RESOURCES 
 
 AND DEVELOPMENT OF 
 
 CUBA 
 
 Published by 
 
 Woman’s American Baptist Home Mission Society 
 2969 Vernon Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/resourcesdevelopOOschu 
 
RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA 
 
 By Frances M. Schuyler 
 
 RELIGIOUS WORK IN CUBA 
 
 Bishop W. A. Candler in an address before the British Wesleyan Conference at York, 
 England, recently said that the missions in Cuba and other lands were very prosperous. 
 Cuba is the youngest mission field where “we have had an organized mission since 1898.” 
 He said further: “ I am glad to tell you that we have strong and growing churches in every 
 provincial capital of the island and in many towns and cities of smaller size. Our Cuban 
 members number about 3,000. In the soft accents of the Castilian tongue the sentiments 
 of Charles Wesley’s hymns are sung with the same fervor with which they are poured forth 
 in their own island home.” 
 
 Rev. M. N. McCall in the Atlanta (Ga.) Christian Inde.x, writes that “when the history 
 of modern missions shall have been completed one of its brighest pages will be on Cuba.” 
 
 “In our last three Baptist Conventions there the mayor of the respective cities wel¬ 
 comed the body in the name of the town, from the pulpit of our chapel. Two of these 
 towns were provincial capitals, and one of them the third city in the island. We are accus¬ 
 tomed to such things in the states, but a few years ago it would have been unthinkable 
 in Cuba. 
 
 There are now thirteen Baptist churches, thirty preaching stations which will later 
 be organized. The Cuban-American College, Havana, has completed its second year. 
 
 The Home Board has secured excellent lots in a number of places, and on some of them 
 
 Gratefully we acknowledge the helpfulness of Cuba Review, Home Mission Monthly, and the daily press in 
 gathering information for this booklet. F. ^I. S. 
 
 3 
 
has erected chapels. The church building at Matanzas has just been completed, and is 
 a model of beauty and convenience.” 
 
 In the addresses of the Rt. Rev. Albion W. Knight, Episcopal Bishop of Cuba, delivered 
 in Washington recently, much interesting information regarding the work of the Episcopal 
 Church in Cuba was given. Speaking of general sanitary conditions there, he said: 
 
 “Cuba is a health resort. The contagious diseases that were once a scourge are now 
 but little known, and I think that Cuba is as healthy as any locality in the United 
 States.” 
 
 In discussing the missionary work of the church he said: “ The Episcopal Church has 
 
 erected a church building in Havana, the construction of which was paid for by donations 
 from the people.” 
 
 “Three years ago there were but 8.5 children, 200 communicants, and 2 clergymen con¬ 
 nected with the church on the island. This year’s report shows there are 700 children 
 1,171 communicants, and 16 clergymen.” 
 
 During the bishop’s first year in the island he confirmed 23 communicants; la.st year 
 294 were received, 230 of whom were natives unable to speak the English language. 
 
 There are eight parochial schools, sustained by the parents of the pupils. The Cathe¬ 
 dral School, in Havana which is three years old, is for girls. When the school opened 
 there were 20 pupils; the second year 130, and this year there are 260. 
 
 Another school was opened this year for the poor children of the city of Havana. There 
 were 86 pupils at the opening and each one brings a small sum of money from time to 
 time, which goes toward the support of the school. 
 
 4 
 
Among other religious institutions on the island is the Industrial School for Negroes, 
 which was started last year. The bishop said the negro has been neglected religiously, 
 and that this new school is the only one outside of the public school to which the negro 
 can turn for education. Already there have been fifty negroes confirmed, and the work 
 is meeting with great success. It costs about $12,000 a year to carry on the enterprise, 
 and most of this is paid by public subscription and by those interested in the work. 
 
