The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-27

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the book by marking some OF the data set forth
in the 100 pages devoted to those two islands.
u.
Il appears hat no accurate trieouometric
surveys have been made OF Cuba and It's bor-
d6rine Islands. 1900 in number. or Of the Isle
Of Pines, a large and important dependency.
Nearly all existing geographical data are based
upon a large map compiled by Pichardo. and
engraved in Barcelona, which mao was a COM
pilation Of local surveys OF various degrees OF
trustworthiness The area Of the main island
has been computed at from 10000 to $4,000
square miles. that Of the Iele OF Pines at 1,214.
and that OF all tho islets or keys combined at
1880. Some OF the larger keys. like Romano
on the north side. are 140 square miles In ex-
tent. TIL well-known ReoRrapher Reclus has
estimated the total at 1888 square miles. an
area nearly one-fourth rs large as that OF Spain.
The coast OF Cuba measures. without taking
note ofits meanderings. nearly 1000 miles. On
Pichardo's mar the coast line. including oil its
embayments and the coasts of the islets. Is
over $500 miles. Perhaps no country in the
world is so well provided with harbors. Not
only are they numerous. but they are so con-
veniently situated that the trade OF Cuba may
be said literally to pass out at a hundred gates,
The chief OF these harbors on the north coast,
beginning at the west. are Bahia Honda. Ca
balas, Havana, Matanzas. Sagha, Nuevitas.
Gibara. Hipe and Baracoa; on the south Guam
tanamo. Santiago do Cuba, Manzanillo, Trini-
dad and Cienfuegos. The last mentioned is
accounted one Of the flnest harbors in the world.
A word should next DO said about the climate.
temperature. and health Of the island. Every
where In Cuba the rains are most abundant in
summer. the s~o-called rainy season extending
from May to October. As a rule. the rains.
hrou0ht hy tha trada wfnHa ara haayfar and
moro frequent on the higher slopes OF the east
ern end. At Havana the annual rainfall is 51.73
inches. or eight inches less than that Of New
Orleans. OF the total. 32.37 inches fall in the
wet season. This rainfall is not excessive. be-
ing no greater than that Of our Eastern States.
although somewhat differently distributed.
The average number OF rainy days in the year
is 102. There 10 but one record ofsnow having
fallen In Cuba; this was in 1855. On the Sierra
Maestro. however. the mountain range which
dominates the straight east and west coast of
the province Of Santiago. the thermometer
falls at times almost to the freezing point. At
Havana. In July and August. the warmest
months. the average temperature is go T..
fuctuating between q maximum Of 89o and 4
minimum Of 76s. The highest temperature
recorded In Havana for ten years was 100o, or
A less than the highest at Washington, for the
same period. In the cooler months OF Deem
Der and January the thermometer at Havana
averages ~. the maximum being 7Se and the
minimum So A THERMOMETERS record kept
for two years at Matanzas, on the northern
coast. about fifty miles east of Havana. gave 93'
for the highest temperature and 51' for the
lowest. At Santiago the average temperature
appears. from the meagre data available. to be
about 30. with an average difference between
the warmest and coolest months OF about
g.. For the interior OF the island only two
temperature records have been found. namely.
for Ubajay and the mines Of San Fernando.
Ubajay Is or was q village about fifteen miles
southwest OF Havana. and about 242 feet above
sea level. It's average temperature. deduced
from four years observation. was 1885 Fahren-
heit. The average temperature for a year at
the San Fernando mines. which are 100 miles
east Of Havana and 654 feet above sea level,
was 75e. From these imperfect statistics the
average annual temperature OF the interior Of
the island may be assumed to be considerably
lower than that Of the coast. There seems TO
be no doubt that, on the whole. the climate of
Cuba 10 much more salubrious than is COM
monty supposed. TIL current impressions of
~insalubrity have arisen from a confusion of the
effects OF bad sanitation with the effects Of
weather. Naturally Cuba is moro ,haalthfu
than any Of the other West Indies, with. perl
haps. the exception Of Jamaica. Unfortunately.
it's superior natural advantages are offset by
the sanitary conditions OF the cities. in which
the death rate Is entirely too large. The an
nual death rate Of Havana is estimated at 36.3
per thousand; OF Guanabacoa. 1913; of
Marianao. 1915. The high death rates OF the
two last named towns are especially notable.
because they are summer resorts. and enjoy q
high repute for salubrity. II the death rate Of
these places be compared with that of London
QS.Sl or with that observed In some OF the
principal seaport cities Of the United States. it
will be evident that there Is ample room for
sanitary regeneration. .,.l..
The chief diseases causing death in Havana
are. first, tuberculosis, which is aggravated by
the prevalent humidity; secondly. the group OF
intestinal diseases. including diarrhuea. dysen-
terry and cholera infantum. and. thirdly. yellow
fever. q disease which chiefly affects strangers.
The occurrence Of the second group OF diseases
is largely due. so far as Cuba is concerned. to
a ignorance Of precautionary hygiene. con-
corning exposure. water and food. The third
diseaso-to wit. the uoTnito, or yellow fever-is
acknowledged to offer a serious problem. which
will require organized action on the part Of the
Government to solve. This disease is now
thoroughly established in Havana, although at
one time this city was justly considered one
OF the most healthful localities on the
island. Parts Of It are permanently in
iocbou Will tHO BoEulb Oh INC ulb0AB0, ana
are looked upon as some Of the main foci from
which 1t is spread. According to Surgeon-Gen-
eral sternberg. the cause OF the vo,nito may
not be the filthy condition Of the harbor so
much rs the densely crowded and unsanitary
condition Of the houses of the poor. together
with the primitive disposition made OF the
sewage. A special report on the density OF tho
population. compared with that Of numerous
other cities. has shown that more than three
fourths Of the people Of Havana live In the most
densely populated localities In the world. The
evils Of overcrowding are. Of course, increased
by tho tropical and humid climate. Never
theless. DR.. sternberg arrived at the con-
clusion that 1t would be, practicable to
put Havana in such q sanitary condition
that It would be exempt from yellow
fever. although the undertaking would require
much time and involve the expenditure OF
large sums Of money. A similar opinion was
expressed by Surgeon General Wyman. who
pointed out that England has driven the vomito
from Jamaica and other West India islands,,
and that Mexico has racantlv excludad ~ f,oro