Evening star., 1898-03-12
Scenes in the Busy Life of the
Cubans.
their FASHIONS ARE UP-FO-DATE
How the Large Hotels Are Man.
aged.
FEW BICYCLES ERE
Havana Letter in the Hartford Courant.

ard costumes OF the HayaneSe ladies and
those seen in the large cities of the United
States or Europe. They catch on to the
prevailing fashions without much delay,
and adopt them to the extent of their
purses. One does not see seal cloaks or
other furs on the streets even in the winter
month";, when the temperature is between
20 and -. although 1 saw fur cape for
sale in one of the shops. If sale of them
ever occurs, the purchaser is undoubtedly
one who contemplates a trip north. Most
of the women who appear on the streets
In the day time hood their faces with black
lace scarfs and use fans to protect their
faces from the sun. Frequently you see
young women walking together dressed ex-
actly alike. This is so frequent as TO be
noticeable to strangers. On a Sunday af-
ternoon I noticed in front of fashionable
residence five women. probably members OF
the same family, all gowned precisely alike,
in a heliotrope colored fabric. 1t was sug-
gested that the head of the family was
pleased with the goods and bought a whole
piece. Very few of the women are pretty,
according to the American standard OF
beauty They age early and rapidly, ana
resort to cosmetics and powders to con-
tinue their youthful looks long after their
beauty, if they ever had any, has passed
away.
One might imagine that everybody in
sence of dogs. which cannot be accounted
for by lack of poverty. Without asking for
explanation, one may conclude that tney
have gone with the reconcentrados. The
bicycle fad doesn't seem to have taken hold
of the Havanese. l saw but two bicycles
on the streets, and those were on the out
skirts of the city. where there was little
patch of concrete pavement Ihere are
very few streets in Havana where 1t would
be a pleasure to ride wheel The bust-
ness portion is paved with block granite, in
fIa
suburbs are execrable The favorite drive
is on the beach road, but there Is very little
pleasure in riding-the road Is so fuil or
ruts and depressions that carriage springs
are severely tested. The condition or the
streets and the almost entire absence OF
country roads is probably the excuse for
not indulging in bicycling
Hotel Life.
The Hotel Inglaterra is considered fire
hoteI for Cuba You would not be salts
fed with the cooking and neral conduct
of the dining room if in tbs United States
There is scarcely any variation of the
menu from meal to meal and day to day.
II is printed in both Spanish and English,
hut the walters cannot understand the
English part of it you are hopelessly lost if
You undertake to give them order. But
i started to tell You about tho bed room.
]. is very roory and at least twenty feet
iigh. Broad wooden BLINDS open out on an
iron balcony. Iron bars perpendicularly
placed make access TO your room from the
outside impossible. The floor Is marble and
the walls are covered with heavy Clark
PAPER of a Moorish design. A half circle of
colored glasses over your window make
very beautiful rainbow effect on the mar
ble floor when the sun shines into the
rCOm The beds are pretty picture to look
at The bedsteads are brass with a sym-
metrically curved mosquito canopy taste
fully draped 10 protect the sleeper from
those musical pests. which do business
every month in the year. The picture is
49,
there is nothing between you and very
flexible wire mattress except one thin quilt
and a sheet. The effect is something like
getting into a hammock. Another pecu-
liarity of the room Is that the partition
which separates you from the adjoining
room reaches only eight or nine feet from
the floor, and by standing in chair, if in
Clined, you can loOh IN on your neighbors.
There are few lines of street cars with
mGl-s for motive power. The charge Is
ten cents and travel by this method is nat
urally somewhat restricted. When the war
IS over there ought to be grand oppOr-
tunity for enterprisng Americans to put in
a frst-class trolley system with five-cent
fares. The favorite means of transporta-
ton in the city is by their one-horSe VIC
torias, of which there are thousands and
they win carry two persons from one point
To another within the city limits for a pc
seta. or twenty cents of their money, equal
In value to fourteen cents, United States
currency. This is about the only cheap
article in Havana.
The Cemetery.
There is a commendable absence of
drunkenness In Havana. 1 saw but one
person intoxicated, and he was hanging
around the American consulate asking as
sistance. He was American, 1 am
ashamed to say. His story was that he
had been stranded here, and, being an
American sailor, had been abused by the
Spanish. to prove which he showed ne the
cuts on his head. He apparently deserved
all he got.
The cemetery Is an interesting place to
visit and one is repaid for the trouble of
two or three-mile drive to see some of the
fine monuments there. especially one erect
ed by the city to the memory of thirty-six
fremen who perished in conhagration
several years ago. 1t is of Italian marble
grand in proportions and elaborate in work
manship. Medallons in life size of the
dead firemen are cut in relief on one of the
supporting blocks of marble, nine on each
side. The main shaft is surmounted with
figure of an angel holding the dead body
of a fireman in its arms, and on each side
and angle is some beautifully WORKED de-
sign cOmmemorating the occasion The
whole structure must be about sevent--fiye
feet high and possibly thirty feet square at
the base Ii was made in Italy and must
have cost several hundred thousands of
dollars The Havana funerals all occur at
o'clock in the afternoon and soon after
that time you see professions coming into
riases remain at the entrance while the
bearers carry the cashet to the grave, fol-
lowed by the mourners. 1 saw several
funeral professions vending their way
slowly up the hill without hearse or car
rtaSes- These were of families too poor to
have anything but a plain coffin. This was
being carried on the shoulders of men, and
as the distance Is sometimes several miles
IL requires quite a number of able bodied
men. who relieve one another frequently
Nearly all the lots in the cemetery are in
closed with iron fences. and almost every
grave mark has a wreath Of metallic flow
ers attached to 1t. There is an appearance
OF neglect noticeable throughout the ceme-
fery, but that seems to be characteristic
OF the people.
The Military.
The one predomnating element in Ha-
yana at the present time is the soldiery.
The streets are literally filled with uni
formed men and youth. The ayerag.
Spanish officer OF soldier would not impress
an American fayorably. As rule they
are not well set up, and they are generally
uHdersIzsd. They ali lack the West Point
cut. which rs much admired by Ameri-
cans. Tney may understand the theory
and practice Of war. but the true martial
hrdor does not seem to reach down into
their backbone ana legs. None of the off,