THOUGH it has as poor a system of railway and waggon-road transportation as could be imagined, Cuba is by nature fitted for the very best system possible. With a length of over seven hundred miles a main stem of railway from end to end of the Island would have control of every shipping point on both coasts, by the extension of short branches to such of the harbours on either side (at the farthest not more than fifty miles away) as seem capable of development. With such a system of railways, the tributary waggon roads could be built at comparatively small cost, because at no point would long stretches of highway be necessary.

But no such transportation facilities have been developed in Cuba; and, although there are about one thousand miles of railway and some few waggon roads, they are totally inadequate, even if they were of the highest type. As a rule, they are wretchedly poor, and the Island has suffered more, industrially, from bad roads than from any other cause except Spanish domination. Under the new rÉgime, the necessity of a railway from one end of the Island to the other is so urgent, and its value as an investment is so apparent, that capital stands waiting to complete it at the very earliest opportunity.

The waggon-road system of the Island, if there be any system, comprises a number of government roads, or “royal highways,” which are royal chiefly in name. The best known is the Camino Central, or Central Road, extending from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, a distance of about six hundred miles. Most of it is little better than a very bad specimen of “dirt road,” and none of it is calzada, or paved road (turnpike), except in the immediate vicinity of the better class of towns through which it passes. It has branches to the north and south, usually worse than the parent road. It is the national turnpike of Cuba, navigable only by mules in the wet season. It is said these sagacious creatures know the road so well that in particularly bad places they get out and walk along the stone walls by the roadside. Of the paved roads, or calzadas, other than mere local roads, leading out of the towns a short distance into the country, one from Coloma to Pinar del Rio is fifteen miles in length; one, the Western Calzada, from Havana to San Cristobal, sixty miles; Havana to Bejucal, the Southern Calzada, fifteen miles; Batabano to the beach, two miles and a half; Havana to GÜines, the South-eastern Calzada, thirty miles; Havana to Santa Maria del Rosario, fifteen miles; Luyano to Guanabacoa, twelve miles; NuÑez to La Canoa, twenty-six miles; San Cristobal to Pinar del Rio, the South-western Calzada, thirty miles; Pinar del Rio to Colon, fifteen miles. This list includes all the roads in the Island, except those local outlets before mentioned, of which, though some are really good roads, the most are in bad repair.

Of the country roads, known as “dirt roads” in our country, Cuba has specimens which, but for the patient mule, would not for weeks during the rainy season feel the weight of a passenger; and even the mule is barred at times. There is a legend to the effect that once upon a time a mule kicked over a Spanish saint, and, as a penance, he was sent to serve as a beast of travel on Cuban roads. Inasmuch as the mule was the only possible carrier for these roads, and as the worse the mud the greater would be his penance, it came to be deemed sacrilege by the pious Spaniards to improve the dirt roads of Cuba. Hence their condition. These roads are really not roads; they are nothing better than unpaved strips of the public domain in its natural state; in the wet season they are impassable by reason of the mud, and in the dry season are impossible by reason of the dust. Travellers who have tried these roads say they are worse than the yellow fever, because they are more lingering.

A CONVOY IN THE HILLS.
A CONVOY IN THE HILLS.

Of wheeled vehicles on Cuban roads, the heavy, wooden-wheeled, primitive style, slow-going ox-and mule-carts take precedence as freighters, and for passenger transportation the volante (flyer) takes rank of all others. Indeed, no other vehicle would be possible on many of the roads, not only because modern carriage building has not devised a vehicle strong enough to stand the strain, and light enough to be hauled, but because endurance in any of them for any distance would be impossible. The volante, drawn by one, two, or three horses, according to the exigencies of the highways, is the only possible form of vehicular travel. This vehicle consists of a two-seated bed, swung low on leather straps from the axle of two very large wheels, very wide apart, with shafts fifteen feet long. This peculiar gearing relieves the jolting, removes the danger of upsetting, and makes volante riding really endurable on rough roads, and a languorous luxury where the roads are good and meander among the waving palms and tropical vegetation of the gently rolling valleys.

