EVENTS IMPORTANT AND OTHERWISE.
On the last day of January I became private secretary to President Van
der Voort, serving in that capacity until my return to the States nearly
four months later. This position brought me into close and intimate
contact with all of the colonists, and to no small extent I shared their
joys and woes. I was made the recipient of their confidences, and was
sometimes able, I believe, to make somewhat smoother the rather thorny
paths they had to travel. When I was unable to do this, it was never
from lack of full sympathy with their trials and hardships. I cannot be
too emphatic in saying that never in my life have I met an aggregation
of men and women who were more honest, good-natured, patient, and
reasonable. To me, personally, they invariably extended the kindest
consideration, and so, for that matter, did the officers of the company.
The nucleus for the first American colony in Cuba was beyond all
question a good and substantial one.
[Illustration: GEN. VAN DER VOORT'S CUBAN HOUSE.]
About the middle of February Gen. Van der Voort moved into his new Cuban
house, which had been constructed for him by Cuban workmen in an open
space ninety or one hundred yards back from the main street of the camp.
The house and most of the tents constituting the camp were on the
company's reservation just north of the front line of the town. As fast
as the colonists got their town lots cleared they moved on to them, but
their places in the reservation camp were often taken by new-comers.
The general's palm house, or shack, was an ingenious and interesting
piece of work. The Cubans exercised all their marvelous skill in its
construction, with highly creditable results. When completed it was
water tight, and cool, comfortable, and picturesque. The house contained
two good-sized rooms, an enclosed bedroom at the back and an open
apartment at the front used for an office and reception-room. Until a
conventional board floor was laid by an "Americano" carpenter, there was
not a nail in the entire structure. The upright poles, cross pieces, the
ridgepole, and the rafters and cross rafters, were securely fastened
together with tough bark and vines, while the roof was carefully
thatched with palm leaves. The latter were broad, fan-shaped leaves,
several feet across at the widest part. Each had a stout stem two or
three feet long. The leaves were laid upon the roof, beginning at the
eaves, stems pointing to the ridgepole. The leaves were carefully lapped
like shingles, and tightly lashed by the stems to the rafters and cross
rafters. If a leak was discovered it was easy to close it by binding on
another leaf. The leaves used came from what is commonly known as the
dwarf or cabbage palm. Royal palm bark was used along the ridgepole. The
back and sides of the house were of palm leaves, as was the front of the
rear room, a door being cut through it. The front of the outer apartment
was entirely open. The original floor was of wood cut from the royal
palm, the rough and heavy boards, or planks, being fastened to cross
logs by wooden pins. Not proving entirely satisfactory, this floor,
after a short time, was replaced by a more even one laid by a Yankee
carpenter. This was the only change made by General Van der Voort in his
Cuban house, with which he was greatly delighted. When new the
prevailing color, inside and out, was a beautiful green, which soon
turned to a yellowish brown. The change did not add to its beauty, but
it still remained comfortable and picturesque. The cost of such a house
in La Gloria was about fifty dollars. The general's house was
wonderfully cool, as I can testify from personal experience, having
occupied it daily for three months.
Within a dozen yards of the general's house stood a historic landmark
known as the "Lookout Tree," a gigantic tree used by the Cubans during
the Ten Years' War and the late insurrection to watch for Spanish
gun-boats that patroled the coast and for filibusters bringing arms and
ammunition. It was at or very near Port La Gloria--known to the Cubans
as Viaro--that the celebrated _Gussie_ landed her arms and ammunition
for the Cubans, just after the intervention of the United States. Up
through the "Lookout Tree" grow what appear to be two small and very
straight trees, about three feet apart; actually, they are the downward
shooting branches of a parasitic growth, taking root in the ground. The
Cubans have utilized these for a ladder, cutting notches into them and
fastening cross-pieces, or rungs, very securely with barbed wire. One
may climb high into the big tree by this curious ladder, and from the
top a good view of the coast is obtained. After our arrival the tree was
sometimes brought into requisition in watching for the boat from
Nuevitas, and the good climbers among the colonists often made the
ascent merely for the satisfaction of performing the feat, which was not
such an easy one as might appear, since the ladder did not reach to the
top by fifteen or twenty feet.
