BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-03-21
New York Market to day
The Day That Cuba Celebrates,
Nothing Martial in Her Independent
ce Day Parade-Cold Ceremonial
Of the Electoral College One
Cheer for the Republic.

Havana, March 10-Not only Cuba's
Fourth of July, but the day on which the
College of Electors cast the formal vote for
the men who are to be the first President
and Vice President of Cuba. Day breaks
quickly; and although yesterday, the second
Sunday In Lent, the town was as gay aoith
carnival As town could be, keeping up fes-
tivities till far into the night, the populsce
was out as soon as light this morning, press
ing down the Prsdo to the new park, the
Americans have made by the sea wall. Ser
psntinas still wave brightly from the bal
| csnies of the houses, and confetti strew the
streets. The Cuban flag and the American
flag are out everywhere. In carnival it is
those who have horses, and who can throw
s,0ay five or ten dollars in rretty bits of
paper who make the fiesta; but this morn
ing it is the plain people. Tlere is to be a
spectacle, military procession, no doubt.
The music of it is heard at ast-the Mar
seillaise, the Cuban anthem, some Ameri-
can marches. One can see silken banners
tossing in the distance. They do not seem
to be military, and when the crowd gives
way to the head of the column, aud the
United States Seventh Cavalry Band turns
around the Puuta, where the Mayor sits.
there are only little children, black aud
white together, in holiday dress, carrying
flowers or Cuban flags, and trim school
ma am leading each company. The ban
ners they bear are only the banners OF the
schools the American opened for them.
Liberty's Reserve.
This is the way The Havana people cele
brste the election of the first President and
the day of that Declaration of Independence
which was read in 1895 out in the bush
Twice has republic been declared in Cuba
by revolutionists, once in the course of s'tbe
ten-years' war;" and once when the insur-
rection that ended in our Intervention fam
ed up and touched the sympathies OF the
United States. The review of to-day's
parade is by the citizens themselves the
Military Governor ard all his staff are absent
in the country, leaving two flags flying on
the palace, that under which Independence
was declared and that under which Spain's
power was overthrow. It takes a long
time, four hours, for the procession to pass.
fourteen regiments, each thousand strong
Havana alone is turning out liberating
army half as large as the highest native
estimate of the old Cuban army in all the
island. Liberty's Reserven is the banner
borne by one regiment of little ones stand
ing about as high as your knee. Their
schooling will, indeed, make them that. At
the recent census it was found that of the
negro citizens OF Cuba "a per cent. and of
the white citizens 81 per cent. were unable
to read. The crowd is so dense presently
that the children have scarcely room to
shuttle along in solemn effort to keep step.
One girls school comes calling every little
while: "Viva Ia bsndera Guiana! WA!
Vivsw But the lockers ON make no signs,
give no answer.
Electoral College Procedure.
In the Chamber OF the Ayuntamiento at
noon the electors chosen by the voters
meet to deposit the ballots for the two
chief officers of the Republic. 1t is long,
narrow room, the Cuban escutcheon over
the high desk OF the Chairman, Vice-Chair.
man, and Secretary OF the Electoral Col.
iege. Two huge paintings hang on the
walls-Ooiumbus Landing, and group of
colonists asking q bene diction on their |
future. The electors, twenty one OF them, |
q solid and most intelligent array, occupy |
chairs along the side walls in the center |
is table. There are in the rear forty
Chairs for spectators. Seven a-e empty
while the election proceeds, though FIVE
or six men stand in the doorway. Uncover
ing silver urn, the Chairman, after the
reading of the law governing the procedure,
lifts it up and shows to the elecos that
it is empty. THIN, as tie name of each
elector is called, be takes from his waist