18 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



Asphalt is, however, an important asset in this zone. The bottom of Cdrdenas Bay, as has 

 been said elsewhere, is one solid sheet of asphalt. For many years a considerable tonnage was 

 exported from this bay; the asphalt was crudely mined by dropping steel bars from shallow 

 boats, and the pieces of asphalt broken up in this manner were brought to the surface after 

 a diver had tied a rope around them. Naturally the production was not steady, and in spite of 

 the high grade of the product which compared favorably with the Trinidad asphalt, the buyers 

 were forced to recur to more ably managed mines for their asphalt. 



There are many more asphalt deposits of great interest in this Province, notably one on 

 which liquid asphalt running constantly from a gap in a ravine has formed a regular asphalt 

 lake which the neighbors have fenced in to keep the cattle from getting stuck in it. 



The day will come when a careful geological survey of the Island will be made which will 

 reveal the real extent, importance and relations of all these deposits, solving many vexing 

 problems, and offering new openings to prospectors, geologists and engineers. 



Head-Frame of the "Panchita and Casualidad" Copper prospects, near Cienfuegos. 



PROVINCE OF SANTA CLARA 



With the exception of the mountain range on the south coast of the province which ex- 

 tends from near Cienfuegos to the east of Trinidad, and a few lower ranges in the central and 

 eastern part of it, around Sancti Spiritus, the Province of Santa Clara is flat, rolling, and 

 more hilly than mountainous. 



Gas, oil, asphalt, and a type of cannel coal are commonly found in different localities. Near 

 Itabo, at a place known as San Juan de Motembo, in the northwestern part of the Province, 

 there is a remarkable flow of gas which, since 1800, has been the source of the greatest interest, 

 and has been experimented with by different concerns for different purposes. The gas is 

 believed to belong to the class of "wet" gases, and therefore useful for the extraction of gasoline 

 therefrom. Naphtha in variable amounts has been found at various depths from 287 feet 

 down, and this is universally considered a good indication in gas pockets intended to be used 

 for the condensation of its gasoline contents. The company that controls this property at the 

 present time figures that 1,000 cubic feet of gas will yield no less than 13^ gallons of gasoline. 



It was at this camp that in 1916 a potash boom was launched. The war having cut off 

 the German supply, the reserves were exhausted and the world was looking around for a potash 

 field, when a report was broadly circulated to the effect that potash had been discovered at 

 Motembo. The cable and the mail were kept busy for a few weeks by chemical companies, 

 professional men and speculators ; a company had been organized in New York by men inter- 

 ested in fertilizer factories with a capital of $5,000,000 and scores of technical men were sent to 

 Cuba by different interests, companies and scientific corporations, for the proper investigation 

 of the alleged deposits. 



