Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-01-14
IN NEIGHBORING ISLES.
Pleasures 81 - Winter voyage 90 Tropi.
cal Chimes.

COLI WEATHER IN cUBA-A COUNTRY WITHOUT
YIkRs OR FIRE PtAcKs-ENrERiSa HARBoR IN
"SoxrHER--AS ARCHITECTURAL sTUDY-PLEAsASr
vALLxYs AND PRETTY VILLAGES.
Copyrighted, Isss.l
Special Correspondence Of HE EVENING STAR.
HAVANA, CuBA, jan Q, 1888
10 would be difficuit to ind any other interest
ing foreign land, when It's accessibility IS con-
xdered so worthy the attention OF American
travellers as cuba To the average thought OF one
who has not visited f. It seems far, repellant bar
narous. IL IL none OF these. steamers take you
from the American TO the Cuban metropolis IN
Just three days In that brief time one has hardly
opportunity for study OF companions and no
chance Whatever for ordinary ocean misery, for
you are constantly reaching SUMMER seas and
skies, and there are now such hosts of gag and
CHEEKY groups making Cuba their winter home
that the trip TO the West Indies has positive
delights Nor can there anywhere be found such
Interesting and h0spitable people those Of this
Antilles pearl The genuine American Is well
coined and made glad In cuba In a way he can
know In nc other land By and bye, when II is
properly part OF our own country, 1t will become
the vast winter pleasure ground Of a continent.
VOYAGE TO THE TROPICS.
So, too. there Is winsome interest In other than
ones immediate surroundings in this brief sea
voyage TO the tropics. There Is tranquilizing con-
seiOusness In every miles added distance from the
grOwl and grip Of our northern winter. LIES
asperittes are seyerer when the relentless ele-
mental forces. like horde OF desperate marauders
come out OF polar LARS for onslaught As the sun
grows higher at midday, and the north star sinks
closer 20 the horizon at midnight, there steals
upon the sense vague pulsings OF welcome languor,
tnuumerable seelnlngs of soothing preSenceS, and
Consciousness OF blessed rest.
Nor one tire OF these personal, inner realiza-
tons In repeated gOings from northern 90 SOUTH
ern seas There are ever and again these new-old
Delights They come 10 you Ike sudden. sunny
smiles on old friends faces; and as when you take
these old friends by the hand look and feel and
know beyond the hand, the face. or the presence,
20 the intangible reality OF lfforgotten good so
your heart lays mold In ample affection upon the
old. haf-seen sights, half-heard sounds and half
Known eempassings or coast anu sea anu sky, In
wondrous reawakened zest.
CHANGES ALONG THE COAST.
IL Is not altogether through an o'er-quickened
impresslbiIty and seeming that as In these winter
hours We sweep from biting to balmy airs there
are hourly such changesas entice the attentive
and enthrall the cOntemplative, mind. All along
the way Is the friendly nearness OF coast. Here,
behind the bleak shores lie the fields In wintry
fallOw. and one almost hear5the beating OF barn
yard 1ocks or the Chimes OF country side bells. A
bat farther are the wide, wind-swept tracks OF
never-winter lands, where In the deepest valleys
the warmth OF summer never quite departs. Fol-
lowing this are the vast areas where winter Is
ever brown, leafiess summer a-chilL And then
comes the reaches where We know the gray
swamps darKen from the lordly palmetto's shade,
and the still waters sleep In shadows OF eternal
green; while beyond, In mimic tropic-land
the odorous orange blooms Beneath, In the wake
Of our speeding steamer. the white plume, spuEl-
ing and broadening rearward, grows whittier and
whittier by day. and more sparkling and iridIscent
by night. as II In keeping with the matcheSS
Visions Of ornaments no eyes behold In northern
iatitvdes; for nearer and nearer come the stars,
until the mighty considerations pulse and glow
with marvellous colorings and fires. In bird, fish,
wave, horizon, sky and trenuious zephyrs, there
Is constant and witching change; until having
swept past the baIny Bahamas, we plunge into
the green waters VI the Mexican Guif and before
hall In nj lion and
Joyfnent OF IL all. the weird. mountainous coast
lines OF Cuba suddenly rise above the far horizons
edge. like dream In whey purple craven upon a
bed OF misty, eyanescent blue.
CUBAN BLIZZARD.
