Diagonally across from the old Presidential Palace, on the northwest corner of the Plaza de Armas, stands the Senate Chamber, a two-story building of the same attractive architecture found in the old Palace. It is in a way a companion to this building, having been designed and directed as the home and office of the various Lieutenant-Generals of the Island, in which capacity it served until the termination of Spanish rule in Cuba. During the two years of American Intervention, various military departments made their headquarters within this structure, but with the installation of the Republic in 1902 it was formally dedicated to the use of the Senate, and officers connected with that branch of the Legislative government. The lofty salon fronting the Plaza de Armas served as the Senate Chamber. The 24 members of the upper house held sessions there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of each week. As with the Presidential Palace, the somewhat lavish use of marble in patios, floors, stairways, balconies, etc., is much in evidence in this building.

Just north of the Senate Chamber, and covering the east side of the long block on Tacon Street, between the Palace and the Bay, are located the Bureau of Secret Service, the Department of Government, and those of State of Justice, all installed at the present time in the same building.

This building during Colonial days was occupied by the Department of Engineers, and with the beginning of American intervention was turned over to Brigadier General William A. Ludlow, to whose energy is due the credit of rapidly and effectively cleaning up the city of Havana after its sanitary abandonment of three centuries duration. General Ludlow shared the building with General Enoch Crowder. The Palace of State and Justice has been remodeled and renovated from foundation to azotes. All of its floors and most of its walls are now finished and decorated in a manner appropriate to the uses to which it is dedicated.

During the regime of General Leonard Wood, through an official decree of that most competent commander, three public buildings were added to the capital of the Republic, each now bearing his name in an appropriate placque or tablet in the wall. The first of these was a Bacteriological Laboratory, now known as the General Wood Laboratory, located on Carlos Tercero Street in front of the Botanical Gardens. Bacteriological experiments, which up to that time had been conspicuous by their absence, have since been carried on faithfully in Havana under the direction of the celebrated expert in that science, Dr. Aristides Agramonte.

Next in order was a handsome three-story stone building, located on Belascoain a block from the corner of Carlos Tercero Street, dedicated to the school of Industrial Arts and Sciences. The instruction given in this Institution since its foundation in 1901, has been efficient, and of excellent service to the youth of Havana, many of whom have taken very kindly to this much needed innovation.

The third of these institutions fathered by General Wood is the Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts, located on Cuba Street near Amargura Street. This institution has been a boon and a blessing to the intellectual life of Havana, since for the first time suitable quarters were offered to celebrated lecturers, artists and musicians, who find in Havana appreciative audiences, and where, since the founding of the Academy, local talent had a fitting theatre in which to display its merit.

Since the beginning of the Republic in 1902, under President Estrada Palma, the old Governor General’s Palace was found rather limited in its accommodations. Not only was it compelled to shelter the President and his family, together with the many offices belonging to the Executive Department, but it also shared its accommodations with the City Council, and many of the dependencies of that Institution. With the rapid growth of the City, and the unavoidable increase in the work of all departments, consequent on the development of commerce and trade with the outside world, these quarters, each year, have been found increasingly cramped and unsatisfactory.

During the regime of President José Miguel Gomez, a new Presidential palace was planned, and work was begun on it on the site formerly occupied by the Villa Nueva Station, belonging to the United Railways of Havana. This ample space, facing for several blocks on the Prado and Colon Park, was exchanged, by an Act of Congress, for the old Arsenal Grounds on the water front, desired by the railways for a Grand Central Station, for which they were excellently adapted. The plans of this structure, as well as the beginning of the work, were found to be most unsuited to a Presidential Palace, and by order of President Menocal, at the suggestion of the Secretary of Public Works, work was discontinued and abandoned for other plans and better construction.

Previous to the inauguration of President Menocal funds were voted for the erection of a Provincial Palace or State House, on the property belonging to the Government located between Monserrate and Zuleuta Streets, just at the head of the long, beautiful stretch of open land that sweeps down to the sea from the crest of the low hill, where rests the last remnant of the city walls. This location, with its view of the Luz Caballero Park, of the entrance of the Bay of Havana and the Morro Headland on the opposite side, is one of the finest in the City, and naturally appealed to the artistic taste of General Menocal as the true location for a Presidential Palace. The Provincial Building had been planned on a scale altogether unsuited for the offices of a Provincial Council, whose members were limited to less than ten, and whose services were of so little utility that several proposals for their discontinuance had been considered. More than all, funds for the completion of the building had been more than exhausted, and large debts to contractors were pending. To relieve this emergency and liquidate the indebtedness, it was finally resolved by the National Congress to take over the property, reimbursing the Provincial Government with the $540,000 which they had expended, and to dedicate this building to the purpose of a Presidential Palace that would be more appropriate to the demands of the Executive Department in a rapidly growing Republic.

A million dollars was appropriated for this purpose, which sum has since been augmented in order to carry out the interior decoration of the building along lines that would be in keeping with its proposed use. The new Presidential Palace is four stories in height built of white stone, the architecture being a harmonious combination of the Medieval and Renaissance, terminating with a magnificent dome that rises from the center of the building. The interior decoration of the new Palace has had the benefit of skilled experts, and everything is in harmony with the purpose to which the building was dedicated. The great Salon de Honor is in the style of Louis XVI, while the State Dining Room is modeled after the Italian Renaissance. The main entrance, principal staircase, the hall and the general dining-room are of Spanish Renaissance. The Salon de Damas is decorated in modern French style. All of the other rooms that pertain to the personal equipment of the Palace, and comprise the east wing, follow the same general line of architecture and decorations, varying only in design and colors. The Palace is beyond doubt, in location, design and decoration, one of the most beautiful and interesting structures of its kind in the western hemisphere.

Work on the new capitol building, which is to replace the architectural mistake of its original founders, was begun in 1918, with the purpose of making this building the most imposing and stately modern structures of its kind in the West Indies. It will be four stories in height and cover 5,940 square meters of ground, with a floor space of 38,195 square meters. Above this spacious structure will rise a splendid dome in keeping with the architecture of the main building. One half of the building will be devoted to the use of the House of Representatives, while the other will be occupied by the Senate. It will contain offices and apartments for the Vice President, Committee halls, etc., and will be furnished with all of the conveniences and improvements of modern times. The Hall of Representatives will accommodate 133 members, and may be increased up to 218. The Senate Chamber has ample capacity for the 24 senators, with accommodations in each of these Congressional halls for visitors and the general public. Elevators will reach all floors and the interior decorations will be in keeping with the purpose to which the new Capitol Building is devoted.

