Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-11-21
alligators. and few fishermen live on

| the Second Cavalry, who mada tho
| most thorough survey of the Isle NJ
Pines, gave it as his opinion that the
agricultural lands did NOT exceed
| twenty per cent. of the total area. and
half of this was of doubtful yalue.
large proportion is covered with man
groves. The mangrOve is a bush
which takes it's root in salt water. All
The keys around Cuba are covered
with these bushes some of which are
as large as the American willow which
they resemble.
1t is the custom of the Cuhans and
/ Spaniards who have lands living along
the coast and who are selling to Amer.
ican buyers TO make point OF the man
groves. They always count these in as
worth something. An American buying
ten thousand acres of land along the
coast usually finds thai two or three
groves, w..lch the liberal Cuban or Span-
lard puts in an extra inducement at A
reduced price. lie might lust as well
put in a few thousand acres of the sur
Because of its swampy nature, the
island has vast number Of coveS and
creeks which are sometimes described as
navigable streams. II the Isle of Pines
becomes an American possession prob
ably the engineer corps OF the army
could easily ind reasons for including
some OF IntIl III al uItN million tOllar rlt
er and harbor bill. Yet these creeks are
hardly an inducemcnt to commerce. Cap
tain Juan 1'irry. the Spanish shipping
master. who made the first real survey
of the island hundred and four Years
ago. waded through them.
In spite of its swampy nature the island
has some resources which might he de
everywhere in Cuba. is an exaggerated
wealth. but there may be enough OF it
TO justify q commercial enterprise. The
pine trees are too small for lumber and
about their only use is for poles though
two or three small saw mills have been
in operation. The chief value OF the pine
forests seems to BE- in creating :, balmy
atmosphere; which is good for invaiids
On the higher plains. where the really
good land lies. almost every variety OF
tropical fruits. plants and vegetables
may be grown. The possibilities for to-
bacco raising are exaggerated. The quail
ity is hardly equal TO that of the eastern
part of Cuba. which produces the worst
grade. This statement was made tn me
by the greatest tobacco manufacturer in
Havana. He had no interest in misrep-
reSenting the conditions. During the in
surrecton. when il was impossible To cul-
tivate much OF the TOBACCO land in the
Vuelta Abajo. he made the effort on the
Isle of Pines and transferred there ff-
back, stating tina, the soil was not good
enough to raise tobacco Of the quality
teen hundred Of his laborers. As soon as
the war was ended he brought them AL
which would command a ready market
Nevertheless, some Of the enthusiasts
claim that the Isle of Pines tobacco il Of
the most excellent quality and passes for
! the choicest product OF the Nuelta Abaj".
The quarries in the interior are said To
be of grea; value, but that is another as
sertion that must be received with eau
tion. i..ey were worked many years ago
and great stories are told OF the marble
which was declared to be superior 10 the
finest Italian marble. This is rank non
sense. Some OF the public buildings in
Havana and some private residences hav.
marble from the Isle of Pines. but it is
of rather inferior quality. Probably
under enterprising American manage
ment these uIarries may be worked
again and he made to pay. because the
ma rble can he used for building purposes,
vet il is very doubtful Ii much OF il ever
would find Il market in the United States
even though coming from an American
possession il should not be subjected 10
tariff dues.
probably the most valuable resources
of the Isle of Pines are its climate ami
its hot springs The springs lie twelve or
fifteen miles back from the port of New
ierone. and there is a little village called
Santa F'e which at one time mad some
passibly good hotels of Il certain kind
which was not the best kind. The min
eral constituents OF the medicinal springs
bronchial and similar affections Were in
the habi of resorting To these springs
and usually found relief. The Spanish
government maintained an official physi-
cian who prescribed for every body VINO
wanted 10 take the baths or drink the
waters. The fee was FIVE dollars. and
no visitor was allowed to escape without
paying. 1t is quite probable that a sani-
tarium will be erected at santa Fe, be-
cause the place has attraction both as
health resort and for tourists.
There have been a large number of
Anne rcan schemes for exploiting the Isle
of Pines Mr.. Neeley, OF postoiiice fame,
was at the head of one of these enter
prises. He persuaded some army officers
nd OIL Americans into il and
they contributed a couple Of thousand Of
dollars for Il preliminary survey. After
the survey was made they decided ina
the Inducements We're not sufficient and
they abandoned the enterprise. When
the disclosures came of Neeley's crook
edness they were glad they had dropped
the matter. though all Of them would
have been innocent parties.
One project which was said to ne
backed by, Iowa CAPITALISTS was for 4
great stock farm Of eighty tno9sand
this project declared that to his mind the
only feasible plan Of a stock ranch would
be one for raising jackasses. lie thought
this might be made profitable once
asked an American lawyer in Havana
who examines the titles in land purchases
made bv Americans If any of his clients
replied quite nimber OF my clients
went down there TO see what the field
was for investment. but when they came
back they all said oh, h-ll. and nave
ties there. Ill,
PERHAPS the best Investments in the Isl"
of Pines for Americans who want 10 tax
"A flyer would be i'll Il company to Sta;ch
for buried treasures. | think that would
nav better dividends than town lots or
inaugrove swamp farms. For two nun
dred wears the island was the resort 81
pirates and tilibuSters. French. Englsh 4
and Dutch corsairs alternately made II |
their headquarters, without ever trying 70
nrctIpv il permanently or hold it for their !
respectiye governments. Morgan ana nus
blIrc.neers started many of their eNpeii- |
tions from the island and il is one OF the /
traditions that much pirate treasure wa
concealed there.
The isle was discovered by Columbus on
his second visit in 1891. He named II Id |
Fvangelista or Evangelist Island. The /
tradition is that CorteZ started his eXpe-
dition for conduerinG Mexico from 8ata-
bano and that previously he had cN-
nIored All the coast of the Isle of Pines
and the smaller keys That is tradition
only hut IL is known that Drake. when
he was sweeping the Spanish main. reh-
dezyoued more than once i'll the Isle OF
pines II was in this neighborhood that
the exnedition returning with brakes
hodv was attacked by the Spanish Ad-
miral Avellaneda. who captured one or
TWO of the English gaileons.
For two centuries and half after thc
d;scoverv Of the island by Columbus.
spain practically abandoned it to the
oirates buccaneers and corsairs. To-
yards tho middle of the eighteenth cen
,urv II attracted little attention from
,ha Sna nish authorities who governed
cuba. and in l.t5 Captain General Ricld
established u constable or magistrate on
the island whose authority extended over