Cuba, Old and New   By: Albert G. (Albert Gardner) Robinson (1855-1932)

Havana ]

CUBA

OLD AND NEW

BY

ALBERT G. ROBINSON

1915.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. OLD CUBA

II. NEW CUBA

III. THE COUNTRY

IV. THE OLD HAVANA

V. THE NEW HAVANA

VI. AROUND THE ISLAND

VII. AROUND THE ISLAND ( Continued )

VIII. THE UNITED STATES AND CUBA

IX. CUBA'S REVOLUTIONS

X. INDEPENDENCE

XI. FILIBUSTERING

XII. THE STORY OF SUGAR

XIII. VARIOUS PRODUCTS AND INDUSTRIES

XIV. POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND COMMERCE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Tower of La Fuerza, Havana The Morro, Havana A Planter's Home, Havana Province Iron Grille Gateway, El Vedado, suburb of Havana Watering Herd of Cattle, Luyano River, near Havaria Royal Palms Custom House, Havana Balconies, Old Havana Street in Havana Street and Church of the Angels, Havana A Residence in El Vedado The Volante (now quite rare) A Village Street, Calvario, Havana Province Street and Church, Camaguey Cobre, Oriente Province Hoisting the Cuban Flag over the Palace, May 20,1902 A Spanish Block House Along the Harbor Wall, Havana Country Road, Havana Province Street in Camaguey Palm Thatched Roofs A Peasant's Home

CUBA

OLD AND NEW

I

OLD CUBA

Christopher Columbus was a man of lively imagination. Had he been an ordinary, prosaic and plodding individual, he would have stayed at home combing wool as did his prosaic and plodding ancestors for several generations. At the age of fourteen he went to sea and soon developed an active curiosity about regions then unknown but believed to exist. There was even then some knowledge of western Asia, and even of China as approached from the west. Two and two being properly put together, the result was a reasonable argument that China and India could be reached from the other direction, that is, by going westward instead of eastward.

In the early autumn of the year 1492, Columbus was busy discovering islands in the Caribbean Sea region, and, incidentally, seeking for the richest of the group. From dwellers on other islands, he heard of one, called Cubanacan, larger and richer than any that he had then discovered. A mixture of those tales with his own vivid imagination produced a belief in a country of wide extent, vastly rich in gold and gems, and already a centre of an extensive commerce. Cruising in search of what he believed to be the eastern coast of Asia, he sighted the shore of Cuba on the morning of October 28, 1492. His journal, under date of October 24, states: "At midnight I tripped my anchors off this Cabo del Isleo de Isabella , where I was pitched to go to the island of Cuba, which I learn from these people is very large and magnificent, and there are gold and spices in it, and large ships and merchants. And so I think it must be the island of Cipango (Japan), of which they tell such wonders." The record, under date of Sunday, 28th of October, states: "Continued for the nearest land of Cuba, and entered a beautiful estuary, clear of rocks and other dangers. The mouth of the estuary had twelve fathoms depth, and it was wide enough for a ship to work into." Students have disagreed regarding the first Cuban port entered by Columbus. There is general acceptance of October 28 as the date of arrival. Some contend that on that day he entered Nipe Bay, while others, and apparently the greater number, locate the spot somewhat to the west of Nuevitas. Wherever he first landed on it, there is agreement that he called the island Juana, in honor of Prince Juan, taking possession "in the name of Christ, Our Lady, and the reigning Sovereigns of Spain."