The Portland daily press., 1898-03-26
HAVANA AS 1T is TODAY.
Things Seen and Heard by a Travel
er from the States.
PEN PICTURES OF LIFE IN THE
CUBAN CAPITAL.

Guard Mount on the Prado-Few Bicycles
and no Dogs-Costumes of Women
Their Beauty-Lottery Tickets and the
Cemetery.
| (From the st. Louis Globe Democrat.)
The one predominating element in Ha-
vana at the prese Mt time is the soldiery.
The streets are literally filled with uni
formed men and youth. The average
Spanish officers or soldiers wonld not i'm
press an American favorably- AS a rule
they are not we'll set up and they are gen.
orally understood. They Ill lack the West
Point cut which is SO much admired by
Americans. They may understand the
theory and practice of war, but the true
martial ardor does not seem to reach
down into their backbone and legs. None
of the officers would ever be accused Of
wearing corsets, as some of our f1cdglings
in the military service are. The uniform
of officers and men seems to be of the
same material-a fine green and white
stripe bingham or some similar fabric for
both coat and trousers. The officers wear
q few gilt stars on their coat sleeves and
a white canvas CAP; the enlisted men a
Panama straw hat, with one side folded
up and fastened with a rosette.
The volunteers, corresponding to our
National Guard, are doing duty.in the
city as an adjunct to the police. They
have an inspection ana guard mount
every morning on the Prado. I twice saw
this ceremony performed and never saw
any thing so sloyenly done before. There
was no sizing up of the men; boy of 5
feet inches would be between men six
or eight inches taller. Talking in the
ranks seemed to be allowed at all times
At the inspection the man became i'm
movable only when the officer approached
him and relaxed into sociability immedi-
ately after the officer had passed. Some
had leggings, many had no.. They were
job lot of misfits, assorted sizes and
colors, from 10 to 40. The regulars are
having hard time of it. In. summer
about 50 per cent sicken and die. At the
present time some of them are begging
on the streets, not having received their
pay for more than six months. This
efers to the enlisted men. The officers.
are paid and. apparently, enjoy them
selves. They seemed to have just war
enough on their hands and no desire to
increase the volume of that kind of bust.
ness. Although their bullets might have
as much penetration, they are no match
for the American soldier in intelligence.
One might imagine that every body in
Havana was rich, as there is an utter
absence of dogs, which cannot be account
ed for by lack of poverty. Without ask
ing for an explanation, one may conclude
that they have gone with the reconcentra-
dos The bicycle fad doesn't seem to
have taken hold of the Havanese. l saw
hut two bicycles on the streets and those
were on the outskirts of the city, where
there was little patch of concrete pave
ment. There are very few streets in
ride wheel. The business portion is
paved with block granite insB very good
condition. The roads in the ssuburbs are
execrable. The fayorite drive is on the
beach road but there Is very little pleas
ure in driving-the road Is SO full of ruts
and depressions that carriage springs are
severely tested The condition of the
country roads is probably the Nexcuse for
not Inducing in bicycling M
There are few lines of street cars with
mules for motive power. The charge is
10 cents, and travel by this method is
naturally somewhat restricted. When the
war is over there ought to be grand op-
portunity for enterprising Americans to
out in a first class trolley system with 5
cent fares. The favorite means of trans
portation in the city is by their one-horse
y.ctorias. of which there are thousands,
and they will carry two persons from one
point 10 another within the city limits
for pesata, or 20 cents of their money,
equal in value to IA cents United States
currency. This is about the only cheap
article in Havana.
A casual observer would say there was
very lit Q difference between the gowns
and costumes of the Havanese 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 c1oaks or
other furs on the streets even in the win
er months, when the temperature is be-
tween 70 ard so degrees, although saw
one fur cape for sale in one of the shops.
II q sale of them ever occurs. the pur-
chaser is undoubtedly one who contem-
plates a trip North. Most of the womeni
hood their faces with black lace scarfs
ana use fans to protect their faces from
the sun. Frequently you see young
women walking together dressed exactly
alike. This is so frequent as to be notice
able to strangers. On a Sunday after
noon noticed in front of a fashionable
residence five women, probably members
of the same family, all gowned precisely
alike, in heliutrope colored fabric. 1t
was suggested that the head OF the family
w as pleased with the goods and bought
whole piece. Very few of the women
are pretty, according to the American
standard of beauty. They age early and
rapidly, and resort to cosmetics and
powders to continue their youthful looks
long after their beauty, if they ever had
any. has passed away.
The Hotel Ipglaterra is considered fine
hotel for Cuba You would not be salts
tiud with the cooking and general conduct
of the dining room if in the United
States. There is scarcely any variation
of the menu from meal to meal and day
to day. 1t is printed in both Spanish and
English, but as the walters cannot I'M
derstand the English part of it, you are
hopelessly lost if you undertake to give
them an order. But startof TO tell you
about the bedroom. 1t is very roomy and