 The new work in Guantanamo, says the New York Churchman, is rapidly approach¬ 
 ing completion, and it will soon be ready for occupation. It is the gift of Mr. W. W. 
 Frazer, of Philadelphia. Another new church is in process of erection at Ensenada de 
 Mora, a sugar estate east of Cienfuegos, on the southern shore. It is being erected through 
 the generosity of Mr. Alfred Harrison, of Philadelphia, and it will minister to a popula¬ 
 tion of more than 1,800 men. 
 
 AMERICAN EDUCATION IN CUBA 
 
 Governor Magoon’s report just issued says that for primary education Cuba has 3,700 
 public school teachers, 130,114 pupils, and 106 boards of education. 
 
 The department of public instruction is divided into two sections, primary instruction 
 and superior instruction, the latter subdivided into two departments, the institutes and the 
 national university. The state also supports, in connection with its section of superior 
 instruction, the school of arts and trades, the school of painting and sculpture, and the 
 national library. 
 
 Normally the attendance is two-thirds white and one-third colored, with 52,000 young 
 men and boys and 44,000 women and girls. 
 
 5 
 
ANOTHER VIEW OF YUMRI VALLEY, MATANZAS, CUBA 
 
The most important stej)s in connection with the public schools have been the move¬ 
 ment toward the grading of the schools in a pedagogic and scientific manner, the number of 
 special branches taught and the wider scope given to those which already existed in the 
 schools of Cuba. In 1906 the following special branches were added: Lace work, sew¬ 
 ing and pattern work, drawing and modeling, sloyd in cardboard, sloyd in metal and 
 music. Kindergarten, sloyd in wood, and physical training were akso taught. 
 
 The School of Arts (manual) and Trades, which the American Military government of 
 intervention raised to a high degree of excellence, has been amply j)rovided for by an 
 appropriation of $41,000. The school provides day and night instructions and turns out 
 .skilled workmen and artisans. The state contributes $16,060 toward the .school of paint¬ 
 ing and sculpture, in which .500 pupils are enrolled this year. The young women have 
 a woman teacher in the class of anatomy and drawing from the living model. 
 
 The national library, founded by the first American government of the island, now 
 contains over 40,000 books. It gets $11,660 a year from the state towards its support. 
 
 ENGLISH TEACHING IN CUBAN SCHOOLS 
 
 Boys and girls in Cuba began to learn English from a text-book, the first ever used 
 in Cuban .schools, on January 1. The Department of Education plans to place the book 
 in use in all the schools where English is taught and to have a course in every school as 
 soon as possible. The enlargement of this work necessitated more teachers and exami¬ 
 nations, which were held recently, yielded certificates to thirty-five out of the fifty-.seven 
 applicants. 
 
 7 
 
THE CLERKS’ CLUB OF HAVANA 
 
 One day in Havana recently, during a conversation with Governor Magoon, the Cu¬ 
 ban’s ability to take care of himself came up, and as an example of this the governor 
 spoke in most complimentary terms of the “Association de Dependientes del Comercio 
 de la Habana,” a society which in English would be known as the Clerks’ Club. “In¬ 
 deed,” said the governor, “I think the people of the United States should know some¬ 
 thing about this association and the benefits which accrue from its work to the great 
 middle class of Cuba.” 
 
 “ A special hospital, under the control of the club and a part of the association, is on the 
 outskirts of the city, and in its equipment compares favorably with the best hospitals of 
 the States. The association was formed by a few clerks in the year 1880, and really had 
 its origin as a beneficial order. The life of the clerk in the employ of a Spanish merchant 
 would not appeal to the American youth, from the fact that his freedom is somewhat 
 restricted. He practically lives in the shop and has few privileges, his meals are eaten at 
 a small table behind the counter, or in the rear of the store, and he sleeps in the building. 
 If he goes out he must return at a stated hour set by his employer; vacations are short 
 and few, salaries are not large, and the hours of labor are long. Believing that these 
 restrictions were necessary to the efficiency of the clerks, the shopkeepers objected to the 
 association, thinking it might mean strikes and other troublesome disturbances; but their 
 fears were groundless, as there is perhaps no nation in the w’orld so custom-fettered as the 
 Spanish. Later on, as the society grew in numbers, the employers took an active interest 
 and assisted in its management. 
 
