The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1899-02-16

/ dS IL Is now
the more money he gets. To study tie
thing out, it was this way: There was
twenty per cent. premium on American
gold over Spanish gold and twenty per
cent. on Spanish gold as compared with
silver. Thus out Of the original Ameri-
can five dollar gold piece, | bought eight
expensive drinks and still had So. so in
bar keeper had swindled me ont of fifteen
| cents exchange"
In the Cuban calendar there are no
fewer than 250 ''holy days." Sundays in :
cluded, in which nobody can be legally
compelled to labor-neither the man-ser-
want nor the maid servant, nor the OK,
nor the ass, nor, perforce, the stranger
within the gates. With such extraordi-
nary Difference to the saints and angels
this ought to be the most religious coun-
try under the sun; but, unfortunately
after haSty prayers in the early morning
the natives employ the remainder of
| their fiesta days in bull batting, cock
| fighting, the lottery, the ball, the
theatre, instead of IN attendance on
heavenly personages. Sunday is the great
gala day of the week, distinguished by
the added brilliancy of every street scene
in the best clothes of the populace. bois-
ferrous masquerade PROFESSIONS ten fold
activity in shops, saloons and theatres,
and noisy persistency of lottery veniers.
/ Bull fighting is as dear to the native heart
as ever, though owing to hard times the
expensive amusement is now confined to a
few of the larger cities and certain seasons
of the year. But the Cuban village must
be poor, indeed, which has not its several
cock-pits, in full blast at least one day in
seven, wherein crowds of men bet their
last real on favorite birds aud 90 wild With
excitement over the edifying spectacle of
two miserable roosters clawing each other
to death. The inveterate gambling pro-
pensity of the people also finds vent in
dominoes, chess, bacarat and a thousand
other games of chance and skill, in which
ladies may also indulge in the privacy of
home-aLd seldom without stakes. The
Cuban female goes into gambling with
the same innocent zest which distinguishes
her sister women of Northern villages
who find their highest ambition realized
in the Clone hand prize of progressive
euchre. In this part of the world, every
table in hotels, bar rooms, club houses
and cafes is in requisition all day long and
far into the night on Sundays, for gaming
purposes. In these January days it looks
odd enough to eyes fresh from the snowy
North, to see the marble floors of all the
finest cafes sprinkled tn dampened saw
dust, with view to GOODNESS, like Bowerv
beer halls in the thirsty days of August.
| have excellent American authority for
the statement that the Cuban bar keepers
out Herod Herod in the matter of manu-
featuring cock tails with energy and dis
patch The native compounder seizes
two glasses-one very large and heavy,
the other small and thin. With frantic
haste he fills the former with Jumps of ice,
the latter with the liquors. bitters, sweets
ana whatever else may be required in the
compromising of a cock tail. Then, with
a swinging movement, which can be ac-
quired only by long practice, he dashes
the ice and fluids from glass to glass, as
if his life depended on it, clicking the
crystal like pair of castinels until all is
thoroughly amalgamated in the big glass.
Then, without losing a second of time he
filings the mixture through a strainer into
the little glass, which must be exactly
even full; and then the recipient is ex-
pected to dash it down his throat with the
same furious energy, to smack his lips
and say it beats New York ''all hollow
and call for more.
The funniest thing in the line of drink
irg is to see the Cubans imbibe water
from ''monkey-jug, or perone. The
vessel, by the way, which is found in
every house and hotel bedroom, is de-
light to the foreigner, not only by reason
of its artistic beauty, but because it keeps
the water cool in comparatively iceless
country. There are jugs and jugs, of
varying shapes and sizes-all of gray clay,
moulded in quaint design. The COM
monest are round and slender, with two
holes in each near the handle, which is on
top. One hole is perhaps an inch in
diameter, through which to pour the
water into the jug; and the other, in a
knob which marks the place, is not larger
that the hollow of goose quill. 1t is the
old story of the bung and the spigot
Filled with water, the jug is hung on a
peg or any convenient projection, in spot