The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-07-21
LIFE IN CUBA
AS It IS TODAY
The Customs and Beliefs of
the Natives.
SANITARY CONDITIONS
PUBLIC FUNDS APPLIED FOR
PUBLIC GOOD.
PECULIAR RELIGIOUS BELIEF IN CUBA
The Erroneous Idea Given by Many Writers.
Culture is Found as in Amer ca.
Hospitality is a Not.d
Characteristic.

s'VeP'""Ny ~ :" ''~N-~
Characteristic.
The American public has so anxiously
awaited new phases in the situation in
Cuba, and has so eagerly read every
thing coming from our Nations god-chlld.
that those who have gone to the island
for the purpose of describing the existing
conditions and the customs of the ma
tives have, in their desire to please their
readers, often neglected realistics IN or
der that their articles might be more
palatabe This has naturally left IN the
United States very erroneous 1mpres-
sion. and the mind-pictures OF the island
Of Cuba, as seen by those Americans who
have not lived i'm Cuba and among those
people are very different from anything
real and true. This is not said III way
OF defence, for these people need it not;
that class needing defence is not taken
into consideration, nor does it deserve to
be, more than the Ignorant, wild and
uncultured class in our own country.
judgment of whom, if taken as the rep
resentative class, would be the grossest
injustice to the country at large.
In Cuba the classes and the masses
are as distinctively separated, if not
more SO, than in the United States, and
the higher class is as well able to handle
the great subjects of National Importance
as are our own people. This class is
composed of the property owners, and
there is "a proper realization of whar
protection is necessary and will probably
be secured by them, against the few
fanatics, who secure followers in their
own sect on account of the continued
temerity of those who have been accus-
toned to military rule with>irOn hand and
and now have opportunity for free speech
and action, and the longing for author
ity and title, which they have ever been
forced to respect.
Cubans are by no means all that they
have been pictured The men are not
near so bad as they look, while the ma
tural disposition of the women forces
the contrary verdict in their case. Men
and women alike have in the strongest
degree that characteristic for which the
people of the South are famous-hospital-
ity to those who are of station worthy
Of receiving consideration at their hands.
and in this they have good Judgment, al
ways well displayed. They are peculiar
i'm their personal likes and dislikes, ex-
tremists- in both; their manner of dis
playing their feelings depending solely
upon the class to which they belong by
birth and with which they have been
reared. They are generous to fault.
and would give their lives for person or
cause loved by them.
For the sanitary and other conditions
prevalent in Cuba prior to january list,
the Spanish Government in the Islam!
is alone responsible, no attention having
been given to the good of the people
and only the selfish greed, of the officials,
for the Almighty Dollar being given a
thought. What we in America call rob
berry Of the public treasury they learned
to consider rightful manner of secur-
ing fortune. !.
With the transfer of the reins of Govs
eminent from Spanish to American
hands the custom of applying the pub.
lie funds to private cause was ABOLISH
ed. the use of the revenues turned to-
wards cleansing the city of Havana, and
the towns of the Island and towards
the establishment Of permanent improve
ncnts for the benefit of public commerce
and industry. The transformation has
not been slow, but it is by no means COM
plete.
The work has been watched by an in
terested people, who foT the first time
in the history of their land see their pub
lie moneys applied for the public good.
Havana is today the scene of as well
perfected sanitary system as almost any
city in the United States and its streets
will compare favorably with any in Am
erica in point of cleanliness, even with
Il I,
ness of the streets and the extraordin-
ar work necessary to properly clean the
thOroughfares. The sewer dumps of the
city have been transferred from the har-
Dor to the ocean and the trash of the
city, instead of being carried into the
country, is disposed of, as is the case in
New York, by employing it from gar
bage scows, four miles at sea from the
entrance to the harbor No expense IS
being spared to make the city as healthy
as possible. and the efforts i'm this dl-
rection have been rewarded by the c>
tablishment already Of such a record
as can be boosted by only three cities.
of equal s..ze as Havana, in this county,
Americans in Cuba feel that the quar-
antine in New York against tourists from
Havana IS not more essential than quar-
antine Df Americans Ell route from New
York to Havana. And a visit to these
two cities at this time convinces one
that there is reason in this claim.
+
There arc few protestant Cubans.
There are few Cubans who study thei"
own religion sufficient to see its adyan-
tages or disadvantages and scarcely any
who can compare the merits of any two
doctrines. The priests urge the people
to conren, themselves with what they
hear and this accounts for many very
peculiar beliefs existing in the Island.
cannot make the assertion from my
own knowledge, but | have been told by
Roman Catholics in Cuba that they are
the only people in the world who believe
Christ to have been crncifed on Thurs
day and to have arisen from the dead On
Saturday. 1t is a fact that C1lbans be-
]ieye this. Why, do not know. The