Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-07-08
DIVERSIONS IN HAVANA.
There Is Variety Enough tc
Suit the Tastes of
All Glasses.
THEIR SHOPPING FEVER.
Life at the Hotels Is Costly anc
the Visitor Receives Very
Little for His Money.


Different Types of Humanity seen on the
streets-AmerIcan Maidens aud SenorI
tas In Mantiiias--The Hunt for Relies
and Valuable Antiques Points of In
terest About the City.
Naturally, unless they be travelling In
pairs or in groups, no two people visit
ing Havana will fpllow quite the same
program in their occupations or their
sightseeing, says writer in the In
dianapolis News. The mercantile man
viii call upon buyers or sellers and
pass his day in talking business. The
politician, or. If lie prefers the term.
the statesman, will probably call at of
fetal headquarterH and be steered In
certain conventional directions for the
obtaining Of that knowledge of the at
fairs OF the island which he seeks for
his guidance and for the information
of his constituents. Ladies will go
shopping on 0bisIo street, hoping for
rich and rare bargains in fans and
thread lace. Newspaper correspon-
dents will lie in bed all day and go to
the theater in the evening. That is all
they have to do. As they lie in bed
they absorb local color and news mat
ACI luiOuSu lHtll pbISSs Il hat 10 Tue
way news is obtained.
But there is a certain general pro-
gram which all will follow, certain
things which most will probably see.
They will get UP AT or o'clock In the
morning. That Is. / should not be able
to testify, from any personal observa-
ton, that anybody ever does get up be-
fore that time. 1t is possible that some
do I,.Nr he Ia 81 af ,nr lnA
mite, let us assume that the visitor
has more money than brains, and is
staying at the Ingiaterra, as | am. Let
me say, In parentheses, that after some
twenty-five years of hotel life, / know
of few places where one can get so lit
tie of real satisfaction for so large a
sum of money as he can In Havana ho-
tells. And the Inglaterra heads the list.
1t is place where one pays five good
American dollars day for tiled floor,
an iron bedstead, and two meals day.
1t does not materially differ from any
others in the probability of an oppor-
tunity for quarreling over ones BILL
The passers on the street are JIM
BILE of all kinds. American maidens in
jaunty sailor hats and trim shirt waists
and skirts that hang as we now think
a skirt ought to hang alternate with
dark-eyed and much bepowdered senior
itas in mantillas and mass of muslin
and furbelows, which the jaunty girl
from the States declares to be frightful,
though the face is lawfully pretty"
Sightseeing Americans, Cuban work.
men, Spanish clerks and. business
men. Yankee soldiers, move up and
down on errands of pleasure, business,
curiosity, or idleness. The beggars are
a nuisance which should have been re-
moved long ago. 1t is an entertaining
panorama while the novelty lasts. Ex-
cursions may be made upon side
streets, but Obispo is the center OF the
shopping district. Many visitors look
for interesting relics of the Cuban war,
and rake the pawnshops for valuable
antiques pawned by the wealthy in
days Of stress. and forfeited by nof-re-
demption. But the market has long
been exhausted in both directions. Now
and then one has found a trifling bar
gain, but the field is now almost hope
less.
Should the visitor prefer drive to
points of interest, he will, if he be wise
and prudent, make well-understood
contract with the cabman before start
ing. He will do amazingly well IL he
gets off for less than dollar and half
an hour for one-horse carriage.
There are numerous points OF inter-
est and much OF the city itself is novel
and quaint. There are queer corners
and odd bits f. altered snout. and while
there is mucn OF monotony about the
sights of the streets, there are many
flashes of color and type which are
both curious and artistic. One may
drive down the broad Prado, north
ward to La Punta 1.-THE Point, and
from the old Notifications upon the
low-lying shore, look across the har-
Dor entrance to what is known in
guide-book parlance as "Old Morro's
frowning walls" on the opposite shore.
Above the walls stands the high tower
of the MORO light. / am told that it is
$50 feet from water-level to the apex
of the tower. Yet during heavy
storm and wind recently / saw the
water again and again break, not in
spray but in volumes upon its very
summit. That seems like an elastic
story, but it is capable Of proof by
many witnesses and number of cam
eras.
From La Punta one may drive west
ward along the coast to Vedado, some
three miles out OF the city. The drive
is more interesting than charming, ex-
cept for the water pictures. From the
shady little suburb, now The official
headquarters of the Governor General,
one may drive, If not hypercritical
about roadways, up the hill and across
fields to Hayana's beautiful metropolis,
named for the great discoverer, Chris
tobal Colon, with its massive triple
arched portal. The firemen's monu-
ment is noble and beautiful shaft,
and the little plot in which the victims
OF the Maine lie buried makes its own
appeal to the American visitor. Out
side the main Enclosure is another,
large and high-walled. 1t in burial
place OF the poor and tho hereto
Those having taste for the gruesome
may feed fat" their taste for horrors
by inspecting the huge pile OF bones
and grinning skulls to be seen in this
second inclosure, and may even chance