The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-06-03

bum- 90 ats and gOndola-l1ke guam
daos, and in a few minutes the ship
| was boarded by quarantine, immigra-
ton and customs officials, all of Gu
ban nationality, who went about their
duties with quickness and precision
and detained the passengers but a
short while. Soon the Morgan Line
tender drew alongside, a ladder was
lowered and the impatient tourists
we're transported to the Maehina wharf,
where their luggage was passed after
brief Inspection by officials who
know how TO be at the same time GUS
toms examiners and polite. After
leaving the customhouse, the party
boarded modern electric street cars
and straightway found themselves in
the narrow streets characteristic of the
old part of the city, being amid sur
roundings where the unfamiliar style of
the houses, the vehicles, the street life,
the strange ways, the multi-colored
and sWarthy animation and the soft
Spanish tongue proclaimed that they
were in foreign land. Proceeding
through the narrow thoroughfares or
s'calles,'' where the sidewalks are
barely wide enough for one person
and with beautiful plazas and stately
mansions appearing at almost every
turn, the cars finally landed the de-
lighted tourists in the rear of the Hotel
Pasaje, which had been selected as
headquarters for the party. The Pa
sale is one of the finest and largest
hotels in the city, and is conducted on
both the American and European
plans. 1t fronts on the beautiful
Prado and is half a square above the
Central Park, being in close proxim-
ity to the most important business sec
tion Of the city and the magnificent
Teatro Naeional, the third largest play
house in the world. The bedrooms of
the Pasaje are typical Of those in al
most every hotel and residence in Ha-
vana, and are arranged with reference
to GOODNESS. Each room opens upon
patio, or inner court, and is large,
airy, comfortable and cool. The floor
is tiled and there are no carpets, save
a narrow rug by the side of the bed.
The ceiling is from Is to rs feet in
height, and the windows opening from
the floor are almost as high. The bed
is canopied with mosquito netting
which is frequently handsome speci-
men Of laceWork, and the mattress is
very thin or wanting altogether. The
hotel service is deliberate and gu aintly
foreign, both in the dining-room and
elsewhere, and the elevator, unlike the
swift machine found in America, takes
many seconds to climb or descend
from floor to floor. There is a Ian
guorous, sleepy air about everything
in Havana, commercial or otherwise,
which while it sometimes provokes or
arrays the strenuous, wide awake
American, yet cannot fail in the end
to impress him with an undefnable
charm and bring him to a realization
Of the pleasures and delights of the
healthful simple life.
There are numerous good hotels in
Havana, many excellent restaurants,
several large theaters and number
Of beautiful drives and parks. The
city has a population of about 250, 200,
and is most charming and picturesque
with its Spanish-Moorish architecture
and quaint old-World customs-the
habitation OF poebieal, imaginative
Latin people rich in romance, tradi-
ton, superstition and religion, ehiv-
alrous and courteous, hospitable and
cultured. The city is known for it's
great number OF public and private
cabs, carriages and modern vehicles,
all cushion tired and drawn by horses
that in the majority of instances are
blooded and spirited. Small mules
are used on the wagons and drays,
and the harness and trappings are
gaily and elaborate in the ex-
IRENE, denoting the love of color and
display that is characteristic of Latin
peoples. Havana possesses two of the
most beautiful driveWays in the
world-the Prado from Central Park
to La Punta and the driveway from
La Punta to the Vedado. The Prado
is a double driveway with avenues of
neatly trimmed laurel trees on either
side, and in the neutral ground which
traverses the centre and upon which
are double walks for pedestri ans are
benches for the convenience of those
who desire to watch the Kaleidoscope
throng which passes along the beauti-
full thoroughfare at all hours Of the
day, and particularly at dusk. At La
Punta, or The Point, is the band stand
of Malecon Park, which faces both the
Narrows and the Gulf, with Moro
and Cabanas directly opposite across
the bay, and from there sweeps the
broad macad amized driveway to the
Vedado, nearly five miles distant, rum
ming along the shore of the Gulf in a
deep crescent and passing innumerable
palatial houses of the more wealthy
and aristocratic Cubans.
The space OF The Chief will not per-
nit OF full account in this issue of |
The experiences and pleasures enjoyed |
by the Louisiana editors in Havana,