Show bv aff gilmur 72 6 ISLAND was an al ter native name well fitted for the bit of sea surrounded land that lies iles 60 miles south of the coast of cuba charted as the isle of pines whether this island was the scene of the novelist steven son s thrilling story leads but to academic discussion in which the strongest affirmative argument would be the miles of golden groves with sturdy trees bending low under the burden of their fruit here Is pictured proof of the treasure in the soil thousands of acres of low 10 priced pas ture land magic like have been metamorphosed into valued grapefruit grape fruit orchards A spanish pen al colony base been changed to a prosperous self reliant american community such Is the transformation accomplished by a handful of pi pl sneers working under many man discouragements not the least of which Is the sense of injustice done them by their own people the isle of pines an of cuba has billed an interesting page in history and from its jak wa W 4 J A OCA 0 A a N E s first discovery it has been the scene of incidents curious and varied las casas who chronicled the story of the columbus voyages in his his toria de las endias writes that the admiral dis covered the island during his second voyage in june 1904 on st john the evangelists day therefore naming it evangalista Evang allsta we are told that columbus only stopped to stock hie his ships with wood and water making a hurried depar ture tor for a fear that impelled them to the verge of mutiny reigned in the minds of his sall ormen this fear was due to the curious appearance of the shallow seas to the north of the island where the water Is so clear that bottom a sand white carpet wibb great dark patches marking seaweed growths Is distinctly visible it was these dark patches that frightened the mariners for in their ignorance they thought them openings in the oceans bed wherein herein their barks might sink at any moment is bisect the isle with longitude 83 degrees 30 minutes west and latitude 21 degrees 40 minutes north where it makes a patch of 0 earth 45 miles round rising from a light green sea the geology of the islet is remarkable be cause in its small area it glies us ako examples of bow how nature works in her land making labora labors tory the northern section about acres Is the result of what might be called the ex plosive system volcanic with marble hills and spurs of quartz and limestone all telling the story of the island origin in their ter far matlon mation while the southern section acres moored to the northern part by a swamp might be named the cumulative system coral in truth the isle la is really two islands the south coast as it is called being joined to the island proper by the narrowest neck of land often submerged this south coast merits a brief description tor for it holds all the setting of a jungle wilderness save the fauna and it has formed itself by a highly interesting series of developments the basic foundation Is coral rock to arrive at an idea of its composition picture a bed of soft stone leached until it seems a great gray sponge like area the perforations varying in shape size and other dimensions with all the characteristic arreg flarity of the this jagged porous sur face Is covered with a seaborn sea born soil which with the passing of ages has become surpassing fertile because of an ever increasing accumulation of decayed vegetation yet from this top roll 11 with a subsoil of rock tower up gigantic hard hardwood mood trees mahogany cedar and InCi indigenous genous growths all su rounded by the dense underbrush of an almost impenetrable jungle how the poor soil conditions can support such luxuriant vegetation 40 Is something of a mystery A possible av ov ak V 4 jk wo t W tion I 1 es in the fact that the wan dering roots of the trees that t h a t A stretch over the coral as though f they were great entwining tentacles draw life tor for the trunk from these ever moist depths the coral holds the rain water la in the many cup like openings and acts as a mulch that favors the development of the trees and underbrush hardwood is the wealth of this section of the isle of pines the people engaged in cutt ng the trees and marketing the logs are for the most part caiman calma eros neros west indian english of various shades from great and little cayman islands british possessions lying about miles south tobacco poles oversized hardwood bean poles they seem to the kansas farmer are exported in quantities across to pinar del kio rio province in cuba where they find a ready sale among the planters the caiman eros are a picturesque lot upon whom has descended the of the romance with which tradition overlays these sharps shores since the days of pirates and wreckers bof of colise course they are fishermen and besides adding variety to their dally daily bill of fare they increase their income by hunting bunting a tortoise here valuable tor for his shell A voyage in one of the teat bere canoes in which eh they ride the breakers whitening the turquoise sea at the entrance of a ledge protected cove is a thrilling experience and calculated to fill one with aspect for the seamanship of these halt half breeds let us leave the south coast for the north the real island here conditions are essentially different a rolling country with in persing hills and rivers in appearance remind ing one of the fertile parts of florida a lesem blance much heightened by the pine trees that cover much of a sandy soil area these there pine trees strikingly visible from a distance gave the island its name isia isla de pinos from which we have the english translation isle of pines isle of pines there is that something in the words which seems redolent of the soft sweet winds that ever blow caressingly over its vernal valleys the smoothness of the name is all opposed to the idea of rapine and murder and yet for years this beautiful island was a pirate rendezvous drake came first four years before the end of the six