During the Presidency of General Mario Menocal, work was begun on the National Hospital, which when completed, will be one of the finest institutions of its kind in the world. The grounds are located on the northwest corner of Carlos Tecero and Belascoain Streets, occupying the eastern extension of the Botanical Gardens that adjoin the hospital grounds on the west. The location, near the center of what may be termed modern Havana, is excellent, and the work as planned will constitute a very important adjunct to the maintenance of health in Havana.

The plans contemplate the erection of 32 modern buildings, constructed of white limestone and reinforced concrete. Sixteen, or one-half of these had been finished in the fall of 1918. This hospital when complete will cost approximately a million and a half of dollars, and will rank with those of the best of America and Europe. The institution has been named in memory of General Calixto Garcia.

CHAPTER XXX

A PARADISE OF PALM DRIVES

TO those who are fond of motoring in the tropics, the world offers no more delightful field than the Island of Cuba from the end of October until early May, with Havana as a point of departure. Some fourteen hundred kilometers or 850 miles of clean, cream colored macadamized drives stretch out to the east, south and west of Havana, each inviting the tourist or lover of nature to feast his eyes on a fascinating panorama of mountain, hill and dale; of canon, cliff and undulating plain.

Long lines of stately royal palms, of white-trunked Cuban laurel, from whose branches the glossy green leaves never fall, of cocoas, mangoes, almonds, tamarinds, and a score of others, border mile after mile of the national highways, furnishing grateful shade and softened light that otherwise would try the eyes. Every turn and curve of the driveway brings change. There is no sameness of landscape, no monotony of level. Each mile, each moment, presents something new. Expectation is seldom disappointed.

Nothing perhaps is more startlingly novel or strikingly beautiful than when, in early summer, the touring car, rounding a curve, suddenly brings to view a line of flamboyans in full bloom. Lips open in surprise, eyes fasten on what seems a forest of fire. The great banks of brilliant red and golden yellow waving in the breeze need only smoke to proclaim the roadside all ablaze. The camouflage of Nature is perfect and strangers of the tropics will bid the chauffeur pause until they can feast their eyes on this riot of color.

The most interesting excursions through Cuba radiate from the Capital. One of exceptional charm stretches east through Matanzas to Cardenas, a comparatively modern, well built little city of some thirty thousand souls, resting on the southern shore of Cardenas Bay, just a hundred miles from Havana.

One of the old colonial, solidly-built military roads leaving Havana was constructed along a comparatively straight line for 48 kilometers to the little city of Guines, located in the southeastern center of the province of Havana. The road, bridges, and culverts are built solidly of stone, while giant laurels, almonds and flamboyans on both sides of the way furnish a continuous stretch of shade beneath which the voyager travels from one end of the road to the other. This drive is over a rolling, and in places a decidedly hilly country, which relieves monotony and at the same time adds greatly to the picturesqueness of the highway. Many little villages such as San Francisco, Cotorro, Cautro Caminos, Jamaica, San Jose, Ganuza and Loma de Candela or “Hill of the Candle,” are passed between Havana and Guines. These, to the stranger are always a source of novelty and interest. From the top of the Loma de Candela, a beautiful view of the valley below spreads out towards the south. This is known as the Valley of Guines, a large part of which has the good fortune to have been brought under a rather crude but nevertheless efficient system of irrigation many years ago. The water for this irrigation comes from a large spring that, like many others in the Island, bursts from some big cavern below the surface and forms a river that eventually reaches the sea a little east of the village of Batabano, on the south coast. Some three miles from Guines the river is brought under control by a rather crude dam of cement through which it is distributed by ditches over the lands, referred to usually as the “Vegetable Garden of the Province of Havana.” Here large quantities of tomatoes, egg plants, peppers, squash and Irish potatoes are grown during the late fall and winter months. The produce of this section is shipped to the United States as long as market prices justify, after which ready sale is found in the local markets of the capital.

From Guines another drive extends some 13 kilometers towards the northeast to the town of La Catalina on the way to Matanzas. The distance from Havana to Matanzas is shortened by a connecting link 16 kilometers in length which branches off the Guines highway at Ganuza, and runs due east through La Catalina to the town of Madruga, 63 kilometers from Havana. This section of the road follows a ridge of low hills or mountains. From Madruga the drive turns sharply to the northeast, entering the Province of Matanzas, 25 kilometers east of the border line.

The drive from Havana to Matanzas is 100 kilometers or 60 miles in length, and passes through a section of country every mile of which brings to view charming bits of tropical scenery, together with an opportunity to see something of the life of the inhabitants in the interior of the Island. If one has time to stop, or cares to leave the main highway at Ceiba and cross the ridge of hills about a mile distant, a beautiful little valley lies below, on the other side of the divide. The drive from Havana to Matanzas is usually made in about three hours, and, aside from the attractions furnished by the city and its suburbs spread out along the western side of the harbor, will furnish a very pleasant diversion for an early morning or late afternoon excursion.

Another of the old Spanish colonial military roads, leaving Havana through the suburb of Marianao, sweeps away towards the southwest in a comparatively straight line until it reaches the city of Guanajay, 42 kilometers distant. Here the road divides, one branch running due south to the little city of Artemisa, located in the center of the pineapple district, which furnishes a large part of the fruit shipped to the United States. From Havana to Artemisa, 58 kilometers, Cuban laurels, royal palms and flamboyans furnish a continuous and often dense shade throughout its entire length. In some places, for miles, the road resembles a long green tunnel passing through foliage that arches up from the sides and meets in the center above. From Las Mangas, 7 kilometers south of Artemisa, the road swings sharply to the westward and so continues through a more open country with less shade and less traffic. There is no speed limit on the country roads of Cuba, and if the condition of the drive permits, one can skip along at a 40 or 50 mile clip between villages, with little danger of interference. This westerly drive swings on through Candelaria, 82 kilometers from Havana, where one gets the first glimpse of the long picturesque range of the Organ Mountains some five miles away to the north. These parallel the road to the western terminus of the Island.

