Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-05-17

ter-General Keys recent Postal Excursion to
Havana, was, it seems, Mrs. Fanny Nichols
Wead. of Washington. and over her famil-
lar initials she gives, ill late number OF the
Washington Chronicle, some of the sights and
scenes of her stay in Havana. We copy the
greater part of her very readable letter
HAVANA
Coming from the glory of summer seas,
saturated with memories that are farest fair
how can We tell of the dreamy beauty of that
land We have left behind Havana, that
paradise of poets and artists. with its luxu-
RANT vegetation, its delicately-tintsi build
ings. its pale-green sea, and paler-blue sky !
HnvinG been given three days there, We
wanted thirty. Is not this true of all good
things? Their meaning and beauty grow
subtly into the soul. 1t is the transient. the
unenduring We grasp at once. Cuba is Mexi-
CO. the iSouth of Spain, Arabian Nights"
woven together. One can have no concep-
ton of how foreign n land lies at our very
door. The quaint Moorish architecture, the
delicate glowing colors, the sky, the water,
the dark, ferce-looking men and languid,
graceful women, even the picturesque beg
gars of the street, blend in strange harmony
that affects one like music. All the tropical
languor of the soft air and dreamy tights
crept into ones veins Existence here is
fierce delight or sensuous calm. Poets.
dreamcrs, and musicians might live and die,
not great philosophers or thinkers. The
brain partakes too much OF the languor cf the
body life pulsates in great waves OF feeling
one does not reflect or reason. Cuban life
buds and blossoms ut night then the heavy,
dark shutters of the houses open like the
calyx of flower, and we look into pleasant,
bright interiors such as Teniers would de-
light TO paint /; in the entrance hall the
volnnte back of the main salon or parlor.
the court with its tropicalI garden and toun-
tain. All the poorer life is upon the streets
men and women eating and drinking gaily
dressed crowds, the flying volante, with its
queer little excuse for horse the brilliant
ly-illuminated parks, music, fountains, lovers.
and the moonlight We confess to a kind of
intoXication that weaves us i'll with the rest
the moments are glowing slow-winged apart.
Will the night ever pale into the gray of
the morning? Where is that old world of
thought, OF struggle, of aspiration shall we
wake some day and remember?
Strange as it may seem, the Cubans did
not seem to understand our Spanish. 1--WE al
ways thought them degenerate race.) Our
hotel was fairy-land outside The dHng-ro0m
its multitudnous blue-tinted parlorS, its
unexpected courts and tropical greeneries,
the marble floors and walls, and high, dark
yeined ceilings-eyen the dainty little iron
bedsteads, so prettily painted with roses and
druped with shimmering white drapories all
mot excepting the thin canvas mattress.
which was something and yet nothing were
of strange fairy life. But in
the dining-room, alas we fatigued ourself
beyond expression to procure plate of soup.
Our grave and honored senators mopped
their brows i'll anguish over a dinner. Once,
after prolonged and ardent request for
crackers, we came near being arrested for
profanity Having beaten it into the languid
Cuban walters head that you desire dry
toast, prepare to wait till the flour be pro-
cured, the bread made, and the toast brown
ed.
Cuban ladies never appear MT the table |
fh0ie and, indeed. not at all during the day, |
unveiled. We do not remember ever TO have |
seen one eating perhaps they live by alb |
sorption, like the alligators The Cubans |
guard their women most jealously they as
sume great Difference toward the sex-but a |
regard that does not involve respect AID HON
Dr We altogether fail to appreciate. If woman
is noble enough TO merit love at all. she is
noble enough to be profoundly trusted, first,
asst, and always.
The Cuban woman is dark-hared, olive
'kinned. well formed, sinuous in her move
nents. full oi beautiful curves like II snake
Icr face ilcks aniuia'.n:. Is often dull, sad
,xpressionlcss. The mans face is hand
'omer, fercer, and more treacherous. You
Know. you would love HIM or Late him.
Marinaio, the pretty little town outside,
where We passed day, seemed like dead
pompcii resurrected. The low, flat-roofcd
with their flutcd columns. the ex-
luisite cOloring. grayed and subdued by
ime, the fnmed-in pictures that meet the
ye at every point, the avenues of stately
,alms, the wonderful tlower-carpeted courts
n the distance, that long strip of Malachite
men call the sea, (do you not hear its far
way waves in that word "Marinaio? p and
he pretty Cuban home that opened wide its
lospitabe doors to us, with its table crowned
With lucious tropical fruit-how we loved to
aste and linger and look Our good Post
ngster-General with the Senators, had called
lpon the Captain General that morning and
trsmble to confess that the American Sen
lie had wilted to th6t degree that 1t dispensed
Nth cravats, vests, and sundry other super
luities. Imagine the stately Spanish gran
lee, with all his fine furs and feathers, re
ewing us thus demoraliZed.
They put 1t gently and naively in the pa
'ers thus 1.-The American party give the
Impression of eminent good sense. without
much attempt at elegance or style."
We visited sugar plantation, saw the
machinery of the mills the slnve quarters,
nd other points of interest. 1t was like a
amor strain i'll the music a; so much sun
hine without the dark, half naked bodies
part of the machinery within. What did
fe mean to them beside this heat and toll
nd sickening odor? Had they hopes and
ears like the rest? Did weary heads lie
own 10 dream of still waters of cool
hadowy meadow-lands? Somewhere, i'll
ONE corner of the soul were there love and
ope and aspiration The dull, dark faces
iere masked i'll shadow and gave no reply.
he wonderful bronze colorlng of some of
hese slaves was study for an artist. 1t
ias notblack or brown or gold, but blend
NJ of the three. 10 study anatomy by all
leans 60 to Cuba. Bronze stntuettes seem
natural product of the soil We saw one
ntant OF about fourteen Summers, whose en-
ire toilet consisted OF IL string Of beads,
ool, inexpensive labOr-saving. In a drive
t an hour or so through the poorer parts of
iavana, any aesthetic craving for undraped
herubs, cupids etc, can be amply satisfied.
'hs filth of these streets is indascribable.
reaches long reckoning fingers to yellow
ever, smallpox, and kindred diseases i'll
he moist, hot atmosphere they run not
through al! the simmer and sparkle of the
'uban nights, weaving in and out through
he gaily dressed crowds. We felt an unseen
resence, phantom, pale. spccter-like, sep
lchal- The Cuban subtly recognizes this.
nd life never can mean to him II slow accre-
ion of good 1T is now, or, most likely. hcrG.
his may III part account for the fact that
he main business of Cuba seems to be III
Dtteries. We were beset on all sides 10y
gents and ticket-vcnders they slun. their
panish at us nt random, gesticulatng Wild
J. Unfortunately, our Investments in cigars,
aces and wash-bills had not lett us II penny
herewith to purchase the prize number, or,
tho knows. we might have returned To Ameri-
n to establish n special mail service of our
wn, with excursions monthly for the benefit
( the most charming aud agreeable party
hat ever the sun shoue upon.
WoMANIS MALE Attire On the 22d of
october 1877, William Freeman was sen
rnced to the Erie County, N. Y, Peniten-
larry for one year and SIX months. the prison
r having pleaded guilty to charge OF burg
lry and larceny. Freeman WAS duly recoiv-
d into the Penitentiary. and was put 10
'ork in the shop at polishing buckle. Fri
ny morning he was to bo discharged from
he Penitentiary. II pardon having been oh