The times., 1899-05-26
AN ANCIENT TOWN IN CUBA.
scenes in the Dusty Precincts of
Pinnr del Rio,


Pinar del Rio, Cuba. May 95.-The trav-
eler gasps as he gets off at this low, fiat
station. 1t has taken the slow moving
train just six hours to cover the 125 miles
from Havana. He wipes his face as he
pulls up, after a five-minute drive, at a
hotel on a hot and dusty street in a dirty
sleepy town. This is Pinar del Rio, the
centre of the finest tobacco district in
Cuba. The surrounding country witnessed
some OF the hottest fights of the late wa
between the insurgents and their oppres-
sors. Rough, uneven sidewalks, some not
two feet wide, extend along foul smelling,
unpaved streets. The houses. with tiled
roofs and barred windows. have each a
portico fronting the sidewalk and sup
ported by massive columns. The fronts
are gayly colored, but the accumulated
dust and dirt gives the streets somore,
dull appearance.
Everyone smokes. The gaudily dressed
Cuban senorita with her heavily powdered
face. puifs her cigar with as much gusto
as the old weather beaten beggar on the
corner. Children destitute OF clothing are
seen everywhere. Scarce old enough to
walk. they beg money in the street. Dusky
Cuban soldiers, with knife and machete
slung to their side, loaf around the grog
ne BdhtT uldhts his iOuiu5 aAOStr
with high hamper on his head, and ey-
cry few steps utters his cry, "Panadero!
Panadero!" The active, hustling Yankee,
the frugal Hebrew. and the lazy cigarette
smoking Latin jostle one another in the
street. Water carts go round dispensing
the precious fluid at cents gallon.
Beer costs 20 cents a glass. Bananas here,
at the home of the banana, are more costly
than in the States. Eggs, at cents apiece,
are not very numerous on ones bill of fare.
Chickens cost 81. American plows are be-
ing introduced, and will soon displaee the
clumsy, primitive native implement.
American goods at two to three prices
are to be seen in all the stores. american
Grocer" American Baker" and "Ameri-
can Restaurant" are common signs over
Cuban stores. theatre, bowling alley,
and merry go round are all we'll patron
lied An electric light plant is situated
half mile from town. Immense carts
drawn by oxen bring in tobacco from the
country. Others are drawn by three small
mules, hitched tandem-wise and jingling
the bells OF their gayly decorated harness.
Small ponies come in almost smothered
under a huge mass of green forage, and
long trains of pack mules go out heavily
laden with merchandise for the interior.
Almost all the inland trade is carried on
by pack mules, and anything from sew
ing machine TO a live hog may be seen
slung on their backs.
The country is, owing to its elevation,
the healthiest in Cuba, and the land is
fertile beyond belief. But the natives,
though good -Datured and hospitable, are
dirty and indolent. and inclined to resent
any interference with their habits. Al
ready they say that they have swapped
their Spanish mother for an American
step mother.
OFF to the south and east is a fiat country
studded with palms, and the small thatch-
ed huts OF the natives. To the north and
west rises a range of curious mountains,
not sharp and peaked, but crumpled, hump
ed and distorted. seeming like some weird
fantastic animals grazing on the far hori-
zon. Safe within their pine-clad bosoms,
the ragged rebels used to hide. Here and
there guarding the passes, an old Spanish
The old Spanish quartet or barracks is be-
ing renovated for use as quarters by the
infantry. The townsmen tell, with forci-
BILE exclamations and animated gestures,
how the ghosts Of murdered Cubans nightly
haunt its inner walls.
Just beyond barracks are being built for
the cavalry. and mechanics are in great de-
mand. But the town, hot and dusty, sleeps
beneath the noon-day sun. And over all
and around all. floating thick as leaves In
Valambrosa, the ever-present buzzard cir
cles laZily. He roosts on the royal palms
perches on the backyard fences, and
stands sentry on the roof-peaks of the
houses, the dark, repulsive Cuban seaven-
ger.