The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1892-06-23
TT REALLY RAINEC.
Cuba Is County, Where Water Comes
Down in Great shape.

Cuba Is a Country Where Water Come,
Down in Great shape.
1t vas IN Cub&, and was in raul
way al jour1eying from Matanzas
TO Havana. It was springtime, and
the beginning Of the rainy season
was at hand The people We're look
ing forward to the first rain as-~l
was going to say, as we do to the first
snow, but that does not parallel their
expectation, FOR they know that when
it once begins 60 rain there is an end
to their liberty
The first intimation that | had of
the likelihood that something was
going to happen came from my see
ing dense jet black cloud over
against the southern horizon. All
around me lay peaceful and pros
porous scene. Beside the track We're
some hutlike negro cabins, with black
women seated in the doorways, and
funny little half naked piccaninnles
playing in the dirt.
But the black cloud grew bigger
and blaCker. 1t was advancing to-
ward us with very great and evident
speed, and presently l saw that it
was all fretted with bolts of lightning
and toothed with white darts of fire
Never before or since did l see such
d dreadful display of the electrical
force. The bolts were 50 close to-
gether that it seemed as if they
must destroy every living thing in
the pathway of the cloud When the
black and terrible mass in the sky
came still nearer it seemed no longer
toothed or fringed, but it spat the
lightning with vicious force straight
down upon the forest beneath it.
Next came a sucking, roaring
sound of wind, the sky grew black,
and with the last glimmer of day
light, before it vanished into night,
/ saw the giant palm trees throw up
their huge fanlike arms like mortal
creatures that were hurt and panic
stricken. Then the storm burst over
the train and through its din l heard
the crashing Of the falling palm
branches that had been snapped off
and thrown to the earth.
In another minute the worst of the
darkness was over, and in the half
light that remained | saw such rain
as / never had dreamed could fall
from the Sky 1t did not appear to
fall in drops,or i'll ropes, as | once
heard IN Englishman say of a severe
downpour OF rain, but it descended
inyast, thick sheets, layerppon layer.
You could see one thickness tumbling
after the other as 50 many great
plates of glass might be thrown
down. 1t grew lighter still, and
saw that the beautiful palms were
wrecked and were still writhing in
their misery, tossing up their broad
hands and thick arms, many of which
We're broken and disjointed, while
others had been snapped off.
AT the foot of the palms there was
no longer any ground. The surface
of the earth had become a lake. The
water stood high in the doOrways of
negro cabins, The litter of palm
branches foated about on the rain
pelted wafer, I remember waiting
TO see the train demolished by the
lightning, but it was not, nor could
see that the fiery bolt had harmed
anything around us. Another minute
passed perhaps not more than five
minutes had passed since the shower
began and the daylight came back
grandly, disclosing the great flood
everywhere.
ACuban, sitting on the other side
OF the ear from me, passed me his
cigarette box, and as he did so he
SAID III a Iabored effort to be polite
IN foreign tongue Il t'ink it will
ram. Wat you t'ink?'-Julian Ralph
III st. Nicholas.