas referred to above warrant further exploration.

The deposits of chrome examined in Camaguey consist of three groups,
which lie along a narrow zone, beginning nine miles north of the City of
Camaguey and extending southeast to a point only two miles from Alta
Gracia, on the Nuevitas Railroad. A level plain, covered with a thin
mantle of clay and limonite gravel, extends from the City of Camaguey
northward until its junction with the hills of the Sierra de Cubitas,
rendering the country easily accessible by wagon road. Float ore is
found in this zone, and broken ore caps some ten or twelve small hills
that rise from five to fifty feet above the surrounding surface. In this
zone there are also fifteen or more other outcroppings of chromite,
most of them obscured by broken ore and rock debris. Prospecting has
been done here to obtain samples of ore for analysis, but it has not
shown either the nature or the extent of the deposits. On the surface,
however, there is a considerable quantity of ore in the form of broken
rocks or coarse float, probably 20,000 tons.

Ten samples of ore from the deposits near Camaguey contain from 27% to
36% of chromic oxide. Only two produced less than 30% while a few ran
above 35%. This is a low grade ore but is suitable for certain purposes.
If it should require concentration, sufficient water is available in
small streams within a mile of the deposit.

Twenty miles north of Camaguey, near the eastern end of the Cubitas iron
ore beds, are several other deposits of chrome that were examined by A.
C. Spencer of the United States Geological Survey in 1907. All of these
denoted noteworthy quantities of chrome float, apparently of high grade,
and the occurrence of tabular bodies of chrome from one to five feet in
width. On one claim boulders of chrome ore are distributed over a belt
of some 1700 feet, and on another, fragments of ore are found in an area
150 by 250 feet. On still another claim, five deposits lie within an
area measuring 1200 by 3000 feet. One of these seems to be continuous
for something over 900 feet.

Both chrome and manganese are scattered throughout various sections of
Oriente and the largest deposits of these minerals as well as those of
iron are located in this Province. Small deposits of chrome are located
some seven miles northeast of Holguin, on the slopes of a low ridge of
serpentine that lies between two higher ridges of steeply inclined
limestone, about a half mile distant from each other. One pocket had
yielded about 150 tons of ore, which with 25 tons of float was ready for
shipment in March, 1918. Analysis of samples showed an average of 34% of
chromic oxide. The maximum content of chromium in pure chromite is
46.66% and the content of chromic oxide is 68%. Late in July of that
year the company’s consulting engineer reported that a large body of 40%
ore had been developed, and that in all about 500 tons were ready for
shipment.

One of the larger deposits of chrome that gives promise of a
considerable output is located on the south slope of the Sierra de Nipe,
about seven miles southeast of Woodfred, the headquarters of the Spanish
American Iron Company’s Mayari mines. The upper part of the ore body
crops out of a steep hillside about 300 feet above a mountain stream,
flowing into a small tributary of the Mayari River, and seems to be from
ten to thirty feet in thickness. Where it does not crop out, it lies
from 30 to 50 feet below the surface. The ore varies in quality, the
better grade carrying as high as 48% of chromic oxide, with 7% to 15% of
silica, and 7% to 10% of iron. The deposit was estimated to contain
about 50,000 tons of chrome ore, 25,000 tons of which would carry more
than 40% of chromic oxide and the remaining 25,000 tons between 34% and
40%.

The Cayojuan group of chrome ore claims are located on both sides of a
small river emptying into Moa Bay, and lie at an altitude of about 750
feet above the sea level. An outcrop that extends around the hill for
about 300 feet, and covers some 6,400 square feet, has been prospected.
Samples on analysis gave an average of 38.1% chromic oxide.

The Narciso claim, which nearly surrounds the above group, includes an
ore body that crops out on a steep hillside, about 500 feet above the
river. A sample of ore from this outcrop showed an analysis of 34.8% of
chromic oxide.

The Cromita claims, one the left side of the river, contain three known
ore bodies, and hundreds of tons of boulder float ore, in an arroyo or
gulch. The ore bodies are exposed on the side of a bluff at a height of
150 to 300 feet above the river. The most northerly ore body shows a
face 20 feet wide and 15 feet high. The middle body includes an outcrop
75 feet long and 50 feet high and has been penetrated by cutting a
tunnel. Geological conditions would indicate that these bodies are
connected within the hill. Samples of these ores on analysis varied from
26% to 40.5% of chromic oxide.

The deposits of the Cayojuan group contain probably about 22,500 tons of
available chrome ore, but may run as high as 60,000 tons. These
estimates include 2,000 tons of float ore in the Cayojuan River and the
tributary arroyo. The group of deposits is about eight miles by mule
trail from an old wharf at Punta Gorda, to which a road will have to be
built along the valley of the Cayojuan, a narrow gorge bordered in many
places by steep cliffs. A light tramway for mule cars, or a narrow gauge
steam railway, will probably be the most economical way of removing the
ore.

The Potosi chrome claim is located on Saltadero Creek four miles above
its mouth. This is a tributary of the Yamaniguey River. The ore body is
a steeply dipping lens that reaches a depth of more than 100 feet and at
one place has a thickness of 250 feet with a length along the strike, of
45 feet. The upper edge crops out about 325 feet above the creek bed,
and about 600 feet above sea level. The ore is medium to coarse grained.
Some of the material in the drifts is spotted but most of the
outcropping and float ore is black and of good appearance. According to
the analysis that accompanied the report of G. W. Maynard, the
representative ore contains 35% to 41% chromic oxide. This deposit
contains from 10,000 to 20,000 tons and the work of getting the ore to
the coast involves rather a difficult problem in transportation.

A small body of chrome ore occurs on the Constancia claim,
three-quarters of a mile south of Navas Bay, and about 100 feet above
the sea level. The ore body appears to extend about 50 feet along the
face of a gently sloping hill. It is not of a uniform quality, being
largely a spotted ore; that is chromite mixed with serpentine ganue.
About six feet of better ore, however, is exposed in a cut some 25 feet
in length. This contains 39.4% chromic oxide. Water for concentration is
available near by in the Navas River, and a road could easily be built
to the bay, but this is not deep enough for steamers, so it would have
to be lightered four miles north to Taco Bay, or ten miles southeast to
Baracoa. Another body containing about 10,000 tons of chrome ore of
low-grade lies in the mountain eight miles south of Navas Bay.

The reserves of marketable chrome ore that have been prospected in Cuba
up to the summer of 1918, range from 92,500 long tons to 170,000. The
largest known deposits of chrome ore, or at least the largest of those
visited by the engineers Burch and Burchard in the spring of 1918, are
those of the Caledonia, and the Cayojuan and the Potosi claims, near the
northeast coast of Oriente Province, in a region of rather difficult
access. According to indications, they will probably yield 130,000 tons
of ore, most of which can be brought to the present commercial grade by
simple concentration.

The next largest group of chrome ore deposits is near Camaguey. They are
very easy of access, but are of a lower grade than those of Oriente.
They appear to contain a maximum of about 40,000 tons of ore that can be
gathered by hand from the surface.

Near Holguin, Cardenas and Matanzas, are small stocks of ore ready for
shipment, perhaps 1,000 tons. The most productive chrome mine operating
in the fall of 1918 seemed to be that of the “Britannia Company,”
located about twelve miles southwest of Cardenas and about 80 miles from
Havana. Two carloads a day were being shipped by rail from Coliseo to
Havana, and thence by ferry to Key West and northern smelters.

The manganese ores of Cuba occur principally in sedimentary rocks such
as limestone, sandstone and shale, that in places have become
metamorphosed, but in the most heavily mineralized zones are associated
with masses of silicious rocks, locally temed “jasper” and “byate.” In
one locality the manganese and its silicious associates were found in
igneous rocks, such as Latite-porphyry and Latite. The sedimentary rocks
with which manganese deposits are usually associated are in some places
nearly horizontal, but generally show dips ranging from a few degrees to
forty-five or more. The inclined beds usually represent portions of
local folds. Some faulting is shown in the vicinity of various manganese
deposits and may have influenced the localization of the deposits.

Manganese ore is found in Oriente, Santa Clara and Pinar del Rio
provinces, but only in Oriente has it been found in large commercial
quantities. In Oriente the deposits are in three areas, one north and
northeast of Santiago de Cuba, another south of Bayamo and Baire, and
the third on the Caribbean coast between Torquino Peak and Portillo. The
first two include the most extensive deposits on the Island. In Santa
Clara ore has been found near the Caribbean coast west of Trinidad, and
in Pinar del Rio Province manganese ore occurs north of the city of
Pinar del Rio and farther west near Mendoza.

The deposits of the northeast coast and those south of Bayamo, distant
from each other approximately 100 miles, show nevertheless an
interesting concordance in altitude. They stand from 500 to 1200 feet
above sea level and nearly all of them are at altitude near 600 and 700
feet, suggesting a relation between the deposition of the manganese and
a certain stage in the physiographic development of the region. Most of
the manganese ore deposits are above drainage level, on the slopes of
hills of moderate height, the maximum relief in the immediate vicinity
of the deposits seldom exceeding 500 feet.

The deposits of manganese ore examined in Cuba are rather diverse, but
may be grouped into three general physical types--buried deposits,
irregular masses associated with silicious rock or “jaspar,” and
deposits in residual clay. The buried deposits comprise several
varieties, one of the most common being of poorly consolidated beds of
sandy chloritic material, cemented, with manganese oxides, that fill
inequalities in the surface of hard rocks. Other bedded deposits clearly
replace limestone, shale conglomerate or other rocks, and tabular masses
of ore are interbedded with strata of nearly horizontal limestone. The
ore consists largely of Pyrolusite, but many deposits contain
Psilomelane, Manganite and Wad, or mixtures of all these materials. The
richness of the deposits varies considerably. Most of the richest masses
are associated with the “jaspar,” but masses that have replaced
limestone are also very rich.

The deposits of manganese examined in the Santiago district comprise the
Ponupo Group, the Ysobelita, Botsford, Boston, Pilar, Dolores, Laura,
San Andrea, Cauto or Abundancia, Llave and Gloria Mines, together with
the Caridad and Valle prospects. All of these properties except the two
prospects are producing ore. The Ponupo, Ysobelita and Boston mines were
opened many years ago and have produced a large quantity of ore. The
Ponupo and Ysobelita are still relatively large producers, though the
grade of ore is not so high as that shipped in the earlier days. The
Ponupo mine is connected with the Cuba Railroad at La Maya by a branch
two miles long, and a narrow gauge track from Cristo, on the Cuba
Railroad, runs to the Ysobelita mine three miles distant. Extensions of
this line to the Boston and Pilar mines can be made with little
additional outlay. The Dolores and Laura mines are near the Guantanamo &
Western Railroad, not far from Sabanilla station, and the Cauto mine is
adjacent to the Cuba Railroad at Manganeso Station. The other mines are
from one to eight miles from the railroad, to which the ore is hauled
mainly by oxcarts. In the rainy season these roads are impassable, and
even in the dry season they include many difficult places, so that the
quantity of the output is much less than could be mined under different
circumstances.

The ore is mined by hand, mostly from open cuts, though short drifts
and tunnels have been run into lenses of ore at the Ponopu, Cauto and
Laura mines, and a slope has been driven on a thin tabular mass of ore
between strata of limestone, dipping about 34 degrees, at the Botsford.

High grade ore may be selected in mining the richer parts of these
deposits, but most of it requires mechanical treatment, such as long
washing and jigging to free it from clay, sand and other impurities. At
one mine the ore is cleaned by raking over a horizontal screen in a
stream of water. Log washers are in operation at some mines and under
construction at others. At one time a system of washing, screening and
jigging is employed. They daily production of manganese ore in March,
1918, from this district, was about 300 tons.

The approximate average composition of the ore now shipped is as
follows:

  Manganese    38.885%
  Silica       12.135%
  Phosphorus     .084%
  Moisture     11.201%

The greater part of the manganese ore from this district contains from
36% to 45% manganese, a few thousand tons running over 45%.

The manganese deposits examined by Messrs. Burch and Burchard south of
Bayamo consist of the Manuel, Costa group, 18 to 23 miles by wagon road
southwest of Bayamo; the Francisco and Cadiz groups, 15 and 20 miles
southeast of the same city; and Guinea, Llego and Charco Redondo, seven
to eight miles southeast of Santa Rite; and the Adriano and San Antonio
mines, 9 to 10 miles south of Bayari. Other deposits, further to the
southeast, are in what is known as the Los Negros district. But little
mining has been done so far in this district. Deposits of milling ore
are available and will undoubtedly be developed later if prices remain
favorable.

It was estimated in April, 1918, that the output of manganese from this
district, during 1918, would not exceed 12,000 tons, half of which would
be high-grade ore carrying from 45% to 55% of manganese. Later
developments, however, indicated a much larger output.

The reserve of manganese ore in this section was estimated at about
50,000 tons, but this does not include the Los Negros district which
lies further southeast, 25 to 35 miles from the railroad. Engineers who
have examined this zone believe that with good transportation facilities
it will yield a large output of high-grade ore from many small deposits.

Aside from difficult transportation facilities in some districts, one of
the chief obstacles in the way of a large yield of ore from the mines
has resulted from an inability to hold a sufficient number of miners at
certain mines, owing to an inadequate supply of foodstuffs. Many workmen
preferred to work in the sugar mills where good food was more readily
obtained and living conditions were easier. Lack of explosives also
handicapped mining in some districts. The building of narrow gauge
railroads in which the Cuban Federal Government will probably assist
will greatly contribute to the successful or profitable mining of
manganese in the Province of Oriente. The fact that most of the ore is
removed during the dry season, when the Cuba Company’s roads are taxed
to the limit in conveying sugar cane to the mills, also renders
transportation by rail rather uncertain.

Despite the handicaps outlined above, operators of manganese mines are
striving to increase their output, and there is a strong interest taken
everywhere in Cuba in developing manganese prospects. If railway cars
and ships are provided for transporting the ore, food for the mine
laborers, and explosives for blasting, the outlook for a steadily
increasing production is good. The output for 1918 was estimated at
between 110,000 and 125,000 tons, more than 90% of which runs from 36%
to 45% manganese, the remainder being of a higher grade. The reserves
of manganese ore in the mines above referred to in Oriente Province are
estimated at from 700,000 to 800,000 tons, 85% of which is located in
the district northeast of Santiago.




CHAPTER XII

ASPHALT AND PETROLEUM


The presence of bituminous products in Cuba has been a matter of record
since the days of the early Spanish conquerors. Sebastian Ocampo, that
adventurous follower of Columbus, in the year 1508 dropped into one of
the sheltered harbors of the north coast, not previously reported, in
order to make repairs on some of his battered caravels. Much to his
surprise and delight, while careening a boat to scrape the bottom some
of his men ran across a stream of soft asphalt or mineral pitch, oozing
from the shore near by. Nothing could have been more convenient for
Ocampo, and according to the early historians he made a very favorable
report on the advantages of Cuba for ship building. First she had well
protected harbors in plenty, with an abundance of cedar and sabicu from
which to cut planking; there were majagua, oak and other woods from
which to hew the timbers. Tall straight pines grew near the harbor of
Nipe that would do for masts. From the majagua bark and textile plants,
tough fibre could be obtained with which to make the rigging. Both iron
and copper were at hand for nails and bolts. All that was lacking seemed
to be the material for the sails, and even this could have been found
had he known where to look.

So convenient did this harbor prove to the needs of Ocampo that he
called it Puerto Carenas, by which name it was known until 1519, when
the 50 odd citizens left by Velasco a few years before on the south
coast, where they had tried to found a city, moved up from the
Almandares to Puerto Carenas and straightway changed its name to the Bay
of Havana, by which it has since been known.

The same little stream of semi-liquid asphalt can today be seen, issuing
from the rocky shore along the east side of the bay. This deposit was
mentioned by Oviedo in 1535, who referred also to other asphalt deposits
found along the north coast of what was then known as Puerto Principe.
These asphalt deposits, so close to the shore, were undoubtedly utilized
by the navigators of the 16th and following centuries in making repairs
to the numerous fleets that were kept busy plying between Spain and the
New World.

Alexander Von Humboldt, who in the year 1800 came across from Venezuela
to Cuba to study the flora, fauna and natural resources of the Island,
mentioned what he called the petroleum wells of the Guanabacoa Ridge,
located not far from Havana, at a point once known as the mineral
springs of Santa Rita. Richard Cowling Taylor and Thomas C. Clemson, in
a book published in 1837, mentioned “the petroleum wells of Guanabacoa”
which had been known for three centuries and that were undoubtedly the
wells to which Baron Von Humboldt had previously referred. La Sagra,
too, in 1828, described petroleum fields located near Havana, and in
1829, Joaquin Navarro described several deposits of bituminous material
in a report which he made to the “Real Sociedad Patriotica.”

The bituminous deposits referred to by Taylor and Clemson proved to be a
solid form of asphalt. It was afterward used in large quantities as a
substitute for coal. They speak of finding crude petroleum also, filling
the cavities in masses of chalcedony, only a few yards distant from the
asphalt. The place referred to was afterwards ceded to the mining
companies of Huatey and San Carlos, located twelve miles from Havana,
where may still be seen the original wells.

In a report on bituminous products of the Island by G. C. Moisant,
reference is made to a liquid asphalt or petroleum found in Madruga, a
small town southeast of Havana. This petroleum product, according to
recent investigations, flows from cavities in the serpentine rocks
found near Madruga and surrounding towns.

An oil claim was registered in 1867 near Las Minas, 18 kilometers east
of Havana, as the result of oil indications in the cavities of rocks
that cropped out on the surface. A well was opened that yielded some oil
at a depth of 61 meters. This was sunk later to 129 meters but
afterwards abandoned. Within the last few years several wells have been
drilled in the vicinity of the old Santiago claim and have produced a
considerable amount of oil.

The General Inspector of Mines, Pedro Salterain, in 1880 reported the
presence of liquid asphalt, or a low grade of crude petroleum, that
flowed from a serpentine dyke, cropping out on the old Tomasita
Plantation near Banes, on the north coast some twenty miles west of
Havana. The product was used for lighting the estate. All of the wells
of this province are located on lands designated by geologists as
belonging to the cretaceous period. This is true of those properties
where indications of petroleum are found near Sabanilla de la Palma and
La Guanillas, in the Province of Matanzas.

During a century or more, hydrocarbon gases have issued from the soil in
a district east of Itabo, in the Province of Matanzas. In 1880, Manuel
Cueto had a well drilled on the Montembo Farm in this district. He
finally discovered at a depth of 95 meters a deposit of remarkably pure
naphtha which yielded about 25 gallons a day. It was a colorless,
transparent, liquid, very inflammable, and leaving no perceptible
residue after combustion. Cueto afterwards opened another well to a
depth of 248 meters and there discovered a deposit of naphtha that
produced 250 gallons per day. According to T. Wayland Vaughn of the
United States Geological Service such gases are plentiful in the
surrounding hills.

In June, 1893, commercial agents of the United States Government
reported that petroleum had been found near Cardenas of a grade much
better than the crude oils imported from the United States. In
November, 1894, another commercial agent from Washington reported that
asphalt deposits near the city of Cardenas could produce from a thousand
to five thousand tons of this material a year.

In 1901 Herbert R. Peckham, describing asphalt fields east and south of
Cardenas, mentions the drilling of a well by Lucas Alvarez, in search of
petroleum, which he found at a depth of 500 feet, and from which he
pumped 1000 gallons of petroleum, but this exhausted the supply of the
well. As a result of investigations made by Mr. Peckham, seepages of
crude oil and liquid asphalt of varying density may be found here over a
district measuring about 4,500 square miles.

Near the city of Santa Clara there is a petroleum field known as the
Sandalina, samples of which were analyzed by H. M. Stokes in 1890, which
he reported to be quite similar to the crude petroleum of Russia. In the
neighborhood of Sagua and Caibarien, in the northern part of Santa Clara
Province, petroleum fields have recently been discovered, and others in
the southern part of the Province of Matanzas.

Large deposits of asphalt, of varying grades and densities, have been
found at intervals along the north coast of the Province of Pinar del
Rio. From the harbor of Mariel a narrow gauge road has been built back
to mines some six miles distant, over which, up to the beginning of the
European War, asphalt was brought to the waterside and loaded directly
into sailing vessels, bound for the United States and Europe. Other
deposits have been found at La Esperanza and Cayo Jabos, a little
further west along the same coast, and in the estimation of some well
informed engineers this Pinar del Rio coast furnishes the most promising
field for petroleum prospecting of all in Cuba.

As a result of the petroleum excitement, brought about by reports of
surface indications and of the success of the Union Oil Company’s
drillings, many claims have been registered for both asphalt and
petroleum within recent years. Up to the last day of December, 1917, 215
claims were filed in the Bureau of Mines, covering an area of about
25,000 acres. In the same time 88 claims, scattered throughout the
various Provinces, were registered for oil, comprising a total area of
about 40,000 acres.

This scramble for oil lands has resulted in the formation of some fifty
different companies, most of which have issued large amounts of stock,
and many of which will properly come under the head of “wildcat”
adventures. This, however, has happened in other countries under similar
circumstances; notably in the United States.

In the fall of 1918 some 15 companies were drilling for oil, most of
which yielded very little results. This was due in some instances to
inadequate machinery, and in others to inefficient workmen, together
with absolute lack of any definite knowledge of the district in which
they were working. In addition to this, nearly all of the wells drilled
have either found oil or stopped at a depth of 1000 feet. In only a few
instances have wells been sunk to a depth of 3000 feet, and most of
these were in a section where almost nothing was known of the geology of
the country.

In Sabanilla de la Palma, the Cuban Oil and Mining Corporation drilled
to a depth of 1036 feet. On reaching the 120-foot level, they penetrated
a layer of asphalt four feet in thickness, and found petroleum in small
quantities at two other levels. At 1037 feet they met petroleum of a
higher grade, and are planning to sink the well to a depth of 4000 feet
with the idea of finding still richer deposits.

About two kilometers west of Caimito de Guayabal, near the western
boundary of Havana Province, Shaler Williams has drilled several wells,
one to a depth of 1800 feet, which produced oil and gas, but in small
quantities. The gas has furnished him light and power on his farm for
several years.

Since 1914 the Union Oil Company has been successfully exploiting the
Santiago claim near Bacuranao, some 12 miles east of Havana. During 1917
and 1918, this company drilled ten wells with varying results. One of
these reached a depth of 700 feet, producing three or four barrels of
excellent petroleum per day, but was afterwards abandoned. Wells 2 and 3
were abandoned at a depth of only a few hundred feet on account of
striking rock too difficult to penetrate. Well No. 4, at a depth of 560
feet, produced oil at the rate of 10 to 15 barrels per day. No. 5
yielded 400 barrels per day. No. 6 was abandoned at 1912 feet without
showing any oil. No. 7 yielded petroleum at 1000 feet, but only in small
quantities. No. 8, at 1009 feet, produces a good supply of oil. No. 9,
at the same depth, also produces oil, while No. 10, sunk to a depth of
1012 feet, produced a little oil at 272 and 1000 feet. These ten wells
have all been drilled in a restricted area measuring about 300 meters
each way.

The crude petroleum of the Union Oil Company’s wells is of a superior
quality, analysis showing 13% gasoline and 30% of illuminating oil.
Between December, 1916, and June, 1918, these wells produced 1,740,051
gallons of crude. This oil is at present sold to the West Indian
Refining Company at the rate of 12¢ per gallon.

Just north of the Union Oil Company’s wells are what are known as the
Jorge Wells, where the Cuban Petroleum Company have been drilling for
oil since 1917. They sank one well to 840 feet, which at first produced
25 barrels a day, but afterwards dropped to two barrels a day, although
producing a great quantity of gas. Well No. 2 of this company, sunk to
111 feet, was abandoned. Well No. 3 produced 210 barrels the first day,
but afterwards dwindled to an average of 100 barrels a day. In the month
of June, 1918, 3,385 barrels of oil were produced, together with a large
amount of gas, that is consumed for fuel in the two furnaces of the
company. All of this petroleum is sold to the West Indian Refining
Company, of Havana.

In another section of the Jorge Claim, the Republic Petroleum Company
drilled a well to a depth of 2,200 feet, finding petroleum at 995 feet.
East of the Santiago or Union Oil Company’s wells, the Bacuranao Company
sank a well to a depth of 1009 feet, that produced 12 barrels per hour
during several days. This company delivers its oil to market over the
Union Oil Company’s pipe lines.

The wells drilled on the Union Oil Company’s property, together with
those of the Jorge claim, are all grouped in an area that does not
exceed 20,000 square meters. Nearly all have produced petroleum at a
depth of approximately 1000 feet, most of them in small quantities; but
they may nevertheless be considered as producing on a commercial basis,
since their product sells at a good price.

The oil wells of Cuba so far have not produced anything like the
enormous quantities that issue from the wells in the United States and
Mexico, but the results are encouraging, especially since the
explorations so far have been confined to a very moderate depth, seldom
exceeding 1500 feet. It is quite probable that wells in this section
will be ultimately drilled to a depth of at least 4,000 feet.

Petroleum, as we know, is found in many different kinds of geological
formations. In Pennsylvania we meet crude oil in the Devonic and
carboniferous strata; in Canada in the Silurian; in the State of
Colorado in the cretaceous; in Virginia in the bituminous coal lands; in
South Carolina in the Triassic; in Venezuela it occurs in mica
formations; while in the Caucasus again it is in the cretaceous. No
fixed rule therefore can be said to designate or control the geological
formation that may yield oil.

All of the petroleum found in Cuba, so far, seems to have its origin in
cretaceous formations, corresponding probably to the Secondary. A
somewhat significant fact is that petroleum in this Island seems to be
invariably associated with igneous rocks. So far all of it, or at least
all in wells worthy of consideration, seems to come from deposits that
lie along the lines of contact between the serpentines and various
strata of sedimentary rocks. Up to the present, wells that have been
drilled in sedimentary strata, at any considerable distance from the
intrusion of serpentine rocks, have produced no results.

E. de Goyler has reached the conclusion that the oils found below the
serpentine, or at points of contact between serpentine and sedimentary
rocks, had their origin in Jurassic limestone. Rocks of this period form
a large part of the Organ Mountains of Pinar del Rio, and the above
quoted authority is confident that the asphalt and petroleum fields
found in the immediate vicinity of serpentine thrusts during volcanic
action are all filtrations from deposits far below the surface. This
view seems to agree with results of observation made in the neighborhood
of the Bacuranao oil fields, where the drills have usually penetrated a
considerable depth of serpentine rock before meeting the
petroleum-bearing strata of sand and limestone.

Frederick C. Clapp, in his study of the structural classification of
fields of petroleum and natural gas, read before the Geological Society
of America, stated that in Cuba there are undoubtedly deposits which he
designates as coming from a subdivision of sedimentary strata, with
masses of lacolites, an unusual form of deposit, met in the Furbero
Petroleum fields of Mexico, where oil bearing strata lie both above and
below the lacolite.

The consensus of opinion among experts who have examined the recent
explorations in the neighborhood of Bacuranao seems to be that in spite
of the fact that no oil well in Cuba, up to the present, has produced
large quantities of petroleum, there is excellent reason for believing
that wells drilled to a depth of three or four thousand feet, in zones
that have been carefully studied by competent geologists, may yet rival
in amount of production those of the best petroleum fields in other
parts of the world.

The deposits of asphalt in Cuba, in view of the extensive road building
planned for this Republic, have an undoubted present and future value
well worthy of consideration. Asphalt of excellent quality, and of
grades varying all the way from a remarkably pure, clean liquid form, up
through all degrees of consistency to the hard, dry, vitreous deposits
that resemble bituminous coal sufficiently to furnish an excellent fuel,
is found in Cuba in large quantities. Most of it is easily accessible,
and of grades that command very good prices for commercial purposes in
the world’s markets.




CHAPTER XIII

FORESTRY


The virgin forests of Cuba, at the time of the Spanish conquest, were
rich in hardwoods, such as mahogany, cedar, rosewood, ebony, lignum-vitæ
and many others unknown in the markets of the United States. During four
centuries these forests have been one of Cuba’s most important assets.
Unfortunately this source of wealth has been drawn upon without
forethought or discrimination since the first white settlers began to
use the products of the forest in 1515.

The completion of the North Shore Railroad of Camaguey, extending from
Caibarien to Nuevitas, will soon open up the great hardwood forests of
the Sierra de Cubitas and add greatly to the wealth of that district.

There are 367 varieties of valuable forest trees, described with more or
less detail in the Bureau of Forestry connected with the Department of
Agriculture of Cuba. More than half of these are susceptible of taking a
high polish, and would if known undoubtedly command remunerative prices
in the hardwood markets of the world. At the present time, two only,
cedar and mahogany, are sought and quoted in the commercial centers of
the United States.

While we find in Cuba few forest trees common to the United States,
nearly all of the standard woods, such as oak, hickory, ash, maple,
beech and walnut, seem to have their equivalents, from the viewpoint of
utility at least, in the native woods of this Island. For purposes of
manufacture, carriage making, naval uses, house building, cabinet work
and fine carving, or general construction, Cuba has many woods of
unsurpassed merit and often of rare beauty.

The following list contains 60 of the most useful woods found in the
forests of Cuba. Nearly all of these take a very high polish and are
valuable in the arts as well as for construction purposes. Not more than
a half dozen, unfortunately, are known to the hardwood trade, even by
name, and since most of these names are purely local, they would mean
little to the dealers outside of the Island of Cuba, where most of them
are in daily use;

     ACANA: indigenous to Cuba; grows to height of 50 feet with diameter
     of two feet; hard, compact, deep wine color; used in general
     construction work, and is especially valuable for making
     carpenters’ planes and tools. Wears indefinitely. Sp. Gr. 1.28.

     ACEITILLO: indigenous; grows to height of 30 feet; common
     throughout the Island; strong and tough; light yellow color; used
     for general construction. Sp. Gr. 1.04.

     AITE: indigenous; grows to height of 25 feet; diameter 2 feet; of
     common occurrence; strong and compact; light brown color; used in
     cabinet work. Sp. Gr. 1.07.

     AYUA BLANCO: indigenous; 55 feet in height; 2 feet in diameter;
     found in Pinar del Rio and Isle of Pines; soft; white in color;
     used for boxes, beehives, cross beams; produces a gum used in
     medicine. Sp. Gr. 0.72.

     ALMACIGO COLORADO: indigenous; 50 feet in height; 2 feet in
     diameter; found everywhere; soft; reddish color, used for fence
     posts and charcoal; has medicinal properties and produces resin.
     Sp. Gr. 0.38.

     AMIQUA: indigenous; 40 feet in height; 7 feet diameter; hard,
     compact, reddish in color; found in light soils; used for joists
     and beams, and for wagons. Sp. Gr. 1.16.

     ALGARROBO: indigenous; 75 feet in height, diameter 4-1/2 feet;
     strong; yellowish color; found in deep soils; used for building
     purposes; yields a varnish and has medicinal properties. Sp. Gr.
     0.64.

     ATEJA MACHO: indigenous; 50 feet in height; 3 feet in diameter;
     found throughout Island, also in Isle of Pines; flexible and hard;
     grey in color; used in general construction and ship building; Sp.
     Gr. 0.87.

     ATEJA HEMBRA: indigenous; 50 feet in height; 3 feet diameter; found
     in Pinar del Rio; hard, compact and heavy grained; yellow in color;
     found in deep soils; used for general carpenter work. Sp. Gr. 0.62.

     AGUACATILLO: indigenous; 55 feet in height; found all over Island,
     including Isle of Pines; soft and light; light green color; found
     in black lands; general carpenter work; Sp. Gr. 1.14.

     ARABO: indigenous; 25 feet in height; found on coast; fibrous,
     compact and strong; reddish brown color; used for poles and general
     carpenter work; bears fruit eaten by cattle; takes beautiful
     polish; Sp. Gr. 1.52.

     ABRAN DE COSTA: indigenous; found Pinar del Rio; strong, compact;
     mahogany color; cabinet work; Sp. Gr. 0.97.

     BAGA: indigenous; 25 feet in height; found on coast and on river
     banks; very light in weight; greyish brown in color; used for fish
     net floats; bears fruit eaten by cattle; Sp. Gr. 0.6.

     BARIA: indigenous; 50 feet in height; found all over Island, in
     deep soil; easily worked, dark brown color; used in general
     carpenter work; flowers produce feed for bees; takes a fine polish;
     Sp. Gr. 0.78.

     BRAZILETE COLORADO: indigenous; 25 feet in height; found on coast,
     also in the savannas; excellent wood; reddish brown; used for
     turning purposes and inlaid work; takes high polish; produces a
     dye; Sp. Gr. 0.9.

     BAYITO: indigenous; 30 feet in height; found in Pinar del Rio; hard
     and compact; variegated brown color; used for frames, posts, etc.;
     takes high polish. Sp. Gr. 1.25.

     CAGUAIRAN or QUIEBRA HACHA: indigenous; 45 feet height, 3 feet
     diameter; found in Oriente; resists rot; compact, heavy and hard;
     reddish brown color; used for beams, channel posts, etc. Sp. Gr.
     1.44.

     CANA FISTOLA CIMARRONA: indigenous; 45 feet in height, scattered
     over Island; beautiful, strong and resistant wood; reddish in
     color; adapted for tool handles. Sp. Gr. 0.87.

     CAIMITILLO: indigenous; 35 feet height; found all over Island;
     hard, tough wood; used in carriage manufacture; bears fruit; Sp.
     Gr. 1.1.

     CAREY DE COSTA: indigenous small tree, found on coasts and
     savannas; heavy and brittle; dark tortoise shell color; takes
     beautiful polish; used for cabinet work; Sp. Gr. 1.04.

     CERILLO: indigenous; 35 feet in height; diameter 18 inches; found
     in western end of Island; excellent wood; yellow in color; used for
     cabinet work; takes fine polish; Sp. Gr. 0.56.

     CARNE DE DONCELLA: indigenous; 50 feet height; 18 inches diameter;
     common in forests; compact, tough and hard; rose color; grown in
     rich lands; used for table tops and carriage work. Sp. Gr. 0.92.

     CHICHARRON AMARILLO: indigenous; 36 feet in height; 18 inches in
     diameter; common in forests; strong, elastic and durable; dark
     yellow color; used for posts, sleepers, channel stakes, etc. Sp.
     Gr. 0.96.

     CHICHARRON PRIETO: indigenous; 36 feet height; 18 inches diameter;
     strong solid wood; brown color; used in carriage work.

     CAOBA or MAHOGANY: five varieties of this tree; indigenous; 36 feet
     in height, from six to twelve feet in diameter; grows all over the
     Island; excellent and durable wood; color mahogany or dark red;
     used for fine carpenter work and furniture; Sp. Gr. 1.45.

     CEDRO or CEDAR: four varieties; indigenous; 60 to 75 feet in
     height; 6 feet in diameter; found all over Island; soft and easily
     worked; light mahogany color; used in fine carpenter work; cabinet
     work; Sp. Gr. 0.9.

     CUYA O CAROLINA: three varieties; indigenous; very hard and
     compact; light wine color; used for uprights, beams and
     construction work. Sp. Gr. 1.02.

     DAGAME: indigenous; 40 to 45 feet in height; 18 inches in diameter;
     grows on hilly land; strong and compact; yellowish grey color; used
     for carpentry and carriage work; Sp. Gr. 0.74.

     ROYAL EBONY: indigenous; 34 feet in height; found on coast lands;
     good wood; black in color; used for canes; inlaid work; familiar in
     United States for fine cabinet work; Sp. Gr. 1.17.

     ESPUELA DE CABALLERO: indigenous; small tree, found all over
     Island; excellent wood; yellow to red in color; used for fancy
     canes, turning and inlaid work; Sp. Gr. 0.9.

     FUSTETE: indigenous; 36 feet in height; found in dense forests or
     Oriente and Camaguey; dark wine color; used for carpenter and
     carriage work; is yellow dye wood; Sp. Gr. 1.32.

     GRANADILLIA: indigenous; 20 to 25 feet in height; small diameter;
     hard, compact and tough; mottled brown and bright yellow in color;
     used for fine inlaid work and canes; Sp. Gr. 0.89.

     GUAMA DE COSTUS: indigenous; 25 to 35 feet in height; hard, tough
     and compact; light cinnamon color; used in construction work and
     for ox-yokes and plows; Sp. Gr. 0.68.

     GUAYABO COTORRERO: indigenous; 25 to 30 feet in height; small
     diameter; all over Island; ductile, chrome yellow color; used for
     cabinet work; tool handles; Sp. Gr. 0.92.

     GUARACAN PRIETO or Lignum Vitae: indigenous; 55 to 60 feet in
     height; comparatively slender; found on coast; durable and compact;
     dark brown mottled with yellow; used for turning, banisters,
     croquet balls, and shaft bearings; Sp. Gr. 1.17.

     GUAYACAN BLANCO: indigenous; 30 to 35 feet in height; slender,
     strong and compact; light yellow color; grows on black lands;
     especially useful for carriage and wagon spokes; Sp. Gr. 0.79.

     HUMUS: indigenous; hard compact and tough; blood red in color;
     fine carpentry and cabinet work; furnishes a dye; Sp. Gr. 0.84.

     JIQUI: indigenous; 50 to 60 feet in height; 3 feet diameter;
     strong, hard, durable, dark brown in color; found in all soils;
     used for supports, posts, channel stakes and stakes for boundary
     lines; never rots in swamp land; makes good charcoal.

     JUCARO PRIETO: two varieties; indigenous; 60 to 75 feet in height;
     four feet in diameter; all over Island; very strong; impervious to
     rot in swampy and bad lands; used for wagon and carpenter work;
     especially adapted for pilings.

     JUCARO AMARILLO: indigenous; 30 to 35 feet in height; slender; all
     over the Island; strong and compact, yellow color, especially
     adapted for posts and wagon axles; Sp. Gr. 1.13.

     JACARANDA: indigenous; 45 to 55 feet in height; strong, tough and
     resistant; yellowish grey; carpenter and furniture work; Sp. Gr.
     0.89.

     JAGUA: indigenous; 30 to 35 feet in height; 18 inches in diameter;
     found all over Island; strong, elastic and durable; yellow in
     color; adapted for carriage work, moulds, lances, etc.

     JATIA: indigenous; 25 to 30 feet in height; 16 inches in diameter;
     found in eastern end of Island; strong, hard and compact; dark
     yellow; used in cabinet work and canes; Sp. Gr. 0.94.

     JAYAJABICO: indigenous; small tree, found in Pinar del Rio; hard,
     tough and compact; light chestnut color; used in carriage work,
     cabinet work, canes, etc.; Sp. Gr. 1.12.

     LEBRISA: indigenous; 25 to 30 feet in height; eastern end of the
     Island; strong and resistant; yellowish color; adapted for axles,
     tillers, and general carpenter work; Sp. Gr. 1.00.

     MAJUGUA MACHO: indigenous; three varieties; 45 to 50 feet in
     height; 3 feet in diameter; found all over Island; very resilient
     and flexible; mouse color; variegated with black and cream
     splashes used in fine cabinet and furniture work; also fine for
     carriage work, knees and arches. From the inner bark natives braid
     a strong picket rope in a few minutes; Sp. Gr. 0.59.

     MABOA: indigenous; 30 to 45 feet in height; 2 feet in diameter;
     found in all forests; strong and compact, ash color; used for
     beams, posts and also for cabinet work; Sp. Gr. 1.3.

     MANZANILLO: indigenous; 20 to 25 feet in height; 3 feet in
     diameter; found on coast; good wood; yellowish grey color; found in
     the low lands; used for furniture and fine cabinet work; Sp. Gr.
     0.7.

     MAMONCILLO: indigenous; 55 to 60 feet in height; 3 feet in
     diameter; found all over the Island; hard and compact; light
     mahogany color; yields an edible plum; used in cabinet work; Sp.
     Gr. 0.85.

     MORAL NEGRO: found all over the Island, strong and solid; dark
     chestnut color; used in fine carpentry and cabinet work; Sp. Gr.
     0.75.

     MORUO: indigenous; 50 to 60 feet in height; found in all forests;
     good wood; wine colored; used for general carpentry and carriage
     work; takes a high polish; Sp. Gr. 1.06.

     OCUJE: indigenous; 45 to 50 feet in height; strong, tough and
     resistant; red color; used in carriage work and channel stakes; Sp.
     Gr. 0.77.

     PALO DE LANZA: (lance wood) indigenous; 30 to 35 feet in height;
     very resilient and flexible; light yellow color; used for yard
     sticks, tool handles, light strong poles and wood springs; Sp. Gr.
     0.84.

     PALO CAMPECHE: (log wood) indigenous; 25 to 35 feet in height;
     found in deep forests; hard, heavy and compact; deep purple color;
     used for turning and produces log wood dye; Sp. Gr. 0.9.

     ROBLE: five varieties; indigenous; 40 to 45 feet in height; good
     wood, general carpenter work and shelving; Sp. Gr. 0.73.

     SABINA: indigenous; found in eastern end of Island; hard beautiful
     wood, mottled chocolate color; furniture and general construction;
     Sp. Gr. 0.65.

     SABICU: indigenous; very large tree, sometimes called imitation
     mahogany; hard, tough and compact; mahogany color; used for rail
     chalks, port holes of ships, wagons, etc.

     TAGUA: indigenous; 25 to 30 feet in height; hard, compact and
     durable; used for fine cabinet work and musical instruments; Sp.
     Gr. 0.7.

     YABA: indigenous; 45 feet in height; abundant, strong and compact;
     reddish color; used for wagon work, general construction and
     turning; Sp. Gr. 0.88.

     TANA: indigenous; very hard, inflexible; grows in damp and sandy
     soils; specially adapted for naval construction; Sp. Gr. 1.02.

     YAMAGUA: indigenous; 30 to 35 feet in height; 20 inches in
     diameter; excellent wood; reddish yellow; used in general
     construction work; Spec. Gr. 0.7.

Specimens of all these woods, together with some three hundred others,
form a collection that may be seen at any time at the Government
Experimental Station at Santiago de las Vegas.

Scattered throughout the broad grass covered savannas that lie along
some parts of the coast of Cuba, are found heavily wooded clumps of
forest trees, that stand up out of the grassy plains like islands, and
give rather a peculiar effect to the landscape. In these “Cayos de
Monte,” as they are called, are found nearly all of the small, hard and
durable woods of Cuba, such as Ebony, Lignum Vitae or Guayacan,
Grenadillo and others of similar character, that seldom make tall trees,
but that frequently have a value in the markets of the world that cause
them to be sold by the pound or hundredweight, instead of by board
measure.

The great bulk of timber lands, or virgin forests of Cuba, are scattered
throughout the mountainous districts of the Island, mostly in Santa
Clara and Oriente, and belong to non-resident owners living in Spain.
While the timber is very valuable, the cost of cutting and getting out
the logs with the help of oxen, precludes any possibility of profit and
will insure their remaining untouched until less expensive methods are
found for their removal to the coast. The price of these lands vary at
the present time from $3 to $15 per acre, and they can be purchased only
in large tracts.

In passing it may be mentioned that many of the forest lands of the
mountainous districts are located within the mineral zones of the
Island, but the purchase of the property does not carry with it a right
to the ore deposits that may lie below the surface. These can be
acquired only through registering mineral claims or “denouncements” in
accordance with the laws of the Republic.

Along the southern coast of Cuba, bordering on the Caribbean, especially
in the Province of Camaguey, are still large areas of virgin forests
growing on low, flat lands. Some of these are traversed by streams, down
which the logs are rafted during the rainy season.

Quite a large area of forest is still retained by the Government. The
sale of these lands is forbidden by law, although under certain
conditions they may be rented to private parties. Some of them have been
distributed among the veterans of the War of Independence.

The total amount of forest still retained by the Republic is estimated
at 37,000 caballeries or 1,226,450 acres, of which 519,144 acres are
located in the Province of Oriente; 307,910 in Santa Clara; 148,200 in
Pinar del Rio; 113,620 in Matanzas; 88,130 in Camaguey and 49,400 in the
Province of Havana.




CHAPTER XIV

AGRICULTURE


The Island of Cuba is essentially an agricultural country. Its fertile
soils have come from the constant erosion of rocks by heavy rains,
through eons of time. Mountain torrents have brought down the debris of
crumbling mountains of feldspar, shale and limestone to be deposited on
the plains below, while rushing streams have eaten their way into the
plateaus of Pinar del Rio and Oriente, until we have at last a
marvellously rich, tropical island garden, supplied by Nature with all
the ingredients needed to maintain its fertility for many centuries to
come.

More important perhaps than fertility of soil, is the fact that Cuba
lies just within the edge of the Tropics, securing thereby an immunity
from snow, cold wind and frost. This enables her to grow many crops that
otherwise would be barred. More than all, those vegetables that in the
United States and more northern climes thrive during only a few months
of summer, may be grown in Cuba at almost any time in the year.

On the other hand it is true that many of the great grain crops, such as
wheat, rye, oats and barley, cannot be successfully grown in Cuba, or at
least on only a few of the more elevated plateaus of Santa Clara and
Oriente. But, even were it possible to grow wheat in Cuba, it is more
profitable to buy grain from districts further north, giving in exchange
sugar, tobacco, henequen, coffee, cacao, hides, honey, citrus fruits and
winter vegetables.

[Illustration: NATIONAL THEATRE, CENTRAL PARK, HAVANA

The builders of the city of Havana through more than four centuries paid
commendable attention to the right placing of important buildings, not
only for convenience but also for picturesque and artistic effect. Thus
the National Theatre, one of the most commodious and beautiful
playhouses in the world, has for its setting the equally beautiful
Central Park, and is approached by the famous thoroughfare of the Prado.
Other notable public and private buildings are suitably grouped about
it, making a civic centre of rarely impressive appearance.]

Freedom from frost means much to the agriculturist, since it relieves
him from the anxiety suffered by the farmers of Florida and the Gulf
States, that although lying on the other side of the Tropic of
Cancer, and enjoying sufficient warmth to produce vegetables during the
winter months, are nevertheless exposed to the danger of absolute ruin,
or at least the loss of a year’s work.

[Illustration: CUBAN RURAL HOME]

That, however, which favors successful agriculture in Cuba more than
anything else, is the fact that her copious rainfall begins in May, and
continuing throughout the warm months of summer terminates in the latter
part of October, leaving the winter cool and dry, so that fall crops may
ripen and be gathered free from danger of the cold, rainy days of
December so common in the Gulf States.

In stock raising, also, not only is the Island supplied with an
abundance of nutritious grass, on which animals may graze throughout the
year, but the young are never subjected to loss from the cold winds,
sleets, and driving storms, that decimate the herds of less favored
countries in the North.

Cuba undoubtedly has some agricultural drawbacks and disadvantages, but
few that may not be successfully overcome with intelligent management
and the judicious care which renders stock raising profitable in any
country. The one great advantage of the Republic lies in the fact that
the farmer, if he so desires, can put in three hundred and sixty five
days of every year at profitable work in his fields, orchards or
pastures, with no time necessarily lost. Nor is he compelled to work
half the year to provide food and fuel sufficient to feed and keep warm
during the remaining six months of comparative idleness.

Owing to the exceptional natural facilities for producing sugar and
tobacco cheaply and easily, the farmers of Cuba largely become, in one
sense of the word, “specialists,” and little by little have fallen into
the habit of producing enormous crops of these two staples that are sold
abroad, while food crops are imported at an expense far above that which
it would cost to produce them in the Island. This neglect of food and
forage crops would seem to render Cuba an ideal place for the general
farmer and stock raiser, and the Department of Agriculture, under the
direction of General E. Sanchez Agramonte, is now making every effort to
place the advantages of the country for diversified farming before the
outside world, so that practical farmers and families from agricultural
districts abroad may be induced to come to Cuba and settle permanently.

The Republic ultimately will raise her own live stock and should produce
sufficient corn, rice, beans, peanuts and perhaps wheat to be, to a
large extent at least, independent of the outside world. With this
purpose in view the Department of Agriculture has encouraged immigration
and through the Experimental Station at Santiago de las Vegas is making
greater efforts than ever before to ascertain just what crops and what
seeds or plants are best adapted to the soil and climate of Cuba.

This information is being gathered and carefully digested so that it may
be given to the homeseekers and settlers of which the country stands in
such urgent need. At the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, Dr.
Calvino, chief of the Government Station, together with his staff, is
searching for and bringing from all parts of the globe every plant and
every variety of animal that can be utilized for food purposes.

Nearly every variety of wheat, corn, sorghum, rice, potatoes, grains and
tubers, is being tested and tried on the 160 acres of land belonging to
the station. Grapes, peaches, plums and other semi-tropical fruits are
being planted, experimented with and carefully watched for results,
while forage plants and grasses from South America, Africa, Australia,
India, China, Europe and the United States are being tried, each under
conditions approaching as nearly as possible those of its original
habitat.

Although Cuba with its adjacent islands has an area of only about 45,000
square miles--approximating the area of the State of Mississippi--one
finds many varieties of soil, the characteristics of which, even when
lying contiguous, are so varied as to be astounding. High and
comparatively dry plateaus, in places, rise almost abruptly from low
level savannas that remain moist in the driest seasons of the year. Rich
deep soiled mountain sides and valleys may be found within a few miles
of pine barrens, whose hillsides are valued only for the mineral wealth
that may lie beneath the surface.

Great areas of rich virgin forest, in both mountain and plain, still
exist, especially in the eastern half of the Island, where many
thousands of acres in the open, if planted with suitable grasses, would
support countless herds of cattle and live stock. To bring all of this
territory as soon as possible into a state of profitable cultivation,
and thus supply permanent homes for farmers and stock raisers, is the
great aim and purpose of the Department of Agriculture in Cuba today,
and to the consummation of these plans Secretary Agramonte is devoted,
with a most able and energetic Assistant Secretary in Dr. Carlos
Armenteros.

The great pressing problems of agriculture in the Republic would seem to
be quite sufficient for any one man’s energies, but, as the present
government was planned and organized, an enormous amount of additional
work, including the supervision of mines, forests, weights, measures,
bank inspection, commerce and labor, come under its jurisdiction,
rendering the responsibilities of the Department heavier and more
complicated than any other branch of the Government, and demanding a
degree of persistence and versatility probably not called for on the
part of any other Cabinet Officer.

The Department of Agriculture has a personnel of 640 while approximately
a million and a half dollars are appropriated by the Budget for carrying
on the work of the Department. For convenience of administration the
Department is divided into the following sections:

  Agriculture,
  Veterinary Inspection and Zoology,
  Commerce and Industry,
  Immigration, Colonization and Labor,
  Forests and Mines,
  Patents and Trade Marks.

In addition to these are several Bureaus, stations and offices that
report directly to the Assistant Secretary.

The Section of Agriculture, naturally, is the largest and most
comprehensive of the various divisions or branches of the Department.
Under its direction are the six various “granjas” or Agricultural
Schools that are maintained, one in each Province. The distribution of
seeds and the awarding of agricultural prizes come under its direction,
as so also the inspection of fish, turtling and sponging, and the
registration of domestic animals, including horses, mules and cattle.

It has also charge of all agricultural fairs and exhibitions, either
foreign or domestic. The purpose of the “Granjas” or agricultural
schools is to educate the children of the rural districts along those
lines which will tend to make them practical farmers and useful
citizens of the community. Pupils are admitted at the age of fourteen
and are given tuition, board, lodging and clothes at the expense of the
Government.

An excellently equipped laboratory for the analysis of soils,
fertilizer, or other material pertaining to agricultural industries, is
maintained by the Division of Agriculture, and forms one of the most
useful branches of the Department.

The Division of Commerce and Industry is entrusted with the inspection
of nearly everything pertaining to the commerce and industry of the
country. One very important branch is that of the inspection of banks,
tobacco factories, sugar plantations and mills, and general industries
of the Island. A Bureau of Statistics is also attached to this Division.

The Division of Veterinary Science and Animal Industry, is entrusted
with the development of animal industry throughout the Island, and with
the duty of protecting, as far as possible, livestock of all kinds from
disease, either foreign or domestic. A laboratory, thoroughly equipped,
is maintained as an auxiliary of this Division, enabling the Director to
determine the nature of any given disease and to provide means and
material for combating it.

Under the direction of the same Section are six poultry stations, one in
each Province, where experiments are conducted with reference to poultry
raising and to the cure of infectious diseases that may afflict. Three
breeding stations, too, dependent on this Bureau, have been established
in the eastern, central and western districts.

The Division of Forests and Mines, owing to the incalculable wealth of
Cuba’s mines of iron, copper, manganese, chrome, etc., and to the
immense value of her virgin forests of hard woods, scattered throughout
the mountainous districts of the interior is of special importance.
Forest inspectors are maintained whose duty is to see that timber is not
cut without authorization from either government or private lands, or
surreptitiously smuggled away from the coast. The enormous acreage,
too, of the red and yellow mangrove, remarkably rich in tannin, that
encircles nearly all the islands bordering on the interior lagoons, and
the making of charcoal carried on in these districts, are supervised by
the forest inspectors.

Every mineral claim located in the Republic must be reported to the
Director of Mines in charge of this Division, where it is registered in
books kept for the purpose in the name of the individual petitioning,
with the date and hour of record, together with the dimensions or
boundaries of said claim carefully indicated. With this registration a
payment of $2 for each hectare of land is made and receipted for, which
entitles the owner, after said claim has been surveyed by the engineers
pertaining to the Division of Mines, to the sole privilege of working
the claim, or taking either mineral asphalt or oil from beneath the
surface.

In the Division of Trade Marks and Patents, one of the most important in
the Department, patents and trade-marks are granted for a nominal sum to
both citizens and foreigners. Companies that have secured patents in
foreign countries, after producing evidence to that effect, may
duplicate or extend their patents in this office, and trade-marks that
have been established in other countries may be registered in Cuba on
proper application. Patents for books and publications are also handled
in this Division.

The Department of Meteorology is responsible for all astronomical and
meteorological observations, and for the publication of data in regard
thereto. The Weather Bureau and all observatories come under its
jurisdiction, together with the publication of official time. It is
responsible for the collection of all data concerning weather and
climate that may affect crops, which data is published weekly, monthly
and annually.

Under the Division of Immigration, Colonization and Labor matters
pertaining to subjects connected with immigration, wages, hours and
working condition of laborers and their connection with capital or
employers, are handled and adjusted. During the year 1918, this Bureau
amicably settled eighteen labor disputes, thus avoiding threatened
strikes. Records of all accidents to labor are kept on file.

Every immigrant entering the Island of Cuba from any country must be
provided with $30 in cash before being released from Triscornia, the
receiving station on the Bay of Havana. From this station immigrants
without means are looked after by the Division of Immigration, and the
company or person, who, desiring his services, takes him out, is
required to give a bond that he will not become a public charge. This
Department also issues permits to sugar estates, corporations or
companies who wish to import labor on a large scale.

Under the direction of this Division, the Government has started a
colony for laborers at Pogolotti, a suburb of Havana, where 950 houses
have been built, each with a parlor, two bedrooms, a bath, kitchen and a
yard. They are rented to laborers only, at a monthly rental of $3.12. Of
this $2.71 is applied to the credit of the renter towards the purchase
of the house, the remainder going for expenses of administration and
water. The purchase price is fixed at $650, and when this has been paid
the laborer becomes the owner.

In addition to the above mentioned Divisions or Sections there are
several independent Bureaus or offices, reporting directly to the
Sub-Secretary and acting under his instructions. Among these is the
Bureau of Game and Bird Protection, organized to enforce the law
regulating the open and closed seasons for hunting deer, and the various
game birds, ducks, pigeons, quail, etc., that abound in Cuba. The work
of this Bureau is conducted along lines and methods similar to those
employed in the United States. The duties of the Director of this most
worthy Institution are onerous and unending and to his indefatigable
energy is due the saving of thousands of valuable birds and animals.

A Bureau known as the Bureau of Publications and Exchanges is charged
with the publication in Spanish of an Agricultural Review, intended for
the enlightenment of the agriculturists of the Island. In this monthly
are printed the reports of the many experiments and important work
carried on at the Government’s Experimental Station at Santiago de las
Vegas, and other matters pertaining to Agricultural industries.