The only street railways are to be found in Puerto Principe, where a short mule motor line exists, and in Havana, which has about twenty-seven miles of track, say about one hundred miles less than a city of over 200,000 population should have. Its power is principally horse, one route steam, and although it is badly managed, poor in service, and always in bad condition, its annual receipts are about $500,000. Under the new rÉgime the opportunities for investment of American capital in street-railway building will be especially excellent, not only in the city of Havana, but in most of the towns of the Island. In the same field, on a more extended scale, will be the development of trolley lines through the interior, to take the place of the miserable roads which serve to retard the progress of the Island.

There are, in round numbers, one thousand miles of steam railroad in Cuba, almost all of which is standard gauge, and the most of which is owned and controlled by English and Spanish companies. There is no great central system; the lines are independent, short roads. The leading combination is the United Railways Company, with five lines out of Havana: (1) to Matanzas, fifty-five miles; (2) to Batabano, thirty-six miles; (3) to Guanajay, thirty-five miles; (4) to La Union, seventy-seven miles; (5) to Jovellanos, eighty-eight miles; a parallel line runs between Matanzas and Empalme, joining the line again at GÜines. These lines are in the main well built and ballasted, having steel rails, stone culverts, and iron bridges, and they pass through rich sections of agricultural and grazing country.

The second in importance is the Western Railway, running to Pinar del Rio, 106 miles, and traversing the famous Vuelta Abajo tobacco district. The line next in importance is the Cardenas and Jucaro Railway, extending from Cardenas to Santa Clara, 110 miles, with branches to Montalvo from Jovellanos, twenty-seven miles; to Aguada from Cardenas, fifty-nine miles, to Itabo, thirteen miles; from Artemisal to Macagua, seventeen miles. These lines traverse a rich agricultural country, chiefly devoted to sugar-growing.

A CUBAN VOLANTE.
A CUBAN VOLANTE.

The Matanzas Railway, from Matanzas to Cumanayagua, seventy-three miles, is a well-built road, through a rich sugar district. The Navajas-Jaguey branch extends from the main line at Montalvo, twenty-five miles, to Murga in the interior. The Sagua la Grande Railway extends from Concha, the seaport of Sagua, to Cruces, forty-eight miles, where it connects with the Cienfuegos and Santa Clara Railway. This is a generally stone-ballasted road through a rich agricultural and fruit-growing section. The Cienfuegos and Santa Clara Railway extends from Cienfuegos to Santa Clara, forty-two miles. A portion of the country along the line is rough, but there are many fine sugar farms. The Caibarien Railway Company has a local line extending to Placetas, thirty-three miles. The Puerto Principe and Nuevitas Railway, forty-five miles in length, connects Puerto with Nuevitas, its seaport. This railroad has paid the extraordinary dividends of fifteen to twenty per cent. The Guantanamo Railway is a profitable road, four miles long, connecting Guantanamo with Caimanera, its seaport. The Marianao Railway is a suburban line, eight and a half miles long, connecting Havana with Marianao and La Plaza. It carries about 800,000 passengers annually at a thirty-cent fare. The Regla and Guanabacoa Railway is a local line, two and a half miles long, connecting the two towns, and is owned by the proprietor of one of the ferries between Regla and Havana. It has valuable terminal facilities in Regla. The Encrucijada Railway extends from Sitiecito, on the main stem of the Havana line, to Encrucijada, a distance of twenty miles, through a rich sugar and stock district. The San Cayetano and ViÑales Railway is a two-and-a-half-foot gauge road, fifteen miles long, from the port of San Cayetano to ViÑales. The Casilda and Fernandez Railway extends from the seaport of Trinidad to Fernandez, twenty-two miles. The Las Tunas Railway extends from Zaza to Valle, twenty-four miles, and was built to connect Sancti Spiritus with the seaboard, though it is not yet completed. The Zaza Railway, of three-foot gauge, is a private road, and parallels the Caibarien United Railways to Placetas, twenty-one and a half miles. The Jucaro-MorÓn Railway is a military road on the line of the Jucaro Trocha, connecting Jucaro on the south coast with Estero on the north, passing through heavy forests of fine timber for nearly its entire length. The Gibara-Holguin Railway connects Gibara with Auras, a small town in the interior, nine and a half miles. It runs through a very rich fruit district and is intended to extend to Holguin.

