The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-03

Then the fish are so strange. many Of
them. to foreign eyes. They are OF
many bright eolors, and it is here that
the real Spanish mackerel abound.
Inc harbor of Santiago is beautiful
oheS and safe one, as il is land
locked; but 1t is an awfully hot one,
ana eur people could not stand it TO
De shut in there long The Cuban
steVedores round the harbor wear moth
ing but pair of white linen drawers
ana a palmetto straw hat when work
ing at loading or unloading a vessel.
ana all the Cubans drink very little
water When working in the heat they
drink good deal of thin Catalina wine.
al a penny drink. They also drink a
good deal of coffee. without milk or
sugar and they smoke necessarily
men and wonderland children even
smoke, and may be seen rolling a cigar
cite every moment. They can buy a
punch of real Cuban cigarettes for a
penny.
some OF the common class of work.
lngmen are called mOtteros. and they
i've in little huts or cabins of one room.
the earth for floor and a hole cut for
WINDOW This has shutter which
opens out The roof is palmetto and
slopes down to within a few feet Of the
ground Sometimes a house like this
holds father. mother and a dozen lit
tie NAKED young ones. who roll around
IN every direction\ among their pigs.
dogs and chickens, all in a heap.
Many everyday street scenes would
astonlSh our people-for instance, see
ing horses kept without a bit of shelter.
There are no barns, and often a horse
may be seen standing all day long with
a SADDLE on, in waiting for his master.
These horses are little and good-natur-
ea' the children play around among
tnem without fear; but they are seldom
shod, the people being too indolent to
care Tor animals. The only thing that
is taken care of in Cuba is the game
cock. Fighting cocks have their feath-
ers plucked and are trained to fight.
The CubanS are not domestic. The
men almost live at the clubs; the Don
Carlos is the best club in Santiago. II
you go by this at night you will see the
men al playing at some kind of game.
and with drinks before them. The clubs
are open to the street. exactly the same
as the house. so you can look in and see
all inside. Sometimes you will see two
persons dancing a fandango together.
There are no books or papers at these
clubs; in fact, very few Cubans can
read. unless it is of the wealthy class.
The mass of the people are very ignor-
ant, and it is the way the Spanish
want them to be; but they are also too
The head Of the church of Rome Is
located here at Santiago, it being an
archbishop see. and at Easter the cere-
monialS draw the people from all parts
of the island. One queer figure in the
cathedral here is a saint, with a spear
in hand. mounted on horseback. It is
at the right of the altar. This is to
make the people adore a soldier, and
Spanish soldiers have ruled here in
cruel ways; and you feel this particu-
larly when you meet the prisoners or
chain gang, marching with dragging
feet and rafting irons through the
streets in the burning sun. to their dali
ly labor of breaking stone. This work
goes on Sunday as we'll as other days.
The prisoners are not allowed to speak
to the man they are chained to; but
have to drag along silently in this hor-
rible way. Sometimes the soldiers and
chain gang meet. and the prisoners
faces light up with hatred as the SOL
diers pass, with cruel laughter, not
knowing but that the next day they
also may be in this chain gang them
selves.
1t is a strange land to exist only a
few days sail from us, with a people
living exactly as they have done for
800 years; and it will be hard to change
it. as there are so many different kinds
of people to deal with-Spanish, Creole
negroes and Chinese being mixed up
together, in a way that it is not like
dealing with one nation. Moreover, the
people are tricky and not to be depend
ed upon. The Moorish and barbarous
blood rises in all classes when least ex-
pected, and this is shown plainly in a
bull fight, where even the high class
Spanish lady's eyes viii shine and gilt
ter exactly as her African sisters in
the lower-priced seats. when the poor
bull gets the worst of it. When such
sights are enjoyed by a people. it does
not seem as if the horrors of war would
affect them very much.
ANNIE ELLISON SMITH