The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-02-09

and dispatch. The native compound
er seizes two glasses-one very large
and heavy, the other small and thin.
With frantic haste he fill the former
with Jumps of ice, the latter with
! liquors, bitters, sweets and whatever
else may be required in cOmpounding
of a cocktail. Then, with swinging
movement which can be acquired
only by long practice, he dashes the
ice and fluid from glass to glass, as if
his life depended on it, clicking the
crystals like pair of castanets, until
all is throughly amalgamated in the
big glass. Then without losing a Sc
cond of time, he filings the mixture
| through a strainer into the little glass,
which must be exactly even full; and
then the recipient is expected to dash
it down his throat in with the same
furious energy, to smack his lips and
say it beats New York "all hoIlo:g:..
and call for more.
The funniest thing in the line of
drinking is to see the Cubans imbibe
water from a monkey Jug" or per-
one. The vessel, by the way, which
is found in every house and hotel bed
room, is a delight to the foreigners,
not only by reason of its artistic
beauty, but because it keeps the wa
ter cool in a comparatively iceless
country. There are jugs and jugs, of
varying shapes and sizes-all of gray
clay, moulded in quaint design. The
cOmmoncst are round and slender,
with two holes in each near the han
die, which is on top. One hole is per-
haps an inch in diamenter. through
which to pour the water into the Jug;
and the other, in knob which marks
the place, is not larger than the hollow
of Il goosequill. It's the old tory of
the bung and the spigot. Filled with
water, the jug is hung on a peg or any
convenient projection, in a spot that
is draughty. The currents of air
cause the thick, porous clay to per-
spire, like patient recovering from
Santiago fever and the result is
that the water is rendered cool and
wholesome. The Cuban fashion of
drinking is not to touch the vessel
with the lips, but to open the mouth
wide and, holding the jug up, to tilt
to until tiny stream trickles down
the throat, describing six-inch curve
and striking square on the root of
the tongue.
Apparently the highest social insti-
tuition of Cienfuegos is the Sunday
evening promenade in the plaza, aud
without it | really do not know how
the young people of the aristocracy
would manage to mate and marry.
During all the week senoritas of the
upper class are kept under rigid re-
striction, never permitted to walk
out alone and constantly watched by
parents and duennas,as if expected to
go to the bad if allowed the smallest op-
portunity. This system of eternal
vigilance would doubtless become as
irksome to the guardians as to the
opening buds were it not so soon over.
AT the age of thirteen Cuban girl is
considered quite old enough to marry,
and her parents hunt up a son-in-law
without delay-unless. as is more
commonly the case, some subrosa
lover annOuces himself, or a match,
satisfactory to paterfamilias, was ar
ranged for her with the son of friend
while the pair We're yet in their era
dies. The beauty and charm of the
fair Cubans are as evanescent as ire
sistible while they last. Like the
lovely wild flower of their island, they
mature very early, but fade as rapid
ly. The prettiest girl will be plain
before she is thirty; and a handsome
middle-aged woman is not to be found
in Cuba-if anywhere outside the
temperate zone.
FANNIE Il. WARD.