The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-06

upon the productions of other peoples but it
is largely founded upon its admirable position
in commanding the entrance to the Mexican
Gulf, Havana being situated exactlywhere the
carriers of commercial enterprises must cross
each others paths in their intercourse with
Mexico and the Southern United States. It
is n wonderful instance of the sagacitv and
craftsmanship of Thomas jefferson that he
should have written nearly fifty years ago:-
Il candidly confess that have ever looked
upon Cuba as the most interesting addition
that can be made to our system of States the
possession Of which with Florida Point) would
give us control over the Gulf of Mexico and
the countries and isthmus bordering it, and
would fill up the measure of our political
well-being'
TROPICAL MIDNIGHT.
The atmosphere of Cuba, as everywhere
within the tropics, is so unpolluted so thin,
so elastic, so serene, and, save 10y experience,
so inconceivably transparent, that every star
and planet in the heavens seemed to be boldly
defined; you can see around and behind
them; they actually stand out in the clear
blue, while the heavenly consultations are
more brilliant than in the temperate attitudes.
In this night-watch we saw the north star and
the great polar bear skirting along the hori-
zon. And there were consultations unknown
to Northern skies, with the myriads of stars
forming the milky-way, making not a dim,
just-perceived light, but absolutely flaming
through eternal space.
THE VAIN PURSUIT OF HEALTH.
We have sad "reminiscences of the truthful
ness of the following sketch, treating of people
who incOnsiderately rush into foreign climes
to recuperate an already destroyed constitu-
tom
Here it is perhaps necessary to say that the
saddest chapters of suffering that could be
written would be the histories of confirmed
invalids coming from the Northern States.
seeking health in 'the balmy air of these
tropical cimes." Accustomed to the careful
housekeeping and domestic arrangements of
their northern home, and sustained by an in
vigorating climate they find themselves sud
denly in Havana, deprived of even a comfort
able retiring room, and without the necessary
convenience of even bed to lie upon. Every
dish, except otherwise ordered, is reeking with
red pepper, onions, or garlic; the language
and habits OF the common people are strange
and repulsive and meantime, the climate
enervating and deXhausting to the most vigorous
constitutions, completes the disaster; and the
poor, disappointed seeker of health learns
when it is too late, the sad mistake that has
been made by the consumptive searching a
warm latitude for health.
We saw one of these wretched people
hoisted by the aid of a mattress upon the
deck of our departing steamer There was
apparent death in the eye and in the ema-
ciated frame, 1t was a desperate effort to
reach home and die among friends and kim
dred. Presently the steamer moved out of
the harbor, that was literally as hot as an
oven. The cool sea-breeze famed the brow
of the sinking one; the pure fresh air acted as
an elixir; the eye frightened, the voice re-
turned the hand had the power to give an
at1ectionate return for the friendly grasp
The cool night air set in, and the invalid, like
one escaping from an exhausted receiver,
wept and signed over the suffering endured
in the sad climate and surroundings for inva-
lids common to all Cuban resorts.