The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-04-07
A TRIP TO CUBA
h the Messengers Staff COrrespOn>
dent Sees on a Journey From Havana
to
Especial Correspondence.)

\oPSSiol
Raleigh, N. c., March 80.
This is to be a story about an en-
tirely impromptu trip from Havana to
Matanzas, full of interest, amusement
and profit, which began at noon March
18th and ended at night March 18th.
In an our after arrival at Camp CO.
lumbia, cal Havana, an invitation was
given to join a special party for Ma
~tanzas, and to Havana we rode in a
couple Of big army wagons. In the var
ty were Captain Alexander, regimental
adjutant of the First North Carolina
regiment; Battalion Adjutant Thomas
w. Patton, Captain John A. Wagner,
of Company F. and Mrs. Patton, Miss
Patton and Miss Josie Patton. Captain
Wagner took a dozen of the men of his
company on this most pleasant tour.
The wagon Journey to Havana, seven
miles by road, was full of incident. It
was quite anof her world, with not one
familiar scene or plant, or flower; with
utterly strange houses and people and
vehicles, The road, of limestone, is as
white n as dusty as flour. Here it
leads through an ven of royal
palms, here passes through a stone
wall and here again is bordered by an
impenetrable hedge Of cactus. All the
buildings in Cuba are of stone, and the
prevailing tint is a creamy yellow, but
there is a decided leaning towards sky
blue. Along the roa there il an endless
procession. Here is a troop of the famous
Seventh cavalry, and here a string of
army pack mules, the bellmare lead
ing with steady steps and careless
tinklings. In an enormous two wheeled
wagon Lies the driver asleep, his clum-
sy vehicle, with wheels at least six feet
high, being drawn by three mules,
tandem fashion. Here is a mule abso-
lutely concealed by an enormous
Of green corn stalks and fodder. Next
is a long string of army wagons, with
the badge of the Seventh army corps,
the familiar seven-pointed star. Little
Cubans pass and repass on their cor
respondingly little ponies, all which
have the gait known as "single foot
ing" the easiest in the world. Here
are some of the Cuban soldiers, with
only three garments, whitish yellow
shirt, jacket n trousers and straw
hat, in the hand Of each a remarkably
dirty Remington rifle, usually sawed
off," and by the side of each a very
greasy pouch, will cartridges. Here
is a milk a He, too, is on a single
footer," and sits sidewise. On either
side the animal a sack is pouched so
, as to hold a dozen or two dozen cans
of milk, which ought surely Soon to be-
come butter.
Beside the road is a Spanish block
house, Of wood, with firing holes, and
around it the inevitable ditch, border
ed on the outside with a tangle of wire
fence. The Spaniards are past masters
of the art of engineering, and of bur-
rowing in the ground, and in no place
On earth is this easier than in Cuba,
where the whole country is valley or
hill or limestone, and where the only
question is on which spot to place
your fertilization. Far up above on
the hill and commanding the bridge
and this road, is q big earth work,
deep trenched and with eight rows OF
bsrbed wire outside. Inside there IS
all sorts of protection, and murderous
arrangements for killing those who at
talk, for the Spanish habit is to stay
in your hole and only fight when at
talked.
The road winds in and out. Each
briige is of enduring stone. So are all
the buildings. Everything looks sec
ondhand, the colors are faded. Only
the Landscape is bright, a green, which
we, in the states, but seldom see, blu
which in Cuba is perpetual. Here is
Cerrp, a suburb Of Havana and really
Partlof the city, n in this house, with
yellofv body and dingy blue pillars.
the Cuban assembly meets daily.
Around the doorway hangs a dirty
mob Of the Cuban soldiers. each with
cigarette in mouth and gun in hand,
doing nothing, and therefore perfectly
happy. The sidewalks r so narrow
thai most OF the pedestrians are in