time he was about ready to give up. 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 5 
Across the Isle of Pines Behind Two Mules 
By Thomas D. Connolly 
(Written for the North Shore Breeze) 
(Copyright Thos. D. Connolly) 
Ill 
ie MY last article I spoke about some of the birds. 
There are over two hundred varieties, including 
game birds such as quail and wild doves. 
' Concerning the healthfulness of the Island,— it is 
remarkable no epidemic ever visited it. 
Canada Mountain near La Siguanea is over fifteen 
hundred feet in height.  Tillable land can be bought 
from $75 to $200 per acre; it costs about $20 to $25 for 
clearing land. It seems a pity to destroy the hard pine 
trees by burning them up, as they need portablessaw mills 
on the island for the sawing of this timber into lumber. 
There are a few saw mills, but not enough to go around. 
This lumber sells for about $20 per thousand. 
I went up on one of the highest of the San Pedro 
hills at Siguanea, on the top of which is a level place 
about one hundred feet square, which was levelled off 
by the hands of man as several distinct round places 
showing the ash heaps of fires which were lighted from 
time to time probably as signal beacons. I imagined that 
perhaps here Morgan, the buckaneer, when hard pressed 
to get away from the island came to view the most beau- 
tiful broad expanse of water as far as the eye could 
reach and underneath him the low palm trees with the 
sweet smelling flowers; perhaps Capt. Kidd and -Morgan 
also have had vast treasures hidden among the rocks of 
these hills, and when they departed their secrets also 
went with them. One gentlemarf on the island near 
Nueva Gerona told me that a person came to him a short 
time ago and offered him $200 if he would allow him to 
dig on the back end of his estate close to a mountain. 
This fellow had a map which was very ancient looking. 
The same man told me that only a short while ago over 
$100,000 is gold specie, it was thought, was found buried 
near here. 
They are repairing the roads and rebuilding bridges 
now between San Pedro and La Siguanea, seven miles, 
and from there to Los Indios, seven miles more. When 
this is finished it will give a continous good road from 
Neuva Gerona to Santa Fe, 12 miles; Santa Fe to San 
Pedro, 12 miles; San Pedro to La Siguanéa, seven miles ; 
La Siguanea to Los Indios, seven miles; Los Indios to 
Santa Barbara, 11 miles; ‘Santa Barbara to Neuva 
Gerona, 17 miles, making a total of 66 miles circling the 
island, with side roads to La Speranga, Westport, San 
Francisco heights, McKinley, El Canal, El Hospital and 
Central City. 
Twelve miles across from Siguanea Bay is a large 
tract of low land called the mahogony tract. Mr. Vil- 
laume, who formerly was interested in this for timber 
purposes, told me that he was lost for over two days 
in this tract and was without water to drink and at one 
This is the only 
mahogony tract on the island. 
The next town to La Siguanea is Los Indios, seven 
miles distant. This town has over 300 acres of land 
devoted to grape fruit owned by several people in small 
tracts. 
Mr. Dowd and Mr. McPherson have beautiful and 
well kept groves. One man in this place is reported to 
have made clear on five acres of grape fruit (which has 
just came into bearing), $3,500. They were shipped 
from the Los Indios dock to New York. ‘This dock is 
the largest and has the deepest water of any dock on the 
island. It has a wharf one half mile in length, with 
railroad track to the large ware houses at the end of 
dock. The manager and custom house officers live in 
apartments at the end of dock. Los Indios has hotels, 
schools, two saw mills. One of these mills belongs to 
a man by the name of Henry Heanel \and his mill is close 
to the dock. It is a thriving community. The schools 
here are supported by the people living in the community, 
as Cuba shows no dispotition to help take care of same. 
On all the lands can be raised a variety of products such 
as tobacco, coffee, sugar cane, chocolate, and all the vege- 
tables that are raised in the North: beans, potatoes, let- 
tuce, egg plant, pepers, etc. The cost of land transfers 
is something of a heavy tax. At the same time the 
land is not taxed, only on the income of same; all the 
duties are collected in Cuban ports. 
The status of the Americans on the Isle of Pines 
is very unsatisfactory at the present time and will con- 
tinue to be so until Uncle Sam’s flag floats over it. I 
quote from Senator Morgan in the report concerning the 
Isle of Pines, a passage on page 194, Isle of Pines, 58th 
Congress: “Before the Republic was established the 
Isle of Pines for many years was a penal colony of Cuba, 
and since they have governed the island under that legal 
authority of a de facto government, created by the order 
of a military officer of the United States, when in the 
act of withdrawing from Cuba, by displacing the de jure 
government of his own country and hauling down its 
flag and turning over all government, civil and military, 
to Cuba.” Mr. Morgan.then goes on to say “the want of 
legal authority for such a de facto government, etc., 
irregularities, etc., create a very serious situation that 
can not be ignored or lightly considered. It will bring 
trouble to both governments that will be very difficult 
to repress.’ He goes on to say that if the Americans are 
maltreated they will appeal to our government for pro- 
tection. We have, of course, a protectorate over Cuba 
which gives the right to interfere for the maintenance 
of a stable government for the protection of life, prop- 
erty and individual liberty and Uncle Sam will be obliged 
at no distant date to settle this question once for all. In 
my short time on the Island I could see that every one 
chafes under the present regime with so much being done 
for improvement which is only a thankless task so far 
as Cuba seemed to be concerned. ‘Mr. Morgan goes on 
to say, and he uses the word “they” meaning the United 
States government, as follows: “They understood the 
Platt amendment as its author says he understood it in 
his letter to Mr. Lenney; and the Spanish treaty as the 
American commissioners who framed it say that they 
understood it; and the people were extremely careful to 
understand the attitude of their Government on the sub- 
ject of the ownership of the Isle of Pines. They agreed 
with the Government and the treaty commissioners, and 
with the War Department and the Post Office Depart- 
ment and with the Platt Ameidment, and with the Consti- 
tution of Cuba, and with the treaty concluded with Cuba 
in May, 1913, all of which made it impossible that the 
Isle of Pines could belong to Cuba or could be subject 
to its government.” 
