The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-04-14
Froude on Havana.

Historian James Anthony Froude. who
visited Cuba some years ago. draws a
fine picture of Havana He says:
Havana figures much in English naval
history. Drake tried to take it. and fail
ed. Penn and Venabes failed. We storm
ed the forts in 1740, and held them and
held the city until the Seven Years War
was over. I had read descriptions of the
place, but they had given me no clear
/ conception of what It would be like, GER
tainly none at all of what it was like.
! Havana is 4 city of palaces. a city of
streets and plazas, of colonnades and tow
/ ers and churches and monasteries. The
/ Spaniards built as they built in CASTLE;
buiIt with the same material the white
| limestone which they found in the New
World as in the Old. The palaces OF the
mobiles in Havana. the residence or the
governor. the converts, the cathedrals,
are a reproduction of Burgos or Nalla-
| dolid as if by some Aladdins lamp, a
! CastiIian city had been taken up and set
! down again unaltered on the shore of the
/ Caribbean sea.
| And they carried with them their laws.
{ their ndDltS, tnelE lnSA4AutAOAASE anu NA+~--
| creed; their religious orders, their Bishops
/ and their inquisition. Even now, in her
| day of eclipse, when her genius which
/ clouded by the modern spirit against
which she fought so long and so desper-
/ atAlv. 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 an
| Gent city Of Havana are constructed on
! the old massive model and on the same
lines.
The political future is dark; the govern
ment unimaginabIy corrupt-sO corrupt
! that change is inevitable though what
! change IL would he idle TO prophesy. The
Americans looked at the island which lay
/ SO temptingly near them, but they were
wise in their generation They reflected
that to introduce into an Angio-saxon re-
public so insoluble an element as 10000
Spanish Roman Catholics. alien in blood
and creed. with $4,000 blacks to swell the
dusky food which runs TOO fun among
them already, would be 20 invite an in
digestion Of serious consequence. 4 few
years since the Cubans were on the eve
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-
tirely surprised me. ! had thought Of
Cuba as a decrspit state. bankrupt. or
finance exhausted by civil war;. and on
the edge Of social dissoludou. and ind
Havana now az least a grand. imposing
city-a city which might compare fer
beauty with any city IN the world The
sanitary condition IS a. bad as negligence
can make it-so bad thai a spanish gen
tIenan told ne THAI. were u rot FER the
natural parity az the ar. they ~ould have
been al dead Ike fses1ong ago. Ths tide
and harbor ia foul with the accunu3a-
ton of 20 years The sd1iElsIratio1 is
more good FOR nothing than n span ltFelt.
ne Moro as a fortlfcatiou4Is. q n tod
indefenzt5le against modern artillery pre-
se-.ln GOO rz1ca surface "a q target, Bat
il = al .he grar5er 20 look e. Il = .
nre specimen q the Vauoa1 psr1oG- an6
Is praezbiy equal % zzy demands whieh
VIII Be made ugoa Il. The hArhor - some
tAsnr Ike P0rt Royal. a deep lzgooa VIE
q narrow eatrsnce and q ioag natural
trsskza.e- between the lzxecn ard ths
ocean. bnt what AZ Pert ReyaI = a ssrs
sp.t e.sa. miles long IS A. Eayazz =
rocky peninsula o. Ehlch ths ely 5tss.f
Is built
The opening f-1r1 TIE SEA b hsif 4 zasle
w3ee on shs c4ty SIDE there are ie~ sent
ef-etsss- batteries a-hsca ezees c1za-efafF
tae approaches aa1 the rassars ltsess TIE
Nero Etsez opgossle ~ t1e ex1sssae s9.aI