The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-02-21

these mantillas were worth as much AS
$500
low is the hotel service in Ia-
yana?' he was asked
The buildings are handsome struc.
lures, but my, the service and the
pricc-and the food is as bad as the
| price is high. The rates are from
$500 10 s. % day, and none Of them
will compare at all to our average 50
a day American hotels. These hotels
are run by rich class of Spaniards.
had to climb mp three flights Of
stairs with my baggage at one Of the
best hotels simply because the clcva-
tor only runs two hours in the morn
ing and two hours in the evening, and
/ ! struck it at the wrong time
did you see much drunkenness on
the island"
II never saw but one drunken man
during my ten days stay on the is
land. ] venture to say that Havana
IS as we'll policcd as any city in the
United States. The police force there
is composed Of native Cubans, but is
directly under the control Of Amcri-
can army officers. The people as a
class arc plcasur" loving people. In
the evenings they 4sscmblc in large
numbers in the parks, prados and
cafes. ln cafes they sit and enjoy
light refreshments and the delightful
cigarettes and cigars for which the is.
land is noted
Ut IL very rare thing. however, to
sec lady smoking in Havana. Twas
told that some of them did smoke, but
II they do it is in the privacy Of their
homes. 1t is the custom, however,
to smoke in Cuba wherever you choose.
and in the very best cafcs.it is not an
unusual thing to see gentlemen at Ia
bles with ladies smoking during the
course of meal"
How do people succeed who 70
from the States to Cuba with little or
no money!"
I'm answer to that | want to saw
that the idea that a man can 70 from
the States without capital and with
out knowledge of the language
or customs Of the people over there
and succeed is very fallacious ono.
and my advice to any young man who
contcmplatcs going to Cuba is to STAY
away unless he has a good position as
surcd him, or has ample means to
maintain himself until he is able to
learn the language and establish him
self with the people there.
~ great many adventurous Amcri-
cans have gone to Cuba In the vain
hope of getting something. In many
instances they have lost what little
they did have, and on account of frc-
quent unfortunate experiences with
such people the native merchant looks
upon the average American with sus-
picion. a prominent mana Span
lard stated to me that he did not care
to do business with Americans who had
come to the island to engage in busi-
ness.
This does not apply, of course, to
every one who goes there from the
States, but indicates in general way
the feeling of the business people
there
"What kind of business men do the
natives make, Mr.. Dobbs?"
Splendid. The business training
of the native merchants has been good
They pay their bills, and transactions
as q rule are cash ! vas reliably in
formed that's during the long and de-
pressing business experience during
the war there was not single failure
in Havana. TIE merchants owned
their stock, owed nothing, and were
able to close their doors and suspend
business at their pleasure.
every little banking is done in Ha-
vana. Merchants carry their surplus
money in their own safes and do not,
as a rule, use bank for deposit pur-
poses.
How about the manufactures over
thcrc?" was asked.
"Wcll, some things in tha line sur
rriscd me. For instancc-and this
may be of interest to many-one con-
Germ in Havana manufactures line
Of fine soaps and perfumes equal to
any made in France or Germany.
Some Of the soap manufactured by
this concern rctais as high as 73 cents
per cake. The style and appearance
Of these goods compare favorably with
| any [ have ever seen. The art and