The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-08-30
SIGHTS IN SANTIAGO.
WRECK OF A VESSEL OF THE
SPANISH AMANDA.
characteristics Of the Population
of the Ancient Cuban
City. 81

great spanish ARMADA, that Philip IL.
sent to England in 1888 being one of
| the very few of that famous fiotilla that
| escaped destruction at the time. What
career this old ship had been through.
| She had breasted the waves of many
seas and withstood the storms in many
| waters for nearly three centuries when
she was burned to the waters edge here
| in Santiago harbOr a few years ago,
and sunk where her remains now lie
| covered With barnacleS, an emblem of
| the nation whose flag she once so
proudly bore
During the last years of her career
she was used as a transport for troops
| from Europe and as a Spanish guard
ship in these seas by the local govern
ment. She can only be seen at low
water. Only the ribs and stanchions
are held together by the stout keel tim
bers and lower sheathing. The Span
| iards would probably have tried to de-
stroy even this part Of the wreck if
| they had supposed that the American
| 1ackies" would have made these tim
| bers into relics of their victory, if they
find them, as they probably will.
Another thing about this harbor, says
| Annie Ellison Smith in the Boston
! Transcript" is the sharks The soe
diers will not be able to take a swim
here, for these monstrous man eating
sharks abound; and, for all the water
looks so quiet in the day. if a person
should fall overheard he would never
come up alive. The sharks follow the
| ships in hopes of a meal. Political
| prisoners have been confined in MORO
IN times past, and l was told that con-
demned patriots had been led out upon
the ramparts and shot, their bodies
falling into the water to be eaten bv
| sharks IN a moment. Spain extends no
| mercy to any one daring to try for free
dom from her cruelty.
On the ocean side of Moro can be
seen cave directly under the castle.
The sea has worn this so deep that Il
mas not been explored within the mem
DRY or people in the place. The lofty
entrance to this cave is a perfect arch,
! ana tney say that the superstition is
tnat no one attempting to explore it will
| ever live to return
There are little coves and bavs aIong
| the coast where oysters do really grow
on trees. AS funny as this sounds the
| mangrove trees extend their roots into
the sea and the oysters affix Themselves
TO these, growing and thriving. We
could not believe this till we saw y
| ourselves. These oysters are small and
| are eaten on the island freely. Then
| the hsh are so strange, many of them,
10 foreign eyes. They are of nanv
| or1ght colors, and it is here that the
real Spanish mackerel abound.
q no rhnr, g
one and a safe one, as it is landlocked.
put II is an awful hot one, and our
people could not stand it to be shut in
there long. The Cuban stevedores round
the harbor wear nothing but a pair of
Wnlte linen drawers and a palmetto
straw nat when working at loading or
unloading vessel, and all the Cubans
drink very little water. When WORKING
IN the heat they drink a good deal of
thln Catalina wine, at a penny a drink
Ihey also drink a good deal of coffee
without milk or sugar, and they smoke
lhcessantIy-men and wonderland chill
dren, even, smoke, and NAV be seen
rolling a cigarette every moment They
can buy bunch Of real Cuban Cigar
cites for a penny.
some or the common class of work
lngmen are called monteros. and thew
I'VE IN little nuts or cabins of ono
room, the earth for a floor and a hole
cut Tor window. This has a shutter
which opens out. The roof is palmetto.
and slopes down to a few feet of the
ground. Sometimes a house like this
holds a father, mother and a dozen If
tie naked young ones, who roll around
in every direction among their pigs
dogs and Chickens all in a heap.
Many everyday street scenes would
astonish our people-for instance. seeing
horses kept without bit Of shelter.
There are no barns, and often horse
may be seen standing all day long with
saddle on in waiting at the door for
his master. These horses are little and
good natured; the children play around
among them without fear but they are
seldom shod, the people being too indo.
lent to care for animals. The only
thing that is taken care Of in Cuba is
the gamecock. Fighting cocks have
their feathers plucked and are trained
to fight.
The Cubans are not domestic The
men almost live at the clubs. The Don
Carlos is the best club in Santiago. p
you go by this at night you will see
the men all playing some kind of game,
and with drinks before them. The clubs
are open to the street exactly the same
as the houses, so you can look in and
see all inside. Sometimes you will see
two people dancing a fandango to-
gether There are no books or papers
at these clubs; in fact, very few Cubans
can read, unless it is of the wealthy
class. The mass Of the people are very
ignorant and it is the way the Spanish
want them to be, but they are also too
indolent to want to learn much.
The head of the Church of Rome in
Cuba is located here at Santiago, It
being an Archbishop's see, and at
Easter the ceremonials draw the peo-
pie from all parts of the island. One
queer figure in the Cathedral here is a
saint with spear in hand mounted on
horseback; 1t is at the right of the
altar. This is to make the people adore
a soldier; and Spanish soldiers have
ruled here in cruel ways; and you feel
this particularly when you meet the
prisoners or chaingang marching with
dragging feet and rafting irons through
the streets In the burning sun to their
daily labor of breaking stone This
work goes on, Sunday as we'll as other
days. The prisoners are not allowed
to speak to the men they are chained
to, but have to drag along silently in
this horrible way. Sometimes the soI-
diers and changing meet. and the
prisoners faces light up with hatred
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