The age-herald., 1898-03-20
HAVANA WITH ITS RICHES AND MISERY All IncongruouS Walking Side by Side in Street and Mansion WHERE ALL EYESARE I URNED For Weeks Wondering What the Morrow Will Bring Forth, or What the Next Tick
 of the Clock Will De-
 velope.
WHERE ALL EYESARE I IURNED

Havana, March 19-Skies of turquoise, royal palms with trunks of silver and crowns of green, many charming-looking women and fne-looking men, bands thor oughly melodic, houses whose outer ugli- ness but accents the statue haunted flower embossed beauties within, occasional flashes of monday heat, rendering the siesta time almost a necessity, ozone-laden morning and evening breezes that make one's lungs luxury, semi-occasonal showers with sub-tropical downpouring-these are some of the attachments and attributes that mark Havana as retaining some of her old time charm.
 Narrow ill-paved streets, unsanitary and foul-smellng garbage, uncleanly alleys and back yards, lack of modern conveniences, a superabundance of glare, a surfeit of squalor, misery, starvation, disease, death in countless and appalling forms, stagnant business, regnant officialism, crowded hos ptals, gorged prisons-these the seamy side of the tapestry of life here, and to the observant the sadness makes dfscord of the joyful notes A visit to relief sta ton makes the laughing crowd around the band-stand in the "Parque Central a mocl1ery, and the gay equipage of the rich officer or merchant only brings into bold relief the mean death cask of the pauper and the pacifico.
 Cosmopolitan in a Way
 It is a cosmopolitan city in way, but while the Latin, the Galfic, the Indian and the African predominate in numbers, the AngloSaxon holds, as usual, his share or public attention. The most animated con versation among the voluble Cpbans IS hushed into quiet observation if Sigsbee of the engulfed Maine comes into view. Sigs- bee alert, pleanant-faced, kindly voiced, medium in statue,sSbut erect in carriage, keen of eye, ready of tongue, almost deb onnaire when off duty, but incisive, vgilant, politely peremptory, sure in command, quick in foresight when on board; the first man the stranger wants to see, and, if so fortunate as to meet him, the last to whom adieux are made.
 Then, there Is the court of inquiry Sampson, tall, slightly bent as to shoulders as he gravely listens to question or sug- gestion, with face marked with thought, firm lips, shrouded by gray mustache and beard, courteous, but cold, quick to detect assumption and quicker to grasp point of moment, a very ideal president of court for whose decision, 1t is not too much to say, Christendom waits with eagerness; Chadwick, ruddy, semi-por ly, genial, suave, fluent, hearty, with eyes none the less keen that they grow merry on accession and lips that can close in lines of iron, though well acquainted with laughter; Pot ter, brunette, soldierly quiet, but kindly, self-effacing, but with the weight of high intelligence in glance, speech, gesture, the model of the executive officer, diplomatist, man of the world; Marix, a potential of high value in any deliberative body, looking as if he could address court or jury to marked advantage should occasion serve, posted in every detail of his profession Gas indeed are all his conferees), a man not to be humbugged and in the habit of weigh mo atva, hic I,,o them utterance. Certainly quntette (Sigsbee always being included) of which the United States is proud.
 The Dashing Lee
 Pencil pictures might be made of Lee that dashng cavalry soldier. and unbutfa- ble consul-general; of Elwell, Miss Barton's chief of staff, with the face and form Of Pickwick and heart ss kindly as that dear creature; of Springer, vice-consul, who knows Cuba and its people as he knows the game of whist; of half dozen other officials whose names are now almost household words in the states, but suffice it, that all are men to be admired for strong and manly qualities.
 Interesting, too, to Dickens, a Thacke- ray, a Dumas or a kiphng would ba the better class of correspondents to whom Havanan is now the habitat of hope-alas for them, that it is hope deferred. They must join the vast mufitudes who read their despatches in playing the truly Span ish game of "set down." Patience is harder here than in the north for the islander Is a day after tomorrow" person anyhow, and the sight of his cool non chalanco while great events are having birth is aggravating Those of this dett- anti complexion of thought who were in the corridors of the Hotel Ingiaterra must have been startled on the day that the Associa ted Press correspondent read to group of newspaper men the ibulletin Sen ate passes fifty millions defense bill this morning, unanimously" What cheer went up. It was startling in it's sudden ness, invigorating in its volume. News from home, in advance of the sem-weekly steamer is always eagerly desired here and when 1t was such news there was hand-shaking and cries of walked up. have they? Hurrah flor congress" If there was an American, civil or official, native or naturalized, who did not rejoice at the news, the correspondent did not find him.
 AL'vely Factor
 The fourth here is the livehest fac- tor observaibd Several of the Havana newspapers are really enterprising and for all editions the newspapers rush and grow vociferous as in the Yankee cities. It Is a little amusing, after glancing over col umns and pages of governmental manifes- tosJ pronunciamentos, bandos and the like to note the brief editorial paragraph which says in effect same old thing. Words are they, sgnifying nothing" The political situation, so far as it can be learned has been given from time to time by cable