The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-21

hhN aulCksltVef, Mih
 er"i Springs and Beautiful Marbles
 N"eVn Geronn, the Blrth-pIace O
 Av"nselina Cisneros,
 Nopeclal Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier)
 Nueva Gerona, Isle of Pines, Aug. 18
 --ThIs big island, with an area of more
 thah six hundred square miles, has
 only two small towns-Nueva Gerona,
 Its capital and Santa Fe fifteen miles
 farther inland. To reach them, you
 must sail around to the northern coast,
 winding in and out the channels be-
 tween a hundred green cays and slets,
 all green with mangrove thickets.
 Nueva Corona lies three miles from the sea, up the river Casas, and to it's wharf
 comes once week the small steamer
 "Protectora" from Batabanao. the
 southern port of Havana province.
 Santa Fe has port of it's own, seven miles distant, called Jucaro, on the San
 la Fe river, several miles above the Ca
 ribbean Vessels drawing more than
 AiNS LNOl ol NdlcI CtHIlOl dDDlOdCD eltn- CT port because of shallow water over
 the bars at the mouths of the rivers
 Dlsembarking at Jucaro, you see a few idle darkeys lounging on it's tum-
 ble-down pier, beside a quantity of railway ties, roofing beams and tobac- co poles piled up for exportation; and beyond find two or three antiquated vo- lantes and as many oX-carts waiting to convey passengers and their luggage to Santa Fe. Though it's resident popula- tion is less than two hundred the town IS famous one on account of the ther- maj springs, which Cubans believe will almost resuscitate the dead. The drive thereto from Jucaro is an experience to finger in the memory. Each decrepit volante is drawn by three mules har- messed tandem, and over their heads the driver f1ourishes his whip with pro- longed "Mulas-ah- -h-h-h!" that. make the Welkin ring, as you are rattles along the stony road at a pace which threat ems to dlsJoint your own frame together with that of the vehicle. After the sand-dunes and mangrove vegetation or the coast comes desolate region of cacti and dwarf palmettos, so like the Arizona desert that you involuntarily look around for rattlesnakes and Gila monsters gradually displaced, as the hills are neared, by scanty grass, eel bas and yellow pines. Presently steep and gullied byways make rapid transit no longer possible and you find yourself in fern draped canyons arched with living green, which by contrast to the coast scenery, have the effect of com i'm int Iiy1, oic commonplace city street, and the im- presiveness of a fine quotation from the Bible in a ''yellow journal"
 The Wretched little hamlet is well named Holy Faith" for it requires a great deal of that intangible commo- dity to make it's many discomforts A wide, bare space in the center of the village, called by courtesy a plaza, is given to heaps of garbage and dis carded cans, hungry dogs and wander ing donkeys. Around this general dumping ground the low, matched cot tages are built, struggling off into irreg- ular. unpaved streets. There is no inn or other public accommodation for man pr beast ard the sooner you get out of the wretched place the better so y)u re- enter the Girapdated vehicle and pro- cee,l at cnce to the springs. Hidden in the heart of low, green hills is the cele- brated spa, with nothing to indicate it's existence until you are fairly upon it but a brook or two, from which as- cending steam gives warning of waters unusually heated. A sudden turn in the road reveals a surprising transforma- tion scene from Santa Fe-several stately structures, built of stone, sur rounded by beautifully kept grounds, with many well-dressed people loiter ing under the trees and lolling in ham, | rlocks swung in wide verandas. These | stone and marble casas are the spa ho- tels, to which, form any years the | wealthiest Cubans and titled captain | generals from Spain and invalids from l all parts of the West Indies have come | for health and recreation. In their | large, cool rooms you may find some of the comforts of life: but of course great deal is lacking, which under pres ent circumstances cannot be supplied. By and by, when prosperity is restored to long-suffering Cuba, some northern bonifaces will come down here with sufficient capital and make an ideal re- sort. And with them will come other lluCn upeu6u piONSlllSirtS, SucI dS dredging the mouth of the river and tram line between Juc- arc and Santa Fe. The climate of the whole island is as near absolutely per- lection as can be found this side of dry, pure air cooled by ocean breezes and odorous of the health. giving breath of pine forests. Besides the many medical springs are several deep bathing pools of about blood temperature. At present only ,ne of the latter is used that named (Temperate) near the santa Rita hotel. A house has been erected over it. divided into compart- nents for ladies and gentlemen, each path being twelve feet by six, with four 'eet of water on stone floor. The is eghty-two degrees Fahrenheit and the water is very strongly impregneted with iron, mag lesia, silex, oxygen. carbonic acid gas- g chloride of sodium, chloride of cal ,illrn, sulphate of lime, nitrate of lime md nobody knows what other constitu- nts. The combination makes the mas fest drink imaginable, beside which the ayor of added eggs, common to most | mineral springs, is as ambrosia and l ven the odor of 1t generally acts on { lew corners as lively emetic. The { egl1lation cure as prescribed by Cuban l