The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-10
AMERICANS ARE
BIG LAND OWNERS I Y |:
#1'hey Are Buying Up Property il
Cuba BY the Thousands ,Siain Ct
Acres
MILLIONS HAVE BEEN SPENT
Large Tracts Bought Up Cheap.
Government Lands and
Timber Properties.
MILLIONS HAVE BEEN SPENT
By Frank G. Carpenter.
Especial correspondence Of The Time

over fifty million dollars. There are
seven thousand American titles registered
In the province Of Puerto Principe alone,
81 at a purchase value OF twenty eight mil
lions, and estates are being bought in
large tracts in nearly every part of the
Island 1t is said that seveii-clghths of
tho land. In the Snncti Spirtus district
Of Santa Clara. is now owned by Anlnr-
cans and a large number OF important
purchases have been made about Glen
fuegos. Great tracts are being bought
nlong the northern coast, and millions of
dollars worth of real estate in and
about Havana. has gone into Americans
hands Some of this property has
changed owners several times, but the
greater part of it Is still in large tracts
awaiting development or colonization by
small farmers.
Americans Own Vast Estates
Indeed nearly all tho sales so far made
arc in thousands of acres. The eastern
part of the island, where most of the
sales have been made. is divided UP into
large tracts. the holdings ranging all the
way from one thousand TO seventy-fvc
thousand acres or more. Some Of these
estates have been in the hands of families
for g,nerntons; and, when sold they.
must go as n whole. The Cuban, who
has ten thousand acres does not like to
sell Il fifty-acre or even a five hundred
uSTC SlTip ne may Ue Wiling ~ Scll
p five thousand acres IN order to get
enough money to develop the remaining
five thousand. but. as Il rule, he wants
Ito sell outright. and that for cash or OH
short time. This has resulted in the
American purchasers being syndcatcs or
Individuals of large means. | venture
that ten thousand of the thirteen thou
sand purchases have been of this ma
ture. Most Of the transfers are for
thousands of acres. and the average sale
price represents large sum.
About Nipe Bay tract of one hundred
and eighty thousand acres of some OF
The best lands OF Cuba was bought five
years ago by Mr.. IIippolyte Dumois for
himself and other parties connected with
The United Fruit Company of Boston.
This has been divided, Mr.. Dumois and
his Immediate associates taking forty
thousand acres and the balance going to
The Nipe Bay Company. an association
pf New England capitalists, which will
invest millions in sugar mills and planta-
lions. l have already described the
banana, pineapple, coffee. cacao orange
and sugar plantations upon the Dumois
purchase. which in full bearing am
;od will bring in something like a mill
lion dollars year.
In that same vicinity several other
large tracts are for SALE They contain
from forty to sixty thousand acres each
and must be bought as n whole, the larg-
est requiring at least n half million dol
lars to buy 1t. Once In the hands of
Americans. these lands may be divided
Into small tracts for colonists. If so,
they will be sold from $50 and upwards
per acre. instead of $40.
Big Tracts Cheap.
Indeed about the only cheap land in
Cuba is in large tracts 1t is easier to
buy lo,ooo-acre farm than one Of 200
acres, and In the New Cuba. which means
the large territory opened un by the Gu
ban Railroad, almost everything Is sold
that way. Hundreds OF Americans are
quietly travelling over this island pick
Ing UP the desirable plots and holding
them for speculation or further develop
ment There are real estate agents in
the cities who have such tracts for sale,
and good lands can be bought In big
blocks at from 81 an acre and upward.
The same lands. when divided and colo
nized, will. be worth $50 or more per
acre.
] have before me the lists Of several
of the American real estate agents, show
Ing their properties and prices do not
mention Names but merely quote some
items to give general idea of the prices
asked Here is Il tract of 1900 acres
In Santa Clara province, which has ESQ
tores of cane on 1t. 1t Is for sale at
IS per acre. On the same page is a tract
" " IV'VVV acres, including 2.OO0 acres OF
guinea grass, at $3.50 per acre. The
most Of this tract is in woods but 1t is
described rs rich land, suitable for sugar
cane. On another page ] see Il tract of
$4,000 acres offered at 30 per acre and
one Of 1000 acres at 100000 Further
on is q tract OF 5000 acres a, 81 per
acre. This lies on the north coast and
adjons one Of the best known OF the
American colonies, where lands are sold
in forty-acre tracts ut $50 per acre.
There Is no doubt but that all good
Cuban land will double in value In the
nsar future, and some of 1t will be worth
many times what 1t lis now. refer OF
course, to undevcloped properties.
Government Lands.
The government lands of Cuba include
about a million and a quarter acres.
They are mostly forests lands; some of
them have been rented and others dis
posed OF In the form Of grants the gov
eminent holding an unlimited mortgage
at per cent. per annum upon their
fixed value large part of the gov
eminent holdings is now offered for
sale by the president, Of the republic
The sales will be at public auction, ana
In payment therefor the certificates and
warrants issued to the soldiers of the
war Of independence, viii be accepted
These timber lands have valuable hard
woods. They have mahogany and cedar
the mahogany bflnglng IN from twenty
seven dollars TO one hundred dollars per
hundred feet. and the cedar from twenty
to fifty dollars per hundred feet. accord :
Ing TO the grade and locality where sold
Jucaro wood Is worth seyc ncents n
foot while granadillo. yamaguey and
Gorilla bring In from twenty-five to
thirty dollars n ton,
Timber in Eastern CUBA.
A large industry In getting ont Cuban
timber has grown up since the war
Ecattered along the line OF the Cuba road
from Santa Clara to Santiago are scores
of sawmills with great piles Of mahogany
and hardwood logs about them and RATS
OF logs may be seen floating in nearly
every harbor, In 1903 Cuba exported
about two and one-half million dollars
worth of forest products, and such ex-
ports are steadily Increasing. Some Ca +
nadians have bought large tract OF