Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-03

bound together by stout vines that grow
wild in the woods. The roof is matched
with palm leaves. The sides covered
with strips of yagua, tough pellicle that
binds the leaves of the royal palm to the
trunk OF the tree When there is a floor.
which is not often, it is made of the hard
outer she'll of the royal palm split into mar
row strips.
the economy of the Cuban farmers house
hold. The suit of cotton cloth he wears in
July serves him also in December He
wears belt in preference to suspenders,
and he refuses to tuck his shirt into his
trousers, but wears it like kimona. The
Cuban peasant is superstitious and he will
gamble his last cent on a cock fight, and
yet l confess to a fondaess for the qua
1iro. At bottom he is good fellow-good
natured, as simple as a child and hospi
table TO a fault. When you ride up to his
door he tells you that the house is yours.
and sets before you the best his modest
larder affords. When you leave him it is
often difficult to make him accept anything
in payment for his hospitality.
THE passion for gambling is strong in
the Cuban. He will bet anything but
prefers to stake his money on cards and
game cocks. Cock fighting, which is now
forbidden by law, was for generations the
national sport of the Cubans, and if the
matter were left to the popular vote l
think they would go back to it, just as they
would go back to the lottery
The lottery that the Spaniards main
III tuDd was q national lottery, and
the government derived a large revenue
from its operation 1t was supported by
the poor and though it robbed them of
their substance, it enabled them they say
10 forget that they We're poor. or at least
to hope that they would not be so ALWAYS
One Woman-she worked in cigar factory
and earned 80 cents a day stripping to-
bacco-told me that she had bought lot
terry ticket which costs 20 cents every
month. ever since she was q little girl and
that although she had never won anything
she would begin buying them tomorrow If
she could.
And while l was waiting for the draw
ing to take place she said, Il could al
ways hope that was going to win prize
Now L cans even hope. Isn't it worth 20
cents month to be able to hope?'
'One or the most common mjsconcep-
lions concerning Cuba is that it is black
republic like Haiti
THE whites In Cuba outnumber the black
and mixed races two to one. In Santiago
the province that contains the highest per-
centage of negroes. they still constitute
less than one-half of the total population
CT the province In the city of Havana the
capital of Cuba. there are fewer negroes
IN proportion to the total populat ion than
there are in the city of Washington the
capital of the United States .
people who profess to fear that trouble
Will come OF the race question in Cuba are
needlessly alarmed. They know nothing of
the fraternal relations that exist between
the two races and by fraternal relations [
don't mean social equality. We can give
Cuba pointers on good many subjects.
but the race question is one upon which
she needs neither our advice nor example.
The negro in Cuba enjoys all the civil
rights of the white man. He is not de-
prived of his vote. nor is he herded apart
by himself in public conveyances, nor de-
MED admission to theaters and hotels-but
you don't find him in the white mans par
Tor. More than that. you often do find him.
even in public places, keeping apart from
the whites. When the hand p1aVc In
tial Park in Havana you will find all the
whites promenading on one side of the park
and the blacks on the other.
permitting negroes to vote does not
necessarily mean that they will elect
negroes to office. One.third of the voters
OF Cuba are black. but there are only three
or TOUR negroes among the eighty-seven
senators and representatives that compose
the Cuban congress. All the chief officers
OF the state are white men.
The family tie is very strong in Cuba
Even the poor extend the scanty aid they
can to relatives more unfortunate than
themselves l remember an incident that
illustrates this trait of Cuban character
At coast town / saw a poor shoemaker
whose widowed sister had recently died in
another town. leaving two little girls. The
mayor of the town had written to the shoe
maker telling him that 1t had been the
mothers wish that he should take the chill
oren under his protection but that If he
oio not feel able to assume this additional
burden the children. whose father had died
in the war were entitled to the protection
OF the asylum for soldiers orphans The
addition of two children to the already
large family that he had at home would be
severe tax on the shoemakers scanty
means: but his sense of duty and family
pride were strong, and he came to the sea-
port to meet the children. who were COM
Inc by the boat.
girls and their uncle. The children. two