Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-06-04
Mean Railway Cars, Lottery.
ticket Peddlers, and the
Smell of Sugar Cane
Are DiScerned.
Hairless Pigs, One-stOry Pal.
aces, Pathetic Ruins, and
Gigantic Theaters Also
Conspicuous.
Correspondence OF The Inter.Ocean.

Railway riding in Cuba is exceeding
~ common place. When I remem
bered the novelties of similar trave
in such tropical countries as Indi:
and Burmah, where the cars hav,
double roofs, the windows are otter
of blue glass to soften the glare o
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 a 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 undersolling the
shorter road. Thus the fare is only
81. 10 IL silver by longer route, first
class, as against $3.50 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 TIE 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, ir two
hours and 40 minutes in one case, and
ia 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 a great many years ago.
The frs->class coaches are, perhaps,
on par with our slnoking-cars. The
seats are caned. the roof is low, and
the interior woods are unornamented.
The second~clasS cars are a shade
worse, and the third-class cars
have board seats without backs, and
blinds without window-glass. The
first 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 Oh eese: Then follows a man
with lightening-bugs for sale. These
Cuban ightening-bugs are regular
electric lights. It is said that even
those exhibited as curiosities in the
states are inferior when compared
with the native untrammeled bug that
ilIluminates the Cuban night. The
lottery~ticket vendors were also on
hand, as they always are everywhere
and on every occasion.
third-class coaches.
There you have the negro, the
Chinaman, the Creole or Cuban
proper, and the Spaniard all on com
mon level. About two~thirds of the
people who get on have 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 come in and go through
the train, scowIing suspiciousIy 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 and 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
feature is the palm. The shining,
white, spindle~shaped trunks and
bouquet tops of this tree dot the land
scape on every side, although nowhere
constituting d real forest nave nOL
not travelled in any other country
where the palm appeared SO ubivuit-
GUS Then a group OF laurels or
cocoanut trees is liable to loom into
view, while occasional solitary ceibas
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. Luxuriant 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 dreamly over
THE PALM THATCHED HUTS OF THE Ma
TIVES.
It is wonderful what serviceable
house these people are able to make
out of common palm and banana
leaves and bark without a nail or
screw or any substantial material.
Fields Of corn also appear beside