The herald., 1898-07-31

the mining companies paid for any of their
labor, and at that price 1t was high, for
che man would DO about a third as much
as an American. we figured that the cost
of labor was about $3.50 day, from which
we could deduct about IL per cent. for the
difference in money at that time.
"They had locomotive inspector at San
tiago who was supposed to come out and
overlook every engine and piece of machin-
cry we put in. His fees were 500 day,
and he was sure to make a special trip for
every machine. He would come down,
stay to dinner, which was made especially
fine for him. drink all the afternoon and
go back the following day, having collected
his $40 and not having seen the machine he
had come 10 inspect. That was the regula-
ton way with all officials. At one time the
local officials of the province ordered us to
widen the cuts of the railway from the
river to Santiago, where it was very mar
row and steep. 1t would have been an eX-
pensive undertaking and the company was
not prepared to carry it out if dinner
would do as well. So we sent to Ferrara
and he said: Send for the governor gen.
eral at Havana That was before Weyler's
time. We went around to Havana, about
500 miles, and asked the governor general
to come down. He came. We learned that
he was accompanied by thirty-two men,
bers of his official staff. We had lot of
big tents with flies, and these we spread,
making large pavilion, cool and comfort
able. Then we went to Santiago for the
best caterer in eastern Cuba In the mean
time we sent our little narrow gauge spe-
clal passenger car, the only one we had,
to the end of the line to meet the party,
and stationed thirty-two saddle horses at
the point where the officials were to leave
the train. They made quite cavalcade.
That dinner cost Mr.. Ely $3.50 but it did
the business. 1t would have cost $15O,00J
TO have widened that cut The governor
general went back to Santiago in a condi-
ton Of total inebriety, but he had agreed
to all we asked before he went. From San
tiago he went Immediately to Havana
Vhe first ship that brought powder to us
was seized at the entrance to the bay of
Santiago and the powder stored in the ar
senal, while the ship was fined 800. We got
the powder after we had made the proper
moves, sbut the 500 never
'"They do business. in pretty slow way"
said one of the former managers of the
Cuban enterprise. There are eight pock-
cts in the dock of the Spanish-American
company and few more in that at Vera
Cruz. The latter has storage dock back
I in the mountains, and they.tram the ore by
| man power into the stora& dock from the
cars-little cars that carry about six or
seven tons, instead of thirty-five or forty
as here-drop it out of the storage dock and
| tram it again by hand to the shipping dock
when vessel comes in. They are in luck
if they can load or ship in three or four days
| and it usually takes several times as long
( At the Duluth docks we load a scooter ship
| in from forty-eight minutes to an hour
| Single docks here have as high as 200 pock-
| cts, and the Duluth and Iron Range road
| has five such docks. If the country was
under American control or was free in the
| hands of the Cubans there would be OPP
| portunity to do business in business way
but the thefts and officialdom of the Span
iards kill everything.
THAT entire part of Cuba is very noun
famous. The hills rise direct from the wa
ter and tower one above the other back to-
ward the center of the island. They are
| full of mineral Iron Is not the only wealth.
but there are manganese mines and copper
is very plentiful. At Cobre, some fifteen
miles northwest from Santiago, on the
western side of the bay, where Cervera' S
ships were lying, is an old copper mine
owned by the English. The iron mines are
very rich The ores run about 66 per cent
iron and with but a trace of silica or of
phosphorus, so they are very fine Bessemer
ores. They resemble the best ores shipped
from the Minnesota Iron company's hard
ore mines in this country. There is no I'M
| foreground mining. The ore rises hundreds
of feet into the air and continues for miles.
At the Spanish-American properties it
| comes to the surface in the bed of the Bal
quiri river four miles from the mouth.
There are millions and millions of tons
OF this high grade ore in that single deposit
The Juragua and Sigua companies have
millions more, and the entire country in
that section Is impregnated with iron.
Much Of the iron ore Is rich enough in man