The times., 1898-07-04
sANr1Aao,s RICH MINES.
Vast sifnernI wealth Is stilI I'm
developed.

companies anu capt. MOfcOIn went with
him to superintend the opening and
operation of the mines, while Capt. Dick
inson was superintendent for several
years after the return of the other two
to this country. They tel Interesting
stories Of The country, the ways of the
Spaniards, and the methods of carrying
on all operations there.
The Juragua Iron Company is the prop
erty of the Pennsylvania Steel Company,
whose works are at Steelton, near Har-
risburg and of the Bethlehem Iron Com
pany. The Spanish-American mines are
now the property of the Lake Super
Tor Consolidated Mines. whose officers are
in Duluth. and whose active mines are
in the Mesaba and Gogebic ranges. The
! Sigua Iron Company is the property of
| the Maryland Steel Company, and its ore
| goes TO Sparrow Point. The first of these
three companies has a railroad from its
mines at Firmeza and Quentugrua TO the
mouth of the Juragua River at the town
Of Saboney, where the headquarters of the
mining and railway companies are situ-
ated
Opposite the headquarters is the settle
meni of Juragua, a mere outpost, and
there the road crosses on a bridge. now
considered SO important that several gum
boats Of SIMPSONS fleet are continually
guarding il. From Saboney the road runs
to Santiago, and ends at a suburb called
| Vera Cruz, where the high iron ore docks
of the company are located. The road is
a Httle narrow gauge, with tracks three
and a half feet wide, and is twenty-five
! miles long. without allowing for the
| twists and turns that are necessary in
| even a narrow-Eauge road in such a
mountainous country. After crossing the
/ San Juan River the road runs in deep cut
! Ings through the rocky hills toward San
| tIago, and these cuttings are so narrow
that there is barely room for train TO
| scrape along Setween the towering walls
| OF rock. while the sides are so steep that
| there would not be the slightest difficulty
! in blocking the line if Spanish troops
should take the trouble of loosening
! blocks OF stone and letting them drop
/ down the canyon.
AT BaiqUiri, where the landing of the
troops was made is the terminus OF the
/ Spanish-American road from the mines,
| three miles northeast and here is an
iron pier for merchandise, built by Mr..
| Denton, and an eight-pocket ore dock,
| rising some fifty feet in the air and also
| built by him. 1t was on the former the
| troops landed and +, is the only point on
that part of the coast of Cuba where Z
| landing could be effected other than in
the old way OF getting ashore by means
| OF lighters and small boats. II was the
use Of this pier that made the landing so
| expeditions 4 few miles east from Bal
| QGIi the Sigua Iron Company has its
mines. close to the coast and pier at
which ocean ships can lie. It's railroad
hlr rrf no
Ju-agua Company is equipped with nine
1 locomotives and some 400 cars as well as
one little passenger car that has been the
scene Of a good deal Of diplomacy and
! couviviaiity in times past. AT present
none Of the mines is worked and the
/ properties are all abandoned The ship
ments of iron ore from those mines have
been as high as 6o50Jj tons year. Along
the coast from Sigua around by MORO
Castle and up TO Santiago is an old mil
itary road.
1t was good once" said Mr.. Denton.
but the jungle has grown up. the cac-
tus has filed il and the rains have wash
ed il out Part Of it runs through
swamp and needs repairs badly. Now II
is good enough for . man on mule, but
| could be rebuilt so as To carry an army.
| The road connects Santiago with MORO
| and the fortihcatious at Estrella Point,
| and is Of the highest strategic import
] ance The maps show a big coral ROAD
| running direct from Saboney to Santiago,
! but it IS not there, and ! doubt If any
road could be built through those noun
tains The troops will have to follow the
| military road or use the railway of the
Juragua company. About half way be-
tween Santiago and Juragua lies Sevil-
la, which is the highest point in all that
| country The town doesn't amount to
| anything; all there is left of ii are few
little buildings and all one can see in
the way of life there will probably be
saddle horse or two or train Of mules
! hitched in the main street. But that is
about ali any of those towns amount to.
The AGRICULTURAL development OF that part
Of Cuba is very trifing.
THE rainy season is on there now, but
II is different from the rainy season OF
our Western country. 1t Will shower ev-
cry day a little and perhaps rain al night
and then clear up and be pleasant. The
climate is splendid. and there is no place
| in all Florida that's so suitable for the
| occupation of troops as on these hills
about Sevilla and Juragua. I never saw
any country in the world where one can
sleep at night so restfuly as there. The
nights are cool with a breeze from the
| ocean. For year there at FirmeZa, the
mining headquarters Of the JuraSua
Company, we took daily temperatures,
! and we never saw the thermometer ABOVE
81 nor below 80 Fair. Santiago is hot
place-one OF the hottest in the tropics
| because il is surrounded by ranges of
mountains and lies ten miles inland,
with bay in front of it. When We were
there Santiago had no defenses on the
land side, and there are probably not
many of Importance there now. The
government probably has considerable
powder because they have always been
| in the habit of seizing all the blasting
powder received for the mining COM
panies and storing it in the arsenal al
Santiago. If we wanted any We had to
send around by water for it, using either
a small coaster or the tug the Juragua
Company finally bought for that pur-
pose. Operations We're stopped there
quite suddenly when the Spanish became
! unable to protect the mining property,
| and there was considerable powder or
hand, in all probability.
THE Spaniards steal everything. AT
Santiago there is a little plaza, about a
block square, and il is all laid out in
walks and trees, is set round with settees
| and has fountain in each corner. One
year while we were there the Govern
ment had appropriated 900 for the i'm
provement of this plaza, and all that was
done was to fill up some little holes in
| the walks with crushed stone, and that
work was all done by the convicts at nc
cost. Every cent of the money went into
the pockets of the officials. Every man
has TO pay a Accent tax on the meat
he eats, for the government puts thai
tax on all dealers. The officials get al
that, everybody says. There was an i'm
port duty of cents a pound on foul
her xr-p We rhOnph m