The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-02-14

we could exchange 1t for new, while II
 Cuba there are no such facilities and the
 filthy bits of paper, handled by lepers
 and carried about in the rags of the low
 est classes, become so loathsome that
 one would rather forego his change
 than touch it. One dollar of our silver
 will purchase at least $2.45 of this scrir
 often more, according to the rate ot
 exchange at the moment. Though based
 upon nothing, having been issued indis-
 crlminately by bankrupt government, it answers all the local necessities of
 trade, and Is always used for car-fare
 and small transactions. It was ground
 out of the paper -mill-nobody knows to [ exactly what amount-in five, ten, fifty and tWenty-cent 'plasters." One thing 1 is well known-that every authorized is- sue of a given sum was enormously ex- ceeded. Seven years ago an issue of
 bank bills of this small currency was in- i trusted to an establishment in the Uni ] ted States, and fourteen million dollars
 was printed in addition to the author ized amount All was duly receipted for and signed by the corrupt Spanish off,
 cials, who---so the quid nuncs say--divi-
 ded the extra millions among them
 selves. It is asserted that the captain
 general, under whose administration
 this financial stroke was accomplished, came to Cuba poor man, and two years
 later returned to Spain with three mill lion pesos to his credit. So thrifty were the proud Hidalgoes who threw down a
 dollar when half of it was due (some- body elses dollar), and stalked haugh- [ tily away, sneering at the Yankee pigs" who waited for their change!
 The monetary unit of the Spanish West Indies is the peso, or silver dollar, worth in the United States about nine-
 ty two cents The duhlon (gold of the
 United States), is worth $501. The moneys of old Spain current in all her colonies, are the peseta, the onza, the media onza, the centen ($5.36)), the es- cuedo, the escudito, the medic peso, the real fuerte (silver shilling), medic fuerte and medic, or sixpence. In reality there are three money standards in this mon- eyless country-American gold, Spanish gold and silver; and sometimes the close calculation involved would puzzle the erudite brains of Philadelphia lawyer" As an example of this, an American now in Havana tells the fol- lowing story:
 "The other day I went into the Cafe La Luz to treat some of my newly-ar- rived countrymen. There were four of us. and each ordered a different bever- age. l threw down a five-dollar Ameri- can gold-piece in payment. The smile dispenser studied long with knitted brow over the knotty problem of change, and then handed me back a Spanish ffve-dollar gold-piece and forty cents in silver This pleased the group so well that I treated again, giving back to the saloon-keeper the five-dollar Spanish piece. This was easier for him to reck- on and my change for the second deal was five silver dollars and four cents
 Though the price of drinks is high in Cuba, it would seem that there is money to be made in taking them ad libtum, and the more liquor one buys the more money he gets! To study the thing out, 1t was this way: There was twenty per cent. premium on American gold over Spanish gold, and twenty per cent. on Spanish gold as compared with silver. Thus, out of the original American five-dollar gold piece I bought eight ex- pensive drinks and still had $5.S0 in sil- yer. and discovered afterwards that the barkeeper had swindled me out of fif- teen cents exchange"
 In the Cuban calendar there are no fewer than two hundred and fifty "holy- days" Sundays included, in which mo- body can be legally compelled to labor neither the man. servant, nor the maid servant, nor the OK, nor the ass, nor, perforce, the stranger within the gates. With such extraordinary deference to the saints and angels, this ought to be the most religious country under the sun; but, unfortunately after nasty prayers in the early morning, the na- tives employ the remainder of their fiesta days in bull -bating, cock-fighting, the lottery, the ball and the theater in- stead of in attendance on heavenly per- sonages. Sunday is the great gala-day of the week. distinguished by the added brilliancy of every street scene in the best clothes of the populace, boisterous masquerade processions, ten-fold activi. ty in shops, saloons and theaters, and noisy persistency of lottery-venders. Bull-fighting is as dear to the native heart as ever. though owing to hard times the expensive amusement is now confined to few of the larger cities and certain seasons of the year. But the N which has not it's several cock-pits, in full blast, at least one day in seven, wherein crowds of men bet their last real onfavorite birds and go wild with excitement over the edifying spectacle of two miserable roosters clawing each other to death. The inveterate gam bling propensity of the people also finds vent in dominoes, chess, bacarat and a thousand other games of chance and skill in which ladies may also indulge in the privacy of home-and seldom without stakes. The Cuban female goes into gambling with the same innocent zest which distinguishes her sister wo- men of northern villages who find their highest ambition realized in the Hone hand" prize of progressive euchre In this part of the world, every table in hotels bar-rooms club-houses and cafes is in requisition all day long and far into the night on Sundays for gam- ing purposes. In these January days it | looks odd enough to eyes fresh from the | snowy north to see the marble floors of all the finest cafes sprinkled with damp i ened sawdust, with view to coolness, | like Bowery beer-halls in the thirsty | days of August. have excellent Amer l ican authority for the statement that | the Cuban barkeepers out-Herod Herod |