Evening star., 1897-03-13


the biggest hotel in Havana. 1t would be
a curiosity in America. 1t was decorated
In the brightest of colors. Senator Sherman
had room which was finished in sky blue
Senator Palmers room was painted rich
Indian red.and my own room was as yellow
as gold. The halls were paved with mar
BILE tiles. There was no plaster on the
ceilings, and the windows were as big all
most the sides of The room and on ac-
count of the heat :hey were kept open day
and right. Our beds were of iron and the
mattresses were as nard az boards. l was
told that most Cuban JedS had no mat
tresses. The sheets are stretched on wire
frames, and one of the members of our
party, who was rather longer than the
average. told me that the sheet that was
under him was no bigger than a papkin
and that ii kept him from sleepinr nv
working out from under him and leaving
his bare legs upon the naked wire
How the Captain General HOnOred
Sherman.
We were treated with great honor by the
Cubans- As soon We arrived the captain
general sent a request for Senator Sherman
TO bring his party and call upon him in
formally. He afterward invited US to his
Talace and gave US luncheon. The cap
tain general at this time was receiving a
salary equal to that of our President and
his perquisites were. l was told, such that
he usually become very rich within a few
years. This captain general had fine resi-
dence in the suburbs of Havana. and we
rode out in state to visit him. We passed
ElySee of Havana, going by carriages con-
tanning beautiful Spanish ladies. by swell
turnouts, driven by coachmen in livery,
until. about mile from the edge of the city
we reached the captain generals house. 1t
was surrounded by groves of great palm
trees The wide driveway was guarded by
soldiers, and flowers and tropical plants of
all kinds were scattered about the lawns
man was first received. He had some con-
versation with the captain general, and
little later on the the captain general ap-
peared with his family and the party was
introduced to them. None of the senators
spoke French or Spanish. and the captain
generals family did not speak English.
Mrs. General McCook, however, who is
quite good French scholar, acted as in
of the curious incidents Of the occasion was
the bringing in of the captain generals lit
tie granddaughter.
We visited the captain generals stables.
where his two magnificent Arabian horses
were brought out and put through their
PAGES, to the delight of the senators. That
night We came again to the captain gen.
erals house to reception and dance,
where We met the leading people of the
city.
A Narrow Escape From Kidnapping.
During our stay in Havana arrange
mentS were made to visit some of the large
sugar plantations of the island. 1t was
planned that we should start out early
ore morning and go to plantation quite
a distance away from Havana. This plan
tation was in rather lonesome district,
and for some reason or other, at the last
moment the plans were changed and an
other sugar estate selected. We afterward
learned that band of brigands had made
all their arrangements to capture Senator
Sherman and his party and hold them for
ransom. This seems almost incredible. but
there is little doubt but that the danger
was serious one and that had we made
the trip we would have been attacked and
probably captured. The brigands, of
course, did not understand the serious
thing they were about to attempt. They
were an ignorant set of desperate men,
and: had not our plans been changed, they
might have perpetrated such an outrage
as would nave brought about great inter-
national complications Senator Sherman
seldom refers 20 this matter but 1 have
reason TO think that he appreciates the
fact that his liberty. and possibly his life.
had narrow escape that day
shopping In Havana.
We spent a great deal of time in shop-
ping in Havana The senators all bought
Panama hats, and Senator Sherman wore
his Panama throughout the remainder of
the voyage. The buying of things of this
kind in Cuba is a question of bargaining.
L
street, and If they had divans in them they
might remind you of the bazars of Cairo
The merchants dicker as much as the Turks
do. and we were usually charged three
times what the merchants expected to get
l don't know how much Senator Sherman
paid for his hat. but 1 remember that Sen
ator Palmer was asked S12 for a linen coat
He offered s., and the Cuban salesman
finally told him he could have the coat for
81. We visited the cigar factories, and
bought Havana cigars directly from the
hands of the makers. The factory where
we made our purchase turned out, we were
told, 3oWO.0OO cigars a year, and 1t en-
ployed 1900 hands. In one room we found
about fifty women of all ages stripping the
tobacco leaves for the cigars. and we noted
that they were all smoking cigars or cigar
cites. In some of the rooms of the factory
men were reading novels aloud to the
workmen, to keep them from chatting and
consequently busy. We each bought a box
of cigars to take back with us, paying
about half the price which we pay in
America for the same quality of tobacco.
What Sherman Thought of Cuba.
Senator Sherman did not think much of
the Cubans at this time. We saw on all
sides of US evidences of ignorance and In
capacity and also of Spanish oppression
The senator was struck with the monetary
condition Of the country. We could get
twelve Cuban dollars for five American
ones and We were told that the gold of
Cuba was then about q per cent below the
value of our American greenbdcks. All the
silver money that we got had been punch
ed or clipped. The country was already
deeply In debt. and the taxes, we were
told were very heavy.
In speaking about Cuba, the senator then
said: THE country Is In a deplcra BILE con-
dition. I judge from what 1 heard from
intelligent American-Cubans living there
and even the Spanish themselves, that the
island is in condition of ill-suppressed re-
volt The natives are nearly to d man in
favor of annexation to u.s. Their condition
is indeed pitiaDle. No serfs IN Russia were
ever greater slaves than the Cubans are to
Spain The revenue they must raise year
ly for Spain. and for which they get no
benefit whatever except the name of a
national protection and aegis of flag, is
s16Oo0.OOO. They have no self lf-government
Of any kind. From captain general down
TO tide waiter at the docks. the official po-
sitions are held by Spaniards. l venture to
say not a single native Cuban holds an
cffice or receives public ernolument In ad-
dition to the $16.O0O.OO0 sent annually to
SPAIN Cuba has to pay the salaries of all
the Spanish horde fastened upon her."
We Don't Want Cuba.
During this same interview he was ask
ca as to the annexation of Cuba by the
United States and whether the native
planters. the wealthier classes, favored it.