century when he massacred the few col he be found and from that date the fame of the island as a convenient and suitable base spread among the fraternity the most ferocious of the pack of sea wolves that hunted the seas in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries english dutch or french all found security and shelter on the isle of pines from morgan the knight who won his spurs by successful successful robbery rapine and mur der to mansfield who waged war single handed against the throne of spain all the heterogeneous crews of the sea rovers knew the shoals and the sheltered bays behind which their ships could lie in safety under the lee of the island from here they sallied forth to attack the lumbering spanish galleons heavy laden with loot from peru and back they came again to divide the spoils and refit for another raid these facts have left a heritage of buried treas ure tales but while many have dug in just those spots that seem ideal for the concealment of ill III gotten riches yet there is no authoritative evi dence to the effect of burled buried treasure being ered there Is a rumor that once someone un a brass bound chest of doubloons near the shore and went home to buffalo to live in luxury ever after on the wealth so discovered if you doubt the tale the chest can still be seen lying open on the sand to prove it the isle of pines was presented by royal grant from the crown of spain to capt D hernando pedroso in 1630 with the understanding that he transform the pirates lair into a flourishing colony to use two common descriptive phrases the island passed to the duarte brothers by in berl tance in 1706 and to these joint owners all title should be traced not the least interesting epoch of the island islands s history was when it serve served d as a sort of slave fattening depot in the days when the traders in black ivory found the biffl curties of their profession increasing in the ratio of prejudice against slave holding their profits decreased in a like ratio they attempted to rectify this loss in a measure by bringing a more valuable article to the available markets the negroes shipped from the kongo were often in poor health an aej their condition became pitiable before they reached their journey journeys end imagine the effect of a six weeks voyage crowded under hatches in the tropics contrast the joy of these unfortunates when turned loose to work in the fields of a beautiful land with abundance of food after the horrors of the over oversea sea crossing it Is hard to index the island islands s many charms perhaps it finds its greatest attraction as a refuge for the winter riven dweller in northern climes in the wholesomeness of the climate the win ter climate of the isle of pines is ideal the air has an Jn indescribable describable quality that lets the tern tem pera ture defy the rigid markings of the ther dometer the northern winds that play among the pine dine trees are as soft as the touch of butter flies wings to borrow a phrase from the poets and the sunshine seems to distill a perfume from the resin that truly sweetens the breezes it has been eald said that the perfect la Is beyond description this is true of the winter climate of this island the only criticism that the most difficult to please would dare offer in complaint might be that it Is monotonously good the sheltered position of the island protects it from the north while the southwest trades blow fresh from the caribbean with a steadiness that makes for such an equable atmosphere which can not be rivaled in any sec see tion of 0 the globe this is not hyperbole but fact the two old towns of first settlement nueva gerona and santa fe still hold much of their spanish setting despite the invasion of the bus aling american who indicates his presence by the typical country store that caters to the versal needs of the colonists and the busy bank nueva gerona which is the capital of the island has teen een fortunate in having for its mayor a na tive who combines all the courtesies of his span ish ancestry with good business sense which has enabled him to turn the current of the islands present progress to the advantage of the little town he loves so well the many municipal im prove ments that have been carried out during his term of office serve as monuments to his industry santa fe rivals the sister town in civic pride and its residents are alert in the matter of the im provement pro of their pueblo the island is entirely owned by americans of the SOO acres of estimated si the part that remains in other titles is so small as to be negligible the present owners have developed the principal industry of the island citrus fruit growing many have confused contused the name of the island connecting it in some way with the pineapple As already stated the name Is derived from the many pine trees growing there yet it were not inappropriate that the title should come from the fruit tor for the finest pineapples I 1 have ever seen are grown in its valleys As yet pineapple auld has not been made the business success that it promises A number of reasons have made it difficult to market the fruit successfully tobacco was grown with great profit on the island in certain specially suited sections during the cuban war of independence but tobacco growing is almost an esoteric art the secret of which is only known to the colo colonists colonl nIstas stas of the buelto abajo district in cuba besides these special agricultural products the island blooms with all the tropical and semi tropical vegetables and many of the hardy tubers from the temperate zone so he who seeks his winter home on those inviting shores will plant his kitchen garden when he sets his nurs elings out perhaps the most neglected yet et to the writer the most potential gifts which nature has bas en dowed the isle of pines are the thermal springs these are beneficial beyond the mere figures of the analysis of the curative properties they pos sess |