From the village of Candelaria a short drive not over five miles in length reaches up to the base of the Ruby hills, which at this point form a perpendicular cliff several hundred feet in height, over which falls a stream of water whose volume during the winter is comparatively small, but the drop is perpendicular and the roar of the torrent during the rainy season can be easily heard at Candelaria. Just above the falls are a group of mineral springs, iron, sulphur, etc., that were once very popular, and during slavery days, which terminated in 1878, many families passed the warm months at these baths, the ruins of which can still be seen. About four kilometers of this road to the falls is macadamized and the remainder can be negotiated readily by an ordinary carriage. A connecting link some 20 kilometers in length has been proposed to connect Candelaria with San Diego de Nunez and Bahia Honda on the north coast, but the cost of the road through the mountains may prevent its completion for some time.

San Cristobal, 10 kilometers further west, and 92 kilometers from Habana, was the terminus of one of the old military roads at the beginning of the Cuban Republic. Since this time a beautiful automobile drive has been continued out to Guane, 246 kilometers from Havana, and will soon reach La Fe and Los Arroyos, two points on the extreme western coast about 30 kilometers further on.

Nine kilometers west of San Cristobal a connecting link with the main highway has been built to the town of Taco-Taco, about a mile and a quarter distant on the railroad, with another branch 7 kilometers in length running due north to the foot of the mountains. This road will be built straight across the Organ Range, through Rangel and Aguacate, to Bahia Honda on the north coast, passing the old time “cafetales” or coffee plantations of Pinar del Rio, and also through some of the rich mineral zones of that region. The uncompleted link is only about 20 kilometers but is over a rather difficult mountainous country.

At the 117th kilometer post a highway of six kilometers connects with the town of Palacios on the Western Railway, while at the 123rd, still another branches south to Paso Real with a northern extension that reaches San Diego de los Banos, 9 kilometers distant. This road too, will eventually cross the mountain range and connect with Consolacion del Norte, whence the road has already been completed to Rio Blanco on the north coast, 9 kilometers away.

The drive from the main line to San Diego de los Banos is through an extremely picturesque country of hill and dale, and the village itself is well worthy of a visit. Like the Candelaria Springs, the San Diego Baths have long been famous, and the latter still continue to be so. The springs of hot and cold water impregnated with sulphur, iron and other minerals are said to have valuable medicinal qualities.

From the cross roads at the 123rd kilometer the main trunk-line passes through a series of low hills, but with grades so reduced that motors have no difficulty in negotiating them. From the town of Consolacion, 151 kilometers from Havana, one enters the eastern border of the celebrated Vuelta Abaja tobacco district that lies spread out on either side of the driveway. On either side are low hills with gentle slopes and little oases or “vegas” of land that are not only rich, but contain that mysteriously potent quality which from time immemorial has produced the finest tobacco in the world.

Pinar del Rio, the capital of the province, is located at the 172nd kilometer and forms a center from which five different automobile drives radiate. The western line, which may be considered as an extension of the main highway, will eventually connect San Antonio, the western terminus of the Island, with Cape Maisi in the east, 800 miles away. This road to the northwest soon enters the mountains, through which it passes many rises, falls and unexpected turns, bringing into view a picturesque country, rugged but not forbidding. At kilometer 200, a point known as Cabezas or “the Head,” the drive turns at a right angle and sweeps down towards the plain below, terminating at Guane, 246 kilometers from Havana, on the western edge of the celebrated Vuelta Abajo. A shorter line between Pinar del Rio and Guanes, passing through San Juan y Martinez, is under process of construction. The latter city is located in the western center of the Vuelta Abajo district.

From this city, a modern little place of some 12,000 or 15,000 inhabitants, another branch of the trunk line, 25 kilometers in length, passes through a level country until it reaches La Paloma, a landing place for coasting vessels and light draft steamers of the Caribbean Sea.

From the capital of the Province due north a line 52 kilometers in length has been built straight across to La Esperanza on the north coast, a little fishing village located on the bay formed by the outlying islands some six miles from the mainland. The road ascends by comparatively easy grades to a height of some 1800 feet, where the top of the ascent is reached. Here the line takes a sharp curve to the east, bringing suddenly into view, as Rex Beach exclaimed: “The most picturesquely, dramatically beautiful valley in the world!” This strangely hidden mountain recess or park is known as the Valley of Vinales, and forms part of a strange basin, that has been carved out of the heart of the Organ range by erosion, leaving a quiet grass covered, flat bottomed basin 2,000 feet below the top of the ridge from whose level surface strange, round topped limestone hills are lifted perpendicularly to an altitude of 2000 feet. A small stream courses through the rich grass that carpets the floor, and one lone picturesque little village, with houses of stone and roofs of tile, nestles in its center. The inhabitants of the place seem absolutely content with its quiet charm and seldom see anything of the outside world, except as represented by the occasional tourist, who sweeps through with his car, stopping for a moment perhaps for some simple refreshment, and then on, through the narrow gap between the towering “magotes” that form the northern wall of the valley. Here the road suddenly swings to the west, following the foot of the mountain which towers above for a few kilometers, whence it again turns north, and passes out into the comparatively barren pine covered hills that continue on through San Cayetano until the gulf coast is reached at La Esperanza.

In returning after a rather primitive fish breakfast which can be had at La Esperanza, it is worth one’s while to pause for a moment in front of the little country school, on the west side of the road, just before the Valley is entered from the north, and there to secure a child guide, whom the courteous professor will indicate, and with the services of this little pilot you may find the reappearing river, a stream that slips under the base of the mountain within the valley, and reappears from a picturesque, cave-like opening on the other side. The stream is only a few yards in width, with the water clear as crystal and very pleasant to drink.

Standing on the rocks in the shade of the cliffs above, one can hear the roar of the water some place back in the depths of the range, where it evidently falls to a lower level. A visit to this spot gives one an opportunity to note and observe at close hand the peculiar formations of the rocks, full of pockets and openings, from every one of which protrudes some strange growth of tropical vegetation. To explore the Valley of Vinales and its various turns, narrowing up between steep walls in some places, opening out into beautiful parks at others, would require a week at least, but would afford a rare diversion never to be regretted.

The little city of Guanajay, at which the long western automobile drive divides, is located on an elevated plateau, some thousand feet above the level of the sea. From the little central plaza of the town a beautiful road leaves in a northerly direction, passing through cane fields and grazing lands for some five or six kilometers, until it reaches the crest from which the road descends to the harbor of Mariel. It is worth while to pause at this point and note the beautiful panorama of hills on all sides and the tall peaks of the Organ range of Pinar del Rio to the westward. From this point down, for two kilometers, the descent is rather steep, winding, and picturesque.

