Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-04-04
THAT FUNNY LITTLE SOUND.
HOW TIE CUBANS CALL PER.
SONS WANTED.
The Custom OF powdering The Face
Some CHASTITY Features The Playa
AT Mariana0- Island S Short Twilight
Beautiful Sunsets.
THERE is NO GLo0MING ON IS
LAND OF CUBA.


/ in Cuba before he recognizes that
| funny little sound OF the tongue and
| lips used in calling people or attract
ing attention. We have.no idea how
| IL is spelled. but il sounds as il il
might be spelled ''P-s-t.'
Sometimes il sounds like a hiss and
is said TO be not only in use in Cuba.
but also in some parts Of Europe. IL
you want 20 stop street car you
don't touch an electric button as you
do i'm Baltimore or Washington. but
Won simply look at the conductor
and say "P-s-t.' If you want to
buy n newspaper and cant speak
Spanish you simply call the boy
.P-s-t" and presto. he is by your
side in an instant and you ask for the
Havana Post. the Telegraph La
Lucha. or any Of the papers you want.
BY the way, all papers here are a
nickle, and most of them are not
worth n penny.
That funny little sound of psf =
Is every where, ere long you find your
self.using il constantly to the bell boy.
the maid, the waiter in the shops, TO
the coachee and almost to your friends.
Ii was this ''P- ST. that first caused
us to realize that we looked American.
We were going into the Palace TO
Mrs. Bates reception and to meet Gov
ernor Magoon, and not being accus-
toned to walking into Palaces, we
started TO go into the patio full of
beautiful flowers, shrubs. statuary
and n fountain. The guard at the
lower hall near the stairway sa id
"P-s-t''. Immediately we turned to
see what he wanted, for we had al
ready learned that funny little noise
was used TO attract notice. lie gesticu-
lated wildly and pointed upstairs.
We realized the reception was on the
floor above and started to ascend. Now
had that guard been American he
would have said: Say, lady, this
way to the reception room, seel - The
guard evidently knew we were not
Spanish as he did not speak n word
had pity for our ignorance, he only
used his hands wildly, n way Cubans
have when talking.
Another funny thing about the Gu
bans. When they want to call you,
they do not beckon as we do. but use
the reverse OF our motion. They hold
up their hand with the palm turned
outward, bending the fingers toward
fhe person as we should do if we were
telling them to go away instead of in
viting them to come to us. The Cn-
bans talk with their hands, their
gestures are famous and the visitor
is at once attracted by this peculiar
mannerism, which he soon acquires
himself. Indeed, il is said ii you
were to tie Cuhan's hands, ii would
be impossible for him to talk at all,
so much does he use his hands in
conversation. Nearly every American
tourist who is in Cuba for any length
of time soon finds himself talking
with his hands like the Cubans do,
illustrating the fact that we are all
imitators.
It is amusing to see Cuban at
the telephone. lie yells into the re-
ceiver with all his might, and when
the conversation over the phone
really begins, he soon forgets himself
and begins TO wildly gesticulate first
with one hand, tnen with both and
drops the receiver before he knows
it. One rarely gets message cor
rectly if il comes over the telephone
and is received by Cuban. 1t is
usually distorted, or altogether incor-
rect.
Cuban women dress pretty much as
we do in summer, except that most of
them wear mantillas, either of black
or white lace, and many of them wear
bright red or yellow embroidered
crepe shoulder shawls. This is es-
pecially characteristic of the negro
Cuban woman, who always wears the
bright shawl over her shoulders. One
thing that struck us most about the
appearance of all of the women and
many of the men is the way they pow
der their faces. The powder is so
thick that IL makes them LOOK ghast-
ly. Every CUBAN woman powders her
face. be she. old or young, ugly or
pretty, and she puts it on it seems an
inch thick. The lavish use of powder
is noticed every where and the shops
must do big business in cosmetics.
Even the little children's faces are
powdered. IL is said the favorite
powder is made sof finely pulverized
eggshells and is called cascarilla. 1t
is quite the polite thing If a lady
calls on n Cuban lady for the latter Ia
proffer the use of her powder and
powder puff. 1t Is a strange sight ia
get into the street cars and to look
around and see all the women and
some of the men whose faces present
| chastity hue from the lavish use OF
| face powder. 1t is said the native
Cubans are averse to bathing, and
we came to the conclusion that pow
der must be used in lieu of a bath.
Perfumery is also lavishly applied,
and everyw here the odor of musk OF
some heavy perfume offends the sensi-
tive olfactories of the American tour.
go