Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-03-29
THE PEARL OF The ANTILLES.
SCENES AND INCIDENTS FROM
TOURISTS NOTE BOOK.
The GarrOting Machine. A Spanish Heir.
loom, The Female Prison. Where
IIayana's Joan Of Arc Escaped. The
Municipal Police. Etc.
HAVANA, ONCE WALLED CITY

They do not either hang or electro
cute murderous criminals in Cuba.
The fatal instrument of the law is this
Spanish heirloom, the gorrote, which
chokes the victim aud at the same
time sewers the spinal cord nj the
base Of the brain. Death is ipstantan-
eous. The garrote is a Spanish instru-
ment of execution the mode being by
strangulation. II consists OF an iron
collar affixed to a post and frightened
by screw until life Is extinct.
The victim is seated in chair.
Ills feet and legs are strapped and his
hands are strapped behind him. This
steel collar fits around his neck, and
by working a heavy screw IL tightens
until il chokes the victim, at the same
time sending "A sharp instrument into
the back of the neck at the base of the
brain. The instrument of torture
seems barbarous relic, but II is said
TO cause less suffering and certainly
less bungling than our moose or hang
mans knot or the electric chair, aud
therefore civilized Cuba has retain
ed IL.
The woman's prison the Casa de
Recordias-is famous. II was here
Evangeline Cisueros, Iavana's Joan
d Arc, was incarcerated. and from here
she escaped after drugging the keeper
and companions with doctored candy.
She fled through an upper window
over roofs TO the street and was SNUG
gled aboard an American ship by the
aid of Mr.. Carl Decker, reporter of
the New llbr< Journal, whom MIR. w.
n. Hearst sent hero for the rescue.
She was taken To New York and IL was
thought by some that her escape led to
a train of events that made history
few years ago.
Miss Cisneros was the daughter of
tho second president of the Cuban re
public. IT was under the Weyler re-
gime. Her father had been i'm prison
some years and his health was fail
ing. She ondeavorcd to secure his
release, but i'm vain, and she herself
was charged with carrying letters TO
the rebels, was arrested and thrown
into prison. In some way she CON
trived to make known her case TO
Mrs. Fitzhugh Lee, wife of the Amer
lean Consul, who, in turn, made her
story known TO the United States, and
the New York Journal espoused the
Cuban girls cause and brought about
her rescue.
The Havana municipal polieN are
military looking body of mon. TIC.
were organized in 1898 by John Nc
Cullough, ex-chief of police of New
York city. IL is said the personnel
was carefully selected at the time of
organization aud.many of the constab-
ulary were those who had served in
the Cuban army. In physique the
Havana police present marked con
trast TO those of Baltimore and other
cities. The Cuban constabulatry are
men of decidedly slight figure and
this is accentuated by the tight fitting
gray uniform they wear. We were
told that once night watchmen patroll-
ed the streets of Havana carrying
dark lanterns, pistol, spike, whistle
and rome, and il was their duty To
call out the hours and To announce the
state of the weather. AS the weather
is nearly always beautiful and the
nights serene, the reiteration of the
cry "Sereno' became very monoto-
nous.
The constabulary of tho Island also
consists of the Rural Guard, organized
i'm 1899. These were also selected from
the rank of the Cuban army. In 1904
we were told the guard numbered
3. 020, but in the spring of that year
President Palma recommended they
he increased a thousand men, and
they have been increased recently.
The guards are distributed through
out the Island and are stationed at
so posts. Their duties are to patrol
the county, to visit the plantations,
sugar mills, etc, and to preserve or
der in the village. Two guards are
assigned to every railroad station and
they go through every outgoing and
incoming train. These guards are
i'm Khaki, with campaign
hats like those worn by the United
States soldiers. They wear russet
leather shoes and leggings aud n car
fridge belt, and the insignia on their
blouse and hat. They carry Rem
ington carbine. They are neat in
dress aud manly i'm bearing aud the
visitor is forcibly impressed that Cuba
is truly we'll policed Island.
In previous letter we have spoken
of the narrow streets in Havana. This
is principally true of the old part of
the city, the districts which were once
within the walled city. The streets
are quaint and interesting. on some
VI tAtNth - - AANiftcoAhAN AOA 0Ht AtttAtt
to pass another. Vehicles 20 up n
street marked at the corner "Subida'
and down the street marked "Baja.
1t is often impracticahle for two per-
sons to pass on the sidewalk and one
of them must go into the street. As
the streets and patios of the houses are
all paved, there is little absorption
and in the rainy season the water is
said to be at a depth of two feet i'm
some of the business streets and horses
that have fallen down have been
drowned in the strong current of the
street Hoods.
we have also spoken in previous
letter Of the clean streets in Havana.
hut we neglected TO give credit to
whom credit is due. Havana owes its
present cleanliness TO the late Col.
George +. Waring. Jr., who organized
the street cleaners of New York, and
who taught them and the public the
dignity of well performed labor inher-
ent in even the lowliest service. In
1898, after spain surrendered, the
Americans found confronting them
serious problem-the tremendous task
of cleaning up the then dirty city
of Havana, which had been left by
the Spaniards in an apparently filthy
condition.
Continued.