Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-03-14
CUBA NOW NEEDS ROADS.
Commercial and Strategic Value
of a Central Railway.
WHY THE SPANIARDS FAILED.

Languish.inE Industries May He Re-
stored II IN nm i |. ra ton and Capital
Will Set Things MOving-Rich Soil
and Large Mineral Deposits.
Copyright. 1899 by the Author.l
| H.
Next to an influx of capital and ex-
| tepsiye colonization or immigration.
| what Cuba requires to develop her agri-
| cultural, mineral and timber industries
are railroads, highways, improved wa
terways, modern machinery, work oxen
and mules.
In times of peace there are but 1000
miles of railroad in regular operation,
besides about 200 miles of private lines
running to the 'tcentrales," or large
sugar plantations, which were for the
most part destroyed during the war.
There are no railroads whatever in
the central portion Of Cuba, nor any
worth mentioning in the east, the three
small lines leaving Santiago (none over
so miles in lengthy only running to
Guantanamo, Ell Cobre and Morote.
| For this reason the'vast tracts OF for
est lands in Santiago and Santa Clara
provinces remain virgin and intact. The
| nearest railroad is about Is miles from
the outer edge Of the woodland, and the
cost of hauling the timber by oxen
would be enormous.
These Cuban forests contain over 40
varieties of cabinet woods, the native
mahogany and cedar being recognized
the world over as unexceiled. Inc
woods also abound in lancet spars. used
for carriage building, and in. lignun
vitae. so extensively used in the manu-
facture of bowling balls and block
| sheaves.
twill be readily conceived, therefore,
what vast wealth is contained in those
Is, 600, 900 acres of forest land lying
waste owing to a want Of transportation
facilities.
What few railroads do exist in the is
| land instead of aiming to make profits
out of the volume of traffic, extending
their lines, developing the country and
opening new avenues of business, have
pursued the, shortsighted policy of per-
gevering in the old rut, avoiding all
outlay entailed by the extension of lines
| and ACQUISITION of additional rolling
| stock, charging exorbitant freight rates,
which have so far enhanced the price OF
| the produce and timber carried as to
make it prohibitive in foreign markets
and prevent its successful competition
abroad, really standing in their own
light as far as their interests as carriers
| were concerned.
Under altered conditions, however,
this opening up of the island and its re-
sources by means of increased transpor-
tation facilities will add a fresh stimu-
lus to enterprise and prove source of
no mean revenue to the roads.
From the military as we'll as the COM
mercial points of view the building OF
central railroad the entire length OF
the island is an imperative necessity.
| The lack of such a road seriously handi-
CAPPED Spain in her effort at quellina
the insurrection in its inception and led
TO her final loss of the island. 1t is to
be hoped that Spain failure will serve
as a warning to the United States,
whose military occupation OF the island
will by no means be "bed of roses, "
and that no time will be lost in its con-
struction.
Cubas mineral resources are SO ia,
but slightly developed. Santiago is the
center of the mining and smelling in
dustry. Silver ore has been found, also
alluvial gold deposits in some Of the
rivers, but as a producer of precious
metals Cuba is not entitled to consider.
alton. Bituminous coal in extensive
LAYERS exists, and together with iron,
copper and manganese constitutes the
chief item of Ouba's mineral wealth.
The Juragua Iron company at Siboney
and the Spanish American Iron com.
pany at Daiquiri are the only iron com
panies at present in operation. The cop
per mines at Cobre have been abandoned
for many years. OF the manganese ore
mines the Ponupo Mining oompany't
are the only ones working. ,-
The entire mineral belt lies in the
mountainous districts of eastern Cuba,
which is parceled off clear up to the
Gran Piedra, the highest peak in the
Sierra Maestro, and owned by private
individuals. mostly Spaniards.
All this slope was once covered by
coffee plantations belonging to Spanish
/. grandees and buried under beds of wild
roses and jasmines, which had to be cut
down with the machete to make 9
passage along the hills. These grandeel
did not know what the "black stones
e were that they noticed on their prop
erty, and used to call the one vein the
"black road" but never investigated
its properties nor discovered the buried
9 treasure underneath their plantations.
e French refugees from Haiti and Sante
{ Domingo, driven out of their homes BY
. what have come to be known as the
e "Santo Domingo horrors" settled in
Santiago and became overseers on the
plantations of Spanish grandees. 1t wal
they who first discovered the presence
? of the iron ore. By that time the Span.
: ish nOblemen were beginning to rear