Thirteen kilometers from Guanajay the little fishing village of Mariel is found at the head of one of the deep protected harbors of the north coast. The view from the head of the bay is very interesting, with high flat promontories on the east, perched on the crest of one of which is the Naval Academy of the Republic, the Annapolis of Cuba. A little further on may be seen a large cement plant erected in 1917, beyond which, on the point, is the quaint old light-house that has done duty for many years. The western shore line is broken into tongue-like projections, with deep recesses between, all covered with fields of waving sugar cane.

On the extreme western point, at the entrance of the harbor, is located the Quarantine Station where passengers and crews from foreign vessels in which some infectious disease has appeared are cared for in cleanly commodious quarters until the sanitary restriction is removed. The National Quarantine Station has been chosen by President Menocal as a favorite anchorage for his private yacht during the warm months of summer. Fishing in this bay, too, attracts many tourists.

Near kilometer 10, on the Mariel Drive, the road divides, the western branch sweeping away at right angles through rich cane fields as far as the eye can see and gradually ascending towards the little village of Quiebra Hacha, near which are several magnificent sugar estates whose mills grind day and night through six or eight months every year. At the 18th kilometer, the road turns due west and follows the crest of a range of low hills which sweep along the southern shore of the harbor of Cabanas.

The view of this bay from the drive is one of the finest in Cuba. Every turn of the road shows some part of the bright blue waters, dotted with palm crested islets a thousand feet below. The entrance of the harbor, with a small island just inside the mouth, its quaint old 17th century fortress recalling the days of the pirates and buccaneers of the Spanish Main, can be seen in the distance.

For eight or ten miles the drive follows the general trend of the shoreline, leaving it finally with a graceful turn and many changes of level, as hill after hill is either climbed or circled. The driveway sweeps on westward through a country devoted to cane growing and stock raising, until another beautiful deep water harbor known as Bahia Honda is sighted off to the northwest Eventually the drive passes through and terminates abruptly about a kilometer and a half beyond the little village of Bahia Honda or Deep Bay, that was built over two kilometers back from the head of the harbor over a century ago, when the inhabitants still feared the incursion of enemies from the sea. The town lies just at the foot of forest covered hills that come gradually down from the Organ Range some six miles back. The town itself, aside from a certain quaintness, common to all interior cities of Cuba, has but little interest. A short driveway leads to the head of the bay and the inshore lighthouse.

The harbor is some five or six miles in length by three or four in width, and furnishes splendid anchorage even for deep draft vessels. This bay was originally chosen as the north shore coaling station for the United States Government in Cuba, but afterwards was abandoned as unnecessary. Two range lights render entrance at night easy, while just west of the mouth on the long line of barrier reefs known as the Colorados, stands the new Gobernadora lighthouse, erected a few years ago for the benefit of ships plying between Havana and Mexico.

The drive from Havana to Bahia Honda, with the little digression towards Mariel, is sixty miles in length. The rather heavy grades in places, and the beauty of the scenery throughout its entire length, discourage fast motoring, but the jaunt can easily be made between “desayuno” at seven and the Cuban “almuerzo” or breakfast at eleven. No trip of equal length in the Republic furnishes greater charm to the lover of picturesque Nature than does this north shore drive to Bahia Honda. When connected as planned, with Vinales, some 50 kilometers further west, it will rank with, if not excel, any other drive known in the tropical world.

From Matanzas several short lines radiate, all of which are interesting, especially those which wander through the valley of the Yumuri, and another seven kilometers in length which follows the shore line and sweeps up over the ridge, affording a beautiful view of the Yumuri, stretching out to the westward. Another short line, only a few kilometers in length, has been built to the caves of Bellamar, a favorite resort for winter tourists.

Another drive reaching south to La Cidra, 16 miles distant, on the railroad to Sabanilla, enables one to form some conception of the country to the southward of the capital. Only a few kilometers from Matanzas one of the main trunk lines has been completed as far east as Contreras, 60 kilometers. From this line, just beyond Ponce, a branch runs 8½ kilometers to the charming little city of Cardenas, resting on the southern edge of the bay.

Extending from Cardenas due west is another line, terminating at the little town of Camarioca, 18 kilometers distant. Some five kilometers along this road a branch sweeps north 10 kilometers to the Playa of Varadero, the finest beach in the Island of Cuba, where many of the wealthier families assemble for the summer to enjoy surf bathing on the outer shore, and where the annual regatta is held during the season.

From Contreras the northern trunk line has been projected eastward, through Corralillo, across the border into the Province of Santa Clara. Short stretches of this line have been completed from the towns of Marti and Itabo, but up to January 1, 1919, no trunk line extended further west than Cardenas.

Cienfuegos, one of the principal seaports of the south coast of Santa Clara, is the center from which two automobile drives radiate. One runs 26 kilometers to the westward, terminating at Rodas and passing through a number of rich sugar estates. The other runs northeast, through Caunao, Las Guaos, Cumaneyagua, and Barajagua, terminating at Manicaragua, 38 kilometers distant. It penetrates the valley of the Arimao where a good quality of tobacco, known as the Manicaragua, is grown. The scenery is delightfully picturesque and interesting. Manicaragua is on the western edge of one of Santa Clara’s most important mining districts.

From Casilda, another seaport on the south coast, a short line has been built to the quaint, old-time city of Trinidad, perched on the side of a mountain and founded by the companions of Christopher Columbus in 1514. This road has been extended further north ten kilometers and will eventually reach the important railroad junction and road center of Placetas, on the Cuba Company’s line, connecting the western with the eastern end of the Island.

From Santa Clara, the capital of the Province, several short lines radiate in different directions. The longest sweeps through a rich cane and cattle country, connecting the villages of La Cruz, Camajuani, Taguaybon and Remedios, and terminating at Caibarien, the principal seaport on the northeast coast of the Province. None of the trunk lines proposed, up to January, 1919, had crossed the line into Camaguey.

