The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-15

maliciously decides that the man on | the home team Is out at third. Meas ured by such things as these, Havana
 has become very much AmericaniZed
 during the ten years of American oe-
 cupancy and influence.
 | But 1t retains it's Spanish character and It's Cuban peculiarities. Its people
 resent any innovation which material
 iy affects the course of their municipal or social life. The net result of ten
 years of contact of the Yankee and the Cuban is that the city has become sul-
 ficiently Americanized to be pleasant ly habitabIe for Americans, the while retaining its peculiar historic charm. l Tn other words. Havana Is more beau | tiful to the eye and ear than 1t ever
 was, and it Is no longer offensive to the nose. .&
 It Is to the Americans that Havana Is indebted for the beauty of it's streets and parks. The parks, the statues and
 the streets were there long before the Americans came. but they were not
 beautiful because they were not taken
 care of. One of the most beautiful city thoroughfares in the world Is the
 Prado. It is an enduring monument to the memory of General Leonard Wood, the second American governor of Cuba He found a great wide street running through the heart of the city and bordered by handsome houses. It was flat and uncared for. and in the center was a strip of neglected grass and a few trees.
 General Wood paved the street, rais- cd It's center to a crown, set curbtng along the strip of grass. trimmed the
 laurels and flamboyant poinciana trees, laid walks through the green; in short he made a boulevard out of a country dirt road.
 The Prajo begins at the sea. Before the Americans came there was no im- provement of the long stretch of coral
 shore line outside the mouth of the
 harbor. It was dumping place for
 the refuse of the city. and the sewer
 age dumped In the sea was carried
 back and cast on the shore by the
 tides. It was a foul and utterly ugly
 place. General Wood abolished the
 dumping system. and built a great sea-
 wall along the crescent shore line
 Behind 1t park was constructed.
 band-stands were erected and every
 thing made spick and span. Thus
 Havana came into possession of it's
 most beautiful feature. the famous
 Malecon.
 Here at the Malecon the band plays
 In the evening, and the spray from the
 ocean dashes over the sea-wall to wet
 the laughing throng. At one side there
 are cafes where one may sit comfort
 ably at an outdoor table, slipping a
 glass of rum and water, or enjoying a
 cup of chocolate. He is protected from
 ugly sights and ugly smells by the
 things the Americans have done. Upon
 his ears falls the gay laughter of a pleasure-lovIng people--a careless. music Is the whole of life. It took a
 Yankee to make the Malecon, but the Latins enjoy 1t as the Americans never could.
 Havana Is delight to the visitor be. cause for the first few days 1t en- thralls him with It's physical charms, reservlng the more potent spell of it's
 spirit until later. Richer in hoary history than any other city of the
 western world. 1t has none of the deadness of the relic. Here the full power of Spain was first asserted. The forts built nearly 400 years ago bring one within speaking distance of Colum- bus himself. Here the cruelty and bar parity which was civilization in the Middle Ages survived for a century after 1t had been stamped out in all the rest of the Christian world
 Its wonderful old forts are now open to the parroting guides and their retinues of curious tourists. Ancient Qualifications these. and horrible. with their dungeons and torture chambers. execution walls and charnel houses. Yet 1t has been but a little more than ten years since any person In Havana might be cast into one of those dun geons any day, without hope of ever again communicating with his family or his friends. Only ten years ago men were being shot every morning in the gruesome Laurel Ditch. Only ten years ago the cruelty of the Dark Ages was ruling here.
 Now the old forts and prisons are but relics for sight-seers. This is another of the things Americans have done for Havana. If one doesn't care to poke about old forts and authenticated he may find some pleasure In discovering for himself things that bring out the charm of Havana's age. At the corner of busy street, set into the wall of a grocery store, and paint ed over so many, many times that the 3eep inscription is almost obliterated, s tablet commemorating in formal Latin the tragedy of the death of Dona Maria de Cepero, the daughter of a Governor General of Cuba, who was accidentally shot and killed by a ball rom an arquebus which was salut- ng her father. That happened in the rear 1857. a full half-century before u. davana was city of stone and marble.
 It has been said that woman has lever known the full measure of the oy of shopping until she has made the ounds in Obispo and O'Renly Streets ] Havana. Narrow little lanes they ] lre the cabs going down one and up ] he other because 1t would be impos- tble for them to pass. Canvas signs ] tretch overhead to keep the sun out. o that even at midday the shopping . enter is cool and shady as a grape ( 'rbor. Here are the Cuban ladies. , colding and bargaining with their { avorite clerks. Shopping must not be one in a hurry. The Cuban lady takes Ter time. She waits until the particu- , ar salesman she desires to see is at [ eisure. She is deliberate in selection I nd critical in inspection. T
 Then comes the great business of making terms. The clerk asks a cer- I ain sum, knowing that she will not \ i've it. She protests and pretends f inc anger. By and by the clerk names B he final, rock bottom price. She ' ecognizes 1t instantly and pays. it f he American woman in bargaining r Till get the same reductions. but she rill not be able to recognize the f eculiar accent which indicates that s he prices is final. And if one asks \ pr a reduction after that psychological . the merchant is insultei and \ uts up his wares in anger It Is h ather complicated. but it is a great anne for those who know it's rules. f
 Over in another part of the city Is v he great Tacon market. named for an s