 The first year only five hundred members were enrolled, but soon the many advantages 
 
 8 
 
“uncle Sam'’ built this institution op learning for these children, 
 
 MATANZAS, CUBA, 
 
of the association attracted the whole city, and applications for membership came rapidly, 
 until to-day its books show the names of more than twenty-tive thousand members in good 
 standing. While any white man is eligible, objectionable characters are not accepted. 
 Nationality is no bar, and many Americans who occupy clerical positions in Havana are 
 members. The dues are one dollar and fifty cents per month, and when one studies the 
 benefits to be obtained from this trifling sum, he soon realizes that the financial end of the 
 club’s affairs is in excellent hands. The new clubhouse was opened a year ago, and is 
 one of the show places of Havana. It is located on the Prado, near the famous American 
 Club and in the very heart of the homes of the aristocracy. The club privileges are more 
 extensive than those of the States, as the members have the right to bring their families, 
 and, besides, it is an excellent educational institution, where their children may be instruct¬ 
 ed by competent teachers. 
 
 I recall with pleasure several visits to this s})acious building anti expecially my visit to 
 the schoolrooms, filled with bright-eyed rosy-cheeked children. The boys occupied 
 rooms on the lower floor. A fair business education may be secured here, and those whose 
 inclination runs toward some trade are given a course in manual training. Upstairs is 
 the kindergarten, where about two hundred tots are being started on the road to learning. 
 In near-by rooms were girls just growing into womanhood. Painting and music are 
 taught, the latter in a most thorough manner. The Cubans are a music-loving nation, 
 and learn it readily. The members themselves have night classes, where bookkeeping, 
 stenography and English are taught. In nearly every shop in Havana there are clerks 
 who speak English well — the result of a course at the night school of the Clerk’s Club,” 
 
 10 
 
GOAT TEAMS OF CUBA 
 
 Cuba is a wonderful country for goat teams. There are all kinds of vehicles, of minia¬ 
 ture proportions, hauled along the roads by well-trained goats. One would hardly believe 
 that the goat could be made to do such good work in harness. People who come to Cuba 
 from other lands, and go out through Vedada, or Marianao, meet numerous little outfits 
 drawn quite speedily and steadily along the streets just like any of the horse and cattle 
 vehieles. There are also a number of goat teams in the city of Havana. Suitable goats 
 are selected while young, and efforts made to train them to the harness. Often the young¬ 
 ster is permitted to run alongside the father or mother at first, the same as the young colt 
 is permitted to follow along with the mother in the hitch up. Sometimes it is secured to 
 the shafts alongside of the parent. Some of the goat trainers depend a great deal upon 
 the boys to assist them. The latter ride upon them and succeed in subduing them after 
 a few days. 
 
 There are thousands of goats to select from, due to the great demand for goat’s milk 
 in Cuba. There are goat milk industries which thrive exceedingly well, and the trainers 
 go to these people to obtain promising young stock for the shafts. JMarket people and 
 bottle collectors, of course, utilize any kind of goats for hauling their junk wagons through 
 the streets, and these can be purchased for a few dollvrs each, but the perfectly trained goat 
 has a regular market value. 
 
 Poor people are relieved of much labor by goats in hauling their stock. The washer¬ 
 women for the troops stationed in Cuba come with great piles of laundry heaped on a 
 goat rig, the patient animal standing at the gate while the goods are removed. There 
 
 11 
 
HOUSE IN THE WALL, MATANZAS, CUBA. 
 
are also peddlers of wares who go through the streets with heavily laden little wagons which 
 are hauled by these animals. 
 
