Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-04-07

- VIEW NJ
olution in 1895, when there commenced
the devastation which has cost Cuba so
dearly.
The chief products Of the island are
sugar and tobacco, and the amount an
nually realized from these products dur
ing the years just preceding the last up
rising has been, on the average, So, 000,-
900 pesos (dollars), and the revenue from
mineral sources has been grossly esti-
mated at 8, 500, 900 pesos. The amounts
derived from other sources (including
cotton, of which good deal is pro-
ducedD were considerable, but these
were the most important. And just
here, as an instance of the slumbrous
apathy that has resulted from years Of
hopeless subjugation and practical serf-
dom, the opening up Of the iron mines
in the province of Santiago do Cuba, at
the eastern end of the island, may profit
ably be cited. These valuable Mines
though discovered nearly a century ago,
never felt the blow of pick until 1888,
when party of New York capitalists
determined to make an effort to pur-
chase and develop them. Negotiations
with the 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
foated. These companies were the Ju-
ragua, the Spanish American, the Signe
and others. From these mines the an
nual expectation grew to be more than
500, 900 tons of iron ore and 49, 900 tons
of manganese, amounting to 50, 900, 900
in value at the lowest estimate
Mining Is Easy.
Mining was nominal, as the ore could
be readily broken up by surface blast
ing. In order to carry ore to the United
States large feet of steamers was nec-
essary. On the return trip from the Unit
ed States these steamers at first went
empty or with ballast only, but it final
ly dawned upon the owners of the ves-
sells that loads might as we'll be carried,
and the steamers began to take coal to
the West Indies. And thus it came
about that the shipment of iron ore to
the United States facilitated the expor-
taticn of Pennsylvania coal to the West
Indies
The development Of this industry was
one of many enterprises that have been
successfully pursued in this wonderful
land despite the singularly unfavorable
conditions that have existed. Cuba's
greatest wealth must always come from
the vegetable products of the earth.
Her soil is wonderful, 1t is not only
fertile, but inexhaustible. Three crops
Of cane grow from one planting. No
fertilizers are used. The soil in places
has the great depth of 81 feet. Tobacco
needs no guano to make crop and not
nearly so much labor as is required in
cultivation elsewhere. Anything that
grows under the tropical sun can be
grown in Cuba, although during recent
years the soil has been given up to the
production of sugar and tobacco.
Before the devastating torch of war
had laid waste the canefields and de-
stroyed factories and mills the busy
hum of fruitful labor stirred all the air.
The cost of making sugar was gradually
reduced by the introduction of labor
saving machinery, and the business set.
tied down to q paying basis, and by the
increased power Of production the de-
mand for cane grew, planters were en-,
couraged, and the fruitful island began
to wear a prosperous air. The tobacco
planters and manufacturers also i'm.
proved their methods, and this rival
product kept even pace with its saccha
rine competitor. The annual sugar crol
was worth $40, 900. 900, the tobacco
crop So, 900, 600. Then came the revolu
ton. Somehow, when one writes Of
Cuba. everything comes back to tina,
point, and strikes it as against deac
wall after clearing the cruel hurdles Of
Spanish tyranny.
But let us revert to the first branch Of
the SUBJECTIVE island proper in it's en-
tirety. The coast contour of Cuba il
broken with hundreds Of inlets, all o.
them harhors in greater or less degree
each having it's small Notifications, its
villages and its special industries. The
profile of the island, to quote the Ian
guage Of the railroad engineer, is varied
and picturesque, here high peak, there
a valley, there plain. Beginning al
Santiago de Cuba, the most easterly Of
the six provinces, and proceeding west
ward through Puerto Principe, Santa
Clara, Matanzas Habana and to the
lands end of Pinar del Rio, the tourist
traverses magnificent stretches of pla
teau and crosses innumerable valleys
skirts high mountains and follows deer
and picturesque gorges, but the noun
tains become hills, and these are grad
ually shaded down until in the extreme
west surface, generally level, is reach
ed, although in the vicinity of thu
Queen City, Havana, small but rugged