Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-01-28
Of THE EvESIsG sTAR.

FkODF pOOkS--- EsIA-lNNIIlNd BALIONIES.
Special Correspondence Of TIE EVENING STAR.
CCoPyrshtedJ
HAVANA, CUBA. January %. 1883
There Is n subtle. unreliable charm about scene
city and citizen In this spanish capital OF the West
Indies which wish could fully convey in words
10 has never been done. I fancy that, after all,
one must sense and feel 1t for himself
The very FIRST glance at Cuba's purple noun
tain-peaked shores inpresses you strangely. When
Old Moro Castle looms above the gulf waters, and
the embattlsd headlind frowns savagely upon all
northern approached an almost startled feeling
OF irrevocable distance from American environ
nnent possesses you And finally, when the grest
city and its long shore-relches OF villas to the
west lie there In full view the contemplation Of no
MEDIEVAL Mediterranean port could prompt more
within Ten hour san Of yoir own land and an its
matchless activities and progress Not in all the
Orient could you com. upon scenes more voicefu
Of the dim mysteries OF lost countries and peoples
COMMERCIAL CAPITAL
Havana Is the concentrated spain OF Cuba, as
Paris Is the France OF the French, London the
England OF Great Britain. as well as the eighth
commercial capital Of the world. Baron Won Hum
boli, who, in far remote moments saw men and
things as well a rocks and areas, confessed It 10
De archltecturaliy "the gayest and most plctur-
ssqqe sight In America He might have nave added,
curious or Interesting city. study ~ as you ap-
preach 10 from the sea. with mighty Moro set high
OF yellow. gray and black. and the red-and yellow
flags above; with La Funta across the narrow
channel. prim and white. save where the ugly
DahlZrsn guns lash at you like venomous black
eyes; and the city with fts towers, dOmes, NINA
rets mammoth pillars. vast capt. entablatures
AM succeed cornices. rising gradually behind 10
Castillo del PRINCIPE and Jesu del Monte, with
their forts, towers ard churches-the whole scene
"a rlendinZ 0f tie most brilliant cOl0rS; and all
this backed BY half mountains OF green, with here
and there a lonely palm cutting into sky OF mar
veiOus blue: II is as interesting and Impressive a
oh wv hen fsOk "a all fhOugnr
life within it and behind III as human eye ever be-
held.
STRUCTURAL HARMONY.
am at loss how 20 convey to another who has
not seen IL the peculiar impressions arising from
It's critical contemplation, and particularly the
marvellous distinctness and NATURALIZATION each
eddie. seems TO possess, while the whole scene Is
one OF perfect structural harmony OF sharply-eo
traSting color. II truthfully painted, critics
wOad damn the artist. But an artist can no
more paint this scene In the atmosphere which
clothes 10 with Its remarkable seeming, and un-
der the ky which bestows upon all beneath a
positive reflection OF Its own depth, brflancy and
trtEslucence, than he can paint thought You
here see eolOrs which In any other place on earth
would excite rtdiculs and contempt. Here Is a
church chrome yellow: there a posada sky-blue;
against 10 q business structure SnOw-wnite with q
yellow roof; ALONGSIDE rum gray and olaek or
crimson; just Oey Ond and over this, tower with
russell supporting pillars, white dome and a yell
inner Of structures. orange-yeIOv or royal In
tns color OF a crushed huckieberry.
VARIED CONTRASTS
But you cannot LOOK at IL all through this glow
ing ng'.t and air. and underneath this marvellous
SKY without the consciousness despite all the odds
Of your conservatism and art notions that these
strange contrasts RESI- the eye In this fervid cne
and That IL grows upon you from sense of
al length 10 agreeateness and harmony. You
nav explain this. rather be content with IL.