 The reader would be surprised, if he were to visit some of the places where the goat 
 teams are kept. Miniature stables as neatly fitted as one could wish are common. Many 
 of the Cubans do not take much care of their goats, and when not using them permit 
 them to ramble through the junk piles of the yard, seeking refuse to eat. Others who use 
 them continuously give them the best care, forage being purchased regularly and fed to 
 them at the right time, developing animals that are sleek and trim. 
 
 The goat vehicles are exceedingly elaborate, being constructed with ordinary box 
 bodies, fitted with two or four wheels. 
 
 Goat’s milk is especially beneficial for invalids, children and cookery, in general. It 
 has the peculiar advantage of being odorless unless contaminated by foreign substance. 
 It is, again, absolutely free from the germs of tuberculosis, and is rich in nutritive quali¬ 
 ties, and is more easily digested than cow’s milk. The flavor generally associated with 
 goat’s milk is due to the fact that the animals have not been kept scrupulously clean, 
 and also to the fact that goat’s milk is affected, as is cow’s milk, by the character of 
 the feed. When goats are as carefully herded as cows, and their feed as closely watched, 
 their milk loses this foreign taste and is difficult to distinguish from cow’s milk. The only 
 difference is that goat’s milk is richer, thicker, and slightly sweeter, since it contains a larger 
 percentage of sugar and cream and less water. 
 
 MOTORING IN CUBA 
 
 The center of the street is the automobilist’s; other vehicles keep to the sides, where. 
 
 13 
 
when a crowd is out, as at carnival time, the police hold them in lines moving in opposite 
 directions. There are no rules or regulations governing automobiles once they are outside 
 the city limits, excepting at Camp Columbia, where army authorities have fixed eight 
 miles an hour as the speed limit while passing through the reservation. Cars should slow 
 up on approaching hamlets and villages. This is a courtesy which should be the more 
 readily accorded because it is not demanded, but merely confidently expected as a matter 
 of course. 
 
 As few accidents have occurred on country roads of Cuba, the automobilist is welcome 
 everywhere. It is customary for persons meeting on the road to salute each other. The 
 surprising variety of smiles and grave inclinations of hand and body received in recognition 
 makes the effort well worth while. 
 
 A knowledge of Spanish is not necessary. He should, however, learn to pronounce 
 properly the name of the place he means to reach or have the name written on a card in 
 plain characters. Then, in case of doubt as to his way there, he need but pronounce the 
 name or show the card to persons he meets. The tourist will find everybody willing to 
 help him. The Cuban who directs him may not speak a word of English, but he will con¬ 
 verse so eloquently in pantomime that the traveler, even without any knowledge of Span¬ 
 ish, will understand. 
 
 It is quite impossible to get really lost in the country; there is always the alternative 
 of turning back to Havana (or Matanzas or Pinar del Rio), for in the jwovinces all good 
 roads leading in the general direction of the capital city inevitably arrive there. Cuba is 
 properly policed, in the city and in the country; but even were provincial police in blue 
 
 14 
 
YUMRI VALLP:Y, MATANZAS, CUBA. 
 
and rural guards in khaki, entirely absent from the Government highways, Avhich they 
 patrol in ])airs, no traveler would be in any wise molested. 
 
 AMERICAN SHOES IN CUBA 
 
 Cuba has been a fine market for American shoes the past few years. In 1!)08 shoes 
 valued at $162,003 were .sent from this country to Cuba, but last year the value of shoes 
 imported from America was $1,123,405. The total value of shoes imported by Cuba 
 the last mentioned year was $1,572,493. Since 1903 Americans have had the advantage 
 of reduced duties in Cuba, the reduction of the duty on shoes being some 30 per cent. 
 
 The shoe salesman has been far more active in Cuba than have American salesmen in 
 most other places, and there has been more care in endeavoring to give satisfaction. United 
 States Deputy Consul Starrett at Havana recommends that the manufacturers remember 
 that the Cuban has a small foot with high instep, hollow on the shank and slightly curved. 
 The ladies require especially small shoes. Another requirement of the trade is low cut 
 tans all the year for the Cuban and other Latin-American markets. It has been almost 
 impossible to get these from American dealers in the winter. The superiority of the Ameri¬ 
 can shoe, says Consul Starrett in his report, is generally conceded as compared with the 
 Spanish article. 
 
