Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1898-06-09
santiago de Cuba.

|
Cuba. 1t was formerly the capital
and second city Of the Pearl of the
Antilles in size aud population. 1t is
built principally on hillside leo feet
! above the bay and is perhaps the
most strongly certified town IN the
entire Island. Hemmed in by noun
tans and with no sanitary regula-
tons, it has APPLY been called the
pest hole Of the Western Hem isphere,
for yellow fever is bred there cou-
stantly. Like Havana. it has all the
other accessories Of civilized life
! Founded in 1914 by Diego Va1esquez
it is, after Baracoa, the oldest town in
Cuba.
The principal buildings are the ca
thedral, several churches, a college,
hospital and numerous converts and
schools. Two railways lead from it
to the north and west. The harbor,
| said to be the most beautiful in the
world, is four miles long. we'll shelf
cred and deep enough for ships of
the greatest draft. The bay entrance
is narrow, with low land on the left
and towering hill of rock on the
right, upon which a Moro Castle is
built. The rock itself is a part of
the castle, and everywhere are cut
galleries, III which soldiers may move
about. These terraces in the rock,
surmounted by tiers of masonry
above, give the castle the appearance
of beng built in many stories. The
color effect Is a light yello y, almost
cream, except chat down by the sea
level, where the water has worn cav
ems i'll the rock, tie color is dark
green. 49,
On low point oppoaite, is a small
fort, and there are other minor forti-
| tications i'll every availably elevation.
They are many in number, pictr res
quely aDtlquated and can support
each other in. an engagement, but
lack the efficiency of modern guns
and up-to-date equipment.
The bay widens to a considerable
size as the city is approached, and the
water is deep except at the wharves.
There may be seen the ribs of an
old ship sticking out of the mud, all
that is'left Of the st Paul, one of the
CARAT ships OF tho Spanish armada of
1888; but fifty years ago she was al
most intact after an existence of two
and half centuries.
The city, with its population Of
10000, is curious mixture of decay
and grandeur. The antiquity ID gen.
orally on the outside and therefore
most apparent. On one Of the prin-
| cipal streets Is an old stone buillng
with former handsome pillars and
arches that are now Clipped and
crunb bling and wide entrance that
has been an object of grandeur, bu,
is now greasy and in filthy condi.
ton, and yet it is the leading club
house. Inside it is ut sparkling
beauty and brilliancy. The floors
and walls are Of colored marble, a
large fountain in the center cools the
air with showering jets Of water,
shimmering chandeliers covered with
glass pendants hang from the ceiling,
and artistic tables of bronze and
marble stand in the elegant dining
room.
| Many residences with shabby ex.
teriors are lined with expensive mar.
bles within and are handsomely fur
nished. a majority Of the houses
have heavy tiInbers set deep in the
ground to render them rs safe as pos
sible in case Of earthquake, for the
city has had an occasional shake, as
the unsteady appearance of some Of
the buildings indicates. Immense
sugar plantations are but few miles
from the city, "
1t was at Santiago de Cuba, in No
vember, 1873, that Captain Fry and
seyeral of the crew and passenL ers Of