OCR Text |
Show Si. . i i i Ml... .1' ;. y, , . vCuba and Porto Rico. i t"' w i i' "if ;!' . Jlu rdspoiiHo lo thi'dcumnd for infor- '.ij ' '' ' tnation in regard to Cuba and Porto '. i & ,' , ' lilco, tho bureau of foreign commerce i " ' " ' Department of State, to-day issued a iV-V ; bulletin, containing much interesting iV;. ' information, drawit from conaula re- ,!' m 'Wt'.' ports and other official data, concerning "? , the geography, products, commerce, , .. rail wavti, debt, cabals etc., of theee is- Y ' iauds. It includes also detailed dc- jMsj; ' BcrlptioitB of all the large cities. It if I :;fct pointed out that if the land 'si.itnblo t Jr, -the arovth of sugar cane was devoted to "' . . .that industry, Cuba might supply the ". to'"V. ) -entire, western hemisphere withr qii;ar. t .., 'Tho island has already produced in a . single year for export 1,000,000 tons,and s:-- "'''' ' , its capabilities have been only in the tjxporimontnl stage. Altuohgh settled ,i ' ' unoro' than fifty yearn before tiie United States, Cuba still has 13,000,000 acres of '' . . primeval forests, including mahogany, red wood, ebony and wnny other value- -ablo woodn. In n recent report from Consul Hyatt, the richness of the min- oral doposits about Santiago de Cuba is : poiuttd out. American companies, witli a capital of over $5,000,000, nov operate mines in this vicinity and em- ( ' ' v H -. ploy 800 to 1,000 men, shipping to the t '' ' United Slates from 30,000 to 60,000 tons "'4.J- ' ' ' ' '-of iron ore per month, most of it going V ';. -':. ' $' "to Bothleham, Steelton, SparowB' Point ': .' ' and Pittsburg. These iron ores are ' 4- t -flaid to be among the richest in tho . '," vorld. Mr. Hyatt belieyes that the ' -old coppor mines in tho samo vicinity, -which used to turn out $3,000,000 worth of copper ore annually for use in tho United States, could bo worked with ; - profit. The extent of tho tobacco and ' sugar industries are given in detail, al- ,' ' ' thongh theso have eufiercd seriously as f. '' ( result of tho last three years of war- yK '-fare. About 80,000 of inhabitants are '. ". -ordinarily engaged in tho cultivation of " ' ffyVv h 'tobacco. The Cuban debt is placed at w r'uC ' . ' '' 295,000,000, or about $970 por inhabit- i '"! , ,(,t M- .' 'The description of Porto Itico is esp- , i ecially interesting- in tho account of ' '. .;V '' "SauJuau habor. It states tliat tho on- ' " - ' . ." trance to tho harbor is one of difficulty '". l and danger, particularly when a norther .'' is blowing. Tho "boca" or entrance , to the harbor, is a mass of seething, v( foaming water, and presents an impos- , r ing 8)3ctacle. To seo steamers of from ' i!0tol8feet draft enter through tiiis ,-' seething "boca" is a sight to be remem- '', bered, as tho great waves loft tlicm up nd seem about to hurl them forward to . ".. - -destruction. San Juan is described an a porfect specimen of a walled town, I . ' V with moat, gates and battlements. Tho I ' -description of tho various cities, both I in Cuba and Porto Rico, shows that yellow feyer and smnll-pox nre every- "' where prevalont, that the streets reek M with filth, that the water supply is poor arid unusually polluted, and that mod- ' . rn sanitary methods are unknown. |