The age-herald., 1898-05-23
WHY IF IS CALLED MATANzAs.
A Beautiful Town and Once Oneof the Rich

A Besutlfui Town and Once One or bhe hich-
 est in Cuba.
 From the Philadelphia Record.
 A little more than four centuries ago the delightful situation of Matanzas was oc- cupied by the populous Indian village Yuca- yo. In 169S-just 200 years after the dis eoyery of the island by Columbus-a Span- ish hidalgo named Manzaneda purchased from Carlos Il few hectares of land, in- elading the then long-deserted Yucayo, and settled thereon with thirty families of Ca nary Islanders. The colonists arrived on a Saturday. in October. The next day being Sunday, Bishop Compostello changed the heather name of the place, with mass and
 solemn ceremonies. to San Carlos San
 Seyerrino, and Monday the third day,
 the eornerstones were laid of the cathe-
 draI and the castle of San Severino-the
 most remarkable instance of expedition on
 record in this land of Manana-"tomor-
 row" The colonists afterward acquired
 considerable more space in the adjacent
 Yumuri valley for cattle range, and de-
 voted themselves to the raising of beef for
 the Havana market. Hence the place be-
 came known as Matanzas-the slaugh-
 ter pen" In time the names of the saints
 were left off altogether, and not only the
 settlement, but the bay, the district and
 the whole province rejoiced under the name of "the slaughter pen.
 Straight through the middle of the city
 runs the San Juan river, the portion on the south side of it being known as Pueblo Nuevo CNew Town) and that on the north as Versailles. Several handsome stone bridges cross the river, among them the notable Puente Belem. The New Town con- tains the railway station and many beau tiful villas. It has one of the handsomest streets in all Cuba, the Galzeda de San Es- tovan lined for two miles with imposing
 residences, all with pillared porticoes in front paved, like the terraces, with mo- saic of black and white marble, or blue and yellow Venetian tiles. These caSas of the old time grandees are set flush with the pavements, but each has its beautiful gardens at the sides, filled with palms and flowers, surrounded by tall iron railings and stone pillars topped with urns.
 The worst calamity that ever befell her was the great conflagration of forty-three years ago. After that the well-to-do cit-
 zens built their residences on the heights above the city, where ocean breezes blow
 and the wide-spreading bay forms a de- lightful picture. Two railway lines connect Matanzas with Havana, one of them run ming via Jaruca and Cardenas, the other coming from the southeast, through Villa Clara, Sagua and Cienfuegos, intersecting a rich sugar district, and in peaceful times bringing large amount of freight to the coast for shipment. Both lines are Ameri- can Dullt, uraWn Dy Amer1can engines, | equipped with American cars and will no | doubt soon be run by American engineers. A few years ago Matanzas province was 1 the richest in Cuba, rejoicing in the pos l session of AIS sugar estates in operation, | besides 52S stud farms and some 5000 other | plantations of various sorts. It's rapid de- | cadence from a luxurious center of wealth | and fashion, as well as of productive indus | try and commerce, renders it's present pow | erty the more pitiful Many of the finest | plantations of the old aristocracy were years ago confiscated. Others passed into | the hands of Spanish adventurers and im- | migrants, who kept up the exhausting | struggle as long as they could against a l system grounded upon violation of every | economic law; and the torch of war finished | the rest.