New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1904-06-08

year and a half ago and runs through
districts that are immensely rich, trav-
ersing a broad plateau which forms
the backbone of Cuba.
All of the rolling stock and equip
ment used by the road is Of American
manufacture and the company main
tains sleeping car service between Ha-
vana and Santiago. During this, the
rainy season, there is one stretch of
about forty miles of track where the
rails lie under water but by far the
greater portion of the grade is rock
ballasted and in very good condition.
1t was built with view to permanency
and as the engineers were able to
avoid rugged and mountainous coun-
try, the first cost of construction was
reduced greatly. AS a result good ma
terial was used and it is we'll built
throughout.
The territory it will depend upon is
probably unsurpassed for natural ad-
vantages. East of Havana the road
traverses the famous Cuban tobacco
belt and enters the sugar plantation
district, and then continues onward
until it penetrates the copper-mining
region along the southeastern coast.
Much of this ore is now handled by
steamships but the railway is gradu-
ally increasing its freight tonnage of
minerals.
1t is in the interior, however, that
its principal revenue is obtained.
There the Ferro-Carril has done more
to promote the numbering industry
during the brief period of it's existence
than was accomplished in the centur-
les that Spain was in control. On his
journey Mr.. Beecher saw thousands
of carloads of mahogany and cedar
logs which had been carted to the rail
way by landowners and then purchased
by representatives of logging compa-
MES for expectation. A considerable
quantity of this lumber comes to the
United States and most of the new
roads freight receipts are derived
from hauling it to the coast.
Another new industry of which Mr..
Beecher heard and saw considerable
is grazing. While the revolutionary
wars were in progress, prior to the
intervention of the national govern
ment, the Cuban bovine lead very
precarious existence. Herds encount-
cred by either the Cuban or Spanish
soldiery were ruthlessly slaughtered
and before hostilities subsided the cat
tie on the island were practically ex-
terminated. Since the road was built
a fine grazing country has been opened
and many planters are now turning
their attention to stock raising.
Thousands of Texas steers are being
sent into Cuba and the arrival of con-
signments from Galveston and other
gulf ports are matters of almost daily
occurrence.
In addition to operating it's main
line, the Ferro-Carril is also doing
great deal toward placing the people
Of Cuba in close touch with the mar
kets of the world by building spur
tracks into undeveloped sections One
of these intersecting lines has as it's
prospective base the town of Nipe,
which is generally regarded as the flu
ture metropolis of Cuba. Nipe pos
sesses a splendid land-locked harbor
which is easily accessible to the larg
est ocean-going steamers and it's cen
trial location promises in time to make
Of it a formidable rival of both Santi-
ago and Havana. BY a curious coin
cidence the harbor of Nipe was first
surveyed by Lieut.. A. M. Beecher,
whose tragic death about a year ago
will be recalled by New Ulm people.
From inquiries which he made, Pay
master Beecher has formed the opin-
ion that the Cuban people do not ex-
actly grasp the science of the great
American game of politics. Thus far
they have been able to keep up a sem
blance of concerted action in manag-
ing the affairs of their republic but
there is considerable feeling beneath
the surface. A session of the Cuban
congress scheduled for six months ago
could not convene for lack of quor-
UNI, due to petty strife in various
parts of the island. The ward heel
ers, as it were, could not agree as to
the division Of the honors and emolu-