Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-05-10
[coRRrsPosDENcE OF THE DAILY SPY

city.
The town of Santo Domingo is situated on the
west bank of the Ozama river, and is surround
ed by high wall with bastions and citadels.
The early Spaniards forced the natives of the
island to work upon this wall, and SO strong
and well did they build it that it endures in good
preservation till the present day. All the gates
leading out of town are closed at nine
O'Clock in the evening, and no one is allowed to
pass through them till morning. AT an early
hour in the evening sentinels are posted AT short
distances apart, and challenge every suspicious
looking person who passes Their duty is also
to cry ont the time every hour, half, and quar-
ter hour-they tell the time, the state of the
weather, aud announce that all is WE'LL or other
wise. When first arrived here these frequent
cries of the watchmen were very annoying to
me. One would begin, the next sentry take it
up, and so on throughout the city, the sound
growing fainter and fainter and finally dying
away, when it would be again caught up by the
first Waterman, and again be pas sed from SEN
try to sentry.
At halfpast seven or eight O'Clock in the eve
ming the bugle sounds in front of the guard
house, an old cannon is then dragged into the
middle of the street in front of the residence of
the commander in chief of the army, Don Carlos
Baez. This cannon is to protect the city in
case of revolt. The sentries go to their respect
i've posts at this sound of the bugle, and the city
is under martial rule for the night. The houses
of Santo Domingo are mostly built of brick
covered over with plaster, and painted pink, yell
low, and sometimes blue. They are never more
than two stories high. The ground floors are
then generally used as shops, warerooms, or
simple ante rooms. The better class of houses
are built square, with an inner quadrangle, or
court. The floors are generally made of brick.
The windows are large, heavily grated with
strong iron bars, and furnished with heavy
wooden shutters inside. These shutters open
and shut, but the main part of them is gener-
| ally closed, and a section of them only, above
the level of the eyes of passers by, is left open
for light and air. The street doors are made in
the same way, very high and large, with a
smaller door within the larger one for people to
pass in and out The whole door is opened for
the ingress and egress of horses and their riders.
There is no objection here to having horses or
donkeys pass through the front hall and dining
room to the inner quadrangle and thence to the
stable
There are other houses called boheahs, which
are occupied by the poorer classes. They are
built entirely from what the natives call the
cabbage PALM" The trunk or stem of the
tree is cut into long narrow boards, which form
the sides of the house. The leaves of the tree are
broad and long, thick, and of woody fiber;
with these the roof is matched A roof of this
kind will last ten years. The roofs of these bo-
heahs are built very slanting, so that the rain
NAV easily run off. The Cabbage palm" has
several other uses, two of which know. The
heart of the tree is white and tender and is used
as salad; it has very little taste in itself, but
with salad dressing it is very palatable. The
fruit of the tree is good food for pigs, and is
always given TO them.
The city is regularly laid out in squares, the
streets are not so narrow as one would expect to
find in so old town. The sidewalks are of un-
equal widths and nights, and are used by men
and beasts the latter generally having the prefer
ence. The Dominicans have a queer way of
hitching their horses, mules, donkeys or
bulls to the house or shop wherein they may
have some business to transact The rope by
which the beast is fastened stretches from his
head across the sidewalk to the house; some
times, even, countryman will keep the end of
the rope in his hand, while he is leaning on the
shop counters making his bargains. This, of
course, necessitates frequent digressions on the
part Of the passer by. Bulls are used here
for beasts Of burden about equally with mules
or donkeys. 1t is quite a novel sight to a north
erner to see Dominican man or woman coming
into town seated upon bull with paniers hang
ing at the animals sides filled with fruits, veg
etables and country produce
The people are black, of mixed races, gener-
ally African, Spanish and French, with some
times a sprinkling of English, Irish, or Ameri-
can blood. In Santo Domingo city there are
quite number OF blacks who came here about
forty years ago from the northern cities of the
United States. These people are all old, and
their nnmber is lessened every year by death
The people are wretchedly poor; poverty pre-
walls in every quarter of the town, and think
also through the Dominican republic. 1t Is
most depressing to witness. In passing through
the streets and looking in at the open doors one
generally sees bare rooms and many things that
indicate that poverty rules there. The people
seem willing and anxious to work, but under
the present government there is no security for
their industries. Every young man or lad is
liable to be drafted into the army to serve seven
years, or as long as he may be required. The
soldiers pay is only roll of bread and five
cents day. Their clothes, such as they are,
are furnished by the government.
There is nothing going on here now. Bust
ness seems at a stand still. All are waiting anx.
lously for annexation to take place, believing
that to be the only hope for better times.
Even as poor as the people are, they feel the
necessity of keeping up appearances They do
not like to be seen waiting upon themselves like
gong upon errands or carrying parcels. These
things are quite beneath their dignity, and their
dislike to them is often carried to a ridiculous
degree. To illustrate this trait of their charae-
ter, will give an incident of my own experience.
had some business with dressmaker across
the street, not more than a minutes walk l
took up my bundle to go over there when my
friend said, "DO not carry that bundle yourself
have the landlady send boy with you to carry
it." | replied that it was not heavy, the dis
tohCS vas Outa olCPs anu hOulu HUI tIOuUlC
any one to 60 with me. "But it does not look
well for you to carry parcel" my friend said,
land you will be thought lightly of if you do
So" My friend made such point of my not
carrying the bundle, that consented to have it
carried for me. The landlady said she would
send boy with me whenever was ready to
60 signided my readiness, and my porter or
page appeared My laughter was much excited
at the sight ltwas no other than the little
Raphael a child three years old, in the costume
in which the old masters were wont to represent
the loves and cherubim. He took the long skirt
of my riding-habit, which was of as great hulk
as the poor little man himself. opened nv
parasol, encountered by nothing else, and we
started off at stately gait. Dignity must be
upheld at any cost, was my thought as gazed
down upon the little brown cupid trudgipp
along by my side, with the big bundle held
tightly in both his wee arms. But l nearly
ruined the majesty and imposing effect of our
| march by laughing at the picture would nre.