The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, January 29, 1896, Image 3

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    ISLE CUBANS LOVE.
WEALTH ANl URAUTY OF TI1E
liASDTHEY FIGHT FOR.
Command the Immense American
Mediterranean It Three Nat
ural Division An Ineradl
eable Love of Liberty.
IMAGINE the distance from New
York to Chicago and a conception
cnn be had of the length of Cuba,
( from Cape Mayci on the east,
where the present insurrection com
menced, and where the AUinnca wu
fired upon last March, to Cape San An
tonio, 700 miles to tho westward, to
ward which the revolution spread,
saj a a correspondent of the Washington
8tnr.
Between these point extend the
most beantiful and largest of the An
tilles, whiob, from its centrally located
position, could command the naval and
comtneroinl supremacy of the immense
American Mediterranean. Its 1800
miles of sea coast is broken by numer
ous harbors, which for ease of entrance
and seourity of anchorage would make
other countries commercially prosper
ous. Nature has divided the island by
north and south lines into three equal
parts. The easternmost of these is a
mountainous region covered with na
tive forests and dense tropical under
growth, through which no one can
find his way except under the guidance
of skilled native guides. These moun
tains cu".inate along the southern
coast in gigantio crests, standing as
high as 6000 feet above the level of the
sea, presenting as bold and beautiful
an outline as our own Rocky Moun-
UKfi.
r4l y --'.J,.J NtwSv;.'." awS
v
CUBAN VILLAGE
(Matanzas Is Cuba's great
tains, which do not exoeed them in
real height above the base of the sur
rounding plains.
The ehief oities of this region are
Santiago (San Iago of the Cubans) on
the south and Baraooa on the north
side of the island. The latter city is
the oldest eontinnous settlement in
America, having been founded by
Diego, the son of Christopher Colombo,
in the year 1509. Iron ore and man
ganese, whioh are consumed in the
JUnited States, and bananas, which are
tnily carried by numerous Eteamera to
BOTAL P ALMS, C0LI8E0 SUGAR PLANTATION,
D8TROrrj BX INSURGENTS
Philadelphia, New Tork and Boston,
are the ohief produots of this region.
The middle division also has a few
mountain scattered throughout it
area, but surrounding these are beauti
ful undulating plains, the fertile soil
of whioh is covered with superb
plantation of sugar, eaoh of whioh
supports it villages and huge central
establishment for grinding the cane
and extracting sugar. Two year ago
when the writer aw this region it
presented the most beautiful land
scape that conld be imagined ; a scene
of industry, peace and prosperity.
Under the iavorable commercial con
ditions then existing for trade with
the United States these vast planta
tion were prospering for the first
time in years. Everywhere, through
the vistas of tall royal palm, the
principal tree of this portion of the
island, eonld be seen hundred of carta
drawing the loads of cane or sugar in
if if:
bags to and fro, while the railway car
riages were loaded with the well
dressed and handsome families of the
planters, who were traveling back and
forth from their country residence to
Havana or Matanzas.
The western third of the island lying
west of Havana is more fertile than
this central portion, and besides its
plantations of sugar, it is covered by
ENTHANC8 TO HAVANA RAIWOll.
thousands of farms prodncing the
choicest of the fragrant tobacco for
which Cuba is noted.
The western and middle provinces
are easily accessible from Havana, the
capital city, by means of a system of
railways radiating from that city, by
which Villa Clara and Cienfuegos on
the east or Tena Del Rio on the west
can be reached within twelve hours.
This railway system ramifies into
(uzens of branches, and as there
ure no other roadways, its strategtttio
importnnce is readily seen. The re
mainder of the island is only accessi
ble by the numerous steamship liue
which encircle the 1800 miles of sea
coast, putting in at the various cities.
The population of Cuba is estimated
at 1,000,000 people, but no attempts
to procure accurate vital statistics of
Cuba are ever made by the authori
ties. The principal city and political
capital of the island is Havana, whioh
has a population about equal to that
-."-iTaiS.i
IN MATANZAS.
sugar shipping port.)
of Washington City. Fifty miles to
the eastward lies old Matanzas, the
great sugar shipping port of Cuba.