Camaguey, owing perhaps to the fact that the province is less thickly settled than any other in Cuba, has but few auto drives; the only ones worthy of mention radiating from the capital, Camaguey. One runs west some 10 kilometers, parallel with the Cuba Company’s railroad lines, while the other extends east 34 kilometers passing through the charming agricultural experimental station of Camaguey. This splendid provincial institution, under the direction of Mr. Roberto Luaces, is located five miles from the city. Since the greater part of the province is comparatively level, road building in Camaguey is not expensive and will probably be rapidly extended in the near future.

Oriente, owing to its mountainous character, presents more serious engineering and financial problems than any other of the Island. The wealth of its natural resources, however, especially in cane lands and mineral deposits, will undoubtedly furnish an impetus for further building.

At present several short lines radiate from Santiago de Cuba, its capital, located on the beautiful harbor of that name. One of these runs due north to Dos Caminos, and then west to Palma Soriana, passing through San Luis. The length of this line is approximately 40 kilometers. Still another, fifteen kilometers long, reaches Alto Songo, northeast of Santiago, passing through Boniato, Dos Bocas, and El Cristo.

During General Wood’s administration of Santiago Province surveys were made at his instigation and roads were completed to nearly all those points of historical interest where engagements took place between Americans and Spanish troops in the summer of 1898. One of these lines, six kilometers in length, carries the visitor to the village of El Caney, where the brave Spanish General Vara del Rey lost his life in its defense. The fortifications were shelled and captured by General William A. Ludlow of the U. S. Engineering Corps.

Another, reaching out towards the northeast some five kilometers, terminates at the top of San Juan hill, where Theodore Roosevelt got his first experience of mauser rifle fire. On the crest of this loma a little pagoda has been erected, from the second story of which splendid views of the surrounding country may be enjoyed and of all places where engagements occurred. Brass tablets form the window sills of this picturesque outlook, each one carrying an arrow stamped in the brass, indicating the various points of interest, followed by a brief description of the places, with dates of battles, etc. On the same road may be seen the famous ceiba tree under which the armistice was signed terminating the war between Spain and the United States.

Another short line ascends to the crest of a hill in the Sierra Maestra from which may be enjoyed a charming view of the Bay, city and surrounding country for many miles. The longest automobile drive in Oriente extends from the harbor of Manzanillo on the west coast almost due east to the village of Juguani, 58 kilometers away, passing through Yara, Veguitas and Bayamo. This line is being rapidly extended to Baire, and thence on to Palma Soriana, thus completing the connection between Manzanillo and Santiago de Cuba.

A short line from Baracoa on the extreme northeastern coast of the Island, has been built in a southerly direction to Sabanilla, 12 kilometers. Local machines can be found at all of these points that will carry the tourist the length of the line, enabling him to form some conception of a section that otherwise could be penetrated only by mountain ponies or on mule back.

CHAPTER XXXI

BAYS AND HARBORS

NOTHING is more essential to the general prosperity of a mercantile country than good harbors. They are the economic gateways to the interior, through which all foreign trade must come and go. Cuba in this sense is essentially fortunate, especially along her north coast, where sixteen large, deep, well protected bays and harbors of the first order empty into the Gulf of Mexico, and into the north Atlantic, furnishing thus direct avenues of trade to the greatest commercial centers of the world.

Four harbors and bays of the first order are distributed along the southern coast, emptying into the Caribbean, and through that great tropical sea pass the avenues of trade that connect Cuba with the republics of Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine, while the Panama Canal permits direct water communication, not only with the republics of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, but also with the west coast of Mexico, and the United States, as well as with Japan and the Orient. With North Africa and the Mediterranean are direct lines of trade through the old Bahama Channel, while central and southern Africa are reached by way of the Lesser Antilles and Barbadoes.

Most of the foreign trade at the present time is with the American ports along the eastern coast of the Atlantic and through the Gulf ports by which Cuba has access to the Mississippi Valley, while along the Gulf Stream Cuba has a direct avenue, as well as a favorable current, that carried her commerce to England, France and other countries of western Europe.

Beginning with the harbors and bays of the north coast we have the western group located in Pinar del Rio, on the Gulf of Mexico, not distant from Vera Cruz and Tampico in Mexico, or Galveston in Texas, while almost facing them we have New Orleans, Pascagoula, Mobile and Pensacola, with Tampa on the Florida coast.

On this group the first is that fine deep land locked deep-water harbor of Bahia Honda (deep bay), sixty miles west of Havana, that was first selected by the Government of the United States as a coaling station, but afterwards surrendered for Guantanamo on account of the latter’s proximity to the Panama Canal and the Pacific, to which it gives entrance. Bahia Honda has a deep, rather narrow and fairly straight channel that leads from the Gulf into a beautiful sheet of water, extending some five or six miles into the interior, where good anchorage may be found for quite a fleet of vessels. A twelve mile light is located on the western entrance of the harbor, while two fine range lights enable shipping to leave or enter at night. The little town of Bahia Honda, three miles back, is connected with the port by a fine macadam highway. Owing to the fact that this section of Pinar del Rio, although rich in minerals, has not been brought under development up to the present, most of the commerce is confined to the local trade between Bahia and Havana, sixty miles distant.

Twelve miles further east and forty-eight miles from Havana, we have the beautiful harbor of Cabanas, a large, double-purse-shaped, interior bay, that extends some ten miles from east to west and furnishes one of the most picturesque land-locked harbors on the north coast. A small island in the entrance, on which is located one of the old time forts of the 17th century, obscures the bay itself from passing vessels. The shores of Cabanas are covered with extensive sugar cane fields that furnish cane to the surrounding mills, while its commerce is at the present time almost entirely local.

Located in the same province, some 18 miles further east, and only 30 from Havana, is the harbor of Mariel, a single-purse-shaped bay, that from its narrow entrance opens out to a broad picturesque sheet of water extending southward some four or five miles, while several prolongations extend out towards the southwest, bordered with rich sugar cane plantations. The little fishing village of Mariel is located at the extreme head of the bay and connected with Havana by automobile drive, as are the two harbors previously mentioned. A high table land extends along much of the eastern shore of this harbor, on the summit of which stands the Cuban Naval Academy. Near the entrance, on the eastern shore, is located a new cement factory with a capacity of a thousand barrels a day. On the western side of the entrance is the quarantine station, to which all infested vessels are sent, and where delightful accommodations are found ashore for both passengers and crew, who may be detained by sanitary officials of the central government.