Penetrating thirty-three miles into the rich mineral and agricultural districts to the north of Santiago de Cuba, is the Sabanilla and Maroto Railway, a well-built standard-gauge road. A short branch extends to El Caney, famous in war history, and at MorÓn, twelve miles from Santiago, a new line branches to the north-east, passing through several unimportant villages and terminating at Sabanilla, six or eight miles away. The old line goes to San Luis, thirty-three miles from Santiago, passing Enramadas, twenty-one miles out; and from this point, or San Luis, it is proposed to extend the line to Manzanillo, a thriving town of 9000 people, the seaport for Bayamo and Jiguani, and the centre of a large lumber and sugar trade, as well as headquarters for the celebrated Yara tobacco leaf, grown along the Yara River, which empties into the sea a mile from the town.

The Ponupo Mining and Transportation Company, which is practically the Juragua Mining Company, an organisation which has done more towards the industrial development of Eastern Cuba than all other agencies combined, proposes to assume all the responsibility and expense of building, equipping, and running a first-class road from Santiago to Manzanillo, a distance of 110 miles. Leaving Enramadas, or San Luis, the road will pass through the towns and villages of Paso del Corralillo, Palma Soriano, Arroyo Blanco, Fray Juan, Baire Abajo, Las Piedras, Jiguani, Santa Rita, San Antonio, Bayamo, Jucaibana, Barrancas, Jara, Palmas Altas, and thence to Manzanillo. At each of these points a substantial station will be built; all bridges will be of iron, and the entire construction will be on the best lines of modern railway building.

The route extends through an almost undeveloped country, rich in the possibilities of wealth-producing. Fine grazing lands abound; the soil in many places is of the finest for cane-growing; much of the territory is covered with mahogany, cedar, and other hard woods; near Baire are iron and manganese deposits; at Guisa are thermal springs, famed for their medicinal virtues; about Bayamo, a city of 15,000 people, there are coffee and cocoa lands and manganese and zinc deposits; eight miles from Manzanillo are the broad fields where the famous tobacco grows, known as the Yara leaf, and in the vicinity of the city eight or ten large sugar plantations are in operation. Several rivers are crossed on the route, from which a vast water power may be secured for application to any kind of manufacture, and as the country is virtually new, the opportunities for settlers are unusually good. The company proposes to complete the road within five years at a cost of $2,100,000, and the facts that it has for a long time been successfully conducting the original road and that it is willing to spend its money in building the new line, are ample evidence that the road will fill a long-felt want and be a productive investment. Its construction should be encouraged in every way consistent with the best interests of all concerned, and that it will soon be a substantial fact, as well as a long step towards the consummation of a great trunk line running the entire length of the Island, goes without saying. The author visited the country along the line of this road and speaks from his own personal observation.

Generally speaking, these roads are fairly well built, but are in poor condition, owing to neglect growing out of the war. They are largely equipped with American locomotives and cars, usually of lighter construction than those in the United States. Indeed the passenger cars are built for summer travel, with wicker seats and plenty of ventilation. While some heavy steel rail is used, sixty to eighty pounds, there is much lighter rail put down, with the result that riding on some of the Cuban roads is nearly as painful to the passenger as is riding on the dirt roads. Fair time is made on the best roads, and the service is much better than might be expected. The stations of the railways in the cities are often creditable in architecture and conveniences, but those in the small towns and the country need to be improved.

It is more than possible that an earlier and more noticeable progress in Cuban railway matters will be made than in any other important department of industry in the Island. In addition to the railways herein noted, there are numerous private railways on sugar estates, ranging from one to forty miles in length. These are chiefly used in conveying cane to the mill, but in some instances they extend beyond the limit of the farm and serve a useful purpose in local transportation. These roads are not elaborately constructed or equipped, but they are ordinarily satisfactory to the owners and patrons. There are also a number of short lines in the mining district, connecting the mines with the seaboard or other shipping point.