grounds OF reason logical enough from their Sara
2rt, N no
idt that you are only In cuba, and not 5000 miles
10 the east. and in a time half a thousand years
behind Us You may finally, perhaps. account for
II all because IL Is Italy In atmosphere and sky;
Granada and COnstantInople In architecture; the
NelaDd IN i1nd,c ape and oriental color Nor when
set down within the city and determinedly bent
on analyZlhg as far as may be, through the |
irnuIaeraU!e AIDS OF street scenes OF any cOuntryS
metropolis you escape this constant sense OF
lnnlss surable distance from your own inexpress-
fbly different tine and conditions. Spain has not
so CHARACTERISTIC Spaniards; Egypt no darker olive
In faces; Turkey has no more picturesque group |
ings OF Inhabitants; the Tyrol sends the villages
maTket-days No more distinct peasantry; Asia |
has no more marked human studies than she has |
sent here; the far Malay never so much a |
Malay In his own cline; Italy has no more revolt
0lacker OruJes than, nalf-nak d, walk these |
streets, many with the tribal brand still soaring
the shine on their sable jaws, and no more |
iustrous,
sENsE-RAvISHIN6 EYES
ever yiowed through the pages Of "Lalla Rookhs |
than burn like black diamonds in beds pearl be-
meath the witehiny wells OF the Incompatible Ha-
banaS UnconsctJusly toitself here Is Life condi-
toned and env1roned weirdly as in Barbara:
Economically as In old Spain; pittably as
with tnces' pauDers; as coucha nt and asleep as
In Morocco. a pastoral a. pulses thronoh ..f
Nencia; as narcotic as in the poppy-lands OF the
TURKS. often as cruelty repressed in Russia: as
dreaInfuI as in poem painted Venice; as Iustrous
as IN ethereal Ita y; and as BRAIN bewtchng and
trOplcally -sensuous as where, In perpetual May,
the glowing enChantress, Armida, yielded her
sweets 10 the eEthralled Tancred-who ought TO
have been back there with Godfrey shying rocks at
the heads OF Pagans over the walls OF old Jerusa-
lem
VENERABLE PosADL
The architecture OF the city lends much interest
TO street sights ard scenes. There is no quarter
In Havana devoJed wholly to business; none
wholly 70 homes. They are delightfully."- com.
mingled, anu OTten furnish most entertaining
studs There Is an old pOsada on the Plaza dc
san Francisco that always has a special Iascfna-
mysef visiting il repeatedly. The bTild n,r
which has wlthsJOOd the ravages of centuries.
win the plaza IL front, and Indeed nearly the en-
tire ancient quarter about IL, was once held by
the ecclesiastc and this then noble structure was
the arehoishops palace and monastery OF the San
FRANCISCAN brothers. Then IL was seized by the
government; eventually became the most famous
hotel ID Cuba, but finally fell into diSuse and half
run; and now in It's old age has become a yenera
be posada, or lodging house. forgotten by the
spanish elite. out stiH housing many an old DON
who chngs 10 IL from motives OF economy, or the
more sentimental habit Of companionship.
THE INTERIOR
You could dsfve four coaches abreast through its
grOund-rOor nall, and up Its broad stone staircase
Ranked by pOndrOus ornaments IN iron brass ana
bronze The Onil1ing Is out three stories high but
arrived al the 1OOr its ancient noble inte-
riCr Is easily recognized The court Is perhaps 200
feet lOa-, 100 f-ct, WIDE and opens TO the match
less cuban SKY superb floors OF teS-elIated mar
he, paJche here and there with cheap earthen
Thing. extend 10 ana through all the spacious sur
rounding apartments The walls from floors 10
galleries are set With wOndrous Spani n thing in
blue aud WG.te, wits surface like rare pOrce ain.
willie at every angle and niche is some relic OF
priceless siStudry and bronze, which once gave the
spot exalted eceles interest ana rich classic
beauty. On this second floor is a broad promenade
running around the inner sides OF the structure.
which must have been, In the old times a luxuri-
Gus loCpgtn place for meditation OF siesta This IL
brOi1ercd on the one side by noble nil
lars and balu5Jrades OF curiOusly-wrourht
Iron and brass, while opposite are en-
frances 10 what were once grand salons and
apartments Above the huge doors Of these stiIl
remain many studies In colOred glass decoration
which, for 0rilliancy and ulster OF crystal quaint
arrangement OF contrasting and blending colors
breadth in design and effect, i have never seen
surpassed In Europe. The third story Is in dupli-
cate Of the second save that from this inner por-
ticO or gallery, over all the imagined and REMAIN
Ing beauties OF the court and belongings, the eve
catches In every direction In the highest perspec
tiy-, against a gOlde3-Olue atmosphere and sky
the slOylng roofs which bends gracefully 10 the
inner edge Of the court; and In Its chrome tiling
meilOwed by age 70 soft russell, 10 Is As fun OF
oriental suggestiveness as a sinuous, half-circIed
matching OF palms In the area OF the ITSELF
OF the former grandeur OF the place. are still stand
al m fr0n n fnr