It is the desire of the Government of Cuba to encourage immigration, and
to invite especially agriculturists and farmers from all countries, and
to use every legitimate means of inducing the better class of immigrants
to make permanent homes in the agricultural districts of the Island. But
in order to guard against misleading information, and possible failure
on the part of settlers from foreign countries in Cuba, one of the main
objects of the Bureau of Information of the Department of Agriculture is
not only to promulgate the exact truth, as far as possible, in regard to
conditions, but also to protect the homeseeker against the machinations
of irresponsible real estate agents, and the disappointment that would
result from the purchase or cultivation of lands that could not give
satisfactory returns.

The Government wants every homeseeker or investor of capital in Cuba to
make a success of his undertaking, since only success redounds to the
credit and reputation of the Republic. Hence every effort is being made
to advise prospective settlers and investors, in regard to any
legitimate undertaking that may be contemplated. This advice is
invariably gratis and correspondents are requested not to enclose stamps
for replies to their communications, since these are official and do not
require postage. Personal interviews are invited at all times under the
same conditions.

During the first Government of Intervention, under the direction of
General Leonard Wood, an agricultural experimental station was
inaugurated on the outskirts of the little town of Santiago de las
Vegas, some ten miles from the City of Havana. One hundred and sixty-six
acres were purchased for the use of the station and Mr. Earle, formerly
connected with the Department of Agriculture in Washington, was
installed as Director.

The grounds were well located, with a fine automobile drive passing
along its eastern boundary and the Havana Central Railroad close by on
the west. A large quadrangular edifice occupied by Spanish military
forces, was transformed into the main building of the station. Other
houses for the protection of stock, machinery, etc., were soon added,
while resident homes were built for the officers of the station.

An abundant source of good water was found at a depth of one hundred
feet and large steel tanks were erected so irrigation could be utilized
where needed.

Choice fruit and shade trees were brought, not only from the different
provinces of Cuba, but also from other parts of the tropical world and
planted for experimental purposes. Of the latter the Australian
eucalyptus has made a wonderful growth.

A splendid staff of botanists, horticulturists, bacteriologists and men
versed in animal industry were installed to assist the Director.
Considerable valuable pioneer work was done by these men and much useful
knowledge was imparted to the farmers of Cuba.

With the installation of the Cuban Republic, several changes were made
in the Direction of the Station, but the routine work was carried on
with a fair degree of success. To bring about radical reforms among the
older agriculturists, who for many years have been addicted to the
antiquated methods of their forefathers, is not an easy task in any
country. To separate the administration of the Agricultural Station of
Cuba from the bane of politics was still more difficult.

With the inauguration of General Menocal’s second term in office,
several changes were made, the result of which have been both marked and
beneficial. General Eugenio Sanchez Agramonte, former President of the
Senate and an ardent lover of everything connected with farm life, was
appointed Secretary of Agriculture, while Doctor Carlos Armenteros, an
enthusiastic and indefatigable worker, was made Assistant Secretary.

General Agramonte, realizing all that a well conducted experimental
station meant to the agricultural interests of the country, after
careful search and examination into credentials, selected Dr. Mario
Calvano, an Italian by birth, but cosmopolitan in education and
experience, for the new Director of the Station, while larger credits
and a greater number of assistants were placed at his disposal.

The result was to a high degree both beneficial and satisfactory. The
main building was renovated and, as the Director said, “made possible,”
from floor to ceiling. The southwestern part of the edifice was turned
over to the Department of Woods, Textile Plants and Allied Studies, and
here may be found, labeled and artistically arranged, most of the
indigenous woods of the forests of Cuba, both in the natural state and
highly polished. Samples of every textile plant known to the Island, of
which there are many, hang from the wall, showing the plant as it was
taken from the fields, and how it looks after being decorticated.

Leaving this section one steps down into a small garden, covering not
over a quarter of an acre, in which may be found growing specimens of
valuable and interesting plants and trees that have been gathered from
Cuba and from other parts of the world so that their adaptability to
this soil and climate may be studied.

The entire northern side of the building is given over to Animal
Industry and to Bacteriology, where experiments of vital importance to
animal life are conducted under the direction of experts. Not long ago
men were brought from the Bureau of Animal Industry in Washington to
assist the Station to establish a plant for the manufacture of the serum
that has proven so efficacious in protecting hogs from the cholera or
pintadilla, as it is known in Cuba. Considerable space is given over to
the raising of guinea pigs, for use in experiments in making cultures of
the germs that produce anthrax and other diseases that might endanger
the herds of the Island.

Many splendid specimens of live stock, at the order of the Secretary,
have been purchased in the United States and other parts of the world
and brought to the station for breeding purposes. Some twenty odd
magnificent stallions, most of them riding animals and cavalry remounts,
were secured in Kentucky and other states during the spring of 1918 and
brought to the station, where they have been divided among branch
stations located in the other provinces of the Island.

Excellent specimens of cattle also, including the Jersey, the Holstein,
the Durham and Cebu or sacred cattle of India, have been purchased
abroad and brought to the Station and then installed in splendid
quarters, built of reinforced concrete for their accommodation. The Cebu
has been crossed in Cuba with the native cattle for some years past with
very satisfactory results. Doctor Calvino states that a two-year old
steer, resulting from the cross between a Cebu and a native cow, will
weigh quite as much as would the ordinary three-year old of straight
breeding.

Many specimens of thoroughbred hogs, including the Duroc, the Poland
China, the Berkshire and the Tamworth, have been brought to the station,
where they and their progeny seem to thrive even better than in the
countries where the breed originated. Angora goats, too, that came from
the Northwest, from Texas, and the mountains of Georgia, have given very
satisfactory results in Cuba.

Several thousand chickens, including the Rhode Island Red, the Plymouth
Rock, the Orpington, Minorcan and several varieties of Leghorns, were
imported from the United States and brought to the Station, where they
seem to be doing very well.

Under the direction of Doctor Calvino, nearly every acre of the Station
has been devoted to some useful purpose. The grounds on either side of
the main driveway are instructive and interesting. As the winter visitor
passes down the long lane, he will find various tracts under
comparatively intensive cultivation, planted in nearly all the
vegetables common to the United States in addition to those found in
Cuba. Among others are tomatoes, egg plants, green peppers, okra, beans,
peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, cabbage, beets, malanga, yucca,
name, acelgas and chayete. Each variety is carefully labelled, with time
of planting and other data necessary for complete reports on results
obtained.

Other sections are given over to fruits, and nut bearing trees, those
indigenous to Cuba and those brought from other countries. Among the
indigenous fruits we have the beautiful mango, the agucate, the
guanabana, the marmoncillo, the mamey, colorado and amarillo, the anon,
the nispero or zapote, the caimito, the tamarind, the ciruela, and all
varieties of the citrus family.

Large beautiful groves of oranges, limes, lemons and grape fruit in full
bearing, form a very interesting part of the station’s exhibit. Some
sixteen varieties of the banana, the most productive source of
nourishing food of all the vegetable kingdom, may be studied here under
favorable conditions.

Several acres have been given over to seed beds and nursery stock, which
in a short time will supply valuable plants of many kinds to other parts
of the Island. A section has been devoted to the cultivation of various
textile plants, including the East Indian jute, the ramie, common flax,
and the malva blanca of Cuba.

The large patio that occupies the center of the main building is adorned
not only with many beautiful flowers common to this latitude, but also
with quite a number of ornamental palms not common to Cuba, or at least,
not to the Province of Havana. The charm of the spot is due not alone
to the interest that arises from an opportunity to study animal and
vegetable life under favorable conditions, but also the high degree of
intelligent efficiency that has been introduced into the life of the
Station with the advent of the present Secretary of Agriculture and
Director, Dr. Calvino. Its beneficial influence is felt throughout the
entire Republic.

Owing to the fact that agricultural products form the chief source of
Cuba’s revenues, the protection of her various grains, grasses and
useful plants from infection and disease of whatever nature, becomes a
matter of prime importance. Plant diseases and insect pests have brought
ruin to agricultural efforts in many parts of the world. Fortunately
perhaps most of the country’s agricultural effort is devoted to the
production of sugar cane, which is subject to less danger from disease
than almost any other plant of great economical value or utility.

Tobacco, in the western end of the Island, has long been made the
subject of study and care, with the result that efficient protection has
been secured. Various other plants, however, and especially fruits, are
extremely susceptible to disease and to infection. Some of these
including citrus fruits, the cocoanut and the mango, have recently
suffered severely from diseases that have been imported from other
countries.

Cuba probably suffers less from these troubles than any other country
within the tropics. Nevertheless her cocoanut industry, owing to the
introduction of what is termed “bud rot,” a few years ago, was reduced
from an annual exportation of 20,000,000 nuts to only a little over
2,000,000. A disease introduced from Panama also greatly injured a
variety of the banana known as the “manzana.”

Not, however, until the unfortunate arrival of the “Black Fly,”
discovered in India in 1903, and afterwards in some mysterious way
conveyed to Jamaica, whence it found its way into Cuba in 1915, near
Guantanamo, did the Government awaken to the fact that it was
confronted by a serious pest that threatened not alone the citrus fruit
industry, but the production of mangoes and also coffee.

As soon as the Department of Agriculture became aware of the nature of
this new disease, steps were taken to combat it scientifically, and with
all of the resources at the disposal of the Government. An appropriation
of $50,000 was at once granted and afterwards extended to $100,000. With
this fund the Bureau of Plant Sanitation was quickly organized, with a
central office in Havana. Competent inspectors were assigned to the
three principal ports, where supervision over both imports and exports
is conducted.

Inspectors in each province were installed to investigate the condition
of various crops with special attention given to the Black Fly. Squads
of trained men were organized to combat this pernicious diptera,
especially in the vicinity of the City of Havana, whence the disease had
been brought from Guantanamo. Passengers probably carried infected
mangoes from that city to Vedado, a suburb of the capital, and from this
center the Black Fly spread over a radius of ten miles around the city,
giving the Bureau of Plant Sanitation an infinite amount of trouble.

Expert entomologists and trained men were brought from Florida to aid in
the eradication of the enemy. A systematic pruning, spraying and general
campaign against the Black Fly has been carried on ever since with more
or less success. Badly infected trees have been cut down and burned,
while gangs of men, organized as “fly fighters,” are conveyed in
automobiles with their apparatus from one orchard to another, keeping up
a continual struggle against this destructive insect.

In the neighborhood of Guantanamo, where the pest had secured a
foothold, a determined warfare is being waged. This enemy to several of
the best fruits is undoubtedly one of the most difficult to contend with
that has appeared in Cuba, but with the expenditure of time, money and
much effort, it will undoubtedly be eradicated.

The Bureau of Plant Sanitation is under the direction of Dr. Johnson, a
highly trained and energetic official who has devoted the greater part
of his life to the study of plant enemies and to the successful
elimination of the danger and loss that come from them.




CHAPTER XV

SUGAR


Considered from the point of view of agriculture, manufactures or
commerce, Cane is King in Cuba. The sugar crop of 1918, amounting to
25,346,000 bags, or 3,620,857 tons, was sold for over $350,000,000; and
the crop of 1919, consisting of 27,769,662 bags, equivalent to 3,967,094
tons, will probably realize the sum of $500,000,000. The significance of
these facts may be strikingly appreciated by making a simple comparison.
The Cuban sugar crop of 1919 is worth $200 for every man, woman and
child on the island; while the corn crop of the United States, the most
valuable crop of that country, worth $3,000,000,000, is equal to only
$30 per capita of the population.

The production and consumption of sugar throughout the world was
practically doubled during the fifteen years preceding the world war.
The total production for 1914 was 18,697,331 tons, of which 8,875,918
tons came from beets, and 9,821,413 tons from cane. As a consequence of
the war, the world production for 1919 was only 16,354,580 tons, of
which only 4,339,856 tons were obtained from beets, while 12,014,724
tons were obtained from cane. The crop of 1919 shows, therefore, a gross
shortage of 2,342,751 tons compared with that of 1914, without taking
into account the normal increase in consumption indicated by the
experience of the fifteen years before the war; during which period the
production of cane sugar in Cuba was actually trebled in volume, showing
an average annual increase of approximately 125,000 tons. The production
of sugar in Cuba in 1914 was 2,597,732 tons, and in 1919 it was
3,967,064 tons; showing an average annual increase of about 275,000
tons, or approximately seven per cent. These figures, taken with those
of the fifteen preceding years, indicate that the development of the
cane sugar business in Cuba during the past twenty years, or since the
establishment of the Republic, has been of steady growth and healthy
proportions.

Natural conditions have greatly favored the growing of sugar cane in
Cuba, and the demand for sugar throughout the world has increased so
rapidly that it is not surprising that this industry has become
paramount in the insular Republic. Begun on a small scale and in almost
indescribably primitive fashion nearly four hundred years ago, as
related in the first volume of the History of Cuba, it was not until
near the end of the sixteenth century that the industry was established
on a secure foundation. Even then it received little encouragement from
the Spanish Government, and it was not until the close of the eighteenth
and opening of the nineteenth century that it began to assume the
proportions for which nature had afforded opportunity. With the
emancipation of the island from peninsular rule, however, and the firm
establishment of a government of Cuba by Cubans and for Cubans, the
sugar industry has developed into proportionately one of the greatest in
the world.

A general impression prevails that practically all of the lands in Cuba
are adapted to the profitable cultivation of sugar cane; that numerous
large and desirably located tracts, suitable in character and sufficient
in area to justify the installation of modern “centrales” or factories
of normal average capacity, are still to be found, scattered throughout
the island and purchasable at nominal cost when compared with their
economic value; and that the annual production of sugar in Cuba can,
therefore, be profitably increased to the extent even of “supplying the
whole world with all the sugar it needs.” This impression is, however,
erroneous and misleading. General James H. Wilson, commanding the
Military Department of Matanzas and Santa Clara under the first
Government of Intervention, who was esteemed an authority on the
subject, reported in 1899 that it was a mistake to suppose that all
Cuban lands were of the first quality, such as would grow sugar cane
continuously for twenty or thirty years without replanting; that there
were in fact few such estates in Cuba; that most of the land, whether
red or black soil, produces cane for only twelve or fifteen years, and
much of it for from three to five years only; and that, in the two
provinces named, there was then little new or virgin cane land left,
nearly all of first class quality having at some time been under
cultivation. In this report he did not, however, take into account the
extensive areas of “cienaga” or swamp lands, which would not be
available for cane growing purposes until drained. Since then it has
also been satisfactorily demonstrated that some of the so-called
“savana” land, which has a “mulatto” or yellow soil, hitherto regarded
as worthless for sugar-producing purposes, can be made to produce good
crops of cane by the judicious application of fertilizers and with
suitable methods of cultivation. Sufficient time has not elapsed to
determine the durability of such plantations.

More conservative opinions, entitled to serious and careful
consideration, have been expressed to the effect that first class new
and virgin cane lands, favorably located and now available, can still be
purchased in Cuba at figures as low as twenty dollars an acre and in
sufficient area to make possible the profitable production of 3,000,000
tons of sugar above the present output, which approximates 4,000,000
tons; increasing the total to 7,000,000. It does not seem that such
great areas could easily be hidden under a bushel in as small an island
as Cuba, and it is probable that not more than one half of the total
area of the new lands, purchasable at such a price, would be suitable
for cane-growing purposes; in which case the cost would be raised to
approximately forty dollars an acre for the actual cane-producing area.
If these opinions and claims are accepted, it would seem unreasonable
to expect that such large areas of land, yet remaining and now
available, could average as good or prove as economically productive as
the lands now actually under cultivation; and it would not, therefore,
seem unreasonable to assume that to produce 3,000,000 additional tons of
sugar would require an area nearly if not quite as large as that now
required to produce the present annual output of approximately 4,000,000
tons. It is certainly difficult to believe that the area of land now
producing sugar could be duplicated from the new and virgin lands now
available in Cuba. The recent purchase of considerable acreages along
the line of the newly constructed Northern Railway by the American Sugar
Refining Company and the Czarnikow-Rionda interests, at prices ranging
from seven hundred and fifty to one thousand dollars a caballeria, or
about seventy five dollars an acre, for the actual cane-growing and
sugar-producing area, would seem to emphasize the conclusion that first
class new and virgin cane lands, yet remaining and now available in
Cuba, are not so plentiful or so cheap as claimed by some and generally
supposed.

The total area of Cuba is estimated at a maximum of about 30,000,000
acres; and it is probable that not more than ten per cent of this total
area, or 3,000,000 acres, is adapted to and now available for the
profitable cultivation of sugar cane, with sugar at even relatively
normal pre-war average prices. Indeed it is doubtful if even continuance
of the present abnormally high prices for sugar could greatly enlarge
such now available area. Large tracts of the richest lands in Cuba,
favorably conditioned and advantageously located but now covered by
“cienagas” or swamps, can however be effectively and economically
drained and made available for the cultivation of sugar cane; and such
lands when drained should produce sugar more economically and profitably
than any similar area of land in the island now growing cane. The
largest of these swamps are in the Cauto River valley, in the vicinity
of the Bay of Cardenas, and along the line of the Roque Canal leading
thereto, and in the region covered by the Cienaga de Zapata. The
reclaimable area of these swamp lands is estimated at not less than
750,000 acres.

Putting the present average annual production of cane in Cuba at 20 long
tons, and the average yield of sugar at 11.25 per cent, or 2.25 tons an
acre, and assuming a gross yearly production of 4,000,000 tons of sugar,
indicates that about 35,000,000 tons of cane are grown upon
approximately 1,750,000 acres of land; and allowing an additional
500,000 acres, to provide for and cover planting, replanting as
pasturage, it would seem that approximately 2,250,000 acres of the best
conditioned and most favorably located cane lands now available are
required to produce the present output of 4,000,000 tons. Careful
consideration of the subject leads to the conclusion that there are not
now available in the island over 500,000 acres of new and virgin lands,
upon which cane can be planted and profitably grown, with sugar at
prices approximating the pre-war ten-year average. But these additional
lands cannot reasonably be expected to average as good or prove as
economically productive as the lands now actually planted with and
growing cane. It should not be unreasonable to allow, for planting,
replanting and pasturage, the additional 250,000 acres required to
complete the estimated 3,000,000 acres given as the probable maximum
area adapted to, and now available for, the profitable cultivation of
cane in Cuba; unless and until the swamp lands, having an area of about
750,000 acres, shall be drained, reclaimed and put under cultivation.
Assuming that the additional 500,000 acres of land now available would
yield in the same proportion as the lands now planted and producing, an
increase of only 1,125,000 tons of sugar yearly would result, which
would raise the total annual production to about 5,125,000 tons. Should
the swamp lands be reclaimed and made productive, upon the same basis of
calculation there would be a further increase of only 1,687,500 tons,
bringing the total production of sugar in Cuba up to a maximum of only
6,812,500 tons a year, or at most, in round figures, about 7,000,000
tons. It seems most improbable that a larger production could be
developed and permanently maintained, unless through fertilization and
improved methods of cultivation, including irrigation; and it appears
doubtful if such measures would more than compensate for the natural
deterioration of soil and exhaustion of lands, that will inevitably
result from long continued cultivation; for much of the lands now under
cultivation will not produce for periods longer than from three to seven
or at most ten years.

The Cienaga de Zapata is the largest and most easily drainable of the
swamp areas mentioned. It is a vast alluvial plain, built up of the
washings of the most fertile and durable cane growing lands of Cuba,
enriched by the decomposition of the vegetable growth of uncounted
centuries. It has a total area of 15,307 caballerias, or 505,154 acres;
which is greater than the sugar-producing area of the Island of Porto
Rico, or that of the Hawaiian Islands; indeed it is nearly as large as
both combined. The net reclaimable area is not less than 450,000 acres;
which is sufficient to provide cane for thirty “centrales” of 250,000
bags, or fifteen of 500,000 bags capacity each; equivalent to an output
of 7,500,000 bags, or approximately 1,000,000 tons of sugar a year; the
production of which would be effected under a combination of
advantageous economic conditions not found in the production of sugar
elsewhere in Cuba, if in the world. Chief among these advantageous
conditions are the fertility of the soil, the extent and compactness of
the area of land, its convenient and economical accessibility to a deep
water port, and the fact that the entire area can be irrigated with
water from the drainage canals at a maximum lift of not over ten feet.
The drainage of these lands can be effected entirely by gravity and at a
cost not exceeding twenty dollars per acre for the net sugar producing
area. Comprehensive surveys have been made for effecting the drainage of
this great territory by well known American engineers; and a plan
providing for the utilization of the lands, when drained, has been
prepared by Mr. R. G. Ward of New York City, who was one of the chief
factors under Sir William Van Home in the building and putting into
successful operation of the original main line of the Cuba Railroad,
extending from Santa Clara to Santiago. Under the franchises or
concessions controlled by Mr. Ward, the not distant future may,
therefore, see the present output of sugar in Cuba increased by
approximately one-fourth, from the now neglected lands of the Cienaga de
Zapata.

According to Mr. H. A. Himely, who is a recognized authority on the
subject, 196 “centrales” handled the crop of 1919, amounting to
27,769,662 bags, or 3,967,064 tons of sugar. These “centrales” varied in
output, from a minimum capacity of only 145 to a maximum of 701,768
bags, showing an average of about 142,000. Hence it is clear that the
word “central” conveys no definite idea of capacity, and constitutes no
exact unit of thought or calculation. Let us, however, assume that the
word applies to a complete modern sugar factory of 250,000 bags yearly
capacity, each bag containing 325 pounds of sugar; an output of
81,250,000 pounds. Factories of such capacity may be installed as single
units or in multiple units. To obtain maximum results it is necessary
that they shall be provided with sufficient areas of suitable land in
one contiguous and reasonably compact body, within easy access of an
economical deep water port, so that the costs of hauling and delivering
the cane to the mill, and of transporting the sugar and molasses to the
port, or shipside, may be reduced to the minimum. Now, of the new and
virgin cane lands still remaining and now available in Cuba, there are
few if any now obtainable which answer to these demands; and it is
questionable if there are yet remaining and now available in the island
new and virgin lands in tracts of sufficient size and aggregate area to
warrant the installation of more than twenty “centrales,” having a
combined yearly capacity of 5,000,000 bags. Indeed it is believed that
it would be difficult if not impossible to find desirable and
economically satisfactory locations for even so large a number.

Wherever possible, virgin forests are cleared and planted for cane
fields, as the accumulated humus of centuries produces a growth of cane
that with care will endure for from five to twenty-five years without
replanting. In Oriente cane fields are still producing good crops which
were planted fifty and even sixty years ago. This method of cane culture
is, however, most uneconomical, since the soil in time will certainly
become exhausted. No plant responds more quickly to judicious and
generous use of fertilizers than does sugar cane; and, according to the
best authorities, no matter how rich the soil may be, it pays to
fertilize.

In opening up a sugar plantation, the trees are first felled and the
trunks of valuable timber drawn off the land, while the limbs, brush and
other waste materials are piled and burned. Owing to the previous shade
of the trees, the ground is free from weeds, and but little preparation
of the soil is required.

For the first planting, men with heavy sharp pointed “jique” sticks,
about five feet in length, travel on parallel lines across the fields,
jabbing these stakes into the ground at intervals of four or five feet.
Behind them follow others, bearing sacks of cane cut into short pieces,
containing one or two joints each, a piece of which is thrust into each
hole, and the earth pressed over it with the bare foot. From the eyes of
these sections of cane in the rich, moist earth there quickly rise
shoots or sprouts of cane, and under the influence of the heavy tropical
rains that fall during the summer months the growth is so rapid that the
young cane shades the ground before weeds have time to grow. According
to the usual custom of the country, the stumps of trees are left to rot
and enrich the soil. Thus in the course of a few years a plantation is
started at comparatively small cost, from which cane may be cut without
replanting for many years to come.

Where sugar plantations are developed upon “savana” lands, the rows may
be laid out with greater regularity and cultivated with modern machinery
and implements until the cane has secured sufficient growth. At the
expiration of eighteen months from the first planting, the cane should
be ready for the mill. Cutters, with heavy machetes, go into the fields,
seize the stalks of cane with the left hand, and with one deft blow of
the machete cut them close to the ground. With three or four more
strokes the canes are stripped of their leaves, topped, cut in halves
and thrown into piles, ready to be loaded upon carts and carried to the
mills or railroad stations.

During recent years hand labor in the fields has been difficult to
secure in Cuba, and since the beginning of the European War the wages of
cane cutters have risen from the usual average of $1.25 to $2.50 and
even as high as $3.00 a day. Cuba has never had a sufficient amount of
resident labor to handle her enormous crops of sugar. Thousands of men
are brought to the Island annually, from Spain, the Azores, the Canary
Islands, Venezuela, Panama and the West India Islands. Most of these
laborers return to their homes at the end of the season, as they can
live there in comfort upon the money earned until the next cane-cutting
season. A machine for cutting cane, to do the work of forty men, has
been invented and in 1918 received practical trial, which is said to
have been fairly satisfactory. It is possible that this and other labor
saving machinery will soon be perfected so that the large number of
field hands now required may thus be replaced, to some extent, and the
cost of cane culture and cutting correspondingly reduced.

Heavy two wheeled carts, drawn by from four to eight oxen, are still
generally used to convey the cane from the fields to the mills or
railroad stations. Plowing, also, is done largely with oxen, although
these are being replaced on the more modern and up to date estates by
traction engines hauling gang plows, and by motor driven trucks for the
transportation of the cane. One of the latter, which was first used in
1918, is provided with several light steel demountable bodies, that are
dropped at convenient places through the cane fields, where they are
loaded and then drawn up again upon the frame of the truck by the power
of the motor. The load of cane is then carried to the mill or loading
station, and the empty body brought back to the field for reloading.
Meanwhile other bodies have been loaded with cane, and the operation is
repeated. Other experiments are being made with trucks of the ordinary
type, mounted upon low wheels carrying so called caterpillar belts, so
that they may be used in wet weather and on soft ground. These
contrivances have not, however, eliminated the ox cart, which still
hauls from the fields over ninety per cent of the cane produced in Cuba.

Labor plays an important part in the cost of producing sugar in Cuba and
largely determines the profits of the industry. In 1914 the cost of
producing a pound of sugar, in most of the well located and otherwise
favorably conditioned mills in Cuba, was estimated at about two cents;
and in some of the exceptionally favored mills even this figure left a
margin of profit. But with the rapid rise in wages following the
outbreak of the European War, and the consequent increase of expense of
cultivating, cutting and handling cane, the cost of making sugar has
become increasingly difficult to determine, as the wage rate may vary,
both from day to day, and also in the different sections of the island,
where labor may be scarce or plentiful.

The urgent demand for sugar brought about by the European War caused
many fields to be planted with cane the soils of which were not suited
for the purpose. Mills were also erected at several places in districts
not favored by nature for sugar production. Later, when the selling
price of sugar was fixed by the Sugar Commission appointed for that
purpose, these less fortunately situated mills, compelled as they were
to pay practically double the usual amounts for labor, found little if
any profit remaining at the end of the year’s operations. Those mills
favored by fertile lands and good locations yielded and continue to
yield excellent returns upon the capital invested, in spite of the
increased cost of labor.

In Cuba two altogether different methods are employed for planting,
cultivating, cutting and delivering cane to the mills or loading
stations, known, respectively, as the “Administration” and the “Colono”
systems. Under the Administration system the work is directed by the
management of the enterprise, and all labor and other expenses involved
are paid by the owners of the property. Less than ten per cent of the
cane annually produced is grown and delivered by this system. More than
ninety per cent is, therefore, grown and delivered by the Colono system,
which constitutes the distinctive feature of Cuban agriculture so far as
it relates to the production of sugar. The system differs from the usual
tenant-farming system in that there is no agreed sharing of the crop or
fixed cash rental paid by the Colono to the landlord, in cases where the
Colono is not himself the proprietor of the land in question. The system
applies alike to lands owned by the enterprise, privately owned, or
leased by the enterprise or the Colono; the terms and conditions varying
slightly in each case. By a process of bargaining, based upon local
conditions, the Colono gets from 4-1/2% to 8%, with a probable average
of 6-1/4%, of the weight of cane grown and delivered, in sugar, or its
value in cash. That is to say, for every 100 pounds of cane grown and
delivered by him he would get an average of 6-1/4 pounds of sugar, or
its market value, in cash. Deducting the 6-1/4 pounds, paid as an
average to the Colono, from the 11-1/4 pounds, given as the average
yield of sugar, leaves only 5 pounds to the enterprise, out of which all
expenses must be paid before profits or dividends can be shown.
Moreover, under this system, any reduction in the yield of sugar would
fall entirely upon the enterprise until it reached the 6-1/4% payable,
on an average, to the Colono. As an illustration, take the crop of 1918
and 1919, amounting to 4,000,000 tons of sugar; about 2,222,225 tons
went to the Colono, to cover the “cost of cane,” while only 1,777,775
tons went to the enterprise to cover all other expenses and provide for
dividends upon the capital invested: and, should the yield of sugar have
fallen one per cent, equivalent to 355,555 tons, the Colono would have
received the same, while the enterprise would have received only
1,422,220 tons--and so on, until the enterprise would get nothing at
all, although the earnings of the Colono would remain unchanged.

The system is, therefore, well named, for the Colono receives first
consideration, while the enterprise carries the burden and accepts all
risks; against which the advantage of a possible abnormal yield is
certainly an inadequate compensation. Furthermore the mill owners
generally assume the burden and risk of “financing” their Colonos;
frequently advancing credits of from three to five times the amounts
contributed by the Colono himself. However, with all its disadvantages,
the Colono system is likely to prevail for some time to come, as it is
doubtful if, under existing labor conditions, the large tonnage of cane
now required could otherwise be obtained. The “guajiro,” or cane-cutter,
is the autocrat of the situation; he knows he is scarce and, therefore,
believes that he is indispensable. As a result, his efficiency has
fallen from three and a quarter to two and a quarter tons a day; while
his earnings, on a tonnage basis, have risen from 150% to 200%, when
compared with pre-war conditions. The only solution for this unfavorable
situation seems to depend upon the provision of continuous employment
for labor, and the effecting of a rearrangement of the Colono system so
as to permit of the performance of all heavy work, such as plowing and
preparing the lands for planting, and hauling the cane from the fields,
by the owners of the sugar-producing properties. They can afford to
equip their establishments for the doing of such work upon a large and
comprehensive scale, that will accomplish an indirect reduction in the
present cost of producing and delivering cane to the mills, which, while
increasing the profits of the Mill Owners, will not reduce the net
earnings of labor or of the Colono.

Natural conditions combine to favor the production of sugar in Cuba.
Ample rains, so essential to the growth of cane, fall during the summer
season while the cane is growing; and during the rest of the year the
weather is sufficiently cool to bring about the complete ripening of the
cane and the formation of its sucrose content, and to make possible the
easy harvesting and handling of the cane in the fields, and its
economical conveyance to the “centrales.” Careless and uneconomical
methods have heretofore prevailed in the treatment of soils and in the
cultivation of cane, which will undoubtedly be remedied in due course of
time.

Under a more intensive system of cultivation, assisted by a better
selection of seed, and the judicious and generous employment of
fertilizers, including irrigation, wherever practicable, the position of
Cuba as the largest and most economical producer of sugar in the world
will be permanently assured.

No account of the sugar industry of Cuba would be complete which failed
to make special mention of some of the most notable enterprises now
existing in that Island; or of the men mainly responsible for their
inception and development. Taking them in the order of their productive
capacity, the following list covers the most important of such
properties:

                                  _Mills_         _Bags_           _Percentage_
                               _Controlled_     _Produced_         _of Crops_
  Cuba Cane Sugar Corp            17           4,319,189          15.59
  Cuban-American Sugar Co          6           1,938,368           7.00
  Rionda Properties                7           1,856,563           6.60
  United Fruit Co                  2             776,045           2.80
  Atkins Properties                4             736,043           2.66
  Poté Rodriguez Properties        2             625,054           2.29
  West Indies Sugar Finance Corp   3             619,204           2.23
  Gomez-Mena Properties            2             605,000           2.19
  Cuba Company Properties          2             587,800           2.12
  Mendoza-Cunagua Property         1             452,583           1.64

The Cuba Cane Sugar Corporation was organized in 1915, to acquire and
operate eighteen sugar properties upon which options had been obtained
by Don Manuel Rionda, head of the long established sugar brokerage firm
called the Czarnikow-Rionda Company, of New York City; who, though for
many years a resident of the United States, still clings to his Spanish
citizenship. Shortly after the organization of the corporation another
large sugar property, including a railroad leading to a port on the
Caribbean Sea, was acquired; but soon thereafter one of the original
properties purchased was sold and another was dismantled, so that
seventeen is the actual number now owned and operated by the
corporation. Mr. Rionda deserved and received great credit for having
negotiated, organized and launched the Cuba Cane Sugar Corporation, as
and when he did; and the great success which almost immediately attended
its consummation brought him great prestige and made him at once a
dominant factor in and authority upon matters relating to sugar. It is
immaterial that the eminence achieved was due largely, if not entirely,
to the successive rises in the price of sugar, which applied especially
to the crops of 1916, 1917 and 1919; for nothing succeeds like success.

The Cuba Cane Sugar Corporation was organized and financed upon the
strength of a letter written by Mr. Rionda to Messrs. J. & W. Seligman &
Co., of New York, on December 16, 1915, in which he made an “estimate
that, with sugar at the lowest, say 2 cents per pound, the Corporation
would earn at least 1-1/2 times the dividends on its preferred stock.”
The f. o. b. production cost for the crop of 1915 and 1916, immediately
following, was reported as 2.748 cents per pound, notwithstanding the
fact that the sellers of the properties acquired had paid the so-called
dead season expenses. It is clear, therefore, that, “with sugar at its
lowest, say 2 cents per pound,” the first year’s operations of the
corporation would have shown an operating deficit of 0.748 cents per
pound, instead of earning “at least 1-1/2 times the dividends on its
preferred stock,” as estimated by Mr. Rionda. The large gross operating
profits reported for the first year’s operations were, therefore, due in
part to the exclusion of the dead season expenses, but mainly to the
rise in price of sugar, from 2 cents per pound in July, 1915, to an
average of 4.112 cents per pound during the crop season of 1915 and
1916. Such profits might possibly be creditable to Mr. Rionda’s business
acumen, but it cannot be justly claimed that they were due to the
infallibility of his original estimates, or to his demonstrated
administrative capacity for the successful handling of so large and
complex an enterprise, the physical conditions of which make
administrative co-ordination extremely difficult and expensive.
Nevertheless, he has profited by the experience of succeeding years, and
shows an increasing capacity for coping with the numerous and
complicated problems involved in the administration of the largest sugar
producing enterprise in the world; and it is generally conceded that the
abnormally large profits now earned by the corporation, as the result of
further rises in the price of sugar, will provide for the readjustments
of and cover the improvements to the various properties comprised, that
are necessary to put the property, taken as a whole, upon an absolutely
satisfactory and permanently impregnable footing, physically and
financially. This goal is known to accord with Mr. Rionda’s ardent
desire, as constituting the consummation of his most commendable
aspirations, and the crowning glory of his achievements. It is intimated
that he will then, and not until then, retire from the field of his
activities, in which he has played so conspicuous a role.

The Cuban-American Sugar Company was incorporated in 1906, as a holding
company, to acquire the entire capital stock of five independent
companies then engaged in the cultivation of sugar cane and the
manufacture of raw and refined sugar in the Island of Cuba. Other
properties were acquired in 1908, and again in 1910, including a
refinery located at Gramercy, Louisiana. On September 30, 1918, the
Company owned 504,391 acres of land, of which 157,000 acres or 31 per
cent were planted with cane. It also leased 16,713 acres of land, of
which 7,825 acres or 47 per cent were under cultivation. Thus there was
a total of owned and leased lands of 521,104 acres, of which 164,825
acres or 32 per cent were producing cane. The Cuban-American Sugar
Company was for years the largest sugar producing enterprise in the
world, until the organization of the Cuba Cane Sugar Corporation, which
alone out-ranks it. It has grown out of the Chaparra Sugar Company, now
one of its subsidiary companies; which was organized shortly after the
conclusion of the Spanish-American War by State Senator Robert B.
Hawley, of Galveston, Texas, who at the very beginning employed as his
confidential representative and manager of the Chaparra property General
Mario G. Menocal, now President of the Cuban Republic but still regarded
as the actual General Manager of the Cuban-American Company’s properties
in Cuba. The capabilities, enterprise and industry of these two men, and
the warm personal as well as cordial business relations established and
maintained between them, made it not only possible but easy for each to
supplement and co-operate with the other; and to those conditions the
great success of the Cuban-American Sugar Company is attributed. While
it is true that this Company, like all others, has profited greatly by
the high prices resulting from the War, it is also true that the
foundations of the success that has been attained by it were laid by the
courageous enterprise and perfected by the untiring industry of Mr.
Hawley, made effective in Cuba by the energetic and loyal co-operation
of General Menocal and his large following of patriotic Cuban compadres,
without whose assistance no sugar producing enterprise in Cuba has ever
been or will ever be a complete success. Indeed it is largely because of
the wise recognition of and sympathetic relations established with the
Cuban people by Mr. Hawley that the securities of the Cuban-American
Sugar Company are quoted in the markets of the world at higher figures
than those of any other sugar producing enterprise.

The Rionda Properties are seven in number, comprising five estates which
are in effect the personal property of Don Manuel Rionda, his relatives
and family associates, and two others in which he is the controlling
factor. All of these properties are operated as separate and independent
units, or as individual or one-man enterprises, in the development and
supervision of which few have equaled and none have been more successful
than Mr. Rionda. Part of this success has been due to the fact that
during the creative period these independent properties have been as a
rule under the management of members of his own family, prominent among
whom were two nephews, Don Leandro J. Rionda and Don José B. Rionda,
both capable men, who grew up with the properties they came to
administer, thus acquiring that close personal touch with employees and
conditions which is so desirable an asset, but which is unfortunately
lost to the larger enterprises, and who rendered to their uncle, Don
Manuel, the loyalty he had inspired in them and so richly deserved at
their hands. In such circumstances it is not to be wondered at that
success of a high order has attended their co-operative efforts. Mr.
Rionda has no children of his own and it is probably for this reason
that so close an affection and so intimate business relations exist
between him and his two nephews and the fine sugar producing properties
they have developed under his auspices.

The United Fruit Company entered the sugar business through an accident;
and yet it is the only company that combines all the essentials for
producing, transporting and refining sugar. Shortly after the conclusion
of the Spanish-American War, the Company acquired the Banes property,
and also a large tract of land on the Bahia de Nipé, now known as the
Nipé Bay property, upon both of which bananas were planted on an
extensive scale. But it was soon discovered that atmospheric conditions
in that part of Cuba were unfavorable to the successful production of
bananas. Therefore in order to utilize the lands which it had acquired
the Company planted them with cane and began the production of sugar; it
was of course already a transportation company; and now it has built a
refinery in Boston, to which its raw sugar is shipped from Cuba on its
own steamers, and there refined; thus completing the cycle of operations
from planting the cane to marketing the product. No other sugar
producing enterprise has ever gone into the business upon such
comprehensive lines. Such however are the lines upon which everything
undertaken by Andrew W. Preston and Minor C. Keith, the directing
geniuses of that company, is planned and projected; which largely
accounts for the enviable success that has always crowned their efforts.

The Atkins Properties comprise one property belonging to Mr. Edward F.
Atkins, of Boston, who is reputed to be the first American to have
acquired a sugar property in Cuba, and three others belonging to or
controlled by the Punta Alegre Sugar Company, the most active
personality connected with which is Mr. Robert W. Atkins. The Punta
Alegre Sugar Company was incorporated, in 1915, as a holding and
operating company, engaged in the business of owning and operating
sugar plantations and factories in the Island of Cuba. It owns and
controls 40,831 acres and leases 25,717 acres of land; and is reported
to be doubling the capacity of its central at Punta Alegre. Credit for
the suggestion and initiative that resulted in the combination of these
properties and the organization of this Company is generally given to
Mr. Ezra J. Barker (Ray Barker) of New York, and Major Maude, a retired
British Army officer who for many years has resided in Cuba. The
prestige and financial standing of the officers and directors of and of
the capitalists interested in the Punta Alegre Sugar Company and the
Atkins Properties is sufficient to guarantee the successful operation of
these properties.

The Poté Rodriguez Properties are the personal property of Don José
Lopez Rodriguez, who is a Spanish subject residing in Havana, and known
to every body as “Poté.” Some say that this nickname is an abbreviation
of the word “poder,” or “power.” Certain it is that Don Poté Rodriguez
is, in fact, a human dynamo, the very embodiment of power and push.
Beginning as a book-seller, stationer and printer, on Obispo Street,
Havana, where he still conducts that business and makes his
headquarters, he has, in recent years, acquired a controlling interest
in the Banco Nacional de Cuba, a corporation having a capital of
$8,000,000; he has also invested several millions of dollars in an
elaborate suburban annex to the city of Havana, including a large
Portland cement plant; he has contracted to dig the Roque Canal,
projected to drain the Jovellanos Flats and part of the Cienaga or swamp
lands near Cardenas; and he is the sole owner of the Central España, the
pride of his heart, upon which he has worked day and night for years,
hoping to make it the largest producing sugar “central” in Cuba. But
despite his efforts three other “centrales” surpass it in productive
capacity.

The West Indies Sugar Finance Corporation is a protege if not actually a
subsidiary of the B. H. Howell-Cuban-American-National Sugar Refining
Company group, which under the intelligent and experienced direction of
Mr. H. Edson, of New York City, has come to be a factor of prime
importance in the sugar business in Cuba. It is claimed that the tonnage
of cane obtained from the lands of one of the properties owned by this
Corporation in the season of 1918-19 averaged higher than that of any
other sugar producing property in Cuba; and that the average yield of
sugar was as good as the best. The splendidly economical milling plants
at Tinguaro, Chaparra and Delicias were installed under Mr. Edson’s
direction, and it is reasonable to assume that the mills of his own
corporation are equally efficient. Few men interested in the sugar
business in Cuba have had a broader, more varied or more useful
experience; and there are none whose judgment as to the value of cane
lands and sugar properties is more to be relied upon.

The Gomez-Mena Properties were united and built up by Don Antonio
Gomez-Mena, a Spanish subject, who has resided for many years in Cuba,
where he developed a large mercantile business in the city of Havana;
out of the profits of which he began the building of the well known
Manzaña de Gomez-Mena, or Gomez-Mena Block, which has recently been
completed by his heirs; and also acquired and developed the two sugar
properties with which his name is identified, and which are now owned by
his son, Don Andres Gomez-Mena. These “centrales,” known as Amistad and
Gomez-Mena, and located respectively near Guines and San Nicolas, in the
southeastern part of the Province of Havana are of special interest
since on them more clearly than elsewhere in Cuba are practically
demonstrated the benefits to be derived from irrigation and the value of
cienaga or swamp lands when drained and reclaimed. When Señor Gomez-Mena
purchased the properties they were regarded as of little value, because
a large part of the area consisted of swamp lands, carrying an excess of
water, while the balance was composed of higher lands of a character so
dry as to be practically valueless for purposes of agriculture. It was
rightly reasoned that both of these difficulties could be overcome. So
the wet lands were drained and the dry lands were irrigated; with the
result that these two properties are now regarded as among the most
profitably productive sugar estates in Cuba; relative areas, of course,
being taken into consideration.

The Cuba Company Properties were developed by Sir William C. Van Home
for the purpose primarily of providing traffic for the newly constructed
Cuba Railroad; which fact accounts for their location along that line,
remote from shipping ports, at a time when more desirable locations
could have been acquired, looked at from the point of view of economical
sugar production. Nevertheless both of these properties seem to have
paid well upon the capital invested in them, while at the same time
contributing handsomely to swell the revenues of the Cuba Railroad; all
of which speaks well for the sagacity and enterprise of Sir William Van
Home, and increases the credit to which he is justly entitled.

The Mendoza Cunagua Property differs from all other sugar producing
properties in Cuba in that it was projected, developed and built up as a
complete whole, from start to finish, by a group of Cuban capitalists
dominated by members of the well known and highly respected Mendoza
family; the most active personalities in the enterprise being Don
Antonio and Don Miguel Mendoza. Considered in every feature and detail,
the Central Cunagua Property is probably the most complete and most
perfectly appointed and equipped cane growing and sugar producing
establishment that was ever created as the result of one continuous and
comprehensive effort; Don Antonio Mendoza having the credit for its
accomplishment. At Cunagua more than any where else in connection with
the growing of cane and the production of sugar does the human equation
receive prime consideration, as compared with the beasts of the field,
or the machinery of the factory; all of which are, however, looked upon
as assets and are well cared for. So well and thoroughly, indeed, was
all of this planned and accomplished, and so promisingly did everything
point towards a future rich with reward, honestly earned and well
deserved by the creators of this splendid property, that it is in a
sense regrettable to have to add that the Central Cunagua Property has
recently been sold to the American Sugar Refining Company of New York
City; which company has also acquired additional lands in its vicinity,
upon which a duplicate of the Central Cunagua will be installed.

There are many other meritorious cane growing and sugar producing
enterprises in Cuba, that are deserving of consideration; but which
cannot be satisfactorily described within the space here available for
the purpose. It must suffice to add that of the total sugar produced in
Cuba during the season of 1918 and 1919, amounting to 27,747,704 bags,
13,587,733 bags or 49.04 per cent were produced by sixty-five properties
owned or controlled by American interests, and 14,159,971 bags or 50.96
per cent were produced by one hundred and thirty-one properties owned or
controlled by Cuban and European interests. It may not be amiss also to
call attention to the fact that the sugar crop of Cuba, for the season
of 1918-19 amounted to nearly one-fourth of the total sugar production
of the world. If allowance is made for the normal average increase in
consumption of sugar, as indicated by experience during the fifteen
years just before the European War, the world’s production of sugar for
the year 1919 should have been 21,813,551 tons, while in fact it
amounted to only 16,354,580 tons. This shows that the actual net
shortage in the world’s production of sugar amounted to 5,458,971 tons
instead of the 2,342,751 tons commonly mentioned, the latter figures
representing only the difference in production between the years 1914
and 1919. This indicates that there are no grounds for apprehension on
the part of anyone contemplating investing in desirable property in
Cuba, as to the world’s production overtaking the world’s consumption of
sugar for a number of years to come. The economic position of Cuba as
the premier sugar-producing country of the world may therefore be
confidently regarded as secure.




CHAPTER XVI

TOBACCO


This strangely hypnotic leaf of the night-shade family seems to have
originated in the Western Hemisphere, and that variety familiar to
commerce, known as the Nicotina Tabacum, was in popular use among the
aborigines of the West Indies, Mexico and the greater part at least of
the North American continent, probably for thousands of years before the
written history of man began.

Christopher Columbus and his followers noted the fact that the Indians
of Cuba wrapped the clippings from peculiar aromatic dark brown leaves
in little squares of corn husks, which they rolled and smoked with
apparent pleasure. It did not take long for the Spanish conquerors to
fall into the habit of the kindly natives who received them and who
almost immediately offered them cigars in token of welcome to the Island
of Cuba.

Tobacco was grown at that time in nearly all parts of the Island. Rumor
soon circulated, however, that the best weed was grown only in the
extreme western end of Cuba, known today as the Vuelta Abajo, or down
turn, and the report proved true, since only in Pinar del Rio is grown
the superior quality of leaf that has made that section famous
throughout the world. Neither has careful study or analysis of soils
betrayed the secret of this superiority over tobacco grown in other
parts of the Island.

The choice tobaccos of the Vuelta Abajo are grown in a restricted
section of which the City of Pinar del Rio is the approximate center.
The whole area of the Vuelta will not exceed thirty miles from east to
west, nor is it more than ten miles from north to south. And even in
this favored district, the really choice tobacco is grown in little
“vegas,” or fields, comprising usually a small oasis from three to
fifteen acres in extent, in which a very high grade of tobacco may be
grown, while adjoining lands, similar in appearance, but lacking in the
one magic quality which produces the desired aroma and flavor, are
largely wanting. The prices obtained for the tobacco grown on these
favored “vegas” seem almost incredible. A bale of this tobacco, weighing
between 80 and 90 pounds, will readily sell at from $100 to $500.

When one considers that with the use of cheese cloth as a protection
from cut worms, from eight to twelve bales are taken from an acre,
valued at $200 each, which means a return of approximately $2,000 per
acre for each crop, the importance of the tobacco crop in Vuelta Abajo
may be appreciated.

The value of an acre of any land that will return $2,000 annually to the
grower, at 10% interest on invested capital, would be $20,000. It is
needless to state that this price for tobacco lands, even in Vuelta
Abajo, does not prevail. It is nevertheless true, that many first-class
vegas of tobacco are held at prices that place them practically beyond
the reach of purchase.

In spite of the undoubted profits of tobacco growing in Cuba, the
condition of the “veguero,” as far as financial prosperity is concerned,
is far from enviable. As a rule, while knowing how to grow tobacco, he
does not know, nor does he care to learn, how to grow anything else. All
of his energy and time are devoted to the seed bed, the transplanting,
the cultivation, cutting, and curing of the leaf. He seldom owns the
soil on which the crop is grown, and usually prefers to be a
“Partidario” or grower of tobacco on shares with the owner.

The owner furnishes the land, the seed, the working animals and what is
more important still, credit at the nearest grocery or general store, on
which the family lives during the entire year, and for which the
interest paid in one form or another constitutes a burden from which
the “veguero” seldom escapes. The latter furnishes the labor, time, care
and knowledge necessary to bring the crop to a successful termination.
When the tobacco is sold, the “veguero” receives his part of the
returns, pays his bills, and usually invests the remainder in lottery
tickets and fighting chickens.

The life of the tobacco plant, from transplanting to the time in which
it is due and removed from the fields, is only about ninety days. The
selected seed is sown in land on which brush or leaves have been
previously burned, destroying injurious insect life, while furnishing
the required potash to the soil. The seed beds are known as “semilleros”
and are carefully tended until the plants are five or six inches in
height, when they are removed and carried to the “vega,” previously
prepared with an abundance of stable manure or other fertilizer, well
rotted and plowed in. In three months’ time, with care and careful
cultivation, a crop will be ready for cutting and curing.

The semilleros are prepared usually during the latter part of September,
or early October, when the fall showers are still plentiful. By the
first of January, if the plants have had sufficient growth and the
weather is cool, clear and dry, the leaves are cut in pairs, either
united to the stalk or connected by needle and heavy thread, and
afterwards strung over a bamboo or light pole known as a “cuje.”

To each “cuje” are assigned two hundred and twenty pairs of leaves.
These are carried to the tobacco barns, with sides built usually of
rough board slabs, above which is a tall sharp roof, made from the
leaves of the guana palm. Only one or two openings are placed in each
tobacco barn to admit the required amount of air, while the tobacco,
still supported on poles, goes through a process of curing, which the
experienced “veguero” watches with care.

At the proper time the crop is removed from the poles and done up in
“mantules” or bundles, which are afterwards delivered to the
“escogidos,” where tobacco experts select and grade the leaves in
accordance with their size and condition. After this they are baled and
incased in “yagua,” a name given to the broad, tough base of the royal
palm leaves, and sent to Havana or other central mart for sale. Tobacco
buyers from all over the world come to Havana every fall to purchase
their supplies of raw material for manufacture into cigars and
cigarettes.

Excellent tobacco is grown also in the Valley of Vinales, and may be
successfully cultivated in nearly all of the valleys, pockets and basins
that lie in the mountains of Western and Northern Pinar del Rio. This
tobacco as a rule is graded in quality and price a little below that of
the choice Vuelta Abajo center.

Along the line of the Western Railroad, extending east from Consolacion
del Sur to Artemisa, tobacco is also grown on the rolling lands and
among the foothills that lie between the railroad and the southern edge
of the Organ Mountains. This section, some fifty miles in length, with
an average width of five or six miles, in which tobacco forms quite an
important product, is known as the Semi-Vuelta or Partido district. Its
leaf, however, brings in the open market only about half the sum
received for the Vuelta Abajo. Nevertheless, at all points in this
section where irrigation is possible, the culture of tobacco, especially
when grown under cheese cloth, is profitable.

Again, along the banks of several rivers south and east of the City of
Pinar del Rio, especially along the Rio Hondo, a very good quality of
tobacco is grown in the sandy lands rendered fertile by frequent
overflow of these streams in the rainy season as they pass through the
level lands of the southern plains.

The chief enemies of the tobacco plant are some five or six varieties of
worms that cut and eat the leaves. The larvae are hatched from the eggs
of different kinds of moths that hover over the tobacco fields at
night. Some are hatched from egg deposits on the plant itself, and at
once begin eating the leaf, while others enter the ground during the
day, coming out during the evening to feed, and no field unless
protected by cheese cloth, or carefully watched by the patient veguero,
can escape serious damage or complete destruction from these enemies of
tobacco. It is a common thing at sundown to see the father, mother and
all members of the family big enough to walk, down on hands and knees,
hunting and killing tobacco worms. On bright moonlight nights, the worm
hunt is carried on assiduously, and in the early hours of dawn the
veguero and his family, if the crop is to be a success, must be up like
the early bird and after the worm, otherwise there will be nothing to
sell at the end of the season.

Even with the greatest care, the worms will take a pretty heavy toll out
of almost any field, and to save this loss, the system of covering
tobacco fields with cheese cloth was introduced into Cuba from the State
of Florida, some twenty years ago. Posts, or comparatively slender
poles, are planted through the field at regular intervals, usually
sixteen feet apart. From the tops of these, galvanized wire is strung
from pole to pole, in squares, while over this is spread a specially
manufactured cheese cloth or tobacco cloth, usually woven in strips of a
width convenient to fit the distance between the poles. The seams are
caught together with sail needles and cord, making a complete canopy
that not only covers the field but has side walls dropping from the
white roof to the ground below. Screen doors or gates are built in the
side walls, so that mules with cultivators may pass through and work
under these great white canopies, which protect the growing plants from
the cut worm and save the poor old veguero and his family from the bane
of their lives. The cost of poles, wire and covering cloth, under normal
conditions, is about $300 per acre, and when to this are added several
carloads of manure or other fertilizer, the expense of covering,
fertilizing, cultivating and caring for an acre of tobacco will easily
reach $500, whence the deduction that tobacco crops must bring a good
price in Cuba is evident.

As a result of these huge tent-like canopies, that frequently cover
hundreds of acres, every leaf is perfect, and if of sufficient size and
fineness, may be used as a wrapper. When one takes into consideration
the fact that a “cuje,” or 220 pairs of leaves strung on a pole, is
worth from $4 to $5, and that the same leaves when perforated by worms,
can be used only as cigar fillers, worth from 75¢ to $1.35 per “cuje,”
the advantage of cheese cloth covering to a tobacco field becomes
evident. Owing to lack of capital, however, the small native farmer
usually is compelled to do without cheese cloth, and to rely upon the
laborious efforts of himself and his family, to keep the worm pest from
absolutely ruining his crop.

The tobacco industry at the present time commercially ranks next to
sugar. The total value of the crop in 1917 approximated $50,000,000, of
which $30,000,000 was exported to foreign countries. Of the exportations
of that year, the largest item consisted of the leaf itself, packed in
bales numbering 291,618, valued at $19,169,455; cigars, 111,909,685
valued at $9,548,933; cigarettes, 12,047,530 packages, valued at
$406,208; picadura or smoking tobacco, 261,461 kilos, valued at
$251,874. There were 258,994,800 cigars during the same year consumed in
Cuba, with an approximate value of $12,000,000; of cigarettes,
355,942,855 packages, valued at $7,830,742; and of picadura, 393,833
pounds valued at $196,719. During the four years inclusive from 1913 to
1917 the value of exported tobacco increased a little over $6,000,000,
while domestic consumption increased about one-half or $3,000,000.

