The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-18
NOTES FROM SANTIAGO.
HISTORICAL INTEREST OF THE
PROVINCIAL CAPITAL.

+ I'm N4it -NNN 4AAA AAASNA+~-
Santiago de Cuba.-In The appeal it
makes 10 she historical. Imagination sanu-
| ago is easily the most inspiring Of Cuban
provincial capitals. The conunsts it o.
fers are both picturesque and vivid. and
the American observer finds a curious
piquaney in the intermixture here of the
very Oldest with the very newest Of h-st-r-
ica1 associations. For Santiago is, on the
one hand. the ancient capital of Spanish
Cuba-the first seat in this island of that
sixteenth-century civilization which Spain
fastened, and stuhbornly strove to keep
fastened, on all American territory when
came beneath her co,onizing yoke.
Cortez sailed from here for the conquest
of Mexico. and from this natural military
base Spanish power was spread over the
whole of the West indies. AL the earliest
traditions of Spanish rule in Cuba elias
Ter, therefore, about this land-locke1 har-
Dor and the struggling town which rises
from the bay on the steep hills near its
northern extremity. By the accidental
development of Cervera's strategy Santl-
ago became, on the other hand, the OBJ
juectiye point Of The single campaign made
by the United States to compel the Span
ish evacuation of Cuba American hood
was freely shed on the battlefields 10 the
east OF the city, and the American flag
finally supplanted the Spanish on the roof
OF the ancient palace Of the governors
general.
So, through the chance which carried
Cervera's squadron here rather than to
Cienfuegos, Santiago was constituted the
entry point of the American occupation
the neld in which the experiment of politi-
cal reconstruction was TO be tried under
conditions Of extraordinary difficulty and
absolute novelty. Other Cuban cities are
more Important and more attractive; bur
none of them can challenge Santiago in
point Of historical suggestiveness and in
terese
A Beautiful Port.
In picturesqueness and natural beauty
few ports in the world excel this one. The
harbor, like the harbors Of Havana and
Cienfuegos, is a sheltered estuary, with an
exceedingly marrow mouth, but within
deep spacious and practically tideless
| Inc channel is clear and free, and the flu
tility of the attempt TO close it with the
sunken collier Merrmac is disclosed by
the fact that the largest steamers can now
pass safely over the hulk of the intended
bother for Cervera's fleet. Only few
days ago the army transport Mcpherson
crashed against and broke off the Merri-
macs mainmast, which rose a few feet
above the surface of the harbor; but the
| Transports keel did not even scrape The
main part of the wreck
Turning and winding from its narrow en-
| trance the bay soon clears obstrueting
points and islands and stretches away
northward in broad, elliptical expanse
trimmed in on the west by the crowdine.
peaks of the coast range. and on the east
by the more open foothills. over whose
slopes the streets of the provincial capital
climb stittiy and painfully. In its tight
! locked setting the harbor has all the pan
| oramic charm Of big Alpine lake whose
nearness TO sea level is betrayed only by
the varied ensigns flying from the taffrails
Of it's shipping
The town itself is from the water line a
decided disappointment. For though the
! steep hillside offers every chance for the
display of that real genius in city build
ing which Spanish architects derived from
| contact with the Mpors. the opportunity
was lost by Sanitago's founders, and the
| city rises in crude amphitheater fashion.
with neither order nor beauty, to the hill
| crown on which the old Cathedral stands
| This venerable landmark is imposing only
2 through its age and its associations. More
| over, il faces plaza altogether too cramp-
| ed and limited in area to furnish that out
! let for open-air enjoyment which every
| tropical community instinctively Graves.
Lacking i'm Out-of-DoOr Amusements.
Santiago is sadly lacking, indeed, in
| that adaptabiity to simple out-of-door
amusements which is the main resource
| of Cuban life The streets are so steep
! in grade and so narrow that they do not
| serve at all for promenading and the
| plaza Is practically a tiny walled garden.
shut in by the Cathedral the government
buildings and the clubs Other south
| coast cities, like Manzanillo and Glen
| fuegos, have far more attractive plazas
and level streets, infinitely better adapted
TO the Inevitable Cuban custom of open
air longing. And though Santiago has
| an excellent drive, the Alameda, IL lies
| along the harbor front and is too remote
| from the central life of the town TO be
/ available for the night time "paseo."
| The Governors official palace is mod
| est, rambling, one-story Dunding-so mod
| est and so easily blanketed by its neigh
| b0rs that one looks in vain from the har-
'bor for its roof and the flag that was
| raised there with certain sensational con-
| sequences, on the day of Gen. ToraPs
surrender. The military governors actual
| residence is more satisfyingly visible on
| the brow of one of the high shore-llne
bluffs to the south of the city
But if the Cathedral IS dingy and I'M
| imposing, and the town itself lacks ar
| CiitSSluIdl effectiveness, the debit ball
| ance is easily swallowed up In the sur
prising beauty of the MORO at the harbor
| entrance. No purer or more finished ex-
ample of the old Spanish seaport fort
ress can be found IN CUBA Smaller than
the Havana Moro, and lacking its pic
turesqueiy solitary lighthouse tower. the
Santiago castle presents far more har-
monious lines, and borrows from its ex-
traordlnary setting an effect of far great
er mass and solidity. Rooted in the coral
rocks of the great eastern bluff so that
one can scarcely tell where the real stone
ends and the masonry begins, 1t seems to
lift itself sheer from the sea 300 feet or
more 10 the top of the cliff wall and then
to crown the natural level with a flight
of towers and ramparts, from whose sum-
niits the Caribbean stretches off south,
east and west to the horizon.
Defenses of the Harbor.
For harbor defense the Morro's useful
ness ceased nearly a century ago, and the
Spaniards, with fine sense of fitness,
mounted here only the antiquated French
bronze pieces which had found their way
10 fIthn during he Af he nh,