Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-10-01

tons on the poor farmers, and sometimes
would succeed in driving away oxen from
the sugac plantations, but as a rule their
thefts were not extensive, and they were
not feared Horse thieving. was more rare
and to steal horse in the interior of the
island was a crime fully as hefnous as in
the western part of the United States
where hanging, in the pioneer DAYS, was
considered too good for horse thief The
Cuban. above all things, prizes his horse
These animals aressmall and hardy. Their
power of endurance is wonderful The
army mule Of the United States does not
compare with them. The Cuban likes TO
have his horse admired, and to the stranger
who admires it he will frequently say: "a
la dispocfcfon de listed, senor'-"a. your
service, SIR but this is only an exaggcra ted
form of compliment. and means no more
than 60 these Latin-American complt-
ments Even to borrow Cuban's horse
for a short ride is difficult. When he finds
you really want the article, If it be only for
a eanter of a few hundred yards almost
Invariably he will begin to make excuses.
The horse is lame, the saddle is poor the
animal is not used TO strange rider, or
something OF that kind. Among them
selves the Cu6ans are very jealous of their
horses. and such quarreis as the insEr-
gents had with one another were usually
over the ownership of horse. NotwitE-
standing their pride in the animal, they
take little care of It, and it is a rare thing
to find 1. Cuban horse without sore back
In the early days, when brigandage -four
cha would have q dozen fine horses hidden
in different parts of the country. His nat
ural enemies, the civil guards, We're also
well known. The brigands never risked in
curing the enmity of the country people by
levying on them for borsefesl. The rich
sugar planters paid this tribute In the in
terror of the island. especially in Camaguey,
there ere. or were some fine ranches. an..
these supplied a good part of the country
with horses It is here that is stu to be
seer the oid-fashioned Cuban vehicle
Known as the volante. The volante disap-
reai ed from the streets Of Havana years
ago, bat in the country, where the roads
are nc more than trails, it is still used ex
tensively by the better class of people.
The guarijos or peasant who cannot az
ford a vOlante at least manage to own
horse. and the sturdy little animals carry
double the peasant woman sitting in front
OF her husband on the foreshoulders.
Some Rural Customs.
In the rural districts it is still possible, or
was possible before the war. to see some
of the old customs in their primitive sim
p.icity. The rural dance was of them.
1t differed somewhat from the fandango of
the southwest Feast days and holidays
were usGslly celebrated by variety of
open-air dances One of these was a kind
of an impromptu waltz, in which everybody
was expected to join. Other social customs
were preserved with little change. We'd
QlngS and funerals were the occasions Tor
celebrations, as were also baptsnls. In the
country, however funerals were more sim
pie than in the cities. 1t is within the
memory of many people still living when
the government in Havana, or the captain
general which was the same thing, pro-
INDICATED decree regulating the degree to
which mourning should be permitted for
the dead. Among other things, the decree
prohibited the public exposure of cadavers.
AT that time it was the custom to keep the
windows of the house in which a death had
occurred closed for six months. Before the
funeral the catafalque was erected in the
house with elaborate symbols of mourning.
The lamentations of the women were
pected to be piercing and continuous. Their
cries We're supposed to be heard for blocks
away, and 30 be repeated at the arrival of
any sympathiZing friend or relative Fail
ure 10 mourn with sufficient vocifera ton
was supposed to show lack of respect for
the dead. The deepest black was also re-
quired to be worn by the relatives of what
ever age or sex. This custom has not en-
tirely disappeared During the last two or
three years every day hundreds of women
and little children could be seen daily in
Havana clad in deep black. These We're
the symbols of losses of relatives in the
revelation. Some were Spanish women.
wives, mothers and sisters Of officers who
had died or been killed in the futile attempt
to put down the revolution. The majority,
however, We're Cuban women who mourned
for those fallen in the ranks in the insur-
rection.