In the various factories of cigars and cigarettes of Havana, some 18,000
men and 7,000 women are employed. In other sections of the Island,
outside of the capital, some 16,000 men and 13,000 women are engaged in
the manufacture of cigars and cigarettes, making a total of 34,000 men
and 20,000 women employed in the tobacco industry, aside from those who
are engaged in tobacco cultivation in the fields of the various
provinces.




CHAPTER XVII

HENEQUEN


Next to the “Manila hemp” of the Philippines, which is really a variety
of the banana, the henequen of Yucatan is probably the most important
cordage plant in the world. The name henequen is of Aztec origin, and
the plant itself, a variety of the agave or century plant family, is
indigenous to Yucatan, whence it has been introduced not only into other
sections of Mexico but also into Cuba, Central America and the west
coast of South America. No satisfactory substitute has been found for
henequen in the manufacturing of binder twine, so essential to the
harvesting of the big grain crops in the Western States of America.

Revolutions in Mexico following the overthrow of Porfirio Diaz succeeded
for a time at least in paralyzing if not destroying the sisal industry
that had made Yucatan celebrated throughout the world and had caused
Merida to be known as a city of millionaires; and shortly before the
beginning of the great European War, men who had devoted their lives to
henequen culture and who feared that Mexico could no longer be relied on
for this product, began to look over the Cuban field for opportunity for
the more extensive cultivation of the plant.

A superficial survey convinced them that large areas of soft lime rock
land, covered with a thin layer of rich red soil, furnishing all the
elements essential to the successful growth of henequen, were to be had
in Cuba. Similar soils are found in Yucatan, where the average annual
rainfall and general climatic conditions are so nearly like those of
Cuba that it is fairly to be assumed that a crop which will do well in
the one land will also flourish in the other. In consequence, large
areas, in which Cuban, Spanish and American capitalists are
interested, have been planted with henequen in Cuba.

[Illustration: THE GOMEZ BUILDING

One of the finest business buildings in Havana is the great Gomez
Building, which occupies an entire block fronting upon the beautiful
Central Park and reached by way of the Prado. Although only five stories
in height, it vies in appearance and commodiousness with the best
business buildings in any American city. Its site was well chosen for
the display of its handsome architecture and commanding proportions, and
it stands in proximity to the National Theatre and other noteworthy
structures.]

The first planting on a large scale was done by the Carranza Brothers,
of Havana, just south of the city of Matanzas, about twenty years ago;
Don Luis Carranza having married a daughter of Don Olegario Molino, of
Yucatan, and thus having become interested in the characteristic
industry of the latter country. A company of Germans afterward purchased
the property and close by the railroad station erected a very complete
plant for the decortication of the henequen and the manufacture of its
fibre into rope and cordage of all sizes, from binder twine to
twelve-inch cables. From this establishment for years the Cuban demand
was chiefly supplied.

Shortly after Cuba, in 1917, followed the United States in declaring war
against Germany, the Spanish Bank of Havana purchased this property from
the owners, and at once increased its capital stock to six millions of
dollars; two and a half million preferred and three and a half million
common stock. At the present time the estate consists of three
plantations on which henequen is grown, located at Matanzas, Ytabo and
Nuevitas, with a total area of 120 caballerias or 4,000 acres of land.
It is said that owing to the demands of the European War, and the rise
of the price from 7¢ to 19-1/2¢ per pound, the net returns of the
Matanzas Cordage Company the first year after purchasing the estate
amounted to $800,000.

The International Harvester Company of the United States has purchased a
tract of 3,300 acres of excellent henequen land near the city of
Cardenas, on the north coast of the province of Matanzas, for experiment
and demonstration, and under the direction of Yucatecos familiar with
the industry has planted it in henequen. This action was taken by this
company largely because of the uncertain and unsatisfactory conditions
of the henequen industry in Yucatan, caused by Mexican revolutions and
the arbitrary conduct of Mexican officials. In the year 1916,
444,400,000 pounds of henequen were exported from the Gulf ports of
Mexico and sold almost entirely in the United States, at 15¢ per pound,
since which time the price has risen to 19-1/2¢ per pound. This
unprecedented figure was brought about by the practical seizure of the
Yucatan crop by ex-Governor Alvarado, who allowed the actual growers
only 7¢ per pound for the sisal, he appropriating the difference between
that and the market price in New York.

Twenty more caballerias or 666 acres of henequen are owned by
independent parties in the neighborhood of Nuevitas, on the north coast
of the Province of Camaguey. The Director-General of Posts and
Telegraph, Colonel Charles Hernandez, with a few associates, has
purchased 175,000 acres along the southern shore of the Little Zapata,
that forms the extreme western end of Pinar del Rio. It is proposed to
establish here large plantations of henequen, that will give employment
to many natives of the tobacco district who are now out of work during
some seasons of the year.

The City of Cardenas, on the north coast, promises soon to become
another great henequen center, and the traveler riding west over the
main automobile drive leading out of Cardenas may view a panorama of
growing henequen spread out on both sides of the road as far as the eye
can reach. The peculiar bluish green of this plant growth, dotted with
royal palms, adds an odd color effect to the landscape, not easily
forgotten.

Putting the maximum annual production of henequen or sisal hemp in
Yucatan at 1,200,000 bales, of 400 pounds to the bale, and assuming an
average yield of three bales per acre, indicates that about 400,000
acres of land are actually producing hemp in that country; and allowing
for a margin of twenty five per cent of such area, to cover and provide
for depletion and propagation, it would seem that about 500,000 acres of
land is the approximate area now actually planted with and growing
henequen on that peninsula. These statements are made to justify the
calling of attention to the fact that large areas of more or less flat,
rocky lands exist in various localities throughout the island of Cuba,
notably in the western extremity of the Province of Pinar del Rio, along
the north coast from the city of Matanzas to the Bahia de Cardenas, on
the Cayos and, at intervals, along the north coast from Caibarien to the
Bay of Nipe, and especially along the Caribbean Coast, in the vicinity
of the Cienaga de Zapata; all of which lands are possessed of the same
physical characteristics, and are subject to the same climatic
conditions that apply to the lands in Yucatan now planted with henequen
and at the present time successfully producing sisal hemp. The aggregate
of these several areas of henequen lands is conservatively estimated at
not less than 1,000,000 acres: or double the area now planted with
henequen in Yucatan.

About 9,000 acres of these Cuban lands are now actually planted with and
successfully growing henequen; and about 5,000 acres are now producing
sisal hemp which in quantity and quality compares favorably with the
product of the best henequen lands in Yucatan. The results obtained from
these lands now actually planted and producing are conclusive as to the
results that could be obtained if other and larger areas of such lands
should be planted with henequen.

Furthermore a large part of these Cuban henequen lands are so level and
have such uniform, unbroken surfaces that, at an expense less than that
involved in preparing the henequen lands of Yucatan, they could be put
in condition to be kept clean mainly by motor-driven mowing machinery,
instead of the enormously expensive man-power machete system employed
upon the rougher lands of Yucatan. In addition to such advantages these
rocky areas either comprise, or are margined by, large areas of rich
land capable of producing many important items required for human
sustenance; while in Yucatan everything needed to sustain human life has
to be imported.

Finally, when consideration is given to the fact that sugar cane must be
cut during the dry season, while henequen can be cut and defibered more
advantageously during the wet season, it will readily be seen that the
co-ordination of these two operations, whenever possible, will tend to
solve and favorably determine the problem and cost of labor involved in
the production of both sugar and hemp. Administration expenses would
also be reduced by such co-ordination. These several advantages should,
therefore, contribute to make Cuba an active competitor with Yucatan for
the sisal hemp business, within the near future. The plan projected by
R. G. Ward for the drainage and development of the lands contained in
the Cienaga de Zapata, already mentioned in a preceding chapter of this
volume, contemplates the co-ordination of the sugar and hemp industries
upon a scale so large and comprehensive as to merit great success. The
consummation of such an enterprise should make a definitely favorable
and permanent impression upon the future of the two industries involved.
With a proper combination of capital and enterprise, the henequen-hemp
business in Cuba could readily be developed to a point where it would
rank second only to sugar in importance and profit yielding
possibilities; and such development should have a direct bearing upon
the certainty of supply and cost of the daily bread of the people of the
whole earth. It is, therefore, worthy of the most serious consideration.

Henequen offers many advantages to capital, especially to those
investors who dislike to take chances on returns. First of all, the crop
is absolutely sure, if planted on the right soil. Lack of rains or long
droughts are matters of no importance, and the plant will continue to
thrive and grow without deterioration in the quality of fiber. In Cuba
this growth is said to average one inch on each leaf per month, and
since it grows, as an old expert expressed it, “both day and night, rain
or shine, even on Sundays and feast days, there is nothing to worry
about.” Also it has practically no enemies. Cattle will not eat it
unless driven by starvation, which could not occur in Cuba. The crop is
never stolen, as the product could not be sold in small quantities.
Since the plant is grown on rocky lands, the leaves may be cut and
conveyed to the decortication plant at any season of the year.

The life of the henequen plant is fifteen to twenty years, and the
average yield in Cuba is said to be about 70 pounds of fiber to every
1,000 leaves, and over 100 pounds are said to have been secured in
favorable localities. This compares well with the average yield in
Yucatan. In this connection it may be noted that at the World’s
Exhibition in Buffalo, sisal hemp made from henequen in Cuba won the
world medal in competition with Yucatan and other countries.

The following is an authentic estimate of the cost of growing henequen
and producing sisal or fibre from the same in Cuba. One hundred acres
are used as the unit of measure:

  Cost of 100,000 plants @ $40 per M                     $ 4,000
  Cost of preparing land                                   1,000
  Cost of planting @ $5 per M                                500
  Cost of caring for and cultivation during four years     2,500
                                                          ------
                                                          $8,000
  Cost of cutting, conveying, decortication and baling     4,000
                                                         -------
                                                         $12,000

  The returns from the first cutting four years after planting should be:
  100,000 plants with 30 leaves to the plant yield, 3,000,000 leaves
  3,000,000 leaves (60 lbs. fiber each 1000 leaves) 210,000
    lbs. @ 10¢ per lb                                    $21,000

  Cost of production                                      12,000
                                                         -------
  Net profit per 100 acres                                $9,000
                                                         -------
  Net profit per acre                                        $90

Practical work in the field has demonstrated the fact that the cost of
producing henequen fibre or sisal, if carried on during a period of ten
years with the present price of labor, will amount to three cents per
pound, or $6,300 for the production of 210,000 pounds of fibre coming
from 100 acres of land. To this may be added for interest on capital
invested and possible depreciation of plant or property, $1,700, making
a total of $8,000.

This sum, representing the average annual cost of producing, subtracted
from $21,000, the normal value of the crop at 10¢ per pound, will leave
a net return of $13,000 for the 100 acres, or $130 net profit per acre.




CHAPTER XVIII

COFFEE


To either Arabia or Abyssinia belongs the honor of having been the birth
place of those previous shrubs that were the forerunners of all the
great coffee plantations of two hemispheres. And from the seeds of this
valued plant is made probably the most universally popular beverage of
the world. The people of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia all drink
coffee. The same is true in most countries of South and Central America,
while in the United States and the West Indies no breakfast is complete
without it.

Of all known nations, however, the people of Cuba consume the greatest
amount of the beverage per capita. Both in the city and in the country,
the fire under the coffee urn always burns, and neither invited guest
nor passing stranger crosses the threshold of a home without being
offered a cup of coffee before leaving.

The introduction of coffee into Cuba, as before stated in this work, was
due to the influx of refugees, flying from the revolution in Santo
Domingo, in the first years of the nineteenth century. The majority of
these immigrants, of French descent, and thoroughly familiar with the
culture of coffee, settled first in the hills around Santiago de Cuba on
the south coast, where they soon started coffee plantations that later
became very profitable. Others located in the mountainous districts of
Santa Clara around the charming little city of Trinidad, where fine
estates were soon established and excellent coffee produced.

From these first settlements the culture of the plant rapidly spread to
nearly all of the mountainous portions of the Island, where the soil was
rich, and where forest trees of hard wood furnished partial shade, so
essential to the production of first-class coffee. In the mountains,
parks and valleys that lie between Bahia Honda, San Cristobal and
Candelaria, in the eastern part of Pinar del Rio, many excellent estates
were established whose owners, residing in homes that were almost
palatial in their appointments, spent their summers on their coffee
plantations, returning to Havana for the winter.

Revolutions of the past century unfortunately destroyed all of these
beautiful places, leaving only a pile of tumbled-down walls and cement
floors to mark the spot where luxurious residences once stood. Cuba,
during the first half of the 19th century, and even up to the abolition
of slavery in 1878, was a coffee exporting country, but with the
elimination of the cheap labor of slaves, and the larger profits that
accrued from the cultivation of sugar cane, the coffee industry
gradually dropped back to a minor position among the industries of the
Island, and thousands of “cafetales” that once dotted the hills of Cuba
were abandoned or left to the solitudes of the forests where they still
yield their fragrant fruit “the gift of Heaven,” as the wise men of the
East declared.

Of all the varied agricultural industries of Cuba there is none,
perhaps, that will appeal more than coffee growing to the home-seeker of
moderate means, the man who really loves life in the mountains, hills
and valleys beside running streams, where the air is pure and the shade
grateful, and the climate ideal. The culture of coffee is not difficult,
and by conforming to a few well-known requirements which the industry
demands it can easily be carried on by the wife and children, while the
head of the family attends to the harder work of the field, or to the
care of livestock in adjacent lands.

The plant itself is an evergreen shrub with soft gray bark, and dark
green laurel-like leaves. The white-petaled star-shaped flowers, with
their yellow centers, are beautiful, and the bright red berries, growing
in clusters close to the stem are not unlike in appearance the
marmaduke cherries of the United States. The fragrance that fills the
air from a grove of coffee trees can never be forgotten.

The shrub is seldom permitted to grow more than ten feet in height and
begins to bear within three or four years from planting. The berries
ripen in about six months from the time of flowering. Each contains two
seeds or coffee beans, the surrounding pulp shriveling up as the time
approaches for picking.

During the gathering of the crop women and children work usually in the
shade of taller trees, such as the mango or aguacate, stripping the
fruit from the branches into baskets or upon pieces of canvas laid on
the ground, which may be gathered up at the corners and carried to the
drying floors where the berries are spread out as evenly and thinly as
possible and given all the air and sunlight available. Early in the
morning these are raked over to insure rapid drying. When sufficiently
dry the berries are run through hulling machines which remove the outer
pulp, leaving the finished green bean of commerce.

Approximately 500 trees are planted to the acre in starting a coffee
plantation, and these will yield under favorable conditions at the
expiration of the fourth year about one half of a pound to a tree, or
250 pounds to the acre, the value of which would be $50. The sixth year
these trees should produce one pound each, making the return from one
acre $100. Two years later these same trees will yield $200 per acre,
and the tenth year $300. Each succeeding year, if well cared for, the
yield should increase until the trees reach maturity at twenty-five
years.

On the western slopes of the great Cordilleras that sweep throughout the
length of Mexico, several varieties of excellent coffee are found. Among
these is one, that through some freak of nature, afterwards encouraged
and developed by the natives of that district, has been induced to
produce two crops a year. It is stated on reliable authority also that
trees ten years old, in this restricted area of western Mexico, will
yield five pounds of berries to the tree, or in the two periods of
annual bearing a total of ten pounds to each plant. The Department of
Agriculture is endeavoring to secure both seed and nursery stock from
this district, which will be transplanted to the Experimental Station at
Santiago de las Vegas, and definite data secured in regard to the
success of this variety of coffee in Cuba.

Where several small coffee farms are located in the same vicinity,
hulling machines may be purchased jointly, and serve the needs of other
growers in the district. The crop when dried, cleaned and placed in
hundred-pound sacks, is usually strapped to the backs of mountain ponies
and thus conveyed to the nearest town or seaport for shipment to Havana.

A coffee planter can always store his crop in the bonded warehouses of
Havana or other cities, and secure from the banks, if desired, advances
equivalent to almost its entire value. The price of green coffee on the
market at wholesale ranges from 20¢ to 25¢ per hundred weight.

It is a common sight either in Bahia Honda or Candelaria to see long
trains of ponies bringing coffee in from the outlying foot hills, or
mountain districts. It is usually sold direct to local merchants, who
pay for the unselected unpolished beans, just as they come from the
hands of the growers, $20 per hundred weight. This high price is paid
owing to the fact that the Cuban product is considered, at least within
the limits of the Republic, the best coffee in the world, and it will
bring in the local markets a higher price than coffee imported from the
foreign countries. The retailers after roasting coffee, get from 40¢ to
50¢ per pound for it.

In spite of its superiority and the demand for native coffee, less than
40% of the amount consumed is grown in Cuba. Most of it is imported from
Porto Rico and other parts of the world, and this, regardless of the
fact that nearly all of the mountain sides, valleys and foothills
belonging to the range that extends through Pinar del Rio from Manatua
in the west to Cubanas in the east, are admirably adapted to the
cultivation of coffee, as also are the mountains of Trinidad and of
Sancti Spiritus in the Province of Santa Clara, the Sierra de Cubitas
and la Najassa in Camaguey, and the Sierra Maestra range that skirts the
full length of the southern shore of Oriente.

The available lands for profitable coffee culture in Cuba are almost
unlimited and are cheap, considering the fertility of the soil, the
abundance of timber still standing, the groves of native fruit trees,
the good grass found wherever the sun’s rays can penetrate, the splendid
drinking water gushing from countless springs, and the many industries
to which these lands lend themselves, waiting only the influx of
capital, or the coming of the homeseeker.

The Government of Cuba is anxious to foster the coffee industry, which
was once a very important factor in the prosperity of the Island. The
first protective duty was imposed in 1900; $12.15 being collected for
each 100 kilos (225 lbs.) of crude coffee, if not imported from Porto
Rico, that country paying only $3.40. During the first years of the
Cuban Republic this duty was increased to $18 per hundred kilos, and
later, 30% was added, making a total duty paid of $23.40 on every 225
pounds of coffee imported. Porto Rico, however, is favored with a
reduction of 20% on the above amount by a reciprocity treaty, which
compels that country at present to pay only $18.20 per hundred kilos.

Coffee in Brazil has been sold at from four to five cents per pound and
yet, we are told, with profit. On the supposition that it would cost 8¢
per pound to grow it in Cuba, with the average market for the green
berries at 22¢, the profit derived from a coffee plantation properly
located and cared for is well worth considering, and since the grade
produced is one of the finest in the world, there is no reason why this
Island should not in time, supply if not the entire amount, at least a
large part of the high-grade coffee consumed in the United States.

With the resumption of industries that must follow the termination of
the European War, the Government will do all in its power to persuade
families from the mountainous district of Europe to settle and make
their homes in Cuba. Some of them undoubtedly will be attracted to the
forest covered hills that offer so much in the way of health, charming
scenery and opportunities for the homeseeker with his family. It would
be a most delightful example of agricultural renaissance, if the
hundreds of “cafateles,” abandoned for half a century, should again be
brought to life, with the resurrection of the old-time coffee
plantations, as an important Cuban industry.




CHAPTER XIX

THE MANGO


Of all Oriental fruits brought to the Occident, the golden mango of
India is undoubtedly king. For thousands of years, horticulturists of
the Far East, under the direction of native princes, have worked towards
its perfection. Just when the seeds were introduced into Cuba, no one
knows, but certain it is that so favorable were both soil and climate
that the mango today, in the opinion of the natives at least, furnishes
the Island its finest fruit. It has so multiplied and spread throughout
all sections that it plays an important part in the decoration of the
landscape.

Next to the royal palm, the mango is more frequently seen in traveling
along railroads or automobile drives than any other tree. Its beautiful
dark green foliage, tinged during spring with varying shades, from
cocoanut yellow to magenta red, is not only attractive to the eye but
gives promise of loads of luscious fruit during the months of June, July
and August.

There are two distinct races or types of this family in Cuba, one known
as the mango, and the other as the manga. The terminations would suggest
male and female, although no such difference exists in sex. Both in form
and fruit, however, the types are quite different.

The mango is a tall, erect tree, reaching frequently a height of 60 or
70 feet, with open crown and strong, vigorous limbs. The fruit is
compressed laterally, has a curved or beak-like apex, yellow or
yellowish green in color, often blushed with crimson. It is rich in
flavor but filled unfortunately with a peculiar fibre that impedes
somewhat the removal of the juicy pulp.

Nearly all varieties of mangoes are prolific bearers. Their handsome
golden yellow tinted fruit not infrequently bends limbs to the breaking
point, so great is its weight. The fruit is from three to five inches in
length, and will weigh from five to twelve ounces. The skin is smooth
and often speckled with carmine or dark brown spots, and in most of the
seedlings there is a slightly resinous odor, objectionable to strangers.

The manga, quite distinct from the mango both in form of tree and in
appearance of fruit, is easily distinguished at a distance. It grows
from 30 to 40 feet in height, is beautifully rounded or dome shaped, and
has a closed crown or top. The panicles in early spring are from 12 to
24 inches in length, pale green in color, usually tinged with red, and
in contrast with the deep green of its foliage produce rather a
startling effect.

There are two types of the manga, one known as the Amarilla and the
other as the Blanca. More of the latter are found in the neighborhood of
Havana than in any other section of the island. Three of the most
perfect samples of the manga blanca, both in tree and fruit, are found
within a few rods of each other on the northern side of the automobile
drive from Havana to Guanajay, between kilometers 35 and 36.

The mangas also are prolific bearers, whose fruit ripens in July and
August, a month or so later than the mango. The fruit is roundish, very
plump, and with the beak or point of the mango entirely missing. Its
color is lemon yellow with a delicate reddish blush, the length about
three inches and the weight from five to eight ounces. The skin, rather
tough, peels readily, and in eating should be torn down from the stem
towards the apex. The same fibre is present as in the mango, while the
pulp is very juicy, sweet, slightly aromatic and pleasant in flavor.

The manga amarilla, closely allied to the blanca, is a very common form
and quite a favorite in the markets of Havana, where it is found towards
the end of July. The fruit is a deeper yellow than the blanca, very
juicy, and also very fibrous, with a weight varying from four to eight
ounces. These, with the mangoes above described, are seedling trees that
have gradually spread throughout the Island, the seed being scattered
along public highways and forest trails by men and animals. Horses,
cattle, goats and hogs are very fond of the mango.

Since all mangoes give such delightful shade, and yield such an
abundance of luscious fruit throughout spring and early summer, the seed
has been planted around every home where space offered in city, hamlet
or country bohio. The center or “batey” of every sugar and coffee estate
in Cuba is made comfortable by their grateful shade, while single trees
coming from seeds dropped in the depths of the forest have gradually
widened out into groves. During the years of the Cuban War for
Independence, the fruit from these groves, from May until August,
furnished the chief source of food for insurgent bands that varied
anywhere from 200 to 2000 men.

During the middle of the last century, when large coffee estates nestled
in the hills of Pinar del Rio, the mango, with its grateful shade and
luscious fruit, indicated the home or summer residence of the owner.
Today, of the house only broken stones and vine-covered fallen walls
remain, but the mangoes, old and gnarled, still stand, while around them
have spread extensive groves of younger trees, bearing each year tons of
fruit, with none to eat it save the occasional prospector, or the wild
hog of the forest.

The Filipino mango, although not very common in Cuba, is occasionally
found in the western part of the Island, especially in the province of
Havana, where it was introduced many years ago, probably from Mexico,
although coming originally from the Philippine Islands, where it is
about the only mango known. The tree is rather erect, with a closed or
dome-shaped top, something similar to the manga. Its fruit is unique in
form--long, slender, sharply pointed at the apex, flattened on the
sides, and of a greenish yellow to lemon color when ripe. The pulp is
somewhat spicy and devoid of the objectionable fibre common to seedling
mangoes. It is usually preferred by strangers, although not as sweet and
delicious in flavor as other varieties of this family. The tree is
comparatively small, seldom reaching more than 30 feet in height. The
fruit is from four to six inches in length and will weigh from six to
twelve ounces. The Filipino has suffered but very little change in its
peregrinations throughout two hemispheres. It is not a prolific bearer,
but its fruit commands a very good price in the market. The Biscochuelo
mango is of the East Indian type, although the time and manner of its
introduction into Cuba is somewhat obscure. French refugees from Santo
Domingo may have brought it with them in 1800. It is found mostly in the
hills near Santiago de Cuba, especially around El Caney, and is quite
plentiful in the Santiago markets during the month of July. The fruit is
broadly oval with a clear, orange colored skin and firm flesh, and is
rather more fibrous than the Filipino. Its flavor is sweet and rich,
while its weight varies from eight to fourteen ounces. This variety of
the mango is not closely allied to any of the above mentioned types, but
keeps well, and would seem to be worthy of propagation in other sections
of the Island.

Something over a half century ago, a wealthy old sea captain of
Cienfuegos, returning from the East Indies, brought twelve mango seeds
that were planted in his garden near Cienfuegos. One of the best of the
fruits thus introduced is called the Chino or Chinese mango, and is
probably the largest seedling fruit in the Island. On account of size it
sells in Havana at from 20¢ to 40¢, although it is quite fibrous and
rather lacking in flavor. This mango, through care and selection, has
undergone considerable improvement, so that the Chino today is a very
much better fruit than when brought to Cienfuegos sixty years ago.

During the early Napoleonic wars, a shipload of choice mangoes and other
tropical fruit from India was sent by the French Government to be
planted in the Island of Martinique. The vessel was captured, however,
by an English man-of-war and carried into Jamaica. From this island and
from Santo Domingo, the French refugees introduced a number of mangoes,
including nearly all those that are now growing in Oriente, while the
manga, so common in Havana Province and Pinar del Rio, is thought to
have been brought from Mexico, although its original home, of course,
was in India and the Malaysian Islands.

The fancy mangoes of Cuba today have all been imported within recent
years at considerable expense from the Orient, and their superiority
over the Cuba seedlings is due to the patient toil and care spent in
developing and perpetuating choice varieties of the fruit in India. Of
these fancy East Indian mangoes, the Mulgoba probably heads the list in
size, quality and general excellence. The fruit is almost round,
resembling in shape a small or medium sized grape fruit. Its average
weight is about sixteen ounces, although it sometimes reaches
twenty-four or more. When entirely ripe the Mulgoba is cut around the
seed horizontally. The two halves are then twisted in opposite
directions, separating them from the seed, after which they may be eaten
in the inclosing skin, with a spoon.

The pulp is rich, sweet, of delightful flavor, and absolutely free from
fibre of any kind, which is true of nearly all East Indian mangoes.
Budded trees begin to bear the third or fourth year, yielding perhaps 25
mangoes. The sixth or seventh year, dependent on soil and care bestowed,
they should bear from three to five hundred. In the tenth year, mangoes
of this variety should average at least a thousand fruit to the tree and
will bring from $1 to $3 a dozen in the fancy fruit stores of the United
States.

The Bombay is another excellent mango, devoid of fibre. Its weight is
somewhat less than the Mulgoba, ten ounces being a fair average. Another
East Indian variety known as the Alfonse has the size and weight of the
Bombay, although differing in flavor and in its form, which is heart
shaped. Its weight will average ten ounces.

A close companion of the Alfonse is known as the “Favorite,” whose fruit
will average about sixteen ounces. The Amani is another choice East
Indian mango of much smaller size, since it weighs only about six
ounces. The “Senora of Oriente” is one of the varieties of the Filipino
introduced into that Province many years ago, and has proved very
prolific. It is fibreless, of good commercial value, the weight of the
fruit varying from ten to twelve ounces. It is long and carries a very
thin seed; its color is greenish yellow.

The “Langra” is another importation from India, a large long mango
weighing about two pounds, lemon yellow in color, of good qualities,
with a sub-acid flavor.

The “Ameere” is similar to the Langra in color and quality, the fruit
weighing only about one pound.

The “Maller” is very closely allied to both the above mentioned types,
and bears a very excellent fruit with slightly different flavor and
odor.

The “Sundershaw” is probably the largest of all mangoes, the fruit
varying from two to four pounds in weight, fibreless, with small seed,
but with a flavor not very agreeable.

All of the above mentioned varieties of mangoes have been introduced
into Cuba at considerable expense and grafted on to seedling trees,
producing the finest mangoes in the world. Owing to their scarcity at
the present time in the western hemisphere, very remunerative prices are
secured even in the markets of Havana. Shipments consigned to the large
hotels and fancy fruit houses in the United States have brought of
course much higher prices.

In the hands of a culinary artist the mango has many possibilities, both
in the green and the ripe state. From it are made delicious jams,
jellies, pickles, marmalade, mango butter, etc. It is used also, as is
the peach, in making pies, fillings for short cake, salads, chutneys,
etc.

[Illustration: FRUIT VENDER, HAVANA]

This handsome tree, especially the variety known as the manga, with its
round symmetrical dome-like form, its rich glossy foliage of leaves that
are never shed and that remain green throughout the entire year, adds
not only to the beauty of the landscape, but furnishes most grateful
shade to all who may seek a rest along the roadside.

It is more than probable that the Government of Cuba will select the
manga as the natural shade tree for its public highways and automobile
drives. The experiment has been made in some places with excellent
success, and the delicious fruit yielded in such abundance would furnish
refreshing nourishment for the wayfarer during spring and early summer.

Choice varieties of the mango are comparatively unknown in northern
countries. Unfortunately the first samples that reached northern markets
came from Florida seedlings, and owing to their slightly resinous or
turpentine flavor, did not meet with a very ready acceptance. The rich,
delicious, fibreless pulp of the East Indian mangoes, if once known in
the larger cities of the North, would soon create a furore, that could
only be satisfied by large shipments, and that would command prices
higher than any other fruit grown.

The mango, too, as a shade tree, or producer of fruit, has one great
advantage over the orange and many other trees. It will thrive in the
soil of rocky hills and in the dry lands whose impervious sub-soil would
bar many other trees. The day is not far distant when the mango will be
not the most popular but also the most profitable fruit produced of any
tree in the West Indies.




CHAPTER XX

CITRUS FRUITS


Although the forests of Cuba abound in several varieties of the citrus
family growing wild within their depths, the fruit was probably brought
from Spain by the early conquerors. The beautiful, glossy-leafed trees
of the wild sour and bitter oranges are met today throughout most of the
West Indies, and are especially plentiful in this island. The seeds have
probably been carried by birds, but the wild fruit, although seldom if
ever sweet, with its deep red color, is not only ornamental to the
forest, but often refreshing to the thirsty individual who may come
across it in his travels. The lime is also found in more or less
abundance, scattered over rocky hillsides, where the beautiful
lemon-like fruit goes to waste for lack of transportation to market.

Almost everywhere in Cuba are found a few sweet orange trees that were
planted years ago for home consumption, but only with the coming of
Americans have the various varieties been planted systematically, in
groves, and the citrus fruit has assumed its place as a commercial
industry in the Island.

Homeseekers from Florida found the native oranges of Cuba, all of which
are called “Chinos” or Chinese oranges to distinguish them from the wild
orange of the woods, to be not only sweet but often of superior quality
to those grown either in Florida or California. A prominent
horticulturist, who during the first Government of American Intervention
made a careful study of the citrus fruit of Cuba, stated that the finest
orange he had ever met during his years of experience was found in the
patio or backyard of a residence in the City of Camaguey. The delicious
fruit from that tree he described as an accident or horticultural freak,
since no other like it has been found in the island.

The rich soils, requiring comparatively little fertilizer, were very
promising to the settlers who came over from Florida in 1900, and many
of these pioneers planted large tracts with choice varieties of the
orange, brought from their own state, and from California. Capital was
interested in many sections, and extensive estates, orange groves
covering hundreds and even thousands of acres, were planted near Bahia
Honda, fifty miles west of Havana. Other large plantings were made on
the Western Railroad at a point known as Herradura, in the province of
Pinar del Rio, 100 miles from the capital.

Smaller groves were planted in the neighborhood of San Cristobal and
Candelaria, in the same province, some fifty miles from Havana. Other
American colonies set out large groves in the eastern provinces; one at
a station of the Cuban Railroad, in Camaguey, known as Omaha; another
east of the harbor of Nuevitas. Orange groves were planted, too, at the
American colony of La Gloria and at nearby places on the Guanaja Bay of
the north shore.

One of the largest plantings of citrus fruit was started on the cleared
lands of the Trocha, in the western part of Camaguey, some ten miles
north of Ciega de Avila, while at several different points along the
Cuba Company’s Road, orange groves were started during the early days
following its construction. Both the provinces of Santa Clara and
Matanzas, also, came in for more or less extensive citrus fruit culture,
while in the Isle of Pines, during the first years of the present
century, large holdings of cheap lands were purchased by American
promoters, and afterwards sold in small tracts to residents of the
United States who were promised fortunes in orange culture.

Some of these various ventures in citrus fruit culture, especially those
where intelligence was used in the selection of soils, and sites
commanding convenient transportation facilities, have proved quite
profitable. Many of them, however, far removed from convenient points of
shipment to foreign markets, have failed to yield satisfactory returns
and some have been abandoned to weeds, disease and decay.

Some of the earliest and best kept groves were started in 1902 and 1903,
along the beautiful Guines carretera, or automobile drive, between
Rancho Volero and the Experimental Station at Santiago de las Vegas.
These groves have all reached their maturity and with their close
proximity to the local market of Havana, and easy transportation to the
United States, have been, and are, successful and profitable
investments.

The first of these covered some 400 acres, all planted in choice
varieties of oranges by Mr. Gray of Cincinnati. In this vicinity too,
close by the Experimental Station, is the Malgoba Estate, the most
extensive and successful nursery, not only in citrus fruit, but for
nearly every other valuable plant, fruit, flower or nut bearing tree
indigenous to or introduced into Cuba. This nursery, as well as the
beautiful, orderly kept grounds of the Experimental Station, will be
found very interesting and perhaps valuable to the visitor from northern
countries.

Some of the most successful groves in Cuba have been those planted in
what is known as the Guayabal District, located near the Guanajay Road,
in the extreme northwestern corner of the Province of Havana, within 25
miles, or easy automobile drive, from the capital of the Island. The
oranges produced in this district are all from comparatively small
orchards, well cared for, whose fruit is sold to local purchasers and
conveyed in trucks to the markets of Havana. These oranges are sold in
on the trees, at prices varying from $10 to $20 per thousand. The grape
fruit, or toronja, alone is crated and shipped to the United States,
where the market for some years has been quite satisfactory, especially
when heavy frosts have cut short the yield of Florida groves.

The great mistake of many of the early investors of capital in citrus
fruits in Cuba was not alone in the selection of the site, but in the
fact that enormous tracts of land were prepared at heavy expense and
groves set out with varieties not only unsuited to the market, but in
tracts so large that protection from disease, and from the tall rank
grasses of the island, was practically impossible.

There is perhaps no fruit grown for commercial purposes that requires
more constant care and intelligent supervision than the orange and grape
fruit. An orange grove must be kept free from weeds, grass and running
vines; must be frequently cultivated to form a dust mulch; the trees
must be sprayed with insecticides and should be always under the eye of
an expert horticulturist, or orange grower, who will recognize and
combat not alone the scale insect but scores of other diseases that may
attack the trees at any time. These, if neglected for a year, or even
for a few months, will make inroads into the health of a grove that
spells heavy loss if not ultimate ruin.

In Florida and California these facts, of course, are well known, and
the rules for successful orange culture are carefully followed. But in
the early rush for cheap lands in Cuba, and the selfish desire of the
promoter for huge profits and quick sales, regardless of the welfare of
the purchaser, tracts were purchased and trees were set out with neither
capital nor provision for the care and fertilizer required to keep a
grove thriving, from the time of planting the nursery stock to its
ultimate maturity.

Experience has proved that the most successful varieties of oranges,
intended for the export trade, are those that bear very early in the
fall, and very late in the spring, avoiding thus all competition with
oranges from Florida and the Bahamas. Of these the early and the late
Valencias, together with the Washington navel, that will easily stand
shipment even to Europe and other distant markets, probably have the
preference among most growers in Cuba.

The quality of this fruit is excellent, and although the navel orange
among some growers has gotten into ill repute, the fault lies not in the
orange itself, but in the fact that inferior nursery stock was imposed
upon many planters during the first days of the Republic. During the
past six years, first-class well selected and packed fruit has brought
from $2 to $5 per crate, and sometimes more, in the eastern and northern
markets of the United States, while common oranges, sold by the truck
load in the Havana market, bring to the grower from $6 to $12 per
thousand, choice fruit selling at from $10 to $20 per thousand.

For general commercial purposes, especially for shipment abroad, the
Washington navel or Riverside oranges have probably no superior in Cuba.
They are large in size, weighing from 1-1/2 to 2 pounds each. When
properly grown the skin is thin, with deep red color, and the fruit is
full of juice, as one may judge from the fact that no orange will exceed
a pound in weight and not be juicy.

The navel orange is seedless and exceedingly sweet, although lacking
somewhat in the spicy flavor found in other varieties. Its season for
ripening in this latitude varies from August to November, and extends
into January. In planting groves with this variety care must be taken
that the buds come from trees producing first-class fruit, since the
type is liable to degenerate, unless the grower selects ideal trees from
which to cut his bud wood.

Both the Jaffa and the Pineapple orange are popular in Cuba, especially
for the local markets of the island, since they ripen during what is
known as the middle orange season, or from December to March. The
pineapple orange is probably one of the most prolific of the mid-season
type. The fruit is pear-shaped, orange yellow in color, and one of the
most highly flavored oranges grown in Cuba. Its skin is thin. The form
of the tree is upright in growth rather than spreading.

The Jaffa is a dainty round orange, of medium size, golden yellow in
color, with a thin skin, and pulp tender and juicy. It keeps well and
is, as a rule, a prolific bearer. The tree is upright in shape, compact
and not prone to disease.

The late Valencia, sometimes called Hart’s Tardiff, for commercial
purposes and shipment abroad is recognized as one of the most reliable
varieties grown in the island. It is seldom ripe before the month of
March, and is very much better during May and June. Its commercial
season extends from March to about the first of August, while the fruit
of some trees has been kept in good condition even longer than this. The
tree is thrifty and very prolific, bearing heavy crops every year. The
fruit is of medium size to large, depending on the amount of fertilizer
and care given it, while the color is a bright golden yellow. Good late
Valencia oranges, during the months of May, June and July, have never
sold in the Havana market for less than $15 to $20 per thousand. When
the tree is properly cared for, and the fruit is thoroughly ripe, the
late Valencia is one of the best of the citrus family.

The Parson Brown is probably the earliest orange of all varieties that
have been imported. It sometimes ripens during the latter part of
August. The fruit is of good size and very sweet, with no particularly
marked flavor. The color of the peel is a greenish yellow, and it may be
eaten even before the yellow color appears. Its early appearance on the
market is the only thing, perhaps, that recommends it for commercial
purposes.

In 1915 some small plantings were made in Havana Province of an orange
brought from Florida, known as the Lu Gim Gong. The principal merit of
this orange is said to be in its keeping quality on the tree. The fruit,
we are told, will hang on the branches in excellent edible condition
from one year to another. If this reputation can be maintained in Cuba,
oranges for the local market may be had all the year round. Sufficient
time has not elapsed however, since the first trees were brought into
the island, to pass judgment on its merits or its commercial value.

Although up to the inauguration of the Republic in 1902, the grape
fruit, known in Cuba as the toronja, was little valued, the people of
Cuba have gradually acquired a fondness for it, especially with the
desayuno or early morning coffee. Owing to this fact there is a rapidly
growing local demand for the toronja that promises quite a profitable
home market for this really excellent fruit. The grape fruit of Cuba,
although but little attention has been given to the improvement of
varieties, has been favored in some way by the climate itself, and that
of the entire Island, including the Isle of Pines, is very much sweeter
and juicier than that grown in the United States.

The cultivation of grape fruit in Cuba, especially in the Isle of Pines,
has been very successful as far as the production of a high-grade fruit
is concerned. The trees are prolific and the crop never fails.
Unfortunately, grape fruit shipped from Cuba to the United States has
not always found a profitable market, and there have been seasons when
the crop became an absolute loss, since the demand abroad was not
sufficient to pay the transportation to northern markets. As the taste
for grape fruit grows, it is possible that this occasional glutting of
the market may become a thing of the past, but at the present time many
of the groves of grape fruit in Cuba are being budded with oranges. This
is true also of lemon trees.

Limes, as before stated, are quite abundant in some parts of the Island,
growing wild in the forests of hilly sections. The recent demand for
citric acid would suggest that the establishment of a plant for its
manufacture might solve the problem of enormous quantities of citrus
fruit that must go to waste every year unless some method of utilizing
it is discovered in the locality where found.

There are over 20,000 acres today in this republic on which citrus fruit
is grown. The total value of the estates is estimated at about fifteen
millions of dollars, but with each year it becomes more apparent that
the area of really profitable citrus culture should be limited to a
radius of not more than one hundred miles from some port whence regular
shipments can be made to the United States. This is an essential feature
of the citrus fruit industry. Its disregard means failure.

The wild varieties of the orange, both the bitter and the sour, although
too isolated and scattered for commercial purposes, are often a godsend
to the prospector in the forest covered mountains, since the juice of
the sour orange mixed with a little water and sugar makes a very
pleasant drink. The wild trees themselves, with their symmetrical
trunks, dark glossy evergreen leaves, white, fragrant flowers, and deep
golden red fruit, that hangs on the tree for months after maturity,
furnish a very attractive sight to the traveler, as well as a safe
indication of the fact that in Cuba the citrus fruit, if not indigenous
to the soil, has found a natural home.




CHAPTER XXI

BANANAS, PINEAPPLES AND OTHER FRUITS


The banana is of East Indian origin, but of an antiquity so great that
man has no record of its appearance on earth as an edible fruit, nor can
any variety of the plant be found today growing wild. The importance of
the banana as a source of food for the human race in all warm countries
of low altitude is probably equaled by no other plant, owing to the fact
that a greater amount of nourishment can be secured from an acre of
bananas than from any other product of the soil.

The banana has accompanied man into all parts of the tropical world, and
for the natives at least still remains the one unfailing staff of life.
The bulb once placed in moist fertile earth will continue to propagate
itself and to produce fruit indefinitely, even without care of any kind,
although for commercial purposes it may be improved and its
productiveness increased through selection and cultivation.

Few if any plants that nature has given us can be utilized in so many
ways as the banana. The fruit when green, and before the development of
its saccharine matter takes place, consists largely of starch and
gluten, furnishing a splendid substitute, either boiled or baked, for
the potato. Cut into thin slices, and fried in hot oil or lard, it
becomes quite as palatable as the Saratoga chips of the United States.
When baked in an oven and mashed with butter or sauce, it is not a bad
substitute for the potato, and far more nourishing.

When sun-dried and finely ground, a splendid highly nutritious
banana-flour is produced, that is not only pleasant to the taste, but
according to the report of physicians far more easily digested and
assimilated than is the flour of wheat or corn. From good banana flour,
either bread, crackers, griddle cakes or fancy pastry may be made, that
would be relished on any table.

The green fruit, when cut into small cubes, toasted and mixed with a
little mocha coffee to give it flavor, offers the best substitute for
that beverage that has been found up to the present time. When
scientifically treated with sugar, the semi-ripe fruit with the addition
of flavoring extracts may be converted into very good imitations of
dried figs, prunes and others forms of preserves, that are not only
healthful and palatable, but are nutritious, and may well serve as an
important contribution to the food products of the world.

Interesting and important experiments with banana-flour and the various
products of both the ripe and the green fruit were made in Camaguey some
years ago. The results were exceedingly satisfactory, but with the death
of the inventor this promising industry was permitted to drop into
disuse. Had Cuba been able to command the use of, or fall back on this
splendid substitute for wheat flour, there would have been no bread
famine in the island, such as occurred in the spring of 1918, and the
Republic would have been independent of outside assistance.

Bananas for commercial purposes, or rather for export, have been grown
for many years in the eastern end of the Island, especially in the
neighborhood of Nipe Bay, where deep, rich soil, combined with the heavy
rainfall of summer, results in rapid growth and full development of the
fruit. The banana grown for shipment to the United States is known in
Cuba as the Johnson. There are several types of this, but all resemble
closely the bananas of Costa Rica and other Central American countries,
where the United Fruit Company controls the trade. Owing to the fact
that this Company owns its own groves in Central America, conveniently
located for loading its ships, the United States is supplied today
almost entirely from that section, and the exportation of bananas from
Cuba has been materially reduced.

Banana lands, too, are almost invariably well adapted to the growing of
sugar cane, hence the great fields of Nipe Bay, and that part of Oriente
once devoted to the cultivation of bananas, were eagerly sought by the
sugar companies of the Island, and most of the territory converted into
big sugar cane plantations.

There are probably twenty varieties of bananas cultivated in different
parts of Cuba. Some twelve or more of these may be seen growing at the
Experimental Station at Santiago de las Vegas. The variety preferred for
local consumption and always in constant demand is the large cooking
bananas, known in the United States as the plantain. This banana is not
eaten in its natural state, but when cooked, either green or ripe, it
finds a place on every table in Cuba.

The plant is tall and the fruit at least twice as long as that of the
ordinary banana of commerce. It is not as prolific as other varieties,
seldom bearing more than 30 or 40 to the stem, but it is found on every
farm on the Island and is relied on as a source of food, even more than
is the potato. The bunches under normal conditions command in the market
prices varying from 20¢ to 60¢, dependent upon the number of “hands” or
bananas to the stalk.

The banana plant reaches a height of twelve or fifteen feet and is
reproduced from the sucker or offshoot of the original bulb. About 400
hills are set out to the acre. In twelve months the first comes to
maturity, producing a single bunch of fruit, whose price, dependent on
variety and size, varied from 20¢ to $1. Each main stalk during the year
sends up six or eight suckers, that are used to increase the acreage as
desired. Bananas for export are grown profitably only on or near the
edge of deep water harbors, where transportation to northern markets is
assured.

A description of all of the many varieties of the banana grown in Cuba
would be perhaps superfluous. The most commonly cultivated for the
table, and eaten without cooking, is known as the Manzana or Apple
Banana. Its flavor may suggest the apple, although the choice of name is
probably accidental. The bunch is rather small, and the fruit is bright
yellow, only about one-half the length of the banana of commerce, and
stands out more or less horizontally from the stem on which it grows.
The average price of these when found in the market is about 35¢ per
bunch.

Some three or four varieties of the red banana are grown in Cuba, and
while quite hardy and easily cultivated they are not prized in the
Indies as in the United States. The dwarf banana, or Platano Enano, has
a very pleasant flavor, not unlike that of the Johnson, or banana of
commerce, and may be found in almost every garden in the Island. The
plant reaches a height of only five or six feet, and the bunches of
fruit are long and heavy, filled almost to the tip, and often supported
by a forked stock, caught under the neck of the stalk so that the weight
of the fruit will not break or pull over the plant itself.

Another very choice banana is called the “Platano Datil,” or date
banana. The stalks are relatively small and hold but little fruit in
comparison with other varieties, seldom having more than two or three
hands to the bunch. The fruit itself is from two and a half to three
inches in length, round and plump, with a thin skin that can be slipped
off, like a glove, but with a flavor that is probably the most delicate
and delicious of the whole Musa family.

Approximately 125,000,000 pounds of bananas are exported from the Island
each year, valued under normal conditions at a little over a million
dollars. The great bulk of bananas grown in Cuba are for domestic
consumption.

Agriculture, although rapidly assuming as it should the dignity of a
science, still has its caprices or apparent contradictions. And so it
happens that the choicest flavored and highest priced bananas of the
world are grown in the waterworn pockets of almost barren dog-teethed
rocks--“los dientes de perro” of the extreme eastern end of Cuba, just
back of Cape Maysi.

Here the coast rises from sea level in a series of four or five steps or
comparatively flat plateaux, each some four or five hundred feet above
the other, until an altitude of two thousand feet is reached. The rocks
are soft limestone and in the millions of waterworn pockets, the leaves
and dust of the forest jungle have left their deposit for ages. In this
shallow soil bananas not only grow luxuriously but have a remarkably
delicate and delicious flavor, essentially their own.

The secret of this wondrous growth and par excellence however, lies not
alone in the rocky soil, but in the fact that generous nature at this
point, contributes an abundant shower of rain almost every day in the
year. The low, heavily waterladen clouds of the West Indian seas, driven
by easterly winds strike this series of table lands, one rising above
the other, and shower the lands with daily rains. Hence it is that while
the average rainfall of Cuba is 54 inches, this series of table land of
Cape Maysi has an annual rainfall of 125 inches.

The result is that in spite of difficult access and a cultivation
confined to the hoe, millions of bunches of choice bananas are grown and
shipped from the mouth of the Little Yumuri every year. United Fruit
steamers on their way north from South and Central American banana
fields stop at the above landing to take on a top dressing of fancy
fruit.

Owing to the fact that the banana has practically no season, or rather
that it may bear in any month, four suckers of varying ages are set out
in each hill, from which four bunches of fruit, some three months apart,
will result during the year. With four hundred stands or hills to the
acre, the annual yield should be, approximately 1,600 bunches, and
whether the crop is disposed of in the local markets or converted into
banana flour, the growing of bananas may be made one of the important
industries of Cuba.

Patient toil and judicious selection have made the modern pineapple one
of our most delightful of all fruits, in addition to which, in those
countries not too far removed from markets, it has assumed an important
place as a commercial industry. The fruit of the pineapple, like that of
the strawberry, is a strange compound or consolidation of hundreds of
little fruits, in one symmetrical cone, tinted when ripe with shades
varying from greenish yellow to golden red or orange. Like the
strawberry, it is a ground fruit that must be planted and cultivated
along the lines that bring best results with ordinary field crops.

Pineapples have been grown in Cuba since the beginning of the Spanish
occupation, perhaps even before, although no mention is made of them as
being cultivated by the Indians. As a commercial product the growing of
the pineapple on a large scale began during the first Government of
Intervention, although they were shipped abroad to some extent before
that time. In point of money value, the industry ranks next to that of
the citrus fruit. Although up to the present time most of the pineapples
intended for export are grown within fifty miles of the city of Havana,
over a million crates are annually shipped to the United States.

Pineapples may be grown on any rich soil in Cuba, and are considered one
of the staple crops. The slips or offshoots from the parent plant are
set out in long ridges some four feet apart, with intervening spaces
averaging a foot. These produce fruit in one year from planting, and
from each original stalk an average of six suckers may be taken for
planting in other beds, so that with a very small start the acreage may
be easily increased five or six-fold each year.

About 8,000 plants are considered sufficient for an acre of ground; and
the cost of them when purchased averages about $30 per acre, while the
preparation of the land for pineapple culture will amount to somewhat
more. The net returns under favorable circumstances will vary from $75
to $100. The average net profit from pineapples grown near Artemisia and
Campo Florida is said to be about $50 per acre. The high price of sugar,
since the beginning of the European War, has, however, caused much of
the former pineapple acreage to be converted into cane fields.

The profit derived from pineapple culture, as in all fruits or
vegetables of a perishable nature, depends very largely upon the
shipping facilities of the locality selected. Pineapples cannot long be
held on the wharf waiting for either trains or steamers. In this
connection it may be mentioned that the daily ferry between Key West and
Havana, by which freight cars can be loaded in the fields and shipped to
any city in the United States without breaking bulk, has been very
beneficial to growers.

The Red Spanish, owing to its excellent shipping qualities, is preferred
to all others for export, although many other varieties, such as the
“Pina blanca” or sugarloaf, which will not stand shipment abroad, are
used for local consumption and bring an average price of ten cents
retail throughout the year.

The largest pines grown for commercial purposes include the Smooth
Cayenne, a beautiful fruit, varying in weight from five to fifteen
pounds. Unfortunate is he who may have partaken of the rich sweet, juicy
Sugar Loaf of Cuba, since it will discourage his fondness for the Smooth
Cayenne, the much advertised Honolulu and other cone shaped products,
whose flavor is not in keeping with their appearance.

So delicious in flavor is the sugar loaf pine in comparison with those
large varieties suited only for canning or cooking purposes, that the
latter have never become sufficiently popular in Cuba to induce
cultivation. In the Isle of Pines, however, as well as in Florida, the
smooth Cayenne is grown and shipped to the nondiscriminating who live
abroad. With care in packing, however, the sugarloaf may reach northern
markets.

The pineapple more than any other fruit appeals to the canning industry,
especially in Cuba, where hundreds of thousands that have ripened too
late for the northern markets are left to rot in the fields. There are
no better pineapples grown in the world than in the Island of Cuba, and
the excess or overproduction of the fruit within the next few years will
undoubtedly be handled by properly equipped canning factories and thus
add another industry to the revenues of the Island.

The Anon is a small shapely tree seldom growing over twenty feet in
height and common throughout all Cuba. The fruit of the Anon, sometimes
called the sugar-apple, resembles a small round greenish white cone,
about the size of the ordinary apple. Its delightful pulp suggests a
mixture of thick sweetened cream, adhering to smooth black sunflower
seeds. Although delicious to eat fresh from the tree, and very useful in
making ices, it does not readily endure shipment, and is thus confined
commercially to the local markets of the larger cities in Cuba.

The Chirimoya, belonging to the same family, is undoubtedly the queen of
the Anones. It is larger than the Anon, reaching the size of an ordinary
grape-fruit. Its pulp is white, soft and very delicate, while the skin,
unlike the Anon, is smooth, yellowish in color, with a blush of red.

The Zapote, Nispero or Sapodilla, as it is variously termed, is a
beautiful ornamental tree of the forest, indigenous to tropical America
and the West Indies. The tree, with its trim shapely trunk and branches,
its crisp, dark green foliage that never fails, adds greatly to the
beauty of parks and lawns. The wood is hard, reddish and very durable.
From the trunk exudes chicle gum, used in the United States for making
chewing-gum. In England, since it is more plastic than caoutchouc, and
more elastic than gutta-percha, it is employed as an adulterant to these
products. The fruit in size and color resembles somewhat a small russet
apple. It has a delightfully sweet juicy pulp, not unlike a persimmon
touched with frost. The small glossy seeds are easily removed, and the
fruit is very refreshing when left on ice, or in the early morning
hours. Only with extreme care in packing could zapotes, like many other
fruits of Cuba, stand shipment to foreign countries.

The Tamarind is a tall, beautiful tree frequently 70 to 80 feet in
height, with a soft, delicate, locust-like foliage, and purplish or
orange veined flowers in terminal clusters. The Tamarind probably
originated in Abyssinia or some other part of eastern tropical Africa,
but at the present time it is scattered throughout the entire tropical
world, and is very common in Cuba. There is perhaps no tree known whose
fruit furnishes a more refreshing fruit than the Tamarind. It is said to
have been brought to Cuba from Southern Europe more than a century ago,
whence it has since been scattered throughout the forest, through the
medium of birds. From its branches, after the flowers have disappeared,
hang clusters of brown colored, bean-like brittle pods. These when ripe
are filled with a sweet yet pleasantly acid pulp, which when mixed with
water makes a refreshing, slightly laxative and healthful drink.

The Mamey Colorado is another giant tree of the forest, belonging to the
Sapodilla family and indigenous to tropical America. Its fruit is oval
in form, some six or eight inches in length, covered with a tough brown
skin, and filled with a rich peculiar dark red pulp, inclosing a long,
smooth, coffee-colored seed, that is easily separated from the edible
part of the fruit. In consistency and flavor, it suggests slightly a
well-made pumpkin pie. Those unaccustomed to the fruit would probably
find it unpleasantly rich. The yellow or Mamey de Santo Domingo is a
true Mamey, entirely different from the Mamey Colorado. The tree is
large, tall and quite common in the forests of the Island. Its fruit is
round, russet yellow in color and equivalent to a large grapefruit. It
is used only as a preserve, and in that capacity serves a useful
purpose.

The Guava, or Guayaba, as it is known in Spanish countries, springs up
unwanted in almost every field of Cuba. Its nature is that of a shrub,
spreading out with little form or symmetry. If permitted to propagate
itself, it soon becomes a pest difficult to eradicate. A few choice
varieties, one of which is known as the Pear Guava, imported from Peru,
are very palatable. The meat of the latter is white, rather juicy and
free from seeds. The common Guayaba of the field, while sometimes eaten
raw, is always in demand for jellies, Guayaba paste and marmalades,
which have a ready sale in Cuba and in the United States and are very
popular in the latter country. Animals of all kinds, especially pigs and
horses, are very fond of it.

