Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-04-07


peaks, with precipitous sides, may be
seen in many directions along the shore.
Picturesque Havana.
To say that Havana is picturesque
and beautiful is but to give vent to the
first superficial expression that comes to
your lips. Spain itself cannot show
more curious or interesting city. Study
it as you approach it from the sea, with
mighty Moro set high upon the head
land, time dyed in notified splotches Of
yellow, gray and black, and the red and
yellow flags above, with La Junta across
the narrow channel, prim and white,
save where the ugly dahlgren guns flash
at you like venomous black eyes, and
the city is as interesting and impressive
a sight as human eye ever beheld.
AS the capital, metropolis and chief
seaport Of Cuba it is one of the best
known cities in the American hemi-
sphere. Its splendid harbor, it's CONNER
cial Importance, its climate and the
tinge of romance that ever attaches to
its people have made it's fame world
wide. Havana has about $50, 900 inhab-
itants. 1t was founded but 23 years
after the discovery by Columbus and
has always been the commercial en-
porium Of the Antilles.
Few cities have such beautiful parks
and driveways as has Havana. The great
Plaza de Armas is the chief. It COM
prises four parks, in the center of which
is statue Of Ferdinand VII. Then
there are the Alameda de Paula, Dor.
dering on the bay, and the Campo de
Marie, used as drill ground for the
military. This is an enormous park. 1t
has four handsome gates, named respec-
lively Colon, Cortez, Pizarro and Tacon.
The Paseo de Tacon is magnificent
drive with double rows of trees. 1t has
numerous columns and statues, among
the latter one of Charles III, ranking
among the finest works of art in Amer
lea.
The commerce of Havana is only sur
passed in the new world by that of New
York. Two-thirds of the products Of
Cuba find outlet through Havana. The
exports of sugar alone are annually about
1870, 900, 900 pounds.
Havana was first called San Cristobal
de la Habana, in honor of Columbus,
but gradually the prefix was dropped.
Havana has been frequently attacked
from the sea. Drake tried to take it in
1856, but failed. In 1869 British fleet
under Admiral Pocock bombarded the
city and compelled it to capitulate, but
it was restored to the Spaniards the
next year by the treaty of Paris.
Not q Hot Country.
We are accustomed to think of Cuba
as a hot country, situated as it is under
the tropics, and the common impression
is correct to the extent that the mean
average temperature Of the year is high
er than in countries farther north, but
the climate is more equable. There are
not those sudden variations that in
many parts of the United States are SO
severe on the human constitution. In
Havana, for example, the average tenn
perature of the hottest month is "a
degrees; Of the coolest, u. In Santiago
de Cuba, city often mentioned in the
war dispatches, the average of the year
is 80; of the hottest month, "a; of the
coolest, IS. These are high figures, but
not very high for an island lying in
equatorial regions and surrounded by
water that is warm to the hand all the
year round. To a stranger from dry
country feature more Objectionable
than the steady heat is the tremendous
rainfall. The geographical and topo,
graphical situation Of Cuba provides
two seasons only, the wet and the dry.
During the latter rains are not frequent,
being atoned for, however, by the abun-
dance Of the dew, but in the rainy sea-
son Jupiter Pluvius seems to turn him
self loose to excel all previous efforts,
and from 1875 to 140 inches Of rain is
not uncommon, there being about 102
days when the rain comes down not il
drops but in sheets, i'll masses, in tub.
fuls at time, as though the windows
Of the heavens were opened and the
floods of the great aerial deep had bro
ken loose So abundant is the rainfall, in
fact, that, as a recent traveller remarks,
the wonder is that any island remains
that the whole is not dissolved and car.
ried off into the sea. But in Cuba nc
one minds the rain.
Notwithstanding the peculiarities Of
its coast line, Cuba has more than zoe
excellent ports. The principal of these
are Havana, Bahia Hondo Puerto de
Cabanas, Matanzas, Cardenas, Sagua Ii
Grande, La Guanaja, Nuevitas, Mala
| gueta, Manati, Puerto del Padre, Santi
ago de Cuba. Manzanillo, Canto, Sants
Cruz, Cienfuegos, Cochinos and La Broa
The rivers of Cuba are not large, bu
numerous, there being no fewer than 2Gl
of them, all told, and that is exclusive
of small creeks and dry beds of torrents
called arroyos. The Canto, the onl,
really navigable stream, rises in tL'