McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-07-03

Then sang they all about my ears,
And drove me from my room,
And by these presents do know
The summer days have come.
THE ART Of KEEPING COOL.
Lessons Learned From Life In a Hot
Country---How to Dress, Dine, Drink
and Avoid Overhead.
1t may seem surprising, yet it is none
the less true, that the art of keeping
cool is understood in Cuba hundred
times better than here. The very first
thing that strikes US when we get to
Cuba is that all humanity seems to be
bent upon keeping cool, and everything
is directed to that end. We strangers
in our cloth garments are the only ones
who are hot there. The natives look
as cool as they feel. They look pic
turesquely cool: They wear suits OF
linen, of thin silk, of light weight duck
or drill, with light low-cut shoes, silk
or Lisle.thread hose and undergar-
ments; hats made of fine straw or grass,
that do not appear to weigh an ounce.
[ cannot give to a gentleman clearer
idea of how cool they must feel than
by saying that there is not such thing
to be had in Cuba as shirt with sep
arate collar. You say that such suits
of clothing as l describe, when we see
them, look unshapely and even I'M
slightly. So they do; because our tail
ors do not seem to know how to make
them and our laundresses starch them
too stiff. Experience and practice
would overcome that. Havana is q
very dressy and fashion fearing city.
The tailors make those thin garments
as stylishly and as shapely as our suits.
The women there do not dress so very
unlike our own women; that is to say
that American ladies dress more sensi-
bly, in summer than American men do.
In both countries the result is reached
by lessening tbs number and weight of
undergarments and donning summer
silks or other almost gossamer goods
for outer wear.
The Cubans have hot weather way
of managing their business affairs. Let
no one run away with the idea that
business in Havana does not amount to
much. Havana has long been one of
the great seaports and commercial GEN.
tiers of the world, the head of the sugar
and tobacco trades, and the seat of an
immense miscellaneous shipping indus
try. There are as many men and firms
as busily engaged in paking fortunes
there as everywhere else. To begin
with, the business houses are built to
provide GOODNESS by means of shade and
air. They are more open than what
we call an "open car" yet can be
closed as tight as any Wall street bank.
1t is delightful to visit them. 1t is
amazing to see how cool the men at
work in them all keep themselves. The
merchants and clerks quit their beds at
5 80 O'Clock, perhaps earlier, enjoy a
bath, dress in leisurely way, take cof-
fee, and reach their counters and desks
by 6 80 o'clock. 1t is cool at that time
in the streets, and they are not half as
exhausted when they begin work as we
are. At 1880 or II o'clock, under a
sunshade or in a car or cab, they go
home again to breakfast.
Nothing short of the explosion of a
magazine, which made them forget
themselves few weeks ago, could in
duce man or boy among them to hur-
ry. The only two hasty or excited
movements saw in Cuba were on the
part of young woman and boy. The
young woman was ballet dancer in a
cool open-air theatre, and was engaged
in tee-to -tum movements, lasting only
a few minutes each night, for high
salary. The boy actually ran in the
open sunshine--but then he had stolen
a sugar cane in the market and was
afraid he would be caught. Nobody
ran after him, you may be sure.
On the way to breakfast the Havana
merchant and clerk do not drink three
beers and a cocktail, and at breakfast
they do not demolish a heavy beefsteak
or plate of chops, or of liver and bacon,
as we do the year round. On the
contrary, they are very partial 10 fruit;
fish, boiled, broiled or baked; broiled
poultry or small birds, salads, omelets,
oatmeal or rice, wine thinned down
with seltzer; coffee or tea. They take
it easy at the table!
At 4 80 or o'clock, when the heat
of the day is past and the delightful,
cool hours of evening are at hand, the
merchant and the clerk close the bust
ness places Gall but the little retail
stores), and 60 home, or to the restaur-
ant for dinner. And do they eat the
solid meat, the stews, the GRAVES, the
buildings and pies of our bills of fare in
July in New York? On, mol They
wish to be cool and healthy and COM
Portable. They suck the juice of an
orange or two and take little thin
broth or consomme soup, little wine
thinned down with cold seltzer or wa
ter, some nice fresh fish, broiled bird of
some kind and salad, or slice of some
sort of meat, well done, and then guava
paste, or jelly, or fruit and cheese and
coffee. q admit that the sweetmeats