Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-07-13
THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA
THE REAL TREA SURE ISLAND
BY Frederic j. Haskin.

can territory, so Mr.. Mckinley aId John
Hay thought. Then Mr.. Roosevelt and
Elihu Root changed the executive Amer
lean mind and said the Isle of Pines was
Cuban territory. The Plat amendment
had declared that the question Of the
title was to be kept open for future adj
justment. That adjustment was attempt
ed by the negotiation of a treaty giving
Cuba a quit claim. deed to the island in
consideration of sundry sites for naval
stations and such on the island of Cuba.
For several years the senate of the United
States has refused to confirm that
treaty, and it likewise has neglected to
reject it. There was an American revolu-
ton on the Isle of Pines, and great ex-A
element, but the status was not changed
nor the issue settled. The American set
tiers had ccme, however, and there was
Yankee prosperity on Treasure Island
when, two years ago, Mr.. Johnson, OF
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
Mr.. Johnson, of Pennsylvania, was eau
tious. He could no longer run a schooner
himself, so he did confide in one man,
and the two went to the wild and unin-
habited south coast in a steam launch.
ton OF the wind and tide had changed the
shore line the landmarks had fallen a
prey of time, and the cache could not be
found.
But Mr. Johnson, of Pennsylvania, had
other maps He stole away from Nueva
Corona on lonely trips whenever he could
evade the watchful eyes of the populace.
Suddenly he and his wife decided to go
4 rlna ~ hQu
boys found an iron chest on the sandy
beach two miles from town. It was old
and rusty, but it had just been opened
and half buried in the sand by its side
was a bright gold coin. Pieces Of eight!
Pieces of eight" the boys cried. after John
SiIver's parrot. But Mr.. Johnson, OF
Pennsylvania, had gone.
To conceal nothing, II must be said
that Mr.. johnson, Of Pennsylvania. al
ways insisted that he never found any
treasure. although he admitted he had
! searched for it. He always denied the
story of the adventure OF thirty years
ago. But his wife told lady of Nueva
Corona that 1t was all true, every word
of it. Mr.. Johnson. of Pennsylvania, un-
fortunately, has been dead for something
! more than a year and no one knows
where his map is to be found.
II you go to the Isle of Pines on q
hunt for pirate gold and wish to conceal
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 brickyard, where
the Cuban prisoners were forced, like the
Israelites of old, to make brick without
straw. Here labored and tosled in the
/ clay the spiritual and dreamy Jose Marti,
whose birthday we celebrate this month
~ withdrawing from the government in
Cuba. Here was confined that proud pa
triot, the Marquis of Santa Lucia, who
was the second president of the Cuban
Republic in the field. And here the beau
tiful daughter Of the Marquis of Santa
Lucia, Evangelina Cisneros. was arrested
on a trumped-up charge and carried OF
to prison. How her Incarceration stirred
the hot blood of the American people,
how she got out Of jail by the aid OF an
American newspaper man, how General
Fitzhugh Lee made her case the basis ca
stern demands-alI these things belong
the history of the war with Spain.
Then there is Nueva Corona itself
Quaint old town, Lying lazy in the sun"
Most of II 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 Oealer IN 'DlaCk ivory
had his plantation. The ruined mansion
/ has not yet disappeared, and the slave
quarters are still there Miles and miles
of 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 70
speak Spanish and to work. Then they
were sold to the Cuban planters.
Quite as interesting is the ancient town
Of Santa Fe, which has been a favorite
watering place and health resort for the
wealthy and fashionable people of Ha-
vana for more than a century. The low
white houses with their red roofs, the
truly wonderful ceiba trees. and one OF
the most magnificent Spanish trees in the
world all conspire to make Santa Fe
beautiful. The spring with its medicinal
waters. the bath houses and the hotels
bespeak the departed gayety Of the
Spanish era.
This is Treasure Island as It Is today.
charming bit of tropical beauty with the
romance of piracy still enveloping It, The
sturdy American who are making this
island a paradise firmly 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 Frederic ]. Haskin-)