Asluck would have IL We came upon cuba with
the most furious OF 'northers" A ''nOrther" In
Cuba Il the nearly-expended deviltry Of one Of
those billiards. which rpen somewhere In the
up there In Dakota or Manitoba, and after waltz
iny all over the North American continent until
people have got tired Of It's airs. comes down here
ike an old adventurer To make these passionate
~ined people wish they were dead.
You who know the blizzard IN Its healthy form
would smile at Its weakened pretentlons here.
Though its real power Is gone, Cubans regard IJ
With even more horror than we. The suffering
her on the part OF these people under '.norther,
when you and would be quite comfortable iii our
snirt-seeves while laughable Is still pitiabe. The
sun Is shining, the flowers are blooming, the whole
and delight. To Us lt would be simply bright and
genial April or October weather. But the way
these tropical natures under even that Is
some.hing startling. As there Is
NEITHER STOVE NOR FIREPLACE
anywhere In Cuba, they simply pile all sorts OF
clothing upon themselves, stay Indoors pray In
the name OF the saints for mas cal6r or more heat
let the country take care OF itself, and. when the
..uorther" has passed on 10 take feeble whirl at
Hayti or Porto Rico, come out OF their abodeS
dolorous. catarrhal objects that would cause SEN
sation In Before Taking" advertisements.
PoISTEE FOR FIILIBUsTERs.
Al a. for
ers who have designs on cuba They shoulc not
make SO much fuss about IL. All that Is necessary
Is an old s'tramp- steamer or two and a thousand
men. Watch the United states weather reports
along through December. January and February.
When regular sure-enough blizzard is let loose
up there In the glorious Northwest make ready.
IL will surely wind up Its debauch In u 'norther'
here. IL Is then that the beauty and chivalry of
the spanish In cuba are void Of substance and VI
tally Observing Closely these pre- requisites only
any ordinary lively American rilibuster could sail
In here at Moro Castle entrance unOpposed, estab-
ltsh a responsible government and reduce these
eigarette-eonsumins people TO willing servitude
before they could become thawed out for defense.
CUBAN HARBoRs.
But getting into Havana Harbor during
"northerr was attended by US with some perplex-
ity and trepidation- The north shore OF cuba has
but three harbors Of vaIue-Havana, Matanzas,
and Cardnas Bod: preciptous headiands jut
out from dreary cliffs FROM end 10 end OF the
island These great heights are buttressed by
hedges and hidden reefs at their base which extend
u
harbors, that OF Havana, while lncomparably the
finest and most spacious, Is still most Inaccessible
during great storms and tempests. You could
throw a stone across the naviga0le channel OF its
entrace. With strong sea behind vessel, the
slightest error In It's course involves certain de-
Aruction. To the east the rock on which stands
Moro Castle rises straight from the bottom Of the
channel hundreds OF feet. But few rods to the
west Is a sunken reef over which the breakers
seetne and spume 10 the low walls OF LaPunta
fort scylla ana Charybdis are more than here:
while that other more dangerous rock. the sodden
and numerous stupidity OF spanish rule, threat
ems With The deadly peril OF not permitting vessels
70 enter In a storm unless Moro Castle signals the
fact that Hayana's lazy pilots consent 10 emerge
ron Their safe siestas and set the Official seal OF
thelr wholly unnecessary presence upon entrance.
FOUNDED INTO PORT.
The y2wniny sea beneath US and the bowling
Gull behind Us made Us glad enough however to
regard all the frowning forts and the glorious un-
seen harDOr behind them with an utter absence OF
Criticism We we're being pounded squarely into
port at the rate u ~ knots an hour We saw
no welcome signal from Moro. Even with our
glasses we could see no lookout. Along the whole
savage coast there Was DaugHt but the craQ,s the
PINK ana white city with It's strange hali-MOorish
architecture, and the tremendous forts In front OF
u, with a rim OF white spray where the great
waves beat madly upon the deadly lodges below
Just there. between Moro Castle and the low
lying La Punta fort opposite, was a steely black
line. That marked the narrow entrance not 800
feet wide. The splendid bay was In there behind
al this Jury But three other wndw hipped objects
were In sight--the gray gulls that circied and
shrieSed. the hateful nag Of yellow and red above
Oih AOrOs tower. and a dismasted spanish bark
just astern Of rs, with her decSs stove In her hold
WlfaT-l0lru,fri her hull