Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-03-05
FOREIGN TRAVEL.
Odd Incidents and Observations
Made in Other Lands.
wAKEMANS wANOERINGs.
The Ancient Cuban Inn Women Workers and
Shoppers Cooking Facilities Some
Wlnsomo Cuban Hamleis Night
harbOr Scenes.
Copyright, 1893, Edgar L. wal,cman.J

NCOpyfBnts 1915, EuEar H. W ukemhns1
London, Feb. 20. 1893
You are always received at the cen-
tury-old bodega Of posada or inn Of Cuba
as person of great distinction. This
however is wholly In the ethical sense.
1t In nowise betters the quality of your
food; ministers 10 your bodily needs or
clears the filth fees or cobwebs from
your dim old alcobas. An 0ut-Of-thc-way
inn in Cuba 81 shelter much inferior
TO n night IN the open air Mine host
will dance all around you with inefable
welcome. He will call upon all the
saints 20 guard YOU. He will protest
cndlcssly, MY house Is tMneW Then
he will go to sleep He awakens inst
before you depart. and showers blessings
aud bills upon you. If In the meantime
you have got anything but quaint and
laughable studies, you are IN truth a
born diplomat
The country roads Of Cuba crook and
turn TO avoid obstacles. just as the Gu
ban viii do six days labor to avoid one.
Beware the pantnnOsr Is the warning
heard from every tongue throughout the
day. These 'pantnnos' are sinks In the
clay soil where ones animal plungcs
sight. The 'paninuOs' are bad enough.
but the dcscchos literally. rfu5als;
NyOidanccsJ are worse. These are ways
cut around impossible places involving
serious riding through boys and jungles,
aud not inirequcnt goings astray In the
dense forests.
The fences Of these remarkable
roads are curious affairs Frequently
they are of the Spanish bnyOnet and
the hcmiquen with broad leaf and
barbed point six inches long, strong
enough 90 impule your horse Again,
stiii Of stone fence viii be seen. Others
are Of pima de ration, or bastard pme-ap-
I'll q .l...as ttss sc
phones botiii. Green limbs are cut from
this, and when thrust IN the ground
grow instantly and luxuriously. Between
the branches the ycjuco de angarilla, Il
hardy vine. Is planted This wcavcs
itself through and through the hedge in
oil manner of fantastic and tightening
frcnks and as Il bears a lovely purple
blossom, this fence Is always strldngly
beautiful 10 the eye.
One class you win miss In Cubn-not
only In shops but everywhere else-is
the women workers. The most sensible
and often the handsomest of women
can be found occupying places Of trust
in American mercantile establishments
and offices. I'm all Havana hut one place
Is noticed whore white women are em-
plOyed. This is mOdiste's on Culle de
ObispO; and these are scruggy lot in
deed. Women In Cuba are ladies. wash
erwOmen, or demimOnde. Shopping Is
done 10y the fair senorus or senOritus I'm
the afternoon, and one viii then certain
ly see beautiful women. They are neith-
or iippaut nor trilling in their purchases
AZ in some countries. No salesman
would dare gossip with them; suggest
for them; or chattingly entcr upon a
discussion OF their affairs. Nor do they
inf Jrln shOpkcepers of their own or their
neighbors' intentions. They seem to
know Just what thew want and 20
ttrll al ~ Ia
are very gay; thousands of women meet,
minglc aud pass greetings; but there
seems TO be general understanding
that a shop 10 not just the place In which
Indies should entertain one another. This
may arise from the fact that Spanish
women are well bred. And wcll-bred
WOIh'n set some store upon their own
dignity and the home.
There being neither stoves nor fire
places In Cuba, the question of cooking
fires becomes an odd one. In the cities
all cooking is done on charcoal urns, in
the larger establishments these often be-
ing arranged lon the form of missive char
coal ranges But the remote country pla-
ces little pugoda-like corner Is built
next the houses. or a detached structure
not unlike an American farmers large
smoke-hOuse Is SEEN Here the fire is
built squarey upon the ground, or upon,
or within, rude stone bases and the
smoke Nscends at will usually finding
vent underneath raised roofs
In this primitive cochin OF kitchen. the
guurdn candida literally candle. OF Gre
guardl Is always smOuldeiiug. IL is
practically the fireplace "back-log" Of
our Oldcu days 10 the Cuban country
home. II II should happen 70 go out
which h seldom permitted me- unhappy
supe~titions attach to the fact, ON dis.
cuvery 10 is instantly relighted from flint.
and-steel sparks struck into lunches of
corn-tassels or dry and splintered leaves
of the palm.
At the old Cuban town Of Guines
which Is scarcely more than n village, the
loitcrer has much 10 study and enjoy IL
" more Moorish thnn Havana; more
Doric than any village of the Holy
land; and as pretty as ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
garden No hamlet In Europe that |
have ever seen furnishes such quaint old
corners, or, when the eye aud mind tire
of these, gives In every direction ncrOss
ilS marvellous valley such enchanting
prospects. The untold riches of the
earth fur and near have set their opulent
seal on all things ana one can easily iul-
agine that the hanlsomest women IN the
world are here housed So too, In Guin-
es the Spanish iden Of the constant seclu-
sion of women is less rigorous Balcony
and portico swarm with the beauties, fair
aS tue lfopc Movers among which they
smile They 0re even upon the streets IN
dainty squads. Everywhere are song
and music and flowers and women and I'M
dOlcncc
Seated underneath the coal porch
arches of old PosOda de Roig, what medic
eyal sights and groupings are behold!
There against the portals of San julien
dc los Guncs church is a group Of la2zn-
rom basklng in the sun as typical of all
That IL desperate and doorous as Rome.
Corstantinople or Morocco can show.
Here, beside you, are Gitani Glthier and
more persistent than ply their black arts
In Lisbon Madrid or NalladOlid AT tho
mouth Of TINT narrow Gale are a dozen
whites and blacks Rs innocent of clothing
on shame as the knnaker girls of the Sol
ONION Islands. All about IN half-cuught
threnodios, are sounds Of music from In
struments made aud played precisely as
when the same note rcsounded among
the arabesqnes aud frct-w0rl of the Az
hambran Court Of Lions half a thousand
years ago. Water carriers pass with
pmncheous on their heads inst as thew did
M the days Of Eler0d In Egypt. while
through the medieval vision SGT actually
before your eyes of today, coming tO 4
later time ard form, which vet seem bui
relics OF dead centuries. are the anciept
tolnntes, dragged sleepiy along; caballer-
os aud senortns ON horseback, as THOUGH
page OF Don QuiNote were furnished.
ana half-naked gnajirOs with oy-bonts
prlmauve as the pOrterage of the ancient
Goths and Huns