The Mamoncillo is another beautiful forest tree indigenous to Cuba, that
spreads out like a giant live-oak or mammoth apple tree. Its round,
russet green fruit hangs from every branch, and is refreshing to the
traveler who stops a moment beneath its shade. Its slightly acid pulp
covers a rather large round seed, the whole resembling a tough skinned
plum, although the tree belongs to an entirely distinct family.

Figs of all varieties, green, black and yellow, may be found in almost
every garden in Cuba. No effort has been made to preserve them for
commercial purposes, but when ripe they are very refreshing taken with
“desayuno” or the early morning meal.

The Aguacate is another valuable product of the Caribbean Basin, and
seems to be indigenous to nearly all its shores, including Mexico and
Central and South America. It extended south along the Pacific Coast
also, as far as Peru, where the Spanish conquerors found it in use among
the people of the Incas. Oviedo, in his reports to Charles I of Spain in
1526, stated that he had found this peculiar fruit on the Caribbean
shores of both South and Central America.

It was also indigenous to Mexico, where the Aztecs called it the
Ahuacatl, whence came the Spanish name of Aguacate, by which it is known
in Cuba. The name Avocado has been adopted by the Department of
Agriculture of the United States, in order to avoid the confusion
resulting from the many local names under which this fruit is known in
various countries.

The aguacate of Cuba is a tall handsome tree of the forest, scattered
more or less throughout all portions of the Island. It frequently
reaches a height of 70 or 80 feet, and although of an open spreading
nature, nevertheless furnishes grateful shade. There are many types,
although systematic efforts to classify them botanically have not been
very successful. The distinction between them usually made is dependent
largely upon the shape of the fruit or its color.

The most common variety in Cuba is probably the long, pear-shaped
aguacate, although trees bearing round and oblong fruit are often met,
especially where they have been planted in gardens or orchards. In color
the fruit is usually bright green, or greenish red. Some types again
will vary from greenish red to a reddish purple.

The pear shaped aguacates vary in length from five to ten inches, and
will average probably a pound and a half in weight. The round or oblong
types are usually green in color, with a diameter of five or six inches.
The skin is about 1/16th of an inch in thickness, smooth and bright, and
peels freely from the inclosed meat. The meat is rather difficult to
describe since it resembles in flavor and texture no other edible fruit
known. Its color is golden yellow, resembling both in consistency and
shade, rich, cold butter, and is used sometimes as a substitute for this
product of the dairy. Close to the skin the meat has a slightly greenish
tinge. It is very rich in oil and has a pleasant nutty flavor, that
evades all description.

The aguacate may be eaten just as it comes from its thin shell-like
covering. In the center of the fruit is a large hard seed some two and a
half inches in diameter. This never adheres to the pulp, and may be
lifted out readily so that the fruit can be eaten with a spoon.

The aguacate forms the finest salad in the world. When used for this
purpose the pocket from which the seed was removed is usually filled
with broken ice, over which is poured a dressing of salt, vinegar and
mustard or pepper, as fancy may happen to dictate. When filled with
small cubes of sugar loaf pineapple and mayonnaise dressing, you have a
“salad divine.” When taken this way, the aguacate is cut in half, the
shell-like covering forming the bowl from which it is eaten. Owing to
its content of oil, and other nutritious elements, the aguacate will
probably go further towards sustaining life and producing energy than
any other fruit known. It is also excellent when removed from the peel,
cut into cubes and eaten in soup.

The tree is a prolific bearer, the fruit ripening during the months of
July to October inclusive. Other varieties recently introduced come into
bearing in October and remain in fruit until January, some occasionally
holding over until the month of March.

In the development and improvement of the aguacate, it is the aim of the
horticulturist to lengthen the bearing period as much as possible, and
through selection to eliminate any space between the pulp and the seed;
for the latter, if loose, will often bruise the fruit in handling and
shipping. Since the aguacate, like most fruit trees, is not true to
seed, this work can be accomplished only through grafting, and although
successful, requires care and experience. The ordinary aguacate of the
forest bears the fourth or fifth year from the seed, while the grafted
varieties will bear the third year. A tree of the latter type, when five
years of age, will bear from one hundred to five hundred aguacates, that
will average two pounds in weight, and will sell in the fruit markets
of the United States at from $1 to $3 a dozen.

The tree may be grown on any well drained land and under conditions
similar to those of the mango. On hillsides that have sufficient depth
of soil, it does very well, and as the demand for fancy fruit in the
palatial hotels of the United States increases, the growing of aguacates
for commercial purposes will undoubtedly be undertaken in Cuba or a
still larger scale.




CHAPTER XXII

GRAPES, CACAO, AND VANILLA


In spite of the fact that the Grape is indigenous to Cuba, prohibitory
laws on the part of Spain discouraged its culture in all of her
colonies, so that vine culture in the Island has had no opportunity to
thrive. The few isolated specimens found occasionally in gardens have
produced excellent fruit, especially in the neighborhood of Guantanamo,
where French refugees from Santo Domingo introduced a few plants in the
beginning of the 19th century.

Realizing the importance of grape culture in any country where possible,
Dr. Calvino, Director of the Government Experiment Station, in the first
days of his administration, sent into the forests of Cuba for healthy
specimens of the wild grape, indigenous to the country, known as the
“Uva Cimarron.” These were brought to the Station and set out in soil
especially prepared. After less than a year had elapsed, four or five
lanes, several hundred feet in length, for which trellises of wire have
been provided, showed wonderful growth. This native sour grape has
simply covered the supports with a wilderness of leaves, vines and
fruit.

Correspondence with Professor Munson of Texas, one of the most noted
grape specialists of the United States, resulted in bringing to Cuba a
dozen or more varieties of choice grapes from that section. These,
together with others brought from France, Spain and other European
countries, have been planted at the Station, where, in spite of the
change of climate and conditions, they seem to thrive. The Director is
planning to bud the wild stock of the Cuban grape with all of these
choice imported varieties, in order to ascertain which may give the
best results in this country.

Several acres are devoted to this experimental grape field and have been
supplied with convenient trellises and facilities for irrigation. The
Director and those interested with him are much encouraged with the
present stage of the experiment and have great confidence in their
ability to establish successfully in Cuba many of the choice grapes of
the world, although the medium of the vigorous Cimarron grape of the
island. If these experiments prove successful, there is no reason why
many of the hillsides of this country should not be converted into
immense vineyards, and the cultivation of grapes become a prominent and
permanent source of agricultural wealth.

Although intoxication among the inhabitants of Cuba is almost unknown,
the drinking of wine, as in all other Latin American countries, has been
a custom from time immemorial and the annual importation of wine, most
of which comes from Spain, approximates $2,500,000 a year. Should the
culture of grapes in Cuba meet with the success expected, there is no
reason why this industry, together with that of wine making, might not
be carried on in connection with coffee growing in the mountains, since
the soils of the fertile hills throughout the Island are adapted to the
culture of both at the same time.

In the matter of popular beverages it is somewhat interesting to note
that in each hemisphere, nature provided trees of the forest, the fruit
of which for countless centuries has furnished to man beverages that
today are almost as essential as food. In fact the Cacao of the western
hemisphere is a very nutritious food and drink at the same time. While
coffee is indigenous to Arabia and Abyssinia, whence the trees have been
carried into nearly all parts of the tropical world, cacao, on the other
hand, was indigenous to the West Indies, to Mexico, Central America and
probably to all countries bordering on the Caribbean. The shores of the
latter great sea or basin of the ocean, with their rich warm valleys
formed by the rivers tributary to it, are the natural home of the cacoa,
botanically known as Theobroma, or food of the gods.

When Cortez forced himself as an unwelcome guest upon Montezuma, in the
first quarter of the sixteenth century, he found a delicious drink
called caca-huatl, made by the Aztecs from the seeds of this really
marvellous plant. The taste of chocolate is so delicate and so palatable
that fondness for the drink does not have to be acquired in any country.
From the West Indies cacao, or cocoa beans, were carried to Spain and
the cultivation of the plant was introduced into the warmer latitudes of
the eastern hemisphere. The government of Spain, with its short-sighted
greed of those days, succeeded in keeping the manufacture of this drink
more or less secret from the outside world, and for chocolate demanded
prices so high that only the rich could afford to buy it, retarding thus
its general use in Europe for nearly a century.

The consumption of chocolate today, both as a beverage and as a food,
especially in the manufacture of confections, has assumed throughout the
world very large proportions. Approximately 150,000,000 pounds of
chocolate and cocoa produced from the cacao trees of the Caribbean basin
are consumed in civilized countries, while the demand for the beans is
increasing by rapid bounds every year.

There is perhaps no form of nutritious food more condensed and complete
than that of the better grade of chocolate. Nine-tenths of the content
of this wonderful bean are assimilated by the system, hence its value
not only to travelers but also to armies and forces in the field, who
demand condensed foods like chocolate, with a large amount of
nourishment in a very small bulk. An analysis of cacao yields of
carbohydrates, 37%; of fat, 29%; and of protein, 22%. In the better
grades of chocolate, used for both food and drink, there is practically
no waste.

From the above it may be readily seen that the cultivation of cacao,
from which the chocolate and cocoa of commerce are derived, has become
one of the standard agricultural industries of the world, and one which
for the future gives great promise, since the demand for the cacao beans
is increasing rapidly, as is also the market price.

The Central American republics bordering on the Caribbean, as well as
the northern coast of Colombia and Venezuela, are the greatest producers
of cacao, while Trinidad, Cuba and other islands of the West Indies,
produce considerable amounts.

The culture of cacao, like that of coffee and citrus fruits, is a
healthful and profitable employment, and especially agreeable for those
fond of life in the open, and who enjoy living in the mountains and
valleys that slope toward the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Its
cultivation may be carried on where conditions are favorable, in company
with coffee, since while the latter is grown on the fertile foothills
and mountain sides, cacao is at its best in the sheltered valleys of the
forest. Cacao demands a rich, deep, moist soil, well drained, since the
roots of the tree will not tolerate standing water, and the subsoil, if
not pervious, must lie at least six feet below the surface.

The forest-covered valleys of tropical Cuba, receiving as they do the
washings of the hillsides, upon which decayed vegetable matter has
accumulated during centuries, furnish ideal locations for cacao. In
preparing for the cultivation of the plant, all underbrush is removed,
leaving only the tall stately trees, that although giving the required
shade will still admit some sunlight to the soil below; otherwise the
cacao, reaching up for the light, assumes a tall slender growth,
inconvenient in gathering the crop. Trees for commercial purposes should
not attain a height of more than 25 or 30 feet, the branches leaving
the trunk six or eight feet from the ground. They are planted as a rule
from 12 to 15 feet apart, which is equivalent to from 200 to 300 trees
per acre.

There are several varieties of the cacao, although that in common use in
Cuba is known as the Cacao Criolla, and is not subject to diseases as
are some of the other varieties grown in South America. The fruit is an
elongated pod of cucumber shape, with a rough corrugated skin, hanging
close to the trunk and branches. The side facing the sun carries shades
of red and yellow that produce a rather startling color effect when
first seen in the forest.

The cacao has two major crops each year. The pods when ripe are removed
from the trees with a hooked pruning knife attached to a bamboo pole,
and collected into piles, sometimes covered with earth, where they
undergo a period of fermentation lasting five or six days. After this
the seeds are removed from the pods and carefully dried for the market.
In the days of Montezuma such was the value of the cacao seeds or beans
that they took the place of money or small change in adjusting
purchases, and they are recognized even today among the Indians in
representation of values. In the cacao factories, the oil of the bean,
which represents 50% of its weight, is extracted and known to the trade
as cocoa butter. The residue, known as the cacao nib, is ground and
forms the chocolate and cocoa of commerce. Even the hulls are used to
make a low grade of cocoa known as “La Miserable.”

The tree comes into bearing the fourth year after planting and attains
its maturity in about twelve years, with a life extending over a half a
century or more. The yield per tree varies greatly, or from four to
twelve pounds annually, with an average, under favorable conditions, or
five or six pounds. This extreme range in the productivity of cacao is
dependent almost entirely on the fertility of the soil, since the plant
is greedy in its demand for nourishment, and it quickly responds to the
generous use of fertilizer. In the ordinary sense of the term no
cultivation whatever is given to the cacao tree, since it is truly
speaking a denizen of the forest, doing better when the soil above its
roots is never disturbed, although a mulch of leaves to maintain the
moisture is very beneficial. Weeds and brush that may appear are removed
with a machete.

The successful culture of cacao requires experience and care, especially
during the period of fermentation through which the pods must pass
before the removal of the seeds. This latter work is done usually by
women and children, hence, as in the case of coffee, cacao in many
senses of the word is well adapted to colonies and settlements composed
of families who have grouped together and made permanent homes in the
mountains and valleys that border on the Caribbean and the Gulf.

Cuba is exporting at the present time, mostly from the province of
Oriente, approximately two and a half million pounds of cacao, valued at
$15.20 per hundred pounds, or $380,000. The commodity is staple and the
demand at good prices constant, while the cacao once prepared for market
does not deteriorate or suffer loss if sale is delayed, all of which is
to the advantage of the grower.

The north shores of the Province of Pinar del Rio, swept by the
northeast trade winds throughout the entire year, furnish in many places
conditions most favorable to the culture of cacao and coffee. The same
is true of southeastern Santa Clara, of the northern slopes of the
Sierra de Cubitas and of the coasts of Oriente from the Bay of Nipe on
the north, clear around to Cabo Cruz on the southwest.

Both in nature and in its domestic use, cacao and the vanilla bean have
always been more or less closely associated. Both are denizens of the
deep forest, and are indigenous to the two Americas from Mexico to Peru.
The Aztecs of Anhuac, the Mayas of Central America, and the subjects of
the Incas, further south, added the delicate flavor of the vanilla to
their chocolate, made from the beans of the caca-huatl, from which the
name of cacao was taken. This association of vanilla with chocolate and
other confectioneries has continued into modern times.

The so-called vanilla bean is not, as the name would indicate, of the
legume family, but is an orchid, climbing the trunks of trees that grow
on the rich soils of tropical forests. The vine may be germinated from
seed planted in leaf mold at the base of the tree, but where cultivated
it is propagated from cuttings and must have the shade of trees in order
to thrive, climbing the trunks to a height of 20 to 30 feet, by means of
fibrous roots that come from nodes along its length.

The leaves are bright green, long and fleshy; the flowers are white and
usually fragrant, having eccentric forms peculiar to the orchid family.
The pods, from six to nine inches in length, are cylindrical and some
three-eighths of an inch in thickness. The vine begins to bear in the
third year from planting and will continue to do so for thirty to forty
years with but little care or culture. The pods are gathered before they
are fully ripe, dried in the shade and “sweated” or fermented in order
to develop and fix the delightful aroma for which they are famous.

It is during this period of fermentation that the bean requires careful
watching and expert knowledge in order that the process of sweating may
be perfect, since upon this chemical change in the texture of the beans
the value of the product really depends. After fermentation the pods are
carefully dried, tied in small bundles and made ready for market or
export. They will keep indefinitely and the high prices secured for very
small bulk renders them an attractive crop to handle.

The vanilla of commerce is not only used to flavor chocolate, sweetmeats
and liquors, but also enters into the composition of many perfumes,
owing to an aromatic alkaloid that exudes from and crystallizes on the
outer coating of the best quality beans. These under normal conditions
are worth from $12 to $16 per pound.

Owing perhaps to the lack of experimental initiative, the vanilla bean,
although at home in the heavy forests of Cuba, with the exception of a
few instances has never attracted the attention of those who are in a
position to grow and care for this valuable plant. In conjunction with
cacao, coffee, or any industry carried on in the rich forest-covered
mountain valleys of the Island, there is no reason why the culture of
the vanilla bean should not be made very profitable.

Aside from the removal of the beans from the vine, the only effort
required is that of assisting nature in the fertilization of the
flowers, which in the forest, of course, is carried on by insects, but
for commercial purposes, in order to insure a large crop of beans, it is
well to see that each flower is fertilized by shaking a little of the
pollen upon the stamens. This is readily done with the use of a light
bamboo ladder that may be carried from tree to tree.

Indians from the eastern forests of Mexico, between Vera Cruz and
Tampico, would readily come to Cuba to teach the best methods of curing
or take charge of the treatment of the beans after picking, and thus
insure the success of a very profitable crop, which up to the present
has received practically no attention.




CHAPTER XXIII

VEGETABLE GROWING


With the advent of the American colonists in 1900, truck gardening
sprang rapidly into prominence in Cuba until today it forms an important
part of the small farmer’s revenue. Most of the well-known vegetables of
the United States are grown here, not only for local markets, but for
shipment abroad. They are usually planted at the close of the rainy
season in October or November, and are brought to maturity in time to
reach the North during winter and early spring, when high prices
prevail.

Those vegetables from which the best results have been obtained are
early potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, sweet peppers, okra, white squash,
and string beans. These may be grown in the rich soils of any part of
the Island, but are only profitable when cultivated close to railroads
or within easy reach of steamship lines having daily sailings from
Havana. Profits depend on location, soil, water supply, intelligent
cultivation and success in reaching markets in which there is a demand
for the product.

The long belt of land lying just south of the Organ Mountains of Pinar
del Rio, extending from east to west throughout the province, furnishes
the largest tract for vegetable growing in Cuba. The conditions in this
section are exceptionally favorable to that industry. Close to the base
of the mountain range, the surface is rather rolling, but soon slopes
away into the level prairies extending out toward the Caribbean. The
soil as a rule is a dark grey sandy loam, easily worked at all seasons,
and responds quickly to the use of fertilizers and to cultivation.

Numerous small streams that have their origin back in the mountains,
furnish excellent natural drainage, and some of them can easily be used
for irrigating purposes, if necessary, in the dry months of February and
March. The Western Railway of Havana runs through the entire length of
the vegetable belt, reinforced by a splendid automobile drive, more or
less parallel, connecting the further extremity of Pinar del Rio with
the markets and wharves of Havana.

These lands are very productive, and under intelligent management,
especially when irrigation can be employed, may be rendered exceedingly
profitable, through the cultivation of vegetables. In some sections, the
semi-vuelta or Partido tobacco fields monopolize the use of the land
during the fall months, but there are nevertheless hundreds of thousands
of acres in this district that if properly cultivated, and conducted in
connection with canning plants, would yield large revenues to the
Island.

Nearly all seed is brought from the United States, fresh, each year, and
the planting season for some crops begins in September, extending
through the entire winter, especially where irrigation or fortunate
rains furnish a sufficient amount of moisture to carry the crop through
the dry months of early spring.

The methods employed in vegetable growing are identical with those of
the United States, and the results are practically the same, aside from
the one important fact that all fall grown vegetables, or those that may
be placed on the markets of large cities in the United States between
January and April, bring, as a rule, very high prices.

Later in the spring the vegetable gardens of Florida and the Gulf States
come into competition, causing the growers of the Island gradually to
yield to those of sections further north. It is at this time, or in the
late spring, that the canning industry could take care of the great
surplus of vegetables that for any reason might fail to find a
profitable market abroad. Well equipped plants could handle this crop
with great benefit both to the vegetable growers and the canners.

Irish potatoes, planted in the fall so that the crop may be brought to
maturity in March, have proven very successful throughout this section,
as well as in the beautiful Guines Valley, southeast of Havana. The
potato growers of Cuba have experimented with nearly all of the standard
varieties of the United States and it is rather difficult to determine
which has given the best results.

The Early Rose variety of Irish potato is quite a favorite in Cuba,
owing to its rapid growth and productivity. Later potatoes, while
finding a sale perhaps in the local market, are not considered
profitable, since, as a rule, one can procure during summer and fall
excellent potatoes from Maine and Nova Scotia, with greater economy than
by growing them in Cuba, at times when the land can be more profitably
used for other purposes.

Potatoes, of course, need barn yard manures and fertilizers, the more
the better; or rather, the greater is the return. The yield varies
according to conditions anywhere from forty to one hundred barrels and
more per acre. The Cuban product is almost invariably of good quality,
and when placed in the eastern markets of the United States in the month
of March, will bring anywhere from $6 to $10 per barrel. Under normal
conditions $8 seems to be the ruling price for Cuban potatoes on the
wharves at New York, where they are sold as exotics or new potatoes.
Thus $500 may be considered a fair return per acre.

Green peppers, too, have been found to be one of the most satisfactory
and profitable crops in Cuba. They are planted in rows three feet apart,
spaced a foot or more in the row so that they can be kept clean with
adjustable cultivators drawn by light ponies. Hand cultivation, although
sometimes indulged in, with the present price of labor is practically
impossible.

A well-known pepper grower of the Guayabal district, in the northwestern
corner of Havana Province, on less than a hundred acres of land, grew
6,000 crates of green peppers in the winter of 1917-18, that netted him
$6 per crate in the City of New York. Peppers are easily grown and
handled, and the market or demand for them seems to be quite constant,
hence they have become one of the favorite vegetables for the export
trade.

Tomatoes, too, are grown very successfully in Cuba during the late fall
and winter. The seed is secured from reliable houses in the United
States each year, and is selected largely with reference to the firmness
or shipping quality of the fruit. The methods of cultivation are similar
to those employed in the United States. The weeds are usually killed out
of the field in the early spring, and kept down with profitable cover
crops, such as the carita and velvet bean. These, when turned under or
harvested by hogs, place the soil in perfect condition.

The planting is done usually in October and November and the cultivation
carried on either with native horses or mules, or gasoline-propelled
cultivators. The yield where the water control and other conditions are
favorable, is large, and the price secured in the northern markets
varies from $2 to $5 per half bushel crate. It is true that when
tomatoes from Florida and the Gulf States begin to go north in large
quantities, there are frequently reports of glutted markets and falling
prices. It is then that the canning factory comes to the rescue of the
planter and contracts for the remainder of his stock at satisfactory
prices.

Of all varieties, the Redfield Beauty is probably the tomato most in
vogue among growers in Cuba. It grows luxuriantly and yields from two
hundred to three hundred crates per acre.

Eggplants as a rule are successfully grown on all rich mellow soils. The
methods of cultivation are almost identical with those employed in
growing tomatoes. A small pear shaped variety is grown for the local
markets in Havana and other cities, but for export purposes it would be
unsatisfactory. The finest varieties known in the States are all found
here. The yield under favorable conditions is large and the crop stands
shipment for long distances without injury.

As a rule the prices obtained in the north have rendered the growing of
egg plants very profitable. From $3 to $7 per crate are the usual
limitations in price. The uncertainty of this price, however, in
different seasons, has rendered the production of the eggplant rather an
interesting gamble. This is true regardless of the quality of the fruit,
in nearly all products sold in distant markets.

Okra, or quimbombo, as the vegetable is called in Cuba, while not as a
rule commanding fancy prices, nevertheless brings satisfactory returns,
both abroad and in the local market, where the demand is more or less
steady. Like all others mentioned, it is strictly a late fall or winter
vegetable, and its cultivation is identical with methods employed in the
United States. Prices usually obtained are from two to three dollars a
half bushel crate.

The growing of lima beans in Cuba has proved a gilt-edge undertaking for
those who have been careful in the selection of seed and proper
cultivation after planting. The price obtained in the United States has
varied between $2 and $8 per hamper, or bean basket, with an average of
perhaps $5. The crop is quickly grown and with sufficient labor to
gather the beans at the proper time the grower is relieved of his only
cause for worry. The labor problem can usually be overcome if the farm
is located near any one of the small towns where help of women and
children is available.

String beans, while readily grown in Cuba, do not always find a demand
in the northern markets sufficient to justify the fancy prices
frequently obtained for other vegetables. The local demand in Havana,
while not large, is nevertheless satisfactory to the small farmer living
within a short distance of the city, where he can deliver his crop
without the expense of railroad transportation.

The summer squash, too, succeeds very well in Cuba, and if the crop does
not encounter the competition of the growers in the Gulf States, it is,
as a rule, fairly profitable. A variety of the native squash known as
the Calabaza, always finds a ready sale in the local markets. This
prolific Criolla production is almost always planted with corn by the
native farmers, since its yield never fails and its market is constant
and satisfactory.

Recent experiments have been made by an American grower who has imported
the seed of the small pie-pumpkin into Cuba. To use his own words, “This
variety grows even faster than weeds, and the pumpkins cover the ground
so thick that you can hardly avoid walking on them.” They make a very
fine fall and winter crop, with an average yield of five tons per acre.
This delicate variety of pumpkin, when canned, will probably prove
available for export purposes.

The great drawback to profitable vegetable growing in Cuba lies largely
in the uncertainty of the northern markets, where prices fluctuate so
rapidly, with the minimum and the maximum so far apart, that it is
difficult for the vegetable grower, a thousand miles away, to count with
any certainty on the returns from his crops when shipped abroad. The
establishment of receiving agents, perhaps, under the control of men who
were financially interested with the growers themselves, might remedy
this difficulty. The canning industry, if established on a sufficiently
broad scale, would also add stability to the price of all crops grown in
Cuba, and place the cultivation of vegetables on a more certain
foundation.

The introduction of irrigation, wherever possible, insures so generous a
crop of almost any vegetable planted in this Island, that the returns
to the grower, even where the price may not be fancy, will be decidedly
remunerative. The incalculable advantages to be secured by irrigation,
especially in the growing of vegetables, planted in the late fall and
gathered during the winter and early spring, when rains are not always
forthcoming, is a matter in which the Department of Agriculture is
deeply interested.

One of the best irrigation engineers of the United States has been
invited to go over the field of Cuba, and to advise the Government in
regard to the various localities in which irrigation plants may be
installed with success and profit to the growers. These plans when
carried out will prove of marvellous benefit to the agricultural
industry and will greatly increase the revenues derived from tobacco, as
well as from vegetables.

The great advantage, however, enjoyed by all vegetable growers in Cuba,
lies in the fact that stormy weather never interferes with the
cultivation of crops; sunshine may be depended upon every day of the
year, and the farmer is seldom if ever compelled to lay aside his
implements, and wait for the weather to adjust itself to his needs. In
other words, he can always work if he wants to, and the market abroad,
if he “strikes it right,” may yield him a small fortune from a
comparatively few acres in a very few months.

It would be misleading to the prospective farmer or stranger to quote
the almost fabulous returns at times secured on some favored spot, but
with irrigation, which insures absolute control of the growing crop, the
profits from vegetable raising may run anywhere from $100 to $500 per
acre, and more.

Among those “striking it rich” incidents that may be occasionally found,
may be mentioned a little tract of ground consisting of only four acres
of land, located along the railroad track, not 100 yards from a station
on the Western Railway. Here two Spanish storekeepers placed under
cultivation four acres of land that had been previously prepared with a
carita bean crop, hog fed and turned under. These partners had a well
sunk in the middle of the tract, and a little gasoline engine installed
that enabled them to adjust the water supply each day to the
requirements of the field.

Here they planted eggplants, tomatoes, green peppers and Irish potatoes.
The cultivation was done by one man and a pony. During the gathering of
the crops some additional help was required, although the two owners
worked hard themselves during late afternoons and early mornings. The
return from these crops during the four months in which they were in the
ground, amounted to $6,430.

Incidents of this kind are not by any means common, but nevertheless
they give some indication of what may be accomplished in growing
vegetables in Cuba, when the work is conducted along modern lines and
under intelligent management. Capital, of course, is necessary, as in
all other industries, but the reward, even with the element of the
gamble taken into consideration, is to say the least very tempting.




CHAPTER XXIV

STANDARD GRAINS AND FORAGE


Corn or Maize was probably indigenous to the Island of Cuba, since it
was one of the chief staples of food used by the Siboney Indians at the
time of Columbus’s visit. This cereal may be grown in any of the
provinces, although varieties introduced from the United States do not
give the results that might be expected.

The native Cuban corn has a comparatively short ear with its point
closed by Nature. This prevents the entrance of the grub or worm, so
destructive to the northern varieties that have been introduced here.
The kernel is hard, bright, yellow, rich in proteins and in oil, and is
very nutritious as a food.

In spite of the small size of the ear, on rich lands 40 bushels per acre
are frequently secured, so that, taking into consideration the fact that
two crops may be successfully grown in twelve months, the sum total of
the yield is not bad, and the price of maize in the local markets is
always satisfactory. Experiments are being carried on at the present
time towards improving the native Cuban corn, some of which have met
with success.

The method of growing corn in Cuba has little to recommend it.
Improvements will come, however, as a result of the excellent
instructive work being carried on by the Government Experimental
Station. As a rule, corn in Cuba is planted too close, and with
absolutely no attention paid to the selection of seed; hence we seldom
find more than one ear to a stalk.

A rather novel experiment, carried on by Mr. F. R. Hall, of Camaguey,
has proved quite satisfactory in increasing the length of the ear. His
corn is grown in hills four feet apart and cultivated in both
directions. Two grains are planted in the hill, one a grain of selected
Cuban corn, the other a grain of first-class American corn. The latter
will make the taller stalk of the two, and from the former, or native
stock, the tassel is nipped off, so that only pollen from the American
corn is permitted to fall upon the silk and thus fertilize the native
ear.

The result of this experiment has been a very much larger ear, the tip
of which has retained the tight twist of the husk, peculiar to native
corn. This closes in and protects the grain from attack of worms or
borers. By selecting from this cross, and again crossing or fertilizing
with Northern corn, a greatly improved variety of maize has been
produced. This experiment is sufficient to demonstrate that a great deal
may be done towards improving both the size and quality of Cuban corn.

Between the rows, calabaza, a variety of native pumpkin, greatly
resembling that of the United States, is grown as a rule, thus following
one of the precepts of New England. In this connection pumpkins from
Massachusetts seed give excellent results, planted with corn. The demand
for corn in the market, owing to the large amount consumed in the
Island, insures always a good price to the grower.

Nearly all varieties of millet and kaffir corn thrive well in Cuba and
furnish a very nutritious food for both stock and poultry. This millet,
or “millo,” of which two varieties, the tall white and the short black,
are in common use, is apparently free from enemies, and since it seems
to thrive in seasons either wet or dry, and in lands either moist or
subject to drought, the crop is considered very reliable and hence
profitable especially where poultry raising is contemplated.

Wheat was grown at one time for home consumption, in the Province of
Santa Clara. Here, on the high table lands, with a comparatively low
temperature during the cool, dry winter months, it came to maturity. In
one locality west of the city of Sancti Spiritus in Santa Clara, there
is quite an extensive table land, with an altitude of some 2,000 feet,
where a very good variety of wheat was grown along about the middle of
the 19th century. It is said to have furnished an abundance of good
grain that was highly prized in that section. Just why its cultivation
was abandoned is not known, aside from the fact that most of the
agriculturists found growing sugar cane vastly more profitable. With
money from the sugar crop flour could be purchased and the demands of
the baker satisfied.

Experiments are contemplated in the near future in the growing of wheat
in this same locality. But regardless of the results, it is more than
probable that custom or inclination will impel the people of Cuba under
normal conditions to purchase their wheat from the United States.

Nevertheless, extensive experiments in the propagation of wheat, the
seed of which has been brought from many countries, are now in process
of development in the grounds of the Government Agricultural Station.

These will probably be supplemented a little later by plantings from
selected seeds of the most promising varieties on the fertile soils of
high plateaus in southeastern Santa Clara. Experimental work at the
Central or Havana Station facilitates also the study of any disease that
may attack different varieties of wheat before they have been accepted
as permanently successful in Cuba.

Next to wheat bread, rice is in greater demand than any other food
staple in Cuba. Large quantities are imported every year from India, and
were it not for the low price of the product, greater attention would
probably have been paid to its local production. Upland or dry rice has
been grown to a certain extent in Cuba for many years. Nearly every
farmer with suitable soil, who can command irrigation in any form, has a
small patch of rice for his own consumption, and that grown from the
Valencia seed is much preferred to the imported rice.

The European War, with its attendant difficulties of high freights and
shortages of shipping, has stimulated the planting of rice in Cuba to a
greater extent than ever before. A series of experiments are now being
carried on at the Government Agricultural Station, in order to secure
more definite knowledge in regard to the success of rice in various
soils, altitudes and months of planting. For this purpose seeds of the
Valencia, Barbados and Bolo, the exotics also from Honduras and Japan,
together with American upland and golden rice, are being tried. The
last-named seems excellently adapted to Cuban soil and latitude.

In order for rice to be successfully grown, however, certain conditions
are absolutely essential. Most important of these is first, a fairly
rich soil, underlaid with an impervious subsoil of clay, and located in
sections where irrigation, or the application of water to the crop, may
be possible. Comparatively level valleys or basins, lying close to the
mountains, that have impervious clay subsoil, are considered favorite
localities. The preparation for rice, as with most other crops,
necessitates the extermination of all weeds and the thorough ploughing
or pulverizing of the soil, after which it should be planted with
drilling machines as is wheat or oats. The sowing of the rice in seed
beds to be afterwards transplanted requires entirely too much hand labor
for the successful cultivation of this or any other crop in Cuba, unless
perhaps an exception might be made of tobacco and a few winter
vegetables. Machinery adapted to the cultivation of rice or any other
crop, is absolutely essential to successful agriculture in Cuba at the
present time.

Rice is planted with the earliest spring rains of March or April, when
possible, so that the crop may be taken off in August or September. When
lack of early rains renders this dangerous, it is planted in late May,
or early June, and gathered in the month of October. Seeds of a variety
of rice that is said to thrive in salt marshes have been received at the
Experimental Station and will be thoroughly tried out a little later.

North and east of Moron, in western Camaguey, are low savannas extending
over thousands of acres that are covered during much of the rainy season
with a few inches of water, and where the surface, even during the dry
season, is moist, although not muddy. These great level areas have
practically no drainage and are almost invariably saturated with water,
although in no sense of the word can they be considered swamps, and if
planted in rice, as are the low prairies of southern Louisiana and
Texas, would seem to give promise of success. In the district above
mentioned, these flat damp lands extend in a wild belt for many miles
along the north coast of Camaguey, between the mountains and the ocean.
They are covered with grass on which cattle feed during the dry season.

There are many other similar lands located at different points along the
coast of Cuba. If these could be successfully dedicated to the
cultivation of rice, following where convenient the methods prevalent in
the western Gulf States, an enormous saving to the Island would be made
as well as the development of a now neglected industry. The importation
of rice from the orient and other foreign countries amounts to
approximately three hundred and thirty million pounds, valued at
$12,000,000.

With the increase of population and the demand for rice as a staple food
product, the cultivation of this grain, so popular in all Latin-American
Republics, will undoubtedly be considered. Experiments now being carried
on at the Government Station will ultimately determine the varieties and
conditions under which it can be most economically and successfully
grown in Cuba.

In spite of the fact that two of the best grasses known, both of which
are said to yield even better here than in either Africa or the plains
of Parana, whence they came, flourish in Cuba, the Island still imports
large quantities of hay from the United States for use in cities. The
potreros or meadows of Cuba with their great fields, stretching over
many leagues of territory, are as rich as any known, and can support as
a rule at least twenty head of cattle to every caballeria or 33 acres.

The Parana grass of South America grows on the low lands of Cuba with a
luxuriance that will almost impede travel through it on horseback. The
jointed stems of this grass, interlacing with each other, frequently
grow to a length of ten or 12 feet. The same is true of the Guinea,
brought from the west coast of Africa, which is adapted to the higher
lands and hillsides, and where the soil beneath is rich, it often
reaches a height of 6 or 8 feet, completely hiding the grazing cattle or
the man who may be endeavoring to force his way afoot across the field
in search of them. The native indigenous grasses of the Island, although
suitable for grazing purposes, are rather tough and hard and will not
fatten livestock as will the two grasses referred to above.

Probably the best permanent pasture in Cuba is secured by planting
Bermuda. This grass has been imported from the United States and
installed in Cuba with splendid results. On rich soils the growth is
rank, and the sod firm, with a larger yield probably on account of the
more favorable climate. Stock of all kind, especially horses and hogs,
are very fond of the Bermuda grass, preferring it in fact to any other.

Some stock growers, in the Province of Camaguey, are planting large
fields of it, as one rancher explained “just to tickle the palate” of
his brood mares. This same grass, too, is being used for lawns in nearly
all parks and private grounds in the neighborhood of Havana. With a
little care at the beginning of the rainy season, a splendid firm lawn
can be made with Bermuda in a few weeks.

Recognizing the value of alfalfa, which is today probably the standard
forage of the Western and Southwestern States of North America,
experiments were made in Cuba at different times, but not always with
success. A fairly good stand was apparently secured on President
Menocal’s farm “El Chico,” just out of Havana. But in spite of earnest
efforts on the part of the gardener, weeds eventually choked it out, so
that the field was abandoned. At the Experimental Station a small tract
of alfalfa has been recently planted that seems to give promise of
permanence and complete success.

In the Province of Camaguey, a well-known stock raiser from Texas
secured seed from his native state that had been inoculated, and planted
it in drills three feet apart. All weeds had been previously
exterminated through the use of a heavy cover crop of velvet beans,
turned under. As soon as the alfalfa began to show, light-pony-drawn
cultivators were kept running between the rows, cutting out every weed
that appeared, and allowing the alfalfa gradually to spread, until the
spaces between rows were completely covered, and further cultivation was
unnecessary. The soil was rich and moist, and could be irrigated in
February or March if necessary. From his alfalfa today, he is making
seven heavy cuttings a year, which demonstrates the fact that this
valuable forage plant under favorable conditions can be successfully
grown in Cuba.

Cowpeas of almost all varieties are successfully grown in Cuba as they
are in the Gulf States of America, where the climate, aside from cold
rains and frost in winter, is somewhat similar to Cuba. Both the peas
and the pea-vine hay command good prices throughout the year, in the
local markets of the cities; hence the cultivation of this excellent
forage plant and vegetable, especially when grown with corn, is in
common practice.

A variety of the cowpea, known as La Carita, is very popular in Cuba,
owing to its large yield, and to the fact that after a shower of rain it
can be planted with profit any month of the year, with the exception
perhaps of July and August. The carita belongs to the running or ground
covering variety, and if grown with corn will use the stalks on which to
climb, without detriment to the major crop. The pods are long and filled
with peas about the size of the small Navy beans of New England. The
color is a cream white, with a little dark stain around the germ, which
gave it the name of Carita or little face. The pea for table use is
excellent, of splendid flavor, and becomes soft and palatable with an
hour’s cooking. The vines make good hay, and the average yield of beans
is about 1200 pounds to the acre, which at prices varying from five to
ten cents per pound forms quite a satisfactory crop.

The kinds of beans grown in Cuba are almost unlimited. Various soils of
the Island seem adapted to the legume family, and many varieties have
been introduced not only from the United States but from Mexico and
Central America. One indigenous bean, the botanical name for which has
not been determined, is found growing wild along the southern coast of
Pinar del Rio. The pods are well filled, and although the bean is very
small it is nevertheless delicious eating. The running vines make a
perfect mat or surface carpet and yield an abundance of hay, nutritious
and greatly liked by stock. The origin and habits of this bean, and the
extent to which it might be improved by cultivation, are being studied
by the Government Experimental Station at the present time.

Of all forage and food crops grown in Cuba, there is none, perhaps, more
universally successful than the peanut. The little Spanish variety,
owing to its heavy production of oil, is popular and very prolific in
all parts of the Island where the soil is sandy.

On the red lands, or those that have a clay basis, the Virginia peanuts
thrive wonderfully well. Unlike the little Spanish, the Virginia, or
larger varieties, are usually planted in the spring months, and continue
growing all through the summer. The yield of the Virginia peanut is
large, and the hay resulting from the vines, under favorable conditions,
will approximate two tons or more per acre. This hay is considered one
of the best forage crops, and the field, after the peanuts have been
removed for market, can be very profitably converted into a hog pasture,
so that the small nuts, and those that escape the harvester, are turned
into excellent account, and the field is put into splendid condition for
the next planting.

The yield of the Spanish peanut varies according to conditions of soil,
and control of water, anywhere from 40 to 100 bushels per acre. Every
bushel of Spanish peanuts will produce one gallon of oil, the price of
which at the present time exceeds $1. From each bushel of nuts with the
shells ground in, about 20 pounds of splendid oil-cake are secured.
This, fed to stock, especially to hogs, in combination with corn or
yucca, is undoubtedly one of the finest foods for fattening and quick
growth that can be found. Peanut-cake readily brings in Havana from $30
to $40 per ton.




CHAPTER XXV

ANIMALS


Cuba, like the other West Indian Islands, is strangely poor in its
indigenous mammals. The largest wild animal is the deer, a beautiful
creature, resembling much the graceful Cervidae of the Virginia
mountains. It is in fact a sub-species of the American deer. But these
were imported into Cuba from some unknown place, and at a time of which
there is no record extant. They are very plentiful throughout nearly all
of the thinly settled sections of Cuba, especially in the Province of
Pinar del Rio, where, in places not hunted, they exhibit very little
fear of man and frequently appear near native huts in the hills, drawn
there probably through curiosity, which is one of the weak points of
these most beautiful denizens of the forest.

The abundance of food and absence of cold throughout the year, as well
as the shelter given by the dense woodland and mountains, has led to
their rapid increase. The game laws also protect them from destruction
with the exception of a brief period during the late fall and winter.

A peculiar animal known as the Hutia, of which there are three varieties
in Cuba, together with the small anteater, known as the Solenoden,
represent the entire native mammalian fauna of the Island. Hutia is the
name given in Cuba to three species of the Caprimys, which belong to
this country. The largest of the three is distributed over the entire
Island. It weighs about ten pounds and is frequently seen in the tree
tops of the forest, living on leaves and tender bark. The other species
are only about half the size of the former. One of these has a long
rat-like tail with which it hangs to limbs of trees, as does the
American opossum. The third species is confined to the Province of
Oriente. Outside of Cuba only two of the Caprimys or Hutias are found,
one in the Bahamas, and the other in Jamaica and Swan Island, now almost
extinct. The Hutias are arboreal rodents. Those of the mountains rear
their little families among the boulders of the tall sierras, where the
feeble voices of the young can often be heard by one who listens
carefully. Their faint cry is very suggestive of the peep of little
chickens. Hutias are sometimes kept as pets in the country.

The large rodents, as a new world product, attained their maximum
development a very long while ago, during the middle Tertiary period.
Since that time the group has been steadily diminishing, and the
extensive land areas over which they once thronged have undergone many
changes. The Caprimys are a stranded remnant whose ancestral relations
are difficult to trace.

The largest bird of the Island is the Cuban sandhill crane (Grus
nesiotes). This rather rare representative of the feathered tribe is
found occasionally on grassy plains surrounding the western end of the
Organ Mountains of Pinar del Rio. They are also quite plentiful along
the foothills, and on the grass covered plateaus just south of the
Cubitas Mountains, in Camaguey, where they were at one time quite tame.
These birds are found also in Mexico and in the United States, and when
less than a year old are excellent eating. They stand about four feet in
height and are only a trifle smaller than the whooping crane of the
western plains of the United States.

The guinea-fowl is one of the most common birds of Cuba and was
introduced by the early Spanish conquerors who brought it from the Cape
Verde Islands, whence it had been carried from Africa. This bird, which
has exceptional ability in taking care of itself, while found on nearly
every native farm, soon became wild in Cuba, and is quite plentiful in
some of the dense forests of the Island, especially in the Province of
Camaguey, where it occasionally furnished food for the insurgents during
the War of Independence. The wild guinea is excellent eating, resembling
in size and quality the prairie chicken once so common on the western
prairies of the United States.

The domestic turkey is, of course, indigenous to almost all parts of
North and Central America. Of its introduction into Cuba there is
practically no record. The climate of the Island is very congenial to
turkeys, hence far less trouble is found in raising them than in the
United States.

The Cuban “bob-white” with its cheerful note is common throughout the
Island. He is slightly smaller and darker than the American quail, which
some time in the remote past migrated to Cuba. The game laws of the
Island protect both of these birds quite efficiently, otherwise they
would long ago have been extinguished.

The ubiquitous turkey buzzard is also common in Cuba and quite as
obnoxious as in the southern states of America.

The little Cuban sparrow hawk, similar to if not identical with that of
the United States, is also found in the Island, as is also the king
bird, which retains his pugnacious habits, not hesitating to tackle
anything that flies. Many varieties of the owl are also found in Cuba,
including the large handsome white owl.

The mocking bird of the South, that king of song birds, to which
Linnaeus gave the name of Minus Polyglottus Orpheus, is usually in
evidence with his beautiful song, if not always in sight. The sweet
voiced meadow lark of the United States also is very common in Cuba.

The wild pigeons, once so plentiful in the United States, are still
found in Cuba. Their roosting places are in the deep forests. The
Province of Camaguey seems to be their favorite rendezvous. Other
pigeons found in Cuba are the West Indian mourning dove, the Zenaida
dove, and the little Cuban ground dove. Another beautiful
representative of the dove family is the native white crowned pigeon
(Columba Leucocephala) gentle, lovable creatures that make delightful
pets for children. Two specimens of these doves are domiciled in the
Zoological Park at Washington.

Parrots, of course, are indigenous to Cuba. Several varieties are
represented, the largest of which, with its brilliant green plumage and
red head, can be easily tamed, while its linguistic ability rapidly
develops with a little patience. These birds when not mating fly in
great flocks, sometimes alighting near homes in the forest, their
unmelodious chatter rendering conversation impossible. The squabs are
excellent eating and are sometimes used for that purpose. Another Cuban
parrot, the Amazona Leucocephala, makes its nest in holes excavated in
the upper reaches of the royal palm, 50 or 60 feet above the ground.

A striking bird, peculiar to the coastal regions, is the Cuban oriole; a
black bird with bright yellow shoulders, rump and tail coverts, the
under side of the wings also yellow. As a general alarmist, he is equal
to the cat bird, also found in Cuba. A little sneaking about the thicket
will lure the oriole from his hiding place and cause him to scold and
revile the intruder. The Cuban green woodpecker and the white-eyed vireo
are also garrulous birds often met in company with the oriole.

One of the most beautiful birds of Cuba is the little tody, which, with
the exception of humming birds that are also very plentiful, is the
smallest of the feathered inhabitants of the Island. Its length from tip
of bill to tip of tail is only a little over three inches. The entire
back of the bird is a brilliant grass green. On its throat is a large
patch of bright scarlet, bordered by a zone of white at the angle of the
bill, replaced toward the posterior end of the patch by a bright blue.
The under parts are white and smoky, while the flanks are washed with a
pale scarlet. This little jewel of a bird may be found anywhere in
Western Cuba, usually in low shrubbery, bordering some path, from which
he invites your attention by a song that recalls faintly the note of the
kingfisher.

Scattered throughout the island and especially plentiful in the Sierras,
is the Cuban lizard-cuckoo, known to the natives as the arriero. He is
about twenty inches in length, the long broad tail representing about
three-fifths while the bill will add almost two inches. The arriero is
one of the most interesting members of Cuban avifauna. His color is a
pale greyish brown with a metallic flush. The throat and the anterior
part of the under-surfaces are grey, washed with pale brown, while the
posterior portion is a pale reddish brown. The large, broad tail
feathers are tipped with white and crossed by a broad band of black.

He is a veritable clown, of curious and inquiring turn of mind, and
extremely amusing in his antics. Having responded to your call, he will
inspect you carefully, moving his tail sidewise, or cocking it up like a
wren. He may slink away like a shadow, or he may spread his wings and
tumble over himself, chattering as if he had discovered the most amusing
thing in the world, and was bubbling over with mirth.

One of the most strikingly colored birds in Cuba is the trogon. The top
of his head is metallic purple, the entire back metallic green, while
the under parts are pale grey, a little lighter at the throat. The
posterior and under tail coverts are scarlet, while the primaries of the
wing, and part of the secondaries, are marked with white bars. The outer
tail feathers also are tipped with broad bands of white, the combination
giving to the bird a strikingly brilliant appearance. The Trogon is
inclined to conceal his beauty in thickets, and rarely displays himself
in the open. His call suggests that of the northern cuckoos.

Water birds are very plentiful, especially in the shallow lagoons that
for hundreds of miles separate the mainland from the outlying islands.
The largest and most striking of these is probably the flamingo, great
flocks of which may be seen in the early morning, spreading out like a
line of red-coated soldiers along the sand spits, or restingas, that
frequently reach out from shore a mile or more, into the shallow salt
waters. The flamingos are very shy, seldom permitting man to approach
within 200 yards.

Another beautiful water bird is the Sevilla that reaches, with maturity,
about the size of the Muscovy cock. Until nearly a year old this
beautiful inhabitant of the lagoons is snow white, after which his color
changes to a bright carmine red. In the unfrequented lagoons he is still
very plentiful. In the same waters are found many varieties of the heron
family, including the much sought for little white heron, with its
beautiful plumage, from which the aigrettes so popular among women as
ornaments are obtained.

One of the most peculiar and conspicuous birds in Cuba is the ani, found
everywhere throughout the Island where there are cattle, even
approaching the outskirts of large cities. The ani is about the size of
a small crow, jet black in color with a metallic sheen, and carries a
peculiar crest on the upper mandible. It lives almost entirely on ticks
or other parasitic insects that trouble cattle. It will sit perched on
the back of an ox, hunting industriously for ticks, which process or
favor is apparently enjoyed by the patient beasts.




CHAPTER XXVI

STOCK RAISING


Some of the men who followed Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic at
the close of the 15th century were accustomed to stock raising in Spain,
and all of them realized the value of the horse to the mounted warrior,
armed with long lance or sharp cutlass, with which he could ride down
the poor naked Indians of Cuba. They had come from Seville and the
southern provinces, and had perhaps acquired their appreciation of the
horse from the Arab, who made this noble animal his companion, and to
all intents and purposes a member of his family.

The conquerors brought with them their animals and thus the equine race
was introduced for the first time into the Western Hemisphere. All that
came from Spain in the early days were of Arabian stock, which, although
permitted to deteriorate, has still retained many of the characteristics
of the parent stock, among which are endurance and gentleness. A colt
that has always run wild over the ranges of Cuba, can be easily broken
to the saddle in a few hours.

Owing to the abundance of food throughout the year, and to the absence
of sleet, snow or cold rains, that sometimes chill and retard the growth
of young colts, this Island is probably quite as well adapted to the
breeding and raising of horses as any place in the world. During the
first Government of Intervention, a large number of American horses were
brought to Cuba by the Army of Occupation, and in spite of this abrupt
change of climate and conditions, cavalry officers stated that never
before had they found a place where their mounts seemed to thrive so
well, and to remain so free from disease. Out of two thousand horses
stationed at Camp Columbia, in the year 1901, only three were found in
the hospital, two of these suffering from accidents, and the third, from
a mild case of imported glanders.

The native horses, although smaller than the American, are hardy, gentle
and easily kept, and unless taught to eat corn, invariably prefer the
rich grasses to which they have always been accustomed. This native
stock, when crossed with good Kentucky, Missouri or Montana stallions,
produces really excellent service animals, especially for the saddle.

Since the accession of General Menocal to the Presidency, and especially
since his appointment of General Sanchez Agramonte as Secretary of
Agriculture, rapid strides have been made in the introduction of fine
thoroughbred stallions, most of them gaited saddle animals that have
been imported from Kentucky, and brought to Cuba for breeding purposes.
These animals have been distributed by the Department of Agriculture
throughout the different provinces, and improvement in resulting colts
is already beginning to be apparent.

Probably one half of the native horses of Cuba in 1895 were killed or
rendered useless during the War of Independence, which began in that
year. This, of course, was a great loss to the Island, but so rapid is
the rate of increase in this balmy climate that horses have again become
quite plentiful and consequently cheap.

Registered in the Department of Agriculture, in the year 1918, for the
Province of Oriente, were 218,876 horses; in Santa Clara were 212,985;
in Camaguey 129,023; in Matanzas, 108,900; in Havana, 94,214, and in
Pinar del Rio, 63,021; making a total of 827,019 registered in the
Island.

The small, pony-built, light stepping, sure-footed horses, of the
original or native stock of the Island, especially in the interior, are
quite cheap; mares selling in some places at from $10 to $20, while
geldings of the same grade will bring from $20 to $40, and stallions
from $25 to $50.

Nevertheless, a well gaited and spirited native saddle horse, in the
City of Havana, will find a ready market at anywhere from $75 to $200.
Imported saddle animals, well gaited, and from good stables, bring in
Cuba prices varying from $300 to $2,000; the price varying with the
merit of the animal and the fancy of the purchaser. With splendid
grasses, balmy climate, and excellent water, there is no reason why the
breeding of horses in Cuba, especially those types suited for fancy
saddle animals, military remounts and polo ponies, should not be
profitable and successful in every sense of the word.

Good mules are always in demand in Cuba, although not many are bred in
the Island, and most of them up to the present have been imported from
Missouri, Texas and other sections of the United States. Under normal
conditions a pair of good mules in Havana will bring from $250 to $500.
Scattered throughout the country in 1918 were approximately 61,000
mules, and about 3,250 asses.

When the first Spanish settlers, most of whom were lured to Cuba through
the hope of finding gold in quantities never realized, saw the great,
broad and rich grass covered savannas of Camaguey, dreams of riches from
cattle raising with far more promise than the fortunes expected from
easily found gold tempered their disappointment, and laid the foundation
for future prosperity.

A few cattle were brought over from Spain in the first expeditions and
left at Santo Domingo, where they at once began to multiply and thrive.
From this fountain head, Diego Velasquez brought several boatloads to
Cuba, that were distributed among his friends in the seven cities of
which he was the founder.

The original cattle were of a type peculiar to Spain in the 16th
century; rather small, well shaped and handsome animals, of a light
brown or dark jersey color, similar to that of the wild deer in shade,
and usually carrying a dark streak along the spine, with a rather heavy
cross of black at the shoulders. Although almost no care was given to
these animals, and no attempt made at selection or improvement of the
breed, they continued to multiply and thrive on the rich native grasses
of the savannas throughout the Island.

In 1895, there were approximately 3,000,000 head registered in Cuba by
the Spanish colonial authorities. Beef was then plentiful and cheap, and
Cuba was supplying the British colonies of the Bahama Islands with
nearly all the meat consumed. Most of it was shipped from the harbor of
Nuevitas across the banks to Nassau.

With the beginning of the War of Independence, as in all wars, food was
a matter of prime necessity; hence the great herds of cattle roaming the
fields of the eastern provinces became at once legitimate prey, and
since there was no commissary department, and but little effort made on
either side to protect beef from unnecessary slaughter, thousands of
head of cattle were killed, not alone for food, but by each army, the
insurgent and the Spanish, in order to prevent the other side from
getting the benefit of the food. With this reckless method of
destruction, at the expiration of the struggle in 1898, 85%, perhaps
90%, of the cattle of the Island had been wiped out of existence.

The shortage of beef, of course, was serious, and at the beginning of
the first Government of Intervention steps were taken by General Brooke
and later by General Wood to encourage the immediate importation of
cattle from any locality where they might happen to be available. Hence
cattle were imported indiscriminately from Texas, Louisiana, Florida and
Venezuela, with the natural result that the breeding animals of
succeeding years were composed of a very mixed and ill selected lot.

With the installation of the Republic, measures were taken to remedy
this misfortune, and to improve the breed. Many private individuals who
had always been interested in the cattle industry imported thoroughbred
bulls from the United States. Quite a number of American stock raisers,
mostly from Texas and other southern states, attracted by the stories of
fine cheap grazing lands, with fresh grass throughout the year, came to
Cuba and settled in Camaguey. Many of these brought with them a stock of
better animals.

When General Menocal assumed the Presidency in 1913 the further
importation of good cattle was encouraged, and an Agricultural
Exposition or Stock Fair was held at the Quinto de Molinos, or Botanical
Gardens in Havana, where stock breeders from all over the world vied
with each other in the exhibition of fine, thoroughbred animals of many
kinds. An excellent exhibition of Jerseys, imported in 1901 by Joaquin
Quilez, then Governor of the Province of Pinar del Rio, represented a
fine grade of milch cows.

