The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-28
THOSE CUBAN TEACHERS.
PECULIARITIEs OF THE INTEREST
ING VISITORS To OLD HARVARD

Shrubs-Their Serenade of Prof
Frye-PeOpIc Who Would Enter
tain Them for Notoriety's Sake.
Taking Cats Home.
From the New York Sun.
Cambridge Mass, July 22-The Cubans
continue to be the most interesting phe-
omena that Harvard University has stud
led in many a year. Though they have
been here nearly three weeks now time
does not fade nor custom stale their in
finite variety. The Boston newspapers
devote something like a column day
to the chronicling of their latest eccen-
tricities and none the less the newspaper
reading public clamors for more 1t seems
impossible to give people a surfeit of the
Cuban senoritas And indeed they are
charming, these strange beautiful, elu-
sive girls who f1irt mildly with the Har-
ward guides, who embrace their chaberon
on an average of ten times in five min
utes who go to bed when it thunders and
dance with every evidence of delight
through an evening of such heat a $ brings
down strong men in anguish to the sea !
Is it any wonder that we steady going
ed to their enhancing personality?
They are so naive, so ingenious. Last
Sunday, for instance, when they went
out to a reception on the beautiful Sar-
gent estate which adjoins Mrs. Jack Gard
ner's place in Brookline, an estate pos
sessing trees which are a wonder for
miles around and where 90 pluck bits of
souvenir stuff is almost to commit an un-
pardonable crime against the god Prof
Of -
borteum worships, how funny it was to
see the sang froid with which the youths
and maidens innocently displayed 20 their
host and hostess the pretty things they
were taking away with them in order
that they might better remember the
pleasant afternoon! OF course, Prof
Sargent smiled as did also his charming
wife Al such times the Cubans are like
happy children in their innocence and joy.
They are instinctively well-bred, though.
They would sooner have gone 10 ball
without powder on their faces than have
done such a thing a $ pick Prof Sargents
shrubs if they had not felt chat to him
as to them the act gave pleasure. In
Cuba host lays his all at his guests
feet How should they know that our
manners and customs are different? In
deed, they are almost pathetic in their
endeavor to conform in all things to that
them. There have been reports that the
girls were not amenab,e to chaperon rule,
but this is false. They are almost cling
ing in their deVOtions to the young col
lege women. who are doing so much to
make the Cambridge days pleasant ones.
Almost all the senoritas brought from
their own home pretty things to give the
lady with whom they should have most
TO do and the distribution of these little
trc
in all the experience of the chaperons.
Then al the balls the girls are so anxious
60 have the young men with whom they
are dancing know how kind the chaperon
is to them! They endeavor in very pretty
quaint English 10 perform a presentation
after the American mode and then the
Cuban youth always asks in his best
manner 20 see the chaperon's card. Thus
il comes about that many an American
maid who has resolved not to see any
thing of the Cuban men-that's not her
duty-fnds herself dancing quite content
edlv with the slim gentlemanly youths
whom her charges devotion has led up
for her kind attention.
II would be interesting to know whether
in the long run the Cubans or the Amerl-
cans will be most educated by the Ito
plan educational scheme for which MT
FRYE may be thanked We are learning so
I1llcD
Of gentleness, of breadth and of the mel
lowing influence of enthusiasm. Spon-
taneity Americans have always recog-
nized as a beautiful thing in the abstract,
but we really know very little of spirit
like that which sent some Cubans frantl-
Caffv about Cambridge on last Tuesday
morning looking for a band with which 20
serenade in the evening the man they
almost worship, Alexis Frye. They mad
1I,,vrv int
last Tuesday was Mr.. Frye's birthday,
and although the person who should have
known best about the matter asserted that
he had a distinct impression that ms
birthday came in November the celebra-
tors were nor to be denied their pleasure
by a little discrepancy like this and, fall
ing 10 secure a band, practiced piuckily
ell the afternoon on My Country lis OF
Thee" and other well-established favor
ties that they might chant these stirring
tunes outside MIR Fryes window in the
evening.
AS il happened the performance began
in good season for there was dance at
the gymna SUM and, of course, the girls
could not miss that. So they all came
together early outside President Eliot S
house, where Mr.. Frye is now staying, and
made elaborate music in the air for some
half or three-quarters of an hour. Mean
English custom of cheering the waits
with something warm bethought himself
that he, on such tOrrid night ought 10
sustain his serenaders with something
cool What to do, however was the ques-
ton The thirst of several hundred Gu
bans would not be easy for the best house
keeper in the world to quench at short
notice and the Fryes are not really house
keeping at all-they merely lodge at the
Presidents house and get their meals at
commons. But the mind that put throus h
project so vast as the bringing of the
Cuhans to America was not TO be dismay-
ed by a difficulty so trivial as the enter
tainment off hand of a few hundred warm
thirsty people So with a gracious come
over to the square aud have some ice
cream soda" the hero of the evening
emerged from his retreat and happy
crowd of Cubans set out to make a Hdr-
ward Square druggist momeutarily afIlu-
ent.
Ready indignation as well as charming
affability is, however, to he found among
the emot ons with which Mr. Frye is
equipped on one occasion this week this
indignation was not altogether to be con-
Cemned for its cause was a lot of dis
ttacted mail inquiries from Cuba evoked
by the cabling over of carel less dispatches
made IN from the scare heads Boston
paper had half jol1ingly displayed one day
last week The story to which the head
lines had been attached was an innocuous
tale of the discrepancy which everybody