Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-09
THE RAINY SEASON
Description Of the Approaching
Weather Down in Cuba.
STEADY DOWNPOURS AND FLOODS
Why tho Cubans Greet Its Com
ing With Delight.
INSURGENTS GREATEST ALLY

their manifestations Of pleasure and eager
ness at the approach of the wet season
In the island Of Cuba. Almost every man Of
them met. and particularly their leaders,
would conclude discussion of Cuban con-
ditions with an apostrophe to the expected
rain and its dire effect upon the Spanish
enemies.
One young man in Tampa. whose de-
hcious broken English was heightened by
the extravaganza Of his gestures grew vol
utle over the prospect.
DE rainy zeznr he exclaimed. with a
rapturous smile; "Ah! eet weel be gran.
Zen Apreel eet weel rain one, two, tree
day. en- den de zun weeI shine. But cen
May. All! den eet weel rain all de time
De water weel be six inch one foote-two
foote's deep all over de islam. De Span
yard. he weel be soak wifi de wet, an den
Wen de cloud break for a meenet he weel
be scorch wifi de Sun. Den de fevare, de
yellow jack, as you call i'm, weel come,
an de Spanyard weel die like de flies. All
de rainy zezn weel be bootiful, supairb,
gran! Cuba librer'
All Havana Houses Leak.
Few Americans can realize what the
rainy season In Cuba really means and
few words of description about its char
acser in Havana may be taken accurate
for the situation throughout the entire
gins in Havana existence is miserable
even to the native. 1t is impossible to
erect a house there which does not leak.
The roof may be constructed of the best
material, and the joints carefully soldered,
but the water will force its way through,
as 1t beats down with merciless fury, and
collects in great masses, which the canals,
as the cutters there are called, cannot
take on. The windows of Havana houses,
like the doors. open to the street level In
the frames of both windows and doors are
grooves in which boards are placed during
the rairy period to keep the water from
pouring into the houses in streams.
AS it is, with IN .se small dams, the water
only CONES in in rivulets. The paved streets
in Havana are SO few that the city may be
said to be unpaved When they are not
rivers, therefore, they are mud holes, and
in some sections the soil is positively green
from the decayed matter that is mixed
with it. The sewers in Havana are large
affairs, and their openings are protected by
iron bars, but they are insufficient to carry
off the water. They are only intended for
street drair age, and there are not a dozen
water closets in tie city. The sanitary
conditions, therefore, are simply appalling.
The Character of the Cataract.
How does it rain in Havana? When does
it rain there? 1t does not simply rain. The
hardest storm in the experience of a man
who lives hereabouts would be gentle
shower compared with a Cuban downpour.
The water comes from the north and the
south, the east and the west; from all the
intermediate points of the compass. 1t
falls perpeEdicularly from the zenith and,
apparently, spoutS up from the ground. 1t
is omnipotent and overwheimng-indeed. a
deluge. Umbrellas. m,ckintoshes, rubber
coats. are useless to keep out the moisture.
The chances would be good for man in
diving suit getting wet to his skin
This sort Of performance occurs at inter
walls. 1t will keep up for few minutes,
half an hour or an hour. Then the sun
will shine down with the heat of blast
furnace for about the same length of time.
This dries the garments Of the soaked pop
ulation AMI sews the seeds Of disease in
the systems of the unacclimated.
Actual experiences in Havana when re-
lated sound like tests Of human credulity;
but disbelief is out of the question. because
they can be substantiated by thousands
Remarkable Personal Experiences.
residing in Washington, told me yesterday
of something that happened to him while
in Cuba in 1891:
Il was visiting a friend whose residence
was on Campanario street. The sidewalks
on this street are about three and a half
feet above the roadway. l ordered a car
riage, one of those small victorias which are
used as public conveyances in Havana, to
come and take me 10 the dock, as / was 60
ing to sail in the evening for this country
Phe vehicle reached the house shortly be-
fore o'clock, and about that hour the rain
began to fall. 1t lasted about half an hour,
and fell in q constant sheet. All the rooms
in the house were flooded, except the par
lor. l went out with q small hand trunk,
waded through the hall and over the side
walk and got on the high seat of the vic
toria with the driver The water completely
filled the roadway. was over the sidewalks
to depth Of four or five inches and was up
to the horses breast. while the victoria,
submerged. That sounds remarkable and
it is. but it Is absolutely true"
Every Cuban who has lived in his native
country during the wet season tells similar
incidents. Senior Albertini the well-known
Cuban. now residing here. and prominent
In club and social circles. also told me an
instance of the flood qualities of Havana
shower:
of Cuba and Oberapia streets, when the
rain had stopped. and a mule stumbled in
the roadway and fell and was drowned
right there in the street"
Such experiences might be enumerated for
a column or two more. but they are suffi-
cient to give an idea Of what Cuban clouds
can do when they get their summer energy
in working order.
Cubans Are Accustomed to 1t,
The question will naturally be asked by
persons who are thus made acquainted with
the conditions in Cuba during the rainy
take such comfort out of weather that must
be intolerable to every living thing, and why
the Cubans will not suffer just the same as
the Spaniards 1t is easy to answer these
queries. 1t would not do to say that the
Cutans are not incommoded by the rain and
the foods. They are, and seriously SO, be-
cause their cavalry cannot be moved with
any rapidity, and large bodies of men will
find it difficult to go from one place to an
other. But the Cubans are acclimated They
have been accustomed to experiencing a
season such as that now approaching eyery
summer since The year of their birth. and
they are accustomed to it.
The Spaniards are strangers to the latitude
and peculiarly susceptible to all the diseases
which are SO plentiful In damp and tropical
climate. The Spanish soldiers who have
been sent to Cuba are. in word, in precisely
the same danger of falling victims to the
sickness that prevails in the swampy
regions of the south as a New Highlander
would be who goes to the Isthmus of Pana
ma, for instance, to spend the summer
The Spaniards, again, are almost entirely
living in the towns and cities of Cuba. They
make sorties out from their fortified places
of abode but they are not familiar with fine
country. and are dependent upon keepine
up line Of communication with the Snan.
ish Headquarters in order to secure the
necessities for their actual Subsistence. They