The evening times., 1898-11-09
SUGAR IN CUBA.

Coffee plantations, though so beautiful
have not increased in plumbers of late
years; In fact, many Of them have been
changed into sugar. essates. which are
more profitable, and render the owner So
cially more important. EThe owner usu-
ally resides in Havata, Fhere his family
may enjoy the pleasures of cultivated So
ciety and have the luxugies of city; he
therefore employs a sort of middleman,
called major domo, to manage his es-
tate The owner wants all the money he
can get to maintain his establishment in
Havana, and the major domo seeks to
increase his percentage, and thus the
poor slaves are ground to the dust, and
at times the cruelties practiced are bar
barous. The mayorals are usually Cana
ry Islanders, a hot-tempered and cruel
race, and. being without the restraint of
the presence of the owner, are vindictively
oppressive and in their inhuman punish
ments often take life The horrors which
have been perpetrated in Cuba by the
lash would disgrace barbarianS.
One striking fact attesting the hard
ships of slave life on a sugar estate Is
that children are very rarely seen there.
Slave men in their vigor are more profita-
bic, and hence in a large force of several
hundred men only few women are al
lowed The labors and hardships which
these women endure tend to prevent In
crease and the few children born usually
die in infancy from neglect. There is no
care taken to prevent this result, as they
say il is cheaper to supply the losses on
the plantations by new importations than
by the rearing of children. The climate,
fortunately, is so mild that the slaves
need but little clothing, and a wide palm
hat and cloth about the loins are their
costume in fields, the sun seeming to
have but little effect upon their black
skins
Every week there is ration day, on
which they are drawn up in long lines,
and few pounds of black-lookng beef
brought from BuenQs Ayres are thrown
at the feet of EACH which at night each
cooks 10 suit himself. In addition, a
coarse meal or small hominy (bran and
alb is boiled, and put in trough, from
which they eat 1t every morning with a
spoon. paddle, or their hands, as they
choose.
The Africans brought into Cuba are
! generally from the coast of Mozambique,
/ and are called Locoomees and Caravalees.
I They are large, stout men, of logged will,
! and a. times are very obstinate.
All these creatures believe implicitly in
! the transmigration of souls. and that If
! they commit suicide they go immedia tely
( back to Africa. To check this evil, when
a suicide occurs, the mayoral makes each
I of the slaves bring a bundle of wood and
! build a funeral pyre, on which the body
/ is burned. The ashes are then scattered in
the air by the survivors. in whose opinion
/ the dead negro's soul is thus prevented
I from returning To Africa. In scattering
the ashes they sigh audibly, Aha! Aha,
as if expressing grief that the soul OF
/ their companion can no-4onger go home
The appearance of the, sugar estates is
+ the Very opposite of the beautiful coffee
plantations Wide fields of monotonous
green stretch themsevesito the horizon or
every side, while here and there the roya
! palm lifts its tufted head above the yer
I dant level. The mayorars house tbs
sugar works and the dingy barracoons
for the slaves are the only objects &c
break the monOtony of the desolate scene
When first planted, the cane IS laid length
wise in trenches. or burrows. about or
feet apart, and then covered From eact
eye tthere Is an eye to each sound joint
a shoot springs up. and sends out others
forming a bunch Of canes: and thus th'
fields are covered with the most luxurian
green. g.. u
Every year the crop is cut at th'
ground and the next season another croI
springs UP from the rontS, which call
ed vatons. These vatons will yield crop:
in this way for several years. the length
of time depending on the mildness of III
climate. In Louisiana only three or fou
crops are gathered from one planting g
while in the tropics eighteen or twenty ar
thus obtained. The grinding of the can
begins about the last of October, and con
tinues until the beginning of the rain.
season. a period of nearly six months
This Is the time of greatest labor on tn
estate; and. without intermission of Sun
days or holidays, with but few excep
tions, the slaves work necessarily an,
men and teams are worn out before worl
is over The slaves are given a fev
tritiing presents and are allowed some ex
ira privileges to encourage them in un
dergoing the increased labor