The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-06-17

whose owner stands waiting, knowing from previous experience that no for eigner is going to stay long in Santa tandem, and flourishing his whip over their heads, with many prolonged "fmulas- ah-h -h-h!" he rattles you over the dusty road at a pace which threat ems to disjoint yourself as well as the vehicle. Finally the low, green hills are reached, whose steep and gullied byways make such rapid transit inn possible; cross a queer little bridge, be- meath which ascending steam betokens some of the warm springs; and sudden ly you see standing before you several stately structures built of stone, sur rounded by beautifully kept grounds, and many well-dressed people lettering under the trees or lolling in hammocks on the wide verandas. The transfor- nation scene between this and Santa Fe is indeed surprising. These stone and marble casas are the spa hotels, and at the best of them, the Santa Ri- ta," you may find large, cool rooms, an obliging proprietor and some of the comforts of life. A great deal is lack ing, however, which mine host" un- der present circumstances cannot SUD- ply. By and by, when the war is end- ed and prosperity restored to long-suf- fering Cuba, some northern Bonifaces will come down here with sufficient capital and make of it an ideal resort. The climate is as near absolute perfec- tlon as can be found this side of Heav- it, lad hxyI h from the near by ocean and odorous of the pine forests. At present only one of the springs, that called ''Templado," (temperate) is used as a bath. A house has been erected over it, divided into compartments for ladies and gentle men, each bathing pool being twelve feet by six, with four inches of water on floor of solid stone. The tempe"- ature of the water is eighty-tWo de- grees Fahrenheit, and it is very strong- ly impregnated with oxygen, carbonic acid gases, chloride of sodium, sulphate of lime, nitrate of lime, iron, magnesia, sileX, chloride of calcium, and nobody knows what other constituents, making about the nastiest drink imaginable. Beside it, the savor of added eggs, common to most mineral springs, is as ambrosia, and even the smell of it gen erally acts as lively emetic on new corners. The regulation cure nere, as prescribed by the Cuban doctors for al- most every disease known to materia medica, is four glasses a day of the water and two baths; but it is proba- ble that the pine odors, the warm pure air and simple diet, and above all faith, have much to do with it. At any rate a great many surprising cures have been effected, particularly of bronchial, rheumatic and scrofulous complaints. Inyalids have been brought from the steamers on filters apparently just ready to give up the ghost who in a weeks time have been riding over the hills on horseback, and in a month have gone home good as new'' and well as anybody If the springs were managed by some sensible, wde-awaSe, judi .cious Anglo-Saxon they would soon be- come the sanitarium of the continent, besides which Las Vegas In New Mexi- co, White Sulphur in Virginia. Saratoga and other of our spa would hide their diminished heads. As it is, life here is
 
 of the Creature comforts" to which northerners are accustomed. Mere pleasure seekers would better stay away but one whose health it at stake can afford to fight abounding vermin and put up with sshort commons" for a season. Pleas, reaches spiders, thou- sand wriggling, crawling, stingne creatures beset you continually on the Isle Of Pines. You find the pests be- tween the sheets and in the food They pre-empt your shoes at night and the garments you are wearing by day: and if they do not take bodily possession of you, whole colonies of them settling down comfortably on your hair and ears and nostrils while you are catch ing forty winks" of troubled slumber in the intervals of warfare, you are ex- ceptionally fortunate. Even Eden had it's serpent, you know; and doubtless a more advanced state of civilization here will evolve some means of dimin- ishing the plague of vermin.
 Expenses at this spa are very mode rate. The best hotel charges $2.25 per diem American money, for it's choicest accommodations, including baths Saddle horses may be hired at $1. .50 pel l day, and carriages at proportionate rates. There are many charming walks and drives in the neighboring hills, an6 | interesting all-day excursions may bt made to sugar estates and pineapple plantations. The natives of Isle de To! 1 Pinos are a simple, llind-hearted peo | pie, whose greatest pleasure seems tt be chatting with strangers and listen
 To them all beyond the horizons rim
 or at most beyond the limits of Cuba, i' l a terra incognito of more than Nun 1 chausen wonder. The young childrer go about entirely naked, and the uni
 versal innocence. combined with the ut
 most dignity and punctilious courtesy l is charming to behold.
 | The soil is extermely fertile. but only a small portion of the island is under
 cultivation. A few of the green val | leys are used as cattle ranges. Tobac
 co and sugar are cultivated to limited
 extent and pineapples are perhaps tn,
 staple product. There has been som, trade In woods-mahogany, pine anC cedar, and might be much more. Spir
 its of turpentine, pitch, tar, sulphur
 totoise shell and crystals are also
 among the possible exports. Silver quicksilver and iron exists in tn
 hills, and the marble auarries arr
 practically inexhaustable The grea
 swamp, known locally as La Cienaga' i (the procOdile) is totally l1niph a bito