Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-14


men, undoubtedly the dudes of Porto Rico,
Win uncommonly tight pantaloons, shoes
that were too small for them, gay neckties
and perceptible amount of perfumed po-
matum on their hair. Sharing with them
the favor of the ladies were a number of
military men dressed to an inch of their
lives In the peculiar uniform worn in the
tropics-linen suits of the blue and white
bedticking pattern, trimmed with red
stripes, conspicuous collars and cuffs, and
literally laden with golden lace. They
wore their swords and revolvers, and posed
for the delectation of the audience in the
most obliging way.
The ladies never left the boxes, but sat in
groups of four, generally two old ones and
two young ones, made eyes at the officers
and the dudes, and coaxed them to buy the
little rolls of colOred paper, which were lot
terry tickets and called for the prizes exhib-
tied upon the stage. One could not select
his choice, and pay double its value, as is
the case at these sort of entertainments In
the temperate zone, ,,but had to buy a ticket
and take his chance of getting bronze Mer-
curry, paper doll, or nothing at all. Every
thing was on the lottery plan. The little
rolls of colored paper having been selected
after much chattering and gesticulation,
senior the captain begging the beautiful
| senorita to select one for him while he
invoked the god of fortune to guide her
hand, it was plunged into the goblet of
water upon which the sealing wax was dis
solved, the cylinder unrolled and the ticket
found to be blank. Then there was more
chattering, much uplifting of the hands on
the part of the senorita, who implored the
senor's pardon for not bringing him better
! luck; much pressing of the heart and many
! impressive gestures by senior the captain,
who protested that had she been drawing
for herself she must have been successful,
for the god of fortune was beauty's slave.
If the senorita was a prize in the lottery he
assured her that he would buy all the tick
cts, even if they cost him the treasures of
the world. Then senior la captain went to
the next box, bought another ticket and said
the same things to the next girl.
WEST INDIAN BELLIES.
At first, to the inexperienced traveller, the
tropical belle appears very attractive.
When her plaster-ot-paris complexion is not
too thick to be repulsive, and permits the
transparent purity of her olive skin to be
seen, she is very certain of leaving a very
pleasant impression upon the mind of a sus-
ceptible man. Her ewes are wondrously
effective, and to use them is matter of edu-
cation. A tropical girl can throw more
meaning unto a single glance than ner
Yankee sister can convey in an hours con-
versation; and her gestures and
motions are captivating in their
intelligence and grace. She may
not be able to write sentence correctly
for the education of woman has not been
considered essential to their happiness
and have as vague a conception of where an
American comes from as she has of the COM
position of the stars. She can, however,
conceal her intellectual defects and exhibit
her attractions with more than an abund-
ance of those coquettish graces with which
budding womanhood has been endowed in
all ages and latitudes. She is amiable
gentle and generous; she never loses her
selt-possession, and is never at the loss for
the proper word or movement. She does not
know how to be rude, and is gifted with rare
natural powers of sympathy and diplo-
macy. Her perceptions are keen and un-
erring. She does not need a diagram to
| find the point of witticism, and reads
ones thoughts with clairvoyant power. But
she never reasons; it is not necessary for her
to do so. She follows instinct, and the
! faculty is strongly developed. In your con-
versation she is always interested aud
! brightens it with flashes of wit and sympa-
thetic Interpolation. You feel that she is
entertained and are gratified at her atten-
ton and appreciation, but when you attempt
to search her mind for knowledge the illu-
sion vanishes, and you see only the play
thing that she is.
There are many vexations and exactions
to be suffered by travellers in these parts.
more especially at the Spanish-American
! ports. No one should come to the West
! Indies without passport endorsed by the
| Spanish Consul at New York
OFFICIAL BLAcKMAILERs.
After the police authorities have had
time to examine this record, and ascertain
whether you are not a political refugee in
tending mischief, you are permitted to pay
the cashier of the most illustrious Captain
General 81 for his trouble, and receive your
passport with his august Endorsement. Un-
til you have this you cannot leave the
island. No steamship company dare sell a
ticket until a passport thus indorsed is
shown, and they keep the document for
their protection as long as you are on board
their vessel. But before you sail you are
permitted to make another contribution
howard the royal revenues in the form of
fee, generally 81 SO, which is the tax
assessed upon the steamship company for
each passenger 1t carries. This corresponds
to the "head money" which was formerly
collected on emigrants at New York.
Steamship companies and importers are
also subjected to many annoying embar-
rassments by the officials, who are usually
expected to subsist off the fines and penal
ties they find an excuse for imposing. They
receive very small, if any, salaries from
their Government, but get rich off the pub
lie. They expect every steamship company
to divide its earnings with them, and all
foreign travellers to contribute literally to
their incomes. The importers are fined for
a word misspelled in their invoices; for
every error in mathematical calculations:
for failing to describe merchandise to suit
the critical taste of the custom officers, and
for all mistakes, erasures, or interlineations
in manifests or invoices, whether an intent
to defraud the customs is disclosed or not.
A number of copies of each paper are re-
quired, and if they do not exactly CORE
spond a penalty is exacted.
The captain of the vessel we were on was
fined 500 because in one paper the name of
the consignee of some merchandise was given
in full, while only the initials of his first
name was used in the duplicate. And these
rules are changed often enough to keep the
vessel owners and importers busy paying
fines 1t is simply a system of blackmail,
which those who do business with the Span
ish-American colonies are compelled to sub
NIT TO. BEVERLY CRUMP,
QUAKER CUSTOMS AT THEATERS.