The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1889-09-15
How the ITender Passion
Thrills the Ever Faith
full Isle.
HABANA'S GAY SENORAs.
They LOll in a Window Behind a
Screen and Flirt a Fan, and
Hide a Note If You Pass 1t
Slyly In.
fcon,n.inht 1890

HAVANA, Sept. 5, 1ss9.-Life in this
sland. whether in January or July, is an
unending struggle to maintain an agree
able temperature. The Cubans achieve
this important object by never exposing
themselves to the sun, sitting indoors or
in shaded piazzas, riding in covered vic
torias, providing themselves with large
parasols, placing awnings over the side
walks, and even stretching canvas across
the narrow streets. Curiously enough
shade produces GOODNESS; as Cuba enjoys
constant winds, blowing softly but stead
lily, by which the people are famed, and
cooled. In direct conflict with the sun s
rays, these breeZes amount to nothing; it
is the shade which makes them so cool
ing, that stepping out in the sunshine in
Havana Is like going from a New York
sidewalk into a cellar Nobody walks
In the daytime. Ricketty, tumbledown
victorias are so numerous that there al
ways seems to be vehicle in front of
every fourth or fifth house. The ever
sleeping drivers must be aroused with
blows and endearing epithets when one
desires to use a victoria for shopping,
sight seeing, making calls, or even going
from hotel to a cafe, only two blocks
distant.
During my years residence in Cuba /
have been astonished at the number and
variety of cooling drinks in ordinary use.
On entering cafe a Cuban will COM
monty order glass of cocoanut milk, or
glass of cocoa and gin or tamarind
water, which is merely the white of an
egg and sugar made into a cake of frothy
lightness and dissolved in q glass of
water. The number of drinks made from
water having the sting taken out of it
with wine, alcohol, fruitsor sugar, is sur
they do in cooling humanity is immense.
Old Sol prescribes the style of archi-
lecture as well as the mode of life, to
such an extent. that were the Cubans
not Christians they would doubtless be
sun worshippers. Cupid, too, has a
hand in this important matter. Every
afternoon Cuban town resolves itself
into q beauty show. AS soon as the sun g
rays slant enough to throw the streets
into shade, the girls, wearing their
lightest costumes, lounge in pic
turesque attitudes in the windows to
enjoy the street scenes and the admira-
tion Of the passers-by. Those windows
are Cupid's own. They are as large as
stable doors, while the cool marble stills,
composed of China tiles, are as wide as
ordinary sofas, and a foot or two above
the sidewalk. Here the large orbed, Ian
guild beauties repose at half length, rest
ing their bodies on the window frames,
displaying their high art shoulders, and
perhaps an inch or two of gay silk hose,
and manifest an entire surrender to
dreamy Incidence and chronic languor,
killing time with an ease and grace that
defies Northern competition and rivalry.
But though so near, the bellies are yet
distant, for they are Gagged. Whether
with or without glass, the windows are
protected with possibly ornamental iron
bars, which give their seats prison-li like
aspect. Every afternoon witnesses an
amatory campaign that the beaux call
''doing the bear" and in which the
slaves of beauty walk up and down the
opposite sides of the streets, like bears in
cage, in order to attract attention and
possible smiles of the fair ones, and
the smitten swain seeks an occasion
to look his desire. that his enslaver grant
him an estate in her thoughts. The
winner of q smile, after repeated success
in the preliminary skirmish, will sud
denly approach, and dart to one side, and
fattening himself against the wall, will
edge up close to the corner of the window
bar, where senorita is sitting. Nor is he
empty handed, but presses through the
bars box of bonbons into the dimpled
hand stretched out to receive it. With
| this he reaches up on tip toe, and whis-
pers in her ear sentence or two, which
causes her to smile and nod her head,
while she replies to question addressed
| to her by some member of the family He