Cattle came not only from the United States, but crossed the Atlantic
from Holland and from France, while a very attractive breed of handsome,
dark red cattle, were placed on exhibition by the late Sir William Van
Horne, which he had previously imported from the Western coast of
Africa. Most interesting, perhaps, of all, were several specimens of the
Zebu, a large variety of the sacred cattle of India, that had previously
been introduced from abroad, and kept at the Experimental Station at
Santiago de las Vegas.

The Zebu, although of somewhat self-willed disposition, and with an
inclination to jump any fence under seven feet, is nevertheless proving
a very important addition to the breeding stock of Cuba. This largest
specimen of the bovine species, standing at the shoulders some six feet
in height, when crossed with the ordinary cow of Cuba, produces a much
larger and stronger animal, with this very important advantage, that at
two years of age, a weight equivalent to or in excess of the ordinary
three years old, is attained, while the quality of the meat is in no way
impaired.

The Zebu is not only valuable for beef breeding purposes but is probably
unequaled in the capacity of a draft ox. A pair of Zebus, when yoked to
a cart or wagon, will drop into a trot with an ordinary load at daylight
in the morning, and without serious effort make fifty miles by sunset.
The strength of these animals is almost incredible, and the cross with
the common cow will undoubtedly furnish a valuable adjunct to successful
stock growing in the Republic.

In all stock raising enterprises, plenty of fresh water is absolutely
essential. Rivers or running streams are most desirable acquisitions to
any ranch. Where these cannot be found, wells are usually sunk and water
met at depths varying from twenty to two hundred feet. In the foothills
and mountainous districts, never failing streams are found in abundance.

There still remain hundreds of thousands of acres of well watered and
well drained lands, that possess all the conditions desired for stock
raising. Much of the territory formerly devoted to grazing has been
recently planted in sugar cane, owing to the high prices of sugar,
resulting from the European War. In spite of this fact there are still
large tracts in nearly every province of the Island that not only are
available for stock raising, but would, if sown in grasses and forage
plants, produce, under proper management, returns per acre quite as
satisfactory as those derived from sugar cane.

In both Havana and Matanzas Provinces good lands command a price that is
rather prohibitive for grazing purposes. But in Pinar del Rio, and the
three large eastern provinces of the Island, there are still extensive
tracts, both in the level sections, and in the foothills, that are ideal
grazing lands, and if not absorbed in the near future by the cane
planters, these lands will eventually, owing to their advantages for
stock raising, yield revenues quite as satisfactory as those of any
other in the Republic.

These lands can be secured at the present time, in large tracts, at
prices varying from $15 to $50 per acre, and if properly administered,
will easily yield an annual net return from 25% to 50% on the
investment. One prominent stock raiser in the Province of Camaguey, an
American who, starting with nothing, has built up a very tidy fortune in
the last ten years, stated that his return in the year 1918 represented
a profit of 104% on his capital invested. This excellent showing,
however, may have resulted from the practice of buying calves at low
figures that have been dropped in less advantageous sections, and
removing them to rich potreros where they were quickly fattened for the
Havana market.

Cuba at the present time is importing approximately $10,000,000 worth of
pork and pork products annually, notwithstanding the fact that this
Island, owing to exceptional conditions for raising hogs economically,
could not only supply the local demand, but could and will ultimately,
export pork products to all of the Latin American countries bordering on
the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Hogs breed twice a year in Cuba, and the climate, free from extremes of
heat or cold, enables probably a larger percentage of the young to be
brought to maturity, with less care and less risk, than in any section
of the United States. Science today has rendered it possible to
eliminate the danger from contagious disease to pork; hence it is that
raising of small stock, especially hogs, under the supervision of
intelligent management, is bound to prove one of the most remunerative
industries of this country.

Hogs were introduced into Cuba from Spain by the early Spanish settlers,
but no effort was made either to improve the breed by selection or even
to prevent its retrograding through lack of care and good food. Nearly
all hogs raised in Cuba, even at the present time, are permitted to run
in droves in the forests and foothills of the thinly settled sections,
as did their ancestors four centuries ago.

Even the owners of these droves have but little idea of the number of
hogs belonging to them. Monteros, or forest men, are hired to herd them,
which is done with the assistance of dogs. The hogs in this way are
followed from place to place where the forests may furnish natural food
for the mothers and their progeny. As a rule, at evening each day, the
montero or herder, in order to keep up a partial contact between him and
his drove, carries a few ears of corn slung over his shoulder in a sack,
or to the saddle of his horse. This he shells and drops as he rides
along the narrow trails of the forest, uttering at the same time a
peculiar cry or call, heard in the mountain jungles of the hog
districts, when the monteros are coaxing their herds out into the open,
so that they may catch a glimpse of them before they dodge back into the
leafy glades of the interior.

This semi-savage breed of hogs of course would cause a smile if seen on
a first-class stock farm in the United States. He is usually black in
color, long and lank, resembling very much the “razor back,” once common
in the southern part of the United States. He is prolific, a good
fighter, and hustles for his own living, since nothing is provided for
him excepting what he picks up in the forest. This, however, is pretty
good feed.

The royal palm that covers many of the hillsides and slopes of the long
mountain chains throughout Cuba, produces a small nut called palmiche,
which furnishes a never-failing food and aids the stock man greatly in
raising hogs. The palmiche, picked up by the animals at the base of the
palms or cut by the monteros, who with the assistance of a rope easily
climb these tall smooth barked ornaments of the forest, will keep
animals in fairly good condition throughout the year.

The palmiche, however, although only about the size of the kernel of a
hazel nut, is very hard, and much of it is rather indigestible. This
nut, when ground and pressed yields about 20% of excellent oil, either
for lubricating or commercial purposes, while the residue of the nut, or
pressed cake of the palmiche, from which the worthless part has been
separated previous to grinding, owing to its rich content of protein and
oil, furnishes an easily digested and splendid food.

The recent demand for oil has resulted in the introduction of a number
of presses in Cuba since the beginning of the European War, and the
palmiche cake is being placed on the market as a stock food product. In
this form it is quite probable that a valuable adjunct will soon be
added to the other natural foods of the country.

Palmiche fed pork in Cuba, or for that matter wherever it has been
eaten, is considered a greater delicacy than any other pork in the
world, and in this Island is preferred to either turkey or chicken. This
is owing to the peculiar nutty flavor which the palmiche imparts to the
meat of the forest-bred hog. Young palmiche fed pork, known as lechon,
roasted over a hardwood or charcoal fire, during the holidays of
Christmas and New Year’s in Havana, readily retails at 75¢ to $1 per
pound, and little roasting pigs at that time of the year will bring from
five to ten dollars each.

The pork industry, however, in Cuba, to be really successful should be
conducted along lines similar to those of the United States. Excellent
food can be provided for hogs, fresh and sweet at all times of the year,
simply by planting the various crops with reference to the season and
period needed for feeding. Among those foods best adapted to sows and
growing pigs in Cuba are peanuts, cow peas, sweet potatoes, sugar cane,
calabasa or pumpkins, chufas, malanga, and other root crops peculiar to
the country. For topping off, or putting into condition, shoats for six
weeks before being sent to market should be fed on either corn or yucca,
or both.

The latter, yucca, is one of the best root crops grown in the Island
for fattening hogs. The tuber, some three or four feet in length, with a
diameter of three or four inches, comes from a closely jointed plant
that at maturity varies in height from three to five feet. The stalk of
these plants, if cut into short joints, and planted in furrows about
three feet apart, produces its crop of tubers in about twelve months,
although the yield will increase for five or six months after this. The
yucca tubers are covered with a cocoanut brown peel, while the inside,
consisting of almost pure starch, is white as milk.

Yucca will produce a splendid, firm fat on pork in a very short time,
and has the advantage over corn in the fact that the weight of the crop,
from an acre of land, varies from four to twelve tons, according to the
quality of the soil, and hogs delight in harvesting the crop themselves.

At the Experimental Station at Santiago de las Vegas may be seen many
excellent breeds of hogs that were introduced from the United States
some years ago. Among these are found the Duroc or Jersey Red, the
Hampshire, the Chester White, the Berkshire and Tamworth, all of which
under the favorable conditions found at the Station have done remarkably
well. Interesting experiments on the various foods of the Island, and
their adaptability as food for hogs, are being carried on there
throughout the year. Those breeds which seem to give the greatest
promise, up to the present, are the Duroc and the Hampshire. Some very
interesting animals have been produced from crosses between Hampshires,
Durocs and Tamworths, the shoulder mark or saddle band of the Hampshire
being prominent in all of its crosses.

The population of Cuba is rapidly approaching three millions, and no
people in the world are more addicted to the use of pork in all its
forms than those not only in Cuba but in all the Latin American
Republics lying to the west and south of the Caribbean. The hog industry
at the present time does not begin to supply the local demand, and
probably will not for some years to come. Fresh pork before the European
war seldom varied throughout the year from the standard price of ten
cents per pound on the hoof, while hams imported from the United States
brought twenty-five cents at wholesale in Havana.

With the use of dams and turbines, power can be easily secured from the
many mountain streams with which to furnish refrigeration and cold
storage, and there is no reason why a pork-packing industry, combining
the curing of hams, shoulders, etc., should not be carried on
successfully. Branches of large packing houses in the United States have
long imported their hams and shoulders, in brine, afterwards smoking
them in Cuba. Experts in pork packing soon discovered that most of the
small hard woods of the Cuban forests were splendidly adapted for
smoking meat, giving it a piquant and aromatic flavor, pleasing to the
taste.

With the large local demand for hams, shoulders, bacon, etc., a
profitable business is assured from the beginning, while the proximity
of so many Latin Republics south and west of the Caribbean render the
prospect of the export trade very promising.

Owing to the genial climate, sheep in Cuba, lacking the necessity for
wool with which to retain warmth, very naturally lose it within a
comparatively few years. Mutton, however, always commands a good price
in the local markets, hence it is that the raising of sheep for food,
especially by those small farmers who are close to large markets, will
always yield a satisfactory return.

The large hotels of Havana, especially during the tourist season, are
compelled to supply mutton of good quality to their guests, and since
the local supply is not sufficient, a considerable amount of this
excellent food is imported, dressed, from the United States. In this
latitude, where green grass may be found in abundance throughout the
year, sheep may be profitably raised and used in many ways. They are
close grazers and will keep down the heavy growth of grass in citrus
fruit groves, and also along the roadsides and in the surface drains
that border hundreds of miles of automobile drives scattered throughout
the Island.

Thousands of dollars are expended by the Department of Public Works
every year in cutting out this rank growth of grass, so that the flow of
water in the ditches may not be impeded. This work could undoubtedly be
done by sheep, and a great deal of manual labor be saved, if the system
of roadside grazing was once introduced into this country. Sheep are
found in small numbers throughout all parts of the Island, and up to the
present the Government has made no attempt to register them.

So far no discrimination has been used in introducing those breeds of
sheep best suited for the production of mutton. That which the Island
has is usually tender, and of excellent flavor, and if small farmers
would take the trouble to import good rams from desirable breeds in the
United States, the raising of mutton, even as a side issue, would add
greatly to the revenue of farms located near large consuming centers.

The Republic of Mexico for many years has derived a very large revenue
from the sale of goat skins, most of which were purchased by the New
England shoe factories, while the by-products in the form of salted and
sun dried meat, fat and other materials, always command a market. Recent
years of devastation, however, have practically annihilated all of the
great herds once so profitable, since for three or four years they
furnished food to the roving bands of different contestants in that
unfortunate country.

In the various mountain chains, foothills and fertile ravines of Cuba
are hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land, in much of which
sufficient sunlight enters to permit of new growth, the tender shoots of
which are preferred by both goats and deer to any other food in the
world. More than all, the goat is by nature a hill climber, and is never
content until he gains the nearest ascent from which he can look down on
his companions below.

For many years to come, most of these vast ranges will be unfenced and
free, and the keeping of the goats will require nothing more than a
herder with a couple of good dogs for every thousand head. With this
excellent food that can serve no other purpose, and the splendid water
of mountain streams, the goat industry in Cuba could not fail to be
profitable, and yet the raising of goats has never been considered there
commercially.

Under the management of men who are familiar with the raising of goats
for their hides, and by-products, there is no reason why this industry
should not assume importance in Cuba, especially since these animals are
invaluable for cleaning out undergrowth economically and effectively.

Although it is a well established fact that the Angora goat will thrive
in any country that is not low and damp, with the exception a few pairs
of Angoras, that were introduced at the Experimental Station at Santiago
de las Vegas some years ago, the breeding of this variety of goat has
never attracted the attention which it deserves. Those of the station,
although not located under the ideal conditions which prevail in the
mountains, have nevertheless fulfilled the reputation which this animal
enjoys in other parts of the world.

The Angora, unlike the sheep, does not lose or drop its beautiful silky
fleece when introduced into a warm climate. It is, however, desirable to
shear the mohair twice a year instead of once, in order to avoid loss
that might come from pushing its way through heavy underbrush in the
mountains. In raising or breeding this variety of goat, where the long
fine fleece is the chief source of income, provision should be made for
rounding up and coralling the herd each night, in order to insure
against the possibility of loss from dogs or theft, although the goat
himself is an excellent fighter, and stoutly resents the intrusion of
any enemy.

Under favorable circumstances the annual increase of kids will amount to
100% of the number of ewes in the flock. The young bucks, of course,
when a year old may be sold at a profit, as is the ordinary goat, but
since the finest yield of hair comes from the younger animals, it would
seem ill advised to dispose of them until at least five or six years
old.

The average price of a good angora ewe for breeding purposes is about
$15, and the value of the mohair has been increasing steadily for the
past ten years. Its price, of course, depends on the length and fineness
of the fleece, and varies at the present time from 75¢ to $1 per pound.
When it is considered that a good angora will produce five or six pounds
of fleece each year, and that the entire expense is practically that of
herding and clipping, the profit of the business is apparent. On the
basis of a six-pound yield to each goat, and an average price of
83-1/3¢, a revenue of $12,000 would be derived from a herd of 2,400
goats that would cost $36,000; or in other words the net returns would
exceed 25% on the capital invested.

Aside from a sufficient amount of land on which to establish night
corrals, and the purchase of a few good collie dogs, there need be no
other initial expense than that of the purchase of breeding animals
themselves. Good herders can be readily secured at a salary of $50 per
month and the feeding range is not only free but practically unlimited.

When it is considered that the angora, when living on high lands, with
plentiful food and water, is free from disease, and that the capital
stock is multiplying at the rate of 50% per year, with an overhead
expense that may be considered as almost nothing, and an absolutely
assured market at good prices for the mohair, the raising and breeding
of angora goats would seem to be a very profitable investment in Cuba.

The deer of Cuba, while resembling in color, general form and
configuration of antlers the deer of Florida, is somewhat smaller in
size, the average height of the buck at the shoulders being only about
three feet. Although hunted considerably during the open season, they
are still very plentiful in Cuba, and if not chased by dogs soon become
quite tame.

If deer parks or reserves were established in the mountains where these
animals could be confined, cared for and bred, a market for venison
could undoubtedly be found in the United States, while many city parks
and zoological gardens would find them interesting and ornamental as an
exhibit of the Cervidae family from Cuba.




CHAPTER XXVII

POULTRY: BEES: SPONGES


Notwithstanding the fact that several millions a year are expended by
the people of the Republic in bringing poultry and eggs to Cuba, no
steps were taken towards what might be termed systematic poultry raising
until American colonists began experimenting with different breeds
brought from the United States during the first Government of
Intervention. And even since that time there are very few who have
carried on really scientific experiments towards determining what
varieties of chickens may give the best results in this country.

In regard to breeds it would seem that the Rhode Island Red has the
preference in Cuba, although many others, including the Wyandotte,
Plymouth Rock and Orpington, as well as the Black Minorcan and other
Mediterranean breeds, have their advocates here as in the United States.

The native hen of the Island sprang probably from some Mediterranean
breed, that through lack of care has sadly degenerated. She is rather
prolific as a layer, however, and asks no assistance in finding her own
food, nor will a quarter of a mile flight give her the slightest
difficulty.

The one breed that has been given a very high degree of attention in
Cuba is the fighting cock, whose value may run anywhere from $5 to $100
or more. On these is bestowed more care than is received by any prize
chicken in the north. They are serviceable, of course, only for purposes
of sport, fighting chickens being a favorite pastime of the country
people in all Latin American countries. The native hen of Cuba, when
crossed with well bred Rhode Island Red or Plymouth Rock roosters,
produces a very good all around chicken, which will thrive even under
adverse conditions.

In the fall of 1915, President Menocal imported from the United States
several thousand excellent hens for experimental and breeding purposes.
These are installed in modern poultry houses on his farm, “El Chico,”
only a few miles from the City of Havana, and have done very well.

Turkeys, too, do remarkably well in Cuba when given free range, and they
are not subject to those ills which result from sleet, snow and chilling
winds that decimate the little ones in most parts of the United States.

Cuba seems to be the natural home of the Guinea hen since those foods
which this fowl likes best are found in all parts of the Island, and in
many sections Guineas have escaped from domestication, taken to the
forest and formed great flocks of both white and grey varieties. These
furnish splendid wing shooting to those who enjoy the sport.

In view of the rapidly increasing demand for Guinea pullets in all of
the big hotels in the United States, where they seem to be taking the
place of the prairie chicken of the past, it would seem that the raising
of Guinea hens for the American market should certainly prove extremely
profitable. Fields of the short or white millet planted on any farm will
serve to keep them satisfied, and at the same time diminish the tendency
to wander away from home. In a country where neither shelter or food is
needed, and where the birds command very remunerative prices, Guinea
raising ought to be tempting.

Very few have gone into poultry raising along scientific or intelligent
lines, which seems rather odd when we consider that fresh eggs vary in
price from four to five cents, under normal conditions, all the year
round, and chickens of the most scrawny type bring from sixty cents to
one dollar.

The poultry business offers many advantages in Cuba; first of which may
be mentioned, an excellent local market for both chickens and eggs;
second, that green food and insects may be found in abundance throughout
the year; that open or wire screen houses alone are necessary for
protection, the necessity for artificial heat being, of course, non
existent.

In a country free from frost and where flowers bloom more or less
continuously throughout the year, we might expect to find and do find a
Bee paradise. Often, in seeking shelter either from a tropical sun or a
threatening shower, in the shade of one of the Magotes of Pinar del Rio,
or while passing through the deep, rock-walled pass of the Paredones, in
the Sierra de Cubitas, one will find pools of a strange looking
substance in the dust at his feet. Investigation discloses the fact that
it is honey, fallen from overhanging rocks where wild bees have made
their homes in the cavities above, the warmth of the sun having melted
an overfilled comb so that the honey collected at the foot of the cliff
below.

Native wild bees are very plentiful in Cuba, and strange to say possess
no sting, but produce a honey that is very sweet. During the latter part
of the 16th century a German variety of bee was introduced, from the
Spanish colony of Saint Augustine, Florida. About the middle of the 19th
century the Italian bee was introduced, and is probably more productive
of honey than any other in Cuba. With the coming of American colonists
in 1900, modern hives were introduced and the business of gathering and
exporting both honey and wax was systematized for the first time.

Many large apiaries exist, especially in the province of Pinar del Rio.
Those who devote their time to the culture of bees naturally seek the
various localities where flowers are plentiful, sometimes moving the
hives from one section to another in order to take advantage of the
presence of honey-bearing flowers in various localities. The bloom of
the royal palm, so plentifully scattered over the Island, especially in
those mountainous districts where the soil is deep and rich, furnishes
an excellent food for bees, as do the morning glory, the flowering
majagua and hundreds of other plants whose local Spanish names cannot be
interpreted.

In the location of bee colonies the character and quantity of the food
is a matter of prime importance. The honey yielding flowers, on which
the bees depend for their sustenance, vary greatly with the locality,
especially with its proximity to the coast or to the mountains. The
sources of wax, too, vary greatly with the location. As an illustration,
foundation comb in Cuba should never be supplied to bees located near
the coast, since experience has proved that they will build up comb much
faster near the coast without the assistance of artificial foundation.

The quality of honey, too, depends much upon the nature of the flowers
found in any given locality. In the interior nearly all honey is of
excellent quality, while on the coast, quite a large percentage will
lack more or less in flavor, and is almost subject to danger from
fermentation. It has been noted too that colonies in the interior, when
young queens are available, will swarm, even when not crowded for room;
whereas on the coast bees do not swarm so readily, probably because they
have such an abundance of wax with which to build comb.

During the month of January bees secure an abundance of food throughout
the interior from the Aguinaldo Blanco, or white morning-glory. On the
coast a large amount of honey is derived from the bloom of a small tree,
not botanically classified, during a short period of seldom more than a
week. In February, throughout the interior, bees derive large quantities
of honey from flowers of the Rapitingua and from the Mango, while on the
coast, during this month, food is not abundant.

In March, throughout the interior, the flowers of many fruit trees,
found wild in the forest, give an abundance of honey, while on the coast
the Roble Blanco, or so called white oak, furnishes food. In April, in
the interior, food is derived from many plants then in bloom, while on
the coast the flowers of the Salsa, Pelotajo, Bacuaya and the Guana
Palm furnish an abundance of food. The months of May and June, in the
interior, contribute comparatively few honey yielding flowers, while on
the coast the mangroves, the Guana Palm, and one or two other plants
yield food in great quantities.

In July and August the scarcity of honey bearing flowers continues in
the interior while on the coast the Guamo yields food. In September and
October, throughout the interior, honey is derived from the Toruga and a
few other flowers. On the coast, during these months, the same flowers
yield honey but in less quantity. In the months of November and
December, throughout the interior, a heavy flow of honey is derived from
a plant known as the Bellflower, while on the coast at this season, food
is scarce.

Where groves of citrus fruit abound excellent honey is derived from the
flowers of the orange and grape fruit throughout much of the winter.

As a result of experience in apiculture during the past fifteen years,
$2 per hive is the average annual income derived when located under
favorable circumstances. One bee keeper who cares for a colony of 1200
hives has found that by adding 25 to 30 pounds of sugar towards the
support of each hive, during the months when food is scarce, this
average of $2 per hive in annual profit is increased to $5 and even
more.

The exportation of wax for the fiscal year 1916-17 amounted to
approximately 1,300,000 pounds, valued at $340,000. Of this amount about
a million pounds was exported to the United States, while 300,000 pounds
went to Great Britain. In the same year over 12,000,000 pounds of honey
were shipped abroad, valued at $650,000. Nearly 10,000,000 pounds of
this went to the United States, Great Britain taking the larger part of
the remainder.

Most of the honey exported from Cuba is strained and sells in bulk for
about five cents per pound. To those fond of bees, apiculture in Cuba
will always form for the settler a source of added pleasure and profit,
especially in those sections where coffee, cacao and citrus fruit form
the chief source of income.

Next to the Bahama Islands, surrounded as they are by hundreds of square
miles of shoal water, the shores of Cuba probably produce more good
sponges than any other part of the western hemisphere. In the quiet
waters protected by out-lying barrier reefs that in places stretch for
hundreds of miles along the shores of Cuba, many varieties of sponges
are found. The longest of the sponge zones is found in the shallow
waters protected by the Islands and reefs that stretch along the north
coast of Cuba from Punta Hicaco opposite Cardenas, to the harbor of
Nuevitas, some 300 miles east. Both sponges and green turtles are found
here but never have been extensively hunted except by the Bahama
Islanders, who before the inauguration of the Cuban revenue service used
to sneak across the old Bahama Channel in the darkness of the night and
back of the uninhabited keys reap rich rewards in the sponge fields of
the northern coast.

Batabano on the south coast, opposite the city of Havana, is the great
center of the sponge fisheries that cover the shallow flats between the
mainland and the Isle of Pines and extend from the Bay of Cochinos in
the east to the extreme western terminus of the Island at Cape San
Antonio.

The domestic consumption of sponges in Cuba is very large and in the
year 1916-17 only 261,800 pounds were exported which had a value of
$230,000.




CHAPTER XXVIII

PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST


To the lover of romance or student of history, few spots in the western
hemisphere, perhaps, have greater charm and interest than Morro Castle,
high perched on the promontory that guards the eastern entrance of
Havana Harbor. Seen at early dawn from the open port of an entering
steamer, its great, rugged, picturesque bulk seems to assemble from the
spectral mists of a legendary past, while all those intensely dramatic
scenes of which El Morro has been the center, pass before one like the
dreamy reality of a moving picture play.

Resurrected from the tales of centuries, gone and almost forgotten, one
sees the lonely old watch tower that back in the early days of the 16th
century stood guard on the hill top of Morro, so that the pirates and
cruel rovers of the sea during those days of greed, lust and crime,
could not take the little community of Havana unawares. Then come the
later days, when the ever recurring wars of Europe cast their ugly
shadows over even remote points on the western shore of the Atlantic,
and corsairs of foreign nations were ever anxious to pounce on the Pearl
of the Antilles, and seize within the harbor some of the rich Spanish
galleons, laden with Aztec gold and loot.

Through this panorama of the past comes the picture of England’s fleet
of 200 ships manned by 32,000 men under Albemarle and Pococke, lying in
a semicircle off the entrance of the harbor, with old Morro now well
equipped for battle. Its thick walls, rugged embattlements, fighting
turrets, embrasures, emergency bridges, powder magazines, store rooms,
ammunition dumps, secret passages and dark dungeons, and bristling guns,
were Spain’s chief bulwark in the defense of Havana. Solid shot and
shell from a thousand guns crisscrossed between sea and land, and in the
center of the turmoil, defending the fort and the honor of Spain, stood
one courageous young officer, Commander Luis Velasco, surrounded by a
little group of volunteers, who had sworn to hold the fort or die in its
defense.

[Illustration: PABLO DESVERNINE.

Born in Havana in 1854, and educated at the University of Havana and at
Columbia University, New York, Pablo Desvernine y Galdos has long ranked
among the foremost members of the Cuban bar. During General Brooke’s
Military Governorship at the beginning of the first American
intervention he was Secretary of Finance; he was President of the
Agricultural Expositions of 1911 and 1912; was Minister to the United
States in 1913; and in 1914 was made by President Menocal Secretary of
State. Since 1900 he has been Professor of Civil Law in the University
of Havana. He is the author of several works on Civil and International
Law.]

Then, after a month of continuous fighting, came the note from the
British, stating that El Morro was undermined and an offer of 24 hours
in which to surrender, and Velasco’s reply, in which he informed his
enemy that the match might be applied and the walls blown up, but within
the breach he would be found still defending the castle.

The mine was exploded and the south wall torn asunder, while Velasco,
fighting to the last, received the wound that sent him over the Great
Divide and soon brought to an end Havana’s defense against the British.
Imagination easily recalls the salute of cannon on the following day,
announcing the death of one of Spain’s most courageous fighters, while
every shot of the defending guns was echoed by one of the British ships,
firing as a tribute to the courage of the young officer who had defied
their entire fleet for nearly a month.

Morro was begun in 1589 by the Italian engineer, J. Bautista Antonelli,
and completed in 1597. Little change has occurred during the last two
centuries, and its rugged old walls will probably continue to resist the
winter storms of the Gulf for centuries to come. Many of Cuba’s patriots
and heroic figures have been confined in the dungeons of Morro,
including the first President of the Republic, that kind hearted, genial
old gentleman of letters, Don Tomas Estrada Palma, who died the victim
of base ingratitude on the part of men for whose freedom and happiness
he had devoted all of the best years of his life.

El Morro is still occupied, as in the olden days, by the coast artillery
of Cuba, and is well worth a trip across the bay, where one may pass a
pleasant afternoon in interesting introspection, and enjoy at the same
time one of the most delightful views of land and sea from any point in
the West Indies.

Just within the entrance, and on the shore at the foot of Morro, are
located 12 huge, old-time muzzle loading cannon, known as the Twelve
Apostles, that sweep the opposite shore and were supposed to render
impossible the entrance of any hostile ship, or any effort to cut away
the heavy iron cable that in earlier days stretched across the entrance
to the harbor from El Morro to the fortress of La Punta on the other
side. These curious old iron guns, dedicated to the saints, were cast by
Don Juan Francisco de Guenes and installed by him in the form of a
crescent, that boded destruction to all invaders from the sea.

Some 500 yards further east, along the coast, is installed a similar
group of cannon, 12 in number, that forms a battery known as La Pastora.
These guns were made by Francisco Cagigal de la Vega and were placed on
the lower shelf of the outside coast at a point not easily seen from the
sea where they were supposed to render a forced entrance to the bay
practically impossible.

A little further within the narrow entrance to the harbor of Havana, and
stretching for a half a mile along the eastern shore, lies the largest
and most impressive ancient fort of the western hemisphere. This
fortress is known as la Cabaña, owing to the fact that several cabins
once stood along this ridge, some 200 feet in height, overlooking the
City of Havana. La Cabaña is massive in its structure, built of stone
and earth on the crest of the ridge, with a steep descent to the water’s
edge. It is surrounded on all sides by a wide deep moat, across which no
enemy, even in modern times, could possibly pass. The destruction of the
fort with high explosives and long range guns would, of course, be
easily accomplished, but as an example of 18th century military
engineering and architecture, it has no rival in the western world. Some
50 acres are covered with the walls, patios, surface and underground
dungeons, prisons, buildings, moats and outer defenses of this
fortification.

The work was begun on November 4, 1763, shortly after the evacuation of
Havana by the British, and was concluded in 1774. The cost of the work
is said to have been $14,000,000, although much of it was probably done
by slaves, for whose services little or nothing was paid, nor could the
value of their labor be easily estimated. The same engineer Antonelli,
of Italian origin, who built El Morro, displayed his military genius in
the plans of La Cabaña.

The original approach of this fortress was over a cobbled path that
wound up a steep incline, from a little landing opposite the foot of
O’Reilly Street, terminating finally in the southern opening to the
moat. This path was known during the long years of the Ten Years’ War,
and the War of Independence, as “El Camino sin Esperanza” or the Road
without Hope, since those who climbed its winding way as prisoners
seldom descended to the plain below, unless in rude boxes on the way to
their last resting place. Even this privilege was denied to the great
majority of political prisoners who were executed under the laurels that
shade the first part of the moat.

This wide deep moat, varying in width from sixty to a hundred feet, with
a depth that will average fifty, extends from one end of the fortress to
the other, paralleling the harbor on which it fronts, and separating the
main body of the fortress from well planned and easily defended outer
works. Stone stairways were built at different places against the walls
of these outer ramparts to facilitate the movement of troops in defense
of the citadel, but with wide gaps crossed by wooden bridges that once
knocked away would render the stairways useless to the enemy.

A few hundred feet beyond the avenue of laurels, and close by an opening
of the wall into the main fortress, a bronze placque, some six feet by
twelve, marks one of the places where political prisoners were executed
throughout the latter half of the 19th century. The bronze was cast in
France and represents the execution of a group of insurgent soldiers. In
the left half of the placque is represented a squad of Spanish soldiers
in the act of firing. Above all floats the figure of an angel
endeavoring to shield the martyrs who are giving up their lives for the
cause of Cuban Liberty.

Passing through this great eastern wall of the citadel the visitor steps
into an interior, grass covered court, several hundred feet in length by
eighty or more in width. Along the southern end of the court may be seen
the remnant of a painted line at about the height of a man’s breast. On
this spot, it is said, over a thousand men were executed during the
period of the Ten Years’ War and the three years’ War of Independence.
Most of the old line has been dug away by knife points of visitors in
search of bullets that were imbedded in the wall during the many
executions that took place at its base. At the further, or northern end
of this tranquil plot of ground, heavily barred iron gates cover a
series of steps which formed an emergency entrance from the moat into
the main body of the fortress.

A quarter of a mile further north, along the main extension of the moat,
is a wide wooden bridge that connects the outer ramparts with the
citadel, the roadway passing through a massive and impressive gate or
portal, over which a carved inscription gives the dates in which the
work was begun and concluded, together with the name of its founders and
the Spanish officers in command at the time of its construction.

The grounds within are ample for military drill and instruction and are
well equipped for the care and maintenance of a defending force. When
Spain’s army retired from Cuba in the last days of 1899, both Cabañas
and Morro presented a very different appearance from that of today. Long
lines of cells had been built into the stone walls, in which hundreds,
if not thousands, of political prisoners had spent years of
confinement. Each of these dreary, cheerless abodes was about 30 feet in
width by 60 in length, with a low arched ceiling and massive barred
doors, facing the west.

Each cell was supposed to accommodate fifty men, and some of them
contained long parallel wooden bars, between which prisoners might swing
hammocks if they were fortunate enough to possess them. Many men
prominent in Cuban political and military life have occupied these cells
of Cabañas and also those of its companion, El Morro. General Julio
Sanguily, among others, passed three years in cell No. 57, until,
through the urgent intercession of the American Government, he was
finally set at liberty and permitted to enter the United States, of
which he claimed citizenship.

Stretching along the western face of the fortress is a wide stone
parapet overlooking the bay and the City of Havana opposite. Planted on
its surface is a long line of interesting brass cannon, ornamented with
Spanish coats of arms and bearing inscriptions that tell of their making
in Seville, at various periods throughout the 18th century. These cannon
are used today for saluting purposes when foreign men of war enter the
harbor on friendly visits.

Near the center of the citadel stood a small stone chapel that would
accommodate 50 or 100 men. Near one end was built a round pagoda-like
altar before which the condemned could kneel in prayer during their last
night on earth, since those who entered its tragic portals well knew
that at sunrise the following morning they would face the firing squad
that would pass them on to eternity. This historically tragic apartment
has recently been converted into a moving picture hall for the benefit
of Cuban soldiers who are at present stationed in Cabañas.

Visitors at Cabañas during normal times of peace will find soldier
guides quite willing to carry one down into the subterranean depths of
the fortress and along the narrow dark passageways that were tunneled
into the earth, supposedly to detect possible mining operations of the
enemy from the outside. During the War of Independence, however,
extending from 1895 to 1899, these underground tunnels were occupied by
prisoners, most of whom dying in the dismal depths were given burials so
shallow by their companions, who must have dug the graves with their
fingers, that in passing along by lantern light, shortly after American
occupation, one frequently stumbled over skulls and bones that protruded
from the earthen floor below.

The aspect of Cabañas today, with its well cleaned, whitewashed walls,
with its comfortable officers’ quarters and shady grounds, is quite
cheerful, and one can hardly believe that less than a quarter of a
century ago Cabañas fortress was one of the modern horrors that cried
out to the civilized world for the abolition of Spanish control in
America.

Occupying the low rocky ledge immediately opposite Morro is the
picturesque little fort known as the Castillo de Punta, or Fortress on
the Point, begun in 1589, and intended to complete the protection to the
entrance of the harbor. The style of architecture is identical with that
of El Morro, but far less pretentious in size and plan. The fort is
protected from the sea by several outlying shelves of coral rock, and
was at one time surrounded by a moat as was La Fuerza, the first stone
fortress constructed in the Western Hemisphere. The walls are not over
20 feet in height and over the main entrance a tablet gives the name of
Governor-General Tejada, during whose period of office it was built,
together with the date of its construction.

La Punta afforded efficient aid to its companion El Morro, on the
opposite side of the bay, during the siege by the English in 1762, and
in one corner of the reception room may be seen the fragment of an iron
shell, fired from the British fleet during the siege of Havana.

La Punta is the headquarters of the Navy Department. Its presence at the
angle of the Prado and the Gulf Avenue, that extends west along the sea
shore, is a quiet but efficient reminder of the olden days when
fortresses of this type formed the only protection enjoyed by the people
who were then residents of the capital of Cuba.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Havana, like nearly all of the
capitals built by Spanish conquerors in the Western Hemisphere, was a
walled city. These walls were built of coral limestone quarried along
the sea front, which with exposure to the atmosphere becomes quite hard.
The same engineering ability demonstrated by the builders of El Morro,
Cabanas and La Punta, was evident in the 17th century wall, that had the
fortress of La Punta as its starting point and ran in practically a
straight line south until it reached the shores of the Bay near its
southwestern terminus.

These walls were about 12 feet through at the base and some 20 feet in
height. Throughout the entire line was a series of salients, bastions,
flanks and curtains that were dominant features in the military
architecture of those times. At the top were parapets on which the
garrison gathered for the defense of the City.

Work on the walls began with a body of 9,000 peons in 1633 and a
contribution of $20,000 in gold that was exacted by order of the Spanish
Crown from the rich treasuries of Mexico in order to hurry its
completion. Only two gates were constructed at first, one of these at La
Punta and the other at the head of Muralla Street, which latter formed
the main or principal entrance for commercial purposes. A third was
afterwards opened near the corner of the old Arsenal for the convenience
of people engaged in ship building at that point.

Extending along the water front were gradually built continuations of
this wall with coral ledges forming a solid base. These eventually
closed the city on all sides. This stupendous work was not completed
until 1740, and even after this date occasional additions were made for
purposes of better defense. Although the Spanish treasury at that time
was being filled with gold from Mexico and Peru, it would seem that the
Crown was very loath to part with the money, and compelled the colonies
of the Western Hemisphere to build their own defenses and to make
whatever improvements they considered necessary, either from
contributions levied on commerce, or with the use of slaves whose
services their owners were compelled to furnish at their own expense.

Up to the departure of Spain’s army from Havana in 1899, sections of the
old wall, several blocks in length, extending through the heart of the
city, still remained intact. These, with their salients, bastions,
flanks, etc., formed an interesting landmark of the olden days, when
Spanish knights clad in hauberks and hose, donned their breastplates and
plumed helmets to fight against the British who besieged the city in
1763. Today only one short section remains, a picturesque remnant of the
past, with its little round, dome-covered watch tower still intact. This
is located just north of the Presidential palace on the crest of the
green lawn that slopes away towards La Punta, about a third of a mile
distant.

Near the landing place at the foot of O’Reilly Street, used by visiting
officials and officers of the Navy, stands La Fuerza. On this site was
built the first permanent or stone defense of the city in 1538. The
original walls and fortifications have seen many changes since that date
but one cannot look at them without recalling the pathetic figure of
Dona Isabel de Bobadilla, who in 1539, on the drawbridge of La Fuerza,
where she and her husband, Hernando de Soto, had lived, said “Adios,” as
with an army of 900 men and 350 horses, he set out for the conquest of
Florida “and all the territory that might lie beyond.”

Day after day, for more than two years, it is said, this faithful wife
walked the parapets of La Fuerza straining her eyes to see his flagship
arise above the horizon of the Gulf, and when at last a storm beaten
bark brought back a few survivors of the expedition, whose leader had
hoped to rival if not surpass the deeds of Cortez in Mexico, or Pizarro
in Peru, she learned that her lord and lover would return no more, that
even his body would never be recovered from the yellow waters of the
Mississippi. It was then that her soul, too, sank into the sea of
despair and soon joined its companion on the shore beyond.

The dark dungeons of La Fuerza have held hundreds of Cuban patriots
until death or deportation to Africa brought relief. The old stone steps
descending to the ground floor are worn into veritable pockets by the
tramp of feet during a continual occupancy of almost 400 years. Every
outer wall, parapet, alcove and dungeon, if able to speak, “could a tale
unfold.” Now all is silent save the sound of an occasional bugle, the
music of the artillery band, or the laughter of children playing on the
green lawn that separates it from the Senate Chamber.

The first church built on the Puerto de Carenas, as the Harbor of Havana
was called by the founders of the city, was of adobe, roofed with yagua
from the guana palm. This was destroyed in 1538 by the pirates. Owing to
the extreme poverty of the inhabitants, and to the fact that in spite of
the wealth controlled by the churches of the mother country its
representatives in the Western Hemisphere, especially in the City of
Havana, were left to shift for themselves, and very few contributions
for church building came across the seas to Cuba--it being assumed
evidently that the people of a community deserved no better church than
their financial means justified--it was not until well into the 17th
century that churches were constructed that would at all compare with
the beautiful ecclesiastical structures of Europe. Most of those of
Havana, that were built during the 17th and 18th centuries, resemble,
both in material and architecture, the rather heavy, ponderous and so
called Gothic style that prevailed throughout the Latin American world.

Immediately back of the old Presidential Palace, former headquarters of
the Captains General of Spain, stands the former convent and church of
Santo Domingo, whose erection was due to the liberality of the Conde de
Casa Bayamo, whose picture until recently hung in the sacristy. This
building occupied the block of ground between O’Reilly and Obispo and
Mercaderes and San Ignacio Streets. It was reconstructed in 1738 and
became the Royal University of Havana. When the University was
transferred to the beautiful site on the heights of Principe,
overlooking Havana from the west, this old relic of bygone ages, with
its ponderous walls and picturesque patio, became the Institute of
Havana, where students still receive that which in English would be
equivalent to a high school education. One portion of the square is
today used as a police station, while the church itself, with its crude
stone figures of saints standing in relief from the outer walls, is
practically abandoned and will probably soon be removed, for the modest
type of sky-scraper or office building that is becoming quite common
throughout the city.

The cathedral, one of the largest and most imposing of the churches of
Havana, was built by the Jesuits, on the north edge of the old basin or
arm of the Bay that extended from the present shore along the line of
the street now known as Empedrado, as far west as the little San Juan de
Dios Park. This church is built of the tough coral limestone used in
nearly all of the important buildings that stood within the walls of old
Havana. The church, together with the convent and offices in the rear,
is in the form of an irregular quadrangle, covering about a block of
ground, the rear facing the bay itself. The architecture is of the
so-called Gothic that prevails in all of the old-time churches and
convents of the Island. Owing to the fact that, up to 1899, it contained
the bones of Christopher Columbus, this building has always been one of
the prominent places of interest in the city. A tablet in marble, over
the entrance on San Ignacio Street, states that it was consecrated by
his Excellency, Pedro Agustin Morel de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Havana, on
September 8, 1755. This church was declared the Cathedral of Havana in
1789.

The former tomb of Columbus was located in a niche built for the purpose
on the west side of the altar. When the Spanish forces departed from the
Island in 1899, at the request of the Pope the remains of Columbus were
removed from their long resting place in the Cathedral and carried to
Seville, Spain, where they are at present interred. The interior of the
edifice, although not as elaborately decorated as are some of the other
churches, is nevertheless imposing and well worth a few moments pause to
the passing visitor.

The San Francisco Convent, one of the oldest churches of Havana, was
completed by Order of the Franciscans in 1591. A part of the hard coral
shore that formed the western edge of the bay, a few blocks south of the
Plaza de Armas, formed a solid foundation for the original building
which, owing to faulty material and construction, lapsed into ruins in
1719. In 1738 the structure which now occupies the spot was built under
the direction of Bishop Juan Lazo. The tower of the Church proper is
considered one of the best samples of ecclesiastic architecture in
Havana. This building fronts on Oficios Street and extends from the
Plaza of San Francisco south for more than a block, parallel with the
Bay front. The old San Francisco convent is the most massive structure
of its kind in Havana. Its long lofty arched passages were well built
and give promise of remaining intact through centuries yet to come. The
large patio in the center is today filled with flowers and admits light
to the many offices, once occupied by the palefaced, sad-eyed inmates of
the convent, now resounding with the click of typewriters and the tread
of feet bent on the ordinary affairs of life. In 1856 this building
became the depository, or general archive, of the Spanish administration
of affairs in the Island. The first American Government of Intervention
used it as a Custom House, where Major General Bliss had his
headquarters. Shortly after the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba
this property together with that of the square now used by the
Institute, was purchased from the Church and continued to be used as the
custom house. In 1916 the old convent, thoroughly renovated, became the
permanent headquarters for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, for
which it is well adapted. The custom house was transferred to the San
Francisco Wharf, a handsome structure that also shelters the
administration of Trisconia. From 1608 the San Francisco Church was used
as the starting point of the religious processions which annually passed
the “Via de Cruces” or Way of the Cross, along Amargua Street
terminating at the Church of El Cristo at the corner of Aguacate Street,
which was built in 1640.

The San Agustin Convent was built by the order of San Agustin on
Amergura Street at the corner of Aguiar Street. A tablet on the church
itself states that it was completed in the year 1659. There is nothing
of special interest connected with this church other than its antiquity
and its general air of isolated depression.

La Merced, located at the corner of Cuba and Merced Streets, was the
culmination of an effort to establish a Merced Convent for that part of
the City of Havana. It was begun in 1746 but not completed until 1792.
La Merced is today considered the most fashionable church in the Island
of Cuba, and during times of religious festivals the decorations of
flowers and illumination of candles are very imposing. This church, and
the National Theatre, during the opera season, furnish perhaps the two
most interesting places in which to study Havana’s élite society.

[Illustration: IN NEW HAVANA

While many streets in Havana appear to belong to some Spanish city of
centuries ago, many others vie with those of New York and Washington in
their up-to-date Twentieth Century aspect. There are in both public and
private edifices many examples of the finest modern architecture and
construction, some rising many stories above the two-and three-storied
buildings characteristic of former years.]

In 1689 the convent of Santa Catalina was built on the square facing
O’Reilly Street, between Compostela and Aguacate Streets, the dedication
of the church taking place in 1700. This convent has been famous for two
centuries for its wealth, devotees vying with each other in the
amount of money or property which they could contribute to the coffers
of the church. It is said that $15,000 was the smallest contribution
that could be accepted from any woman who chose to devote her life and
fortune to the promotion of the Catholic faith and the prosperity of the
Church. No limit was fixed to the amount of the individual contributions
from novitiate nuns, and many of the wealthiest women of Havana society
have disappeared from the social world, within its walls. The property
was sold in 1917 for a million dollars and the inmates were removed to
the new quarters located on the plateau in Vedado.

The picturesque church that stands on the crest of the hill in the
district of Jesus del Monte was built in 1689. The view from the front
of this church, looking over the city and bay beyond, is very pleasing.

An attractive church from the viewpoint of its minarets and
architecture, known as Santo Angel, is located on a small hill of that
name near the junction of Cuarteles with Monserrate Street, overlooking
the long stretch of green sward that extends from the new Presidential
Palace to the Park of Luz Caballero. This church, in spite of its name,
seems to have been selected by fate to suffer a number of serious
reverses. In 1828 a stroke of lightning toppled over the tall spire on
its eastern front, and again in 1846 a hurricane that did but little
damage to the city tore down the cupola and brought with it the entire
end of the building. In spite of this however the church has recently
entered into a period of prosperity and is today the center of
fashionable congregations who usually assemble there for twelve o’clock
late mass.

Santa Teresa was founded in 1701 and is located at Compestela and
Teniente Rey Streets.

The convent of Santa Clara was built in 1664 and began with a fund of
$550. It extends from Cuba to Havana Streets and from Sol to Luz
Streets, covering two solid blocks of ground, and is the largest convent
in the Island of Cuba. Owing to the recent increase in the price of
city property, the space covered by this convent is valued at
$1,500,000.

In 1704 the convent of Belen was founded at the corner of Compostela and
Luz Streets, covering an entire block of ground that had served
previously as a recreation park for the Bishop of Compostela. Within
this convent the Jesuit Order established what was known as the “Royal
College of Havana,” whence were graduated some of the city’s famous
lawyers and scholars. This order maintains an Observatory and weather
bureau, whence reports in regard to storms in the Caribbean are
contributed to the daily papers. Belen, among the devout Catholics of
Cuba, is undoubtedly one of the most popular institutions of the West
Indies.

Shortly after the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson as President of the
United States, Mr. William E. Gonzalez was appointed Minister
Plenipotentiary from that country to the Republic of Cuba, and took up
his residence in the old colonial mansion built by the Echarte family,
located on the corner of Santa Catalina and Dominguez Streets. This
beautiful quinta occupies a block of ground in the old aristocratic
residence district of Cerro, some three miles distant from Central Park.
The building, although only one story in height, is quite imposing,
built of stone with white marble floors throughout, inclosing a
beautiful patio that forms one of the unique and charming attractions of
old-time residences in Havana. A wide marble flagged gallery runs all
around this patio from which a soft subdued light enters the many rooms
facing upon it. A broad porch, whose heavy flat roof is supported by
long rows of stone columns, faces the south, and above it flies the
Stars and Stripes from sunrise to sunset. The garden or grounds
occupying the eastern half of the block are filled with beautiful shade
trees and sweet scented flowers that have been brought from many parts
of the world, while in front a row of stately royal palms reach up some
80 feet or more toward the blue sky.

La Chorrera, the Fort of Almandares, is a picturesque little old fort,
some fifty feet square and two stories in height, built of coral rock in
the year 1646, which rests upon a little islet not much bigger than the
fort itself, at the eastern entrance of the Rio Almandares. Slave labor
undoubtedly entered into the construction of this fort, although it is
said to have cost 20,000 ducats. A flight of stone steps has been built
up to the second floor that communicates with the entrance to the fort.
Over this is a tablet giving the date of construction and the name of
its builders.

During the siege of Havana by the British in 1762, Lord Albemarle
determined to land troops west of the City in order to take advantage of
Principe Heights, overlooking the capital from the west. On June 10 a
portion of the British fleet began bombarding La Chorrera. Its
commanders, Captain Luis de Aguiar and Rafael de Cardenas, made a very
stubborn resistance, yielding only when their ammunition had been
completely exhausted. This fort is easily reached by the Vedado car
line, from which a short walk of two blocks brings one to the mouth of
the Almandares, on which the fort is located.

On the western point, guarding the entrance of the little ensenada or
inlet of Cojimo, four miles east of El Morro is Fort Cojimar, almost the
duplicate of La Chorrera, which was constructed at the same time. These
quaint monuments of the past add considerable historic and picturesque
beauty to the northern coast of Cuba. All of them may be reached by
beautiful automobile drives and are well worth a few moments in passing.

The Torreon de la Playa, a small round watch tower, was erected on the
eastern shores of La Playa, some three miles west of the Almandares
River, where watchmen were kept both day and night to advise the
authorities and inhabitants of the struggling young colony of the
approach of pirates from the west, or any suspicious sails that might
hove in sight. This structure was built by order of the Town Council,
the “Cabilda,” on order issued on March 8, 1553, naming each individual
who was to contribute either in money or men towards the work. The money
contributed was exacted only from some half dozen of the inhabitants and
amounted to a “real” or ten cents a day. The well-to-do inhabitants were
called on each to furnish one negro with his tools, or lacking tools, a
“batey” or boat in which to convey material.

A similar tower known as the Torreon de San Lazaro was built in 1556
upon the western edge of the little inlet, which until the inauguration
of the Republic in 1902 occupied the space where the beautiful
equestrian statue of General Antonio Maceo now stands.

The picturesque fort known as Atares, located on the hill that commands
the extreme southwestern end of the bay, was begun in 1763, immediately
after the departure of the British, and completed in 1767. It is
occupied at the present time by a small detachment of Cuban artillery,
and is sacred in the eyes of all Americans owing to the fact that
General Crittenden of Kentucky, and his 50 companions who had joined the
unfortunate band of Cuban liberators under the command of Narciso Lopez,
were executed on the western slope of the hill in August, 1851. Atares
is easily reached by the Jesus del Monte cars, and the view from the top
of the hill is worth the climb.

The Castillo del Principe, the last fortification of the 18th century,
was placed on the western edge of the Principe plateau, on the same spot
where Lord Albemarle with his British troops looked down on the City of
Havana during the siege of 1762. Fort Principe was begun in 1774 and
completed in 1794. The general style of architecture is similar to that
of all the military structures of this period, although Principe is
larger and more commodious than Atares. A deep moat surrounds the
fortification and an old style drawbridge connects the outer edge with
the entrance to the citadel itself. Since the beginning of the Cuban
Republic the fort has been used as a state penitentiary, and is a model
of ideas and methods in the treatment of its convicts. The inmates are
not only taught to read and write, but learn useful trades as well.
Those of musical bent have formed a brass band, in which they have been
encouraged under the intelligent direction of General Demetrio Castillo,
who has had charge of the prisoners in Cuba almost since the beginning
of the Republic.

The view from the top of the hill is one of the most attractive in the
Province of Havana, and may be reached either by the Principe car line,
which terminates at its base, or by an automobile drive which leads
through a winding way up the hillside to the very entrance of the
fortress.

The Botanical Gardens, Quinto de Molinos, are a beautiful property
fronting on Carlos Tercero Street and extending along the north side of
the drive from Infanta Street to the foot of Principe Hill. They belong
to the Government. On the corner of Infanta Street is located the new
City Hospital, the largest and most complete institute of its kind in
the West Indies. Just beyond are the ground of the Botanical Gardens and
the Quinto de Molinos, forming a long, beautiful well laid out, shaded
park. Its graveled walks lined with many varieties of stately palms and
tropical plants some indigenous and some brought from other parts of the
world, render the ground a charming and interesting retreat, not far
from the center of the City. The estate covers some 40 acres, and within
its limits are held Agricultural and Live Stock fairs, that under normal
conditions take place annually. These grounds, during Spanish colonial
times, were used as a summer residence by the Captains-General of Cuba,
and for that reason have a certain degree of historical interest, since
here Generals Martinez Campos, Weyler and Blanco, with many of their
predecessors, passed much of their time during the summer season.

Several picturesque kiosks and artistic structures with seats have been
built for the benefit of the public, and usually during the winter
season open air concerts are given within the grounds once or twice a
week by the Municipal Band. The Quinto is easily reached either by
street car or automobile and there is probably no place within the city
limits where one can pass a more restful and profitable hour, than
within the shade of the Botanical Gardens of Havana.




CHAPTER XXIX

HAVANA


Havana is one of the most charming capitals in the New World. Its very
name, Indian in its origin, conjures up a vivid panorama of four
centuries, crowded with tragedy, pathos, adventure, bold deeds, cruel
crimes and noble sacrifices; on whose rapidly moving film the hand of
fate has pictured every phase of human emotion from the wild dreams of
world conquerors, to the hopeless despair of hunted Cubenos, who
preferred death to slavery. It was on the 25th day of July, 1515, that
Diego Velasquez, while cruising along the south coast of the Island,
stopped on the sandy beach near a native fishing village called
Metabano. The Indians belonged to a tribe known as the Habanas; one of
the thirty different divisions of the Cubenos. Grass-covered plains
extending back from the beach seemed to impress Velasquez favorably, so
he founded a city there and called it San Cristobal de la Habana.

Toward the close of the year 1519, however, the colonists evidently
disapproved of Velasquez’s selection and moved their town across to the
north coast of the Island at the mouth of the Almandares, where
northeasterly winds made the summers more agreeable. This little stream,
emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, had a depth of twelve or fifteen feet
at the mouth, sufficient for the caravels of those days. But some of the
City Fathers, in their wanderings to the eastward, found the beautiful
bay, then known as Carena. A prophetic glimpse into the future may have
furnished the motive for another change; at any rate a year later they
picked up their household fixtures, carrying with them the town records,
and established the City where it now stands, on the eastern shores of
one of the finest land locked harbors in the world. In 1556 Havana
became the capital of Cuba, the rendezvous of all Spanish fleets in the
Occident, as well as the key to the Gulf of Mexico.

Havana in the early days of the 16th century consisted of several groups
or clusters of palm thatched huts, not far from the bay, with little
that could suggest a city in embryo. As in all cities built by the
Spaniards in the New World, the first permanent buildings were churches
and monasteries erected for the benefit of the Catholic clergy and
built, as a rule, of adobe or mamposteria, with walls two or three feet
in thickness. The material used was a mixture of rock, earth and sand,
inclosed in facings of plaster. Many of them were decorated with crude
figures and images of saints popular in the community.

Later, quarries of soft limestone were found in abundance, and from
these, blocks were easily cut which, after exposure to the atmosphere,
formed a hard, durable building material. The coral rock of which both
Morro and Cabañas were built was taken from old quarries scattered along
the north shore from Morro eastward. From these quarries came also the
stone that built the spacious San Francisco Convent, occupied today by
the Central post office.

As in all Spanish towns, in the New World at least, a plaza or open
square formed the center from which the principal streets radiated. On
the eastern side of the plaza of Havana, in front of La Fuerza, was
erected in after years El Templete, in honor of the first mass held by
the inhabitants of Havana, which took place under a giant ceiba growing
close to the shore of the harbor, in 1519.

