Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-06-11

IldVaud was HrSt called San CrlStODl
de la Habana, in honor of Columbus
but gradually the prefix was dropped.
Havana has been frequently attacked
from the sea. Drake tried to take it il
1886, but failed. In 1869 a British flee,
under Admiral Pocock bombarded the
city aud compelled it to capitulate, bu,
it was restored to the Spaniards the
next year by the treaty of Paris.
Not y Hot Country.
We are accustomed to think of Cuba
as a hot country, situated as it is undol
the tropics, and the common impression
is correct 70 the extent that the meal
average temperature Of the year is high
er than in countries farther north, bu,
the climate is more equable. There are
not those sudden variations that il
many parts of the United States are 81
severe on the human constitution. II
Havana, for example, the average tenn
p%erature of the hottest month is 81
degrees; of the coolest, 70. In Santiago
de Cuba, a city often mentioned in the
war dispatches, the average Of the yeal
is 80; of the hottest month, "a; Of the
coolest, 70. These are high figures, brit
not very high for an island lying in
equatorial regions and surrounded by
water that is warm to the hand all the
year round. To a stranger from a dry
country a feature more Objectionable
than the steady heat is the tremendous
rpInfa1 Tho 0anura nhion1 anl fnpN-
graphical situation of Cuba provides
two seasons only, the wet and the dry.
During the latter rains are not frequent,
being atoned for, however, by the album
dance of the dew, but in the rainy sea-
son Jupiter Pluvius seems to turn him
self loose to excel all previous efforts,
and from 1875 to 40 inches of rain is
not uncommon, there being about 1902
days when the rain comes down not in
drops, but in sheets, in masses, in tub
fuls at a time, as though the windows
of the heavens were opened and the
floods of the great aerial deep had bro
ken loose. So abundant is the rainfall, in
fact, that, as a recent traveller remarks,
the wonder is that any island remains;
that the whole is not dissolved and car.
fied off into the sea. But in Cuba no
me minds the rain.
Notwithstanding the peculiarities of
its coast line, Cuba has more than 200
excellent ports. The principal of these
are Havana, Bahia Hondo, Puerto de
Cabanas, Matanzas, Cardenas, Sagua la
Grande, La Guanaja, Nuevitas, Mala-
gueta, Manati, Puerto del Padre, Santi-
ago de Cuba, Manzanillo, Canto, Santa
Cruz, Cienfuegos, Cochinos and La Broa.
The rivers of Cuba are not large, but
numerous, there being no fewer than 260
Of them, all told, and that is exclusive
of small creeks and dry beds of torrents,
called arroyos. The Canto, the only
really nayigable stream, rises in the
Sierra del. Cobre and has it's outlet on
the south coast near Manzanillo. There
are a few other streams which are nav
igable for small boats for a distance of
from s to 90 miles. Next in Importance
are the streams Guines and Ay. At Il
time it was the intention to cut a canal
through the land intervening and bise'
the island, but the idea was finally
abandoned as impracticable.
Cuba contains many mineral springs
which are famed for their valuable heal
ing properties, principal among them
being those known as the baths Of San
Diego.
The temperature of the water is SO
lonuooc IA aud II 10 xynrry efrSpo1v i'm
%pregnated with oxygen, carbonic acid
gases, chloride of sodium, sulphate Of
lime, nitrate of lime, iron, magnesia,
slick and chloride Of calcium. -Four
glasses of it a day and two baths are the
regulation cure for almost every disease
known to materia medioa, but 1t is
probable that the warm, pure air, SIM
pie diet and faith have much to do WITH
1t. At any rate, a great many surpris-
ing cures have been effected, particular
1y of bronchial and scrofulous com
plants. People have been taken from
the steamer on ~litters, apparently ju-t
ready to die, who in a weeks time
have been riding over the hills on horse
back and in a month have gone home as
"good as new" and we'll as anybody.
II these springs were in the United
States, with the same air to accompany
them, or if managed where they are by
some sensible, wide awake Anglo-Sax-
on, they would become the sa~nitarium
of the world, beside which Saratoga,
Carlsbad, Las Vegas and White Sulphur
would hide their diminished heads.
All Kinds of Minerals.
Nearly all metals and minerals that
are useful in any sort Of industry are
found in C.ba-gold, silver, iron, cop
per, quicksilver, lead, asphaltum in all
Its forms, antimony, arsenic, manganese,
copperas, red lead, etc. In the Sarama-
guaoan and several other rivers gold has
been found, though not in paying guam
titles. Silver of a certain grade abounds
in Pinar d,l Rio, San Fernando and
Yumuri. Almost all the metamorph.c
rocks contain copper, and these are scat
tered all wei the island. 1t is usually
found in the form of pyrites and sui
phurets.
In the eastern part Of Cuba, about ~
miles from Santiago, the rich copper
mines Of Ell Cobre were worked for a
good many years by an English COM
pany. They were abandoned during the
last revolution. There are other mines
not yet open and some not yet exhausted.
The city of Santiago, by the way, Is
worth more than mere passing mention,
it being the chief city of the eastern de-
partment. It lies 600 miles southeast Of
the present capital and ranks third in