On the Map

President Coolidge to the Caribbean. Lindbergh around its Southern end in great swoops. On the island of Cuba a Conference of all the Americas. These events, close crowding, make the shimmering Caribbean and her major islands news, this week.

Cuba. Independent of Spain since 1898, and of the U. S. since 1901. A republic. But the U. S. retains rights of intervention and maintains a naval base at Guantanamo Bay (see MAP). Population 75% white. A 700-mile highway, bisecting Cuba, is now building by 5,000 men. Havana a superb metropolis: palaces, plazas, colonnades, tropical parks. Cigars exported annually 90,000,000. Best Corona Coronas come from the region of Vuelta Abajo in western Cuba.

Jamaica. Since 1655 a British possession. British Governor. Kingston a splendid city, smart hotels. Here Negroes know and keep their place. Bananas now replace as chief export the famed rum & ginger. Jamaica was discovered by Columbus in 1494, on his second voyage to America. This time he came not with three ships, but with 14 sturdy caravels, plus three great galleons, bringing colonists and 12 zealous Benedictine missionaries headed by Father Bernardino Buil.

Haiti. One island: two republics. Republic of Haiti: blacks and French mulattos. Dominican Republic: Spanish Creoles, scrambled mulattos, Indians. Dominicans speak Spanish, Haitians hear French. Santo Domingo seems still a 16th Century Spanish town and is the oldest European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. Toussaint L'Ouverture, "The Black Bolivar," won Haitian independence from Emperor Napoleon. Today the U. S. maintains a nebulous protectorate to check the once incessant revolutions at Port au Prince, Haiti. In back country Haiti are congo folk, who practice voodoo rites. Columbus discovered the island and named it "Hispaniola," (Espagnola) Little Spain.

Porto Rico. People: U. S. citizens. Horace M. Towner is the U. S. Governor. His salary $10,000. Population: Spanish whites 950,000, mulattos 300,000, blacks 50,000. The natives elect their own Senate & House and further elect a resident Commissioner who represents them in the U. S. Congress. Island ceded by Spain to U. S. in 1898. At San Juan is the ancient Shrine of Ponce de Leon and the new Condado-Vanderbilt Hotel. Juan Ponce de Leon was appointed by Columbus the Lieut. Governor of "Hispaniola" (Haiti) and from there captured the island of Porto Rico, believing it to abound in gold. Thence, he set out to discover the present island of Bimini, supposed to contain the "Fountain of Youth," but missed Bimini and discovered a bogus spring in Florida.

Guadeloupe. Here reside proud, stalwart, race-conscious black. French Colony. Emperor Napoleon lost 3,000 black Guadeloupe soldiers during his retreat from Moscow.

Martinique. Another French colony. Birthplace of the Empress Josephine, consort of Napoleon.

Barbados. Expansive green plains, cheerful white houses, no jungle. British Burial place of last of the line of Bizantine Emperors.