Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-13
ALITTLE PROSPERITY
II 81
A Glimpse at the 4, Condition Of AZ
fairs inbsCuba.
AGUACAFE SAMPLE OF IMPROVEMENT
The Recuperatioa FIRST Began in
the West of, the Island.
Y
PINAR DEL RIOS SHOWING
Copyright 1899. by Charles NJ. Pepper)
From Staff Correspondent.

From Stan Correspondent.
AGUACATE, Havana province.
February 6, 1899.
Aguacate means alligator pear The trees
are green. The fruit does not come till
later. 1t is in the fall that the pears"
which look like gourds, are plucked. Then
the epicures can halve the gourd, use salt
vinegar. oil and pepper to suit themselves
and enjoy the salad which is SO famous
Some prefer just pinch of salt. The Eng
fish company which owns the railroad
gives relish to the appetite by charging
12.3 cents per mile fare. That is higher
than Powell Clayton's benevolent railroad
at the Hot Springs in Arkansas, and it ex-
ceeds by - per cent the fare on the mar
row-gauge which runs from the junction
up to Bethlehem in the White mountains
For the good of the country English rail-
way management in Cuba ought to have
passed away when Spanish rule vanished
Some American capitalists have the Lon
don directors sweating blood. l hope they
VIII keep the Londoners sweating In the
Industrial reconstruction Of the island these
railroad eXactions are a more serious draw
pack than the mere inconvenience to the
individual who wants to come out TO eniuy
an alligator pear salad.
Zone of Cultivation Spreads.
Aguacate is recuparating. The sugar
mill managed to grind under heavy military
protection during the insurrection and a
small zone of cultivation was maintained
This enabled some cane to be seen in which
the greenness had not been scorched into
burned stalks and fields to be viewed in
which the oxen were plpughing the fertile
RED SOIL 10 say that these things are seen
today would mean nothing. To say that
the zone Of cultivation has spread out
means much. That is what can be said
1t is creeping out to the south, to the bor-
ders of the Tapaste hills, and is pushing
through the palm groves over the hills and
down to the sea on the north. The houses are
being matched. The yolantes, or two-wheel-
ed vehicles, are now in more common use by
the families which live pretty well back in
the country. The local industry of guayabo,
or the manufacture Of guava jelly finds
a better market for it's product and there
is a greater demand for the oranges which
are grown in the neighborhood. The BOYS
who trap the quail and bring the birds to
the train to sell are doing a more profitable
business. All these little Signs count for
east toward Matanzas7 the country is still
pretty desolate, and the same is true west
toward Havana. An basis which spreads
eyes closed. Some persons who sleep on
the train when they are pftSsing Aguacate
go back to Havana and Say there is no
improvement in the country between Ma
tanZas and Havana. .Theyoare wrong.
Jaruco is backward.
An illustration or a StaTfdStiH place is
found a dozen miles Rack At Jaruco This
is or was more thar a village. 1t was
town. Today it is as peaceful as a grave
yard. Jaruco was the center of a recon-
centration district whose death .annals
were exceeded by fey places on the is
land. That is one reason. and a good one,
why it is so quiet t6,fay. mot population
enough remains TO give 1t life i wandered
through the streets and up to the church
on the hilltop Dozens of walls of I'M
rooted buildings We're standing they had
stood for three years. The barracks were
as the Spanish soldiers left them. The
military club rooms were vacant. many
houses were without occupants. No ap-
parent effort had been made to repair the
ruins. NO local Industry was in operation,
not even men at shoe benches women
braidng straw hats. Though there were a
few bOdegos where groceries and cotton
goods could be bought the place did not
have a fonda or inn where a cup of coffee
could be obtained. further sign of the
lifelessness of Jaruco was the absence OF
Cuban flags. Three or four bamboo flag
poles were in front of as many dwelling
houses. but only one of them had the stand
ard raised. An order from the insurgent
captain in command of the zone was posted,
giving certain orders about cleaning the
town. A dozen black insurgent soldiers
We're scattered around and they, too. We're
lifeless and listless. The old horse which
was walking the treadmil at the town well
wasn't worth while to keep going. The in
habitants did not seem numerous enough
to make horse power necessary at the well.
A single arm at the pulling would have
been sufficient. Personally l thought it
better not to try the water and sought to
quench my thirst by stepping into bodega,
where a fresh cocoanut was exposed for
sale To my surprise the owner was cheer
full. While slicing the soft shell to let out
the sweet liquor he talked agingly
of the prospects. Though no American
soldiers were there, some army ratinns had
been received, and these Were distributed
among the poor The men, he said, We're
at work. / had seen not more than score.
all told, in the fields, and asked IL these
constituted the entire working popula ton
No, he said, forty men went out every
morning to the sugar plantation. a few
miles north, and others found work in cut
ting cane at Aguacate. He was doubtful
when they would have work nearer horle,
but they would be all right until the mill
at Aguacate finished grinding. Then there
might be other labor for them in the fields,
Farms Are Not Cultivated.
Little farm cultivation Is going in the
imm edfate neighboThood Of Jaruco / saw
practically no corn garden patches, and
only a few patches of sweet potatoes. In
these the women were working, several
of them with their hair in ''papelitas,' or
curl papers. Some kind of fiesta was