The times., 1899-03-12
A WAIF FROM THE
STREETS OF HAVANA
NcWsboy and Bootblack in St
Joseph's Orphan Asylum.
Experiences of FranScico inguanzO
Y Murias, a Child of Cuba.
Brought From Home by II Western
Newspaper Man to Become EdH-
Gated for Citizenship.

In St Joseph's Orphan Asylum in this
| city, among the hundred and odd parent
| less waits there is one who stands apart
| from all his fellows. being united to them
only by the freemasonry of childhood. He
cannot speak their tongue or understand
| their language.
He is a Cuban boy and his name is Fran
scico Inguanzo Murias. According to
| Spanish custom he carries both his IA
TIERS and mothers names-Inguanzo and
Murias. This little fellow is doing his
level best to learn the language of the re-
cent conquerors of Spain and so fit himself
for some vocation in life that will raise him
above the common grade of laborer in
Cuba.
| His history is an interesting one. Twelve
years ago last June he was born in a hovel
on San Lazaro Street in the city of Havana
Even at that time his luckless parents pos
! sessed an excess of children and paucity
of food. AS soon as he could toddle he was
turned into the street to shift for himself
! as best he could, and at the age of six
! years it was demanded of him that he be-
come a source of revenue to his family.
He began mis- business career by selling
papers and his chiidly soprano voice is well
( remembered by saunterers on Prado who
heard him calling out La Lucha" and
Diaro de lie Marina
! From this he drfted into a bootblack,
! finding the last named vocation more prof
table He never went to school until he
( came to this country but picked up on the
J streets OF Havana q very fair education
! on account of having come in daily con-
! tact with all classes of people. He be-
/ came precOcous, If not educated. He was
watched during his daily rounds by his
profigate father, whose custom at night
( fall was 10 relieve him of the money earn
/ ed during the day. The father was a
! chronic rheumatic, and his only business
in life seemed to be to watch this child TO
! see that he did not spend any of the money
/ earned by his daily labor. The boy col
lected an average of a dollar day in
! Spanish silver, all of which he faithfully
turned into the family treasury. His
work kept the entire family alive and
/ sufficed TO furnish food for them during
the terrible months when the American
fleet was blockading Havana Harbor, pa
! trolling the coast of Cuba, and cutting
off the capital of the Pearl OF the Antilles
from its food supply.
Met War Correspondent.
He would have been in Havana yet,
clothed only in a faded blouse and a pair
of trousers had not an American taken a
fancy to the child and proposed to him that
he come TO the United States, receive an
( English education. learn q trade, and then
| return to Cuba if he so desired. The
American was Willis 2. King. ir., war cor
respondent of the ScTipps- McRae Press
Association Company. MIR. King went to
! Cuba during the Santiago campaign and
/ was one of the first TO enter the city OF
Santiago on the nth Of July, the day on
. fai ba fla pf
and yellow and Shafter shot up in its place
| 'Old Glory" On the morning of the 18th
! Mr.. King knowing that the surrender
! would be made that day at noon, took an
early start, crawled through the high
guinea grass, passed tla American SEN
tinel, and entered the fallen city an hour
! ahead of the triumphant possessors. On
his way he procured the white flag that
was hoisted on the morning of the llth of
July by the Spaniards and which stop
ped the firing from the American line.
/ After reaching the city he succeeded in
| obtaining a large Spanish wall flag that
! hung in the reception room Of the palace
! of the governor general directly above the
| picture of the Queen Regent OF Spain,
! Maria Christina. Both Of these flags have
been presented by MIR. King 10 the public
library of Kansas City, Mo. He remained
in Santiago two weeks after the surrender
and was almost Immediately ordered to
/ Havana on account of the receipt OF the
news that the blockade had been raised.
There he first saw the Cuban boy and
took quick interest in Eth. When Mr..
King met Franscico the lad was in front
Of the Hotel Pasaie with his backing kit
and crying to the passers-by ''Limpi a.
/ which in the English vernacular means
shine" Mr.. King patronized the boy
from day to day and after awhile noticed
that FransCiCo had no bell on his box. In
Cuba a boobIack almost invariably has
a call bell screwed on his kit which he taps
| twice WHEN he has finished the shoe Of his
! patron. He questioned Franscico about
the absence of the bell and was told that
he was not permitted to purchase one,
havins to turn his daily receipts in at
! home. Thereupon he told the boy to negO-
/ tiate for handsOmer bell than was had
by any boy in the city, and that he would
pay for it FranscicO came back in thirty
minutes aglow with the information that
he could buy a bell for ) pesetas that
would lay over anything in Havana The
money which amounted to about 40 cents
in American coin, was given him and he
returned within a few minutes with his
bell He could not await the fall of night
I to 20 home and attach his bell to the
box, but left Immediately after the receipt
of the coin. He returned to the. Prado
the next morning with his head bound in
q piece of his mothers skirt and lump
on the back of il as big as an English
walnut.
A Reception by His Family.
He stated to his benefactor that when he
reached home on the previous afternoon
his father was sick in bed with rheuma-
tism and that his uncle. who was in tenn
porary charge of the household. did not
allow him to explain, but evidently suppos-
ing that the child had bought the bell from
his own earnings tore it from his hands
and threw it at him striking him in the
head and breaking the bell into three
pieces.
When this story was told to Mr.. King
by Franscico and verified by his bruises he
made up his mind to take the child away
from Cuba II possible; to bring him TO the
United States, raise him above the grade
of anything his ancestors had ever yet
known and to send him back to the new
republic in an intelligent condition that
would enable him to compete with any
native in the island.
MIR. King met with great difficulties in
his endeavor to bring the boy away. The
parents who had first consented after
wards revoked their consent and he was
powerless. He went to the home OF the
family and held an extended conference
with the parents, uncles. aunts, and all
the acquaintances of the neighboyhood.
One old uncle espOused Mr.. Kings cause
and urged that it would be better for the
boy to go TO America. Numerous objec-
tions were offered Finally the father was
asked to decide. He turned to his wife
and said: Whatever you decide l will
abide by" BY this time all the relatives
of the child were crying.
The mother answered, You give the
decision to me. l give 1t to Franscico."