The Winslow mail., 1898-11-05
CUBA SUGAR ESTATES
Picture of Their Conditions Half a
Century Age.
Their Owners Lived I'm Havana and
Their Major DoIaOs were Guilty
of Barbarous Cruelty
to the Slaves.

Coffee plantations, though so beau
tiful, have not increased in numbers
Of late years; in fact, many of then
have changed into sugar estates, which
arc more profta BILE, and render the
owner socially more important. The
owner usually resides in Havana
where his family may enjoy the pleas
ures of cultivated society and have the
luxuries of city; he therefore EN-
ploys a sort of middleman, called
! major-domo, to manage his estate
The owner wants all the money he car
get to maintain his establishment il
! Havana, and the ma jor-dOmo seeks to
increase his percentage. and thus the
poor slaves are ground to the dust
and at times the cruelties practiced
are barbarous. The mayorals are
usually Canary islanders, hot-tem
pered and cruel race, and, being with
out the restraint Of the presence O.
the owner, are vindictively oppressive
and in their inhuman Eunishments
often take life. The horrors which
have been perpetrated in Cuba by the
lash would disgrace barbarians.
One striking fact attesting the hard
| ships of slave life on sugar estate is
that children are very rarely seer
there. Slave men in their vigor are
I more prof able, ard hence in large
force of several hundred men only q
few women are allowed. The labors
and hardships which these women en-
! dure tend to prevent increase, and
the few children born usually die in
/ infancy from neglect. There is nc
care taken to prevent this result, as
they say it is cheaper to supply the
losses en- the plantations by new i'm.
portations than by the rearing OF
children The climate, fortunately.
is so mild that the slaves need but
| little clothing, ard a wide palm he
and a cloth about the lions are their
costume in their fields, the sun seem
ing 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-look-
ing beef brought from Buencs 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 alp is boiled, and put
in trough, from which they eat it
every morning with spoon, paddle,
or their hands, as they choose.
The Africans brought into Cuba are
generally from the coast of Mozam-
bique, and are called Locoomees and
Caravalees. They are large, stout
men, OF dogged will, and at times are
very obstinate.
All these creatures believe implicit
ly in the transmigration of souls, and
that if they commit suicide they go i'm
mediately back TO Africa. To check
this evil, when a suicide occurs, the
! mayoral makes each Of the slaves
bring bundle Of wood and build a
funeral pyre, on which the body is
burned. The ashes are then scattered
/ in the air by the survivors, in whose
+ opinion the dead negro's soul is thus
prevented from returning to Africa.
In scattering the ashes they sigh au-
dibly. "Aha! Aho!" 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 mo-
nCtonous 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 mayorals house, the sugar works
and the dingy barracoons for the
slaves are the only objects to break
the monotony of the desolate scere
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 soft joint a shoot springs
up, and sends out others. forming
| bunch of canes; and thus the fields
are covered with the most luXuriant
green.
Every year the crop is cut at the
ground, and the next season another
crop springs up from the roots. which
arc called vatons. These vatons will
yield crops in this way for several
years, the length of time depending
OH the mildness of the climate. In
! Louisiana only three or four crops
are gathered from one planting. while
in the tropics is or 20 are thus OBJ
tanned. The grinding of the cane be-
gins about the last of October, and
continues until the beginning of the
rainy season, a period CT nearly six
months. This is the time Of greatest
labor on the estate; and, without in
termission of Sundays or holidays.
with but few exceptions, the slaves
work incessantly, and men and teams
are worn out before work is over. The
slaves are given few trifiirg presents
and are allowed some extra privileges
to encourage them in undergoing the
increased labor.-Jonathan S. jenkins,
III Century.
Steamer Blown Up for Show.
Sending two engines against each
other at top speed on the same track
is not sufficiently up-to-date for the
lovers of sensation at Geneva, y. y,
where in the presence of several thou
sand people on shore and on observa-
ton boats, the steamer Onondaga was
blown up by gun cotton the other day.
| The steamer was a large one, the