 There is a good market here for low-priced white canvas shoes in men’s, women’s and 
 children’s sizes. 
 
 THE TREES OF EASTERN CUBA 
 
 Cuba, while it has lost by axe and fire much of its primeval abundance of timber, still 
 
 16 
 
retains much scattered lumber of very considerable marketable value, and more or less 
 value commercially. 
 
 Among the important trees are logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum), valuable for 
 its use in the manufacture of dyes; West Indian cedar (Cedrela odorata), used largely in 
 the manufacture of cigar boxes, and mahogany (Swientenia mahogani). That this valu¬ 
 able wood was once abundant in Cuba is shown by the inferior uses to which it was put in 
 the older structures, and it is still found to some extent; lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale) 
 used in the manufacture of pulleys, blocks and other objects where extreme hardness and 
 toughness is required, is fairly abundant and is exported to a considerable extent. Some 
 of the trees which shade the streets of Cuban cities are Spanish laurel, West Indian almond 
 (Ficus indica), beefwood (Casuarina equisetifolia), resembling a conifer at a distance, but 
 possessing hard, heavy wood and introduced from Australia and the East Indies, and sand¬ 
 box trees (Hura crepitans), deriving its name from the fact that in early times the seed pods 
 were used as receptacles for sand for blotting purposes. 
 
 The grand ceiba or silk cotton trees (Ceiba pentandra) are scattered all over the island, 
 but are not much more abundant than the valuable hard woods. The wood is soft and 
 light. This tree is common to most tropical countries, and is remarkable for its peculiar 
 growth, great buttresses at the base with eliptic shaft, and sparse branehing. 
 
 Among fruit trees in Cuba are the orange, lemon, lime, mango, banana, grape fruit, 
 bread fruit, guava and coffee. The first five are well known as to their commercial value. 
 The fruit of the mango is perhaps more highly prized by the natives, but the taste for it, 
 once acquired by the American, is apt to prove strong. 
 
 17 
 

 “uncle SAM’a” SCHOOL-HOUSE NEAR MATANZAS, CUBA. 
 
The Cuban pine (Pinus heterophylla) found also on the Gulf Coast of the United 
 States and in Central x\merica, gives the name to the Island of Pines as well as to Pinar 
 del Rio. 
 
 A feature which indicates the really tropical nature of the forests of the Siena Maesha 
 region in the eastern part of Cuba, in Santiago Province, is the jjrevalence of hard woods. 
 Conifers are not well represented, though a j)ine occurs which has been provisionally re¬ 
 ferred to as Pinus occidentalis. A peculiar feature regarding this tree is that while else¬ 
 where it is a “white” pine, with four of five needles growing from a sheath, it is here found 
 producing two and three needles after the manner of the “yellow” pine. 
 
 One of the large growing trees is the “almacigo” or gumbo-limbo (Bursera simarubra), 
 notable for the papery and flaky qualities of the red bark. Another attaining a still larger 
 growth is the “jobo” or West Indian plum (Spondias lutea.) A tree of the basswood 
 family, the “Majagua de Cuba” (Carpodiptera cubensis), is conspicuous because of 
 bunches of small rose-colored flowers which it bears. 
 
 Some of the hard woods occurring here are granadillo, ebony, sabicu, majagua and 
 mastic. About the shores the black mangrove (Ayidennia nitida), the white mangrove 
 (Laguncularia racemosa) and the common mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). 
 
 Cuba seems adapted to the growth of many northern forms of arborea, as well as vege¬ 
 tables, and the conditions there, favoring rapid development, encoui’age the belief that 
 there might well be founded a forest nursery, supplying in no small part the requirements 
 of a tree-impoverished workl. 
 