On the opposite southern coast is
Cienfuegos, also famous for its exports
of sugar, while still to the eastward
and on the south side of the coast,
nestled against the foot of the Sierra
Maestra range, is the old oity of San
tiago. The' Cubans, through long centuries
of adaptation to environments, have
become modified into a peculiar and
distinctive type of people, differing in
tastes, habits and ideals from the
Spaniard of their mother Nation.
As in every other land, there are all
classes and conditions of people ; the
refined and the uncultured, the rich
and the poor, the high and the low.
The influence of habit have moulded
them into a gentler and less aggress
ide race than that from whioh tbey are
descended, and has ameliorated many
of the other characteristics of temper
ament by whioh we are wont to judge
Spaniards.
There is one characteristic, how
ever, whioh dominates these people,
and concerning whioh , Americans
should not be deceived by representa
tions from the ruling power, of the
country, and this is that in the heart
of every native of the island, even the
first generation of Spanish desoent,
there is a strong ineradicable love of
liberty, coupled with aspirations that
the island may become a part of the
United States, the country which con
sume their products, and whiob, to
thorn, appear perhaps in an exagger
ated sense, the ideal of all that is free
and happy. The sentiment of the isl
and should not be judged by the ut
teranoes from Habana. The spoken
sentiment of Habana is Spanish, be
cause of the machinery and social sur
rounding of administration are con
centrated there.
In the spring of 1893 the w titer of
this artiole traversed the length of the
island, visiting tho interior villages
and plantations, and topping,'as an
explorer must do, with the everyday
people, wherever night overtook him,
and whenever a conversation was
maintained for a few momenta the
Cubans' words would inevitably drift
into a pathetio discussion of the bur
dens of Government, and the hope oi
liberty. The writer then saw that
throughout the island there was a mine
of public sentiment, whioh would some
day explode with tremendous f oroe, and
lay destitute the apparent prosperity
SOKE ARMS OF THE
OBXNAJDIXSS, COLDST1UUM OVABDi AND BOOTS. QUASDS. LASCIM AJCD ROYAL HOB3E ABTTLUCBX
in which Cuba wa then participating.
In the voioe and tone of these people
there waa a desperation that few Amer
ican can imagineand I could see that
they were in a mental stage which
meant readiness to sacrifice evety per
sonal end in order to become rid of
foreign rule, in whioh they conld only
see oppression. Little did I believe,
however, that this uprising would start
so soon.
When, on the 14th of March last,
the exile Marti landed on the coast of
Cuba with a handful of companions
and proclaimed the republic, even the
sympathizers of the Cuban people
thought the aot was ill-timed and pre
mature. What could an unarmed peo
ple hope to do against a well equipped
standing army as large as that of the
United States, scattered throughout
every hamlet and farm of the island,
and conducting a vigilant espionage
npon the movement of every citizen,
as determined, if not as efficient, as
that maintained against the Nihilists
in Russia. It then looked as impossi
ble for the Cubans to procure firearms
as it would be for the inmates of one
of onr State penitentiaries to arm
themselves with rifles and overpower
their guards. Yet, despite the tremen
dous odds which apparently faced this
insurrection, it has not only endured
for eleven months, but has crown and
increased nntil now it presents serious
and aggressive proportions, which
should no longer be underestimated
or misunderstood by the American
public.
JOIUX.MESBURH.
Something About the Chief City of
the Boor Republic.
Johannesburg is situated on a range 1
of hills 6000 feet above the sea level.
The whole place bristles with the
marks of mining industry. Shafts,
hauling gear and towering chimneys
appear on every hand. The throng
in the streets is made np of men from
every quarter of the globe, nil hurry
ing here and there, animated by the
lust of gain. The architectural fea
tures of the town are exoellent, with
much taste displayed in the construc
tion and grouping of the various
buildings. The 820,000,000 of capital,
whioh was onoe inflated to almost
double that sum, was, in 1892, reduced
to 84,000,000. But the recent boom
has increased the amount of invested
capital incredibly. The population ia
now about 73,000.
