The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-10-06
Sugar=Estates in Cuba.


Century Ago.
Jonathan S. Jenkins, an American
miniature painter, lived in Havana dur
ing the middle OF the century, and kept
diary OF his eXperenc S. A selection
from this journal is published in the
October Century. Mr.. Jenkins says:
Coffee plantations, though SO beautiful,
have not increased in numbers of late
years; in fact, many of them have been
changed into sugar estates, which are
more profitable, and render the owner
socially more important The owner
usually resides in Havana where his
family may enjoy the pleasures of cultivat-
ed society and have the luXuries of a city;
/ he therefore employs a sort of middle
man. called major domo, to manage his
estate. The owner wants all the money
he can GET to maintain his establishment
in Havana, and the major omo seeks to
| increase his percentage, and thus the
poor slaves are ground to the dust and at
times the crueltieS practised are barbar-
Gus. The mayoralS are usually Canary
| 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 hardships
| of slave life on sugar estate is that chill
dren are very rarely seen there. Slave
men in their vigor are more profitable,
and hence on 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 pf from Dprlact Thpre is mo-
care taken to prevent this result, as they
say it 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 lirte clothing, and wide palm
hat and cloth about the loius are their
costume in the fields, the sun seeming to
have but little effect upon their black
skins.
Every week there is a ration-day, on
which they are drawn up in long lines,
and few pounds of black looking beef
brought from Buenos Ayres are thrown
at the feet of each, which at night each
cooks to suit himself. In addition {,
coarse meal or small hominy (bran and
ally is boiled and put in a trough from
which they eat it 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 l.ocoomees and Caravalees.
They are large, stout men, Of logged will,
and at times are very obstinate.
All these creatures believe implicitly in
the transmigration of souls, and that if
they commit suicide they go Immediately
back to Africa. To check this evil, when
a suicide occurs, the mayoral makes each
of the slaves bring bundle of wood and
build funeral pyre, on which the body is
burned. The ashes are then scattered in
the air by the survivors, in whose opinion
the dead negroes soul is thus prevented
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 longer go home.
The appearance of the sugar estates is
the very opposite of the beautiful coffee
plantations Wide fields of monotonous
green stretch themselves TO the horizon
on every side, while here and there the
royal palm lifts its tufted head above the
verdant level. The mayoraPs house, the
sugar works, and the dingy balracoons,
for the slaves are the only objects to
break the monotony of the desolate scene.
When first planted, the cane is laid
lengthwise in trenches, or burrows, about
five or six feet apart, and then covered.
From each eye (there is an eye to each
sound joint shoot spring up and sends
out others, forming bunch of canes; and
thus the fields are covered with the most
uXurant green.
Every year the crop is cut at the ground
and the next season another crop springs
up from the roots, which are called va
tons. These vatons will yield crops in this
way for several years, the length of time
depending on the mildness Of the climate.
In louisiana only three Or four crops
are gathered from one planting, while in
the tropics eighteen or twenty are thus
obtained. The grinding of the cane be-
gins about the last of October and con-
tinues until the beginning of the rainy
season, period of nearly six months.
This is the time of greatest labor on the
estate; and without intermission OF Sun
days or holidays, with but few exceptions
the slaves work necessarily and men and
teams are worn out before work is over
The slaves are given few tritling presents
and are allowed some extra privileges to
encourage them in undergoing the in
creased labor.
Maud, you know, said she would never
marry unless she got a yacht. ''Well
she got sort of idi-yot."
| A boon to travellers. DIR. Fowler's Extract
OF Wild Strawberry. Cures dysentery, dlar-