Nearly all of the permanent structures in Havana, up to the middle of
the 17th century, were located on or near the water front, some distance
in from La Punta. Many of these, including La Fuerza, the San Francisco
convent, the old cathedral and La Maestranza, were built of coral
limestone cemented with a mixture the formula for which is said to have
been lost, but which in these buildings has endured the wear of
centuries. Excellent clay for making tile and brick was later found not
far south of the City, so that the more pretentious buildings were
covered with roofs of the criolla tiles that are still common throughout
all Latin America.

Before the middle of the 15th century, the clearing in which Havana was
located was extended out as far as the street now known as Monserrate,
running from the Gulf front across to the southwestern extension of the
bay. In 1663 a splendid wall was begun along this line and completed
with the help of slaves in 1740. It ran almost north and south,
inclosing the city on the west, and protected it from all attacks coming
from the land side. This wall was twenty feet in height and twelve feet
thick at the base, surmounted at frequent intervals by quaint
round-topped turrets. It had its angles, bastions and points of vantage
for defensive purposes, the work, according to experts, representing a
very high degree of engineering ability on the part of those who planned
it.

With the exception of one angle and its turret, which stands in front of
the new Presidential Palace, the old walls were removed in 1902, thus
depriving Havana of perhaps the most picturesque feature of the ancient
city.

Just in front of this wall on the west, a wide clearing was made to
prevent surprise attacks from the forests beyond. With the felling of
the trees, grass soon grew along its entire length, hence the name
Prado, which means meadow, became permanently attached to it, and so the
green lawn in front of the old walls of the 17th century was transformed
two hundred years later into Havana’s most aristocratic avenue.

The principal thoroughfare, leading from the southern side of the Plaza
de Armas to the Prado, was called Obispo or Bishop Street, which name it
still retains. It is said that the first Bishop of Havana was in the
habit of taking his daily walk out along this road to the main gate of
the City; hence the name.

Beginning at the water front and running from La Fuerza west, parallel
to Obispo, is O’Reilly Street, named in honor of one of Cuba’s most
energetic Governors-General, who controlled the affairs of Havana in
1763, and who was, as the name suggests, of Irish antecedents. Just
north of O’Reilly and parallel to it we have Empedrado Street which won
its distinction by being paved from the old Cathedral to San Juan de
Dios Park in the time of Governor General Las Casas. South of Obispo
came Obrapia Street, or the Lane of Pious Works. Beyond and parallel to
it came Lamparilla Street, which earned this cognomen owing to the fact
that some progressive citizen in the early days hung a lantern in front
of his residence for the benefit of the public at large.

Next comes Amargua Street, or the Bitter Way. It is along Amargura that
certain pious and penitent monks were said to practice flagellation.
With shoulders bent, and on their knees, they invited the blows of whips
while wending their way out towards the edge of the city. Incidentally
they collected alms en route. On the southeast corner of Amargura and
Mercaderes Streets a peculiar cross in stucco, painted green, is built
into the wall of the house where, centuries ago, lived a high dignitary
of the church, before which all passing religious processions paused for
special prayers.

There is hardly a square within the old walled city that has not some
story or legend whose origin goes back to the days of Velasquez, De
Soto, Cortez of Mexico, and other celebrated conquerors of the New
World.

The Havana of today is a strange mingling of modern, reinforced cement
and stone structures, five or six stories high, with little one or
two-story, thick-walled, tile roofed samples of architecture that
prevailed three hundred years or more ago. City property, however, is
increasing so rapidly in value that many old landmarks along the narrow
streets of the wall inclosed section are being torn down and replaced
with large, well equipped office buildings.

[Illustration: COLON PARK

Colon Park, one of the most beautiful pleasure grounds of the Cuban
capital, is also known as the Campo de Marte, and is at the southern end
of the famous Prado. It is noted for its marvellous avenues of royal
palms. From it the Call de la Reina, once one of the most fashionable
streets of the city but now given up to business, runs westward toward
the Botanical Gardens.]

With the accumulation of sugar estates, coffee plantations, cattle
ranches and resultant wealth, people of means began to seek summer homes
beyond the walls of the old City. All men in those days went heavily
armed for any danger that might threaten, while numerous slaves
furnished protection from common thieves and highwaymen.

With the development of the outlying districts, trails and roads soon
began to reach out both to the west and south, followed some years later
by what were known as Caminos Reales or Royal Roads, connecting Havana
with Matanzas, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus,
Remedios, Camaguey and Santiago de Cuba.

One road, known still as El Cerro, ran southwest along the crest of a
ridge that led towards the western part of the Island and in after years
connected Havana with the big coffee plantations in the mountains and
foothills of Pinar del Rio. Along this road were built the first
suburban residences and country homes of the aristocracy of Havana.

Many of these places were cut out of dense woods, and on one of them,
until less than ten years ago, the original owner, the Conde de
Fernandina, retained a full square of dense primeval forest, not a tree
of which had been removed since the days of Columbus. This remnant of
virgin wilderness, located on the corner of El Cerro and Consejero
Arango Streets, was for some six years passed by the electric car line
of El Cerro.

All of this section of the City, of course, was long ago built up with
handsome residences that sheltered most of the old Cuban families, who
had inherited the right to titles, coats of arms, and other
paraphernalia pertaining to the monarchy of Spain. Tulipan Park marks
the center of this aristocratic district, and still retains much of its
old-time atmosphere of colonial prestige.

Further south ran another winding trail that gradually ascended a range
of hills, forming the divide from which the undulating surface slopes
towards the south coast, thirty miles away, where Velasquez located the
original site of Havana. This thoroughfare is known as Jesus del Monte,
or Jesus of the Mountain, and has become quite popular in recent years
on account of reputed healthfulness due to its elevation above the sea.

When the last remnants of the Spanish army returned to Spain in 1899,
that portion of the City called El Vedado, or The Forbidden, extending
from the Beneficencia, or Orphan Asylum, out to the Almandares River,
three miles distant, was nothing but a goat pasture, with a low sea
front of sharp coral rocks. Its soil was thin and the district
apparently had nothing to recommend it aside from its view of the ocean.

A little dummy engine pulled a shaky, shabby car out to the Almandares,
making four trips a day. Just why it ran at all was a mystery to the
inhabitants, since there was but little inducement to travel in that
direction. The entire expanse of land from the Santa Clara Battery to
the Almandares, and miles beyond, could have been purchased for a song,
but no one wanted it.

Two years later some “fool American” erected an attractive bungalow on
the line, about half way to the Almandares, and not long after, sign
boards could be seen with the notice, “Lots for sale,” which invariably
occasioned smiles, since there were no purchasers. But around the
bungalow were laid out pretty grounds, and the suggestion took root. Two
men of means erected beautiful places close by, and the building of
homes in the cactus-covered flats became a fad.

The price of lots, which began at ten cents a square meter, soon rose to
a dollar, then two dollars, five, ten, twenty-five, and today this
entire section from Havana to the Almandares and beyond, from the dog
teeth coral of the coast, up over the crest of the Principe Hill, is
covered with beautiful modern mansions with splendid grounds, and forms
the residential pride and show ground of the city.

This marvelous increase in development of suburban property, which
seems to continue with leaps and bounds, has long since passed the
Almandares River and reached out to the Playa and to the Country Club,
while even further west land is sold by the square meter and not by the
caballeria. All has taken place since Leonard Wood stepped into the
Palace as Governor-General of Cuba in the year 1900.

Another well-known highway that played an important part in the early
history of Havana was called La Reina. This wide, beautiful avenue
begins at the Parque Colon and runs due west until at the crest of the
first ridge the name changes to Carlos Tercero, passing between avenues
of laurels until it reaches the Quinto de los Molinos and the Botanical
Gardens. Passing on around the southern edge of the Principe Plateau,
the avenue continues on to Colon Cemetery, a beautiful spot, commanding
a view of the mouth of the Almandares, and that portion of Vedado lying
between it and the Gulf. Since Havana has but one cemetery for a city of
over 360,000 inhabitants, travel to the last resting place is somewhat
constant over this really beautiful road.

The view from the western terminus of Principe Hill is one of the finest
in Cuba’s capital. It was this crest that the English Colonel Howe,
after landing his force of three thousand men in 1762 at the mouth of
the Almandares River, ascended and from it saw for the first time the
old walled city lying at his feet, in all its primitive glory.

This commanding position on the western edge of the Principe Plateau,
with the City of Havana, the Botanical Gardens and the beautiful Quinto
de los Molinos lying at its base, was chosen for the site of the
University of Havana, and no more appropriate place for an institution
of this kind could have been selected. In the near future it will
undoubtedly become one of the most important seats of learning in Latin
America.

Near the head of the western extension of Havana Harbor is the Loma of
Atares, on whose summit rests a picturesque 18th century fortress of
the same name. The hill rises abruptly several hundred feet above the
level plain, and commands all approaches to the City both from the south
and the west.

The prado or meadow, that extended along the western front of Havana’s
embattled ramparts, is today changed into a wide esplanade, along which
runs a double driveway for automobiles and carriages. Through the
center, between double rows of laurels and flamboyans, are shaded walks,
shrubs and rare plants of the tropics. On both sides of this fashionable
street, sumptuous mansions, many of them homes of millionaires and
distinguished men of this western Paris, have been built since the
inauguration of the Republic. Attempts have been made at different times
to change the name of this avenue, but the people of Havana, up to the
present, have insisted on retaining the term first given it, the
“Prado,” that always lay between the City gates and the western forests.

On the east lies the former walled city with its narrow streets and
antique buildings and picturesque landmarks of bygone centuries. On the
west we have the more modern City, that extends for miles both south and
west, where beautiful residences have been erected, some of them
palatial in size and appointments. Several of the more prominent hotels,
too, are located on the Prado where it forms the western boundary of
“Parque Central,” that delightful retreat in the City’s center. In front
of the Park was the large gate that gave entrance and exit to the
traffic of the old time thoroughfares of Obispo and O’Reilly. Many
beautiful club buildings, whose cost ran into millions, are located
along the Prado.

At the southwestern corner of the Park is the new National Theatre, a
magnificent piece of architecture covering an entire block of ground,
and costing some $3,000,000. This theatre is the largest and best
equipped place of amusement in Havana, and at its entertainments may be
found the elite of the Island republic. The season of grand opera
continues for approximately six weeks every winter, during which the
best artists of Italy, France, Spain and the Metropolitan Opera of New
York furnish entertainment to a music-loving audience, whose taste is as
refined and critical as any in the world.

The “Parque Central” covers an area equivalent to two city squares, in
which many beautiful shade trees, including the evergreen laurel, the
flamboyan, date and royal palms, and other plants and flowers peculiar
to the tropics, add shade and beauty to the spot. In its center rises an
imposing statue in marble of José Marti.

From this central point the Prado continues south until it terminates in
the “Parque de los Indies.” Adjoining on the west is the “Parque de
Colon,” with an area equivalent to four large city blocks. Stately royal
palms, india rubber trees, flowering majaguas, cocoanuts and rare
tropical plants, render this park one of the most interesting in the
City.

Leading away from the head of the Parque de Colon we find a wide avenue
known as La Reina, that extends westward and upward to the summit of
Belascoain, where its width is more than doubled in the Avenue known as
Carlos Tercero. This continues west between two long rows of shade
trees, outside of which are two more drives running parallel to the main
or central avenue.

This continues out beyond the Botanical Gardens, the Quinto de los
Molinos, whence the main street curves around the crest of the Plateau
of El Principe, and continues on two miles to Colon Cemetery near the
further end of the Plateau, on the east bank of the Almandares.

Colon cemetery is one of the finest in Latin America. The monument
dedicated to the seventeen firemen who perished beneath the falling wall
of a burning house, consists of a single shaft some fifty feet in
height, surmounted by the figure of an angel, supporting in her arms an
exhausted fireman. Cameos in marble of the faces of the men who died in
the performance of duty, are cut around the base of the monument.
Another beautiful example of the sculptor’s art stands above the tomb of
the “Inocentes,” where lie buried the bodies of the eight youths who
were executed by the Spanish Volunteers, at the foot of the Prado on
November 27, 1871. In this cemetery are buried also many of Cuba’s
famous men and women whose graves are carefully kept, and on Decoration
Day are visited by thousands of people, friends, relatives and admirers,
who leave their tributes of flowers, kind thoughts and tears.

Music in all its varied forms, from grand opera to the rhythmic beat of
the kettle drum, (which plays such an important part in the orchestras
of native negroes) probably furnishes the chief source of pleasure and
entertainment in the Republic of Cuba. The Havanese have always been a
music loving people, and really excellent musicians are common in the
Capital.

The Municipal Band of Havana, with some eighty artists, under the
direction of Guillermo Tomas, furnishes music, either in Central Park or
the Malecon, several evenings each week. It is in attendance also at
nearly all official functions, and funerals of prominent men, soldiers,
and officers of the Government.

This same band has won at different times the admiration and approval of
many audiences in the United States, including that of critical Boston,
where concerts were given in Symphony Hall in 1915. It was also heard at
New York City’s Tercentenary Celebration during the fall of the same
year. Director Tomas is very proud of the medal awarded to his band by
the judges of the Buffalo Exposition in 1901.

Many other excellent bands belonging to the Navy, and to different
branches of the Army, are noted for their music, and share with the
Municipal in entertaining the public during different evenings of the
week at the Malecon, and at various parks scattered throughout the City.

The Conservatory of Music located on Galiano Street near Concordia
Street has turned out many brilliant artists during its career of half a
century or more. Recitals of music are usually held in the National
Theatre or in the Salons of the Academy of Arts and Sciences on Cuba
Street. In these halls nearly all the celebrated artists of the world
have given concerts, and hardly a week passes without entertainments by
the best local talent.

Next to music, driving, either in automobiles or open carriages, over
the beautiful “Careteras” radiating from the City, furnishes probably
the most popular form of diversion in Cuba. Nearly every evening
throughout the year, the view of the Malecon where the Prado and the
beautiful Gulf Shore Drive meet is a scene of animation not soon to be
forgotten.

The circular Glorieta, with its dome-shaped roof, supported on heavy
stone columns, shelters some one of the famous National bands while
hundreds of people in machines, in carriages, on stone benches and iron
seats, enjoy the music and between selections chat about the various
topics of the day. From eight until ten, under the shadow of the grim
old fortress “la Punta,” and in the blaze of electric lights which line
the Prado and the Malecon, this diversion holds the public, including
all grades of society, from the highest officials to the humblest clerk,
or girl worker in the tobacco factories, who enjoy the benefits of a
true democracy, social and political and financial.

Some two miles west of the mouth of the Almandares, a little inlet known
as La Playa, fairly well protected from the outer sea, furnishes the
nearest bathing beach for the citizens of Havana and visitors from
abroad. Since the temperature of the Gulf Stream which sweeps along this
part of the northern coast is practically uniform throughout the year,
bathing may be indulged in with pleasure both summer and winter. In the
latter season, however, owing to cool winds that sometimes blow across
the Gulf from the north, only visitors from the United States and
tourists take advantage of this sport. The residents of Havana confine
their bathing season largely to the strictly summer months from May
until November.

The Havana Yacht Club stands just back from the beach, and from its
front extends some two hundred feet out into the water a splendid
concrete pier, shaded by canvas awnings, and patronized by members of
the club and its guests. This club was established during the first
Government of Intervention and counts among its members many of the best
families of Havana. The interest in yachting has grown rapidly and every
year brings with it interesting sloop yacht and motor boat races, held
either at the Playa or at Varadero, near Cardenas.

During the bathing season the Marine Band furnishes music from five
until seven in the afternoons. This is enjoyed not only by the members
of the Yacht Club, but also by crowds who throng the beach for a mile or
more on either side.

The finest beach of Cuba, however, is known as the Varadero, located on
the sea side of Punta Icaca, a narrow strip of land that projects into
the Bay of Cardenas. Here many of the regattas are held during the
summer months, when visitors from the capital go to Cardenas to enjoy
the twenty mile stretch of outside surf bathing. Bathing places cut out
of the coral rocks along the beach of Vedado are also used, especially
by the citizens of that locality.

Fishing is a sport that furnishes most enjoyable entertainment for those
who are fond of it. Handsome specimens of the finny tribe are frequently
brought in by men and boys, who drift in small boats along the coast, a
mile or so out, and fish both for the table and for profit. Tourists
often find amusement in going out in motor launches at night and fishing
for shark off the mouth of the harbor. Since sharks are usually
plentiful, and of sufficient size to give the angler a tussle before
being brought up to the boat and dispatched, this form of amusement
appeals as a novelty to many who come from the interior of the United
States.

The markets of Havana are full of excellent fish that are caught all
along the Gulf Stream, between Cuba and the coast of Florida. These are
brought in sloops provided with the usual fish well, which keeps them
fresh until thrown on the wharf just before daylight. The varieties most
sought for, or prized, are the red snapper, known in Spanish as the
“Pargo,” the sword fish, and the baracuta, which are splendid fish, from
two to three feet in length and very game, when caught with hook and
line.

Of the smaller fish, the Spanish mackerel, the mullet, the needle fish,
and scores of other varieties are always found in abundance. The
pompano, peculiar to the Gulf of Mexico, owing to its delicious flavor
and its entire lack of small bones is probably the most prized of all,
and commands a very high price when it reaches the table of fashionable
hotels in the United States.

The game of Jai Alai was introduced here from the Basque Provinces of
Spain, during the first Government of Intervention in 1900, and became
very popular with both Cubans and visitors from the United States.
General Leonard Wood and his aides soon acquired the habit of visiting
the Fronton and spending an hour or so in practice every morning.

Jai Alai is played in a building erected for the purpose with a court
some two hundred feet in length, inclosed on three sides by smooth stone
walls, perhaps forty feet in height, and having a concrete floor. It is
played with two opponents on each side known as the blues and the
whites. The ball is similar to that of the tennis court, made in Spain
with a high degree of resiliency and costing five dollars. It is thrown
from a long narrow wicker basket, or scoop, slightly curved at the
point, to retain the ball while swung to the head or end wall. The
gloved part of the instrument is firmly strapped to the forearm of the
player. The ball is caught in this sling-like scoop, and from its length
of some thirty inches or more is driven with great force from the
further end of the court to the opposite wall. On the rebound it must be
caught by one of the two opponents, on either fly or first bound,
otherwise a point is scored against the side that falls.

A three-inch band is painted around the end of the court, parallel with
the floor and about four feet above it. The ball must strike the wall
above this band, and the science of the play is to drive it into the
corner at such an angle that your opponents will find it impossible to
catch it as it caroms back.

Once the game starts, the ball never stops its flight through the air,
from the wicker scoop to the end of the wall and back, until an error is
made which counts against the side that fails to catch it. And since the
player cannot hold the ball in his wicker sling for an instant, the
action is decidedly rapid and the excitement soon becomes intense.

A player may occasionally be seen to leap into the air, catch and fire
the ball back to the end of the court, he himself falling flat on his
back, leaving his partner to take care of the return. Thirty points
constitute the usual game and about an hour is required in which to play
it. Jai Alai was suspended during the latter part of President Estrada
Palma’s term, on account of the heavy betting that accompanied it, but
owing to insistent popular demand, it was again installed at the Fronton
in the Spring of 1918.

The game of baseball, brought to Cuba in the year 1900, from the very
start gained a popularity among the natives that has never ceased for a
moment. It is today the national sport of Cuba, and quite a number of
high-priced players from Cuba have occupied prominent places in the big
league clubs of the United States. The local clubs of Havana play a
splendid game, as several crack teams from the United States have
discovered to their surprise and cost, many of them having been sent
home badly beaten.

The king of sports, however, in Havana, is horse racing, first
introduced from the United States in 1907. Such was its popularity that
capitalists some four years ago, were encouraged to erect in the suburb
of Marianao the finest racing pavilion in the West Indies. The mile
track and the beautiful grounds which surround it are all that lovers of
the sport could desire; while the view from the Grand Stand, across a
tropical landscape whose hillsides are covered with royal palms, with
dark green mountains silhouetting the distant horizon, gives us one of
the most picturesque and attractive race tracks in the world.

Between the Plaza and Camp Columbia are located the golf links of
Havana, which owing to the natural beauty of the grounds, and the charm
of the surrounding country, with its view of the ocean and distant palm
covered hills, render golfing a pleasure for at least three hundred and
thirty days a year. These natural advantages have made the links of the
Country Club of Havana celebrated in all places where golfing news
reaches those who are devoted to the game.

In the various public buildings in Havana occupied by the Government of
Cuba may be traced many styles of architecture that have followed each
other from the beginning of the 16th century to well into the 20th. The
old Fort of La Fuerza, that dates from 1538, is now occupied by the
Secretary of War and Navy, and from it orders are issued directing the
management of the two arms of the service, which in Cuba are combined
under one directorate. Aside from modern windows, shutters and
up-to-date office furniture, no changes have been made in the general
outline or contour of this antiquated old fortress, whose entrance and
drawbridge face the Templete close by on the spot where the residents of
Cuba held their early Town Councils and listened to the singing of their
first mass, four centuries ago.

Next in line of antiquity would come the old San Franciscan Convent,
that in 1916 was converted into a spacious and artistic post-office,
where the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs looks after that
important branch of the Government Service.

Next in point of age comes the home of the Department of Public Works in
the Maestranza, along the northeastern front of which runs a remnant of
the old sea wall, extending along the west shore of the harbor from the
Cathedral to the head of Cuba Street. This thick walled building, of
only two stories, began as an iron and brass foundry, in which cannon
were made several centuries ago and during later years of Spanish
Colonial occupancy was used as a warehouse for rifles, sabres, pistols
and small arms in general. Here were outfitted officers and men of the
Spanish Volunteers, or loyalists of the Island, during Cuba’s century of
revolutions. With the occupation of American troops in 1900, this
building, covering over a block of ground, was converted into offices of
the Sanitary Department and allied branches, who vouched for the city’s
health and cleanliness during that period. It was here that Major
Gorgas, now Major General, held sway and directed the campaign that
exterminated the stegomyia mosquito, and thus put an end to the dreaded
scourge of yellow fever in Cuba. It is at present occupied by the
various branches of Public Works under the direction of Col. José R.
Villalon, who has earned the reputation of being one of the most
tireless and persistent workers in the Government. The National Library,
whose entrance faces on Chacon Street at present, shares the
accommodations of the Maestranza.

The Department of Sanitation, with all of its vast ramifications, whose
jurisdiction covers the entire Island, is located in an old colonial
building fronting on Belascoain near the corner of Carlos Tercero
Street, and with its ample patio covers an entire block of ground. This
Department is located more nearly at the center of modern Havana than
any of the other Government offices.

One of the oldest public buildings, and the largest used for purposes of
Government, known as La Hacienda, is located on the water front between
Obrapia Street and the Plaza de Armas. During the many years of Spanish
rule, not only the Custom House, but nearly all the more important
branches of Government, were located within its walls. With the
inauguration of the Republic, the National Treasury was installed in the
southwest corner of the building, under the direction of Fernando
Figuerdo, who has retained this position of trust during all changes of
administration. The remainder of the ground floor is occupied by the
National Lottery and offices connected with that Institution, which
extend into the entresuelo, or half-story, just above. The second floor
is occupied by the Hacienda, or Treasury Department, whose offices
surround the central patio on all four sides. The third and fourth
floors are devoted to the central offices of the Department of
Agriculture, including the headquarters of its Secretary, General
Sanchez Agramonte. The upper floor, or azotea, is used by the Laboratory
of the Department of Agriculture. The Hacienda is rather an imposing
building from the Bay, on which it faces, and plays a very important
part in the Government work of the Island.

To the outside world the best known building is probably the old
Governor-General’s palace, fronting on the Plaza de Armas and occupying
the square of ground between Tacon and Mercaderes Streets and between
Obispo and O’Reilly Streets. The palace is two stories in height and
belongs to what may be termed the modern colonial style of Cuban
architecture, with very high ceilings, enormous doors and tall
iron-barred windows that descend to the floor. The interior of the
Palace is occupied by a very pretty palm court with a statue of
Christopher Columbus posing in the center, facing the wide deep entrance
that opens from the Plaza. This building was erected in 1834, as a
residence and headquarters for the Governors General sent out from
Spain, many of whom have occupied the Palace between that date and the
year 1899, when the last Governor General took his departure. It was
here that General Martinez Campos, in the winter of 1896, penned his
cablegram to the Spanish sovereign, stating that Generals Maximo Gomez
and Antonio Maceo, with their insurgent forces, had crossed the Trocha
into Pinar del Rio, for which reason he tendered his resignation,
acknowledging his failure to arrest the tide of Cuba’s War of
Independence. Within this same palace General Weyler planned his scheme
of reconcentration, or herding of the pacificos, non-combatants, old
men, women and children, into barbed wire stockades, where a quarter of
a million of them died of exposure, disease and hunger. It is said that
when informed of their condition and the fearful death rate, he
remarked, “Excellent! Let these renegade mothers die. We will replace
them with women who will bear children loyal to Spain.” It was here also
that his more humane and civilized successor, General Blanco, who in the
last days of 1897 had tried hard to save Spain’s one remaining colony in
America, felt the shock of the explosion that sank the battleship
_Maine_ in Havana Harbor in February, 1898, and exclaimed as he looked
across the bay toward the wreck: “This will mark the saddest day of
Spain’s history.” Within the same room too, Cuba’s first President, the
beloved and revered Tomas Estrada Palma, with tears of humiliation in
his eyes, handed his resignation as President to the American Secretary
of War, William H. Taft, and left for his almost forgotten farm in the
forests back of Manzanillo, where he passed his last days as a martyr to
the greed and cruelty of his own people.

Diagonally across from the old Presidential Palace, on the northwest
corner of the Plaza de Armas, stands the Senate Chamber, a two-story
building of the same attractive architecture found in the old Palace. It
is in a way a companion to this building, having been designed and
directed as the home and office of the various Lieutenant-Generals of
the Island, in which capacity it served until the termination of Spanish
rule in Cuba. During the two years of American Intervention, various
military departments made their headquarters within this structure, but
with the installation of the Republic in 1902 it was formally dedicated
to the use of the Senate, and officers connected with that branch of the
Legislative government. The lofty salon fronting the Plaza de Armas
served as the Senate Chamber. The 24 members of the upper house held
sessions there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of each week. As with
the Presidential Palace, the somewhat lavish use of marble in patios,
floors, stairways, balconies, etc., is much in evidence in this
building.

Just north of the Senate Chamber, and covering the east side of the long
block on Tacon Street, between the Palace and the Bay, are located the
Bureau of Secret Service, the Department of Government, and those of
State of Justice, all installed at the present time in the same
building.

This building during Colonial days was occupied by the Department of
Engineers, and with the beginning of American intervention was turned
over to Brigadier General William A. Ludlow, to whose energy is due the
credit of rapidly and effectively cleaning up the city of Havana after
its sanitary abandonment of three centuries duration. General Ludlow
shared the building with General Enoch Crowder. The Palace of State and
Justice has been remodeled and renovated from foundation to azotes. All
of its floors and most of its walls are now finished and decorated in a
manner appropriate to the uses to which it is dedicated.

During the regime of General Leonard Wood, through an official decree of
that most competent commander, three public buildings were added to the
capital of the Republic, each now bearing his name in an appropriate
placque or tablet in the wall. The first of these was a Bacteriological
Laboratory, now known as the General Wood Laboratory, located on Carlos
Tercero Street in front of the Botanical Gardens. Bacteriological
experiments, which up to that time had been conspicuous by their
absence, have since been carried on faithfully in Havana under the
direction of the celebrated expert in that science, Dr. Aristides
Agramonte.

Next in order was a handsome three-story stone building, located on
Belascoain a block from the corner of Carlos Tercero Street, dedicated
to the school of Industrial Arts and Sciences. The instruction given in
this Institution since its foundation in 1901, has been efficient, and
of excellent service to the youth of Havana, many of whom have taken
very kindly to this much needed innovation.

The third of these institutions fathered by General Wood is the Academy
of Sciences and Fine Arts, located on Cuba Street near Amargura Street.
This institution has been a boon and a blessing to the intellectual life
of Havana, since for the first time suitable quarters were offered to
celebrated lecturers, artists and musicians, who find in Havana
appreciative audiences, and where, since the founding of the Academy,
local talent had a fitting theatre in which to display its merit.

Since the beginning of the Republic in 1902, under President Estrada
Palma, the old Governor General’s Palace was found rather limited in its
accommodations. Not only was it compelled to shelter the President and
his family, together with the many offices belonging to the Executive
Department, but it also shared its accommodations with the City Council,
and many of the dependencies of that Institution. With the rapid growth
of the City, and the unavoidable increase in the work of all
departments, consequent on the development of commerce and trade with
the outside world, these quarters, each year, have been found
increasingly cramped and unsatisfactory.

During the regime of President José Miguel Gomez, a new Presidential
palace was planned, and work was begun on it on the site formerly
occupied by the Villa Nueva Station, belonging to the United Railways of
Havana. This ample space, facing for several blocks on the Prado and
Colon Park, was exchanged, by an Act of Congress, for the old Arsenal
Grounds on the water front, desired by the railways for a Grand Central
Station, for which they were excellently adapted. The plans of this
structure, as well as the beginning of the work, were found to be most
unsuited to a Presidential Palace, and by order of President Menocal, at
the suggestion of the Secretary of Public Works, work was discontinued
and abandoned for other plans and better construction.

Previous to the inauguration of President Menocal funds were voted for
the erection of a Provincial Palace or State House, on the property
belonging to the Government located between Monserrate and Zuleuta
Streets, just at the head of the long, beautiful stretch of open land
that sweeps down to the sea from the crest of the low hill, where rests
the last remnant of the city walls. This location, with its view of the
Luz Caballero Park, of the entrance of the Bay of Havana and the Morro
Headland on the opposite side, is one of the finest in the City, and
naturally appealed to the artistic taste of General Menocal as the true
location for a Presidential Palace. The Provincial Building had been
planned on a scale altogether unsuited for the offices of a Provincial
Council, whose members were limited to less than ten, and whose services
were of so little utility that several proposals for their
discontinuance had been considered. More than all, funds for the
completion of the building had been more than exhausted, and large debts
to contractors were pending. To relieve this emergency and liquidate the
indebtedness, it was finally resolved by the National Congress to take
over the property, reimbursing the Provincial Government with the
$540,000 which they had expended, and to dedicate this building to the
purpose of a Presidential Palace that would be more appropriate to the
demands of the Executive Department in a rapidly growing Republic.

A million dollars was appropriated for this purpose, which sum has since
been augmented in order to carry out the interior decoration of the
building along lines that would be in keeping with its proposed use. The
new Presidential Palace is four stories in height built of white stone,
the architecture being a harmonious combination of the Medieval and
Renaissance, terminating with a magnificent dome that rises from the
center of the building. The interior decoration of the new Palace has
had the benefit of skilled experts, and everything is in harmony with
the purpose to which the building was dedicated. The great Salon de
Honor is in the style of Louis XVI, while the State Dining Room is
modeled after the Italian Renaissance. The main entrance, principal
staircase, the hall and the general dining-room are of Spanish
Renaissance. The Salon de Damas is decorated in modern French style. All
of the other rooms that pertain to the personal equipment of the Palace,
and comprise the east wing, follow the same general line of architecture
and decorations, varying only in design and colors. The Palace is beyond
doubt, in location, design and decoration, one of the most beautiful and
interesting structures of its kind in the western hemisphere.

Work on the new capitol building, which is to replace the architectural
mistake of its original founders, was begun in 1918, with the purpose of
making this building the most imposing and stately modern structures of
its kind in the West Indies. It will be four stories in height and cover
5,940 square meters of ground, with a floor space of 38,195 square
meters. Above this spacious structure will rise a splendid dome in
keeping with the architecture of the main building. One half of the
building will be devoted to the use of the House of Representatives,
while the other will be occupied by the Senate. It will contain offices
and apartments for the Vice President, Committee halls, etc., and will
be furnished with all of the conveniences and improvements of modern
times. The Hall of Representatives will accommodate 133 members, and may
be increased up to 218. The Senate Chamber has ample capacity for the 24
senators, with accommodations in each of these Congressional halls for
visitors and the general public. Elevators will reach all floors and the
interior decorations will be in keeping with the purpose to which the
new Capitol Building is devoted.

During the Presidency of General Mario Menocal, work was begun on the
National Hospital, which when completed, will be one of the finest
institutions of its kind in the world. The grounds are located on the
northwest corner of Carlos Tecero and Belascoain Streets, occupying the
eastern extension of the Botanical Gardens that adjoin the hospital
grounds on the west. The location, near the center of what may be termed
modern Havana, is excellent, and the work as planned will constitute a
very important adjunct to the maintenance of health in Havana.

The plans contemplate the erection of 32 modern buildings, constructed
of white limestone and reinforced concrete. Sixteen, or one-half of
these had been finished in the fall of 1918. This hospital when complete
will cost approximately a million and a half of dollars, and will rank
with those of the best of America and Europe. The institution has been
named in memory of General Calixto Garcia.




CHAPTER XXX

A PARADISE OF PALM DRIVES


To those who are fond of motoring in the tropics, the world offers no
more delightful field than the Island of Cuba from the end of October
until early May, with Havana as a point of departure. Some fourteen
hundred kilometers or 850 miles of clean, cream colored macadamized
drives stretch out to the east, south and west of Havana, each inviting
the tourist or lover of nature to feast his eyes on a fascinating
panorama of mountain, hill and dale; of canon, cliff and undulating
plain.

Long lines of stately royal palms, of white-trunked Cuban laurel, from
whose branches the glossy green leaves never fall, of cocoas, mangoes,
almonds, tamarinds, and a score of others, border mile after mile of the
national highways, furnishing grateful shade and softened light that
otherwise would try the eyes. Every turn and curve of the driveway
brings change. There is no sameness of landscape, no monotony of level.
Each mile, each moment, presents something new. Expectation is seldom
disappointed.

Nothing perhaps is more startlingly novel or strikingly beautiful than
when, in early summer, the touring car, rounding a curve, suddenly
brings to view a line of flamboyans in full bloom. Lips open in
surprise, eyes fasten on what seems a forest of fire. The great banks of
brilliant red and golden yellow waving in the breeze need only smoke to
proclaim the roadside all ablaze. The camouflage of Nature is perfect
and strangers of the tropics will bid the chauffeur pause until they can
feast their eyes on this riot of color.

[Illustration: AN AVENUE OF PALMS

The splendid highways which under the Republic have been created in all
parts of Cuba have not been left as mere roadways, but have been
provided with hundreds of thousands of shade trees, for the comfort of
travellers as well as for the scenic beauty which they enhance. There
are hundreds of miles of driveways shaded and adorned with stately palms
or other trees, like that shown in the illustration.]

The most interesting excursions through Cuba radiate from the
Capital. One of exceptional charm stretches east through Matanzas to
Cardenas, a comparatively modern, well built little city of some thirty
thousand souls, resting on the southern shore of Cardenas Bay, just a
hundred miles from Havana.

One of the old colonial, solidly-built military roads leaving Havana was
constructed along a comparatively straight line for 48 kilometers to the
little city of Guines, located in the southeastern center of the
province of Havana. The road, bridges, and culverts are built solidly of
stone, while giant laurels, almonds and flamboyans on both sides of the
way furnish a continuous stretch of shade beneath which the voyager
travels from one end of the road to the other. This drive is over a
rolling, and in places a decidedly hilly country, which relieves
monotony and at the same time adds greatly to the picturesqueness of the
highway. Many little villages such as San Francisco, Cotorro, Cautro
Caminos, Jamaica, San Jose, Ganuza and Loma de Candela or “Hill of the
Candle,” are passed between Havana and Guines. These, to the stranger
are always a source of novelty and interest. From the top of the Loma de
Candela, a beautiful view of the valley below spreads out towards the
south. This is known as the Valley of Guines, a large part of which has
the good fortune to have been brought under a rather crude but
nevertheless efficient system of irrigation many years ago. The water
for this irrigation comes from a large spring that, like many others in
the Island, bursts from some big cavern below the surface and forms a
river that eventually reaches the sea a little east of the village of
Batabano, on the south coast. Some three miles from Guines the river is
brought under control by a rather crude dam of cement through which it
is distributed by ditches over the lands, referred to usually as the
“Vegetable Garden of the Province of Havana.” Here large quantities of
tomatoes, egg plants, peppers, squash and Irish potatoes are grown
during the late fall and winter months. The produce of this section is
shipped to the United States as long as market prices justify, after
which ready sale is found in the local markets of the capital.

From Guines another drive extends some 13 kilometers towards the
northeast to the town of La Catalina on the way to Matanzas. The
distance from Havana to Matanzas is shortened by a connecting link 16
kilometers in length which branches off the Guines highway at Ganuza,
and runs due east through La Catalina to the town of Madruga, 63
kilometers from Havana. This section of the road follows a ridge of low
hills or mountains. From Madruga the drive turns sharply to the
northeast, entering the Province of Matanzas, 25 kilometers east of the
border line.

The drive from Havana to Matanzas is 100 kilometers or 60 miles in
length, and passes through a section of country every mile of which
brings to view charming bits of tropical scenery, together with an
opportunity to see something of the life of the inhabitants in the
interior of the Island. If one has time to stop, or cares to leave the
main highway at Ceiba and cross the ridge of hills about a mile distant,
a beautiful little valley lies below, on the other side of the divide.
The drive from Havana to Matanzas is usually made in about three hours,
and, aside from the attractions furnished by the city and its suburbs
spread out along the western side of the harbor, will furnish a very
pleasant diversion for an early morning or late afternoon excursion.

Another of the old Spanish colonial military roads, leaving Havana
through the suburb of Marianao, sweeps away towards the southwest in a
comparatively straight line until it reaches the city of Guanajay, 42
kilometers distant. Here the road divides, one branch running due south
to the little city of Artemisa, located in the center of the pineapple
district, which furnishes a large part of the fruit shipped to the
United States. From Havana to Artemisa, 58 kilometers, Cuban laurels,
royal palms and flamboyans furnish a continuous and often dense shade
throughout its entire length. In some places, for miles, the road
resembles a long green tunnel passing through foliage that arches up
from the sides and meets in the center above. From Las Mangas, 7
kilometers south of Artemisa, the road swings sharply to the westward
and so continues through a more open country with less shade and less
traffic. There is no speed limit on the country roads of Cuba, and if
the condition of the drive permits, one can skip along at a 40 or 50
mile clip between villages, with little danger of interference. This
westerly drive swings on through Candelaria, 82 kilometers from Havana,
where one gets the first glimpse of the long picturesque range of the
Organ Mountains some five miles away to the north. These parallel the
road to the western terminus of the Island.

From the village of Candelaria a short drive not over five miles in
length reaches up to the base of the Ruby hills, which at this point
form a perpendicular cliff several hundred feet in height, over which
falls a stream of water whose volume during the winter is comparatively
small, but the drop is perpendicular and the roar of the torrent during
the rainy season can be easily heard at Candelaria. Just above the falls
are a group of mineral springs, iron, sulphur, etc., that were once very
popular, and during slavery days, which terminated in 1878, many
families passed the warm months at these baths, the ruins of which can
still be seen. About four kilometers of this road to the falls is
macadamized and the remainder can be negotiated readily by an ordinary
carriage. A connecting link some 20 kilometers in length has been
proposed to connect Candelaria with San Diego de Nunez and Bahia Honda
on the north coast, but the cost of the road through the mountains may
prevent its completion for some time.

San Cristobal, 10 kilometers further west, and 92 kilometers from
Habana, was the terminus of one of the old military roads at the
beginning of the Cuban Republic. Since this time a beautiful automobile
drive has been continued out to Guane, 246 kilometers from Havana, and
will soon reach La Fe and Los Arroyos, two points on the extreme western
coast about 30 kilometers further on.

Nine kilometers west of San Cristobal a connecting link with the main
highway has been built to the town of Taco-Taco, about a mile and a
quarter distant on the railroad, with another branch 7 kilometers in
length running due north to the foot of the mountains. This road will be
built straight across the Organ Range, through Rangel and Aguacate, to
Bahia Honda on the north coast, passing the old time “cafetales” or
coffee plantations of Pinar del Rio, and also through some of the rich
mineral zones of that region. The uncompleted link is only about 20
kilometers but is over a rather difficult mountainous country.

At the 117th kilometer post a highway of six kilometers connects with
the town of Palacios on the Western Railway, while at the 123rd, still
another branches south to Paso Real with a northern extension that
reaches San Diego de los Banos, 9 kilometers distant. This road too,
will eventually cross the mountain range and connect with Consolacion
del Norte, whence the road has already been completed to Rio Blanco on
the north coast, 9 kilometers away.

The drive from the main line to San Diego de los Banos is through an
extremely picturesque country of hill and dale, and the village itself
is well worthy of a visit. Like the Candelaria Springs, the San Diego
Baths have long been famous, and the latter still continue to be so. The
springs of hot and cold water impregnated with sulphur, iron and other
minerals are said to have valuable medicinal qualities.

From the cross roads at the 123rd kilometer the main trunk-line passes
through a series of low hills, but with grades so reduced that motors
have no difficulty in negotiating them. From the town of Consolacion,
151 kilometers from Havana, one enters the eastern border of the
celebrated Vuelta Abaja tobacco district that lies spread out on either
side of the driveway. On either side are low hills with gentle slopes
and little oases or “vegas” of land that are not only rich, but contain
that mysteriously potent quality which from time immemorial has produced
the finest tobacco in the world.

Pinar del Rio, the capital of the province, is located at the 172nd
kilometer and forms a center from which five different automobile drives
radiate. The western line, which may be considered as an extension of
the main highway, will eventually connect San Antonio, the western
terminus of the Island, with Cape Maisi in the east, 800 miles away.
This road to the northwest soon enters the mountains, through which it
passes many rises, falls and unexpected turns, bringing into view a
picturesque country, rugged but not forbidding. At kilometer 200, a
point known as Cabezas or “the Head,” the drive turns at a right angle
and sweeps down towards the plain below, terminating at Guane, 246
kilometers from Havana, on the western edge of the celebrated Vuelta
Abajo. A shorter line between Pinar del Rio and Guanes, passing through
San Juan y Martinez, is under process of construction. The latter city
is located in the western center of the Vuelta Abajo district.

From this city, a modern little place of some 12,000 or 15,000
inhabitants, another branch of the trunk line, 25 kilometers in length,
passes through a level country until it reaches La Paloma, a landing
place for coasting vessels and light draft steamers of the Caribbean
Sea.

From the capital of the Province due north a line 52 kilometers in
length has been built straight across to La Esperanza on the north
coast, a little fishing village located on the bay formed by the
outlying islands some six miles from the mainland. The road ascends by
comparatively easy grades to a height of some 1800 feet, where the top
of the ascent is reached. Here the line takes a sharp curve to the east,
bringing suddenly into view, as Rex Beach exclaimed: “The most
picturesquely, dramatically beautiful valley in the world!” This
strangely hidden mountain recess or park is known as the Valley of
Vinales, and forms part of a strange basin, that has been carved out of
the heart of the Organ range by erosion, leaving a quiet grass covered,
flat bottomed basin 2,000 feet below the top of the ridge from whose
level surface strange, round topped limestone hills are lifted
perpendicularly to an altitude of 2000 feet. A small stream courses
through the rich grass that carpets the floor, and one lone picturesque
little village, with houses of stone and roofs of tile, nestles in its
center. The inhabitants of the place seem absolutely content with its
quiet charm and seldom see anything of the outside world, except as
represented by the occasional tourist, who sweeps through with his car,
stopping for a moment perhaps for some simple refreshment, and then on,
through the narrow gap between the towering “magotes” that form the
northern wall of the valley. Here the road suddenly swings to the west,
following the foot of the mountain which towers above for a few
kilometers, whence it again turns north, and passes out into the
comparatively barren pine covered hills that continue on through San
Cayetano until the gulf coast is reached at La Esperanza.

In returning after a rather primitive fish breakfast which can be had at
La Esperanza, it is worth one’s while to pause for a moment in front of
the little country school, on the west side of the road, just before the
Valley is entered from the north, and there to secure a child guide,
whom the courteous professor will indicate, and with the services of
this little pilot you may find the reappearing river, a stream that
slips under the base of the mountain within the valley, and reappears
from a picturesque, cave-like opening on the other side. The stream is
only a few yards in width, with the water clear as crystal and very
pleasant to drink.

Standing on the rocks in the shade of the cliffs above, one can hear the
roar of the water some place back in the depths of the range, where it
evidently falls to a lower level. A visit to this spot gives one an
opportunity to note and observe at close hand the peculiar formations of
the rocks, full of pockets and openings, from every one of which
protrudes some strange growth of tropical vegetation. To explore the
Valley of Vinales and its various turns, narrowing up between steep
walls in some places, opening out into beautiful parks at others, would
require a week at least, but would afford a rare diversion never to be
regretted.

The little city of Guanajay, at which the long western automobile drive
divides, is located on an elevated plateau, some thousand feet above the
level of the sea. From the little central plaza of the town a beautiful
road leaves in a northerly direction, passing through cane fields and
grazing lands for some five or six kilometers, until it reaches the
crest from which the road descends to the harbor of Mariel. It is worth
while to pause at this point and note the beautiful panorama of hills on
all sides and the tall peaks of the Organ range of Pinar del Rio to the
westward. From this point down, for two kilometers, the descent is
rather steep, winding, and picturesque.

Thirteen kilometers from Guanajay the little fishing village of Mariel
is found at the head of one of the deep protected harbors of the north
coast. The view from the head of the bay is very interesting, with high
flat promontories on the east, perched on the crest of one of which is
the Naval Academy of the Republic, the Annapolis of Cuba. A little
further on may be seen a large cement plant erected in 1917, beyond
which, on the point, is the quaint old light-house that has done duty
for many years. The western shore line is broken into tongue-like
projections, with deep recesses between, all covered with fields of
waving sugar cane.

On the extreme western point, at the entrance of the harbor, is located
the Quarantine Station where passengers and crews from foreign vessels
in which some infectious disease has appeared are cared for in cleanly
commodious quarters until the sanitary restriction is removed. The
National Quarantine Station has been chosen by President Menocal as a
favorite anchorage for his private yacht during the warm months of
summer. Fishing in this bay, too, attracts many tourists.

Near kilometer 10, on the Mariel Drive, the road divides, the western
branch sweeping away at right angles through rich cane fields as far as
the eye can see and gradually ascending towards the little village of
Quiebra Hacha, near which are several magnificent sugar estates whose
mills grind day and night through six or eight months every year. At the
18th kilometer, the road turns due west and follows the crest of a range
of low hills which sweep along the southern shore of the harbor of
Cabanas.

The view of this bay from the drive is one of the finest in Cuba. Every
turn of the road shows some part of the bright blue waters, dotted with
palm crested islets a thousand feet below. The entrance of the harbor,
with a small island just inside the mouth, its quaint old 17th century
fortress recalling the days of the pirates and buccaneers of the Spanish
Main, can be seen in the distance.

For eight or ten miles the drive follows the general trend of the
shoreline, leaving it finally with a graceful turn and many changes of
level, as hill after hill is either climbed or circled. The driveway
sweeps on westward through a country devoted to cane growing and stock
raising, until another beautiful deep water harbor known as Bahia Honda
is sighted off to the northwest Eventually the drive passes through and
terminates abruptly about a kilometer and a half beyond the little
village of Bahia Honda or Deep Bay, that was built over two kilometers
back from the head of the harbor over a century ago, when the
inhabitants still feared the incursion of enemies from the sea. The town
lies just at the foot of forest covered hills that come gradually down
from the Organ Range some six miles back. The town itself, aside from a
certain quaintness, common to all interior cities of Cuba, has but
little interest. A short driveway leads to the head of the bay and the
inshore lighthouse.

The harbor is some five or six miles in length by three or four in
width, and furnishes splendid anchorage even for deep draft vessels.
This bay was originally chosen as the north shore coaling station for
the United States Government in Cuba, but afterwards was abandoned as
unnecessary. Two range lights render entrance at night easy, while just
west of the mouth on the long line of barrier reefs known as the
Colorados, stands the new Gobernadora lighthouse, erected a few years
ago for the benefit of ships plying between Havana and Mexico.

The drive from Havana to Bahia Honda, with the little digression towards
Mariel, is sixty miles in length. The rather heavy grades in places, and
the beauty of the scenery throughout its entire length, discourage fast
motoring, but the jaunt can easily be made between “desayuno” at seven
and the Cuban “almuerzo” or breakfast at eleven. No trip of equal length
in the Republic furnishes greater charm to the lover of picturesque
Nature than does this north shore drive to Bahia Honda. When connected
as planned, with Vinales, some 50 kilometers further west, it will rank
with, if not excel, any other drive known in the tropical world.

From Matanzas several short lines radiate, all of which are interesting,
especially those which wander through the valley of the Yumuri, and
another seven kilometers in length which follows the shore line and
sweeps up over the ridge, affording a beautiful view of the Yumuri,
stretching out to the westward. Another short line, only a few
kilometers in length, has been built to the caves of Bellamar, a
favorite resort for winter tourists.

Another drive reaching south to La Cidra, 16 miles distant, on the
railroad to Sabanilla, enables one to form some conception of the
country to the southward of the capital. Only a few kilometers from
Matanzas one of the main trunk lines has been completed as far east as
Contreras, 60 kilometers. From this line, just beyond Ponce, a branch
runs 8-1/2 kilometers to the charming little city of Cardenas, resting
on the southern edge of the bay.

Extending from Cardenas due west is another line, terminating at the
little town of Camarioca, 18 kilometers distant. Some five kilometers
along this road a branch sweeps north 10 kilometers to the Playa of
Varadero, the finest beach in the Island of Cuba, where many of the
wealthier families assemble for the summer to enjoy surf bathing on the
outer shore, and where the annual regatta is held during the season.

From Contreras the northern trunk line has been projected eastward,
through Corralillo, across the border into the Province of Santa Clara.
Short stretches of this line have been completed from the towns of Marti
and Itabo, but up to January 1, 1919, no trunk line extended further
west than Cardenas.

Cienfuegos, one of the principal seaports of the south coast of Santa
Clara, is the center from which two automobile drives radiate. One runs
26 kilometers to the westward, terminating at Rodas and passing through
a number of rich sugar estates. The other runs northeast, through
Caunao, Las Guaos, Cumaneyagua, and Barajagua, terminating at
Manicaragua, 38 kilometers distant. It penetrates the valley of the
Arimao where a good quality of tobacco, known as the Manicaragua, is
grown. The scenery is delightfully picturesque and interesting.
Manicaragua is on the western edge of one of Santa Clara’s most
important mining districts.

From Casilda, another seaport on the south coast, a short line has been
built to the quaint, old-time city of Trinidad, perched on the side of a
mountain and founded by the companions of Christopher Columbus in 1514.
This road has been extended further north ten kilometers and will
eventually reach the important railroad junction and road center of
Placetas, on the Cuba Company’s line, connecting the western with the
eastern end of the Island.

From Santa Clara, the capital of the Province, several short lines
radiate in different directions. The longest sweeps through a rich cane
and cattle country, connecting the villages of La Cruz, Camajuani,
Taguaybon and Remedios, and terminating at Caibarien, the principal
seaport on the northeast coast of the Province. None of the trunk lines
proposed, up to January, 1919, had crossed the line into Camaguey.

Camaguey, owing perhaps to the fact that the province is less thickly
settled than any other in Cuba, has but few auto drives; the only ones
worthy of mention radiating from the capital, Camaguey. One runs west
some 10 kilometers, parallel with the Cuba Company’s railroad lines,
while the other extends east 34 kilometers passing through the charming
agricultural experimental station of Camaguey. This splendid provincial
institution, under the direction of Mr. Roberto Luaces, is located five
miles from the city. Since the greater part of the province is
comparatively level, road building in Camaguey is not expensive and will
probably be rapidly extended in the near future.

Oriente, owing to its mountainous character, presents more serious
engineering and financial problems than any other of the Island. The
wealth of its natural resources, however, especially in cane lands and
mineral deposits, will undoubtedly furnish an impetus for further
building.

At present several short lines radiate from Santiago de Cuba, its
capital, located on the beautiful harbor of that name. One of these runs
due north to Dos Caminos, and then west to Palma Soriana, passing
through San Luis. The length of this line is approximately 40
kilometers. Still another, fifteen kilometers long, reaches Alto Songo,
northeast of Santiago, passing through Boniato, Dos Bocas, and El
Cristo.

During General Wood’s administration of Santiago Province surveys were
made at his instigation and roads were completed to nearly all those
points of historical interest where engagements took place between
Americans and Spanish troops in the summer of 1898. One of these lines,
six kilometers in length, carries the visitor to the village of El
Caney, where the brave Spanish General Vara del Rey lost his life in its
defense. The fortifications were shelled and captured by General William
A. Ludlow of the U. S. Engineering Corps.

Another, reaching out towards the northeast some five kilometers,
terminates at the top of San Juan hill, where Theodore Roosevelt got his
first experience of mauser rifle fire. On the crest of this loma a
little pagoda has been erected, from the second story of which splendid
views of the surrounding country may be enjoyed and of all places where
engagements occurred. Brass tablets form the window sills of this
picturesque outlook, each one carrying an arrow stamped in the brass,
indicating the various points of interest, followed by a brief
description of the places, with dates of battles, etc. On the same road
may be seen the famous ceiba tree under which the armistice was signed
terminating the war between Spain and the United States.

Another short line ascends to the crest of a hill in the Sierra Maestra
from which may be enjoyed a charming view of the Bay, city and
surrounding country for many miles. The longest automobile drive in
Oriente extends from the harbor of Manzanillo on the west coast almost
due east to the village of Juguani, 58 kilometers away, passing through
Yara, Veguitas and Bayamo. This line is being rapidly extended to Baire,
and thence on to Palma Soriana, thus completing the connection between
Manzanillo and Santiago de Cuba.

A short line from Baracoa on the extreme northeastern coast of the
Island, has been built in a southerly direction to Sabanilla, 12
kilometers. Local machines can be found at all of these points that
will carry the tourist the length of the line, enabling him to form some
conception of a section that otherwise could be penetrated only by
mountain ponies or on mule back.




CHAPTER XXXI

BAYS AND HARBORS


Nothing is more essential to the general prosperity of a mercantile
country than good harbors. They are the economic gateways to the
interior, through which all foreign trade must come and go. Cuba in this
sense is essentially fortunate, especially along her north coast, where
sixteen large, deep, well protected bays and harbors of the first order
empty into the Gulf of Mexico, and into the north Atlantic, furnishing
thus direct avenues of trade to the greatest commercial centers of the
world.

Four harbors and bays of the first order are distributed along the
southern coast, emptying into the Caribbean, and through that great
tropical sea pass the avenues of trade that connect Cuba with the
republics of Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil,
Uruguay and the Argentine, while the Panama Canal permits direct water
communication, not only with the republics of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and
Chile, but also with the west coast of Mexico, and the United States, as
well as with Japan and the Orient. With North Africa and the
Mediterranean are direct lines of trade through the old Bahama Channel,
while central and southern Africa are reached by way of the Lesser
Antilles and Barbadoes.

Most of the foreign trade at the present time is with the American ports
along the eastern coast of the Atlantic and through the Gulf ports by
which Cuba has access to the Mississippi Valley, while along the Gulf
Stream Cuba has a direct avenue, as well as a favorable current, that
carried her commerce to England, France and other countries of western
Europe.

Beginning with the harbors and bays of the north coast we have the
western group located in Pinar del Rio, on the Gulf of Mexico, not
distant from Vera Cruz and Tampico in Mexico, or Galveston in Texas,
while almost facing them we have New Orleans, Pascagoula, Mobile and
Pensacola, with Tampa on the Florida coast.

