The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1872-03-23


curiosity.
! when nay observations on TIE cancelled were
com. 1eted, Resumed my seat, and proceeded 20
tue Headquarters u tie establishment, which
was indicated by the tall smoke--lack Of thu
'uE@t-house, which towers fir above the cane
Ids and Is at great distance. Tic pb-
stice OF smoke issuing l.o-a thIs had tlo.dy
told me that they were uoJ .giud.ug that Y. I
''o'y reii the disappointment at not seeing tie
mai ia operation. l scou arrived at the little
'"i'-e and made my way 10 the Office in tie
s"-ar'Aouse, but the young mau il charge was
80 St"o' 4 that he could not even understand bis
Owl ugua.e, when l addressed hI.n in my
most classic Spanish. and lie seemed equally IL
norant when l addressed lin in English. lie,
however, motioued me to follow him, nd he led
.'- To Sac Oest house Oh the plantation, where
spl!-ht!y young woman met me az the door with
"A cheerful good morning ard certainly the
'"i"tion never sounded in nay ears more -weeliy.
C were soon seated in Inc voranda, snd | was
learning all l could OF the surroundings. She
Was the wife OF M Mcdonald, the chief engi-
neer ct the establishment, whom she had cap
Jured "a lew years before when on u visit to the
Island from her home in the states, whence her
or-htrd had come when quite young-eighteen
years before. lie had been up the night before
attending to his duties, for he MAS pressing hard
t. get up some new centrifugal machines, lately
arrived, and was now oompens,:ing himself
with sound sleep, from which would not allow
his wife to awaken MIN.
The house was an o!d.faslIoned 2.story man
sion, as open and airy ms possible, surrounded
with oocoanut palms loaded with fruit in vari.
stages of growth In the rear was vegetable
garden for the use OF the imily.
The Proprietor of the establishment is Span.
lard, with an unprouounceable name, SO will
not attempt to write II. HIS family are ia Spain,
and he resides ii Havana, but visits the plaHta-
ton almost every day. The last cargo Of slaves
ever Imported into Cuna was brought by this
man, and what are left OF them are still! on the
plantation. TIC prosecutions which followed
this importation have deferred him from repest.
ing the experiment.
After nearly an hou. Dir. Mcdonald awoke, |
and with him ! visited the sugarhouse. through
which ne showed mo and made all necessary ex.
pAraton'. Having seen mills Of similar con.
structiop IL operation N Louisiana, was en-
aoied 10 comprehend hi, explanations fully, but
to make / intelligaole TO you would require !
more space than have al ny disposal
The reason they were i,t grinding on tie day |
Of ny visit Wa tnata heavy r4in had 50 soi,esed |
the ground that to take the carts into the field,
t. har. the cane would so cut up the GROUND .s
to toe u ssriou. irJugy TO the .ucce, ding crop. ,
From thu, cause uuch IKE is lost in The cour.e
OF the year, nnc s,nrr.I.tr, = war he case last
year, large fields aIe LIT uncut with 10 injury
to tie cane, tut rather , te.,iit The los, Of
time is only TO be regretted. ~ any rate twelve
months Should he allowed to mature the cane,
and 1t really improves Tor twenty-iour months
On this plantation about one thousand acres
are cultivated in cane, which produce. about
twelve thousand boxes of sugar, OF five hundred
pounds each. About nine hundred hands, old |
and young, are employed, nearly one.t.rd Of .
" HON are Chin,nlel.. Their time i. not entire.
~ devoted to the sugar crop, for there is valu. |
able stone quarry on the place, which is also
worked by the saves.
lhe present proprietor i. eGdeutly II man OF |
com prehensive business capacity, as every thing |
about the place testified. H. has contract with |
the city Of Havana for removing all the ofal .
tropa the city. A branch OF the railroad runs |
quite through the plantation. By this all the !
city oH,l Is brought, and is spread upon hi,
cane'tields BY this means lie has brought up |
his fields, which We're once so run down as not
to tie worth cultvatiug. to the high state of fer
ti!ity indicated ty TIE product as above stated |
which, al fonT cents the pound. will return two |
hundred and forty thousand dollars. or two hun.
dred and forty dollars per acre
At one o'clock the hands came pouring out OF
Of wha, may call tie boardjng house, and ar.
ranged themselves in line ty companies OF per.
haps fifty TO an hundred each. when each was
and probably counted by a driver, and
then started to the different parts of the plan.
t,ton assigned them. One or two Of the com.
panies were composed exclusively of men des.
tined, presume for the stone quarry, Others of |
men aud women, and others again includilp |
These children seemed 90 be the happiest NOR.
tails law on that Island. They ran. and gam. (,
boiled, and played on the way TO the helds, !
laughing and ha!owing as if they would split |
their little sides and threats. They could turn
more summcrsaults, and throw themselves into
other merry little rascals l ever saw. Poor