Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1902 — How Cuba Was Named. [ARTICLE]

How Cuba Was Named.

Cuba is the name by which the island was originally known to the Lucayan Indians, who were with Columbus when hedlscovered it. One of its villages or cities was called by then Cubanacanand it Is reported that from the similarity of sounds Columbus, still supposing himself to be on the coast of Asia, imagined that this must be a city of Kubla Kahan, the Tartar sovereign celebrated by Marco Polo. The survival of the original name for Cuba is a remarkable instance of persistence, as the Island has been baptized and rebaptized many times since its European discovery. Columbus first called it Juana, in honor of Prince John, the son of Ferdinand and Isabella. After Ferdinand’s death it was caled in his memory Ferdinand. Subsequently this name was changed to Santiago, after St James, the patron saint of Spain. Still later u was named Ave Maria in honor of the Virgin Mari’. But none of these names held arid the Indian name is still preserved. \ Storekeepers report that the extra quantity, together with the superior quality, of Defiance Starch makes it next to impossible to sell any other brand. A rosebush in the yard of C. A. Brown, Woodbury, N. J., which is about to burst into bloom, wifi have fully 5,000 flowers. The Cripple Creek mining district in Colorado is producing gold at the rate of over a year. It is more common to see an extreme love than a perfect friendship. —Du Coeur.