Evening star., 1898-09-03
What 1t May Become Through
American Enterprise.
ROOM FOR REFORM ON ALL SIDES
Local Customs Which Are Very
Different From Our Own.
THE LAND OF MANANA

| of guns Instead of digging trenches il
| will build factories and open stores This
| American army of peaceful occupation is
| composed of men who work with money
! with their hands or with their heads Any
| member of it embarking without enough
! money to live on for half year had bet
| ter turn back. To come to Cuba penniless
| just now is like seeking death. One cam
| not get sustenance out of an orange that
! has been squeezed by a mailed hard. II
| takes time to reconstruct that which war
| has destroyed. Meanwhile the point Of at
| tack will not be Santiago. The base of
| supplies will be Cubas metropolis, Hava-
ma. What kind of place will the invad-
| ing American find this Havana to be?
| The steamer drops anchor in the harbor
! half a mile from shore. Small boats swarm
| around. In one of these boats the Ameri-
| can Is rowed ashore. The waters of Ha-
Vana harbor are always rough. The spray
wets the Americans baggage, his clothes
MS race He can plenty of rpportI-
| ntles Tor the employment cf his energies
all about The small boat should De sup
planted by a tender to meet all incoming
steamers until the harbor is dredge9 and
dock is built at which ocean steamers
can land The boatman speaks only Span
lsh. The American speaks only English
and has no time to study lingo Therefore
Havana must learn to use the tongue OF
Americans. That Spanish rule is no more
mat the yellow flag of the dons is down,
is not enough. The language, too must
CO. AS the boat leaps over the waves
through the spray the American espes on
shore a great circular building Instinct
lNely he knows that that is the arena
Where matadores have been in the habit of
staying bulls on Sunday afternoons. And
forthwith that arena is doomed. Even the
Cubans shall not be permitted to conduct
slaughter house for public amusement
-ift
thousand customs of life and trade in ha-
Nana will become incongruous. The city
will be subjected TO a healthful injection
OF AmericaniSm.
Starvation i'm Evidence,
The American steps ashore and into a
votura, small victoria pulled by wheezy
horse. The streets of any city are full cf
humiliations for the sensitive spirit, but
on the way to his hotel the American finds
Havanas streets full of sights that more
than humilate. They are sights that in
spire Indignation against the inhumanity
that caused them. These narrow streets
are full of abject misery. The carriage
brushes against indescribable poverty.
Whole families are huddled together on
the pavements. Their homes are the gut
ters. Little, naked children hold out skeie-
ton-nke hands for centavos. Human be-
tngs, reconcentrados wrecks-sucn is the
history of these families. Americans Will
ma all Cuba strewn with these wrecks.
For months to come they will block the
channels of trade. just as marine wrecks
obstruct navigation.
Picturesque Street sights,
The votura turns into another street
and the American beholds a man milking
a cow in front of a doorway. This is the
typical milkman of Havana He drives his
COW from door to door. giving to each
housewife the exact quantity of milk de-
sired. The days of this milkman's pros
perity are numbered. In a few weeks milk
wagons gorgeous in paint of many colors,
VIII be rushing through the streets. The
American milkman will have suppiaDted
the Cuban and his COW.
The carriage rolls on, or, rather rocks
ana pitches on, like ship in a storm For
the street, like a sea. has pillows and
troughs. But the American. remembering
now MS own streets are not paved feels
at home The street is not wide enough for
carriages to pass each other. The side
walk is so narrow that even lovers must
walk in Indian file. The American is only
ninety miles from the United States shore:
yet here streets more foreign in an
pearance than those he once Travelled 2 600
miies to see in Europe. To enjoy these Ha-
Fana streets a man must have an eve for
the picturesque and the leisure to lounge
The American simply notices tnat the
houses are only two stories high; and he
looks reproachful, deploring the waste of
sky space
DuIlIS DTleI TlOe the American
a great many negroes. He does not know
1t, but of every three people in Cuba one
is negro. These negroes are growing,
Their growl is sinister. I'VE did the fight
ing they say, land now we want some
of the rewards, some representation in the
independent government gained by our
fighting"
The Land of Mnnana.
Eventually, the Yankee arrives at his |
hotel and is shown to a room with a stone
floor, high ceiling and a dearth of water |
and towels. He rings. He rings again In |
fifteen minutes, more or less, a boy ap- |
pears and receives the order for the miss |
ing requisites. Fifteen minutes later the |
boy returns with water, and still twenty |
minutes after that he returns with the
towels; the American having broken the |
bell, meanwhile, with his frantic ringing. |
Inc Yankees troubles have begun. He |
is in the land of manana. of tomorrow, of |
any time excepting now. 40 injection of |
Yankeeism will ever cure the Cuban of his |
indifference to the clock. The invading |
American discovers, almost immediately
that all Cubans view him with suspicion
because years of oppression have taught |
them to suspect everybody. He finds that |
any cuban tradesman can tell more lies in |
a single interview than any three Ameri- |
cans. First manana, then lie. After pro- |
crastlnation, prevarication. In these re- |
spects the Cuban and the Spaniard are
alike The American finds that. though |
the Spanish are no longer in politics Span |
iards still remain in the social and mer- |
camille life OF the city. He will have con-
siderable difficulty in distinguishing a Gu |
ban from Spaniard.
Must Learn Havann's WAYS.
Now the Yankee looks for lodgings. He |
finds he can get fair apartment for ten
dollars month, and the best to be had
for twenty. Coffee in the mornings is
thrown in. Every morning he will be awak-
ened by a man standing over him with a
huge cup of coffee. made as only Il Cuban
can make it. That is all the Yankee gets
in the way of food until breakfast at IL
He begins the days work with a clear
-ead. If he sleeps after q a.m he loses
the loveliest part of the day. The American
must learn IN Havana to keep Hayanese
hours. That is, his working day is from |
to IL and from / to g.
This subject of Uncle Sam will invade
the Cuban home and find the women sit |
ting all day in rocking chairs, strokins the
feathers of their paroquets, smoking cigar !
cites or doing nothing They walk with |
awkward gait, for they walk not enough
and wear shoes that are too short Senoras
and senoritas coat their faces with powder |
as with CHASTITY mask They know more |
q bout poWderSo the eamnlaxia,, thox, |