The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-06-01
CUBAN SUGAR PLANTATIONS.


Dxeary Reaches of Cane, Tall Chimneys
and Hordes OF Ignorant Blacks.
All large Cuban sugar plantations are
alike. Having seen one you have seen all,
20 far as external Affairs are concerned.
1t IL often the case that their owners, or
lessees, are people Of culture and refine
ment, and with q host of friends and yisi-
tors about them live here In style Of
afiiuent elegance for which we can now
find no comparison in our own country.
There was time when we could. But
the dreary reaches Of cane; the long,
snake like tramways and roads for haul
ing the emerald loads of treasure to the
mill; the white tree fringed avenue lead
ing from the highway to the batey or
square upon which all the structures are
faced with startling regularity; the live
hedges of Spanish bayonet or savage
prickly pear and dirk pointed heniquen
that mark the confines, or divisions, of
the estate; the tall and lonesome chimneys
of the boiling houses the glaring white
buildings from villa to "the quarters" that
look forever so ghostly lonesome and tor
ture your eyes In the pitless sun; the unsa-
worry smell Of the cane Juice I'm all stages of
conversion into sugar, and the never end
ing hordes Of ignorant blacks sweltering
and yelling like demons In their hard
labor are one and the same from one end
Of Cuba to another.
The plantation is divided into number
less squares or patches, around and from
which, leading direct to. the mill, are
guarda rayos or roads, which are fire.
quently tramways with iron bound
wooden rails, where one mule can easily
amble along with 10000 pounds of the
. glistening cane on cars. Frequently
these .guarda rayos radiate in all direc-
tions from the batey or square like the
spokes of wheel. 1t is one steady stream
of cane day and night to the ponderous
rolls which squeeze 1t dry as a bone,
whether it comes fast or slowly, endwise
or sidewise, and leave the rag like,
crushed and flattened stalk in what is
called bagazo. This, dried in the sun,
provides the entire fuel Of the never idle
boilers. The screaming and whining
OF these crushing rolls is one of the
most lugubrious noises one ever listened
to. Then there are the tremendous en-
gines and boilers kept endlessly ranging
by the burning bagazo; countless pipes
and fixtures and the huge nickel plated
''vacuum pans," imbedded in polished
wood, where the cane juice, seemingly
quiet, is kept at a fearful heat by steam;
the great vats and reservoirs, and, finally,
the swirling, whirling centrifugal ma
chimes that, inside Of five minutes, take
the black, nasty, mushy mess and beat 1t
until it Is as white as snow and ready for
market. From 100000 to 5000, 900
pounds are frequently made annually
upon each Of these plantations, beside
the enormous yield Of molasses, which is
an important factor In the crop.
The fact is, these great sugar estates
are now run on so gigantic scale that
they are little less than huge factories,
with all the hard characteristics of fac
tory life about them, the home or rural
idea being wholly eliminated. The place
is like factory village, employing and
caring for from 1000 to 2,00o souls. The
discipline is severe; the system perfect.
The hands are invariably negroes. They
work in watches, or relays, day and night,
precisely as they do at your rolhng mills.
The males occupy quarters walled and
barricaded from the women, and there is
no more chance for intercourse or frolic
than in the American penitentiary. Those
married have separate quarters.-Edgar
L. Wakeman's Letter.