On this group the first is that fine deep land locked deep-water harbor
of Bahia Honda (deep bay), sixty miles west of Havana, that was first
selected by the Government of the United States as a coaling station,
but afterwards surrendered for Guantanamo on account of the latter’s
proximity to the Panama Canal and the Pacific, to which it gives
entrance. Bahia Honda has a deep, rather narrow and fairly straight
channel that leads from the Gulf into a beautiful sheet of water,
extending some five or six miles into the interior, where good anchorage
may be found for quite a fleet of vessels. A twelve mile light is
located on the western entrance of the harbor, while two fine range
lights enable shipping to leave or enter at night. The little town of
Bahia Honda, three miles back, is connected with the port by a fine
macadam highway. Owing to the fact that this section of Pinar del Rio,
although rich in minerals, has not been brought under development up to
the present, most of the commerce is confined to the local trade between
Bahia and Havana, sixty miles distant.

Twelve miles further east and forty-eight miles from Havana, we have the
beautiful harbor of Cabanas, a large, double-purse-shaped, interior bay,
that extends some ten miles from east to west and furnishes one of the
most picturesque land-locked harbors on the north coast. A small island
in the entrance, on which is located one of the old time forts of the
17th century, obscures the bay itself from passing vessels. The shores
of Cabanas are covered with extensive sugar cane fields that furnish
cane to the surrounding mills, while its commerce is at the present time
almost entirely local.

Located in the same province, some 18 miles further east, and only 30
from Havana, is the harbor of Mariel, a single-purse-shaped bay, that
from its narrow entrance opens out to a broad picturesque sheet of water
extending southward some four or five miles, while several prolongations
extend out towards the southwest, bordered with rich sugar cane
plantations. The little fishing village of Mariel is located at the
extreme head of the bay and connected with Havana by automobile drive,
as are the two harbors previously mentioned. A high table land extends
along much of the eastern shore of this harbor, on the summit of which
stands the Cuban Naval Academy. Near the entrance, on the eastern shore,
is located a new cement factory with a capacity of a thousand barrels a
day. On the western side of the entrance is the quarantine station, to
which all infested vessels are sent, and where delightful accommodations
are found ashore for both passengers and crew, who may be detained by
sanitary officials of the central government.

The fine deep-water harbor of Havana, which boasts of a foreign trade
excelled in the western hemisphere only by that of New York City, is, of
course, the most important commercial gateway of the Republic of Cuba.
It is one of those deep, narrow-necked, purse-shaped harbors, so
characteristic of the Island, and furnishes splendid anchorage, with
well equipped modern wharves, for handling the enormous bulk of freight
that comes and goes throughout every day of the year. After passing the
promontories of El Morro and Cabanas, that stretch along the eastern
side of the entrance for a mile or more, the remainder of the shores of
the Bay of Havana are comparatively low, although high ridges and hills
form a fairly close background in almost every direction. Within the
last ten years a great deal of dredging and land reclaiming has taken
place in this harbor, increasing greatly not only the depth of water but
also the available building sites. A series of magnificent modern
wharves have been built along the western shore of the harbor,
furnishing splendid shipping facilities for incoming and outgoing
vessels. The upper portions of these buildings are occupied by the
Custom House and Quarantine authorities. The southwest extension of this
bay, recently dredged, furnishes access to deep draft steamships up to
the site of the old Spanish Arsenal, that in 1908 was converted into the
freight and passenger yards of the United Railroads. Along the docks,
where steamers of the P. & O. SS line are moored, were built and
launched many of Spain’s ships that centuries ago fought with Great
Britain for the dominion of the seas. On the broad topped promontory
that lies along the eastern shore, southeast of Cabanas, is located
Trisconia, a splendidly equipped detention camp for immigrants and
passengers coming from infested ports in different parts of the world.
Excellent accommodations are there provided during the period of
detention, which may last anywhere from five to fifteen days. This is
the “Ellis Island” of Cuba, and has been a credit to the Republic since
the first year of its installment in 1902, during which time it has been
under the able direction of Dr. Frank Menocal, who takes great personal
pride in having Trisconia, with its floating population, running
sometimes into the thousands, one of the best appointed stations of its
kind in the Western Hemisphere.

The harbor of Matanzas, sixty miles east of Havana, is a beautiful wide
mouthed bay, or open roadstead, facing on the Gulf Stream as it sweeps
between northern Cuba and southern Florida. This picturesque sheet of
water reaches back into the land some six or eight miles, and although
not noted for its depth, nevertheless furnishes safe anchorage for the
fleet of tramp steamers found there during the larger part of the year,
loading sugar from the many centrals scattered throughout the Province
of Matanzas. Into this harbor, from the west, opens the Yumuri gorge,
through which runs the river whose waters in ages past carved out the
famous valley of the Yumuri, whose beauty was extolled by Alexander Von
Humboldt during his travels in the western world. Covering the western
shores of the bay, that slope down from the top of the hills to the
water’s edge, lies the city of Matanzas, while off to the east and south
may be seen great fields of sugar cane and henequen, that form two of
the important industries of the Province.

Forty miles further east we find the beautiful landlocked bay of
Cardenas, whose northwestern shore is formed by a long sandy strip of
land extending in a curve out into the sea and known as the Punta de
Hicacos. Cardenas Bay is some thirty miles in length from east to west,
by ten or twelve from north to south, and is protected from the outside
sea by a chain of small keys or islands, through which a deep ship
channel was dredged during the first decade of this century. This
furnishes entrance to one of the largest sugar exporting points of Cuba,
the City of Cardenas.

East of the harbor of Cardenas lies Santa Clara Bay, also protected by
outlying keys, but without deep water anchorage. These island dotted
bays, separated from each other only by islands, and connected by
comparatively shallow channels, extend from Punta Hicacos, some 300
miles eastward, to the Harbor of Nuevitas.

Seventy-five miles east of Cardenas we find the bay of Sagua, very
similar to the others, and with a depth not exceeding twelve or fifteen
feet. This harbor is located on the northern shore of the Province of
Santa Clara, and its port, Isabela de Sagua, is the shipping point for a
large amount of the sugar produced along the north coast of the
province. The rivers emptying into the bay of Sagua, as well as the bay
itself, are noted for their splendid fishing ground, tarpon being
especially abundant; also for the small delightfully flavored native
oyster.

Still further east we have another important shipping port known as
Caibarien, located on Buena Vista Bay, that unfortunately has an average
depth of only 12 or 15 feet, necessitating lighterage out to the
anchorage at Cayo Frances, 18 miles distant, where ships of the deepest
draft find perfect protection while loading.

On the north shore of the Province of Camaguey we have but one harbor of
the first order, the Bay of Nuevitas, but this harbor may easily lay
claim to being one of the best in the world. Its entrance is narrow,
resembling a river, some six miles in length and with a rather swift
running current, depending upon the flow of tide, as it passes in or
out. The Bay itself is a beautiful sheet of water of circular form, with
an extension of deep water reaching out towards the west some 15 miles,
and connected with the Bay of Carabelas, Guajaba and Guanaja, forty or
fifty miles further west. Along these quiet landlocked lagoons are
located the American colonies of La Gloria, Columbia, Punta Pelota and
Guanaja.

There are many reasons for believing that the entrance to this harbor
was the place where Columbus spent several days scraping and cleaning
the bottom of his caravels, while a few of his companions made a journey
into the interior, finding very agreeable natives but no indications of
gold. From Nuevitas is shipped nearly all of the sugar made in the
Province of Camaguey, together with a great deal of fine hardwood, cut
in the Sierra de Cubitas Mountains.

The north shore railroad, beginning at Caibarien some 300 kilometers
distant, has its eastern terminus on Nuevitas Bay, and will, when
completed, greatly increase the trade of splendid sugar and vegetable
land, as well as the mining zone, rich in iron and chrome, that lies
just south of the Sierras.

Thirty miles further east we have the harbor of Manati, with a narrow
but comparatively deep and easy entrance, which soon opens out into the
usual long pouch shaped bay, on the shore of which are the sugar mills
of Manati. This harbor, although not ranked among the largest,
nevertheless can accommodate a large fleet of merchant ships or tramp
steamers waiting for their cargoes of sugar and hardwood timber.

Malageta, some ten miles east of Manati, cannot be properly ranked as a
harbor of the first class, although it furnishes protection for vessels
of moderate draft.

Puerto Padre, 20 miles east of Manati, is another large pouch-shaped
deep water harbor like nearly all those of the north coast, and owing to
the location on its southern shore of two of the largest sugar mills in
the world, Chaparra and Las Delicias, with a combined production of over
a million bags a year, it may be justly ranked as one of the most
important harbors of Oriente.

Fifty miles further east we have the open roadstead of Gibara, a deep
indentation of the sea that gives, unfortunately, but little protection
from northerly gales, but since Gibara is the exit for the rich Holguin
district of northern Oriente, its commerce is extensive.

Sixty miles further east, after rounding Lucrecia Point, where the coast
for the first time faces due east, we have another fine deep water
harbor known as Banes, on whose shores is located a large sugar mill
known as “Boston,” with an annual output of 500,000 bags.

Some ten miles southeast of Banes we enter the Bay of Nipe, the largest
landlocked harbor in Cuba. Nipe is a beautiful sheet of water, whose
southern and western shores are low, although mountains can be seen in
the distance in almost any direction. Nipe contains forty square miles
of deep water anchorage, with a width from east to west of twelve miles
and from north to south of seven to eight miles. The Mayari River, one
of the most important streams of the north coast of Oriente Province,
empties into Nipe. On the north shore of the bay the little town of
Antilla forms the northeastern terminus of the Cuba Company’s railroad,
connecting Orient with Havana and the western end of the Island. The
land surrounding the bay is exceptionally rich and is owned largely by
the United Fruit Company. Here they originally cultivated large fields
of bananas, but owing to their extensive plantations in Costa Rica, and
to the high price of sugar brought about by the war, their Cuban
properties have been converted into sugar plantations. The splendid
mills of Preston are located on Nipe Bay, from which a half million
bags of sugar are shipped every year to the outside world. The rich
mines of the Mayari district belonging to the Bethlehem Steel Company
are located back of Nipe Harbor and contribute considerably to the
commerce of this port.

Some five or six miles east of the entrance of Nipe we have the deep
double harbors of Cabonico and Levisa; the latter large and circular in
form, while Cabonico is comparatively small, and separated from Levisa
by a narrow peninsula that extends almost into the single entrance of
the two bays. The lands around this harbor are largely covered with
forests of magnificent hard woods, while the soil is rich enough to
produce cane for a quarter of a century or longer without replanting.

Some 15 miles further east we have another fine large bay with a narrow
entrance on the Atlantic, known as Sagua de Tanamo. This bay is very
irregular in form, with many ramifications or branches reaching out
towards the east, south and west, while into it flows the Tanamo River,
draining the forest covered valleys and basins that lie between the
mountains of eastern Oriente and the north shore.

Baracoa, an open roadstead, celebrated owing to the fact that here the
Spanish conquerors made their first settlement in the Pearl of the
Antilles in 1512, is a very picturesque bay, but unfortunately with
almost no protection from northerly winds that prevail during the winter
months. Cocoanuts form the chief article of export from Baracoa, which
is the last port of any note on the north coast of Cuba.

Although the south coast of Cuba contains some of the finest harbors in
the world, Dame Nature was not quite so generous with her commercial
gateways along the Caribbean as along the shores bordering on the
Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Some 85 miles west of Cape Maisi we
come to the Bay of Guantanamo, a long, deep indentation from the
Caribbean, extending ten or twelve miles straight up into the land, and
in its upper extension opening out into quite a wide sheet of water.
Guantanamo is deep, well protected, and of sufficient area to furnish
excellent anchorage for the navy of the United States. That which for
naval purposes gives Guantanamo especial strategic value is the fact
that its mouth, free from obstructions, is so wide that three
first-class battleships can leave or enter at full speed, without danger
of collision or interference, either with each other or with the
inclosing shores. This feature of the bay, which is not often found in
well protected harbors, together with the fact that it practically
commands the Caribbean Sea, and lies almost in a direct line between the
Atlantic Coast and the Panama Canal, were the reasons why Guantanamo was
selected in preference to all other bays as the United Naval Station in
the Republic of Cuba. During the last ten years many improvements have
taken place in Guantanamo and today its importance is not excelled by
that of any other naval station in the Western Hemisphere. The
Guantanamo Valley, one of the richest in the Island, furnishes a large
amount of cane that supplies seven or eight sugar mills located a little
back from the shore of the Bay.

Fifty miles further west, near the center of the southern coast of
Oriente, the pent up streams and basins of the geological past have
broken through the chain of mountains bordering the Caribbean and by
erosion have formed one of the finest and most picturesque harbors in
the world. The Morro of Santiago stands on a high promontory at the
eastern entrance of its narrow mouth, passing through which the Bay
rapidly opens up into a charming panorama of palm covered islands,
strips of white beach, and distant mountains, that combine to render
Santiago one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. The City of
Santiago lies on a side hill sloping down to the water’s edge, and owing
to the fact of its being the southeastern terminus of the Cuba Company’s
lines, which connect it with Havana, and to the natural wealth of the
Province of Oriente itself, of which Santiago is the chief commercial
city, it has no rival in the Republic outside of Havana. Several lines
of steamers connect Santiago, not only with the Atlantic and Gulf ports
of the United States, but also with Jamaica, Porto Rico, Panama and
Europe.

Manzanillo, located on the west coast of Oriente, at the head of the
Gulf of Guacanabo, is the most important harbor in that section of the
province, and owing to the rich country lying back of it, whence are
shipped not only sugar, but hardwoods, hides and minerals, Manzanillo
Harbor is one of the most important in the eastern end of the Island.
Between this and Cienfuegos, which is the most important port on the
south coast of central Cuba, we have a stretch of several hundred miles
in which only harbors of the second order are found.

Cienfuegos, or a “Hundred Fires,” is another of those beautiful, storm
protected inland pockets, with a narrow river-like channel connecting it
with the Caribbean. An old time 17th century fort nestles on the western
shore of the entrance, an interesting reminder of the days in which
every city and every harbor had to protect itself from the incursions of
privateers and pirates. Cienfuegos Bay extends from southeast to
northwest a distance of about fifteen miles, with a varying width of
from three to seven miles. The bay is dotted with charming islands, many
of which have been converted into delightful homes and tropical gardens,
where the wealthy people of the city pass most of their time in summer.
The city itself lies on the northern shore and is comparatively modern,
with wide streets and sidewalks. Good wharves and spacious warehouses
line the shores of the commercial part of the city. Cienfuegos is the
main gateway, not only for the sugar of southern Santa Clara but for the
whole southern coast of the central part of the Republic. Its commerce
ranks next to that of Santiago de Cuba, and the bay itself is one of the
most interesting in the Island.

Further west, towards Cape San Antonio, while we have many
comparatively shallow harbors and embarcaderos or shipping points for
coasting vessels and those of light draft, there are no other deep
harbors aside from that of the Bay of Cochinos, or Pig Gulf, which is
really an indentation of the coast line, extending from the Caribbean up
into the land some fifteen miles, with a width of 10 or 12 miles at its
mouth, gradually tapering towards the north, but furnishing no
protection from southerly gales.

On either side of this bay are located low lands and swamps including
those of the Cienaga de Zapata, most of which will never be cultivated
unless drained. Extensive forests of hardwood timber surround the bay in
all directions. Several big drainage propositions have been projected at
different times but none, up to the present, have been carried into
execution.

Batabano, almost due south of Havana, is quite a shipping point,
receiving fish, sponge and charcoal from the shallow waters and low
forests along the south coast of Havana Province and Pinar del Rio.
Fruit and vegetables are landed here from the Isle of Pines, but owing
to the shallow waters of the bay and its utter lack of protection from
any direction but the north, it can hardly be considered a harbor.

Of harbors of the second order, Cuba has some twenty on the north coast,
most of which have depths varying from 10 to 15 feet, although a few may
be found difficult of entrance at low tide for boats drawing over ten
feet. Beginning on the northwest coast of Pinar del Rio, near Cape San
Antonio, we have El Cajon, Guardiana Bay, and moving northward,
Pinatillo, Mantua, Dimas and San Cayetano. At all of these with the
exception of the first, the light draft coasting steamers of the
Menendez Line stop every five days in their trips around the western end
of the Island, between Habana and Cienfuegos on the south coast. Santa
Lucia, a few miles west of San Cayetano, is used as the shipping port
for copper from the Matahambre Mines. The ore, however, is conveyed in
lighters across the bay and transferred to steamers near Cayo Jutias.

East of Havana, about half way to Matanzas, we have the embarcadero of
Santa Cruz, from which many vegetables, especially onions, are shipped
to Havana. Still further east, on the outer island shore is a harbor of
the second order near Paredon Grande, carrying twelve feet, and used
largely by fishermen and turtlers in stormy weather. Between Cayo
Confitas and Cayo Verde, there is a wide break in the barrier reef that
permits vessels in distress to find protection during periods of storm.
Some thirty miles west of Nuevitas is another break in the barrier reef
over which schooners drawing not more than seven or eight feet can find
shelter in the Bay of Guajaba. This is the deepest water approach to the
American colony of La Gloria. A little blasting would improve it.

Nuevas Grandes, located midway between Nuevitas and Manati, on the coast
of Camaguey, is not easy of entrance in bad weather owing to surf
breaking on the outlying reefs, nor is the country back of it
sufficiently productive to give promise of much commerce in the future.

On the north coast of Oriente we have a number of comparatively shallow
harbors, some of which furnish very good protection for vessels in bad
weather. The more important of these are Puerto Vita, Puerto Sama,
Tanamo and Puerto Naranjo.

Along the south coast of Oriente we have Imias Sabana la Mar, Puerto
Escondido, Playa de Cuyuco and Daiquiri which, with the exception of the
latter, from which the Daiquiri iron mines ship their ore, have
practically no commerce.

West of Santiago, on the same coast, are the little landing places of
Dos Rios, Cotibar, Turquino and Mota. Between the last two, however, we
have a fairly good harbor known as Portillo, that furnishes ample
protection for vessels drawing not more than 15 feet, and is the
shipping point for the output of the sugar estates that surround
Portillo Bay.

Between Cabo Cruz and Manzanillo are the embarcaderos of Nequiro, Media
Luna, Ceiba Hueca and Campechuela, from nearly all of which a
considerable amount of sugar is shipped during the season.

North of Manzanillo, and extending west along the coast of Camaguey and
Santa Clara, we have the shallow harbors of Romero, Santa Cruz del Sur,
Jucaro, Tunas de Zaza and Casilda. The southern coast steamers stop at
each of these ports, and quite a large amount of sugar and hardwood is
shipped from them.

From Cienfuegos west we have the Bahia de Cochinos and Batabano already
mentioned, together with La Paloma, Punta de Cartas, Bay of Cortes and
the Gulf of Corrientes, all of which are located along the south shore
of Pinar del Rio, and have quite an extensive local trade in charcoal,
fish and hardwood.




CHAPTER XXXII

RAILROAD SYSTEMS IN CUBA


Somewhat strange to relate, railroad building, insofar as it applied to
Spanish territory, had its inception in Cuba, at a time when the Island
was one of Spain’s colonial possessions. A few rich planters owning
large properties at Guines, an exceptionally fertile district some forty
miles from the capital, had kept in touch with experiments in railroad
building and steam locomotives, as a new source of power in the
commercial world, and for the purpose of trying out the practicability
of this new means of transportation bought a steam railway locomotive,
together with the necessary rails and equipment, for use in transporting
sugar cane and other produce from one point to another on their own
plantations. Besides this, the Nuevitas-Puerto Principe Railroad was the
first public service steam railroad ever built on Spanish soil.

What is known as the United Railways of Havana may justly claim to be
the father of public railway transportation in the Island, since the
founders of the Company took advantage of the railway nucleus at Guines,
and gradually extended the line through various private properties until
it reached the city of Havana, while branches and connections were
thrown out in other directions. With the consent of the Colonial
Government, the entire property was later acquired at auction by an
English Company and began business as the United Railways of Havana.

In 1886 the Company took over another short line known as the Alfonso
XII Railroad, that had been built three years before. After various
fusions and transfers, these properties were combined in one, with an
initial capital of $16,875,196. The complete system of wharves and
warehouses at Regla passed into the possession of the Company at the
same time. Afterwards the short line connecting the city of Havana with
the suburb of Marianao was absorbed, followed later by the taking over
of the Cardenas and Jucaro Line.

In 1906 the Matanzas Railway was brought into the corporation, giving it
at that time a combined length of 1127 kilometers, most of which was
included in the Provinces of Havana and Matanzas. Later the United
Railways were extended into the Province of Santa Clara as far east as
La Esperanza, making in the year 1903, over the Cuban Central Railway,
the much-desired connection with the Cuba Railroad to Santiago de Cuba
and the Bay of Nipe. In 1907 the Western Railway of Havana, connecting
the capital with Pinar del Rio, and the still further extension westward
to the town of Guane, were brought under the control of the United
Railways.

From Guane north and east a new North Shore Road for Pinar del Rio has
been projected, which will circle around the western end of the Organ
Mountains passing through the towns of Mantua, Dimas and La Esperanza,
paralleling the Gulf Coast of the Province of Pinar del Rio until it
reaches Bahia Honda, where it will connect with the western extension of
the Havana Central now terminating at Guanajay. This projected line,
which has been approved by Congress and the Railroad Commission, will
pass through a comparatively undeveloped section of the Island, whose
rich mineral zones and fertile agricultural lands between Bahia Honda
and Guanajay have long suffered for lack of transportation. A very
substantial subsidy which will materially assist in the construction of
the road, may be considered as a guarantee of its early completion.

[Illustration: GRAND CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION, HAVANA

The city of Havana is not only the chief port but also the chief
railroad centre of Cuba, from which radiate trunk lines running east,
west and south, to all parts of the island, besides, of course, numerous
short suburban lines. Since the establishment of the Cuban Republic, by
mutually advantageous arrangement between the Government and the
companies, a general terminal for all these roads has been provided in a
handsome and commodious building conveniently placed adjacent to the
water front.]

The new electric lines connecting Havana with Guanajay in the west, and
Guines towards the southeast, were joined to the United Railways,
and a magnificent railway terminal was built on the old Arsenal grounds,
acquired from the Government. This is a splendid modern four-story
building of brick, stone and steel, with two artistic towers reaching a
height of 125 feet, making it one of the most imposing edifices in the
City. From this station trains arrive and depart for every part of the
Island.

The combined mileage at present operating under the control of the
United Railways of Havana is 1,609 kilometers or 963 miles.

From the viewpoint of commercial progress and utility it may be safely
stated that Sir William Van Horne, by building the much needed
connecting link of railroad between the eastern terminus of the United
Railways at Santa Clara and the two terminals of the Cuba Company’s road
at Antilla on the north coast, and Santiago de Cuba on the south,
conferred on this Island a greater benefit than any other one man in
that realm of affairs.

Immediately after the American occupation of the Island, Sir William Van
Horne visited Cuba, en route to Demarara, British Guiana, and got only
as far as Cienfuegos, Cuba. He later rode over the rich country lying
between Santa Clara and the city of Santiago de Cuba, and in his fertile
brain was promptly visualized a line of railroad passing through the
center of the three eastern and largest provinces of the Island, and
terminating on the shore of the two finest bays of Oriente, connecting
this by rail with the west portion of Cuba. The Foraker Resolutions
prohibited the securing of a franchise for the building of such a
railroad, and but little encouragement was given Sir William Van Horne,
while a number of obstacles were presented, including difficulties in
securing right of way for the proposed railroad, without the right of
condemnation. Owners of properties that were practically inaccessible,
and whose products could not be exported except at great cost, were
seemingly blind to the advantages that would accrue to them from the
construction of such a line. This big-brained pioneer, however, who had
only recently built the Canadian Pacific across the plains and mountains
of the North American Continent, did not hesitate a moment in
undertaking and carrying out his project of connecting the capital of
Cuba with the rich and undeveloped territory lying to the eastward.
Where right of way was not granted willingly he bought the properties
outright, and built his railroad practically over his own farms and
fields, with but little local assistance and no land grants of any kind.

The Cuba Company’s line, including the branches contributary to it and
under its direction, measures 717 miles. The main line begins at Santa
Clara and passes through Placetas del Sur, Zaza del Medio, Ciego de
Avila, Camaguey, Marti, Victoria de las Tunas, Cacocum, Alto Cedro and
San Luis, to Santiago de Cuba, a distance of 573 kilometers. From Alto
Cedro a line was built north to Antilla, 50 kilometers distant on Nipe
Bay, whence the greater portion of the freight destined for northern
markets is shipped directly to New York.

Of the numerous branch lines, beginning in the west, may be mentioned
two that leave Placetas del Sur, one extending north to Placetas and
through connections to the harbor of Caibarien; the other, built in a
southerly direction, to the city of Trinidad on the south coast. From
Zaza del Medio, in the Province of Santa Clara, a branch extends almost
due south to Sancti Spiritus, and thence, through connections with the
Sancti Spiritus Railroad to Zaza on the shore of the Caribbean. At Ciego
de Avila, the Cuba Company’s road is crossed by what is known as the
Jucaro & Moron Road, built many years ago as a military line through the
center of the trocha, or barrier, intended to prevent insurrectionary
troops passing from Camaguey into the western part of the Island. This
short stretch of railway connects San Fernando on the north coast with
Jucaro on the Caribbean.

At Camaguey, the old Camaguey and Nuevitas Road during many years had
enjoyed a monopoly in the transportation of products to the coast. The
Cuba Company absorbed and incorporated the road, securing thus a
valuable adjunct to its system. The Bay of Nuevitas was not of
sufficient depth to permit large vessels loading at the old wharves, so
the Cuba Company extended the road five kilometers to Punta de
Pastelillo, where sugar warehouses and wharves have been built, so that
sugar from all the mills of central Camaguey can be delivered aboard
ship, doing away with the old system of lightering out to deep water.

From Marti, 60 kilometers east of Camaguey on the main line, a
southeastern extension was built across country to the City of Bayamo,
in the southwestern center of the Province of Oriente, 127 kilometers
distant. Another branch built from Manzanillo on the west coast of
Bayamo, 56 kilometers in length, opened up a section of country
previously inaccessible. From Bayamo a road parallel to the main line
has been built east to San Luis, 98 kilometers, furnishing an exit for
one of the richest sections of the Cauto Valley, and also for the rich
mineral zones that lie on the southern slope of the Sierra Maestra
Mountains. This line from Marti to San Luis passes through one
continuous stretch of sugar cane fields, extending as far as the eye can
reach, north and south, throughout its entire length.

From Cacocum a short line of 18 kilometers extends north to Holguin. Up
to the completion of this connecting link, the city of Holguin, in north
central Oriente, had been connected with the outside world only through
the medium of a short road terminating at Gibara on the Atlantic coast,
where coasting steamers stopped weekly.

A branch from Placetas del Sur to Casilda, 90 kilometers, is in process
of construction. Another will connect the city of Camaguey with Santa
Cruz del Sur on the Caribbean, 98 kilometers away. At San Luis
connection is made with the Guantanamo & Western Railway, where
passengers for the United States Naval Station on Guantanamo Bay, and
the rich sugar districts lying north and west of the harbor, are
transferred.

The Cuba system is equipped with 156 locomotives, 125 passenger coaches,
5013 freight cars, 70 baggage cars and 131 construction cars. In the
harbors of Antilla and Nuevitas twelve steamers, tugs and launches are
employed in making the various necessary transfers of material from one
point to another. On the lines of the Cuba system and its branches are
30 sugar estates and mills, with nine new ones under construction. Daily
trains connecting Havana with Santiago de Cuba leave the terminal
station at 10.00 P.M., making the trip in about 24 hours.

With the completion of the Cuba Company’s lines, the interior of the
Provinces of Oriente, Camaguey and much of Santa Clara were opened up to
the commerce of the world for the first time. During the years that have
elapsed since its completion, a large amount of valuable hard wood,
cedar, mahogany, etc., growing along the line, have been cut and shipped
to nearby seaports for export to the United States and other countries.
With the building of this line, too, some of the richest lands of Cuba
were rendered available for the production of sugar, and today a vast
area is under cultivation in cane, and four hundred thousand tons or
more of sugar, with the assistance of this road, was delivered each year
to the Allies who were fighting in France and Belgium. Thus Sir William
Van Home’s foresight enabled the Republic of Cuba to “do its bit” in a
very practical way towards the furtherance of the cause of universal
democracy.

No account of the Cuba Railroad would, however, be complete which failed
to make mention of the part played in its construction and initial
organization by Mr. R. G. Ward, of New York City, whose energy and
industry, first as manager of construction and later as manager of
operation, combined with the character of the men by whom he surrounded
himself are generally recognized as having been potent if not dominant
factors in determining the rapidity with which the original main line of
that railroad, extending from Santa Clara to Santiago, was built, and
the promptness and thoroughness with which it was put into operation.
The importance of this achievement is emphasized, when it is taken into
consideration that the entire line was located and built without the
right of eminent domain, which necessitated the acquisition of
practically the whole of the right of way through private negotiation.
It is stated that the cross-ties and rails were placed by track-laying
machines of his devising, which, with crews of less than one hundred
men, could, and often did, lay down three miles of full-tied,
full-spiked and full-bolted track per day per machine. He also is
credited with having inaugurated the policy of employing Cubans or
residents of Cuba, whenever it was possible to obtain them to do the
work required. Rather than import telegraph operators needed to run the
newly constructed railroad, he opened and operated, free of all cost or
expense to the students, a School of Telegraphy, under the direction of
Horace H. McGinty, through whose administration nearly one hundred
operators were qualified for positions in less than six months. Sir
William Van Horne, who himself was an expert railroad telegraph
operator, regarded this as a “marvelous achievement, creditable alike to
Mr. Ward, to Mr. McGinty, and to the character and capacity of the young
Cuban students;” many of whom have since held good positions in Cuba, in
Mexico and in the Argentine Republic.

The Cuba Central Road of the Province of Santa Clara occupies third
place in commercial importance among Cuba’s system of railroads. This
Company’s lines were built largely for the benefit of the older sugar
estates of Santa Clara, located around Sagua la Grande, Remedios,
Caribarien, Cienfuentes, Isabel de las Lajas, etc. The main line of the
Cuba Central extends from Isabel de Sagua, a port on the north coast,
almost due north to Cruces, a junction on the Cuba Road midway between
Santa Clara and Cienfuegos.

Another important division of the line runs from Sagua east to the
seaport of Caibarien, passing through Camajuani and Remedios. The Cuba
Central lines, while public highways in every sense of the word, may be
classed among the roads dedicated largely to the service of the sugar
planters of Santa Clara.

Among the independent projected lines of Cuba, the North Shore Road, at
present under construction at several different points in the Provinces
of Camaguey and Santa Clara, is one of marked importance. This road has
its western terminal at Caibarien, on the north shore of Santa Clara,
whence it extends eastward, passing through an exceptionally rich valley
that furnishes cane to some half-dozen large sugar mills, and continues
eastward through Moron, in the Province of Camaguey. It parallels the
north coast, extending eastward across the rich grazing lands of the
Caunao River, and stretching out further eastward, traverses the virgin
forests that lie between the Sierra de Cubitas and the Bays of Guanaja
and Guajaba. Leaving the Cubitas slope, it crosses the Maximo and
eventually reaches deep water anchorage on the shores of the western
extension of Nuevitas Harbor.

This line is at present under construction from Nuevitas westward and
from Moron both east and west. In the winter of 1918-19 the line was
finished from the deep water terminal on Nuevitas Harbor as far west as
the Maximo River. When completed it will pass through one of the richest
agricultural and mineral sections of the Island.

From the crossing of the Maximo a branch line is being built around the
eastern end of the Sierra de Cubitas in order to tap the rich Cubitas
iron mines, whose deposits are waiting only transportation in order to
contribute a large share of wealth to the prosperity of the Republic.




CHAPTER XXXIII

MONEY AND BANKING


A perusal of Cuban history shows that within a few years after the
country was settled, questions in regard to the exchange value of its
moneys arose, which were not effectually resolved till the lapse of
nearly four centuries later, upon the establishment of the Cuban
Republic.

As with the other early Spanish colonies of the New World, the
circulating medium was at first solely metallic. A credit currency was
not suited to a primitive country, whose foreign trade was largely
clandestine, open to piracy and other perils, its lawful commerce being
limited to the port of Cadiz, Spain, under the monopoly of a board of
trade known as the “Contratacion de las Indias,” succeeded in 1740 by
the “Real Compania de la Habana,” till the English occupation in 1762.

The position of Cuba on the highroad between Europe and Latin America
made its harbors the Mecca of the Spanish fleets of those days. The gold
and silver mines of Mexico and South America poured their millions into
the Island after the year 1545, when the deposits of San Luis Potosi
were opened to the world, the volume of the output being brought to
Havana before distribution to Europe and other parts.

Instead of ships making the transatlantic journey alone as at present,
large merchant fleets, laden with immense treasure, were convoyed by war
vessels at long intervals, as a safeguard against filibusters and
buccaneers as well as to preclude possible competition.

In 1550 a monetary crisis occurred in Havana, owing to the failure of
the governor, Dr. Gonzalo Perez de Angulo, to enforce the provision of
the Spanish law, that the silver Real should be estimated at 34
maravedis, instead of 40 to 44, the commercial rate prevailing at Vera
Cruz, Santo Domingo, Cartagena de las Indias and other points near the
silver mines. The governor, actuated by private interests, claimed that
conditions in Cuba justified the same rate as in these places, and that
the legal rate of 34 to 1, if applied, would drain the country of its
silver stock.

These views were also expressed by travellers going from Mexico to
Spain, who were obliged to make a long stoppage in Havana, where their
money was exchanged, insisting that they should receive the larger or
commercial rate for their silver as in other places.

Not disposed to change his attitude in the matter, the Spanish King
issued a royal circular reasserting the legal rate of 34 to 1 for Cuba,
under a penalty of 100,000 maravedis, instead of 10,000 as fixed in his
former order, for each violation.

The sovereign mandate was complied with, as peace and policy required,
but this demand for a higher valuation of money in Cuba than in the
mother country is taken as the origin of the premium afterwards placed
on Spanish coin, with which the people of later times are familiar.

When in the year 1779 the Spanish gold onza was coined, its par value
was estimated at 16 pesos in Spain. But in Cuba it was shortly
afterwards taken to represent 17 pesos, or a premium of about 6%, which
it continued to hold until the repatriation of Spanish money a few years
ago. This premium was expected to keep gold in the country, at an excess
valuation, along with the annual output of $800,000 in silver coming
from Mexico, sugar and tobacco being exported from Cuba to North America
and Europe as an offset thereto.

[Illustration: LEOPOLDO CANCIO

Born at Sancti Spiritus on May 30. 1851, Leopoldo Cancio y Luna rose to
eminence as a jurist, economist and financier; and for many years has
filled the chair of Economics and Finance in the University of Havana.
As one of the founders of the Autonomist party he became a Deputy in the
Spanish Cortes after the Ten Years’ War. Under the Governorship of
General Brooke he was Assistant Secretary and under General Leonard Wood
he was Secretary of Finance, an office which he now fills in the Cabinet
of President Menocal. He was the author of the great monetary reforms of
1914.]

When the modern Spanish centen or alfonsino, and the French Louis or 20
franc gold piece, came into vogue, they were also admitted to Cuba at
the same ratio as the onza, namely a 6% premium or 17 to 18
approximately, to the detriment of Cuban industry and commerce,
throughout the course of the nineteenth century.

In the year 1868 Spain passed from a silver to a double standard,
adopting the peseta as the monetary unit, equal in weight and fineness
to the French franc and that of other countries of the Latin Union,
composed of France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Greece by the
monetary conventions of 1865 and 1868. The Isabellan silver escudo,
adopted in Spain as the unit by the law of June 24, 1864, was thereby
demonetized.

But the Spanish peseta, consisting of gold or silver indifferently,
while circulating freely in Cuba along with French gold and American
currency in recent times till 1915, did not become the unit of value in
the Island. The Spanish gold dollar (peso oro Espanol), an imaginary
coin equal to five Spanish gold pesetas (of 24.8903 grains of pure gold
each) considered at a premium of 106, weighing 21.13 grains of fine gold
(as a result of the 6% premium), and circulating in the form of current
Spanish or French gold pieces, was taken as the standard. By reason of
such premium these coins were received in the country at $5.30 oro
espanol for the centen (25 peseta gold piece) and $4.24 oro espanol for
the Louis and doblon (25 franc and 25 peseta gold pieces of equal weight
and fineness), which values they held till the last of Spanish money
circulation in the Island.

The use of Colonial paper money in Cuba, during the wars with the
Spanish government, did not substantially lessen the demand for actual
coin, and it was not until after the Spanish-American War of 1898 that
new conditions arose which afforded credit and security for the
introduction of a composite system of currency.

When the American government was established at Santiago in 1898, one of
its first acts was to stabilize the currency of the eastern part of the
Island. United States money was forthwith adopted as the lawful medium
and Spanish silver was eliminated accordingly. In the provinces of
Havana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas and Santa Clara, Spanish gold and silver
continued in use, along with French gold and U. S. currency, at varying
market quotations from day to day, until the adoption of a national
standard by the Cuban Congress under the law of October 29, 1914, by
virtue of which the Cuban gold peso, of weight and fineness similar to
the American dollar, was declared the unit, and United States money a
legal tender.

Under the authority of the Secretary of Finance, Spanish and other
moneys were shipped abroad from Cuba as follows

  _Fiscal Year 1914-1915_ (ending June 30th):
  United States        $3,032,529.00
  Spain                 1,435,192.00
  Canary Islands           66,000.00      $4,533,721.00

  _Fiscal Year 1915-1916_:
  United States         17,337,734.00
  Spain                 17,411,003.00
  France                    60,000.00
  Canary Islands            38,300.00      34,847,037.00

  _Fiscal Year 1916-1917_:
  United States            317,253.00
  Spain                 24,332,707.00
  Mexico                    45,000.00
  Canary Islands            13,240.00      24,708,200.00

  Total, reduced to U. S. Currency        $64,088,958.00

Of the above shipments, those to the United States were principally for
recoinage to Cuban gold of the new issue and were brought back later in
national coin. They also include $5,934,810.00 Spanish silver (value in
U.S. currency) sent to Spain between August, 1915, and June, 1917. This
delicate operation was affected gradually and in such a manner as not to
disturb the monetary or exchange values of the country. By June 1, 1916,
all conversions of accounts had been practically made to the new system.

As a result of the new monetary law and its regulations, the entire
supply of Cuban money was minted at Philadelphia, through the medium of
the National Bank of Cuba, the Government Fiscal Agents, in the
following quantities:

  Gold Coins:   $20 pieces    $1,135,000
                 10 pieces    12,635,000
                  5 pieces     9,140,000
                  4 pieces       540,000
                  2 pieces       320,000
                  1 pieces        17,250    $23,787,250
                              ----------
  Silver Coins: $1 pieces      2,819,000
                40¢ pieces     1,128,000
                20¢ pieces     2,090,000
                10¢ pieces       625,000      6,662,000
                               ---------
  Nickel Coins:  5¢ pieces       340,450
                 2¢ pieces       228,210
                 1¢ pieces       187,120        755,780
                                --------
  Total Coinage                             $31,205,030

The above national supply of coin, together with perhaps twice the same
amount of U. S. currency in general circulation, has been found
sufficient for the country’s normal needs, and Cuba thereby
automatically becomes, in law and in fact, a part of the American
monetary system of the present day.

As the country exports the bulk of its products and imports most
articles of consumption and use, including machinery and implements, it
follows that Cuba is in normal times one of the highest priced countries
of the world, and under conditions due to the European War the cost of
living is enormous.

To move the country’s resources annually requires the use of millions of
dollars from abroad, which the banks obtain and circulate in legal
tender (which means United States money and Cuban coin) according to
local demands.

It follows, therefore, that the chief functions of banking in Cuba are
Discount, Deposit, Exchange, Collections, Collateral Loans, Foreign
Credits and the distribution of money throughout the country.

The principal banks serving the financial needs of Cuba are the
following:

The National City Bank of New York. Capital, $25,000,000.

Banco Español de la Isla de Cuba. Capital, $8,000,000.

Banco National de Cuba. Capital, $6,860,455.

Banco Territorial de Cuba. Capital, $5,000,000.

Royal Bank of Canada. Capital and surplus, $25,000,000.

The Trust Company of Cuba. Capital, $500,000.

Banco Mercantile Americano de Cuba. Capital, $2,000,000; surplus,
$500,000.

Banco Prestatario de Cuba. Capital, $500,000. (Makes loans on personal
property, approved notes, mortgages, etc.)




CHAPTER XXXIV

PUBLIC INSTRUCTION


Thinking men and women, the world over, realize that the hope, security
and well being of the future lies in properly educating the children of
the present. From an educated community we have nothing to fear.
Mistakes in government policies may occur, but where intelligence
dwells, right and justice will soon prevail over wrong. Education to-day
is universally recognized as the most efficient and potent safeguard
against crime and lawlessness of all kind, and in no section of the
world is the need of general education more gravely manifest than in the
Latin-American Republics of the Western Hemisphere.

Education in all of these countries, from the beginning of their
existence as colonies of Spain, has been, unfortunately under the
control of the Church, and with the exception of Cuba, largely so
remains to-day. Even in this progressive little Republic, the clerical
influence on tuition, from the kindergarten to the university, is more
or less prevalent. The influence of the priest and the prelate, exerted
in the home, usually through the mother, still casts its shadow over
true educational progress, especially among those of the gentler sex.
There are, of course, many well educated women in Cuba, but they are
women whose intellectual longings and aspirations could not be held in
check.

True, some of the most brilliant men in Cuba have been pupils of church
institutions, but men of this stamp and minds of this calibre held from
birth all the promise and potency of greatness. Their intellectual
lights could not be hidden under the proverbial bushel.

In 1896 the population of the Island was 1,572,791, of whom 1,400,884
were unable to read, 33,003 knew how to read but not to write, while
19,158 had received the advantages of what was termed higher education.
Even this paucity of true knowledge was frequently superficial and sadly
warped by obsolete tradition.

When, at the beginning of American intervention, that generous and able
group of American officers under General Wood took charge of affairs in
Cuba, the need of even a rudimentary education among the untutored
masses was painfully apparent. A report of conditions prevailing was
forwarded to Washington. Secretary Root referred the matter to President
Eliot of Harvard, and as a result Mr. Alexis E. Frye was sent to Havana
to establish in Cuba the American school system, or one as nearly like
that in vogue in the United States as conditions would permit.

The selection of Mr. Frye was a wise one, and the people have never
ceased to be grateful for the admirable and unselfish efforts of that
remarkably clever teacher to place public instruction on a firm
foundation in Cuba. After going carefully over the ground and studying
the situation thoroughly Mr. Frye, working by candle light in a backroom
of the Hotel Pasaje, drafted the school law and wrote the rules and
regulations that today form the base of public instruction in the
island. Soon after, Mr. Frye was appointed Superintendent of Schools.
His salary was $400 a month, but every month’s pay check was divided
into eight parts and distributed among those schools where it would do
the most good. He would accept no recompense whatever for himself.

In the work of establishing a modern system of education in Cuba Mr.
Frye received valuable aid from a remarkably gifted and brilliant young
Cuban named Lincoln de Zayas. Dr. de Zayas was a descendant of one of
the most prominent families in Havana. He had been educated in the
United States, was graduated from the school of medicine of Columbia
University in New York, was a master of some five or six languages, and
knew the character of his own people. He assisted Mr. Frye in solving
many delicate problems and in overcoming troublesome obstacles, many of
which resulted from the former ecclesiastical control of everything
pertaining to education. Dr. Francisco Barrero, a writer, student and
poet, was made assistant director of education.

During the second year of American intervention, Mr. Frye interested
Harvard University in the subject of Cuban education. This finally
resulted in an invitation from that institution to a large body of
potential Cuban teachers to come to Boston and enjoy during the summer
months special instruction provided for them by the president and
faculty of the University. Through Mr. Frye’s efforts and those of
General Wood, then Military Governor of the Island, the Washington
government became interested in the school problem in Cuba, and through
the War Department furnished passage in one of the large American
transports for all teachers who cared to visit the United States in the
interest of Cuban education. Some 1600 teachers, mostly young ladies,
were selected from applicants in various parts of the Island, and
conveyed on the U.S. transport General McClellan to the city of Boston,
where they were comfortably lodged and cared for during a period of
three months as guests of Harvard University.

The direct educational benefit derived by these young Cuban teachers was
almost incalculable. A great majority of them had no knowledge whatever
of the English language, and knew but little of the outside world. The
press of Cuba in those days was limited in its fund of general
information or other matter that might be of educational value to the
reading public. Nor had education, especially among women, been
encouraged during the days of Spain’s control over the island.

The summer work at Harvard was a revelation. The educational seed fell
upon receptive soil, and the young teachers who were fortunate enough to
be selected as guests of that institution gave an excellent account of
themselves in work that followed during the early days of the Republic.
Incidentally Mr. Frye chose one of these young teachers as his companion
through life. After Mr. Frye’s departure, Lieut. Hanna, at the
suggestion of General Wood, made some changes and additions to the
public school system of Cuba, conforming it somewhat to the methods then
in vogue in the State of Ohio.

With the installation of the Cuban Republic in 1902 public instruction
came directly under the supervision of the Central or Federal
Government, and the Secretary of Public Instruction was made a member of
the President’s Cabinet, adding thus dignity and importance to that
branch of work on which the character of succeeding generations
depended. Unfortunately for the cause of education it has been found
rather difficult to separate the Department of Public Instruction from a
certain amount of political interference, which has tended to mar its
efficiency and retard progress.

With the beginning of the second Government of Intervention in 1906, Dr.
Lincoln de Zayas was made Secretary of Public Instruction under Governor
Magoon, and with his untiring devotion to the cause of true knowledge,
as well as his keen insight into the modern or more improved methods of
teaching, interest in public instruction in Cuba was greatly revived,
and English began to assume a far more important role in the primary and
grammar schools than in former days.

The services of an excellent teacher, Miss Abbie Phillips, of
California, was secured as General Superintendent of English throughout
the Republic, and under her direction was formed a corps of remarkably
competent Cuban women, who accomplished much in a short time towards
making the study of English in the public schools more popular than it
had been. With the death of Dr. de Zayas the cause of public instruction
seemed again partially to relapse into its former desuetude. Yet in
spite of the misfortune that thus befell it, the work has proceeded more
satisfactorily than might have been expected, owing to the strong
desire on the part of the youth of the Republic to learn, and to shake
off the fetters that had previously kept them in a kind of a respectable
ignorance.

During President Menocal’s administration the resignation of the
Secretary of Public Instruction gave opportunity for the selection and
appointment to that office of Dr. Dominguez Roldan, who has endeavored
to inject new life into the cause and to place this important branch of
the Government once more in a position that will command the respect,
not only of the people of Cuba, but also of the outside world. New
school houses, designed expressly for the purpose, are replacing the old
and inadequate buildings that were formerly rented. The study of
English, that had been discouraged by his predecessor, is being again
revived, and many steps in the cause of learning are being taken whose
wisdom will become evident in the near future.

In 1913, when Mario G. Menocal assumed the direction of the Government
of Cuba, there were but 262 schools in the island, while to-day there
are 1136, showing an increase of 1074; with 335,291 pupils attending. No
fewer than 1746 teachers have been appointed and added to the Department
of Public Instruction in Cuba. In addition to this two night schools
have recently been established, one in Santiago de Cuba and one in
Bayamo. Four kindergartens, or “School Gardens,” as they are now termed,
have recently been established in the Province of Santa Clara.

At the present time, throughout the Republic of Cuba, there is a total
of 5,685 teachers in the primary schools. Among these are included 116
teachers who render special service throughout the different sections of
the country, 19 teachers of night schools, 118 teachers devoted to
school gardens, 40 teachers of cutting and sewing, 26 teachers of
English, 21 of Sloyd, and 4 teachers devoted to instruction in jails. In
1915 a normal school, co-educational, was established in each of five of
the Provinces. Havana has two normal schools, one for boys and the
other for girls.

During the year 1918 a school of Domestic Economy, Arts and Sciences,
known as the “School of the Home,” was established. The object of this
school, as that of similar institutions, is to prepare the future wife
and mother so that she may be able to undertake in an intelligent manner
the direction of the home. Among the subjects taught are accounting,
domestic economy, moral and civic obligations, hygiene, the care of
infants and of the sick, cutting, sewing, dressmaking, basket-making,
and elementary physics and chemistry, which form the base of scientific
cooking. In addition to these, gardening, the care of animals, ordinary
and higher cooking are taught; also washing and ironing, dyeing, the
removing of stains, and the proper method of cleaning and taking care of
shoes. In order to make the school popular and to insure its success, a
society of patriotic and intelligent women has been formed, from which
much practical benefit is expected in the future.

In order to provide for and to permit the scientific development both
physical and mental of the Cuban youth, the Department of Public
Instruction has established a separate institution, with an experimental
annex, for the purpose of studying the eccentricities and aptitudes of
Cuban children.

The order of sequence of public instruction in Cuba, as previously
stated, has followed very largely that of the United States. The school
gardens are followed by primary and grammar schools, all suitably
graded, and the course of studies is more or less similar to that of the
United States.

The Institute of Havana, located for many years in the old convent
building just back of the Governor General’s Palace, occupies a place
between the grammar school and the University. The course of studies and
scope of this institution is similar to the average high school of
America. New buildings are being erected for the accommodation of the
several thousand boys and girls who attend the institute, and with its
removal to more commodious and congenial quarters, this important seat
of learning will be reorganized with greatly increased efficiency.

The National University of Havana was founded under the direction of
monks of the Dominican Order on January 5, 1728, and until the
installation of the Republic occupied the old convent that afterwards
served as the Institute. To-day the University of Havana can boast of
one of the most picturesque and delightful locations occupied by any
seat of learning in the world. It crowns the northeast corner of the
high plateau, overlooking the capital of the Republic from the west. Its
altitude is several hundred feet above the plain below, with the Gulf of
Mexico close by on the north and old Morro Castle standing at the
entrance of a beautiful harbor, that stretches out along the far eastern
horizon, sweeping afterwards toward the south. The city of Havana fills
the center of the picture, while in the immediate foreground nestle the
forests of the Botanical Gardens and the Quinto de los Molinos, or
summer residence of the former Spanish Governor Generals, with their
beautiful drives sweeping along the front and up to the crest of the
plateau.

The broad stone staircase at the entrance to the grounds is quite in
keeping with the dignity of the place and the numerous buildings devoted
to various departments of learning are harmonious in design and
commodious in appointment. A giant laurel, with an expanse of shade that
would protect a small army of men, occupied the center of an old
courtyard that once belonged to the fortifications commanding the
Principe Heights.

To these buildings will soon be added another to be known as the
National School of Languages, at a cost of $150,000. This edifice,
sumptuous in its appointments, will be dedicated largely to the
reciprocal study of Spanish and English. American students who wish to
perfect their knowledge of Spanish will be invited from the various
universities of the United States to visit Cuba, at stated periods of
the year, for the purpose of studying and improving their acquaintance
with this language through direct contact with the students and
professors of the University. The latter, on the other hand, will be
afforded an excellent opportunity to perfect their knowledge of English
by mingling with visiting students from the United States, and it is
believed that the result of acquaintances and friendships, formed in
this way, many of which will be sustained through life, will add greatly
to those bonds of friendship and mutual understanding that resulted from
America’s assistance to Cuba in her War for Independence, and that for a
thousand reasons should never be permitted to relapse or sink into
indifference.

The national or public library of Cuba, located in the Maestranza, one
of the most substantial of those old buildings that have come down from
the days of Spanish dominion, was founded during the first American
intervention by General Leonard Wood, on October 18, 1901. It is open to
the public every day of the week except Sunday, from 8 to 11 in the
morning and from 1 to 5 in the afternoon, except Saturday, when access
may be secured at any time between 8 and 12 in the morning.

The library contains at the present time about twenty thousand volumes.
This does not however include a great mass of pamphlets and unbound
manuscripts, documents, papers, etc., which form a valuable part of the
collection. These volumes are largely in Spanish, French and English,
and include all of the more important branches of human knowledge. Among
them may be found an excellent collection of the best encyclopedias and
dictionaries of those languages.

Its collection of American History is extensive; in addition to which
may be mentioned a valuable collection of works on international law,
given by the eminent jurist Dr. Antonio S. de Bustamante, who
represented the Republic of Cuba at the Peace Conference in Paris at
the conclusion of the Great War.

Among other gifts to the public library may be mentioned a series of
large, beautiful, artistic drawings in colors, that represent all that
is known of the Aztec and Toltec life existing in the Republic of Mexico
at the time of the Spanish Conquest in the early part of the 16th
century. These engravings have been drawn and colored with marvelous
care. They are assembled in the form of an atlas which permits close
study and makes one of the most interesting and valuable contributions
of this kind to be found in any part of the world. They were presented
to Cuba by General Porfirio Diaz, President of the Republic of Mexico.

Arrangements have been made to catalogue the volumes of the library. For
this purpose experts have been secured and the space amplified, and when
this work is completed, while the library will not offer the luxurious
quarters of institutions of its kind in other countries, it will be
useful and accessible to those who wish to avail themselves of its
services.




CHAPTER XXXV

OCEAN TRANSPORTATION


Transportation is the handmaid of production. Where transportation
facilities are faulty, exchange of commodities is necessarily restricted
to local demands, and commerce with the outside world is practically
impossible. Good harbors are among the first essentials to foreign
trade, and with deep, well protected bays, Cuba has been bountifully
supplied. Every sheltered indentation of her two thousand miles of coast
line, from the days of Colon, has been an invitation for passing ships
to enter. The wealth of the island in agriculture and mineral and forest
products, has made the visits of these ocean carriers profitable; hence
the phenomenal growth of Cuba’s foreign commerce.

In spite of the stupid restriction of trade enforced by Spain in the
early colonial days, contraband commerce assumed large proportions
during the 17th century, and when England’s fleet captured Havana in
1763, the capital of Cuba enjoyed a freedom of foreign exchange never
before known. Quantities of sugar, coffee, hides and hardwoods, large
for those times, demanded transportation during the second quarter of
the 19th century. Foreign trade, too, was greatly stimulated in Cuba by
conditions resulting from the Civil War in the United States. The rapid
development of the sugar industry following this war soon called for
more permanent lines of ocean transportation.

[Illustration: THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, HAVANA

The Chamber of Commerce is one of the oldest civic organizations in
Cuba, which even under the repressive and discouraging rule of Spanish
Governors did much for the material progress of the Island. Under the
Republic its activities and achievements have of course been immensely
increased, and it is now appropriately housed in one of the finest
public buildings of the capital. A certain resemblance to the famous
Cooper Union building in New York has often been remarked, though the
Havana edifice is the more ornate and attractive of the two.]

The interdependence of produce and transportation is well illustrated in
the early history of what is now known as the United Fruit Company. In
1870, Captain Lorenzo D. Baker was in command of a small, swift coasting
schooner en route from Jamaica to Boston. On the wharf at Kingston
lay some 40 bunches of bananas, a few of which were ripe, others lacking
10 days or more in which to change their dull green coats into the soft
creamy yellow of the matured fruit. Captain Baker was fond of bananas,
and ordered that the lot be placed on board his schooner, just before
sailing. Fortune favored him and strong easterly beam winds brought him
into the harbor of Boston in 10 days, with all of the bunches not
consumed en route in practically perfect condition. Many friends of
Capt. Baker, to whom this delicious fruit was practically unknown, got a
taste of the banana for the first time. Among these was Andrew W.
Preston, a local fruit dealer in Boston, who was greatly impressed with
the appearance of the fruit, and the success which had attended Captain
Baker’s effort to get the bananas into the market without injury.

Mr. Preston reckoned that if a schooner with a fair wind could land such
delicious fruit in Boston in ten days, steamers could do the same work
with absolute certainty in less time. This far sighted pioneer and
promoter of trade realized that three factors were essential to building
up an industry of this kind. First, there must be a market for the
product, and he was confident that the people of Boston and the vicinity
could soon be educated to like the banana and to purchase it if offered
at a fair price. Next, a sufficient and steady supply must be provided.
Third, reliable transportation in the form of steamers of convenient
size and suitable equipment must be secured, in order to convey the
fruit with economy and regularity to the waiting market or point of
consumption. True, he at first failed to interest other fruit dealers in
the project. “It had never been done and consequently was a dangerous
innovation that would probably prove unprofitable.” But Mr. Preston had
visualized a new industry on a large scale, and with the faith of the
industrial pioneer he finally succeeded in persuading nine of his
friends to put up with him each $2,000, and to form a company for the
purpose of growing bananas in the West Indies, of chartering a steamer
suitable for the transportation, and finding a market for the produce in
Boston.