The fine deep-water harbor of Havana, which boasts of a foreign trade excelled in the western hemisphere only by that of New York City, is, of course, the most important commercial gateway of the Republic of Cuba. It is one of those deep, narrow-necked, purse-shaped harbors, so characteristic of the Island, and furnishes splendid anchorage, with well equipped modern wharves, for handling the enormous bulk of freight that comes and goes throughout every day of the year. After passing the promontories of El Morro and Cabanas, that stretch along the eastern side of the entrance for a mile or more, the remainder of the shores of the Bay of Havana are comparatively low, although high ridges and hills form a fairly close background in almost every direction. Within the last ten years a great deal of dredging and land reclaiming has taken place in this harbor, increasing greatly not only the depth of water but also the available building sites. A series of magnificent modern wharves have been built along the western shore of the harbor, furnishing splendid shipping facilities for incoming and outgoing vessels. The upper portions of these buildings are occupied by the Custom House and Quarantine authorities. The southwest extension of this bay, recently dredged, furnishes access to deep draft steamships up to the site of the old Spanish Arsenal, that in 1908 was converted into the freight and passenger yards of the United Railroads. Along the docks, where steamers of the P. & O. SS line are moored, were built and launched many of Spain’s ships that centuries ago fought with Great Britain for the dominion of the seas. On the broad topped promontory that lies along the eastern shore, southeast of Cabanas, is located Trisconia, a splendidly equipped detention camp for immigrants and passengers coming from infested ports in different parts of the world. Excellent accommodations are there provided during the period of detention, which may last anywhere from five to fifteen days. This is the “Ellis Island” of Cuba, and has been a credit to the Republic since the first year of its installment in 1902, during which time it has been under the able direction of Dr. Frank Menocal, who takes great personal pride in having Trisconia, with its floating population, running sometimes into the thousands, one of the best appointed stations of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

The harbor of Matanzas, sixty miles east of Havana, is a beautiful wide mouthed bay, or open roadstead, facing on the Gulf Stream as it sweeps between northern Cuba and southern Florida. This picturesque sheet of water reaches back into the land some six or eight miles, and although not noted for its depth, nevertheless furnishes safe anchorage for the fleet of tramp steamers found there during the larger part of the year, loading sugar from the many centrals scattered throughout the Province of Matanzas. Into this harbor, from the west, opens the Yumuri gorge, through which runs the river whose waters in ages past carved out the famous valley of the Yumuri, whose beauty was extolled by Alexander Von Humboldt during his travels in the western world. Covering the western shores of the bay, that slope down from the top of the hills to the water’s edge, lies the city of Matanzas, while off to the east and south may be seen great fields of sugar cane and henequen, that form two of the important industries of the Province.

Forty miles further east we find the beautiful landlocked bay of Cardenas, whose northwestern shore is formed by a long sandy strip of land extending in a curve out into the sea and known as the Punta de Hicacos. Cardenas Bay is some thirty miles in length from east to west, by ten or twelve from north to south, and is protected from the outside sea by a chain of small keys or islands, through which a deep ship channel was dredged during the first decade of this century. This furnishes entrance to one of the largest sugar exporting points of Cuba, the City of Cardenas.

East of the harbor of Cardenas lies Santa Clara Bay, also protected by outlying keys, but without deep water anchorage. These island dotted bays, separated from each other only by islands, and connected by comparatively shallow channels, extend from Punta Hicacos, some 300 miles eastward, to the Harbor of Nuevitas.

Seventy-five miles east of Cardenas we find the bay of Sagua, very similar to the others, and with a depth not exceeding twelve or fifteen feet. This harbor is located on the northern shore of the Province of Santa Clara, and its port, Isabela de Sagua, is the shipping point for a large amount of the sugar produced along the north coast of the province. The rivers emptying into the bay of Sagua, as well as the bay itself, are noted for their splendid fishing ground, tarpon being especially abundant; also for the small delightfully flavored native oyster.

Still further east we have another important shipping port known as Caibarien, located on Buena Vista Bay, that unfortunately has an average depth of only 12 or 15 feet, necessitating lighterage out to the anchorage at Cayo Frances, 18 miles distant, where ships of the deepest draft find perfect protection while loading.

On the north shore of the Province of Camaguey we have but one harbor of the first order, the Bay of Nuevitas, but this harbor may easily lay claim to being one of the best in the world. Its entrance is narrow, resembling a river, some six miles in length and with a rather swift running current, depending upon the flow of tide, as it passes in or out. The Bay itself is a beautiful sheet of water of circular form, with an extension of deep water reaching out towards the west some 15 miles, and connected with the Bay of Carabelas, Guajaba and Guanaja, forty or fifty miles further west. Along these quiet landlocked lagoons are located the American colonies of La Gloria, Columbia, Punta Pelota and Guanaja.

There are many reasons for believing that the entrance to this harbor was the place where Columbus spent several days scraping and cleaning the bottom of his caravels, while a few of his companions made a journey into the interior, finding very agreeable natives but no indications of gold. From Nuevitas is shipped nearly all of the sugar made in the Province of Camaguey, together with a great deal of fine hardwood, cut in the Sierra de Cubitas Mountains.

The north shore railroad, beginning at Caibarien some 300 kilometers distant, has its eastern terminus on Nuevitas Bay, and will, when completed, greatly increase the trade of splendid sugar and vegetable land, as well as the mining zone, rich in iron and chrome, that lies just south of the Sierras.

Thirty miles further east we have the harbor of Manati, with a narrow but comparatively deep and easy entrance, which soon opens out into the usual long pouch shaped bay, on the shore of which are the sugar mills of Manati. This harbor, although not ranked among the largest, nevertheless can accommodate a large fleet of merchant ships or tramp steamers waiting for their cargoes of sugar and hardwood timber.

Malageta, some ten miles east of Manati, cannot be properly ranked as a harbor of the first class, although it furnishes protection for vessels of moderate draft.

Puerto Padre, 20 miles east of Manati, is another large pouch-shaped deep water harbor like nearly all those of the north coast, and owing to the location on its southern shore of two of the largest sugar mills in the world, Chaparra and Las Delicias, with a combined production of over a million bags a year, it may be justly ranked as one of the most important harbors of Oriente.

Fifty miles further east we have the open roadstead of Gibara, a deep indentation of the sea that gives, unfortunately, but little protection from northerly gales, but since Gibara is the exit for the rich Holguin district of northern Oriente, its commerce is extensive.

