The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-05-20
HORSE SENSE IN CUBA
People Eat, Drink and Wear
What They Like
AS THEY DO ELSEWHERE
Some Fool Notions About
Climate and DieteticS.

| Se0'Oh seeHlS 10 nave set III
earnest, as it rains evedy day In
stead if being disagreeable, they are tn,
opposite, being cooling and refreshing
the atmosphere and keeping everything
bright and clean; the grass growing Wig
orouSly and thick, resembling a wheat
field just before beginning to bloom
while the growing crops thrive in a way
to delight the appetite of an epicure
Immediately after the rain the sun
bursts out smiling, and except for the
moisture under foot one would never
know il had rained. There is no such
thing as a cloudy day here and If one
delights in sunshine here is certainly the
place to find il. The sun shines all the
time in season and out, except at night,
when the great round tropical moon
casts its radiance over the scene. The
| evenings are always cool with a light
| breeze blowing, while the nights are cold
| enough to make a pair Of blankets COM
| Portable. There is no winter, but from
| October until July the weather is one
long succession of spring days, with no
| wind except a light breeze. No dust and
| no parched skins. One never sees dust
| on the leaves here and it is unknown in
| the houses.
There have been more ridiculous things
| said and written about Cuba than any
| other place on earth. Some of them
would make a. horse laugh. Last month
! a prominent magazine published an ar
| ticle on life in the tropics and tmong
| other things gave explicit directions as
| to keeping cool at night. The writer
gravely stated that in Cuba and Porto
| Pico the sultry nights prevented sleep
| and advised all going there to carry
with them a rubber air bag to be placed
between the legs so as to diminish the
| heat and have a tendency to keep them
| cool. 1 wonder why he didn't recommend
sleeping in bath tub filled with water.
Perhaps, though, he thought the water
boiled and the occupant would be cooked
before morning.
II any one wants information as to
hot nights let him ask the boys who
went through the Santiago campaign.
and he will find that keeping cool at
night was no difficulty. It was the keep
ing warm that bothered and prevented
sleep. The first night after landing
there the order came not to unroll the
blankets but sleep under arms ready for
instant action. The night was clear
with no sign of rain, so every one
thought blankets were not necessary. so
no one grumbled. Before morning. how
ever, it was so cold that fire had been
built around which we huddled to keep
warm and when morning came It showed
each blanket in its proper place COW
ariy1c
LIST, there were so few blankets that a
possessor of one thought himself a su-
perior being and guarded 1t closer than
his life, for he knew that a hundred
men were waiting a chance to steal it.
Captured Spanish blankets were in de-
mand and eagerly sought for, notwith-
standing they were covered with vermin
Every new conner here from the States
can be readily distinguished by his anx-
iety in regard to the sun; his anxiety
as to the water, for fear it contains vel I
low fever germs: his regard as to diet. /
being under the impression that certain
kinds Of food are sure death in short
order. However, can't laugh at them,
for before enlisting I clipped out a
lengthy article Of advice from the Kan
sas City Star to carry with me, the di-
rections Of which I intended to follow
implicitly. One of the directions was to
eat light food, such as oat meal or
cracked wheat. and 70 always boil all
water we drank These directions were
intended for soldiers and might have
been all right II the writer had been
made commissary general. but unfortu-
nately the general was a practical man
and not a theorist, so that the lightest
food we could get was canned corned
beef. Boston pork and beans with hard
tack 7 gave up the part of the theory
regarding rations but chung to that in
regard to the water; so on the morning
Of the first days march I filled my can
teen with boiling water and corked It
UP tight. Immediately afterward the or
der was given to march. That canteen
swung against my right side just over
the hip and before I had made mile
it was burning me through my clothes
I hauled It around to another spot and
shifted 1t whenever II became unbear-
able. At the end OF two miles I was
thirsty but that canteen showed no signs |
Of coIing Fortunately we crossed sew
erai creeks that day OF would have |
the water was still too warm to drink !
Since that have quit theories and |
come down 10 common sense. Cuba is
like any other country and I find eat |
as much here as anywhere else and it Is |
cohoI is drunk with impunity here with !
the same with every one else. Even al |
no visible effect on the health more than |
elsewhere. The American teamsters here /
are as hard a set Of drinkers as / ever |
saw and they positively refuse to die |
or even be Ill. As aguardiente, which Is |
simply alcohol, extracted from the re- |
fuse cane DRESSINGS is only ten cents per !
quart. they are usually filed with H. |
I have seen some men who haven't |
drawn sooar breath IN three months. |
but never heard OF one dying from the |
effects, I don't know as 1 ought to tell /
of the cheapneSs OF alcohol here as X /
may cause an immigration OF other to- /
pers who imagine that IL IS the stan OF /
life
Among the questions asked last /
week was one asking II there was a |
change OF seasons here as in Oklahoma /
There IS no winter and fall. Simply /
spring and summer: summer for /
three months and spring the other nine |
The oEly change Of season Is the wet ]
and dry. The sO-called dry season Is a
misnoHer. as IL Is the season when al /
the best vegetables e-e grown and ap-
pears % be the only season IN which /
tobacco. onions and cabbage are planted |
All other classes OF Vegetables grow dur
ing the year. but probably not so wei /
with the exception 81 potatoes. of which I
three crops can ~ grown Potatoes are /
alNays from 70 ~ cents per pound -e-
tstl, Onions and garlic are also pref
able eraps. yielding heavily and hing