The Forrest City times., 1902-05-23

fronts an exquisite park, the Place De Armas, with it's stateley royal palms and species of hanyan trees, called "laurels of India" In the cen ter is a fine marble statue of Fordi- hand VIII. Through the center of the building an arehway leads, as in all spanish palaces, to the patton or court, where a statue of Columbus rises from mass of palms and flow ering plants. On either side of the entrance, marble stairways ascend to the audience room. which opens through baleonied windows upon the plaza. In this chamber the actual transfer occurred. Ii Is an imposing doom, oblong, with lofty ceiling and marble floor. II formed q fine setting for the historic occasion. The cham Der is to-day exactly as if was when the Spaniards departed. except that the portraits of the captains-genera which hung upon its walls are gone. They were taken back to Spain. but eoats-of-arms of Spain, with their royal quarterings. still hang above the windows, which are screened by the same scarlet curtains that were hanging during the Span ish regime. The decorations, white and gold, with the superb mir TOTS. have also been preserved, with q gold crown above it's back, which hf, ;.,I, arch herself, was visible in an ad- joining apartment.
 Owing to the limited space. the peo- pie were to have no sight of the cere- mony to be enacted here which was to constitute them nation before the world, but outside they were to witness spectacle which would stir their pulses, for they were to see the ! beloved fiye-barred and single-starred | flag which Cespedes first threw to | the breeze in 1868, at the opening of | the ten-years' war, raised by the act | of the United States above the palace. This thing which was to happen had | been the dream of their lives, and of their ancestors for generations. Their parents, brothers and friends | had gone to their deaths to accom- | pliSh if. No strange wonder then that hours before the time set they began focking here from all quar- | ters of the city. Many were already before the palace with the rising sun, and some even slept in the park to be certain not to miss this sight. A portion of the plaza was kept clear by the police very early. The remainder was packed with people so thick that the ground seemed alive.
 Soon all the side streets running in- to the plaza were choked into a solid mass of humanity and every door and window fronting the square was walled in with faces, white and black, old and young, male and female. | Then crowds sought the roofs, over- | flowing every building that command | ed a view of the flagstaff on the pal ace. As far as the eye could see, the roof lines were fringed with human 1 freight. It was a sight to live forever i in memory
 Drawn up below, in the open space of the plaza were eight dismounted troops Ol the seventh cayalry with sabres at their heels. Their horses were already on board the steamer which was to take them back to the United States.
 | Shortly before 11:30 those who were to witness the ceremony began i to arrive in carriages through street kept clear by the police. All the naval officers were arrayed in full uniform, resplendent in gold broad and plumbed chapeauX. The Cubans generally wore black froek suits, l white waistcoats and silk hats. They | formed a distinguished looking as- | semblage as they gathered in the au- dience chamber.
 The ceremony itself was brief and simple. After formal greetings Gen. Woods read the documentary trans fer prepared by the war department pledging the new government to im- mediately proclaim the constitution and the Platt amendment contained in the appendix, and to undertake all obligations assumed by the United States with respect to Cuba by the treaty of Paris.