The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-03

principal streets. with the interpreter
from the Inglaterra Hotel the correspond
ent visited seven of these houses In one
evening, all within gunshot of Blancos
palace. The principal patrons of the la
bles are Spanish army officers. These
gambling houses were given licenses at
the beginning Of the war, and were made
to pay a heavy tax, which was TO swell
the fund for feeding the starving Within
the past few days the government has
ceased feeding the starving, but the gam
bling houses are stin doing business and
stll paying the heavy tax.
odd Business Ways.
Business methods In Havana have al
WAYS been peculiar. Counting out the re-
tailers. the merchants are divided into
two classes, the importers and the wh0le-
salers There are four importers ana
twenty-three wholesalers. The wholesal-
ers do no importing, but buy everything
of one of the four importers; the reason
being that Cuban merchants, or, rather,
merchants in Cuba, long ago ruined their
credit with the outside world. OF recent
years IL has become the custom TO refuse
to sell TO wholesalers In Cuba unless the
house making the purchase has a repre-
sentative banker in the port from which
the shipment Is made Thus, the four inn
porters of Havana, able TO place money on
deposit at the ports OF shipment, control
ali The trade with the outside world.
Among all the Havana merchants bus
mess methods are characterized py
looseness that Is astonishing to an Amer
lean. A merchant for example, wlshes
s. coo cash to pay for consignment OF
goods. He sends a clerk with verbal
message 10 another merchant VINO
promp,ly hands over the money. Then
the borrower, having finished some trans
action that was pending during tne DAY,
sends back the cash to the lender. Iners
is no note. no memorandum. This is go
ing on all the time. These are merely cash
loans Of convenience, based upon word OF
honor, and their security Is the certain
knowledge that sales VIII be erected 10
make possible their redemption.
There seems 20 be p.enty Of floating
currency in the city, but rates OF ex-
change are peculiar An American
6ve-dollar bill is worth eight Spanish
silver dollars; but a Spanish paper dollar
the currency of the Bank Of SPAN, Is
worth only nine cents IN our money.
The prices of the most ordinary arti-
cles are still exorbitant. For bottle OF
muciiage, sold for five cents In New YORK
one NAYS forty cents in silver here. A
oaner Of pjns ffty-fve cents, a siphon Of
setter sixty cents New York and Chicago
daily uewspapers sell here for forty cents
each The retailers who sell these arti-
cles are. If nothing else, polite. The COR
respondent asked notion dealer OF wnom
he bought some pins to direct him TO the
oe9ce Of the English consul. The polite
dealer promptly came from behind his
counter and personally conducted the cor
respondent TO the consulate, seven blocks
away leaving his shop open to all VINO
might come, presumably expecting his Gus
toners to await his return.
When the evacuation of Cuba by the
snanish army Is complete the island will
not nave more than 100000 inhabitants.
OF these, the proportion will be: 10000
peninsular spaniards, 10000 blacks and
10000 Cubans. This population VIII GER
tainly be inadequate to the proper devel-
onnnent of Cuba There Is room here for
q 00O 600 additional people and work for all.
ellison Willets.