The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-03-29
No HARD TIME TALK.
IN TAMPA.
Plenty of Work for Everybody
at Good Pay.
Or. Golfer Of Wake County, Gives Graphic
Picture Of Life in Town Pc pied
Gritty by Cubans.

Gritty by Cubans.
To the Editor: Your Legislative Edi
ton ( the News and Observer reached
me very promptly down in the sum!
land of flowers. palmettoes and alliga
|. tors.
70 a Tar Heel away from home whC
is anxious to keep informed as to what
is going on. this edition was well worth
the price of years subscription to youi
paper.
| am sure the people of North Carolina
cannot but appreciate such enterprise on
your part and will manifest the same
by giving your paper that hearty sup
port it so richly deserves.
l assure you, since l have been in
Florida. nothing has given me more pleas
ure than the morning visits of your
pa per. It has contained a great many
things that were very gratifying to me.
for in it | could see unmistakable evil
denees Of financial, educational and
1t has also brought news that was very
sad.
The HAYWOOD Skinner tragedy was de-
plorable, and later the killing of Or.
Bass by Dr. Baker was peculiarly sad
to me. / knew them as brothers in the
profession, and you know a fellow feel
ing makes us wondrous kind" Nothing
has happened for long time that caused
me more regret
Well, | have been in Tampa for two
months on much needed rest.
1t has been very warm and summer
like ever since | came, but for the nice
cool breeze it would be uncomfortably
hot great deal of the time. People
have been wearing linen clothing and
straw hats every since the first of Feb
ruary.
There has been an unusual number of
tourists in Florida, especially in Tampa,
this winter.
The Tampa Bay hotel has been well
patronized. This is one of the finest
hotels in America. Several millions Of
dollars have been expended in building
and furnishing this hotel. The grounds,
which contain several acres and which
flowers and shrubbery, must be seen to
be appreciated. 1t is impossible to fully
describe its beauty and grandeur
The people of Tampa are justly proud
of their magnificent hotel.
Tampa has had a wonderful growth for
the last fifteen years, at that time it
was a very small town. 1t is now a
beautiful city of thirty or thirty five
thousand and still rapidly growing. AL
most every nationality in the world is
represented here. The inhabitants of
the city have all moved here from some
where else.
Strange to say, I have not met a single
person that was twenty years old that
was born in Tampa, one fourth, or more,
of the inhabitants are Cubans and Span
iards.
They live in a part of the city to
themselves. They call their town Ybor
(Ebo) City. This is real cuban town
of eight or ten thousand.
1t is interesting to take a stroll
through their streets. They speak Span
ish, and they use their hands in talk
ing as much has they do their tongues.
The superintendent of the cigar fac
tories, in which they work, have a man
to read aloud to them while at work
so they will not lose so much time by
talking while at work, as they cannot
talk without using their hands, making
all kinds of gesticulations.
The Cubans, as a rule, are very small
in statue. There are all colors of them,
some almost white, some about the color
OF our mulattoes. and other real black.
1xr1f 10
man with a perfectly black wife and vice
versa.
1t very evident they obey the Divine
Injunction to multiply and replenish the
earth. for there are more children to
the square inch in Ybor City than any
place / ever saw. Lots of them could
make the "old woman that lived in a
shoe" feel like her family was very
small.
AS YOU know the principal industry Of
Tampa is manufacturing cigars. There
are nearly one hundred large cigar fac
tories here, and nearly all the Cubans
make cigars. They get from twelve to
thirty dollars a week. The weekly pay
roll of these factories is from 100 to
t25 thousand dollars. The hands are
raid every Saturday evening, and l am
told by Monday morning they spend all
their wages. If Cuban owes you house
rent or a bill of any kind, if you don t
collect il Saturday night or sunday
morning. you will not get It,
This in connection with the other IN
dustries here puts and keeps lot OF
money in calculations. This is the only
place | ever visited where the ola cry
of hard times" was not heard.
Laborers of all kinds are well palo lot
their work: if they were not they couia
not live here: for everything Is hlgh'
House rent is almost twice as high as
in North Carolina. although fruits aho
vegetables of all kinds are plentiful ye'
they are more expensive than at Raieigh'
You can buy oranges and lemons
as cheap there as here. and though
lemons are grown here In great quaint
ties every glass of lemonade you buy al
a soda fountains costs you ten cents.
Ice is the only cheap article here. You
can get that for fifteen (15) cents pei
hundred pounds. Real estate has been
rapidly advancing for several years
There are thousands of dollars worth OF
real estate changing hands every week
] notice a decided advance in the two
r0onthS | have haau hero