The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-20
THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA
W.T.. The Real Treasure leland
By Frederic ]. Iiaskin.

I sundry sites for naval stations and sucl on the Island co Cuba. For severa 1 years the Senate of the United State has refused to confirm that treaty, an, 1t likewise has neglected to reject 1t There was an American revolution oi the Isle of Pines. and great excitement but the status was not changed nor tin issue settled. The American settler had come, however, and there was Yan kee prosperity oh Treasure Islant when. two years ago, Mir. Johnson. o Pennsylvania. returned.
 An old man he was now, but still rich. The lure of the buried treasure had brought him and his aged wife from their retirement. They wanted more gold. But Mir. Johnson of Penn syivania was cautious. He could nc longer run . schooner himself, so he did confide in one man. and the two went to the wild and uninhabited South Coast in a steam launch. But the map was no longer true--the ac- tion of the wind and tide had changed tho shore line. the landmarks had fall ! en q prey to time. and the cache could ] not be found.
 But Mir. Johnson of Pennsylvania had other maps. He stole away from ever he could evade the wstchful eyes of the popuiace. Suddenly he and his wife decided to go back to the States :. The next day some boys found an iron chest on the sandy beach two miles from town. It was old and rusty. but 1t had just been opened and half buried In the sand by it's side was a bright gold coin. Pieces of eighti Pieces of eight. the boys cried after John Pennsylvania had gone. .r
 To conceal nothing. if must he said that Mir. Johnson of Pennsylvania al- ways insisted that he never found any treasure, although he admitted he had searched for 1t. He always denied the story of the adventure of thirty years ago. But his wife told lady of Nueva Gerona that it was all true, every word of 1t Mir. Johnson of Pennsylvania, unfortunately. has been dead for some- thing more than year and no one knows whore his map is to be found.
 If you go to the Isle of Pines on a hunt for pirate gold and wish to con- ceal your mission, you will find much that Is interesting in other ways. There is the old prison, and across the river from Nueva Gerona is the old brick yard. where the Cuban prisoners were forced, like the Israelites of old, to make brick without straw. Here la- bored and toiled in the clay the spir- itual and dreamy Jose Marti whose birthday we celebrate this month by withdrawing from the government in Cuba. Here was confined that proud patriot, the Marquis of Santa Lucia, who was the second President of the Cuban Republic in the field. And here the beautiful daughter of the Marquis of Santa Lucia. Evangeline Cisneros. was arrested on a trumped-up charge and carried off to prison. How her incarceration stirred the hot blood of the American people. how sheN got out of jail by the aid of an American news paper man, how General Fitzhugh Lee made her case the basis of stern de- mands.--a these things belong to the history of the war with Spain.
 Then there is Nueva Gerona itself. Quaint old town. lying lazy in the sun." Most of 1t used to be owned by an old Spaniard who survived until a few years ago, the last of the slave traders. A few miles away in the country is the place where this old dealer in "black fvory'' had his plan tation, The ruined mansion has not yer disappeared. and the slave quar- ters are still there. Miles and miles Of the solid brick walls enclose the fields and here and there are the ruins Of sugar mills and starch factories. The ships used to bring the negroes from Africa to this place, where they were taught to speak Spanish and to work. Then they were sold to the Gu ban planters.
 Quite as interesting Is the ancient town of Santa Fe, which has been a favorite watering place and health re- sort for the wealthy and fashionable people of Havana for more than a cen tury. The low white houses with their red roofs, the truly wonderful ceiba trees. and one of the most magnificent Spanish laurel trees in the world. all conspire to make Santa Fe beautiful. The spring with its medicinal waters> the bath houses and the hotels be- speak the departed gayety Of the Span fish era.
 This is a Treasure Island ax if is today, charming bit of tropical beau ty with the romance of piracy still en- veioping it. The sturdy Americans who are making this island a paradise Sh hrmly believe that there is buried treasure here. Not the gold of the pirates. but the wealth of the Creator. They are digging in the ground for that. But that Is another story.
 Copyright, 1909 by Fredefic J. 44as-
 kin.)
 T0mOrrow--The Republic of Cuba. VIII. An American Colony in the
 Tropics.