The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-07-07

| That leaves nearly full day, reckone(
as the natives do till midnight, fol
cocktlghting, gambling and other favor
| lite advertisements. A military banC
renders excellent music in the plaza an(
the broad marble walk is filled with Sc
noras and senOritas in their best clothes
and under drifts of powder, parading tc
and fro, while admiring male on-loolters
stand in solid phalanx on either side
One is impressed with the extreme
youth of the bellies, par .eXcellence-little
girls of twelve and thirteen years being
considered of marriageable age, while
women Of twenty-five or thereabouts are
relegated to the forlorn limbs of back
numbers" If one could be satisfied
with only q pair of eyes, these under
sized and over powdered Cubans might
perhaps be pronounced the most beauti-
| full women in the world. Their eyes are
truly glorious, large, black and soulful;
| and sometimes the hair. glossy as the
raves's wing, matches the eyes to per-
| lection. They talk with their eyes,
| tlirt, cajole and capture you with them;
| but whether they could keep the aver
age American forever contented in the
bonds of matrimony Is quite another
matter About the only talking of ac-
count Cuban girl can do is with her
eyes Her tongue may chatter inces-
sanity, and generally does; but being to-
tally NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. the lives Of
the saints and little music and en-
brodery-conversati ton is not in her line.
AS a rule, all are much too stout for
their height, even in early youth, built
al md Il
amazingly broad hips; small, we'll
shaped hands and feet, full red lips and
large white teeth set apart. Though ig-
norant and unsophisticated, they make
model wives for men of their own race,
being devoted, tender and full Of gene
rous impulses, and in their homes a
charming atmosphere of virtue and sim
plicity prevails.
In all Cuban cities there are two per
formances in the theaters and opera
houses on Sundays, instead of one, as on
other days. 1T Is also the accepted time
for excursions and baseball matches;
for bull-fghts and horse-races in towns
which boast race course and plaza De
toros, and always for the SWEETEST balls
and receptions. Though it is the great
pleasure-day of the week. all the bust
ness places are open as usual, stores,
markets and other establishments doing
their best. Cienfuegos has an extraor-
binary number of cafes saloons and
club houses, in all of which liquor is
dispensed and the games of chance and
skill 50 dear to Cuban hearts, are
played. One sees drinking-places at
every corner filled with little tables
around which men are playing domi-
noes. Gin is the favorite tipple, consd-
erably diluted. Light Spanish wines
are also drunk, and numerous 'refres-
cos" made from native fruits 1t is rare
indeed that anybody to the manor born
ever becomes Intoxicated so rare
that the spectacle of a drunken Ameri-
can soldier reeling down the streets ere
ates as much excitement as a fire and
Congregates the gamin of the city.
On the Sunday evening in question l
was an interested spectator at popular
bal de masquera, or masquerade ball,
which was attended by Cienfuegos'
-four hundred" The beautiful club
house was brilliant with electric lights,
flowers and gilded mirrors, and the mu-
sic was a strange but inspiring combi
nation Of saxophone, kettle-drum brass
horn, guitars, gourd rattle and scratch
gourd. The women only We're maSqued,
and wore homemade dominoes of pink
or black cambria. At first all the ladies'
Sd. banked against the walls, like rare
flowers on exhibition, while the men
wandered awkwardly around in groups,
waiting for some daring fellow to lead
the assault; but once the ice was
broken, no further bashfulness delayed
the proceedings, and the fun waved
fast and furious till morning The ia
vorite figure is the damon" as he
Cubon waltz is called-the strangest
dance this side of the Congo. II is a
round dance" but not at all like the
waltz as we know it, for in 1t each con-
pie does not occupy more than two feet
square space and remains as if glued to
the spot from start to finish, hardly
lifting their feet from the floor, but |
swaying and wriggling their bodies to
and fro, while clasped in each other $ |
aims, with a movement suggestive of |
coochee" and other Oriental /
dances. Meanwhile the music fairly |
tngles in ones veins. Il is an irregular, |
medley-the throbbing of deep |
toned guitars, the rasping of scratch |
gourds and the sharp, ctaccato click Of !
gourd-rattles, mingled with the inter
mued thunder of drums-all |
wild and passionate, in harmony with
the ardent nature of the half-Spanish, |
half-negro population.
From grave to gay. from lively to
severe is a short transition often met
In Spanish-America The hospitals and
asylums have the mo admittance' sign
put on Sundays-probably because all
prefer the bull-fght or soma
other recreation, to entertaining stran-
gers; and so we were compelled to defer
1ur tour of inspection until Monday.
First to the great Hospital de Carload,
we'll out of the city in a high and airy
ocation We found in its office a group
IF United States army officers paying
,ff the employees for wages earned dur
ng the past two months, and learned
hat Major Hisel, the United States
lrmy surgeon in charge of the province
If Santa Clara has been providing llbe-
al rations, including eighty pounds Of
resh meat every day. The institution Is
city property, in normal times entirely
by the municipality, and re-
elves not only the sick of Cienfuegos,
nut those from other towns in the pro-
,ince For these a charge Is made
cro iy,ct Tho towns in which the DatipOts |