The age-herald., 1899-06-11

in the afternoon she may visit some of her friends. Ip the sye1ing she is permitted to attend the opera or to go to dances but it is not considered proper for her to dance more than once with the same man. When she is Is years old she may receive callers but she is never left alone with any of them.
 In spite of all this vigilance the Cuban maiden finds time for secret love making, Perhaps the duenna is old and convenient- ly drops asleep in her corner or. perhaps she has not forgotten that she was young once and is willing to be blind to the little romance that is being enacted behind her back. However that may be. the court ship is carried on and when the two young people have come to an understanding life changes for them. After that it is not considered proper for the maid and tho man who are engaged to dance or even en- ter public dining hall with any one but each other. About this time the father of the young man makes a formal request for the hand of the girl and if the ar rangement is satisfactory to both families the society days of the maiden are ended for the present. Engagements in Cuba are not of short duration but from the day of the announcement until after the wedding she attends no more social func- tioHs, but, instead remains at home to re- ceive her future husband every evening.
 Cuban girls are always graceful and of ten peduuIul, especially Ill the IOInaBuey district, which is noted for the beauty of its women. The usual Cuban type Is dis tinctly tropical, with eyes large and dreamy, mouth of soft curves and red lips and somewhat colorless complexion. The roses never bloom on the cheeks of Cuban maiden, the skin rather resembling the lily in it's opaque whiteness. Usually the hair is black but there are blondes and they are particularly charming as presenting a different type of beauty. de- rived probably from @ stain of northern blood.
 The men who are the leaders in Havana society are like the proyerbial lily of tho fields in that they neither toll nor spin. If they are landed proprietors they do practically nothing and if they are in busi- ness they have clerks to whom they leave the drudgery of trade and simply call in to see them often enough to keep fin touch with their affairs and decide any queS tion of importance. The usual time spent at the office is two hours a day, between l and In the afternoon. In every respect the life of the Cuban gentleman is one of ease. He never rises before 10 o'clock. and, after the arduous task of breakfasting, he spends two or three hours in resting. When he returns from the office at 3 o'clock he retires again. This siesta is fol- lowed by dinner after which he attends the opera or a dance spends the even- ing at his club. Formerly much time was devoted to gambling, but since the Ameri- can officials have been in control of af fairs they have interfered quite seriously with this form of amusement Duelling has also been discouraged and the author ities have taken such a firm stand in gard to these matters that their orders have been pretty generally obeyed, al- though it is, of course, absolutely im- possible to prohibit gambling in private. What has been accomplished, however, is remarkable in view of the fact that it was not many months ago that fortunes chang ed hands over the cards every night, amounts ranging from s25, 900 to $50 900 hav- ing frequently been won and lost at the clubs.
 The Cuban spirit of gambling was for merly shown everywhere, even at the base bali games where the bookmakers walked about laying odds against the probability of the next batter reaching first base. There is nothing of this sort now and the professional duellst, such as Augustin Servants, who holds the record of seven encounters in five days, finds himself in position where he must either restrain his bloodthirsty propensites or else run the chances of being arrested and perhaps hung as a common murderer
 Of course there are men who rebel at the new condition of affairs. They have lived so long under rule in which wealth and position was a sufficient excuse for any crime that they object to this new ironhanded method of restricting their privileges as citizens. A short time ago a colonel in the Cuban army, a man of some wealth and good social standing, was arrested for robbing an engine on which about $500 was being carried to troops in the interior At once his friends demanded his release on the ground that he was a great "patriot and a gentle man." General Wood. however, refused