The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-11-06

and blonde wig. The word milagro
means miracle" and each symbol de-
I notes soliditled prayers for divine in
! telposition in the devotees behalf
According to Cuban belief, no wish of
| the heart is too insignificant or purely
| personal to be brought before the all
sympathizing mother in the form of a
| small image. blessed by the priest and
hung before her shrine. Though the
collection embraces some queer things,
the spectator feels no inclination to
smile at the simple faith, but rather
stands abashed at his own lack of 1t.
| There are miniature legs and arms
without number, clutches, trusses, even
ears, noses. moustaches. sets of teeth,
| breasts with cancers In them, little
men and women aud babies galore. Ev-
| cry imaginable disease and intirmity is
! portrayed, from a sabre-cut to snake
bite from scrofula~sores to elephantisis.
Thousands who came on crutches and
now walk on perfect legs, attribute
| their recovery to the Virgins notice of
their blessed milagro and the long
childless mother presses her baby 70
her breast. undoubtlng that like Sahah
of old, she owes the little one to super
! natural aid. Is a poor womans cow or
pig or donkey lost, she goes at once to
somebody skilled in whiting, pays a
few pesetas to have a representation Of
the animal cut in wood, and gets the
priest to bless it and hang it on the sa-
cred wall; and then she kneels before
it and patiently waits, firm in the be-
lief that heavenly hands will guide the
1, mn ~,
Of this worlds goods express their
hearts desires in gold and silver. Does
young man want a sweetheart a
young woman lover, nothing is easier
than to have the silversmith manufac-
ture his or her counterfeit PRESENT.
ment, Perhaps the twain meet at the
altar before their respective milagros
and the virgin helps them out in the
good old wass approved of lovers since
Father Time was himself a boy. At
any rate. the newly welded couple al
ways come to give the priest a bonus
and to offer their mutual thauksgivlngs
at this holy shrine.
What becomes of all the milagros,
which in course of years must accumu-
late by tons? When the walls become
over-crowded the oldest are taken
down, the wooden ones are presumably
used to cook the priests dinner and
those of more value are sold for the
benefit of the church. In the pawn
shops of every Cuban city you may buy
plenty of these second hand prayers, so
to say, for a few pennies each; and the
proprietors will assure you that their
virtue is undimmed
From Montserrat chapel the visitor
will do well to continue his drive to the
caverns of Belamar. Descending the
heights to the old highway known as
Belle-Vista ("Beautiful Niew"9 is an
experience to be remembered. The
prospect is glorious-of tranquil sea,
emerald valleys dotted With palms and
villas. and the old city following the
sem-circular sweep of the bay, with its
three rivers running through; but the
shaking-up one gets. as the reckless
Jehu urges his wiry horses over the
boulders at the top of their speed
threatens to dslccate every bone in
ones body. The bayroad is lined for
some distance with handsome resi-
dences, Moorish, Greek and Italian in
architecture, all with deliberately orna-
mented facades and verandas facing the
sea. But most of them are now empty,
their once-wealthy owners being dead or
returned to Spain, and silence and de-
cay broods over all. Right here, it
seems to me. Is wonderful opportuni-
ty for American capital. Scores of
splendid mansions some of them fully
furnished, may be bought for 1.-THE Of
their value. and Matanzas is sure to
become again the metropolis of Cuba,
The melancholy impression produced
by so much departed grandeur is hap
PLY dispelled when Belle Vista boule-
ward abruptly ends at a sharp turn of
the shore and wide marine view is
unfoded. Swinging close to the surf
the road fairly doubles upon itself as it
climbs the hills through the dry bed of
mountain torrent The ramshackle
frame building erected over hole in
the ground which leads to the caverns.
is guarded by a Chinaman and his SER
wants, who act as guides The former
explains, in excellent Castilian, that
the land round about Is his private
property, and that he, himself, discov-
cred holloWness beneath about thirty
years ago. Flowing his yam-patch one
day, he tumbled huge boulder out of
the way and was amazed to see it slide
through a thicket and sink out of sight,
with hollow reverberations from the
depths of the earth. Though considera-
bly, scared, curiosity led him to invest-
gate. Following the tobogganSide
made by the rolling stone, he came to
an immense circular chamber, walled
as by art, from which many narrow
passages diverged to unknown regions
in total darkness beyond Every subse-
quant exploration disclosed fresh Won
ders. Miles of tunnels, winding in and
out among the coral foundati tons of the
island have been marked in some man
ner known only to the guides; and
without their clue the stranger would
surely lose himself in the labyrinth.
There is every reason to believe that
only small portion of the chain of cav
ems has yet been seen by human eyes.
for comparatively few of the passages
have been explored. and fewer followed
to their end. For several years the
Of Bellamar enjoyed quite a
boom, everybody who came to Matan-
zas visited them and the lucky pro-
prietor abandoned his yam-patch for
the bountiful harvest of tips" When
the war broke out the Spanish authori-
ties closed this entrance and stationed a
guard over it, fearing that the rebels