The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-20
As 1T APPEARED TO FRouDE.
A Picture OF Havana by the English
Hisfnrinn

Historian
Havana figures much a. naval history.
Drake tried TO take t. and failed. Penn
and Nenables fAiled. We stormed The forts
in l7s0, and held them and held the city
unul the seven-years' war was over. / had
read descriptions OF the place but they
had given me no clear conception OF what
II would he like. certainly none at all OF
what IL was like
Havana is a city Of palaces. a city Of
streets and plazas. OF colonnades and tow
ers and churches and monasteries. The
Spsniards built as they quilt In CASTLE;
built with tAe same material. the white
limestone which they found In the new
world as in the old. The palaces OF the no
oles IN Havana, the Re sidence OF the COVER
nor the converts, the cathedral are a re-
production OF Burgos OF VaHadolid. as il
ny some Aladdtu's lamp a Castnian city
had been taken up and set down again uri-
altered on the shore OF the Caribbean sea.
And they carried vita them their laws
their habits. their institutions and their
creed; their religious orders. their bishops
ana their inquisiIion. Even now, in her
DAY OF eclipse. when her genius Is clouded
by the modern spirit. against which she
fought so long and so desperately, the sons
of Spain still build as they used TO build.
and the modern squares and market
places, the castles and fortresses which
have risen in and around the ancient city
OF Havana are constructed on the old mas
sive model and on the same lines.
The political future Is dark; the gov
eminent uEimaginably cOrrupt-so corrupt
that change is inevitable. though wat
change 1t would be idle 20 prophecy. The
Americans looked az the island which lay
so temptiugly near them. but they were
wise IN their generation. They reflected
that to Introduce into an AnglO-SaxOn re-
public so insoluhle an element as i.e1o,-
go Spanish Roman Catholics. allen in blood
and creed. with 5Oo.0oO blacks TO swell the
dusky flood which runs too fun among
them already, would be to invite an iudi-
session of serious consequences A few
years since the Cubans were on the es g
of achieving their independence like their
brothers in Mexico and South America.
Perhaps they viii yet succeed.
The magnitude of Havana and the full
ness OF life which was going on there en-
tireiy surprised me. / mad thought Of
Cuba as a decrepit state, bankrupt. or
finance exhausted by civil wars. and on
the edge of social dissolution, and / lind
Havana now at least a grand. imposing
city-a city which might compare for beau
" with any in the world. The sanitary
condition is as bad as negligence can make
me that, were It not for the natural purity
Of the air. they would have been all dead
like flies long ago. The tide and harbor Is
foul with the accumulation OF 800 years
The administration Is more good for moth
ing than Spain itself.
The Moro as a fertilization Is. am told,
indefsnsible against modern artillery. pre-
senting too much surface as a target: but
it IS all the grander to look at II Is a fine
probably equal to any demands which will
like Port Royal, deep lagoon with mar
row entrance and long natural breakwa-
ter between the lagoon and the ocean; but
what az Port Royal Is a sand spit eight
miles long Is at Havana rocky peninsu-
Ia on which the city itself IS built
The opening from the sea is half a mile
wide. On the city side there are low. semi
circular batteries. which sweep complete
ly the approaches and the passage itself
The Moro rises opposite the extreme point
of the entrance. and next TO IT, further in
toward the harbor on the same side. on the
crest and slopes OF a range Of hills, stands
the Old Moro. the original castle which
beat Off Drake and divers. sea generals.
and which was captured by the English
in the last century. The lines were pgoba-
bly, weaker than they are at present. and
less adequately manned. monument IS
erected there to the officers and men who
fell in the defense.
The city. as We steamed by. looked SIN
gulaFiy beautiful. with its domes ana
steeples and marble palaces. and the
giimpses Of long bouIevards and trees and
handsome mansions and cool arcades. In
side we found ourselves In basin OF per-
haps three miles In diameter. fun OF ship
ping of all sorts and natloualities. The
water, which outside is as pure as sap
phire. has become filthy with the poilu-
tons Of dozen generations. The tide
which even at the spring has a rise and
fall OF but a couple Of feet. is totally inef-
fective 10 clear ii, and as long as they have
the. Virgin Mary 10 pray 20 the plous Span
iards will not drive the sewage INTO the
ocean. The hot SUNS rays stream down
into the thick black liquid. Horrible
smells are set loose from IL when Il Is set
bring up al mooring buoys, lest their an
chors should disturb the compost which
lies at the bottom.
Yet we forget the disagreeable IN the
novelty and striking character OF the
scene. A hundred boats were ply.Gg 70
and fro among the various vesselsEFith
their white sails and white awnings ~ Is
Of ali countries were blowing out at Stern
or from masthead; among them. OF course.
the Stars and Stripes. flying jauntiIy on
some splendid schooner which stood there
Ike a cock upon a dunghnl that might b.
his own II ne chose 10 crow for IT,