Sixty miles further east, after rounding Lucrecia Point, where the coast for the first time faces due east, we have another fine deep water harbor known as Banes, on whose shores is located a large sugar mill known as “Boston,” with an annual output of 500,000 bags.

Some ten miles southeast of Banes we enter the Bay of Nipe, the largest landlocked harbor in Cuba. Nipe is a beautiful sheet of water, whose southern and western shores are low, although mountains can be seen in the distance in almost any direction. Nipe contains forty square miles of deep water anchorage, with a width from east to west of twelve miles and from north to south of seven to eight miles. The Mayari River, one of the most important streams of the north coast of Oriente Province, empties into Nipe. On the north shore of the bay the little town of Antilla forms the northeastern terminus of the Cuba Company’s railroad, connecting Orient with Havana and the western end of the Island. The land surrounding the bay is exceptionally rich and is owned largely by the United Fruit Company. Here they originally cultivated large fields of bananas, but owing to their extensive plantations in Costa Rica, and to the high price of sugar brought about by the war, their Cuban properties have been converted into sugar plantations. The splendid mills of Preston are located on Nipe Bay, from which a half million bags of sugar are shipped every year to the outside world. The rich mines of the Mayari district belonging to the Bethlehem Steel Company are located back of Nipe Harbor and contribute considerably to the commerce of this port.

Some five or six miles east of the entrance of Nipe we have the deep double harbors of Cabonico and Levisa; the latter large and circular in form, while Cabonico is comparatively small, and separated from Levisa by a narrow peninsula that extends almost into the single entrance of the two bays. The lands around this harbor are largely covered with forests of magnificent hard woods, while the soil is rich enough to produce cane for a quarter of a century or longer without replanting.

Some 15 miles further east we have another fine large bay with a narrow entrance on the Atlantic, known as Sagua de Tanamo. This bay is very irregular in form, with many ramifications or branches reaching out towards the east, south and west, while into it flows the Tanamo River, draining the forest covered valleys and basins that lie between the mountains of eastern Oriente and the north shore.

Baracoa, an open roadstead, celebrated owing to the fact that here the Spanish conquerors made their first settlement in the Pearl of the Antilles in 1512, is a very picturesque bay, but unfortunately with almost no protection from northerly winds that prevail during the winter months. Cocoanuts form the chief article of export from Baracoa, which is the last port of any note on the north coast of Cuba.

Although the south coast of Cuba contains some of the finest harbors in the world, Dame Nature was not quite so generous with her commercial gateways along the Caribbean as along the shores bordering on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Some 85 miles west of Cape Maisi we come to the Bay of Guantanamo, a long, deep indentation from the Caribbean, extending ten or twelve miles straight up into the land, and in its upper extension opening out into quite a wide sheet of water. Guantanamo is deep, well protected, and of sufficient area to furnish excellent anchorage for the navy of the United States. That which for naval purposes gives Guantanamo especial strategic value is the fact that its mouth, free from obstructions, is so wide that three first-class battleships can leave or enter at full speed, without danger of collision or interference, either with each other or with the inclosing shores. This feature of the bay, which is not often found in well protected harbors, together with the fact that it practically commands the Caribbean Sea, and lies almost in a direct line between the Atlantic Coast and the Panama Canal, were the reasons why Guantanamo was selected in preference to all other bays as the United Naval Station in the Republic of Cuba. During the last ten years many improvements have taken place in Guantanamo and today its importance is not excelled by that of any other naval station in the Western Hemisphere. The Guantanamo Valley, one of the richest in the Island, furnishes a large amount of cane that supplies seven or eight sugar mills located a little back from the shore of the Bay.

Fifty miles further west, near the center of the southern coast of Oriente, the pent up streams and basins of the geological past have broken through the chain of mountains bordering the Caribbean and by erosion have formed one of the finest and most picturesque harbors in the world. The Morro of Santiago stands on a high promontory at the eastern entrance of its narrow mouth, passing through which the Bay rapidly opens up into a charming panorama of palm covered islands, strips of white beach, and distant mountains, that combine to render Santiago one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. The City of Santiago lies on a side hill sloping down to the water’s edge, and owing to the fact of its being the southeastern terminus of the Cuba Company’s lines, which connect it with Havana, and to the natural wealth of the Province of Oriente itself, of which Santiago is the chief commercial city, it has no rival in the Republic outside of Havana. Several lines of steamers connect Santiago, not only with the Atlantic and Gulf ports of the United States, but also with Jamaica, Porto Rico, Panama and Europe.

Manzanillo, located on the west coast of Oriente, at the head of the Gulf of Guacanabo, is the most important harbor in that section of the province, and owing to the rich country lying back of it, whence are shipped not only sugar, but hardwoods, hides and minerals, Manzanillo Harbor is one of the most important in the eastern end of the Island. Between this and Cienfuegos, which is the most important port on the south coast of central Cuba, we have a stretch of several hundred miles in which only harbors of the second order are found.

Cienfuegos, or a “Hundred Fires,” is another of those beautiful, storm protected inland pockets, with a narrow river-like channel connecting it with the Caribbean. An old time 17th century fort nestles on the western shore of the entrance, an interesting reminder of the days in which every city and every harbor had to protect itself from the incursions of privateers and pirates. Cienfuegos Bay extends from southeast to northwest a distance of about fifteen miles, with a varying width of from three to seven miles. The bay is dotted with charming islands, many of which have been converted into delightful homes and tropical gardens, where the wealthy people of the city pass most of their time in summer. The city itself lies on the northern shore and is comparatively modern, with wide streets and sidewalks. Good wharves and spacious warehouses line the shores of the commercial part of the city. Cienfuegos is the main gateway, not only for the sugar of southern Santa Clara but for the whole southern coast of the central part of the Republic. Its commerce ranks next to that of Santiago de Cuba, and the bay itself is one of the most interesting in the Island.

Further west, towards Cape San Antonio, while we have many comparatively shallow harbors and embarcaderos or shipping points for coasting vessels and those of light draft, there are no other deep harbors aside from that of the Bay of Cochinos, or Pig Gulf, which is really an indentation of the coast line, extending from the Caribbean up into the land some fifteen miles, with a width of 10 or 12 miles at its mouth, gradually tapering towards the north, but furnishing no protection from southerly gales.

