The Saint Paul globe., 1898-07-10
SANTIACO'S RICH MINES
DIFFICULTIES OF WORKING
THEM UNDER SPAIN
Exnction. andH icorruption Of the
Officials - Even Government
Property at the Service of the
Americans If Pald FOr-The Min
eral Wealth That Is UndeyeIoped
About Santiago. a.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
Cuba is rich in minerals, especially In
iron ores. The ground over which
American soldiers have been tramping
for the past two weeks, Is covered with
cactus and ether rank tropical plants
and underneath is acres Of manganese
The Juragua Iron company is the
property of the Pennsylvania Steel
company, whose works are at Steelton.
near Harrisburg, and of the Bethlehem
Iron company. The Spanish-American
mines are now the property of the Lake
Superior Consolidated Mines. whose Of
hceS 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 COM
pany, and Its ore goes to Sparrow
Point. The first Of these three COM
panies has railroad from it's mines
at Firmeza and Quentugrua to the
mouth Of the Juragua river at the town
of Sfboney. where the headquarters of
the mining. and railway company are
situated. Opposite the Headquarters is
the settlement Of Juragua, q mere out
post, and there the road crosses on a
bridge, now considered so important
that several gunbOats Of Sampsop's
fleet are continually guarding it. From
Siboney' the road runs to Santiago and
ends at suburb called Vera Cruz.
where the high iron ore docks of the
company are located. The road Is a
little narrow gauge, with tracks three
and one-half feet wide, and is twenty
two miles long, without allowing for
the twists and turns that are necessary
In even a narrow-gauge road in such a
mountainous country. After crossing
the San Juan river the road runs In
deep cuttings through the rocky hills
toward Santiago, and these cuttings
are so narrow that there Is barely room
TOR a train to scrape along between the
towering walls Of rock while the sides
are so steep that there would not he
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. it is the terminus Of the Spanish
American road from the mines, three
miles northeast, andshere is an iron
pier for merchandise, built by Mr..
Denton. and an eight4pocket ore dock
rising some fifty feet in the air. and
also built by him. Itiwas on the for
mer the troops landed, and it is the
only point ON that part of the coast
of Cuba where a landing could be . ef.
fected other than in the old way of
getting ashore by means of lighters
and small boats. 1t was the use of
this pier that made the landing so ex-
peditious. A few miles east from Bal
quir1 the Sigua Iron company has it's
mines. close to the coast, and a pier
at which ships can lie. It's railroad is
very small affair, but that of the Ju-
rasua company is equipped with nine 10
comotlves and some 400 cars as we'll as
one little passenger car that has been
the scene OF a. good deal of diplo-
macy and conviviality in times past.
At present none Of the mines are
worked and the properties are all
abandoned. The shipments Of iron ore
from these mines have been as>high as
100000 tons a year. Along the coast
from Sigua around by Moro castle
and up to Santiago is AN old military
road. -. 80
ut was good once says Mr.. Den
ton, ''but the jungle has grown UP, the
cactus has filled 1t fand the rains have
washed 1t out. Part Of it runs through
a swamp and needs repairs badly.
Now it is good enough for a man on a
mule, but could be rebuilt so as 10
carry an army. The road connects
tions at Estrella point, and Is of the
highest strategic Importance. The
maps show a big coral road running
direct from Siboney to Santiago, but
it is not there, and I doubt If any
road could be built through those
mountains. The troops will have to
follow the military road or use the
railway of the Juragua company.
About half way between Santiago and
Jurague lies Sevilla, which is the high
est point in all that country. The town
doesn't amount to anything; all there
is Of it are few little buildings, and
all one can see in the way Of life there
will probably be q saddle horse or two
or train Of mules hitched in the main
street. But that is about all any of
those towns amount to. The agricul-
tural development of that part of Cuba
is very trifing.
THE RAINY SEASON.
"The rainy season is on there now,
but it Is different from the rainy season
Of our Western country. It will shower
every day a little and perhaps rain at
night and then clear up and be pleas
ant. The climate is splendid and
there's no place in all Florida that's
so suitable for the occupation of troops
as on these hills about Sevilla and
Juragua. l never saw any country in
the world where one can sleep at night
| so restfully as there. The nights are
cool, with q breeze from the ocean. For
| q year there ait FirneZa, the mining
| headquarters Of the Juragua company,
! we took daily temperatures, and we
| never saw the thermometer above "a
nor below Sc Fair. Santiago is a hot
! place-one Of the hottest in the tropics
because it is surrounded by ranges
| of mountains and lies ten miles inland,
with & bay in front Of it. When we
were there Santiago had no defences
on the land side, and there are prob
ably 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 companies and storing it in the
| arsenal ait Santiago. If we wanted any
We had to serd around by water for it,
| using either g. small coaster or the tug
| the Juragua company finally bought
| for that purpose. Operations were
| stopped there quite suddenly when the
| Spanish became unable to protect the
| mining property, and there was con-
| sidera able powder on hard, In all prob
ability.
'"The Spaniards, steab everything. AT
Santiago there Isl "a little plaza, about
q block square, and it is ell laid out In
walks and trees, Is set round with set
| tees, and has fountain in each corner
| One year while we were there the gov
ernment had APPROPRIATED $4,000 for
| the improvement iof 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
|