The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-15
WAYS OF CUBAN TEACHERS.
CONTRADICTIONS IN THEIR NAkE.UP
AND kE1HODs w DOING THINGS.

Their Deep sympathy ana Their frivolity
Their Energy and Their La~aEsor-inno-
cent Desire TO Know Mhat Things Cost
-Frsaknsss About Their Family Affairs
Tho Girls Declared awkward In Dancing.
CAMBRIDGE. July iA-It takes no gift to
perceive that the Cuban teachers now In Cam
bridge possess characteristics which ars
strikingly diversified. They are at once so
gay aud 80 sad. SO INDECENT and so industrious.
80 confidential and 80 reserved. SO enthusiastic
and 80 phlcgmatic. so frank and 30 r%eticent.
10 graceful and 80 awkward A certain Rad
cliYe cottage girl ohaperon lives with her charges
In a pleasant house on one Of those streets. be-
hind Christ Church. which. a. all Harvard
men will remember. are most easily reached
by the convenient little alley which runs past
that old buTying ground, where repose the
dust and ashes OF u number Of our Civil and
Revolutionary War heroes. Somehow the Cu-
bans got 1t into their heads that these men
had persisted In the struggle for Cuba libre.
The result was that that method Of reaching
home had to be abandoned. Each individual
senorita would otherwise have insisted VI on
staying indefinitely to weep over the graves
Of the dead. They are 30 - mrathetic that
when one Of their number. whom most Of them
do not even know. received the other day .
telegram that her mother was III the whole
Cuban band was dissolved In tears. Yet from
all this laohrymal indulgence q snatch OF gay
music. o mazurka played on a cracked piano
by one OF their number. will bring them back
In a brief five minutes.
And II they are INDECENT and procrastinating
they are also f~uriously energetic. They spend
hours In dolce far niente and in arranging their
toilet for the slightest festivity. but they will
study on the stairs by the dim hall lamp long
after they are supposed to he In bed. and they
frequently rise as early az 8 In the morning
20 attack an English lesson. Before the school
sessions opened they couldn't be gotten up
before p.
What Q Cuban sehorita hasn't told her SYM
pathetic chaperon about herself and her family
at the end Of fifteen minutes acquaintance
isn't In the least worth knowing. One girl
had invited her social Achates to come and
see her in Cuba next summer five minutes after
their first meetingl Yet concerning many
commonplace things these damsels are ex-
tremely reserved.
As for enthusiasm-well. their self-impelled
Fourth Of July tribute TO Washington shows
what they can do in this direction. And they
will raise vivas any time and anywhere for
Alexis Frye. Yet they say very little. con-
sidering that they are country folk who have.
many of them, never before been more than
q few miles from home. About the elaborate
ness with which they are being entertained
here Los Estsdos Unidos Is vera MICA place
that's about all.
"Quanto." said the sehorita az she entered
the room and. without a moments hesitation.
walked up TO a pretty American In a muslin
gown. "Ilka that. How muchG" The Ameri-
can was unused TO such Ii HUG Chang in
terrogations, so she merely remarked that
her mother had bought the dress for her. This
quite satisfied the Cuban girl. She was abb
solutely unconscious that she had said any
thing unusual or that her American guide had
eyaded any query. They have almost all OF
them two months salary to spend. and they
want to gather such information as shall enable
them to use 1t to good advantage. Hence
their naive questions. Yet they never think
Of telling their chaperons how much they paid
for their clothes.
Surely one might reasonably have expected
that these dangerous beauties. with their
natural grace Of figure. should dance divinely.
But they don't. Their Habanera (Havana
dance) and their Zapeteo Ia kind Of jig) are
as ugly In movement as their dancers are awk-
ward In q vain attempt to make the things
beautiful. The msn lead badly and the girls
ara not even a little bit attractive as they jerk
through the stiff measures. As for the music.
1t has neither rhythm nor harmony. 1t Ia
as slam-bangy as Q hurdy -gurdy overture
in ertrem1. Nor do the Cubans seem to get
a lot Of enjoyment out OF these dances. They
look through them all a. solemn a. the best
man at a wedding and they speak never a word
to each other as they perform their marionetto-
Ike revolutions.
But they are gorgeous when they q to .
ball, The girls spend two hours and = half
on their toilet and then come down with face
and neck a shastly white from powder. They
can't understand why Americans neglect TO
avail themselves Of this aid to charm You
do look pretty one group chorused to their
chaperon nj the last ball. but why not some
poder. just M poQuito. only the vee'est bit'
But she was firm a. she explained that in
America We don't use 1t Ike that. at least Soma
Of US don't.