On either side of this bay are located low lands and swamps including those of the Cienaga de Zapata, most of which will never be cultivated unless drained. Extensive forests of hardwood timber surround the bay in all directions. Several big drainage propositions have been projected at different times but none, up to the present, have been carried into execution.

Batabano, almost due south of Havana, is quite a shipping point, receiving fish, sponge and charcoal from the shallow waters and low forests along the south coast of Havana Province and Pinar del Rio. Fruit and vegetables are landed here from the Isle of Pines, but owing to the shallow waters of the bay and its utter lack of protection from any direction but the north, it can hardly be considered a harbor.

Of harbors of the second order, Cuba has some twenty on the north coast, most of which have depths varying from 10 to 15 feet, although a few may be found difficult of entrance at low tide for boats drawing over ten feet. Beginning on the northwest coast of Pinar del Rio, near Cape San Antonio, we have El Cajon, Guardiana Bay, and moving northward, Pinatillo, Mantua, Dimas and San Cayetano. At all of these with the exception of the first, the light draft coasting steamers of the Menendez Line stop every five days in their trips around the western end of the Island, between Habana and Cienfuegos on the south coast. Santa Lucia, a few miles west of San Cayetano, is used as the shipping port for copper from the Matahambre Mines. The ore, however, is conveyed in lighters across the bay and transferred to steamers near Cayo Jutias.

East of Havana, about half way to Matanzas, we have the embarcadero of Santa Cruz, from which many vegetables, especially onions, are shipped to Havana. Still further east, on the outer island shore is a harbor of the second order near Paredon Grande, carrying twelve feet, and used largely by fishermen and turtlers in stormy weather. Between Cayo Confitas and Cayo Verde, there is a wide break in the barrier reef that permits vessels in distress to find protection during periods of storm. Some thirty miles west of Nuevitas is another break in the barrier reef over which schooners drawing not more than seven or eight feet can find shelter in the Bay of Guajaba. This is the deepest water approach to the American colony of La Gloria. A little blasting would improve it.

Nuevas Grandes, located midway between Nuevitas and Manati, on the coast of Camaguey, is not easy of entrance in bad weather owing to surf breaking on the outlying reefs, nor is the country back of it sufficiently productive to give promise of much commerce in the future.

On the north coast of Oriente we have a number of comparatively shallow harbors, some of which furnish very good protection for vessels in bad weather. The more important of these are Puerto Vita, Puerto Sama, Tanamo and Puerto Naranjo.

Along the south coast of Oriente we have Imias Sabana la Mar, Puerto Escondido, Playa de Cuyuco and Daiquiri which, with the exception of the latter, from which the Daiquiri iron mines ship their ore, have practically no commerce.

West of Santiago, on the same coast, are the little landing places of Dos Rios, Cotibar, Turquino and Mota. Between the last two, however, we have a fairly good harbor known as Portillo, that furnishes ample protection for vessels drawing not more than 15 feet, and is the shipping point for the output of the sugar estates that surround Portillo Bay.

Between Cabo Cruz and Manzanillo are the embarcaderos of Nequiro, Media Luna, Ceiba Hueca and Campechuela, from nearly all of which a considerable amount of sugar is shipped during the season.

North of Manzanillo, and extending west along the coast of Camaguey and Santa Clara, we have the shallow harbors of Romero, Santa Cruz del Sur, Jucaro, Tunas de Zaza and Casilda. The southern coast steamers stop at each of these ports, and quite a large amount of sugar and hardwood is shipped from them.

From Cienfuegos west we have the Bahia de Cochinos and Batabano already mentioned, together with La Paloma, Punta de Cartas, Bay of Cortes and the Gulf of Corrientes, all of which are located along the south shore of Pinar del Rio, and have quite an extensive local trade in charcoal, fish and hardwood.

CHAPTER XXXII

RAILROAD SYSTEMS IN CUBA

SOMEWHAT strange to relate, railroad building, insofar as it applied to Spanish territory, had its inception in Cuba, at a time when the Island was one of Spain’s colonial possessions. A few rich planters owning large properties at Guines, an exceptionally fertile district some forty miles from the capital, had kept in touch with experiments in railroad building and steam locomotives, as a new source of power in the commercial world, and for the purpose of trying out the practicability of this new means of transportation bought a steam railway locomotive, together with the necessary rails and equipment, for use in transporting sugar cane and other produce from one point to another on their own plantations. Besides this, the Nuevitas-Puerto Principe Railroad was the first public service steam railroad ever built on Spanish soil.

What is known as the United Railways of Havana may justly claim to be the father of public railway transportation in the Island, since the founders of the Company took advantage of the railway nucleus at Guines, and gradually extended the line through various private properties until it reached the city of Havana, while branches and connections were thrown out in other directions. With the consent of the Colonial Government, the entire property was later acquired at auction by an English Company and began business as the United Railways of Havana.

In 1886 the Company took over another short line known as the Alfonso XII Railroad, that had been built three years before. After various fusions and transfers, these properties were combined in one, with an initial capital of $16,875,196. The complete system of wharves and warehouses at Regla passed into the possession of the Company at the same time. Afterwards the short line connecting the city of Havana with the suburb of Marianao was absorbed, followed later by the taking over of the Cardenas and Jucaro Line.

In 1906 the Matanzas Railway was brought into the corporation, giving it at that time a combined length of 1127 kilometers, most of which was included in the Provinces of Havana and Matanzas. Later the United Railways were extended into the Province of Santa Clara as far east as La Esperanza, making in the year 1903, over the Cuban Central Railway, the much-desired connection with the Cuba Railroad to Santiago de Cuba and the Bay of Nipe. In 1907 the Western Railway of Havana, connecting the capital with Pinar del Rio, and the still further extension westward to the town of Guane, were brought under the control of the United Railways.

From Guane north and east a new North Shore Road for Pinar del Rio has been projected, which will circle around the western end of the Organ Mountains passing through the towns of Mantua, Dimas and La Esperanza, paralleling the Gulf Coast of the Province of Pinar del Rio until it reaches Bahia Honda, where it will connect with the western extension of the Havana Central now terminating at Guanajay. This projected line, which has been approved by Congress and the Railroad Commission, will pass through a comparatively undeveloped section of the Island, whose rich mineral zones and fertile agricultural lands between Bahia Honda and Guanajay have long suffered for lack of transportation. A very substantial subsidy which will materially assist in the construction of the road, may be considered as a guarantee of its early completion.