Cuba

the largest of the West India Islands. It is the largest fertile island in America. It lies between Florida and the Caribbean Sea, guarding the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. At its nearest approach it is less than a hundred miles from Key West, the extreme island of Florida. It is shaped "like the extended tongue of a woodpecker with a barb on the southern side of the ocean end." The greatest length following the main curve is about 800 miles. The width varies from 100 to 25 miles. Its area is 44,000 square miles, slightly surpassed in size by Pennsylvania.

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS. The interior of Cuba is mountainous, save that plains follow one or two of the rivers. The highest peak reaches 8,600 feet. The rivers are short and rapid. A number plunge through beautiful white limestone caverns. The coast is indented by deep, safe harbors. There are several hundred small islets about the coast. The climate is moist and, save in the mountains, torrid. The soil is rich. Nearly one-half of the total area is under cultivation. Cuba, Ceylon and Java not excepted, is the most productive island in the world. It leads the world in the cultivation of sugar-cane and tobacco. In some years it produces half the world's sugar. Cuban tobacco fetches a high price in the market. Bananas, oranges and lemons, pineapples, and figs flourish. Coffee and cotton are well suited to the climate and soil. Nearly one-half of the island is yet in forests, yielding cedar, ebony, lignum vitae, mahogany, pine, rosewood, and several dyewoods. The island has mineral wealth. Copper mines have been worked since 1524. Silver, lead, and iron are found in paying quantities. Soft coal, shading off into asphaltum, is abundant.

HISTORY. Cuba was occupied by the Spaniards nearly a century before a permanent English colony had been planted on the Atlantic coast of the United States. In 1519, though not the first settlement, Havana was founded. It is situated on a fine harbor on the northern coast. Morro Castle at the entrance was fortified in 1600. The harbor with its fort was regarded as "the key to the New World." Cuba became a source of revenue to Spain. When the South American countries threw off the yoke of Spain in 1820 the "ever faithful island" remained loyal, but later became dissatisfied with oppressive regulations, especially an act in 1825 placing Cuban lives and fortunes under the absolute rule of a military commander.

Frequent uprisings were followed by cruel tortures and executions. During the greatest of the outbreaks, 40,000 Cuban lives were lost and over 200,000 Spanish soldiers were carried away by yellow fever. The cost of this Cuban insurrection, including the loss of property, was reckoned at $300,000,000. At this time the South American Republics were anti-slavery. It was feared that independent Cuba would free her slaves. It has been charged that the pro-slavery interests of the United States prevented our helping Cuba to independence. On the other hand, the antislavery sentiment in the United States opposed the annexation of Cuba, because it would be admitted doubtless as a slaveholding state. So the "Gem of the Antilles" had no help from the United States, and the Spaniards were left free to wreak their vengeance on the leaders of one outbreak after another, and to continue the work of reducing one of the richest regions of the world into a jungle.

In 1895 a last and a successful uprising took place. The sympathies of the United States were with the Cubans. An American warship, the Maine, in the harbor of Havana, was blown up by a mine. The United States declared war in behalf of the Cubans. "Remember the Maine!" became the watchword. American troops, including the Rough Riders under Roosevelt, invaded the island. The American navy blockaded the ports, and Spain was forced to grant Cuban independence.

GOVERNMENT AND POPULATION. At the close of the war the island was organized as a republic. A constitution resembling that of the United States, but with peculiar clauses authorizing the United States to act as its sponsor and defender in the eyes of the world, was adopted February 21, 1901. Owing to disturbances it was necessary for the United States to intervene again; but in 1908 our troops again left Cuban soil, and it is hoped that the Cubans may govern themselves. There are six provinces, with a total population (1907) of 2,048,980, equal to that of Kansas or California. About three-tenths of the population are colored. Each province has a capital town of the name. Havana opposite Key West is the chief city,--the capital of the nation. Its population is about 300,000. Santiago, opposite Jamaica, is the second city in importance. Spanish is the official language. The predominant religion is Catholic.

TRADE AND COMMERCE. The close of the wars for independence found Cuba poor and depopulated. The United States gave aid in the last war, but requires Cuban products to pay so high a tariff on entering the United States that the industries of the country have recovered less rapidly than was hoped. Nearly half of the Cuban purchases and three-fourths of the sales are made in the United States. The chief exports are sugar, rum, molasses, tobacco, cigars, bananas, pineapples, oranges, lemons, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, cocoanuts, figs, mangoes, mahogany, cedar, sponges, shells, horns, hides, hoofs, honey, and wax.

Much progress has recently been made. The plantations have a less neglected look. One may now travel the length of the island by rail. Towns and cities have been placed in a more sanitary condition. The ravages of yellow fever have been stayed. A system of public schools has been introduced.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: