Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1898-07-07
The Ancient City of Santiago.

J.
General Shafter is approaching Santi-
ago de Cuba and the possibility that
within week it may be occupied by
American troops citizens of the United
States will take new interest in that
ancient city-the oldest standing city
in the New World, except Santo Do
mingo, which was established by Col
umbus four hundred years ago. Sanh-
ago itself was founded only eighteen
years after Santo Domingo. 1t was
the former capital and is the third city
of commercial Importance on the
island of Cuba.
The name Santiago given to the
former capital signifies in English St.
James, and has at various times been
called San Jago, San Diego and Santi-
ago, all with the same meaning. 1t Is
situated 45O miles in a direct line
southeast of Havana, and is still the
chief city of the eastern department of
Cuba. 1t is the residential town of
the Archbishop and is the seat of sew
eral yearly religious festivals which
are celebrated with pomp and ceremo-
ny.
Santiago is the terminus of two rail
road lines, one of which is the outlet
of Lomas de Cobre, the celebrated cop
per mines situated several miles in
land. The second railroad passes
through the rich sugar country, afford
ing transportation for that staple ar
ticle of expectation. The exports from
Santiago are said to reach the sum of
$S,OOO,OOO annually. Tobacco, honey,
rum, cocoa and mahogany are also ex-
ported in great quantities. Santiago
is inclosed on three sides by hills rising
rapidly from the bay to mountains of
great height and beauty, which besides
being lovely to look upon afford per-
feet drainage to the city
The streets are all alike and appar-
emily have not been repaired since
first constructed, four hundred years
ago. Starting at the shore, the streets,
which are very narrow, run directly
up the hillside, distance of one hum
dred and fifty feet or more. Tropical
rains have washed great cutters down
the roads, in some places three and
four feet deep, and the traffic has up
rooted the cobblestones laid hundreds
of years ago and left in the road pit
falls and mantraps for the unwary.
The main street, upon which the
American consul lived, is in such
condition of decay that no effort is
made to drive vehicle through it,
and even a horseman cannot ride
through it after dark. There is risk
in attempting to navigate the street on
foot in broad daylight. Most Of the
streets have cemented sidewalks ten
or fifteen inches wide, but in some
streets even this accommodation is
done away with.
Santiago has the reputation Of being
the most unhealthy city in Cuba.
Hemmed in by mountains, with all the
citys filth fostering in the sun, it is
surprising that yellow fever does not
make the city its regular abiding place,
instead of visiting it annually, as it
does. Children of both sexes, to the
age of ten or twelve years, totally
dispense with clothing and chase about
in the streets and highways in cos
tunes AKIN to those worn by the only
residents of the Garden of Eden.
Houses of the better class in the city
are az alike as two peas. and a descrip-
ton of one answers for all. Take the
building which was occupied by the
American consul, situated in a street
absolutely impossible for anything but
pedestrians. 1t is necessary, should
one be driving, 10 leave the carriage
at the corner of the street and PICK
his way down the so-called sidewalk
to the old-fashioned building recog-
nized as the consuls home by the
American eagle, which surmounts the
keystone. The walls Of the building
are three feet thick, of solid cement,
hardened to the solidity of marble,
with windows one foot square set in at
various and unexpected places in its
front wall. The door posts are set in
the ground ten feet, and the building,
as is evidenced by its strength, was
built to resist the frequent earth
quakes.
In the business district Of the city
one cannot but be interested with the
quaint and peculiar appearance Of the
shops. The front of the shop build
ing is entirely open. and inside can
be seen the clerk, diyested Of every
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