The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1919-04-04

garded as the Treasure Island" Of
| StevensOn's tale.
AS recently as some thirty years
| ago Spaniard who had lived a long
time on the Isle of Pines, as poor as
the proverbial church mouse. suddenly
blOsSOmed out as gentleman of
great affluence. He moved with his
family to Havana. the paris of the
| West Indies" and to him was traced
as the source of circulation, a large
amount of old Spanish dOubloons
| pieces of eight" and other gold coins
Of the pirate days. 1t was generally
believed he had discovered the cache
| of the hidden treasures of some pirate
crew who We're unable to return and
| claim their ill-gotten wealth. Even
now there is more or less desultory
search made from stime to time by
| some of the natives for pirate treas
| ures supposed to be buried in the
caves and along the shores Of the
| island.
In 1776 the Spanish crown made a
grant of the entire isle to a retired
Spanish naval officer, who at his
death left seven sons, among whom
the Isle of Pines was divided. From
| the original grant down to the Span
| iSh-American war the isle was the
home of Spanish aristOcrats who had
| large interests in Cuba. When Cuba
and Porto Rico were lost to Spain, the
irhn 90 TcIn Of
Pines, being pure Spanish, regarding
| the Cubans as interiors, were very de-
sirous, as the lesser of two evils, that
the sovereignty of the isle pass to the
United States. There was inserted in
the treaty of Paris, negotiated with
Spain, a clause which President Nc
| Kinley interpreted as ceding the Isle
| of Pines to the United States.
Sent Many Men to the War.
| The Isle of Pines is extremely pa.
tdotic, and has done it's full share
| toward winning the war. While the
American population is less than five
thousand, and the percentage of the
MEN who are over the draft age has
been above normal, owing to the fact
that many We're originally attracted
by it's climatic and health advantages,
| nevertheless it boasts a service flag
of over two hundred stars. Many
bright young men have enlisted in va
rious branches of the service. The
| women of the isle in their Red Cross
work have raised thousands of dollars.
In fact, more actual money to date
has been raised here than has been
secured and contributed by the Amer
lean women in all Cuba.
| While all the wealthy Spaniards
originally inhabiting the isle have
sold their properties to the Ameri-
cans and returned to Spain or Cuba,
the working natives 'pineros." as
they are termed, remain to the num-
Der of probably twenty-five hundred or
three thousand. These pineros are
pure Spanish. They are Industrious,
working faithfully ten or twelve hours
| day for the small wage of 81 to
$3.50 per day and boarding them
selves. AS workers they are regarded
as superior to the Mexican poems,
Cubans or jamaican negroes. They
are quiet, inoffensive people, fond Of
the Americans, and cases Of theft or
bodily assault are rare. They are of
a domestic temperament, marrying
early and rearing large families.
There are diversified amusements
for tourists. Automobiling over good
roads to all parts of the isle, deep
sea fishing, tennis, golf and horseback
riding are especial favorites, as well
as sea bathing in the warm salt wa
tiers of the Caribbean. AS to the eli
mate, 1 will not attempt descrip-
| ton, as found it perfect.