, 1899-03-14


port under full colors and with the
band il2th N. Y. infantry playing the
"Suar Spangled Banner and other pa
triotic airs. At the time OF our arrival
there were fully $4,000 Spaniards in the
city awaiting transportation to Spain
and not until about january 10th did
the hast of the tribe get AWAY. So you
can imagine they were as thick as bees
in Matanzas for a time, although quite
friendly withal and there was quite a
good deal Of trading around for SOU
venirs, ETC., between them and the
boys in blue" Nearly everybody has
some sort Of a relic from either a Span
ish or a Cuban soldier to take back to
the States. | have a machete that l
got from a Cuban soldier which l will
send you as soon as our express facili-
ties are a little better than they are at
the present time. / thought perhaps
you might like something Of that sort
for a souvenir and especially in view
of the fact that this particular machete
has seen actual service. l hardly know
what to tell you about Matanzas. Ev-
erything. of course, is different from
the American idea and of a style pecu-
liar to all cities where the Latin races
are predominant. The buildings are
for the most part very substantially
constructed, but with no apparent idea
of being artistic from an outward point
of view, although in many cases, pala-
tial within. All buildings are con-
structed on the open courtyard prin-
ciple-suoh being necessary in order to
afford proper ventilations and light.
Then there is the usual plaza where the
entire population seem to turn out each
do like to walk; around and around
they go until one gets acquainted with
every face, so often do they pass in re-
view and one tires Of watching the
procession and wonders that they also
do not get tired of walking so much
but seemingly they do not for the next
evening you find the same old crowd at
it again. The Cubans seem t be greet
people for holidays and dances and
masking seem to constitute their prin-
cipal diversions. They seem to be cele-
ibrating some event nearly every day.
l presume though that they are now
malcing up for the lost time as they
evidently did not have much to resoince
over during Spanish occupation Of the
island. Gomez was in Matanzas a few
days ago and the Cubans went wild
over him. He meets with great ova-
tons in every city he visits. These are
proud times for him as he is the hero
Of the Cubans and they seem to vie with
each other in ~endeavoring to honor
him the more. His reception in Ha-
vana was on a grand scale. None Of us
have been in Havana as yet, although
it is but fifty-foarr miles from here.
We have not yet had the time; but we
hope to visit the points OF interest there
before leaving the island. One thing
that seems strange to an American in
this country is the admixture Of the
races. The white and the black seem
to mingle together on equal footing
with each other socially and otherwise,
although I am informed that among the
best element this state OF affairs does
not meet with the seal Of their approv-
al to any alarming extent, although
outwardly they do not seem to evince
their dislike as the white portion of the
population seem to have been placed
under obligations to the negro for help
ing him to fight his battles with SPAIN.
That a secret dislike exists, however,
is plain to be seen and this point will
assume prominence whenever they I'M
dertake to form an independent gov
eminent OF their own. For this reason
the educated element OF THE island al
most unanimously favor annexation to
the United States, claiming they will
get a better government than they can
possibly make themselves and to an
unbiased observer 1t would appear that
they are right about it. One thing that |
~
strikes an American as peculiar is the
almost entire absence OF educational
institutions. There don't seem to be
any public schools or II there are any
they don't to be p~atronized to any
alarming extent. The people all seem
to be very religious and the peculiar |
religions they practice don't seem to
are much about the enlightenment of
the masses-probably going upon the
theory that a little learning is a dan
gerous thing" and l guess 1t would be
for that particular faith, Our office is
in quite a large building that is built
on a corresponding scale Of elegance
and is light, cool ami airy. Here we
come in the morning and return to
tent for the evening, after the days
work is done. Don't know how long
we will be here but the prospects now
seem to be good that we will have a
stead job in the department somewhere.
Whether or not we will remain in Gu
ba for any great length Of time, of
cours we don't know. The Philippines
are not outside OF the limits Of posi-
bihty. The new army bill seems to be
favorable for Golden's -persnanent re-