Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-22
CASTLES OF HAVANA
Lizards Crawl Over the Guns in
the Cabana.
CELLS OF FORTRESS EMPTY
Proposed to Convert the Moro Into a
Museum.
LIVING QUARTERS IN THE FORTS
True Story of the Rescue Of Miss
Cisneros From the Notorious
Casa de Recogidas.
CELLS OF FORTRESS EMPTY
LIVING QUARTERS IN THE FORTS
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald
HAVANA. March IL 1907.
There are only about 500 soldiers in the
fortifications that command the harbor of
Havana today instead of the ten or twelve
thousand that 1 found there during a pre-
vious visit in 1896 and all they have to do
is to keep things in order The great Cas-
tllo de San Carlos de la Cabana or the
Cabana, as it is usually called, one of the
greatest Notifications in the world which
was built 100 years ago, is practically va
cant. 1t is given up to the lizards which
crawl over the big guns and battlements,
and tourists, who are she around by
mendacious guides and entertained with
prepOsterous stories of the past. The guides
actually point out the place at the mouth
of the harbor where Hobson sunk the old
coal hulk, and show you the cell in which
he was imprisoned, although that interest
ing event occurred more than seven hun
dred miles distant, at the other end of the
island. They point out the chalk marks and
carvings on the walls of the dungeons,
which, by the way, are very interesting.
and tell when and by what prisoners they
were made.
MORO Castle and Cabana are vacant. Ever
since Moro was built, in the middle of the
seventeenth century, they have been almost
continually filled with Cuban patriots and
other enemies of Spain. and a popularity
of this prison is that no record of it's in
mates was ever Kept. When political Of
tenders or person suspected of ''dlscon-
tent was sent to MORO Castle or Cabana
he disappeared forever. Very seldom did
any man who crossed the drawbridge and
passed under the majestic arch that forms
the entrance ever emerge again. His life
history terminated there. No prison in all
the world has witnessed more cruelty
suffering than these somber walls. The
story of MORO Castle began three centuries
ago. when English freebooters, Dutch pi-
rates and Frenchmen were captured on the
coast of this Spanish colony, and 1t ended
when Gen. Blanco evacuated the city in
1893.
Everything Changed.
But everything is changed today. The
meager garrison of artillerymen have moth
ing to do but to keep the place in order, en-
terrain visitors and fire salutes, and the
sharks that used to feed upon the bodies
of prisoners that were thrown over the
walls have entirely disappeared. Their
feasting ended with the evacuation of the
Spanish forces. There was a stone chute
in the seward wall of MORO Castle through
which the remains of prisoners who died
or were shot or executed were showed into
the sea.
Two or three tablets have been erected
within the walls Of Castle MORO and the
Cabana to commemorate the martyrdom of
the patriots who were murdered by the
Spaniards, and 1t has been suggested that
Moro Castle be used a permanent mu-
scum of Cuban history. 1t was built in the
sixteenth century to protect the city of Ha-
vana from Sir Francis Drake, who was we'll
hated by all Spaniards and for very good
reasons. They called him Eel Draque' (the
n md fhay hiyf1 fhap
any other man.
There is a MORO Castle at nearly every
port of Cuba commanding the harbor; the
name means "headand' or 'promonotory,"
and Is applied to every fortress having
such a position. The MORO at Santiago
is even more picturesque than that at Ha-
vana. but has no such awful memory.
The Twelve Apostles Battery.
In both castles remain large numbers of
antiquated cannons, including the famous
battery Of the Twelve Apostles, which
commanded the entrance to the harbor and
for generations was considered the most
formidable battery in the world The twelve
guns each of them named after one of
the apostles, are obsolete now, but they
still retain their old position, and their own
ership is claimed by Spain under the treaty
with the United States at Paris, which per-
mitted that government to withdraw all it's
arms and ammunition from Cuba. But the
guns are worthless now, and the sentiment
attaching to them is scarcely worth the eX-
pense of removal Spain has contended
that the Cubans should bear the cost of
taking them across the Atlantic, but the
Cubans retort that if the Spaniards want
them they can come and get them.
Ten years ago the greater part of the
old city wall remained, but after the repub-
lie organized nearly all of 1t was
torn down, which is great pity, because it
was so picturesque. Several little towers
have been kept, and they ought to be per-
manently preserved. Col Black, who is act
ing as minister of public works, wants to
restore all of the three ancient castles to
their original condition and tear away the
modern buildings that surround and con-
ceal them. The coat-of-arms of Havana
bears three castles. They were known as
the castles of the Three Kings, Moro, at
the entrance of the harbor, to which 1 have
just referred; Castillo San Salvador de la
Punta, which occupies a point of land on
the city-side of the harbor entrance oppo-
site MORO, and La Fuerza. the oldest of all
the Notifications in Cuba, and, with the
exception of the fortress at San Domingo,
the oldest in America
Where De Soto's Wife Lived.
La FuerZa was built by fernando de Soto
while he was governor of Cuba in 1889,
and when he sailed for the conquest of
Florida and the discovery of the Mississippi
river he left there in command Of the
garrison Dona Isabel de Bobadilla his
wife. She exercised authority in Cuba for
more than four years, until refugees from
his expedition found their way across the
gulf and told the story of his memorable
discoveries and his burial in the waters of
the Mississippi The old chronicles tell us
that she could not restrain her grief and
died few weeks later of a broken heart.
The wives of several American military
officers have made coy and artistic homes
in the old fortress, and are doubtless much
happier and more comfortable than Dona
Isabel Maj. Slocum of the I'd Cavalry
who is in command of the Rural Guard;
Maj. Greble of the artillery, who is acting
minister of the interior; Capt. Clayton
of the 18th Cavalry, who is aid-de-c camp
to the governor general, and several other
Americans have fitted Up rooms in the old
fortress and are quite satisfied with their
historical surroundings. La FuerZa, which
means The Fort" is quite convenient to
the palace. being just on the other side
of the plaza
The Rural Guards have their headquar-
ters in Castel Punta, with Maj Slocum