The times., 1899-01-15
Interesting Facts About the
Cuban Philadelphia.
IT'S MANY ODD FEATURES
The Heart of Rich Sugar Produc-
ing Section - May re the Capital
Some DRy-The Origin Of Its Sincu-
lar Namc-Nore Wideawakc Thnn
Its RfsaIs-Its Magnificent Bay.

OF the merry CoSnOluen Is Jusl lVN 'ie ihoSt
interesting place in Cuba. the tide of visit
ing Americans has turned this way from
Havana And the old tOwn-which, by the
way. is pronounced as if spelled See-an-
foo-a-gose is well worth visit for its
own sake.
AS everybody knows nowadays, since the
once misty geography of Cuba has be
come a matter OF consequence to the out
side world, Cienfuegos lies on the south
coast OF the island about fifty miles east
OF Trinidad-the latter occupying the exact
centre of the short line. II is the south
ern terminus OF the most important rail-
way line in the island, which passes
through the provinces OF Havana. Matan-
Zas and Santa Clara: ana several steam
ship lines American, English and Cuban,
also make it regular port of call. Before
the war CienfueEos rejoiced under the
pseudonym Of The Philadelphia of Cuha."
This was native Joke. because it came
nearer than any other place on the island
10 being what Yankees term wide
awake" rather than on account OF the
considerable enterprises of several Penn
sylranians in the vicinity. The cruel for
tunes of war, however, have put it sound
asleep again. in slumber so profound that
nothing can awaken it hut Gabriel's trum-
pet. or Major Dusenbury in the role of
middle-aged. bay-windowed Prince Charm
ing, with his potent wand, the American
flag.
4 Disa-rccnbic Trip.
The zig-zag journey from Havana to
Cienfuesos involves an ali-day ride, begin
ming at dawn and ending in darkness, with
four changes of cars and no end of dust,
heat and discomfort. Travellers must bring
both food and water. for neither are 10 be
of Cuba-except the rum and harsh, red
wines of the country at wayside stations,
and small loaves of sour bread, dirty and
hard as briclibats. carried in low, fiat bas-
kets on the heads of peddling gamin. II is
devoutly 10 be hoped that when the Amer
lean Indies Company gets hold OF this line,
as is promised in the Iear future, in con-
nection with the new road it is about TO
build from the Casa Blanca wharves of
Havana TO Matanzas via Triscoria, the
comfort of the travelling public viii re-
ceive some attention. Hitherto the island
railways built by English capital, have
been run by so-called conservative" Eng
lishmen. whose ideas of conservatism seem
10 have demanded the snail's pace and
stupidity.
Even in the darkness of night. as you
emerge from a railway depot much better
than that at Havana, and ride in a decent
cab through broad, welllighted streets to
a good hotel, you receive an impression OF
the progressiveness OF Cienfuegos quite
foreign TO the country. And daylight con-
firms the opinion. Instead of the narrow,
crooked alleys, rambling up hill and down
which distinguish its older neighbors,
Santiago and Trinidad, Cienfuegos's streets
are straight, well-paved and level, laid out
with the regularity of a checker-board, and
were long ago lighted with gas, while those
of Havana were yet depending on oil
lamps. The fact is, the town is already so
Americanized as 10 be somewhat of dis
appointment to the average curiosity
hunting tourist, who misses the musty pic
tuTesqueness OF Espana antigua. Bright,
clean and with surprising air OF newness,
II reminds one of the schoolboy's shining
morning face" and explains at a glance
the talk one hears SO much nowadays in
four century old, hopelessly disease-in-
tested seat TO this side of the island. Glen
fuegoss commonplace. two-storied, freshly
painted houses might belong TO any interior
town in the United States, and are all so
nearly alike that a man coming home at
night must needs be comparatively sober
not TO mistake his neighbor's casa for his
own. The present population is officially
reckoned at $4,000, including a number of
English and American merchants and
planters, who are (or were before the war;
engaged in the sugar and tobacco trade.
Santa Clara province. OF which Cienfuegos
is the seward outlet you know, is the
chief sugar producing section of Cuba, and
in better days the tobacco industry was noI
far behind. La Opinion, the local news
paper, asserts that before the war the aver
age annual export of the neighboring plan
tations amounted TO 60 coo hogsheads of
sugar and dare not tell you its figures on
tobacco lest you doubt the veracity of that
venerable organ. The harbor deep inlet
behind the sheltering keys OF Doce Leguas
--muumerable wooded islets. which CoIum-
bus named the Queens Gardens In the
green mazes Of which his caravals wan
dered aimlessly many days-is safe and
commodious: and this is one of the rare
tropical ports in which steamers come VI
10 a wharf, at New York. permitting
passengers to land without the omniDres
eut small boats.
4 Romantic Tale.
Do you ask. How did the town com.
b. its singular name?" We have all rea,
the romantic story of how Columbus, wind
ing in and out the thousand blghts an,
cOves Of Doce Leguas, charmed with tn
translucent blue of the water the silver,
beaches fringed with cocoa-p palms and tn
shorsward prospect OF mountains veil.
in cloud. suddenly saw before him TO tn
westward the flashing OF a hundred fire
in the forests Of the main land, and OK
claimed to his companions, Mira, 10
cen fuegost" C'Look, hundred fires
for the Indians who had become alarme
az the coings Of the white strangers il
the eastern end of the island. were warn
ing their fellows farther along the coas
IN the direction the caravals were taking
by firing tall trees IS danger signals !
seems q pity TO take the romance out @
any tale of the olden time-particularl
as we have been so sadly disabused G
many charming beliefs and now !5no,
that William Tell did not shoot an appl
from his sons head, and Barbara Fritchi
never waved a flag at Fredericktown. an
there are even grave doubts OF the author
ship OF Shakespeare; but the truthfl
chrOnicler is sometimes compelled 10 d
IT. The naming OF Cienfuegos did nc
come about in this way; nor was the fer
cognomen bestowed on account OF the hea
rs one might well suppose, on a Summer
day The original Spanish town, whic
was founded soon after the conquest an
chr!stened San Sebastian, disappeare
more than two hundred years ago Th
city OF today spTang into being near III
beginning of the present century and wa
named in honor of Senior Don Jose Cier
fusgos, then governor general of Cub.
whose administration was signalized
such important events as the cession
Florida to the United States and a might
agitation for the suppression of SLAYER
which led 10 the speedy end of that abom
nable institution in all the Spanish colo
nies. Cienfuegos was created by the ex
gencies Of a growing sugar trade. Tt
fnest plantations Of the island are cor
nected with IL, either by rail or water-wa
and what IL will become in the radial
future, under shreWd American fostering