The times., 1898-12-18
Strange Scenes That Greet the
Newcomer.
UNDER AMERICAN CONTROL
How the snnniards Are Employing
Their Last Hours in Cubn-Thc Ma
tive Kiss Described-The Depar-
ture of the Orden PubIico-Hish
waymen Have Grown bold.


showing off odder than ever in CONTRAST
to American innovations.
As of yore. the approaching steamer is
beset by fleet of boats of obsolete pat
tern. brought from Southern Europe cen
turtles ago. which are afoat what the
volante is ashore. The queer craft-half
scow. half market wagon-are furnished
with sails as well as paddles. Each has a
cover, suggesting a chicken coop, and
bright awnings, cushions, and bits of car
pet impart delusiye air of comfort which
experience speedily bellies. To get under
the low cover you must double yourself
up like a jack-kwfe, and presently the
tapping sail, impelled by sportive
breezes. knocks your hat down over your
nose. while dancing b.llows sprinkle your
back with spray and wash the klrrk out
of your crimps and feathers. The negro
boatmen, who have recently Incorporated
a Ettle English into their native lingo.
sing out: "senor. Sonora, Aqui. Look
a me. I'm barque bueno quatte dolla cada
uno. Vaminos! All right"
The Old-time tariff from steamer to
wharf. as yet unchanged by the new au-
thorities, is % cents for each passenger.
20 cents for a trunk and cents for every
valise or parcel. The largest boats are
permitted 10 carry only ten passengers.
and those of smgiler size no more than
five. After suI.set and on stormy days
the boatmen my demand reales fuertes
for their services-that IS, silver coin in
stead of Spanish currency-ard between
1888 p. IN. and day-break no boats are al
lowed to cross tlie bay
If YOU are 50 fortunate as to have
friends in Havana they are sure to come
out to the steamer to escort YOU oye- rfe
two or three miles OF intervening waier-
an act of courtesy which these kindly
people consider indispensable. Nowadays.
when SO many refugees are returning to
Cuba. the bay = covered with private
yachts and ga.ly curtained boats. filled
with Creole families Of the better class.
awaiting the arrival of friends and rela-
tives Every steamer brings them and
the instant its stairs are let down the
welcomers swarm on board
And then what a chatteIlng ensues-
what tears of js,y and hysterical en-
braces! The men throw their arms
around one ane bersatid .-iss as fervently
as the women--weth this difference: While
the men salute each other by one resound-
ing smack. delivered square on the nous
tached mouth. the women kiss twice,
merely touching their lips to the Others
cheeks-first the right and rnen the left.
The Cuban kiss is extremely graceful
the female kiss / mean-when one gets
used to it. but The neophyte IS apt to bun
gle and collide noses by presenting the
wrong cheek first.
A Striking Scene.
Snugiy ensconced under the bird cage
cover of some bsrque bueno, you find the
long ride 10 shore delightful, in spite of
shifting sails and dashing spray. Having
passed the sentinel lighthouse at the har-
bor's entrance, You glide right under the
Moro's guns-so close to La Punta, the
point upon winch Ii stands, that you
might easily toss a pebble into its pink,
blue and canary coiored casas. Past La
Fuerza, the oldest castle dn the place.
which lifts its crumbling walls above a
mass of coral rock: past the Cabanas,
that doleful prison of Infamous history
forts. old and new. ali bris,lins with can
non. and long lines of batteries and bar
racks pertaining TO the late war. How
medieval it all appears-the time-stained
battlements and ornate sentry boxes
perched at every angle, picturesque relics
of the military architecture that pre-
vailed when the Moors and Spaniards Were
fighting in Granada. The Moro. with its
Dahlgren guns peering through yellow
stones, might be Malta, broken loose from
its moorings in the Mediterranean and
fioated over TO anchorage in the Carib-
bean, both having been built on a similar
plan a little more than three centuries
ago, when Philip II was king.
Stars and stripes fn Evidence.
The celebrated harbor is shaped Ike an
open hand, its entrance representing the
wrist, the city spreading out like fingers,
and the palm broad enough to hold the
navies of the world Just now the Stars
and Stripes are most in evidence among
the flags of ali nations.
A group of American steamers, Govern
ment transports and men-of-war sur
round what is left of the Maine. and we
passed that spot of saddest memories
with a feeling of satisfaction that the cut
rage has been avenged. Evident y the
same thought was in the minds of our
fellow-passengers. Said one: Il wonder
when Spain will blow up another Amerl-
can vessel?"
Guess she won't want TO try that lit
tie trick on Yankee ship again." re-
marked another.
The long wharves where you land are
faced by the Caballera. an immense
building open TO the water. with gilt
tering zinc roof, supported the entire
length by clusters of iron pillars From
time immemorial this has been the great
rendezvous of island trade-the chamber
of commerce. the bourse of. Cuba. On
the left is the Casa Blanca. once popu-
larly supposed to gnard the city-a pleas
ant little fiction long nursed by the C I'll
zens. Farther on Is the village OF Regla,
with its great warehouses of stone and
corrugated iron, for storing sugar; and
in front Is the busy Aduana or custom
house. But here is a marked change I. ON
the drowsy old times of the Iand where
in it seemeth always afternoon" Now
all is hustle, confusion. and one hears less
of Spanish. with its softly flowing yowels
and superlatiye adjectiyes, than blunt, to-
the-point American sentences. A mghty
procession of mules. horses. ambulances
and army wagons. laden with stores and
supplies from the transports. is constant
ly toiling up from the landing; and as
their drivers force way through the
narrow streets--a feat almost as diffioult
as for the TYPICAL camel to go through.
the needles eye-the air is filed with the
cracking of whips and the special swear
words without which it is said that army
mules cannot be managed. Sold .ers-sol-
diers everywhere! And wearers of Unc
Samuefs livery are almost as thick as
the warriors OF Spain: at any rate. the
former are mbre conspicuous, moving
briskly about with the confident air CT
victors- One misses the late omnipres sent
orden pubiico and guardia civil-the Span
ish infantry who performed police duty