 Immense tracts of native pine exist on the lines of the Western Railway in the Province 
 
 19 
 
of Pinar del Rio, which, though containing too high a percentage of resin to last long when 
 used for building purposes, is especially valuable for the manufacture of charcoal, with 
 turpentine as a by-product. In the same section were recorded some hard woods not yet 
 acquired by foreign interests. 
 
 THE ISLE OF PINES 
 
 A correspondent of the Havana Diario visited the Isle of Pines in April last and her 
 bright description of conditions, people and places is entertaining and informing. She 
 says the land is a land of contrasts, as Nature probably intended it should be, when first 
 she grew a royal palm alongside a pine tree and repeated the bizarre combination all over 
 the surface of this blest Isle. 
 
 “ The general aspect of the country hereabouts reminds one (if, indeed, it can be com¬ 
 pared to anything on earth) of tablelands in northern altitudes, where close approach 
 to timberline stunts and thins the conifers; but again the presence of the palms and pal¬ 
 mettos proclaims that this region lies well within the tropics. 
 
 The sun blazes down with vehement intention to melt even the marble mountains, 
 peaked and picturesque, about Nueva Gerona; but a never-failing breeze keeps the mer¬ 
 cury among the 70’s and 80’s month in and month out, with very rare incursions on the 
 90’s in midsummertime. 
 
 While the Isle shared in the drought that afflicted all Cuba, yet in the citrus orchards 
 even the youngest orange trees stand trim and green, with a new growth showing. Har¬ 
 rows turn up damp soil at a depth of but an inch and a half. Experiment has proven 
 
 20 
 
that every vegetable save those that demand frost for thorough ripening, can be grown in 
 this sandy loam, with irrigation. Water is found wherever dug for, and at no great 
 depth. 
 
 Almost the entire Isle belongs to Americans, and they have lost no American qualities 
 in the process of transplanting from the United States. From under the ragged jippijappis 
 they have adopted, sun-cooked, pugnacious Yankee faces look out and Anglo-Saxon blue 
 eyes gleam all the bluer by reason of their crimson setting of fair skin-burned scarlet. 
 
 Their energy takes no note of troj)ic heat or indolent habits which “in Cuba” include 
 a siesta. They breakfast between 6 and 7, and work till noon, when dinner appears upon 
 their tables. With little rest after the hearty meal, they fare forth into the fields again, 
 where they work until nightfall, and supper time. 
 
 They build their own homes, and these are monuments of contract. The houses are 
 of native pine, and are built in pretty bungalow style; they are airy, with many windows, 
 in which is set white cloth or very fine wire netting, instead of glass. Inside, they are 
 finished most artistically with wallboard of cool and comforting colors, or the natural pine, 
 oiled. Inside these houses the settlers have collected their household goods; the finest of 
 American-made furniture, velvety rugs soft under foot, pictures of value, varying from that 
 of a merely pretty chromo, to an original, by an artist, in water color or oil; pianos every¬ 
 where of the best makes; fine chinaware, silver and table linen; bathrooms fitted out in 
 accordance with sanitary requirements; and kitchens where good American stoves 
 respond to the skill of the housewife, producing fare dear to the heart of every American. 
 Your red-faced orange grower, when he comes in from the field, removes at the front 
 
 21 
 
door, the hat he has filched from the “native” and steps into a home that would find 
 its kind in any pleasant suburb of Boston or Philadelphia. 
 
 Ilis wife, in gingham apron, has prepared the dainty table that awaits his arrival v here 
 rolls and pies and hotcake appear familiarly 
 
 Some settlers came for health’s sake, some others merely to make money; some can’t 
 explain why they came, because they themselves don’t know; others were literally driven 
 here by force of a variety of circumstances. Some are glad they came; others are frankly 
 sorry; others remain non-committal, while those who have been blessed with persever¬ 
 ance, physical endurance and a willingness to learn as they work, are fairly jubilant; you 
 can understand their state of mind when you see their orange groves flourishing, already 
 beginning to bear. 
 
