The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-01-20
CUBA AND ITS ADVANTAGES.
Interesting Report by Consul Hyatt,
of Santiago, on the Products of
the hsiand

the Rsiand.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 1ss7-In obe-
dience to what he deems popular de-
mand to know more of Cuba and its pro-
ductive powers Consul Hyatt at Santiago
de Cuba has sent the State Department
an interesting report on that island
With an area about equal to that of
Pennsylvania, " he writes, "a length of
US miles and a width varying from 80 to
160 miles, Cuba stands in a geographical
position which, together with her produc>
tive SOIL mineral Weaati1 and climatic con-
ditions, should entgtle her to rank among
the foremost communities of the world,
a distinction to which believe she will
soon attain whenever stable government
and cheerful obedience to the powers that
be, present to the home seeker and in
vestor conditions that will make home Sc
cure and capital secure.
Although founded and settled more
than fifty years before the United States,
Cuba has still lS 900, 900 acres of primeval
forests where the woodman's axe has
bered besides other woods with maisog.
any, cedar, logwood, ebony lignum vitae
and cs;iguaran, the latter being more dur
able in the ground than iron or steel.
The soil is a marvel of richness. and fert-
ilizers of any kind are seldom used unless
in tho, case of tobacco, even though the
same crop be grWn in the same field for
a hundred years, as has already happen
ed in some OF the sugar cane fields. The
mountains are of coral formation, while
the loWlands of Eastern Cuba, at least,
seem to be composed largely of fossils
Fof sea matter from prehistoric times and
are ex trennely rich in lime and phosphate
which accounts for their apparent mex
haustibleness. 2
After describing the almost incredible
sugar and tobacco crops Consul Hyatt
takes UP the mineral wealth He says
copper was mined at Cobra by the natives
before Columbus discovered the island
!, md fC str hat two
per was carried across ITO Florida and used
by the Indians there hundreds of years
ago, 1T having been demonstrated that
copper utensils found in the mounds of
that State were of the Cuban metal and
unlike that obtained from Mexico and
Michigan The books of the Consulate
show that from 1928 to 1840 annual ship
ments of copper ore to the United States
averages from s2,000,0o0 to s3,000.000. Iron
oyershadowS all other industries of East
ern Cuba and constitutes 1.-The only indus
try that has made any pretense of stand
ing uIl against the shock of the present in
surreotiorA'
These mines continued to ship from 3d.
600 to 59s0Qe tons of ore to the United
States every month, the largest portion
of which is used at Bethlehem, Hazelton
Md. American capital recently opened a
manganese mine about twenty miles
from Santiago and built a railroad to
cargo, the business was closed by the in
surgeats. as nearly all the manganese
used in the United States comes from the
Black Sea- with small amount from
South America, the Consul believes that
the product of these mines will be in
great demand when the conditions are
SUCH that they can be operated with
safety.
Railroads and other highways, i'm
proved machinery and more modern
methods Of elo doing business are among the
march of civilization these will be doubt
less hers in the near future. Cuba, like
other tropical and semi-tropical coun-
tries, is not given to manufacturing; her
people would rather sell tn products of
the soil and mines and Lay manufac-
tured goods. The possibilities of the is
land are great, while its probabilities re-
main an unsolved problem,