The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-04-05
A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE HARBOR OF HAVANA

tion, mines have been opened up, and
| sugar, tobacco and tho hundreds Of 9TH
er valuable prCducts of tho island have
| been madO to enrich it. AS is we'll
known, large and usulious part Of tho
| annual revenues of planters, miners and
manufacturers has been taken for taxes,
| and ut length it has found it's way into
| the ever depleted Golfers Of the homo
government at Madrid. And still traffic
increased until the beginning Of the rev.
| olution III 1895. when there commenced
| tho devastation which has cost CuLa SO
dearly.
The chiof products Of tho island arc
| sugar and tobacco, and the amount an
nually realized from these products dur
! ing thoyoar just preceding tho last up
rising has been, OH the average, 50, 00O,-
600 pesos (dollars), and tho revenue from
mineral sources has been grossly esti-
mated at 3, 600, 600 pesos. The amounts
| derived from other sources (including
cotton, Of which a good deal is pro-
, duced) wero considerable, but these
were the most important. And Just
| here, rs ah instance Of tho sluinbrous
| apathy that has resulted from years Of
hopeless snbjngation and practical scrf-
dom, the opening up Of the iron mines
III the province Of Santiago do Cuba, at
the eastern end Of tho island, may profit
ably DO cited. These valuable mines,
though discovered nearly century ago,
mover felt the blow of a pick until 1888,
when party Of Now York capitalists
determined to make nn effort to pur-
chase and develop them. Negotiations
with tho Spanish government were at
once commenced. and in 1885, after two
years of persuasion, concessions wero
obtained and work was commenced.
Stock companies were organized in New
York and Philadelphia, and bonds were
tloatod. These companies were the Ju-
ragua, tho Spanish american, tho Signe
and othors. From these mines the an
nual expectation grew to be more than
900, 600 tons of iron ore and 40, 900 tons
of manganese, amounting to 5000, 900
in valuo at tho lowest estimate.
Mining Is Easy.
Mining was nominal, as the orc could
be readily broken up by surface blast
ing. In order to carry ore to tho United
States a large fleet of steamers was neo-
essary. On tho return trip from tho Unit
ed States these steamers ut first went
, empty or with ballast only, but it final
| iy dawnod upon tho OWNERS Of tho YES
sells that loads might rs we'll be carried,
and the steamers began to take coal to
| tho West Indies. And thus it came
about that tho shipment Of iron orc to
the United States facilitated the eXDor-
| tation Of Pennsylvania coal to tho West
| Indies.
The development Of this industry was
one Of many enterprises that have been
! successfully pursued IN this wonderful
| land despite the singularly unfavorablo
conditions that have existed. Cuba's
| greatest wealth must always come from
tho vegetable products Of the earth
| Her soil is wonderful. 1t is not only
/ fertile, but incXhaustiblc. Three crops
of cane grow from ono planting. No
fertilizers arc used. Tho soil in places
has tho great depth of RI feet. Tobacco
| needs no guano to make crop and not
nearly SO much labor as is required in
cultivation elsewhere. Anything that
grows under tho tropical sun can be
| grown in Cuba, although during recent
years tho soil has been given up to tho
| production Of sugar and tobacco.
Before tho devastating torch Of war
had laid waste tho canefelds and de-
| stroyed factories and mills tho busy
hum Of fruitful labor stirred all the air.
Tho cost of making sugar was gradually
| reduced by the introduction Of labor
| saving machinery, and the business set
tied down TO u paying basis, and by the
increased power of production the de-
| mand for cane grew, planters were Ell.
couraged, and tho fruitful island began
| to wear prosperous air. The tobacco
| planters and manufacturers also i'm
! proved their methods. and this rival
! product kept oven pace with it's saccha-
rine competitor. Tho annual sugar crop
was worth $40, 600 900, tho tobacco
crop Sc, 900, 900. Then came the rovolu-
tion. Somehow. when ono writes of
Cuba. everything comes back to that
point and strikes it as against dead
| wall after clearing tho cruel hurdles of
, Spanish tyranny.
But lot us revert to tho first branch Of
tho subject-tho island proper in it's en-
tircty. The coast contour Of Cuba is
broken with hundreds of inlets, all Of
thom harbors in greater or less degree,
each having it's small Notifications, it's
villages and its special industries Tho
profile Of tho island, to quote tho Ian