The Portland daily press., 1872-02-01
correspondence of the Press.l
HOTEL ALMY.


HOTEL. ALMY,
HAVANA, Jan. 10th. 1872. {
DEAR PREss:-Behold us translated from
regions OF ice and snow to the balmy air Of
the tropics. / cannot add cloudless skies. he
cause the present winter thus far has been an
exceptional one in this latitude, e,-summer still
lingering in the lap of winter. We arrived
out on the 28th ult and but one very slight
Norther-the wind that corresponds as a
health dispenser to suffering humanity with
the frost of our Southern States-had at that
period been experienced. Until last Sunday
we really suffered from hot southerly winds
and daily showers, but at the last mentioned
date quite cool norther sprung up lasting
till this morning. Nevertheless we manage
to make ourselves comfortable, for our hotel is
filed with Americans, and all kinds OF
schemes are devised for passing time away by
day as well as by night.
The Hotel Almy is an immense house built
by very wealthy French nobleman for his
palace, and covers plot of ground about as
large as one ofour blocks at home. 1t is con-
structed in the form of square, with court
yard in the centre open to the sky, with mas
sive walls some two feet thick, marble floors
and immense apartments. The parlor is sew
enty feet long and thirty feet high and the
sleeping apartments in proportion. The
house is delightfully."- situated within few
feet Of the bay and commands a splendid
view of the harbor and shipping. Right un-
der our windows lies the familiar form
OF the Terror, so welLknown to Port
landers from her connection with
the Peabody ceremonies. Near by. the
"Kansas" and ''Nipsic" quietly swing at
their anchors, and the presence of these noble
vessels inspires feeling of protection in the
breast of every American, who at the same
time are not slow to acknowledge the fact
that their officers add no little to the foreign
society resident here. The English frigate "Ni-
ODE, Sir hampton Lorraine commanding, is al
SO stationed here and vies with our own SQUAD
ron in attentions to the pleasure-seeking So
journers. Then there are Spanish iron-clad, a
frigate, and several gun-boats under the COM
mand of an Admiral, but we conclude that
the Spanish officers mingle only with their
own countrymen as we hear nothing from
them. During the day the waters of the har-
bor are alive with all kinds of craft from the
great steamship that plies between this port
and Europe to the little tug that goes putting
along, towing some stately ship to her an
chorage, or the man-of-war boat with its neat
white awning and stalwart rowers whose
oars measured stroke keep time with the
strains of the band in the guard-house at the
landing. At night the stars shine forth with
a brilliancy unknown in Northern climes, the
shipping display their colored lights, and the
boats leave long phosphorescent wake be-
hind them as they cleave the waves.
Havana is not as attractive to the tourist as
probably owing to the troubles that
have prevailed for the past five years. For
merly on certain evenings in the week the
Paseo Isabel-the principal drive that cores
ponds to the Rotten Row of London-would
be crowded with elegant equipages filled with
ladies in full evening dress, and after the drive
they would proceed to the Prado and their
the magnificent band of the Artillery or En-
gineers while seated in their carriages, and
the cavaliers would come and converse with
them or, if unacquainted, would pause be-
fore the fair maidens and exclaim in audible
tones, "Ah! que bonita, que hermosa'' (Ah!
how pretty, how Handsomely and the afore-.
said fair maidens would consider it Just tri-
butte and perhaps graciously smile and fan
themselves rather more languidly than before.
But now all is changed. Only once does the
band play instead Of three times week and
am told that the display on the Paseo is SO
much inferior to what it was in former wears
because many of those who took part have
either left the city or else remain at home.
The streets and roads were then in very
good condition, but now your victoria jounces
up and down with one wheel on a horse rail-
road track perchance, and another in pitfall
close by. Then the dry-goods stores were
hlled with beautiful pima dresses made ex
pressly for this island, exquisite cambrics and
rich silks, while the fans of Havana were cell
ebrated all the world over. ''There are no
pinas now but they are expected soon, ''the
shopmen tell you; the high cost fans are stin
to be procured, but the moderate priced ones
in quaint designs are scarce as flies in winter
at the North. Even fruit is not to be pro-
cured in abundance owing to the hurricanes
of two years ago, and, owing to the unsettled
state of affairs, all produce is very high. In
fact everything from an orange to silk-dress
is very expensive. Suppose you desire to
take drive. You order the ivery-stable
proprietor to send you nice barouche and a
span of American horses with driver. When
the team arrives you see a clean
but rather hard looking barouche,
drawn by a pair Of dirty white horses
with common harness, and driver
attired in plain linen drilling with straw hat.
The equipage is one that would be considered
rather posse in small New England town.
The price for a two hours ride is $1O-gold.
You might have kept it another hour for the
same price or left it at the end of the first
hour. Five years ago for $3.50 you could get
an elegant victoria drawn by superb span
bay horses, with silver mounted harness, the
driver in full livery, and keep the establish
ment the afternoon and evening. To 90 to
the opera here you must pay SIP so for your
box. $40 for your carriage, 50 apiece for en-
trance money to the theatre this charge be-
ing separate from the cost of the box) max
ing $26,50 for the evenings pleasure of a
man and his wife, without speaking
OF the cost of gloves, neck-tie, feminine fix
ings and refreshments, the latter being
brought into your box to order. The table
too, even in American hotels so called, is
rarely such as suits Yankee or English pal
ate. The meats are necessarily smothered in
garlic or oil or other condiments, because the
laws require that meat shall be sold and eat
en- the day the animal or fowl is slaughtered,
for fear it will spoil in this warm climate
Consequently the meat is generally pretty
tough, and what is worse has very little or no
flavor, the forage not being very succulent.
These are a few of the little 'disagreeabilities'
that as Mark Twain would say knock all the
romance out of the enthusiastic word-paint-
ers of life in the tropics.
Since our arrival we have been more or less
coufned to the house by the noonday heats
and rain at night, but am happy to state
that since the last Norther the weather has
been more favorable for excursions. One OF
the attractive features of the season has been
the Sunday service on board the different
men-ot-war. To you at home this may seem
small thing. To us in Havana it is an
event. Religious service, other than the Ro-
man Catholic, has never been permitted by
the Spanish authorities except at one of the
Consulates. A short time ago, it will be re-
membered, King Amadeus proclaimed liberof
of conscience in Cuba, and on the strength
that proclamation Bishop Whipple of the
American Protestant Episcopal Church sent
out young Rev. Edward Kenney of Washing
ton to establish chapel here. Mr.. Kenney
arrived about the middle of last month and
applied to the authorities for permission, but
they declined on the ground that he must