The morning news., 1889-04-13

ctUiL, sort of gen d'drnle, who is found IN
the cafes, at the theater and everywhere.
The serene is supposed to be on the lookout
for thieves and fires, while the duty of the
gudrds0 ciUil is to keep the peace, and ar
rest disorderly persons The press and the
theater are under control of censor; the
former In order chat nothing may be
printed to inform the people that Cuba is
not the happiest, most peaceful and best
governed land in the world, and the latter
no one knows why.
At every theater or opera or bull fight
there is a president who represents the
censor and acts as manager of the perform
ance. He selects the plays and watches the
performance from CONSPICUOUS Ebox, in
which he has a hand bell. He decides when
an encore can be responded to and woe be
to the actress who appears until he rings his
bell. There are always two prompters on
the stage, a woman for the female charac-
ters and a man for the mlle. They call
out so loudly that the stranger is puzzled to
know if the mysterious echo is not part OF
the performance. The censor does not care
how nasty piece is, so long as it does not
contain treas enable sentiments Usually
the nastier a piece is the oftener it is
produced. A vulgar dance is always to be
expected, and the can-can, pure and un-
adulterated, is performed at several theaters
every night. Not only men, but women
ana cnlldren, witness III.
SHOPS AND HOMES.
Shops are] never advertised under the
owners name, but have poetic sign board.
They are known as 1.-THE Paradise" ''The
Pearl of Cuba, ~ 1.-THE Resort of Nymphs," :"
1.-THE White Elephant" "The Bounding
Deer" "The Golden Garter" LA Norma"
''The Sea Foam" and by similar names
The peddler finds Cuba a paradise. He
goes around with big tray on his head,
or string of mules with the halter of one
tied to the crupper of another, and makes
the most hideOus noises ever heard out OF
bedlam. The greatest pest in Havana, and
in fact every where in Cuba, is the peddling
of lottery tickets. The streets swarm with
men, women and children with tickets for
the next drawing. They are the first people
you see on the dock as you arrive, and their
unearthly cries are the last you hear before
falling asleep to dream that the buzzing
mosquitoes are old women trying to sell you
a chance to win your fortune
The Cuban home surrounds a courtyard
or portico, and has one entrance through
which everything comes and goes. The
horses and carriages, the drayman who
brings the furniture or baggage, the char
coal peddler, the garbage collector, the
young man who is engaged to Mercedes,
the neighbor who comes to pay visit, and
the children who go to the church schools.
1t mas great doors like those of a prison
and key as big as gridiron. The parlor
is great, high airy damp room
with no carpets, table-covers, cur
tains or upholstery whatever. The floors
are bare tiles and the furniture consists of
a strip of carpet or narrow rug stretched
across the room, with row of cane seated
chairs on either side. The men sit in one
row and the women in the other. For a
man to cross that rug and seat himself be-
side lady would be as gross an act of dis
courtesy as to lead your horse into the din
iug-room of New York mansion.
The windows are largekand reach from
the ceiling to the sidewalk. During the
day they are open and the Senoras lean
against the iron gratings that protect them
and smoke cigarettes as they gossip with
neighbors passing by. At night these WIN
dows are closed with shutters as heavy and
solid as the doors Of a dungeon. The Cuban
is more afraid of the moonlight than the
sun. He will live in fetid atmosphere
that would stifie savage, but surreDder a
years income rat er than expose himself
to the rays of the moon. Every deformity,
every distemper, every fever or bilious
attack he attributes to the effect of the
moonlight, which he believes is the direct
cause of most of the ills man is heir to. The
drainage of the city is q trivial matter COM
pared with exposure to the moon.
THE SCHOOLS.
The schools are all under the care and
government of the church. The girls and
boys are not allowed to sit in the same
school-room. The former are taught by
nuns and the latter by priests or monks.
The girls learn department and embroidery, :,
and the bows reading, writing and arithme-
tic. The lives of the saints furn ish the only
biography or history they are allowed to
study, and the doctrines of the church are
hra prb
of learning than geography or syn
tax. The theory that woman
is a plaything extends into all
branches Of society, and her mind is not
considered worth cultivating. 1t is said
that nine-tenths Of the women in Cuba read
nothing from. one years end to the other
but the pages of their prayer book. and
very few of them could write a letter to
save their lives. But they are very devoted,
and 60 to mass every morning with negro
woman to carry strip Of carpet upon
which they kneel. There are no pews in
any Of the churches, and every worshiper is
expected to remain on her knees through
the entire service; but as this is tiresome
they gradually settle down in a sitting pos
ture, whch1S not very graceful.
The Cuban gentleman never goes TO
church except upon feast days or during
Holy week, when he does up his religious
duties for the whole year, closing his busl-
ness Office and giving up his entire mind to
the welfare of his soul The woman goes
to confessional regularly, but the man only
once, and that is just before he is married,
for no priest will officiate at the wedding of
a man who has not received absolution. The
church has stronger grip on the people in
Cuba than in Rome. You cannot be prop
erly born without its aid for the peri 1rm-
ance Of certain ghostly duties at the lying
in and the record of birth in the books Of
the church is necessary to the establishment
of the Legitimacy of ones existence. They
can get along without doctor on these i'm
pJrtant occasions, but no Cuban can be
properly born without the aid Of padre
Nor can you marry without him-a civil
or protes ant ceremony Is not II cognized in
law; no more can you be buried, because all
the cemeteries are owned by the church,
and the bones of hereto will not be re-
ceived without the consent of the bishop,
which usually costs large sum of money.