The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-07-12
A VISIT TO CUBA.
A Former Anderson Lady Writes an In
tereSting Letter.
.Southvn fIristiun d,irocutc.


have few. The windows and doors
are OF fancy iron grill work or among
poorer people Of wopd Tie hairs Of
bent wood rockers. and straight sitting
chairs.
The Churchc., or Cathcdrals are the
only building, very much ornamcntcd.
Some Of them have magnificent, hand
some hand hammered silver altars,
figures and ,hrlncs, even the lamps
and understands are Of this precious
metal The floors are stone or marble
and no benches or chairs, these are
carried by servants for the wealthy
Just before service commences. The
poor people take theirs with them
camp-mccting fashion. Whites and
blacks worship together, and the feas
are no resrcctors Of persons, they creep
and crawl and bite till one looks as if
he had chickcnpox. The people pay
little attention to the service and none
to the sermon, chattcring while the
priest delivers his discourse.
Mr.. Donaldson has already written
about some of the customs. Women
cannot walk alone on the streets, girls
must always have ducnna along.
One pretty little scnorita educated
in the United States said, eve would
like to 80 out alone, talk to the gentle
men. ETC., and we are anxious for
American customs to come in.
Life is taken easily, and certainly
housekeeping duties arc light. Nature
Is so lavish one could almost live on
her productions without cooking.
Vegetables arc in season all the
year round. those wo have and many
atrangc varieties. Bananas, lines and
locoanuts are always to be had. The
orange, (thc best), do not last very
long and are succeeded by small, bitter
varieties. l had fresh strawberries
from open gardens in March, and the
gentleman who raised them said he
had them since November.
The cooking is done by natives in
small iron pans, supported by three
iron pegs. The bottom has holes so
ashes can fall below on the floor.
Charcoal is used, and frying, boiling
and stcwing is done on these pans.
An old fashioned oven is built at one
side and suppose is used on grand
occasions. The one at the hotel
never saw used. The bread is bought
from men who bake and deliver it to
your door. Most of it is in roll form
and ry white and very hard, but
ligh6 and pretty good after you become
accustomed to it. The meals are: first
coffcc and rolls early in the morning,
breakfast from 10 to IL, dinner from
to 6. Some have supper. Dinner
and breakfast always begin with soup,
then vegetables, stews, fritters, ONE
lettes, etc, in courses, salad and
usually crisp. fresh lettuce, dessert
then last delicious coffee, the kind
that the colonel of our regiment says
you have to get up and salute.
American Beauty and Marshal Mel
roses, blooming in open air during our
winter months, seemed queer, but
were so beautiful. Palms of all de-
scriptions and ever almond trees
flourish. The Cubans say the Spanish
cut trees all in and around the city,
afraid Of ambuscades and 80 many
handsome gardens aud yards are in
ruins. Nature will restore all this in
few years, as the soil is 80 rich any
thing stuck in the ground grows. Po-
tatocs have to be planted once, also
sugar cane.
The city of Puerto Principe, or the
port of the Prince, was originally on
the coast where Nueritas now is, but
the marshes around produced malaria
so the town was moved back up into
the hills N the interior. The last
accounts give the number of inhabi-
tants as 10000, making this the third
city in size in Cuba, Havana and San
tiago ranking first and second respec-
lively. The houses arc the same as
already spoken of and the city looks
like an old Moorish town transplantcd
in Cuba.
Of course there are lots of converts
and monasteries, this being Catholic
country. So on the queer, narrow,
winding streets that all look alike, one
frequently meets nuns and priests and
monks, each dressed in black, gray or
maroon, according to his or her order.
1t was on the train I saw the first
bare-footed, shaveheaded priest. Most
of them are very jolly-looking, and
from appearances live we'll, on the fat