24 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



THE ISLE OF PINES. 



Home Comforts in the Tropics. 



To those settling in the Isle of Pines 

 certain small comforts should be brought 

 from home. An alcohol gas stove with 

 one or two burners, with baker, suitable 

 for burning the gas from denatured al- 

 cohol. The alcohol is sold here at forty 

 cents a gallon. A chafing dish with al- 

 cohol lamp, and a silver tea ball with 

 chain. A washing machine for laundry 

 work, to be run by hand. A sewing ma- 

 chine by all means. High laced boots 

 for the rainy season are best purchased 

 at home; also high rubber boots. Wools 

 or flannel shirts are too irritating to the 

 skin; cotton in two weights for under 

 and over wear. Pajamas for night wear, 

 a few in heavy cotton, the rest of lightest 

 weight. Mosquito nets of the finest mesh 

 procurable. A water fiilter is useful at 

 times, but as a whole a strainer is suf- 

 ficient as the water on the Isle of Pines 

 is above criticism. — Henry R. Blaney, in 

 the Appeal. 



Loss of the Nicolas Castaiio. 

 Details reached Mobile Sept. 17 of the 

 greatest marine disaster ever known in 

 the Isle of Pines waters, when on Au- 

 gust 23 the steamship Nicolas Castaiio, 

 en route from Havana to Cienfuegos, 

 went ashore on the south coast of the 

 island, between Carapatachibey and 

 Caleta del Inferno. All on board the ship 

 perished. The crew numbered twenty- 

 seven, officers and sailors, and there were 

 two passengers. A government commis- 

 sion after an examination reported that 

 the immediate cause of the wreck was 

 the simultaneous explosion of the steam- 

 er's two boilers, combined with violent 

 concussion of the steamer on the rocks, 

 whither she had been thrown by the gale. 



Some nine miles of new roadways will 

 soon be built in the Canada and Los 

 Indios tracts, opening up sections which 

 have not yet been offered to the public. 

 The work is being prosecuted by the rep- 

 resentative of the owners of the prop- 

 erty, the Canada Land & Fruit Co. 



The storm of Sept. 20 did some dam- 

 age to the fruit orchards in the island. 

 It is estimated that the Mason Bros.' 

 orange and grapefruit grove was dam- 

 aged to the extent of two or three thou- 

 sand dollars. The greater part of the 

 loss was to the grapefruit trees, the fruit 

 being almost full-sized. 



The new hotel at McKinley is near- 

 ing completion and will be open for busi- 

 ness about the 15th of this month. 



Cuban Fruit Shipments. 



Consul-General James L. Rodgers re- 

 ports that during the fiscal year 1908-9 

 the shipment of Cuban-grown vegetables 

 and fruit (exclusive of pineapples) to the 

 United States through Havana were, in 

 crates of about 2i^ cubic feet capacity, 

 as follows: 



Crates. 



Onions 16,257 



Potatoes 3,235 



Vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, 



peppers, squash, etc.) 204,603 



Various fruits (alligator pears, 



mangos, sapote mamey, anona, 



etc.) ; 4,781 



Oranges and grapefruit 24,348 



The consul says these exports repre- 

 sent American endeavor after practically 

 10 years' experience. He thinks there 

 is an absolute necessity for a good local 

 market before success is assured. His 

 figures do not include the shipping ac- 

 tivities of the eastern section of the isl- 

 and, where there are many citrus fruit 

 groves in full bearing. 



The vegetable growers, especially 

 those who devoted their land and energy 

 to tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, okra. 



squash and other things which are in 

 demand in the American winter market, 

 did much better in quantity at least, but 

 it is feared not very well financially. 



To show the distribution of these pro- 

 ducts it can be stated that the port of 

 New York took nearly all the onions, 

 53 per cent, of the potatoes, 67 per cent, 

 of the tomatoes, etc., 48 per cent, of the 

 special fruits, and 60 per cent, of the 

 oranges and grapefruit. 



Uses for the Plantain. 



Plantain meal is prepared by the na- 

 tives of Central Africa for storing and 

 sale. They simply slice the fruit, dry it 

 in the sun and grind or pound it to 

 powder. In Mexico, according to Col- 

 onel Colquhoun, the fruits are exposed 

 to the sun, and when they begin to 

 wrinkle they are peeled. If the skin is 

 not removed, a bad taste is imparted to 

 the fruit. They are kept for some time 

 until an efflorescence of sugar appears 

 on their surface, and are then pressed in 

 masses of about 25 pounds each, and 

 placed in boxes, or wrapped in dry ba- 

 nana leaves. — Rhodesian Agricultural 

 Journal, June, 1909. 