 The Americans, who appear to be the majority of the inhabitants, consider this Isle 
 apart, removed, separate and distinct from Cuba and all things Cuban. They refer to 
 Cuba as a distant, foreign, unrelated land, not altogether admirable, either, by 
 the way. 
 
 “In Cuba’’ things are thus and so; “in Cuba’’ this and that transpire; “in Cuba” 
 you know, but not in the Isle of Pines. 
 
 The Department of Public Works has approved the budgets for the following roads 
 in the Isle of Pines; Road from Jucaro to Nueva Gerona; Santa Fe to Ceiba and from 
 Nueva Gerona to McKinley. There is also an appropriation for the construction of a 
 government pier and warehouse at Jucaro. Contractors are hard at work on the roads 
 which are nearing completion.” 
 
 22 
 
BANANA CULTURE IN CUBA 
 
 The banana (inusa apsientum Linn., chiefly) is one of the very valuable tropical plants, 
 being cultivated for its fruit, its fiber, and for ornamental uses. The fruiting species sel¬ 
 dom produce seed, and are propagated by suckers which grow from the base of the main 
 plants. Each stalk or sucker, if left to develop, will produce one bunch of fruit, and then 
 die. The usual method is to cut the whole stem down when removing the fruit. 
 
 The banana delights in a rich, moist, deep soil, that has an abundance of vegetable 
 matter in it. To do its best and produce large, bunches of fruit, the year around, it must 
 have a liberal and regular supply of water. Bananas do not give good results during our 
 long, dry winters. 
 
 If they cannot have ideal conditions, they will grow upon almost any soil except a poor 
 dry one, and give fair results. 
 
 In preparing land it should be plowed deeply, replowed, and harrowed until it is in 
 fine mellow condition. Too much pains cannot be taken in having the land w'ell prepared 
 for planting. 
 
 The Johnson is practically the only variety grown for export, with the exception of a 
 few red bananas known as morado Colorado. For local markets in Cuba the monzano or 
 apple banana is the most extensively grown for hand eating and the macho or plantain 
 for cooking purposes. 
 
 In cutting bananas, the cutter uses a large knife or machete and reaches as high up the 
 stem as possible and cuts the stem just enough so that the weight of the bunch will bend it 
 down slowly, and he catches it by the long stem on the blossom end. The stems are cut off 
 
 23 
 
and the bunch laid in the shade until taken to the house, where they are either sold or hung 
 up in a cool airy room to ripen. The proper stage of ripeness in cutting bananas is told 
 largely by experience. The development of the blossom end of the individual fruits is 
 the best indication, for when these ends are filled out and plump, a bunch is ready to cut 
 and will color up in a few days. For long distance shipping bananas have to be cut green¬ 
 er than for home use or local market. The idea is to cut them in such a stage of ripeness 
 that they will arrive at their destination in a green or slightly yellow condition. The first 
 bunches are produced in about 18 months from setting out the plants and a sucker a bunch 
 in 12 to 16 months. 
 
 CUBA RESTORED AND MADE SAFE 
 
 The rehabilitation of Cuba is a bright page in the annals of the new order of American 
 expansion by conquest. We have taken the plundered Spanish province and redeemed 
 it, putting it on its way to permanent self-government. We have cleaned its plague 
 spots, driven out the fever, subdued its marauding bands, made life and property safe, 
 increased its trade, stimulated agricultural growth and brought order out of conditions 
 that threatened political disintegration. 
 
 An era of genuine prosperity would seem to be beginning for Cuba. Works of public 
 improvement are being carried on. Railway traffic has been largely expanded and rail¬ 
 way construction extended. Given sanity and the submergence of self-interest on the 
 part of its political leaders, its second debut should be an auspicious one. 
 
 24