Omaha daily bee., 1900-02-11
PRESENT CONDITION IN CUBA
Unless Careful, Ignorant Investors Almost
Sure to Ee Fleece.
REAL ESTATE SHARKS FIND VICTIMS
oman Man Returned from Gem of
tae Antilles Tells How lie Finds
Business and Customs on
the Island.

b. f. Hake, an old resident of Omaha,
who has returned from a visit to Cuba, was
speaking the other day in regard to the
island and his observations there.
Cuba today" said he, lis a good place
for investment by mel who depend Upon
their own judgment and who watch their
own investments, but prospective investors
should beware of the man who is promoting
a company or who is locating colonies. Early
after the Spanish war a number of Amer
leans went to the island and purchased land
for a song which was dear at the price and
started companies for the purpose of colo
nizing the lands. The native Cubans were
not backward in seeing the profits to be de-
rived and some of them have gone into the
business.
One of these companies was organized by
two men, j. NJ. Barris and a man named
Johnson, who purchased a tract of land
known as the Ortez grant, on an island near
the Isle of Pines, and called by these men
by the same name. These men succeeded
in getting themselves interviewed and an
interview appeared in The Bee under a
Washington date last May. Mr.. Barris told
of the beauty of the Isle of Pines and tha
richness Of the vegetation. He said that a
| line of steamers piled between the island of
Cuba and New Corona, a port on the island.
! spent two weeks on the island. Unfortu-
nately the Isle of Pines, which contains the
port Of New Corona, is not the island which
Barris and Johnson have for sale. Their
Isle of Pines is a swampy tract OF land with.
out port or town. Much of it is below the
sea level and all of tho valuable timber
which can be brought to the market has
been cut and sold long ago. The other Isle
of Pines is a good enough place, but little,
IL any, of it is for sale.
"A few days before ! left Havana | was
offered a tract of 5000 acres of land fifty
miles from the city for $40, 900. went out
to look at it. 1t was represented as being
covered with rich timber and so it was, but
so rocky and inaccessible was it that the
timber could not be reached. and this is a
sample of the land that is being offered by
unprincipled promoters to American set
tiers. Just before / started home | met an
American from Puerto Principe, who said
that together with several families he had
purchased land from one OF the colonization
companies, and when they came to settle
on it they found that it was worthless. He
further said that some Of the cOlOnists were
destitute and had applied to the American
military authorities for assistance,
There is no occasion for such misrepre-
sentation, as land in Cuba is cheap, and
when it can be cultivated at all will pro-
duce anything. One man this year viii take
Is 1000 off one acre Of tobacco land, and un-
developed land Of the same appearance In
the same neighborhood can be bought FOR
$40 per acre. Good land can be bought at 80
to $50 per acre. See your land before you buy
it and you will make no mistake.
Condition of the Cubnns.
The American people have a mistaken
idea Of the condition of the native Cubans'
Some of them are still rich, and during my
stay in the island | did not see one person
suffering from hunger, though in the large
cities. where many have crowded to live upon
A.,ri,,pg tbara NAV