The details were worked out carefully and the first cargo purchased in
Jamaica and landed in New England proved a decided success. During the
first two or three years the accruing dividends were invested in fruit
lands in Jamaica and everything went well. Not long after, however, it
was found that a West Indian cyclone could destroy a banana field and
put it out of business in a very few hours. More than one field or
locality in which to grow bananas on a large scale was necessary to
provide against the possible failure of the crop at some other point.

In the meantime another broad minded and determined pioneer in the world
of progress, Minor C. Keith, a youth of 23, was trying to build a
railroad some 90 miles in length from Puerto Limon to the capital, San
Jose, in the highlands of Costa Rica. The greater part of this road was
through dense jungle and forest almost impenetrable, with nothing in the
shape of freight or passengers from which revenues could be derived
until the road was completed to the capital. Mr. Keith had a concession
from the Costa Rican Government, but the Government had no funds with
which to aid the builder in his enterprise, and this young engineer,
through force of character and moral suasion, kept his two thousand
workmen in line without one dollar of money for over 18 months. Food he
managed to scrape up from various sources, but the payday was
practically forgotten. In the meantime, some banana plants were secured
from a plantation in Colombia, and set out on the virgin soils along the
roadway through which Mr. Keith was laying his rails. These grew
marvellously, and not only supplied fruit for the Jamaica negroes
engaged in the work, but soon furnished bananas for export to New
Orleans, and thus was started a rival industry to that of Mr. Preston,
on the shores of the Western Caribbean.

It was not long before Mr. Keith, who struggled for 20 years to
complete his line from the coast to the capital of Costa Rica, came into
contact with Mr. Preston. These captains of industry realized the
advantages of co-operation, and in a very short time organized the
United Fruit Company, which is probably the greatest agricultural
transportation company in the world to-day. Its various plantations
include lands in Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and
Jamaica. Large plantations of bananas belonging to the company were
until recently on the harbors of Banes and Nipe, on the north coast of
Oriente, in the Island of Cuba, but these were subjected to strong
breezes from the northeast that whipped the leaves and hindered their
growth. Then too, it was soon discovered that these lands were better
adapted to the cultivation of sugar cane, hence bananas of the United
Fruit Company disappeared from the Nipe Bay district, to be replaced by
sugar plantations that to-day cover approximately 37,000 acres and in
1920 will reach 50,000 acres. Over 200,000 acres on the coast of the
Caribbean are devoted to the cultivation of bananas. About 30,000 head
of cattle are maintained as a source of food for the thousands of
laborers, mostly Jamaicans, who are employed in the fields of the United
Fruit Company, which comprise an aggregate of 1,980,000 acres; while 743
miles of standard gauge railway, together with 532 miles of narrow gauge
roads, are owned and operated throughout the various plantations.

In the year 1915, 46,000,000 bunches of bananas were shipped by the
United Fruit Company from the shores of the Caribbean to the United
States, while the sugar plantations owned by the Company on the north
coast of Oriente Province, in Cuba, produced sugar in 1918 that yielded
a net return of $5,000,000.

In order to provide transportation for this enormous agricultural output
this company to-day owns and operates one of the biggest fleets of
steamships in the world. Forty-five of these ships, with tonnages
varying from 3,000 to 8,000, especially equipped for the banana trade,
and with the best of accommodations for passengers, have an aggregate
tonnage of 250,000; while 49 other steamers were chartered by the
company before the war, making the total tonnage employed in the
carrying trade approximately half a million.

Nearly all these steamers, which connect the coast of the Caribbean with
New York, Boston and New Orleans, touch, both coming and going, at the
City of Havana, thus giving that port the advantage of unexcelled
transportation facilities, and connecting Cuba not only with the more
important cities of the Gulf of Mexico, New York and New England, but
also with Jamaica, Caribbean ports, and the South American Republics
lying beyond the Isthmus of Panama, along the western shores of that
continent.

No steamship line perhaps has been more closely related to the
commercial development of Cuba than has the New York & Cuba Mail
Steamship Company. This line had its origin in a carrying trade between
Cuba and the United States started by the firm of James E. Ward & Co.
The members of the firm were Mr. James E. Ward, Mr. Henry B. Booth and
Mr. Wm. T. Hughes. The Company was incorporated under the laws of the
State of New York and formally organized in July, 1881, with Mr. Ward as
President, Mr. Booth as Vice President and Mr. Hughes as Secretary and
Treasurer. When first organized the Company had only four ships, the
_Newport_, _Saratoga_, _Niagara_ and _Santiago_, with a gross tonnage of
10,179. Between the date of its organization and its transfer to the
Maine Corporation, or during a period of 26 years, the company acquired
19 vessels, with a total gross tonnage of 84,411. In addition to the
above the company has operated under foreign flags eight other ships
aggregating a tonnage of 26,624.

The four original steamers mentioned above were owned in part by the
builders, Messrs. John Roach & Son, and a few other individuals. The
original firm however sold its ships to the Company at the time of its
reorganization. Of the vessels acquired by the company, the majority
were built under contract by Messrs. Roach & Son, and Wm. Cramp & Sons’
Ship and Engine Building Company. Among the ships that were purchased
and not built especially for this company, were the two sister ships
_Seguranca_ and _Vigilancia_, built in 1890 for the Brazil Line. The
steamships _City of Washington_ and _City of Alexandria_ were originally
owned by the Alexandria Line, and passed into the hands of the Ward Line
after its organization. The _Matanzas_, formerly the Spanish steamer
_Guido_, that had left London with a valuable cargo of food, munitions
and money with which to pay off Spanish troops in Cuba, was captured by
the American forces during the early part of the war with Spain, in an
attempt to run the blockade that had been established, and was
afterwards sold by the American Government to the Ward Line.

The business of this company, after its organization, began with a
passenger and freight service connecting the cities of Havana, Santiago
and Cienfuegos with New York. With the acquisition of the Alexandria
Line, the service of the company was extended to Mexico, and a number of
ports have been added to its itinerary both in Cuba and in Mexico. The
line to-day maintains a service on each of the following routes: New
York to Havana and return; New York to Havana, Progreso, Yucatan, and
Vera Cruz, returning via Progreso and Havana to New York; New York to
Tampico, Mexico, calling occasionally on return voyages at other ports
when cargoes are offered; New York to Guantanamo, Santiago, Manzanillo
and Cienfuegos, returning according to the demands of shipping
interests; New York to Nassau, in the Bahamas, Havana, and return. The
sailings average about five a week and schedules are prepared from time
to time to meet the requirements of trade. Passengers on this line are
carried in three distinct classes, first cabin, intermediate, and
steerage, the vessels being constructed with reference to suitable
accommodations for the various classes.

The principal railway and other connections are as follows: At New York
in general with all railroads terminating at that port, as well as all
foreign and domestic water lines that move traffic via that port; at
Havana with the United Railways of Havana and the Cuba Railroad; at
Tampico with the Mexican Central Railway for interior points in Mexico;
at Progreso with the United Railways of Yucatan for Merida, Campeche and
other interior points; at Vera Cruz with the National Railways of Mexico
and the Interoceanic Railroad for interior points of Mexico, as well as
with the Vera Cruz and Pacific Railroad for interior points of Mexico
and the Pacific Coast; at Puerto Mexico with the Tehuantepec National
Railway, for points on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and on the Pacific
Coast. Connection is also made at Vera Cruz with the Compañia Mexicana
de Navegacion for traffic to Tuxpam, Coatzacoalcos, Tlacotalpam and
Frontera, ports on the Gulf of Mexico. At Santiago connection is made
with the Cuba Eastern Railway and Cuba Railroad for points throughout
the interior of Cuba; at Guantanamo with the Cuba Eastern Railway and at
Cienfuegos with the Cuban Central Railroad.

The company has contracts with the United States Government for the
transportation of mails between New York and Havana, and between New
York, Havana and Mexico. It also has a contract with the Bahamas
Government for the transportation of mails.

The following is a list of the vessels owned or operated by the company.

  STEAMERS:

  _Havana_
  _Saratoga_
  _Mexico_
  _Morro Castle_
  _Esperanza_
  _Matanzas_
  _Antilla_
  _Camaguey_
  _Santiago_
  _Bayamo_
  _Monterey_
  _Segurancia_
  _Vigilancia_
  _Seneca_
  _Manzanillo_
  _Yumuri_
  _Guantanamo_


  TUGS AND STEAM LIGHTERS:

  _Colonia_
  _Nautilus_
  _Neptuno_
  _Hercules_
  _Auxiliar_
  _Comport_
  _Edwin Brandon_

The total gross tonnage of the steamers and tugs above mentioned is
84,000 tons.

One of the oldest and most important lines in the carrying trade of the
Caribbean is known as the Munson Steamship Line, and was founded in 1872
by Walter D. Munson. The trade began with sailing vessels but the
increase in traffic was so great that these were soon replaced with
steamers. The steamships in the service of the Munson Line to-day number
140, with an average tonnage of 2,500 tons each, dead weight.

These vessels sail from nearly every port in Cuba, connecting the Island
with nearly all of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports of the United
States. The passenger steamers of the Munson Line ply between New York,
Nuevitas and Nipe Bay of the Province of Oriente. The passenger
steamers, although not touching at Havana, are equipped for the
accommodation of passengers that leave from the ports of the eastern
provinces of the Island.

During the late European War twelve of the Munson steamships were placed
in the service of the United States and three under the British flag.

The Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company operates a daily
passenger, mail and freight service between Havana and Key West,
Florida. Since 1912 this company has maintained practically a daily
service between the two ports and maintains also a bi-weekly service
between Havana and Port Tampa, Florida. Owing to the frequency of the
sailings, the P. & O. SS. Co. is considered the official mail route
between the United States and Cuba.

The company operates also the Florida East Coast Car-Ferry freight
service between Havana and Key West. This service was made possible by
the extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad from the southern
points of the peninsula out over the long line of keys that terminates
in the Island of Key West.

The erection of this viaduct, built at an enormous expense, of stone and
concrete, was the realization of Henry W. Flagler’s dream of modern
transportation facilities between the United States and Cuba. The car
ferry service was inaugurated in January, 1915. At the present time two
of these great car ferryboats, with a capacity of 28 standard freight
cars each, make a round trip every twenty-four hours between the two
ports. These two vessels transport approximately 1,150 cars in and out
of Cuba every month, carrying over 35,000 tons each way in that length
of time.

Since the inauguration of the service more business has been offered
than can be handled during certain months of the year, and it has been
found necessary to refuse large quantities of cargo destined for the
Republic of Cuba. The advantage of this service to the Cuban fruit and
vegetable growers has been very great, since they are enabled to load in
the Cuban fields freight cars belonging to almost every line in the
United States, so that this produce may be shipped direct, without
breaking bulk, to any market in the United States.

In the year 1870 the Pinillos Izquierdo Line of steamers was established
between Spain and the Island of Cuba. The home office of this line is in
Cadiz, Spain. Their vessels are engaged in freight and passenger service
touching at the following points in the Peninsula: Barcelona, Palma de
Majorca, Valencia, Alicante, Malaga, Cadiz, Vigo, Gijon and Santander.

En route the Canary Island and Porto Rico are also visited while the
terminal points on this side of the Atlantic are New Orleans,
Galveston, Havana and Santiago de Cuba. All of their steamers carry
mail. Their fleet consists of nine steamers with a combined tonnage of
78,000 tons as follows:

  Infanta Isabel          16,500 tons      2000 passengers
  Cadiz                   10,500 tons      1500 passengers
  Barcelona               10,500 tons      1500 passengers
  Valbanera               10,500 tons      1500 passengers
  Catalina                 8,000 tons      1000 passengers
  Martin Sáena             5,500 tons       800 passengers
  Balmes                   6,500 tons       800 passengers
  Conde Wifredo            5,500 tons       800 passengers
  Miguel M. Pinillos       4,500 tons       500 passengers
                          ------
                          78,000 tons

The Southern Pacific, originally known as the Morgan line, established a
transportation service between Gulf ports and the Island of Cuba many
years ago, beginning with two side-wheel walking-beam steamboats of
about 800 tons dead weight. They were heavy consumers of coal and had a
speed of from 9-1/2 to 11 knots. A few years later the steamers
_Hutchinson_ and _Arkansas_, both side wheelers, were added to the
fleet. Still later the single propeller steamers _Excelsior_ and
_Chalmette_, of about 2,400 tons each, were placed in the service of the
Southern Pacific Line. These combined freight and passenger boats were
well built and seaworthy fourteen knot steamers, of an equipment
considered modern at that time. The _Louisiana_ entered the service in
1900, but owing to an error in loading freight, it turned turtle at the
docks in New Orleans and became a total loss. The _Excelsior_ and
_Chalmette_ are still maintaining an efficient weekly service between
New Orleans and Havana.

The _Compagnie General Transatlantique_, generally known as the French
Line, connecting western France, Northern Spain and the Canary Islands,
with Cuba, Porto Rico, Vera Cruz, Mexico, and the city of New Orleans,
was established in 1860.

St. Nazaire on the Bay of Biscay in France is the headquarters of this
line. Their steamers touch at Santander and Coruña on the north coast of
Spain; at the Canary Islands, Porto Rico, Martinique, Santiago de Cuba,
Havana, Vera Cruz, and New Orleans. Their fleet consists of 13 ships
with a combined tonnage of 153,500 tons.

The steamship _Lafayette_, of 15,000 tons, is equipped for the
accommodation of 1,620 passengers. The _Espana_, of 15,000 tons, carries
1,500 passengers; the _Flanders_, of 12,000 tons, carries 1,250
passengers; the _Venizia_, of 12,000 tons, carries 700 passengers; the
_Navarre_, of 10,000 tons, carries 1,000 passengers; the _Venezuela_, of
7,000 tons, carries 500 passengers.

The _Caroline_, the _Mississippi_ and the _Georgie_ are each steamers of
13,000 tons. The _Honduras_ is a 12,000 ton ship; the _Hudson_ 11,000
tons; the _Californie_ 10,500 tons, and the _Virginie_ 10,000 tons. The
seven last mentioned vessels carry cargo only.

During August, 1919, the 7,000 ton steamer _Panama Canal_ arrived in
Cuba from Japan, inaugurating a new steamship line between Japan and the
United States, touching at Cuban ports. The line is known as the Osaka
Shosen Kaisha, of Osaka, Japan. The fleet consists of 186 steamers
plying between Japan and different parts of the world. The headquarters
for this company has been established at Chicago, Illinois, owing to
connections that have been made with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
Railroad.

Steamers eastward bound from Japan will bring rice and general cargo,
most of which will be consigned to the Island of Cuba, owing to the
heavy consumption of that article of food in that Republic. New Orleans
will be the terminus in the United States of the line. On the initial
trip of the _Panama Canal_ 50,000 sacks of rice grown in Japan were
consigned to Cuban merchants in Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos. The
return cargoes will be composed largely of cotton, taken aboard at New
Orleans, and with sugar and tobacco shipped from Cuba to the Orient.
This line has begun with one sailing each way per month, all steamers
touching at Havana for freight and passengers.

The Customs regulations of Cuba require five sets of invoices for Havana
and four for all other points; which must be written in ink, in either
English or Spanish. If they are typewritten the original imprint must be
included, but the others may be carbon copies. Invoices must give the
names of shippers and consignees, and of vessels; marks and numbers,
description of merchandise, gross and net weights by metric system,
price, value, and statement of expenses incurred. If there are no
expenses, that fact must be stated. Prices must be detailed, on each
article, and not in bulk. Descriptions of merchandise must be detailed,
telling the materials of each article and of all its parts. Descriptions
of fabrics must tell the nature of the fibre, character of weave, dye,
number of threads in six square millimeters, length and width of piece,
weight, price, and value. All measurements must be in metric units.

At the foot of each sheet of the invoice must be a signed declaration,
in Spanish, telling whether the articles are or are not products of the
soil or industry of the United States. If the manufacturer or shipper is
not a resident of the place where the consulate is situated, he must
appoint in writing a local agent to present the invoice and the agent
must write and sign a declaration concerning his appointment. Stated
forms are prescribed and are furnished by consuls for manufacturers,
producers, owners, sellers and shippers.

Freight charges to the shipping port, custom house and statistical fees,
stamps, wharfage and incidental expenses must be included in the
dutiable value of goods, and must be stated separately; but insurance
and consular fees must not be included.

Each invoice must cover a single, distinct shipment, by one vessel to
one consignee. Separate consignments must not be included in one
invoice. Invoices under $5, covering products of the soil or industry of
the United States must be certified in order to enjoy the provisions of
the reciprocity treaty between the two countries. Invoices and
declarations must be written on only one side of the paper, and no
erasures, corrections, alterations or additions must be made, unless
stated in a signed declaration.

Domestic and foreign merchandise from the United States must be
separately invoiced. Invoices are not required on shipments of foreign
goods of less value than $5.

Fabrics of mixed fibres must be so stated, with a statement of the
proportion of the principal material, upon which the duty is to be
computed. Cotton goods pay duty according to threads, and silk and wool
ad valorem. Samples of cotton goods are taken at the custom house, and
should be provided for that purpose to avoid mutilation of the piece.
Duties on ready made clothing are based on the chief outside fabric. A
surtax of 100% is placed on ready-made cotton clothing, and a surtax of
30% on colored threads.

Two copies of each set of bills of lading must be given, but on
merchandise of less than $5 value need not be certified.

Invoices covering shipments of automobile vehicles must state maker,
name of car, style of car, year of make, maker’s number on motor, number
of cylinders, horse power, and passenger capacity.

If after an invoice has been certified it or any part of it is delayed
in shipment, the steamship company must mark on the bill of lading
opposite the delayed goods “Short Shipped,” but the invoice need not be
recertified. The consignee should, however, be informed.

The list of articles admitted into Cuba free of duty comprises samples
of fabrics, felt, and wall paper, of a prescribed size, samples of lace
and trimmings, and samples of hosiery, provided that they are rendered
unfit for any other purpose than that of samples; trained animals,
animals, portable theatres, and other articles for public
entertainment, not to remain in Cuba longer than three months;
receptacles in which fruits or liquids were exported from Cuba and which
are being returned empty; furniture, clothing and other personal
property of immigrants, or of travellers, showing evidence of having
already been used; agricultural implements not including machinery; and
pictures, posters, catalogues, calendars, etc., not for sale but for
free distribution for advertising purposes.

The importation into Cuba is forbidden or restricted of foreign coins of
anything but gold, save those of the United States; gunpowder, dynamite
and other explosives, save by special permit of the Interior Department;
and silencers for firearms. Arms of more than .32 caliber, .44 caliber
revolvers, and automatic pistols require special permit.

Consular fees for certification are: On shipments worth less than $5,
nothing; from $5 upward and less than $50, fifty cents; from $50 upward
and less than $200, $2; over $200, $2 plus ten cents for each $100 or
fraction thereof. Extra copies of invoices, 50 cents each. Invoice
blanks, ten cents a set. Certifying bills of lading, $1.

Cuban consulates are situated in the United States and its possessions
as follows: Atlanta, Ga.; Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Mass.; Brunswick, Ga.;
Chattanooga, Tenn.; Chicago, Ill.; Cincinnati, Ohio.; Detroit, Mich.;
Fernandina, Fla.; Galveston, Tex.; Gulfport, Miss.; Jacksonville, Fla.;
Kansas City, Mo.; Key West, Fla.; Los Angeles, Cal.; Louisville, Ky.;
Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans, La.; New York; Newport News, Va.; Norfolk,
Va.; Pascagoula, Miss.; Pensacola, Fla.; Philadelphia, Penn.; San
Francisco, Cal.; Savannah, Ga.; St. Louis, Mo.; Tampa, Fla.; Washington,
D. C.; and Aguadilla, Arecibo, Mayagues, Ponce, and San Juan, Porto
Rico.




CHAPTER XXXVI

AMERICAN COLONIES IN CUBA


American soldiers returning to the United States at the conclusion of
her little war with Spain, in the summer of 1898, brought wonderful
stories of Cuba, with glowing accounts of her climate, her rainfall, her
rich soil and natural advantages. Schemes for the colonization of the
Island were immediately formed and some of them put into effect during
the early days of the Government of Intervention.

Unfortunately, most of these enterprises originated with speculators,
and so-called land-sharks, who sought only to secure large tracts of
territory, at the smallest possible cost, and with the assistance of
attractive literature place them on the market in the United States, at
prices which would enable them, even when sold on the installment plan
to make a thousand percent or more profit on the capital invested.

This method of settling up the country would not have been so
objectionable had the promoters of the schemes taken the pains to locate
their colonies in those sections of the Island where transportation
facilities, if not immediately available, could at least be reasonably
sure in the near future.

Up to the present, a logical, common sense plan in the colonization in
this Island has in no instance been carried out. On the contrary, every
American colony that has yet been established in Cuba, and her adjacent
Islands, has been located with disregard to the first essentials of
success. These hapless experiments have met with a fate that was
inevitable and in most instances can be described with one word
“Failure.”

The first American Colony in Cuba was started on Broadway, New York
City, by a land speculator, who, through correspondence, learned of a
large property that could be had in Cuba with a small cash payment, at
what seemed to be a ridiculously low price; in other words at about 80
cents an acre. An option was secured on several thousand acres, the
larger part of which, perhaps, was available for general agricultural
purposes. But the location with reference to transportation facilities
was one of the most unfortunate that could have been selected. This
colony was called La Gloria, and while La Gloria has not been a failure,
nothing in the world has saved it but the pluck, and persistent and
intelligent effort of a courageous and most commendable community of
Americans.

Some 800 of these, not knowing where they were going, other than that it
was somewhere in Cuba, were dumped by a chartered steamer in the harbor
of Nuevitas, 40 miles from their destination. This they afterwards
reached with the aid of light draft schooners, or shallow, flat-bottom
boats, pushed through a muddy ditch some three or four miles, and as
many more over sand shoals, where the passengers were compelled to get
out and wade. Worse than all, when finally landed on the south shore of
Guajaba Bay, they were obliged to wade through a swamp for another five
miles, in mud knee-deep, or more, in order to reach the high ground on
which they were to make their future homes in a foreign land.

Many of these colonists, disappointed and deceived, failed to stand the
strain, and those who had the necessary funds, or could borrow, returned
disgusted to their homes in the United States. Others, after studying
the soil and noting the splendid growth of forest and vegetation, lulled
into resignation by soft, cool breezes from the Atlantic Ocean, and the
bright sunshine that seldom missed a day, made up their minds to stick
to the game and to see it out, which they did.

Their efforts in the end were crowned with a certain degree of success,
and the near future holds out to them the promise of fairly satisfactory
transportation for their fruit, vegetables and other products, to
profitable markets, both in Cuba and the United States.

The colony of La Gloria in the fall of 1918 contained about 75 families
and comprised, all told, probably 500 people. This estimate includes the
little nearby settlements of Guanaja, Punta Pelota, Columbia, Canasi,
The Garden, and other little suburbs or groups of families, scattered
throughout the district.

With the Cubans, the people of La Gloria have always maintained the most
friendly relations, while mutual esteem and respect is the rule of the
district. The Mayor of La Gloria, a Cuban, was elected by popular vote,
and is highly esteemed in the community as a man who has been always an
enthusiastic and efficient supporter of the interests of the colony.
Seventy per cent of the population is American. La Gloria has always
been fortunate in having a good school in which both Spanish and English
are taught.

The town itself is located on the northern edge of the plateau, or rise
of ground overlooking the savanna that separates it from the bay. A
fairly good road some five miles in length, built at Government expense,
connects the town with the wharf, whence, up to the winter of 1918, all
produce was sent for shipment to the harbor of Nuevitas some forty miles
east by launch.

The streets are very wide, shaded with beautiful flowering flamboyans,
and the houses, many of them two stories in height, are built of native
woods, cedar, mahogany, etc., products of the saw mills of the
neighborhood. These, as a rule, are kept painted, and the general
appearance of the town, although not bustling with business, is one of
comfort, cleanliness and thrift.

It is not an exaggeration to state that there is no little town in
conservative New England where less of waste, or disfiguring material,
even in back yards, or rear of houses, can be found, than in the little
town of La Gloria. The furnishing of most of the houses consists of a
strange mingling of articles of comfort brought from home, combined with
other things that have been improvised and dug out of their tropical
surroundings.

A mistake, made in the early days of La Gloria, and one common to every
American colony in the West Indies, has been the exclusive dedication of
energy, effort and capital to the growth of citrus fruit. The first
essential factor to the success of a colony in any climate is food, and
forage for animals. This, in nearly every American town in Cuba, has
been ignored, every effort being expended on the planting and promotion
of a citrus grove from which no yield could be expected inside of five
or six years, and during which time, many a well meaning farmer has
become discouraged or has exhausted his capital, leaving his grove in
the end to be choked up with weeds and ruined by the various enemies of
the citrus family. However, the people of La Gloria planted and stuck to
their orange trees and many of these, today, are yielding very
satisfactory returns, in spite of the serious lack of transportation.

The best land belonging to the colony is located in the district known
as Canasi, some three miles south of the town, in the direction of the
Cubitas Mountains. There are 600 acres in this section devoted to
oranges and grape fruit, all of which have been well cared for and are
increasing in value each year.

The citizens of the colony have joined forces and built a well equipped
packing plant, 100 feet in length by 30 feet in width, from which, last
year, were shipped 432,000 loose oranges, and 9,200 boxes of grape
fruit, the latter going to the United States by the way of Nuevitas. All
of this fruit at the present time is hauled by wagon, some eight or nine
miles to the wharf, on the bay, whence it is conveyed to the harbor of
Nuevitas for sale and shipment.

La Gloria’s hope of really satisfactory transportation facilities is
vested in the North Shore Railroad of Cuba, and her dream of suitable
connections with the outside world of trade will soon be realized. La
Gloria has many things to commend it, aside from soil and climate. One
of these is excellent drinking water, found at an average depth of
twenty feet. The soil on which the town is built is largely impregnated
with iron ore, which forms a splendid roadbed, and enables the
population to escape the seas of mud that are rather common throughout
the interior, excepting along macadamized roads.

Most vegetables, with the exception of potatoes, may be grown throughout
the entire year in La Gloria, and a variety of potato adapted to that
peculiar soil will probably be found in the near future. A serious
mistake common not only in La Gloria but in nearly all other colonies in
Cuba has been neglect in sowing forage plants and thus providing for
live stock, so essential to the success of any farming district.

That which is most to be admired in La Gloria, is the class of people
who form the backbone of the colony, and who certainly came from
excellent stock, proved by their successful efforts in overcoming
difficulties that would have discouraged a less persevering community.
The colony supports a weekly newspaper, and holds annual agricultural
fairs that are a credit to the district.

The second and most serious experiment in colonization in Cuba was
staged in the Isle of Pines. In the year 1900 this intrepid storm
sentinel of the Caribbean offered several advantages for a successful
exploitation of the American public. In spite of the fact that this
Island had always formed an integral part of Cuba, it was advertised
throughout the United States as American property, and the flag raised
by the Government of Intervention was pointed to as a permanent asset of
that particular section.

Again the promoters of this pretentious colonization scheme absolutely
ignored the basic principles of success in colony work. In other words
they did not take into account that not only was the Isle of Pines
devoid of a first-class harbor, but that the chances of securing direct
transportation between that section and the United States was decidedly
remote.

Through the hypnotic influence of beautifully worded advertisements and
attractive pictures, large numbers of settlers from the United States
and Canada, especially from Minnesota and the Dakotas, were tempted to
locate in the Isle of Pines, or to purchase property, usually on the
installment plan, which they had never seen, and for which they paid
exorbitant prices.

Tracts that cost from 90¢ to $1.20 per acre, were divided into 10, 20
and 40 acre farms, and sold at prices ranging from $25 in the beginning
up to $75 and even $100 per acre in 1918. These prices have always been
out of proportion to the quality of the soil, and the location of the
land, since lands far more fertile, and within easy reach of steamers
leaving Havana daily, might have been found on the mainland of Cuba,
that would give the prospect of a fair chance of success in almost any
agricultural undertaking.

Here again the prospective settler was advised to start citrus fruit
groves, to the exclusion of forage and other crops from which immediate
returns would have encouraged the farmer, and permitted him to live
economically while making up his mind as to the advisability of citrus
fruit culture, which is a specialized form of horticulture, requiring
much technical knowledge, and a great deal of experience to insure
satisfactory results.

In the Isle of Pines, as in La Gloria, while many men have been
disappointed, and many families have left the country in despair, there
still remains a nucleus of hard working, intelligent and enterprising
men who, in spite of the disadvantages that will surround them, have
made for themselves comfortable homes, and who enjoy the quiet, dreamy
life that soon becomes essential to the man who remains long in the
tropics.

The Isle of Pines ships a considerable amount of fruit and vegetables
each year, through Havana, to markets in the United States. How often
the balance may be found on the profit side of the ledger, however, is
open to question. The Isle of Pines undoubtedly offers an excellent
retreat for those who have become tired of the strenuous life of cities,
and who prefer to pass the remainder of their days in pleasant,
healthful surroundings. To do this, of course, requires an income that
will insure them against any little petty annoyance that might come from
a disturbing cyclone, or a low price for grape fruit in northern
markets.

The enterprising promoters connected with the early colonization of the
Isle of Pines made a second experiment at Herradura, in the Province of
Pinar del Rio, 90 miles from the city of Havana by rail. Here they
purchased some 22,000 acres of land in 1902, paying, it is said, an
average price of a dollar an acre, and started the third American colony
in Cuba under the name of Herradura.

In the colonization work, the old La Gloria and Isle of Pines method of
advertising was faithfully followed, and with results eminently
satisfactory to the promoters, most of whom have acquired comfortable
fortunes, at the expense of Americans and Canadians in the United States
who were anxious to find homes where they could enjoy life and perhaps
prosper in the Tropics.

The larger part of the Herradura tract, especially that which lay along
the Western Railroad, was a light sandy soil, used by the natives in the
olden days for grazing cattle, and burned over every winter, thus
destroying nearly all of the humus in the land. This property was
divided into 40-acre tracts and sold at $20 per acre. As soon as the
settlers from the United States began to arrive in any numbers, the
price was advanced to $40. Citrus fruit was held out to prospective home
seekers as the surest means of securing an easy life and a fortune after
the first four or five years.

Under favorable conditions, where all the essential elements to success
are combined, this is possible. But Herradura did not combine all of the
required features, hence hundreds of acres of abandoned groves can be
seen along the railroad track for miles, as one enters the Herradura
district. The cyclone of 1917 which added the last straw to the
proverbial camel’s back, in the Isle of Pines, swept across the western
end of Pinar del Rio Province also, and only those groves that had been
provided with wind-breaks escaped from blight and ruin in the hurricane.

Today there are about 25 families, with perhaps 100 inhabitants,
remaining in the colony of Herradura. Some of these settlers, men of
experience, who came from the citrus grove districts of Florida, and
others who took up general farming on the better lands, some two or
three miles north of the railroad, have succeeded, and have built for
themselves comfortable homes where rural life is enjoyed to the utmost.

Some of them have their machines with which they can motor over a
splendid automobile drive to Havana, and spend a few days in the
capital, during the opera season. Nearly all of them have a few saddle
horses that furnish splendid exercise and amusement for the younger
members of the colony. One of the successful old timers of Herradura is
Mr. Earle, formerly chief of the Government Experimental Station at
Santiago de Las Vegas, a scientific farmer and a good business man. Mr.
Earle located on good land in a little valley well back from the road,
planted 40 acres in citrus fruit and has succeeded where others failed.

On all lands where irrigation is possible, the growing of vegetables,
especially peppers and egg plants, has proven very satisfactory. The
average number of crates per acre is 350, and a dollar per crate net is
the estimated average profit. The irrigation comes either from wells or
little streams.

The raising of pigs and poultry has helped greatly all those farmers of
Herradura who had the foresight not to neglect the live stock and
poultry end in their farming enterprises.

The price of fairly good land in Herradura today is from $25 to $50 per
acre. The successful owner of a well cared for citrus grove in this
colony values it at $1,500 per acre. The freight on fruit and vegetables
from Herradura to the city of Havana over the Western Road, is ten cents
per box.

The colony boasts of a very comfortable school house, which also serves
as a church and town hall. The old standbys, as they call themselves,
seldom complain of their lot, and could hardly be induced to change or
seek homes in other localities.

There are some half dozen American and Canadian colonies in the Province
of Oriente, most of them scattered along the line of the Cuba Company’s
railroad that has brought the interior of that province into contact
with the seaports of Antilla, on the north coast, and Santiago de Cuba
on the south. The colony of Bartle is the westernmost, located about
fifty miles from the borderline between that province and Oriente.

The Bartle tract consisted originally of 5,000 acres, 3,000 of which lie
north of the railroad and the remainder extending toward the south. Most
of the land is covered with a heavy forest of hard woods and the work of
clearing is a serious proposition, although the soil, once freed from
stumps, is exceptionally rich and productive. Less than 2,000 acres have
been cleared up to the present, and some three or four hundred have been
planted in citrus fruit. Good water is found at a depth of 25 feet.

There are approximately 200 permanent residents in this little
settlement, which has been laid out to advantage with its Plantation
House, hotel, church, stores, etc., and a very neat railway station. The
buildings are nearly all frame, painted white with green trimmings. In
Bartle, as in all colonial settlements in Cuba up to the present, the
planting of citrus fruit seems to have been the aim and ambition of the
settlers, who are about evenly divided between Canadians and Americans.

Just south of Bartle are a number of small estates on land that belonged
to the late Sir Wm. Van Horne, father of the Cuba Company Railroad.

Twenty miles further east a colony has been established at Victoria de
las Tunas, one of the storm centers of the various revolutionary
movements on the part of the Cubans against Spanish control. There are
some 800 or 900 acres of citrus fruit groves, in various stages of
production, within a radius of fifteen miles surrounding the town of
Victoria de las Tunas. In nearly all of the American and Canadian
colonies in the Province of Oriente, settlers have learned, at times
through bitter experience, that it was an economical mistake to devote
all of their energies to the production of citrus groves that could give
them no returns inside of five years, and that, with the exception of
the local markets of Camaguey, Manzanillo and Santiago de Cuba, neither
oranges nor lemons would bring a sufficient price to pay for the cost of
packing, transportation and sale. Grape fruit usually yielded a profit,
if the market happened to be just right; or in other words, if competing
shipments from Florida and California did not lower the price below the
margin of profit.

Twenty-two miles still further east we find the colony of Omaja,
boasting a population of nearly 300 people, most of whom are Americans,
although a number are from England and Canada. A small group of hard
working Finlanders, too, have joined their fortunes with the settlers of
Omaja. The surrounding country is quite attractive, and was at one time
a huge cattle ranch, covering some 50,000 acres of land, divided between
heavy forests and open savannas.

Omaja has the usual complement of post-office, school-house, churches
and stores, with a sufficient variety of creeds to satisfy almost any
community. Some 700 or 800 acres of citrus fruit have been planted in
Omaja, about one-half of which is grape-fruit and Valencia oranges.
Omaja has an encouraging amount of social and musical activity which
lightens the more serious burdens of life in the colony.

Some 30 miles north of Santiago de Cuba, and 50 miles south of Antilla,
the shipping point on Nipe Bay, are two small colonies only a few miles
apart known as Paso Estancia and Bayate. There are some 40 or 50
permanent settlers in Paso Estancia, Americans, Canadians and English.
They have made clearings in the thick virgin forests and made for
themselves comfortable and rather artistic little homes; frame buildings
covered with zinc roofs, perched on hillsides, convenient to swift
running streams.

The “Royal Palm” Hotel, a cement building, furnishes accommodations for
newcomers and guests. The view from the hotel, looking across a
delightful panorama of forest covered hills and valleys, gives a certain
lasting charm to the vicinity.

The settlers of this section evidently were advised of the mistakes made
in other parts of the Island, and while the growing of citrus fruits
seems to have been the main object, food products, corn, vegetables,
coffee, cacao, cattle, hogs and forage were not neglected.

A few miles south is the colony of Bayate, settled very largely by
Swedish Americans, whose programme has been quite a departure from that
of other colonists in Cuba. Their children are being taught Spanish in
the schools so that they may bring their parents more closely in contact
with their Spanish speaking neighbors. There are approximately 200
settlers in this community, most of whom have devoted their energies to
growing sugar cane, for which the land in the neighborhood is
excellently adapted. The Auza mill, twelve miles further down the
railroad, buys all of the cane they can raise, giving them in exchange
5-1/2 lbs. of sugar for every 100 pounds of cane. There is a very decent
little hotel, built of mahogany and cedar, furnishing accommodations to
guests who may happen to stop.

Bayate has its school house, for which the Cuban Government furnishes
two teachers, one of whom teaches in Spanish and the other in English.
Most of the settlers have their own cows, pigs and an abundance of
chickens. Some of them are planting coffee and cacao on the hill sides.
Two crops of corn may be easily grown in this section, and nothing
perhaps in Cuba, brings a better price, especially in the western end of
the Island.

It would seem quite probable that general farming will eventually take
the place of the citrus fruit grove in Cuba, as a source of permanent
income and profit. The demand for sugar, brought about by the European
War, greatly increased the acreage of cane, and has undoubtedly saved
many American colonies, especially those of Oriente, from economical
disaster.

It is to be hoped that the Cuban Government, in the future, may be
induced to provide some kind of supervision over projected colonies in
regard to the selection of localities, the character of soil, and the
election of agricultural undertakings which will insure success. It is
the desire of the Government that all homeseekers, if possible, may find
life in Cuba both pleasant and profitable, and only in some such way can
the mistakes of colonization in the past be avoided.




INDEX


AGRAMONTE, General Eugenio Sanchez, Secretary of Agriculture, 154.

AGRICULTURE, 144;
  typical rural home view, 145;
  natural advantages of soil and climate, 145;
  Department of Agriculture, 148;
  Division of Agriculture, 148; of Commerce, 149;
  of Veterinary Science and Animal Industry, 149;
  of Forestry and Mines, 149;
  of Trade Marks and Patents, 150;
  of Meteorology, 150;
  of Immigration, Colonization and Labor, 150;
  of Game and Bird Protection, 151;
  of Publicity and Exchanges, 152;
  Experiment Station, 153;
  breeding live stock, 155;
  fruits and vegetables, 156;
  combatting insects and diseases, 157;
  “black fly,” 157.
  See GRAINS, GRASS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, STOCK-RAISING.

AMERICAN COLONISTS, 80, 103, 390;
  deluded by speculators, 391;
  ill-chosen sites, 391;
  La Gloria, 392;
  relations with the Cubans, 392;
  increasing and assured prosperity for those who persevere, 393;
  Isle of Pines, 394;
  Herradura, Pinar del Rio, 396;
  Bartle, 398;
  Victoria de las Tunas, 399;
  Omaja, 399;
  Paso Estancia and Bayate, 400.

American Legation at Havana, 298.

ANIMALS, Indigenous, 257;
  the hutia, 257;
  sandhill crane, 258;
  guinea fowl, 258;
  turkey, 259;
  quail, 259;
  buzzard, 259;
  sparrow hawk, 259;
  mocking bird, 259;
  pigeons, 259;
  parrots, 260;
  tody, 260;
  orioles, 260;
  lizard cuckoo, 261;
  trogon, 261;
  flamingo, 262;
  Sevilla, 262;
  ani, 262.
  See POULTRY, STOCK RAISING, BEES.

ASPHALT AND PETROLEUM:, 126;
  early discovery of pitch, 126;
  observations of Alexander von Humboldt, 127;
  in Havana Province, 128;
  in Matanzas, 128;
  in Pinar del Rio, 129;
  many wells sunk, 130, et seq.

Atkins, Edward F., Sugar promoter, 177.


BANKING. See MONEY AND BANKING.

BEES, for honey and wax, 280;
  exceptional facilities for culture, 281;
  trade in wax, 282.

Birds. See ANIMALS.

Botanic Gardens, 301.


CACAO, 233;
  for food and drink, 234;
  varieties, 236;
  culture, 236.

CAMAGUEY Province, 71;
  history, 71;
  topography, 74;
  harbor of Nuevitas, 78;
  resources and industries, 79;
  American colonies, 80;
  Camaguey City, 82;
  chrome deposits, 116.

Canning, opportunity for industry, in pineapples, 226.

CARDENAS, City, 56;
  City Hall and Plaza, scene, 56;
  Industries, 57;
  mines, 58.

Cauto River, 85.

Chocolate. See CACAO.

Chrome. Sec MINES AND MINING.

CIENAGA DE ZAPATA, 67; plans for draining, 165.

Cienfuegos, 65.

Clay and Cement, 27.

CLIMATE, 19;
  equable temperature, 19;
  rainfall, 20;
  at Havana, 31.

Cocoa.   See CACAO.

COFFEE, 197;
  origin of Cuban plantations, 197;
  many abandoned groves, 198;
  methods of culture, 199;
  profits of crop, 199; marketing, 200; encouragement for the industry, 201.

Commerce.   See   OCEAN   TRANSPORTATION, and RAILROADS.

Cork Palm, 38.

Customs. See OCEAN TRANSPORTATION.


DRIVES: A Paradise of Palm-shaded automobile highways, 326;
  roads radiating from Havana, 327;
  to Matanzas, 328;
  to Artemisa, 328;
  to Candelaria, 329;
  San Cristobal, 329;
  Bahia Honda, 320;
  San Diego de los Banos, 330;
  Pinar del Rio, 331;
  Valley of Vinales, 331;
  Mariel, 333;
  radiating from Matanzas, 335;
  Cardenas, 336;
  Cienfuegos, 336;
  Trinidad, 336;
  radiating from Santa Clara, 337;
  Camaguey, 337;
  Santiago, 337;
  among Mountains of Oriente, 338.


FORESTRY, 135;
  great number and variety of trees, 135;
  alphabetical list of sixty leading kinds, with characteristics of each, 136, et seq.;
  location of timber lands, 142;
  extent, 143.

FRUITS: Aguacate, 228;
  varieties, 229;
  for salads, 230.
  Anon, or sugar apple, 226.
  Bananas, the world’s greatest fruit, 219;
    methods of use, 219;
    grown for commerce, 220;
    soil and cultivation, 221;
    varieties, 222;
    possibilities of the crop, 223.
  Chirimoya, 226.
  Citrus fruits, 211;
    orange groves, 212;
    discretion and care needed in culture, 214;
    varieties of oranges, 215;
    grape fruit, 217;
    limes, 217.
  Figs, 228. Grapes, 232;
    experiments with various kinds, 233;
    wine-making, 233.
  Guava, 228.
  Mamey, 227.
  Mamoncillo, 228.
  Mango, foremost fruit of Cuba, 203;
    the Manga, 204;
    varieties and characteristics, 204, et seq.;
    for both fruit and shade, 209;
    fruit vender in Havana, scene, 209.
  Pineapples, 224;
    soil and culture, 224;
    profits of crop, 225;
    varieties, 225;
    for canning, 226.
  Sapodilla, see Zapote.
  Tamarind, 227.
  Zapote, 226.


GRAIN: Indian corn, 248;
  Kaffir corn, 249;
  millet, 249;
  wheat, 249;
  rice, 250;
  opportunities for rice culture, 251.

GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS: Parana grass, 253;
  Bermuda grass, 253;
  alfalfa, 253; cow peas, 254;
  beans, 255;
  peanuts, 255.

Guantanamo, 89.


HARBORS: Havana, 28, 342;
  Mariel, 41, 341;
  Cabanas, 42, 341;
  Bahia Honda, 42, 341;
  Cienfuegos, 65, 349;
  Nuevitas, 78, 345;
  Nipe, 87, 346;
  Guantanamo, 89, 347;
  Santiago, 87, 348;
  Matanzas, 343;
  Cardenas, 344;
  Sagua, 344;
  Caibarien, 344;
  Manati, 345;
  Puerto Padre, 346;
  Banes, 346;
  Cabonico and Levisa, 347;
  Sagua de Tanamo, 347;
  Baracoa, 347;
  Manzanillo, 349;
  Batabano, 350.
  Minor
  harbors, 350, et seq.

Hawley, Robert B., Sugar promoter, 175.

HAVANA, City: history, 303;
  famous streets and buildings, 304 et seq.;
  modern development of city and suburbs, 307;
  El Vedado, 308;
  places of Interest, 309;
  National Theatre, 310;
  the Prado, 310;
  parks, 211;
  Colon Cemetery, 311;
  Municipal Band and other musical organizations, 312;
  Conservatory of Music, 312;
  drives, 313;
  bathing beaches, 313, 314;
  Havana Yacht Club, 314;
  fishing, 314;
  Jai Alai, 315;
  baseball, 316;
  horse racing, 317;
  golf, 317;
  the Templete, 317;
  the Maestranza, 318;
  Department of Sanitation, 318;
  La Hacienda, 319;
  old Governor-General’s palace, 319;
  Senate Chamber, 320;
  “General Wood Laboratory,” 321;
  School of Industrial Arts and Sciences, 322;
  Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts, 322;
  President’s Palace, 322;
  new Capitol, 324;
  National Hospital 325.
  See PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST.

HAVANA, Province: topography, 21;
  Valley of the Guines, 23;
  tobacco region, 24;
  forests, 25;
  agriculture and horticulture, 26;
  industries, 27;
  harbor of Havana, 28;
  water supply, 30;
  climate, 31.

HENEQUEN: world-wide importance, 53;
  brought from Yucatan, 190;
  first plantation, 191;
  International Harvester Company’s plantation, 191;
  possibilities of extension of the industry, 192;
  advantages of soil and climate, 193;
  estimates of cost and profit, 195.

Himely, H. A., estimates Sugar crop, 166.

Holguin, 93.


IRON.   See MINES AND MINING.


MAGOTES, 14.

Manganese.   See MINES AND MINING.

Manzanillo, 92.

MATANZAS Province: Topography, 49;
  drainage system, 49;
  Yumuri River and Valley, 51;
  resources, 52;
  henequen and sisal, 53;
  Matanzas City, 54;
  Caves of Bellamar, 55;
  Cardenas, 56;
  mines, 58;
  sugar, 58;
  chrome, 116.

Menocal, Mario G., Sugar promoter, 175.

MINES AND MINING: Pinar del Rio, 47;
  Matanzas, 58;
  Oriente, 96;
  early search for gold, 104.
  Copper: El Cobre mines, 105;
    near Havana, 106;
    Bayamo, 107;
    Matanzas, 108;
    Santa Clara, 108;
    Camaguey, 108;
    Pinar del Rio, 109;
    American interests in, 109;
    Matahambre mines, 110.
  Iron, in Oriente, 111;
    Camaguey, 112;
    Pinar del Rio, 112;
    nickeliferous ores, 112;
    statistics of shipments of iron and copper ores, 112.
  Manganese, in Oriente, Pinar del Rio and Santa Clara, 115, 120, 121, 122;
    analysis of ore, 123; output, 124.
  Chrome, in Havana, Matanzas, Camaguey and Oriente, 115;
  United States Geological Survey’s prospects, 114, 117;
  many rich deposits, 117 et seq.

MONEY AND BANKING: Early monetary systems, 361;
  double standard adopted, 363;
  stabilization under American occupation, 363;
  present standard and unit, 364;
  statistics, 364;
  list of principal banks of Cuba, 366.


OCEAN TRANSPORTATION: United Fruit Company, origin of, 376;
  Lorenzo D. Baker and Andrew D. Preston, 377;
  Minor C. Keith’s Costa Rica railroad, 378;
  development of world’s greatest agricultural transportation company, 379;
  magnitude of its fleet, 379.
  New York and Cuba Mail Company, origin and development of, 380;
  Ward, Alexandria and other lines merged, 381;
  extent of service, 381 et seq.;
  its fleet, 382.
  Munson Steamship Line, 383;
  extent of its service, 383.
  Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company, 383;
  its great ocean and railroad ferry from Havana to Key West, 384.
  Pinillos Izquiendo Line, between Cuba and Spain, 384;
  its large fleet, 385.
  Southern Pacific, formerly Morgan, Line, 385.
  French Line, 385;
  its fleet, 386.
  Japanese Line, Osaka Shosen Kaisha, 386.
  Customs regulations, 387;
  invoices, 387;
  consular fees, 389;
  Cuban consulates in United States and its territories, 389.

ORGAN Mountains, 13.

ORIENTE Province: Topography, 83;
  picture of mountain road, 84;
  rivers, 85;
  sugar, 86;
  Guantanamo, 89;
  Santiago, 89;
  resources and industries, 95;
  mines, 96;
  iron, 110;
  chrome and manganese, 117.


PACKING HOUSES, opportunity for, 273.

“Paradise of Palm Drives,” 326.

PEOPLE OF CUBA: Their hospitality and other traits, 1;
  domestic habits, 2;
  racial descent, 3;
  Gallegos and Catalans, 5;
  English, 5;
  Irish, 6;
  Italians, 6;
  Germans, 7;
  Americans, 7.

Petroleum. See ASPHALT.

PINAR DEL RIO Province: Topography, 34;
  Valley of Vinales, 36;
  harbors, 41;
  Pinar del Rio City, 45;
  Vuelta Abajo tobacco region, 45;
  mines, 47.

PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST, 284-302:
  Atares Fort, 300;
  Bayamo, 92;
  Belen Convent and College, 298;
  Bellamar Caves, 55;
  Cabanas, la, 286;
  history, 286;
  prison and place of execution, 287;
  “Road without Hope,” 287;
  present condition, 289.
  Cathedral, Havana, 294;
  Castillo del Principe, 300;
  Chorrera, la, fort, 299;
  City Wall of Havana, 291;
  Cojimar fort, 299;
  Echarte mansion, 298;
  Fuerza, la, 292;
  Institute of Havana, 294;
  Jesus del Monte church, 297;
  Merced, la, convent, 296;
  Morro Castle, Havana, 284;
  Punta, la, 290;
  Quinto de Molinos, 301;
  San Augustin convent 296;
  San Francisco church and convent, 295;
  Santa Catalina convent, 296;
  Santa Clara convent, 297;
  Santa Teresa church, 297;
  Santo Angel church, 297;
  Santo Domingo church and convent, 293;
  Torreon de la Playa, 299;
  Torreon de la San Lazaro, 300;
  “Twelve Apostles,” at El Morro, 286.

POULTRY: Varieties, 278;
  Turkeys, 279;
  Guinea hens, 279.

PUBLIC INSTRUCTION: Backward state under Spanish rule, 367;
  progress under American occupation, 368;
  Alexis E. Frye, Superintendent, 368;
  Lincoln de Zayas, 368;
  great aid from Harvard University, 369;
  schools placed under National government, 370;
  Miss Abbie Phillips, General Superintendent of English, 370;
  Dr. Dominguez Roldan, Secretary of Public Instruction, 371;
  increase in schools and school attendance during President Menocal’s administration, 371;
  “School of the Home,” 372;
  Institute of Havana, 372;
  National University, 373;
  National School of Languages, 373;
  National Public Library, 374.

Puerto Principe.   See CAMAGUEY.


RAILROADS: First railroad on Spanish soil in Cuba, 353;
  United Railways of Havana, 353;
  Matanzas Railway, 354;
  extension of system, 354;
  electric lines, 354.
  Sir William Van Horne’s great work, 355;
  Cuba Company’s line and branches, 356 et seq.;
  work of R. G. Ward in building and equipping Cuba Company’s lines, 358.
  Cuba Central road and branches, 359.
  North Shore road, 360.

Rionda, Don Manuel, Sugar promoter, 173.


SANTA CLARA Province:
  History, 60;
  mountains, 62;
  rivers, 64;
  Cienfuegos, 65;
  Sancti Spiritus, 66;
  Cienaga de Zapata,67;
  resources and industries, 68;
  coffee, 69.

Santiago, 89.

Schools. See PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.

Shipping. See OCEAN TRANSPORTATION.

Sisal.   See HENEQUEN.

Sponges, extent of industry, 283.

SPORTS: Automobiling, 326 et seq.;
  bathing beaches, 313;
  yachting, 314; fishing, 314;
  Jai Alai, 315;
  baseball, 316;
  horse racing, 317;
  golf, 317.

STOCK RAISING: Horses introduced into Cuba, 263;
  recent importations from the United States, 263;
  breeds and numbers, 264;
  mules, 265.
  Cattle, 265;
  importations, 266;
  choice breeding, 267;
  crossing with the zebu, 267;
  advantages of Cuba for stock raising, 268.
  Swine, 269;
  advantages for hog raising, 270;
  palmiche and yuca for hog food, 271;
  varieties of swine, 272;
  opportunity for packing plants in hog products, 273.
  Sheep, for food, 273.
  Goats, for meat, skins and hair, 274;
  Angoras, 275;
  profits, 276.

SUGAR: In Matanzas, 58;
  Santa Clara, 68;
  Camaguey, 79;
  Oriente, 86;
  El Chaparra and Las Delicias, 86;
  Bay of Nipe, 87;
  magnitude of crop, 160;
  favorable natural conditions, 161;
  reports and estimates of available lands, 161 et seq.;
  possible output, 164;
  plans for draining swamp lands, 164;
  Cienaga de Zapata, 165;
  Mr. R. G. Ward’s projects, 166;
  Mr. H. A. Himely’s estimates of crop, 166;
  methods of planting and cultivation, 167;
  the labor problem, 168;
  “Administration” and “Colono” systems, 170;
  Cuba Cane Sugar Corporation, 173;
  Cuban-American Sugar Company, 175;
  Rionda Sugar Properties, 176;
  United Fruit Company’s Sugar Properties, 177;
  Atkins Sugar Properties, 177;
  Poté Rodriguez Sugar Properties, 178;
  West Indies Sugar Finance Corporation, 178;
  Gomez-Mena Properties, 179;
  Cuba Company Properties, 180;
  Mendoza-Cunaga Properties, 180;
  Cuba’s relation to the world’s supply of sugar, 181.


TOBACCO: Tumbadero, in Havana, 24;
  Vuelta Abajo, Pinar del Rio, 45;
  early history, 183;
  profits of crop, 184;
  method of growing, 184;
  various regions of growth, 186;
  insect pests, 186;
  growing under cheesecloth, 187;
  magnitude of industry, 188.

TOPOGRAPHY, of Cuba: Mountain systems, 10;
  Sierra Maestra, 11;
  El Yunque, 11;
  Sierras Cristal and Nipe, 12;
  Najassa Hills, 12;
  Sierra Cubitas, 13;
  Sierra del Escambray, 13;
  Sierras Morena, and de Bamburano, 13;
  Sierra de los Organos, 13;
  Vinales Valley, 14;
  Magotes, 14;
  plains, 16.


VANILLA, 237;
  growth and preparation for market, 238.

VEGETABLES: Beans, Lima and string, 244;
  Egg plant, 243;
  Okra, 244;
  Peppers, 242;
  Potatoes, 242;
  Pumpkins, 245;
  Squashes, 245;
  Tomatoes, 243.


WARD, R. G., plans for draining Cienaga de Zapata, 166;
  railroad construction and equipment, 358.


YUMURI River and Valley, 51.

[Illustration: Map of Cuba]

       *       *       *       *       *


Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

so that it can product=> so that it can produce {pg vii}

The shores of Mariel are beautfiul=> The shores of Mariel are beautiful
{pg 41}

at the southern end of the Bat=> at the southern end of the Bay {pg 41}

aferwards was led=> afterwards was led {pg 61}

on the party of=> on the part of {pg 80}

Mexican revoultions=> Mexican revolutions {pg 191}

they should fear=> they should bear {pg 207}

any woman whose chose to devote=> any woman who chose to devote {pg 297}

the installment plant=> the installment plan {pg 395}