Johanneslurg stands where eight
years ago was naught but the original
wilderness. It is 1000 miles from
Cape Town by the railroad rnnning
through the Cape Colony and the
Orange Free State. The extraordin
ary aotivity animating this city is
shown by the tact that to-day it has a
population a number of thousands in
exoess of the total white population
of the republio in 1889, and the
largest part of this increase has oc
curred within two years. The
COMMISSIONER STREET, CHIEF THOROUGHFARE OF JOHANNESBURG.
house are, for the most part,
frame, but brick is now appearing
in the construction. The climate
of Johannesburg is not bad, save for
the hideousneas of the intermittent
dust storm. When they ooour the air
is filled with blinding olouds of pene
trating atoms ; one oannot see the hand
before his face. Eyes, ears and nos
trils are irritated almost beyond en
duranoe. The population is chiefly
Dutoh and English, together with a
small Frenoh colony and about 600
Americans.
The most interesting point in Jo
hannesburg for foreigners is the market
plaoe, in the centre of the town. There
the peculiarities of African life are
oonoentrated. When it is filled with
great rows of long, shorphorned cat
tie, it is a spot to make tbe timid wo
man frantio with fear. There may be
seen, too, KafHr washboys, who do the
laundry work of the oity, who come to
receive their lioenses. On the first of
tbe month they form aline of about five
hundred, each carrying a long pole.
While they wait they maroh, singing
song, which have an extraordinary
etTeot on unaccustomed ears, since each
stanza ends in a wild upward rush of
tones. Most of .the Kaffir boy work
in the gold mines or diamond field
BBI11SU SERVICE.
nntil they have accumulated the $100
necessary for the purohase of a wife-
after that the wife does the work.
BIU TREE IX A MILL
The Leading Curiosity In ' a Little
Town In Missouri.
In Lafayette County, Missouri, on
the line on tho Missouri Pacific, there i
an historical coincidence and a constant
reminder of great things. There were
two towns settled in early days, Na-
MILL WITH A THR8 IN ITS HOOF.
poleon and Wellington, separated by
a few miles of fertile farms. The Mis
souri Paoiflo needed a water station1
thereabout, and the only good flow was
at a point midway between these towns.
It belonged to an old chap who, when
told that the company wanted his
place for the water, said philosophi
cally !
"I il'ays knew there' obleeged to
be a town here, along of the water."
And they called the new station
Waterloo. So Waterloo stands be
tween Wellington and Napoleon, mon
uments to two great generals and a
battle. 4
Thirty-nine years ago J. T. Roberts,
then a young man, passed up tho river
to Leavenworth. In 18G7 he moved
down to Napoleon and bought the old
Roberts sawmill, a reminder of the
lays before the war. The boilers were
encased in brick and stood in tbi open.
Beside the furuaoe stood a huge tree,
the only protection for the engineer.
The mill was supported on brick pil
lars, whioh were handy to dodge be
hind when bullets were flying.
When Mr. Roberts changed the mill
into one for grist he built a roof over
the boilers and saved the old tree by
leaving a hole for it in the roof. Three
times the mill was reconstructed, and
each time provision was made for the
tree. Beside it rose the tall smoke
stank, tbe heat from whioh started the
sap on that side of the tree early every
spring, and before the trees in the
neighborhood ever thought of bud
ding that side of tbe tree was always
covered with green.
In 1895 the tree was trimmed,
and never recovered from the shook.
It slowly died, and last summer was
out away. Passengers passing through
the town on the Missouri Paoitio have
notioed the tree, and it beoame famous
in its way, the trainmen often being
called npon to tell abont it.
On the Verge ol a Hlraclo
Willie Wilt "Do yon know aw
I am somotimes carried away by my
thoughts."
Miss Perte "Please think now."
New York World.
Twelve creek in the' United State
bear the name of tbe Rhine
II
rw
II
MODES FOR MISSES,
STYLISH AND SEASONABLE GAB
MRS TS FOR GIRLS.
Handsome Coat In Hunter' Green
Waist of Fancy French Plaid
A Garment for Inclem
ent Weather.
T T UNTER9' green, rough-sur-faced
coating of medinm
weight was used for the
6 stylish and protective top
garment depicted herewith, a double
row of handsome pearl buttons dosing
the double-breasted fronts. It is
shaped according to the latest tailor
mode, the fronts being widened to fall
loosely below tho hips, confirming in
shape to the fashionoble skirts. The
loose, double-breasted fronts are
deeply faced and reversed at the top
in coat lapels that meet the ends of
the deep, rolling storm collar in
LONO COAT
Botches, The lapel and oollar oan be
raised and olosed to tbe throat for bet
ter protection in inolement weather.
