The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-06-30
NATURAL RESOURCES OF CUBA.
She has Immense Unecvelopcd Wealth
of Mine and Forest.

The productive soil mineral wealth,
and climatic conditions OF the island or
Cuba entltle 10 10 rank among me lot
most communities OF the "orla. Inc s'I
is "A marvel of richness, ana IerllI@ei9'
eNCept IN the case OF tobacco, are sel-
dom used even though the same ctop9
be grown on the same land Tor a nun
dred years, as mas happened In some or
the old sugar-Caue nelds. Inc mountains
are OF coral formation, WINE the low
lands, of Eastern cuba az least seem
10 be COMPOSED largely OF fossils OF sea
matter from prehistoric times, ana are
extremely rich In lime ana phosphale'
which accounts for the apparent llrN-
haustibleness of the soil. ..,.,
Although founded and settled more
than fifty years before the United states
cuba has still 100000 acres OF prime
val forests. consisting OF mahogany, &C.
dar iOgwOOl. redwood. ebony. usuumNl-
tae ana calguran. The latter IS more uu-
rable in the ground than iron or steer,
II all the land suitable TO the grown
Of sugar cane was devoted 20 that indus
try IL IS estimated that Cuba might sup
Div the entire Western Hemisphere Inc
island has already produced IN a slhEle
wear for export 10000 tons, ana us
capabilities have only been In the eX-
detrimental stage. The adaptabllty OF
the soil for tobacco culture mas touA
been known. Cuba takes great pride IN
the quality Of her coffee ana GH1l inc
war the plantations were nOurlsnluk.
The land Is not suited TO the cultivation
Of cereals. and no Hour mil eAls-s OH
the island anywhere.
I'm mineral wealth IL is capable or TAX
Ing high rank Gold and silver nave mo-.
been found in paving quantities. 'opp,I
was mined at Cobre by the natives be-
fore Columbus discovered the island, ana
there Is strong PROOF that native coppri
was carried across 10 Florida ana used
ny the Florida Indians hundreds OF years
lf-fsf nf
buried with their dead copper ornaments
and utensils hammered from native COP
per. which always has an admiNture OF
more or less foreign matter. rs no gop-
per ore is found I'm Florida, or IN that
nortion Of the United states. and. as
that found IN the United States or IN
Mexico does not correspond cnemlcdly
with that buried in the MOUNDS, IL occur
red 10 Professor r. II. sanders or lhe
Acadamv OF Natural Sciences, IN Phila-
delnhia that 10 was possible that these
rnound-hulders had water communlca-
tion with Cuba. In the early part or the
present century some English capitalists
purchased these mines IN Cunh, 'ilcl
are nine miles from Santiago. From 1873
10 1910 an average Of from 100000 10
81 600 OCO worth OF copper ore was snip
ped annually to the United states from
these mines How much was shipped
elsewhere Is not known. Large quaint
ties OF copper still remain unmlned IN
The iron mines OF Cuba. all Of which
are located near Santiago. oyershadow
In Importance an other industries on ne
eastern end OF the island. constituting
the only industry that has made any
pretense OF withstanding the shock OF
the present insurrectiOn. Two Ameri-
can companies. with a combined capt.
toI Of over s. 900 coo operate mines IN
The vfcinitv OF Santiago and employ from
so 10 100 men. shipping 70 the Cnlteo
States from 10000 10 ooeo tons or IRON
ore per month. the largest portion on
which IS used At Bethlehem Steelton'
sparrow Point. and Pittsburg. The ore
Of these mines IS among the richest IN
the world yielding from g. 70 90 per cent
of pure iron and Is VarN free from SUE
phur and phosphorus. There are numer-
Gus UndevelOped mines OF equal value III
tho same region.
In the sierra Haestra range on tho
southern coast NJ cuba. from santiago
west 20 ManZanillo. within distance OF
about 100 miles, are found numefous o.
nosits OF manganese an ore irdispen be
In the manufacture of steel. American
capital opened q mine about twenty miles
distant from Santiago. a. place called
P0nuno and built a railroad 70 II. After
shining one CARO- the mines were stop
ned nv the insurgents. AS nearly al the
manganese used in the United states
comes from the Black Sea regions or Eu-
rome ami 2 smaller quantity from me
northern nart Of South America, II IS but
reasonable 20 suppose that the products
of these nearby mines will be In great
demand when the conditions are such
that thew can be operat ted in safety.
Railroads and other highways, improv-
cd machlnerv and more modern methods
~ doing business are among the wants
OF Cuba. md with tho onward march ~
civilization those will doubtless he hers
I'm the near future. cuba Ike other
tronical or senl-fronlcal countries Is not
given 70 manufacturing her people would
rather sell the products or the soil end
mines and buy manufactured Goods
Philadelphia Record