HAVANA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 November 1938, Page 9

HAVANA

HOME OF TOBACCO INDUSTRY. When Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Cuba he was startled to find the natives going about with firebrands in their hands, and certain dried herbs which they rolled up in a leaf, and, lighting one end, put the other in their mouths and puffed out smoke. A roll of this kind they called a tobacco, and it was the first time a European had seen anybody smoking. Even today Havana is regarded as the home of the tobacco industry. Columbus landed in Cuba on October 28, 1492, and the island was colonised by the Spanish in 1510, remaining a Spanish possession until 1898. In the seventeenth century, Cuba was harassed by raids of English, French and Dutch, who built the primitive fortifications of Havana and Matanzas as defences. During 1868-78 there was war against the Spaniards for Cuban independence. In 1880 the Cortes passed an Act to abolish slavery. During 1895-98 the second war for independence caused the intervention of the United States. On the night of February 15 the United States battleship Maine was blown up in Havana harbour, and 264 men were killed. War with Spain followed. Cuba was under American military control from 1899 to 1902. In 1901, a republican form of government was established, the first president being Estrada Palma. American troops were withdrawn in 1909, but American influence remains paramount on the island. During the war the high price of sugar brought phenomenal prosperity which ended when the price of sugar fell from 23 cents to 2 cents a pound. The Cubans left the development of their island largely to Americans, who take from her products valued at 400,000,000 dollars annually, selling her in return goods valued at 300,000,000 dollars.