The back and sides fit closely, with
nnder-arm and side-baok gores and a
well-curved centre seam that ends in
deep ooat laps below the waist line.
Rounded ooat plaits that are marked
by single buttons give added fullness
at the aide-baok gores, tbe stylish rip
ple effeot at tbe sides in the skirt por
tion distinguishing the new modes.
The 'full gigot sleeves are shaped with
a single seam, the fullness at tbe top
being plaited into the arm's eye, a
double seam of maohine stitching simu
lating cuffs. Pookets are inserted on
eaoh front and concealed by laps that
are neatly lined and stitched in tailor
style. Tbe edges oan be plainly finished
or maohine stitohed, as preferred. All
kinds of rough or smooth faced cloth,
tweed, oheviot, serge or diagonal in
obeoks, stripes, mixed, plain or fanoy
weave will make stylish, comfortable
and protective ooat for dorm or or
dinary wear.
The quantity of Cl-inah wide mate
rial requited to make this ooat for a
miss twelve years old is S yards; for
a fourteen-year-old size, 6 yards ; for
a sixteen-year-old aize, 6 yards.
WAIST OF FRENCH PLAID,
Fanoy Frenoh jplaid of dark blue,
WAIST OF FANCY
brown, eorn and yellow is associated,
in the waist shown in the seoond large
ont with bine velvet, and trimmed
with narrow bands of beaver fnr. The
fitted waist ia made of velvet, and
closes with button in centre book.
The full front, with bretellea and
sleeves, being of the plaid. The full
front I out square at the neok, dia
closing a yoke of velvet, th lower
edge being gathered full at th wai st
Una, The brstelle are notohsd a
revers and extend over the shoulder
to the waist lino in back, bands of
beaver trimming the edge as shown.
A close fitting collar finishes the neck.
Tbe full leg o' mutton sleeve are
shaped with one seam, the top being
gathered and tbe wrist completed
with flaring cuffs of velvet edged with
Inr. A crush belt of velvet is tied in
a knot at the left aide. Waist in thi
style admit of a variety of combina
tions, and can be worn with skirt to .
matoh or oontrast as desired. It may
form part of a costume of aerge, cam
el' hair, erepon, cheviot, cashmere,
or mixed fancy woolens, and be united
with silk, satin, velvet, plaid or sttiped
fabria and decorated with any pre
ferred garniture.
The quantity of 44-inoh wide ma
terial roqnired to make this waist for '
a miss ten years old is 1 f yards ; for a
fourteen-year-old size, 3 yards; for a
sixteen-year-old size, 2 yards.
OLD MATERIALS UTILIZED.
Fur trimming suggests a good way
FOR MISSES.
to utilize sets of furs whioh are shabby
in spots, or whioh are old-fashioned
in out. These may be ont sometimes
to good advantage for collars and oulfe
for a smart cloth gown. Especially
when tbe gown has a jacket of the
same material. Lace and flowers are
used to brighten sets of furs whioh
are beoomiug passe. Collarettes whioh
are slightly worn along the edges have
frills of blaok or cream lace. Some
are fastened loosely at the throat and
a jabot of lace is inserted. Stylish
little collarettes are made by taking a
pieoe of fur whioh just reaches around
tbe neok and frilling a pieoe of laoe at
eaoh end of it. This gives a dressy
appearance to an otherwise plain toi
let. HUMORS ABOUT SLEEVES.
It is reported that the bell skirt
will live for some time to ooine in
popular favor, and that sleeve really
are growing smaller this time. Tbe
latter rumor is a perennial one, and
seems to oome np periodically from
the mere force of habit. Perhaps
some morning tbe world feminine will
wake np and find the rumor is an ac
complished faot; perhaps the big
sleeve will outlast the century. No
one oan tell. As to the former aser
tion, it is mueh more credible, aa
the bell skirt has proved it adapta-
FRENCH PLAID.
bility, and adaptability is the great
American virtue. The main fullnesa
is all at tbe back, and sometimes full
ness in the front ia simulated by soft
plaiting, snob a silk or lace, set in.
President Faure was at - the theatre
when he heard of the death of Alexan
dre Pnmaa. He and hi wife at once
left tbe building and walked home,
and th French people think it a very
wonderful and admirable aot.