The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-07-08
HAVANA EXCURSION.
Louisiana Editors yisit Historic Fort
resses of MORO and Cabann-Enei of
the Delightful Jaunt.


under the direction OF Senior Alexar
DER Mendoza, an intelligent aud com
petent guide who took charge of th
LoulsIanians upon their arriva al at tn
Pasale Hotel. Monday night wa
spent according to The individual in
. cIlnatlons OF the various members o
the pafty, most of them having eleete,
to visit the beautiful Parque Central
which Is within half a square of tn
PasaIe and in the very midst OF Hay
ana's social life. The thousa ands o
park seats were occupied and the walk
crowded with well-dressed men anc
pretty, dark-eyed senoritas. Elee
trlc lights Hooded the place, the sur,
rounding clubs, hotels and cafes wer.
aplaze with illumlnations, and the
scene was animated and brilliant, III,
Hamooyanb trees were in flower and
ADDED great masses of bright crimson
blooms, which glowed in the electric
| light with a richness of cuioe intensl
ned by contrast with the foliage 81
the royal palms and the deep blue 81
the sky-for the Havana heaven al
night Is blue, not black
On the morning OF Tuesday. Nav
#5O, the editors, still under the direc-
tlon OF Senor Mendoza, proceeded IN
body to the Malecon landing. wnere
lhey embarked il guadanos for a trim
| across the bay to the far-famed and
IroWnlng old tortresses of Morro and
Cabana. The guadanos are passen-
ger boats of type peculiar TO Hav-
! ahese waters, ami hundreds of them
may be seen skimming along the bay
at ali hours of the day and nieht.
| They are heavy and substantial in
construction, equipped with a single
sail and seating capacity for ten
passengers, and are manned by q
class OF stout armed and weather.
beaten boatmen called quad aneros,
Inc voyage across the bay took but 3
Few minutes, when the editors disen-
oarked and found themselves at 1be
loot OF hill crowned by the grim
| and gray old fortresses which achieved
WorId-Mlde fame u few short wears
ago when history was warm in the
making. Appended is brief des-
crptlon OF the hoary guardians OF
the harbor.
MORRO CASTLE
The Spanish word '.morro's means
headland or promontory, and is au-
piled to any fortress having such q
position. There is a MORO at San
tlago and another at San Juan in
Puerto Rico. The plans for the Hay-
ana MORO were designed by Juan
Bautista Antoneli, d Spanish engi-s
neer, and work ON the mammoth
structure was begun in 1867, the
labofers being conyicts and slaves.
The coral rock was quarried out for
the mo ats, and there was built on the
bold headland jutting into the sea
across the bay frum Havana the cele-
brated fortress of the CASTILLO de los
Tres Reyes del Morro-Castle of the
Three Kings OF the Morro-whieh
title has been shortened in usage 10
simple MORO. The castle is an =ir.
regular fortilicatIon, from 100 10 10
feet above the level of the sea. SUR
rounded by moats TO feet deep, 80 feet |
OF which are heWn out Of sulld rock.
In storms the spray dasfes over the
and in the 800 years since
MORO was built the water has worn
away the rock and eaten out great
creviees at the base of the castle, into
which, under certain conditions Of
wind and tide, the waves pour cease
lessly, COMPRISING the air and forc-
ing it out with weird and uneanny
noises.
MORO is in part built on solid rock
and in part hewn out of The rock. It
las the character of a prodigious nat
lraI form alton, shaped and modified
oy the hand OF man. The ascent to
he entrance IS by an inclined road,
shaded BY royal poincianas and
aurels and hedged with impenetrable
,actus, above which tower the moss
,rown walls. The moat is crossed bv
j draw bridge to the sally-por and
he main hall, tianked by dark, dis :
nal rooms, leads to the inevitable in
Ter court. All about are prisons
ike rooms, casein ates, storerooms.
magazines, bumb.proofs and
dungeons, with grated etnbrasures.
aulted ceilings and dark reeesses. ,
he walls are of forEpid able height
md thickness, the bitches OF astonlsh-
ng depths. Ascending to the ram
arts, a view is unfolGed well worth j
omlng from Havana to behold, over i
arbor and town and gulf, with green :.
LAD mills 10 the distance, topped with
lately palms and zig-zagged with
lndlng roaas. On the seaward side i
ne walls tower directly over the blue J
aters Of the gulf, and looking down
1to its clear depths the visitor per- I
APPS dlscerns one Of the monstroas
aarks for which the harbor has an {
VII notorlety. When Moro was oc. !
apled by garrison the sharks re-
orted TO the waters around the castle
1r the refuse thrown into the sea. A
one chute is built into the seward s
al. with sheer drop OF Is feet, and :
is among the traditions OF the grim
Id fortress that through this passage 7
le bodies of Cuban prisoners who
ad been executed were east down into +
le nido de tibarones-the Sharks
5sb.
On the harbar side OF Morro's ram. s
arts is Weil-equipped signal sew c
g station-a product OF the twentieth
injury surmounting frowning walls /
ected in the sixteenth. he sema- :
lore, with its numerous flags and q
gnals, announecees 40 the city the ap- ii
'oach OF shsfs bound for the port OF a
avaga, and receives from and sends
essages to passing vessels. The
gnthouse, which Is the most proani4 n
mt feature OF the castle, was built in O
a by Governor O'Daauell. whose :,
sh-Spanish name is inmortalixe5
huge letters high up on the face of g
e tower. Ihe light. enclosed In q
'esnel Ions. flashes every half minute /.
I'd IS visible l8 miles at sea.
The guns of MORO are not of great 9
se, nor yet OF the most modern tvpe .
coast defense. Il Is believed that n
e walls would not stand the shock Of o
avy firing, and certainly In the face
such battering as could be ad- "
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