What margin of profit there may be in the railroad business of Cuba is not definitely known, as figures are not always accessible, though ten per cent. dividends and even higher have not been unheard of in the past. A table from which calculations may be made is presented below, covering the railways of the western part of the Island:

Cuba has over 6,500 miles of coast-line, counting all the undulations of the coast, much of which is practically inaccessible from the outside by reason of long stretches of low-lying coral reefs; but within these natural breakwaters what is virtually inland navigation may be and is carried on by small coastwise vessels of all kinds. There are, however, many miles of open coast, and land-locked harbours, not excelled elsewhere, are frequent. There are fifty-four harbours in all. The best on the north coast are Bahia Honda, Cabanas, Havana, Matanzas, Sagua, Nuevitas, Gibara, Nipe, and Baracoa; and on the south, Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo, Trinidad, and particularly Cienfuegos, which has one of the finest harbours in the world. With so favourable a coast-line, added to the long and narrow shape of the Island, which brings points in the interior so near to the coasts, transportation by water is naturally given precedence, and the shipping trade is one of the most flourishing in the Island. Twelve hundred vessels, steam and sail, clear from Havana alone every year, while the tonnage of Havana and eight other ports in 1894 was 3,538,539 tons, carried in 3181 vessels. And yet with such a showing the policy of the Island with reference to its neighbouring islands has been such that if one wishes to go from Cuba to a near-by island, say a distance of seventy-five to one hundred miles, he must first go to New York, and reship to the point of destination. An account of the lines that connect Cuba with other countries and the ports of Cuba with one another appears in the following chapter on navigation.

FISCAL STATEMENT

CUBAN MULE CART.
CUBAN MULE CART.

Notwithstanding the dangers of navigation among the keys, there are only nineteen lighthouses on the entire coast, or one for every three hundred and fifty miles, a scarcity that is too dangerous to be allowed to continue. Many of the harbours are badly neglected, being permitted to fill up with sediment; and where there is one good wharf, well conditioned and adequate to the demands upon it, there are a hundred which are not so. In this respect improvement is greatly needed, and American capital should make it.

Although Cuba possesses hundreds of running streams, generally known as rivers, the narrowness of the Island necessarily curtails their length, and the longest, the Cauto, is but one hundred and fifty miles from its source to the sea. Others are considerably shorter than the Cauto; many of them are scarcely more than estuaries putting in from the ocean. The Cauto is navigable for light-draught boats over about six miles of its course, and some of the others will permit short navigation by light craft. The usefulness of these streams as means of communication and traffic with the sugar, tobacco, and other farms of the interior, and with the timber districts, may be greatly enhanced by proper attention from modern engineers and a more extensive acquaintance with River and Harbour Appropriations legislation.

The lakes of the Island, which are numerous, are usually small, and if they are used at all for transportation purposes, it is by hunters and pleasure seekers, in canoes and small boats; though where it is possible to utilise them in rafting timber it is done.

A CURVE ON THE YAGUAJAY RAILROAD.
A CURVE ON THE YAGUAJAY RAILROAD.

As to the extent of the telegraph lines of Cuba, figures vary from 2300 to 2500 miles, but the latest Spanish report is to the effect that there are 2300 miles, with 153 offices, doing a business of 360,000 public messages a year. The lines have been controlled by the Government, and telegraphing has not been popular in Cuba, owing to the strict and annoying censorship of the Spanish authorities.

There are about one thousand miles of submarine cable connecting Cuban towns; the International Ocean Telegraph Company has a line from Havana to Florida, connecting with the Western Union Telegraph Company; the Cuba Submarine Telegraph Company has a line from Havana to Santiago and Cienfuegos; the West India and Panama Telegraph Company connects Havana with Santiago, Jamaica, Porto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, and the Isthmus of Panama; the French Submarine Cable Company connects Havana with Santiago, Haiti, Santo Domingo, Venezuela, and Brazil. Nearly all of these cables were cut by the Americans during the war.

The telephone system of Cuba, like the telegraph, is in Government hands, with the exception of the lines in Havana, which are leased by a private company, the Red Telefonica de la Habana. Telephones have been in use for some time, and they exist in many of the towns, but their use through the interior has not become general, for the long-distance telephone is scarcely known as yet, and American capital may have the opportunity of introducing and developing the system without fear of Government interference to control the business.

It may be said, in explanation, in concluding this chapter, that the statistics herein presented refer to the time before the Hispano-American war, which naturally affected steamships, railways, and telegraphs more than any other business of the Island, owing to their semipublic character. Very radical changes may be made in the conditions hitherto existing, but it is safe to say that those changes will result in a vast improvement and extension of all these public conveniences and essentials to progress.