The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-04
A NEW WRINKLE
BARGAINS FOUND IN CUBAN
 PAwNsHoPs.
Many American Women Visit Nngy Establishments in Havana to Secure odd Furniture aud
 Rings.

Havana Correspondence in New York Times.
 obispo Street is deserted in the early afternoon. The shops have almost ho customers, and the few are foreigners 1t is unusual for Cuban woman 10 app l pear on the shopping streets between the hours of 12 and {. Arrayed in the airiest of summer gowns, ususally an organdy over a color, with bright ribbons, she goes | to make her purchases in the morning | or evening. There are almost always two | together, as few yet have thrown on the custom of centuries. The young woman walks in front, followed by her mother or a maid servant; the middle-aged wo- man is followed by servant; sometimes | a child is taken in lieu of any other com panion. She saunters leisurely along the narrow sidewalk, until she reaches the store where she wishes to buy something. Entering, she seats herself bids the clerk good morning, chats with him on indiffer- ent topics, and finally mentions the ar | ticle she would like to see. When she has | made her selection the clerk wraps It up and makes the change, usually from la patent purchase-registering machine. Havana boasts no cash boys, no bundle | wrapping departments, no cheeks to ac- company goods sold. If the customer is favored one by reason of extensive deal ings with tho house, or hoped-for deal- ings, the entire force of clerks in the smaller establishments, several in the larger ones, gather about her. I was in millinery shop a short time ago when | two young Cuban women drove up in their carriage. Immediately 'he half dozen clerks surrounded them, showed them chairs, etc.. and before l left the entire floor space was strewn with boxes of the latest creations from Paris--stlk skirts, hats, gloves. veils. The two young women sat in ths.r midst, condemning this article by . look. and setting the stamp of approval on some other by a | word of praise.
 The fashionable Cuban woman is not seen on Galiano Street, where there are many shops of considerable sisa. She makes her purchases on Obispo Street, | where prices are in accordance with the l desirable locality. American women, on the contrary, arc frequently seen on the less fashionable thor0dghfars, sance they 20 where the best value for the least money Is to he found.
 Clerks Studying English.
 In almost all shops some of the clerks are studying English. and insist upon practicing 1t upon their American ous- | toners, often delaying the completion of transaction for many minutes. was | the victim in an experiment of this kind few days since. Finally when ten or | fifteen minutes longer than necessary had dragged by--time that needed badly-I asked the clerk in Spanish to be so good as to hurry, as I was pressed for time This pleased him. He laid down my par eel in the midst of tying the string, and leaned on the counter requested me to tell him how to say that in English This | k14 .aR T hnIR | tied as t was, and left the store.
 There arc more women clerks than there were a few years ago; and yet in the majority Of dry goods houses they are not to be seen at all. Their strong hold is the millinery shop. Like men | clerks, they sleep under their employers roof, the close, dark, dirty rooms in the rear afrording them a home-far from an | enviable lot.
 | The American woman Is 6 law unto | herself here as elsewhere. Because Cuban woman does not go abroad alone does not appear to her a sufficient reason for doing likewise. So she goes about as she would at home. The stares which | Cuban men, as a class, bestow upon all women who pass along the street, do not affect her after the first few times. In fact, she does not see them. And the men themselves, seeing her alone, shrug their shoulders and excuse her because she Is an American. Along the same line, she does not disdain to go into the less pretentious shopping streets because fashionable Cuban ladies Ignore them She does still more-she goes to the pawn shops.
 Visits to the Pawn Shops. Were any one to suggest to an Amer | loan woman In a city in the United States that she spend an afternoon visiting the pawn shops. she would be much sur prised. doubtless, and refuse at once. l When she comes here she changes. And l yet Cuban ladies do not set her the ex- ample. They never enter them. For some reason those In Havana have a great attraction for American women. All of them visit them more or less ire Quently in search of bargains. Dirty, dingy places most of them are, too. | How the custom started, I do not know, but 1t has existed since the arrival of the army of occupaton-p9rhaps before. At various times the search has been for various things. First rings were sought; | every one who had S30, $40, or $50 to spare hunted for a ring in which to invest Some of those bought were very great bargains indeed; all of the pawn shops were filled with rings set in stones more or less precious.
 
 hunting, which has reappeared from time to time. There is plenty of furniture in the pawn shops hanging overhead and | crowded against walls. Much of if is painted black, and it Is hard to ina zine that beneath such a homely exterior there can be anything attractive. Yet such is the case. Often mahogany is covered in this way. the black paint having been put on when the family went Into mourn ing When the period of mourning is over the painted furniture was sold. This Is a custom in Cuba.
 Americans who are furnishing their houses go about in these shops and find many odd bits of furniture. chairs of old mahogany desks of the same wood. and | curious sewing tables. There have been found some beautiful round mahogany dining tables, and these are proudly ex- hibited by their owners who have had them polished and put in excellent order A Cuban would never think of furnish ing his house in such a way; he would take pains to see that he had new fJrni- ture. and that imported.
 There was a period when every one must have plate. The dark days. which have fallen upon so many of Cuba's fam l llles, have sent to the pawnshops many articles which would not have found their l way there otherwise. Among these ara beautiful sets of china, bearing the crests | and monograms of various old families One, in particular, was very beautiful Ihe crest large and placed in the centre was of scarlet and gold. and the mono 4v. Nl