A space of about half an acre, chiefly in front of the house, General
Van der Voort had plowed and planted for a garden. Vegetables were sown
in February and a little later a good number of pineapple plants,
banana, orange and coffee trees, etc., were set out. The vegetables
began to come on in April, and the fruit trees and pineapples exhibited
a thrifty growth from month to month. Small palm trees were also set out
along the path leading from the house across the garden to Central
avenue. The company had another and larger garden near by which was
planted in the latter part of January. Some of its products were ready
for the table in March, and radishes even earlier. The soil of these
gardens was not of the richest, being red and containing oxide of iron;
but, for all that, seeds came up marvelously quick and plants grew
well. I have known beans which were planted Saturday morning to be up on
the following Monday. The soil of practically all of the plantations and
many of the town lots is very rich.
On February 21, the day before Washington's birthday, occurred the first
birth in La Gloria, a lusty son being born to Mr. and Mrs. Olaf Olson.
Mr. Olson was one of the most prosperous and progressive of the
colonists, and his wife was a true pioneer. At the time of the birth the
Olsons were living in a tent on their town lot on Market street, not far
from Central avenue. Dr. Peirce was the officiating physician, and the
infant developed as rapidly, in proportion, as plants in that tropical
clime. It proved to be a remarkably healthy child. It was promptly named
Olaf El Gloria Olson, and on the request of the Pioneer Association, the
company generously made it a present of a town lot. Soon after the birth
of the child, Mr. Olson moved into a house of his own construction.
The weather at this time was good and the temperature very comfortable.
Ordinarily the thermometer registered throughout the day from 70 to 84
degrees of heat. The lowest temperature for January was 55°; the
highest, 91°. The lowest for February was 56°; the highest, 91°. The
extremes of heat are nearly as great in winter as in summer, but there
is much more variation. In summer the temperature ordinarily runs from
about 78° to 90°, but occasionally touches 94°, which is the highest I
have ever known it to be in La Gloria. Even at this figure the heat is
not oppressive. There is such a refreshing breeze night and day in Cuba
that one does not suffer from the heat either in summer or winter. The
climate is so fine at all seasons of the year, that to a New Englander
it seems absolutely perfect. The colonists worked hard every day under
the rays of the sun and suffered no ill effects. They came to the
conclusion that getting acclimated was a "cinch" in comparison with
enduring the changing weather of the Northern states.
During the first week in February the colonists, such of them as were
not otherwise employed, began the construction of a corduroy road over
the worst places on the trail from La Gloria to the port. The work was
under the supervision of Colonel Maginniss, and from twenty to thirty
men labored daily for some time. While not of a permanent character,
this work made the road more passable for pedestrians and animals, and
was of material aid in the hauling up of provisions and belated baggage.
By the end of February most of us had got our trunks. The workers on the
road were employed by the company, with the understanding that their
wages should be credited upon their land payments, or upon the purchase
of new land. This was satisfactory to the colonists, and many took
advantage of the opportunity to acquire more town lots. Many other
employés of the company also turned in their time for the purchase of
plantation land or town lots.
On the 19th of February the first well in La Gloria was opened. It was
at the corner of Market street and Florida avenue, and was dug by a
syndicate of colonists who lived in that vicinity. Good water was struck
at a depth of about twelve feet. Many people used the water from this
well, and a little later it was made considerably deeper. The well was
square, and the ground was so hard at this point that it was found to be
unnecessary to stone it. Many other wells were dug soon after, in all of
which good water was found fifteen or twenty feet below the surface of
the ground.
Early in February, M. A. C. Neff, engineer and architect, who had been
in charge of the town site survey, was transferred to the work of
preparing real estate maps and books. Mr. Neff was a fine draughtsman,
and his colored maps were a delight to the eye. One of his maps was used
in the allotment of town lots, another was placed on file at Puerto
Principe in connection with the recording of deeds, while others were
sent to the New York office of the company or kept for use in La Gloria.
Much credit is due Mr. Neff for his part in the upbuilding of La Gloria.
He was enthusiastic in forwarding improvements of all kinds. Both he and
his admirable wife considered themselves colonists, and looked forward
with pleasant anticipations to a permanent home in La Gloria.