The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-29
LIFE IN CUBA'S CAPITAL.
YOUNG sAvANNAHIAN's OBsERVA-
TIONs IN HAVANA.

a Country for Young Americans to
Seek Their FOrtanes-ToO Many
Are Going There Now-"Stay
Where You Are" Frank Hogan's
Advice of Savannah Boys.
Although it is a trip of but forty-eight
hours from beautiful Savannah to pictur-
esque Havana, I am as much in a foreign
| country as if 1 had crossed the ocean. Ra-
vana is Spanish in every sense Of the word.
The streets, judging from their width
were only made to accommodate wheelbar-
rows, and the sidewalks were not made to
accommodate anything at all The latter
are about the size of window-slls. in some
places being not more than half a foot in
width 1t is hardly possible they were
ever intended to serve as sidewalks, but as
curbings to protect the houses from vehic-
! les passing by. Obspo and OReiny, the
principal business streets in the cily, are
built in this manner. The roadways ,.re
of cobblestone and the noise by the heavy
two-wheel wagons continuously passing
over them beggars description. Converse
ton in the streets is am impossibillty.
The large square and solidly built houses
are the first thing that strike an American
as being something new. The walls are
from three to four feet in thickness; the
stairways marble; the floors marble Or
tile; the fiat tile roofs are the Fairgrounds
of the children. Every house is built alike
and every house has its courtyard; these
court yards in some of the finer dwellings
are rich in tropical growth The beautiful
palms and ferns that adorn the homes OF
| even the poorest would delight the hearts
| of the ladies of Savannah. Everything IS
| inclosed behind bars; sometimes the ordi-
| nary jail-like iron bars. oftener a beautiful
| design of wrought It is odd to look
| through this fancy iron work and see
| among the palms within, the senorita sew
| ing, or perhaps wiping the powder ana
perspiration off her face with the ever
| present little fan moving 10 and fro. In
other houses one can see oxen gazing out
! of the front windows; presumably house
| hold pets The family carriage also
! stands in the hail. 1 said everything is
inclosed behind bars. / might add, with
| the possible exception of some peculiar
odors which l hope the American author-
ties will soon find a way to confine.
! The early morning hours are the busiest
! hours of the day The stores are open for
| business al a. m, after the cup Of strong
| coffee and a Spanish rolI Breakfast is eat
| en- at 10 TO II a m, in the store: dinner at
/
m, the stores are closed and proprietor
| and employees go TO bed, ats9 in the store.
They are born, raised, live and die at
their places of business. Ii is this tireless
| application to business that makes the ma
| tive merchants splendid business men. Be
| fore coming to Havana 1 mad heard il ar
gued that if this were true Spain would BE-
far in advance of her present position in
! the commercial word; why such Is moi The
case l am unable 10 say. Il is fact that
| in Havana, with a single exception, ali the
clothing and haberdasher stcrest which in
! the States are almost exclusively controlled
! by Hebrew merchants, are owned and
managed by Cubans and Spanards. Its the
only place in the world outside of France
where our Hebrew friends have not
ghost of a show, and to one acquainted
with the energy and thrift Of John China
man and the even and industrious life he
leads in the States, it viii be astonishing
10 learn that Havana possesses a wonder
in the shape of a Chinese beggar.
styles in Dress.
The young women are pretty-some OF
them. The old women are hideous-all of
them. Everylhing in the female ne We airs
mantillas, except the hi.dren In the CEN
ter of Havana, when not in their court
yards, most of these dressed as scantily as
the law enacted since Gen. Ludlow ar
rived VIII permit, but in all of he many
pretty suburbs of Havana the childrs run
around clad only in a dark skin, tanele
of black hair and a grin. At first It was
quite embarrassing VIXEN walking with a
| lady TO come suddenly uI on group of to
| 10-year-o ds 10th sexes. thus Y clad; but
one gels used 10 that, in fact, we get used
TO anything here.
The Cubans and Spaniards have their
own ideas of d ess. The women dress in al;
the colors Of the rainbow regardless of
whether they blend wei or not They even
color and powder their faces pr fuse Y, aud
many an OF e wise p city sin is made ugly
| by the DrolusiJn of paint and powder put
on in anything but an artistic
manner The trousers worn by the men
attract the Americana instantly. Al the
waist they are as tight as the wearer can
stand them, then they swell out to balloon
like proportions and become small again
at the ankles. These trousers are no doubt
cool and comfortable in this climate but
they give one the impression that the
wearer is being choked by his pants"
"Pantaloons' is what they are termed:
its strictly the only proper name.
About every other place IN Havana Is
cafe. There are thousands of them
These cafes are all spacious, with marble
floors and countless liltle tables at which |
at all hours of the day and night the peo-
PIE sit and sip. The cafes open on the
sidewalks and are not walled in the
screen-door Of the American bar is never
used. Everyone drinks in public. The
boys from the States say It's a hard thing
to get used to. 1t is indeed a strange
crowd one sees in the SWEETEST cafes, here
the merchant and the bootbiack the
banker and the beggar, the society swell
and the newsboy, mingle promiscuous,y !
The natives are learning to drink beer
something which, prior to the American
occupation, could not find market here
they are also acquiring a taste for Amer |
lean whiskies, and now aud then you hear
these two beverages called for instead OF
the wine and cognac formerly universally |
used This is a sure sign that they are |
becoming civilized. or, IL you prefer |
Americanized. The whisky bottle played |
an important part in the civilization of the |
Indian.
Done with n Hiss.
One of the curious customs here Is the |
manner Of calling a waiter, cabman or |
horse car driver. You hiss them-Sizzt! |
and you never fail TO get EN-. In cafe |
you hiss and the waiter comes and then |