Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-12-10
Joe Cunningham Declares the
Spanish Women Dreams
of loneliness.
The Remains of CHRISTOPHER
Columbus Still Guarded
by Soldiers.
WILL EXPLORE THE MORO CASTLE
Editor Kentucky Irish American.

Editor Kentucky Irish American:
HAVANA, Cuba, Nov. FL promised
that would write you from this island
many letters descriptive of the place, but
time is lacking, though according to ma
ture we should have an abundance of
this blessed gift, for here above any
other spot in creation plenty of spare
moments is the one thing necessary.
have been here only seven weeks. but in
that short period have seen our Colonel
and two of our companions laid low in
death by the monster which we all dread
yellow fever. Whoever started the
impression that Havana is health resort
ought to be taken out and bumped
death resort would be a more plausible
term. do not doubt that this part of
the island was at one time very desira-
BILE place to live in, but the ravages of
war have left their terrible impress in the
neglected fields, streets filled with the
abomination of dirt and decaying matter,
impoverished families, and so on ad in
finitum. The Spaniards whom l have
met are courteous and elegant people.
Many of them have told ME that unless
the United States or some equally strong
government will take matters under con-
troll they will dispose of their property
and leave Cuba forever. have been en-
tertained by many of these wealthy peo-
pie, and the beauty and magnifcence of
their homes is something gorgeous. Pri-
vate theatricas form a great feature of
their home life. The Spanish womeni
many of them, are dreams of lovelina
Their thorough Catholic training sl
in their countenances, which are
larly childlike and modest. Gree
spect is paid to parents, and a st
coniescension is shown by pardlI( ~
their children. Altogether the home
life seems to be an ideal one. Many of
the women dress like our American sis
tiers, but manv more prefer to cling to
the old Spanish style of wearing long
black nantes, dropping gracefully from
the head. All seem to me to wear black
dresses and have their faces covered by a
veil
have been several times to the Cathe-
dral wherein repose the remains of Co
lumbus. They have been taken out of
the wall of the Cathedral and are guard
ed by a company of soldiers 1 copied
the inscription on the memorial tablet
and it reads as follows: "Oh, Remains
and Image of the Great Columbus, Many
Ages Well Guarded in this Urn and in
the Remembrance of Our Nationr'
In the rear of the Cathedral there is a
magnificent representation of the four
kingdoms of Spain: CASTLE, Leon, Ma
varre and Aragon. They are represented
by four large bronze figures. Altogether
they are the finest group of bronze statu-
airy have ever seen. will write you
something of MORO Castle when l have
time to explore its mysteries.
The great mistake we Americans make
on coming here is that we think we can
work with the same energy and hustle
that we do in the States
This is utterly impossible. Colonel
Williams worked with the zeal of an
apostle, and, so am told, did the late
Colonel Warning, of New York, with the
result that we have seen to our sorrow.
Every day from II till O'Clock all bust.
. ness is suspended. People leave Their
work and go home to their lunch and
take siesta-or nap. The Spaniard es
capes yellow fever, and the American
who knows no rest, succumbs to yellow
Jack. am fast learning Spanish The
good padre and the princely Spaniard,
! who are assisting me and to whom l an
in turn teaching English are surprised al
my ease in acquiring their language
But, us you know, Latin is the parent o.
all tongues, and being familiar with i
E will introduce one to every other.
1t is grand sight to watch the great
E waves of the ocean break against ths
beach. This is my favorite pastime.
z look far out across to the wide drift Of
waters, and i'll imagination see dear old
Kentucky, my native soil, where dwell
all that hold dear. This is one subject
: l will not touch for fear of being over
powered, SO I will say goodbye.
TocEpxr Nrr,r,rr~r~r...