Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-03-14
Havana, THE BEAUTIFUL.
ENCHANTING CITY OF LEISURE
AND PLEASURE.
A Land Of Historic IatcreSt Aud Tradi.
tiOnaI Lore-ItS Quaint Customs
And Foreign Methods
It's Many Beautiful
Buildings.
CUBA-THE LAND OF SUNSHINE
AND SHRUBBERY.
Especial Correspondence to the Eycnil
Capital by stan Reporte ,

L tiaCllNG anu GANIC4ltikAN
The central feature is the patio, or in
terror court about which the house is
built. In the patio are palms and
flowers, orchids and roses, ferns and
| vines, singing birds and fragrant
shrubs. 1t is paved and open TO the
sky, and surrounded above and below
by arcades and galleries.
At night the patio is lighted by elec-
tric light. for electricity is used gener-
ally for lighting purposes here and is
apparently n cheap commodity if there
is any such word as cheap in the
Cuban vocabulary. Statuary and
fountain usually ornament the patio
and the sight is cooling and refresh
ing To passerby on the hot, sunny
| street. Behind the patio the kitchen
is located, and if there be a horse
belonging TO the family the animal
is usually stabbed back of the kitchen.
In the front, near the entrance To the
| patio are the parlors, and an open
| stairway leads to the upper gallery,
| along which the bedrooms are located.
| This gallery is the living quarters,
rocking chairs, divans, tables, pic
| lures, a piano, statuary, bookcase and
lounging chairs furnish the upper
| gallery and give it an air of homelike
| comfort. Underneath the gallery and
| adjoining the patio is the eating
room, or lower gallery, where tables
are spread and the queer Cuban meals
| are served.
In Cuba there is no luncheon. A
| first breakfast is served from To 8 a.
m, and this consists only of an orange,
a French roll and cup of black coffee.
| All oranges served here at table are
peeled, and one eats them on fork,
novel yet not unpleasant wa to eat
an orange, although most of us prefer
| to take ours with asspoon. the crust
| of the Cuban roll is as hard as--well,
| it requires two good strong hands to
| break it, and the Cuban coffee is fear
| fully and wonderfully made. 1t is as
/. black as ink and as bitter as qui-
| nine. They burn their coffee here
l several times, as one smells coffee
| and gets Whit of the aroma of
| roasting coffee in ones lodgins at all
hours in the day.
To drink the coffee requires almost
as much strenth of purpose as there is
| strength in the coffee and then one has
to take the cup three quarters full of
"leche'' (milk) and one-fourth coffee.
| Butter is a rars commodity here, and
| is bought in cans. Ii often becomes
rancid and good butter is luxury.
| The second breakfast is served from
-, noon, to 1.30 or 2 p. M, and this
| consists of eggs Spanish omelet, coffee,
| oranges, bread sometimes a chop)
coacoanut or pineapple and some des-
/ seTt.
The evening meal is full dinner
and is usually very good. 1t is served
1 from to S o'clock. Much garlic and
many spices are used in Cuban sea-
| soning. Slices of sour oranges are
served with beef steak, and the va
riety of vegetables would delight the
| vegetarian. Chicken is an occasional
dish, but chickens here are very poor
/ and thin. said to be due to the animal
parasite that is prevalent all over the
| island, and often kills the cattle and
keeps all livestock in poor condition.
Oranges grow plentifully in Cuba,
but the Cubans refuse TO cultivate
| them, choosing rather to cultivate the
rich soil in sugar cane, tobacco, pine
apples, hemp and bananas. although
of late little care is given to the latter
fruit. A number of Americans here
have the largest orange groves. The
fruit is sweet and delicious and has
| a flavor altogether unlike that of the
oranges we are accustomed TO find on
i our menu in the States. Salad is a
great dish here and is served often at
the second breakfast and always at
the evening meal. Tomatoes, cucum-
hers, lettuce, watercress and various
other vegetables indigenous to the
island form the chief articles of which
salad is made.
The average Cuban breakfast at any
of the hotels costs $1.50, and dinner
anyw here from 81 to 50. A cup of
coffee (after dinner cup) is 20 cents,
an egg omelet, 40 cents and living
here is dear at such prices. 1t is best
to buy stamps in American money, as
then we pay but two cents to mail a
letter, the same as at home, but in
| Spanish money we would pay four
cents. Here is where there is one of
the many exhibitions of graft, as the
Cubans make two or one. The same
is true of car fare. 1t is nickle
in American money or seven cents in
Spanish money, another game Of
graft for the Cuoans. A wise Ameri-
can always buys stamps or pays car
| fare in American money.
Hotel rates in Havana are pretty
steep. At the Inglaaterra, the popular
hotel for tourists, the board is from So
to $40 per day, but at the Miramar,
the swell hotel ON the Malecon.
facing MORO Castle ana the Prado,
the board is from $25 TO $50 per day.
1t is said the Goulds and Vanderbilts
left the Miramar, as even they found
il too high-pricel. 1. A glass Of water
at the AIiramar is said 70 cost 80
cents. 1t is handsomely equipped
and beautifully located hotel with
the very best of service. \ distinctly
Cuban liquor is 'bombon crema," a
sweet cordial made Of sugar cane.
The typical Cuban bedroom is a
study. The floor is tiled, as all floors
are here, in order to be cool, as keep
COOL is the motto of Cuba. In some
instances the thing is in beautiful
Mosaic designs and is very handsome.
A rug is placed at the side of the bed,
and the bed is unique as a resting
place. There are no mattresses and
one sleeps on the springs, with a thin
comfort and sometimes only sheet
between the springs of the bed and
himself. After a nights rest on such
bed one feels somewhat like a waffle
and begins to trace outlines when. he