The Isle of Pines 



105 



being without mortgages or incumbrances 

 of any kind. The percentage of families 

 owning their own homes is greater than 

 any state in the Union except three, and 

 the percentage of homes free from debt is 

 greater than any state in the Union. 



Thirty-one states have a greater 

 amount of illiteracy than Oklahoma. The 

 percentage of illiteracy among the males 

 of voting age is exactly 5.9, exactly the 

 same as the state of New York. It is less 

 than Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, or the 

 District of Columbia. 



Manufacturing is only beginning to 

 develop. In 1905, 637 factories had 

 capital employed $11,074,267 and an out- 



put of $[6,433,430 and 3,492 wage-earn- 

 ers. 



Oil fields are rich, one field alone pro- 

 ducing 11,000 barrels per day and 50,- 

 000,000 feet of gas per day. 



Shawnee, Oklahoma, is the largest 

 potato-shipping point in the United 

 States, 5,000 cars last season bringing in 

 $100,000 clear profit. 



The two territories have 6,000 miles 

 of railroad, and within the last six years 

 one-third of the railroads built in the 

 United States was in those territories. 



1 11 behalf of 2,000,000 people I earn- 

 estly advocate the passage of this bill 

 (the statehood bill). 



THE ISLE OF PINES 



THE Isle of Pines, also called 

 Reina Amalia, lies in a deep 

 bight off the south coast of the 

 western part of Cuba. Its area is 986 

 square miles, or 631,040 acres, but 99 

 square miles less than the land superfices 

 of the state of Rhode Island. The great- 

 est length is from northeast to southwest, 

 43 miles, and breadth at the center from 

 east to west 32 miles, and in the south 43 

 miles. 



The island has a geological relation to 

 the general chain of insular mainlands of 

 the Antilles, and is unlike the numerous 

 low coral and sand formations known as 

 keys and mangrove swamps scattered in 

 such profusion off the coast. In general 

 the surface is a plateau from 50 to 100 

 feet above sea-level, broken by ridges of 

 hills or cliffs that project abruptly above 

 the general surface. 



The two mountain ridges at the north- 

 ern vu(\ reach an elevation of about 1,500 

 feet and are composed of limestone and 

 marble. The other ridges in the center 

 arc much lower, less precipitous, and 

 formed of gray sandstone, red rock, and 

 gravel containing iron. 



The whole island, with the exception of 

 the rocky southern coast, is surrounded 



by mangrove swamps, with here and 

 there a stretch of sandy beach. 



The island has a number of rivers of 

 excellent water, the most important of 

 which, emptying on the north coast, is the 

 Nuevas, composed of several mountain 

 tributaries 5 to 10 feet deep and navi- 

 gable 4 or 5 miles. 



the; mineral springs 



The mineral springs, for which the 

 island has a world-wide reputation, 

 judged from official and individual cer- 

 tification as to curative properties and 

 results of the waters, are remarkable, 

 especially in pulmonary, rheumatic, and 

 throat affections. 



A chemical analysis shows the waters 

 to be impregnated with oxygen and car- 

 bonic acid gases, chloride of sodium, sul- 

 phate of lime, carbonate of lime, iron, 

 magnesia, chloride of calcium, nitrate of 

 lime, silex, and extractic organic matter. 

 Temperature of water, 82 degrees F. 

 The regimen of treatment is two baths of 

 a quarter of an hour each and four 

 glasses, taken inwardly, per day. The 

 baths are erected over the springs. The 

 testimonials of the beneficial effects of 

 bathing and drinking are numerous, 



