Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-26


| obstacles, have broken into the charmed
| circle and made a place for themselves.
| Most of them. however. got their start in
| the contracts which the American authorl-
| ties let for sanitary and engineering pur-
poses, and as this work is well advanced II
does not offer future opportunities. One
case also know of, young man who ac-
! compished what was declared to be the
impossible task Of establishing himself as
| a commission merchant. He came to Ha-
vana Immediately after the protocol was
signed, and though he did not know word
of Spanish, he married a Cuban wife, went
to live among the Spanish-speaking mer-
chants and gradually built up a fair bust
ness but he was a French-Canadian and
not an American, after ALL
Less Competition i'm the Country.
The real point for the young man in the
United States who wants his chance in
Cuba, Is to seek the field where there is
least competition. and that field is in the
country. If he can get some capital he
need not fear either the Cuban the
Spaniard a rival Most Of the individual
| cases of success with which am acquainted
are of this kind. but even these have not
been achieved suddenly. Generally they go
back to the period of the insurrection. or at
least to the early days of the American oc-
cupation.
One instance is that of a young Texan,
who had been with the insurgents and knew
in the government service, where his ex-
perience would have been valuable to the
American officials because, as he said, he
could not afford to lose the time. Instead,
he went out into the country where some
good land was for sale and where the peo-
pie were anxious to have an American
among them. Though he had little capt.
tai himself some Of the owners placed their
interests in his hands. l heard the other
day that he had established profitable bee
hive industry. had gotten his neighbors to
go with him into project for raising vege-
tables, and was setting out an orange grove
while meeting immediate expenses by rails
Ing cane for the central or sugar mill in
that vicinity. The certain prospect is that
in a few years he will be one of the landed
proprietors of the province, though he did
not have more than $1,000 capital with
which to start with.
A second case of similar kind was Of an
adventurous young Irishman who had come
to Cuba from Montana and had managed
to get with the insurgents a few months
before the blockade. Immediately after the
American occupation I ran across him in
enc Of the outlying districts with his rag
ged company. He told me there was some
fine land In that neighborhood which could
be had cheap and which he thought could
b. cultivated in connection with the viii
lage inn In which he had notion Of Sc
curing an interest. But he without
any cash and wanted to know what the
chance would be Of getting a place for a
while on the Havana police force. At that
time Superintendent Mccullough of New
York was reorganizing the Havana police
and people from the United States who had
the goodwill of the Cubans and who, fur
thermore. might be presumed to have an
innate capacity for becoming policemen
were in demand We had little trouble in
securing the place for him. l saw him in
Havana some months afterward, when he
had been promoted and a sergeant.
Recently asking about him, was told that
he had thrown up his position a year
more ago and now was somewhere out in
the country running farm.
Another instance was that OF a young
Floridian who came to Havana and set up
a real estate agent. He was inexperi-
er ced In the business, and before he knew
it most Of his resources had been used in
showing prospective buyers choice Cuban
land only to discover that they were en-
joying trips at his expense. This expert
eEce did not discourage him. He deter
mined to buy on his own account some of
the lands which he offered for sale and
start an orange grove Some Americans,
army officers and others, put little capital
in with him. the land was bought and the
plants brought from Florida and set out.
As it takes five years for an orange grove
to bear, he is filling In the interval by rails
ing tomatoes and other vegetables, which
find a ready market.
Last summer on the boat to New York
q young man from the northern part OF
that state asked me about tobacco In P1nar
del Rio. He had been attracted by the
stories Of the opportunities and had gone to
Cuba with his partner. They had struck
into the country at once and in the tobacco
region found what they looked upon as a
bargain in lands. A rich Spanish land
owner who was anxious to have Amer1-
cans settle around him, had made certain
promises and had assured them OF the OPP
pcrtunity which was presented. They had
been charmed with what they saw, and
this young man was returning to the states
in order to get together their capltai-a re"
thousand dollars-while his partner remain
ed In Cuba to arrange the details OF the
purchase. go
When he was at sea. with plenty OF
leisure the young New Yorker got to thlnk-
ing about 1t and wondered Wnetner .ies
were not acting rashly. A chance remark
led him to tell me the circumstances. IL
happened that l knew the Spanish land,
owner, and understood why he wanted
Americans to settle around him. l was
able to give this Information and to tell
something of the character OF the Span
lard, who was a man or integrity. VI
dinarily it is not safe to advise anybody
regarding a land bargain. l did not do 1t
in this instance, but the young New Yorker
told me he left the boat that he was
satisfied and would return to Cuba within
month with the necessary FUNDS Lately
l heard that some Americans who had
made a small venture near Pinar last sum-
mer In tobacco lands were going to do well
their first season. and 1t Is not dlff1cult to
guess their identity.
Many Americans in the Interior.
These are individual cases of young men
chance by going out into the country. l do
not doubt that there are other cases of
failure and disappointment, and have heard
some doleful experiences Of this sort. That
always will happen. 1t does not change
the moral, which Is that If the young man
in the United States who wants a chance
in Cuba Is to take 1t under conditions
which promise him success he should plan
to go into the country. That good many
persons have done this Is manifest. One
OF the military officials whose duties take
him all over the island told me he was sur
prsed to find how many Americans had
managed to locate themselves In the In
terror Some were good Americans and
some were not, but most of them were get
ting stakes in the land and pinning their
| hopes Of the future on farming in some of
| Its phases.
| This official noted the opportunity which
| is coming when the grazing ranges of east
| ern Santa Clara, Puerto Principe and San
| tiago are stocked The life in the open Is
| far more attractive than Montana or
| Texas ranch, with their extremes of
| temperature and the discomforts Of bliz-
zard weather part of the year 1 do not
| know but that after az time it will become