The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-11-09

a railroad to it. The mine was found
productive, the, ore yielding 58 per cent
of mets-l of superior quality, but after
one cargo of manganese had been shipped
to the United States further operations
were stopped by the insurgents.
As power that will guarantee Sc
curity now holds sway in southern Gu
ba, the work in this mine will doubt.
less be resumed before long. Nearly all
the manganese used in the United
States CONF, from the Black sea region
of Europe. and small quantity is also
procured from the northern part OF
South America. It is but reasonable to
suppose that the nearby mines in Cuba
will be in great demand when the state
of public affairs is such that they CAP
be operated in safety.
The mineral resources of the island
are still very imperfectly known, and
valuable deposits of other metals may
yet be discovered, as also new deposits
of metals now being mined. Bituminous
coal in extensive layers has been report
ed as existing in various localities.
Mines of alum and copperas were once
worked in the mountains of Juragua,
but were soon abandoned. Natural salt
mines also exist, but salt was a Spanish
government monopoly. and the mines
were not worked. This commodity is
collected in considerable quantities
along the coast.
The timber resources of Cuba are
probably unsurpassed in any other part
of the world, and have only been util-
lied to very trihing extent. 1t is
stated that the II, 600, 600 acres Of forest
lands furnished 10 varieties of fine cab
met woods, among them mahogany and
cedar. The wood Of some of the trees is
as hard as iron, and one of them nota-
BILE for this quality is called quiebra
haacha, or the ak breaker.
For fine furniture the wood Of Cuba
is unrsyalled. The marquetry work of
the apartment in the Escurial used by
Philip III was made Of these woods.
Few of these varieties are found except
in the West Indies Their value was
appreciated at an early period by the
Spanish government and led to the es-
tablishment of shipbuilding in the is
land. From. 1924 to 1896 Havana was
the great nursery of the Spanish navy,
but the work was finally abandoned.
Lignum vitae and various kinds of
dye woods, ebony, rosewood, mahogany,
cedar, lancewood and many woods suit
able for building purposes, such as
acana, jocuma, etc, abound plentifully
in the forests. The cedar furnishes the
material used for making cigar boxes.
The cocoanut palm, the palma real,
African palm, sour orange and lemon
trees are indigenous.
In the rural districts the native Gu
bans. especially the negroes, use the
trees Of the island for a variety Of do
mestic purposes Receptacles made of
the stem of the royal palm serve them
for holding almost anything, from the
mornings milk to the boiled dinner,
and sections of the wild bamboo serve
as buckets for bringing water from the
wells or rivers Even the cups and
saucers and spoons they use are fur
nished by the calabash tree, whose
gourdlike fruit is easily prepared in va
rious shapes for this purpose. The mill
with which they grind their sugar cane
is prepared from the hard wood pro-
cured from neighboring forest. They
also use the products OF their woods in
variety of other ways, but rarely in
the shape of furniture. Of that they re-
quire but little, and that of the simplest
possible character.
Regarded from a commercial stand
point these forests of Cuba cannot fail
to become great sources of revenue to
the government of the island as well as
means Of profit to those that will engage