Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-05-29
"IchabOd" Takes a Jaunt to
Matanzas and Notes Things
by the Way.
Mean Railway Cars, Lottery
ticket Peddlers, and the
Smell of Sugar Cane
Are Discerned.
Hairless Pigs, One-st0ry Pal
aces, Pathetic Ruins, and
Gigantic Theaters Also
Conspicuous.


Correspondence OF Ine lnlcI.OScdh'
Railway riding in Cuba is exceeding
Iy common place. When l remem-
bered the novelties of similar travel
in such tropical countries as India
and Burmah, where the cars have
double roofs, the windows are often
of blue glass to soften the glare OF
the sun. the telegraph poles and rail-
way ties are of iron to resist the raw
ages of insects, and the scenes by the
way striking beyond description, |
looked forward with eager curiosity
to my first trip into the interior OF
this island.
But l was disappointed. BY con-
trast everything seemed tame.
There are rwo routes by which this
city may be reached from Havana by
rail. Consequently competition has
brought the tariff down 10 figure as
absurdly high where there is no COM
petition. One of these routes is much
longer than the other. but 1t offsets
this disadvantage by undertaking the
shorter road. Thus the fare is only
$1.10 IL silver by longer route, first
class, as against $50 first class by
the other. The second and third class
are proportionally cheaper.
MOST TOURISTS MAKE 1T A POINT
to come here by one line and return
by tire other, although the scenery IS
practically the same both ways. The
time consumed by the fastest express
trains, which only make stops en-
route at one or two crossings, If two
hours and 40 minutes in one case, and
in the other two hours and 10 min
utes.
The rolling stock for all the Cuban
railways was built in the United
States, with Slight notifications from
the American plan on account OF eli
mate and the traffic to be accommo-
dated.
The cars are plain and old, repre-
senting the crude sort in use IN the
United States great many years ago.
The frs ,>class coaches are, perhaps,
on par with our smoking cars. The
seats are caned, the roof is low, and
the interior woods are unornamented.
The second-c class cars are shade
worse, and the third class cars
have board seats without backs, and
blinds without window glass. The
6rst.class car is always attached to
the rear end of the train, and is gener-
ally about empty.
When the train stops at station a
horde of vendors of various articles
SWARM into the cars offering their
wares for sale.
THERE IS THE BOY WITH GREEN co,
COANUTS
and perhaps these universal fruits are
reinforced by oranges, gurvas, and
country CHI eese. Then follows man
with tightening bugs Tor sale. These
Cuban tightening bugs are regular
electric lights 1t is said that even
those exhibited as curosities in the
states are inferior when compared
with the native untrammeled bus that
ililuminates the Cuban night. The
lottery -ticket vendors were also on
hand, as they always are everywhere
and on every occasion.
The place to see Cuban life Is in the
third class coaches.
There you have the negro. the
Chinaman. the Creole or Cuban
proper, and the Spaniard ali on COM
mon level. About two~thirds of the
people who get on Lave string of
chickens, which they carefully be-
stow under their seats when they sit
down; and every body appears oblivi~
Gus to the vigorous squawking which
is going on among the fowls most Of
the time. Once in while local
policeman will como in and go through
the train, scowling suspiciously at the
passengers Everybody carries a
large collection of bundles.
REGULAR BAGGAGE Is CHARGED EXTRA
in Cuba, and so it is customary to re
duce ones belongings TO their lowest
terms and stow them away in old
hooks ard corners.
The view from the car window is
novel to the untraveled American, but
characterized by a considerable OF
sameness.
By all odds the most characteristic
white, spindle~shaped trunks and
bouquet tops of this tree dot the land
scape on every side, although no where
constituting a..real forest. [ have not
not travelled in any other country
where the palm appeared SO ubivuit
Gus. Then group of laurels or
coooanut trees is liable to loom into
view, while occasional solitary csibas
command remark by reason of their
smooth, fat trunks and rambling
umbrella tops. The ceipa is the lar
gest tree grown on the island, and
islanders are wont to point to it with
pride. Luxurisnt wild morning glor-
les, with their blue, white, and pink
blossoms, may be seen clambering
over hedges of the hardy cactus;
while the huge rugged leaves of the
banana bend dreamily over
THE PALM THATcHED HUTs OF THE MA
TIyES
1t is wonderful what a serviceable
house these people are able to make
out of common palm and banana
leaves and bark without a nail or
screw or any SUI ostantial material.
Fields of corn also appear beside
the track in various stages of devel>
epment.
This corn is a recent discovery here.
1t has now become the universal fod-
der for horses and cattle, since it is so
Cuedp, anu Will grow tue year around.
The reader must not imagine such
corn as our states of the great North
west have put on exhibition at New
Orleans in the spirit of friendly emu
lation. The corn here does not seem
to grow more than two or three feet
high, and what they save as the ear
we would call nubbin. But the |
foliage fulills an important mission
as fodder.
The castoroil bean is indigenous,
and may be seen frequently by the |
TWO KINDS OF EARTH ARE NOTICEABLE !
in making the trip hither-one very
red, like that encountered IN Virginia,
Georgia. the Carolinas, and some
other Eastern States, aud the other
black. l believe there is contest
among travellers as to the worth of
these two soils for growing purposes.
The red soil is so intensely and so ten
red that the hairless pigs
which root in the selds and the tails
OF the oxen that gaze wonderingly at
The passing train (the oxen gaze, not