The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1902-03-13

Editor Palatka News:
promised you my opinion of Gu
ba after being here long enough to
form one. The country is unlike any
have ever seen. There are no
small farms, no roads. The natives
are friendly and generous, but don't
speak English. The country people
are all poor and are hard workers as
a general thing, totally unreliable
about their work or what they tell
you, live in huts or shacks with dirt
floors, while the children, dogs, pigs,
goats and chickens are all in the
same house. They live principally
on pumpkins, bananas, rice and gar
lick. The island in this province is
full of what the natives call Gamer
icano developer" Americans who
have been here long enough to speak
Spanish, came with some company
or colony, have been most awfully
treated by those who induced them
to come. Most of them 1 met are
from LaGloria, and were fully de-
velOped by the "Cuban Steamship &
Land Company" All have their
tale of woe and duplicity to tell. They
meet the incoming steamers at the
wharves like hackman in the United
States do the trains, each offering
his services to you as guide and in
terpreter. He looks as wise as an
owl and as solemn as a lack ass
tells you he is agent for the only
good land on the Island that can be
bought: if in the city he can show
you the best American hotel and in
takes you where you can
get the best American beer and red |
liquor as our friend John P. Wall |
calls it. He tells you he is sorry he
is little short of cash just now or he |
would ask you to "wet your whistle"
If another developer speaks to you
he quickly tells you not to listen to
that fellow, "He is no good" Ask
him about LaGloria he tells you it is
40 good, and gives many reasons
why. They all seem surprised that
the United States does not suppress
\ pamphlet called the "Colonist'
published in New York by the Cuban
Company, in behalf of
LaGloria, for using the mails for de-
the innocent and unsus-
)icious. Parties who live in LaGlor-
"a tell that LaGloria is all right, but
or the hay hens, mosquitoes, mud
md want of transportation to the
place. / have not been there vet, but
will visit our old friends, the New
jOm's, there soon.
AS to the climate it is about the
ame as Florida, only the glare of the
Jun is much greater, while the tenn
,erature in the shade is always cool.
There are good and poor lands here
Is anywhere else. The lands are of
hree classes, the mountains, the
avannah and the timber or wood
ands. The mountains are mostly
Ocky, with now and then patches of
small growth of timber, the balan-
e savannah covered with a wild
,rass that John Prices old OK
you'd be ashamed to be caught eat
ng. The principle value of the
fountains is the honey, which is !
out of the cracks and crew.
es with gourds and cups. | heard
his, but have never seen it. The c
avannahs, which l Judge to be on t
of the land on the Island, s
re mostly poor land, with rocks crop
ing out in most of them. They vary :
8 much in quality as they do in col z
r; both the mountain and savannah
tnds are from black to a light gray G
nd from light brown to deep red.
n going four miles you pass over all
rades of color. The wood land is
ne best and only farming lands ond
ne Island so far as can Judge. They
re low and fiat and vary in color as /,
0 the others covered with hardwood =
rowth. AS general thing the trees I
re small, there being but few more :
nan inches in diameter.-200 to | 7
,ss than three inches. The growth :.
{ wood is unlike any l ever saw =
efore. Wild orange trees are the :.
ally kind / ever saw before. The n
agar farms are all on large scale.
have visited two. Each have TO-
10 acres in cane and work from $500
, 5000 men when in full blast. The
rincipal products of this province so
" as am capable of judging, is sug-
:, rum, bananas, cattle and babies. c
One thing | am positive about in A
" own mind. This is no place for
man to come to unless he has
enty of cash to buy big tract of
nd, or sure job with some respon-
Bile man or company, or to go home !
I when he wants to get. The lands y
e all owned by heirs and in big
acts, few of them containing less H
ian 10000 acres up to 10000 and co.
u acres. Capitalists have men all
yer the Island buying up the lands. a
all hear about the law is true and N
lie has to go through all the forms, to
c. to get deeds, Ii is worth the land. D.