Milford chronicle., 1911-03-17


license fee In Cuba being only about $l5t
per year. And with all of these salOOI
Cuba is the most sober country IN IN
world. One may walk the streets OF H'
vana for weeks and never see an lntox
Gated person. The saloons are so orderl
and cleanly kept that even lady can
into the saloon, sit down at the table, ca
for a glass of ice water, pima fris, or pei
haps a glass of wine. The Cubans, men
women and children, all drink wine a
their meals. and with all Of this drunk
ness is rarely seen in Havana.
The fruit seller is everywhere on tn
streets with his load of fruit in two larg
saddle bags on his horses back, and mill
is carried through the streets on horse
back, in bottles as fruit and vegetables
| Early in the morning the roads leading
| from the country are filled with mOnteIO
| bringing in the produce of the farms, car
| ried on horses and dOnkeys in large pan
niers. Often the horses and donkeys are
IN trains, the head one being ridden, the
next one tied to his tail and so on for six
or a dozen, with a dog attached to the
tail of the last one, as a rear guard.
Havana has three large markets, and
in these are stalls, where all kinds of fruit
and vegetables, both of the northern
climes and of the tropics, are displayed
for sale, and every other article that can
be imagined is here for sale.
Lottery tickets are offered for sale all
around in every place, the lottery having
been revived under the second Republic
as a government enterprise to raise rev.
enue The Cubans are great gamblers,
the poor as well as the rich. The streets
of the old section of Havana are very
narrow, but of the newer section they are
very wide, with macadamised drives, and
on each side broad promenade shaded
by double rows OF trees, and lined with
fine residences. Her parks are many and
Colon Park is so grand and magnificent !;
with her beds Of roses and other flowers,
laurel trees and avenues of palms, that it
is impossible for me to find words to eX-
press how grand she really is. And when
the heat of day has passed the sun is get.
ting low over the hills in the west, and
the beautiful Senoras and SenOrietas make
their appearance among this labyrinth of
tropical plants and trees and vines, and
the band begins to play beneath the Royal
Palace, and trees whose majestic heads
stop and wOnder,-Is this grand scene
true or is it only a dream?
The Botanical Gardens contain great
number of species of trees and plants
known to the tropics.
Cuba's native flora comprises over 8, $50
native plants, besides the number that
has been imported. The people of Ha
vana are devoted to places Of amusements
and so has as large and as fine theatres as
any city in the world. The worlds most
famous artists have been seen on her
stages Here the theatres are all open on
Sunday as we'll as all places of amuse
ments, even most of the stores, such as
grocery, cafes and saloons are open. Ex-
are run on the railroads and boats
How unlike the Puritan SUNDAY of old
New England. Here it is a day Of amuse-
ment and recreation. Havana cigars Of
the best grades are made here from to
bacco grown in the famous Nurlta AbajO
district. The cigar industry here is i'm
mense, whose number are expressed in
millions. One large company alone has
an annual output of 50, 600, 900 cigars and
1870 1909, 900 cigarettes.
A short ride out into the country soon
brings one to the sugar growing district
IF MatanZas, a novel scene to visitor for
The first time, here cane fields stretching
lut in every direction as far as the eve
IAN see, are now being cut and hauled TO
he mills in OK carts or on little narrow
yuage railroads that many of the large
have. The richness of the ma
i've soil can soon be appreciated from the |
ar window {; it is the richest in the world |
md it is possible to gather two or three /
.rops of corn from it in one year, and a |
crop Of cane for twenty years or |
more without replanting or the use OF one !
pound of fertilizer. Countless thousands |
If royal palms are in view, in stately ave- |
iues, indicating bounC aries or the en- |
rance to the homes of the rich planters, /
md the hill tops are crowned with them |
s well as in the hOlOws along the streams, |
t is a scene one never fOrgets who has |
OOked over those fair hills of the "Queen
II the Antilles. Havana's past has not |
'een one OF smooth sailing all of the time.
he has suffered much from pirates and |
highway robbers, wars and instructions,
nd from that terrible disease yellow
ever, that kept stronghold here for one
hundred and fifty years but thanks to
he discovery of the yellow fever mos.
uito; the disease has been wiped ont,
here not having been an outbreak now
d several years.
Less than a hundred years ago, the
treets of Havana as we'll as the country
Dads, were infested with highwaymep
nd robbers. Citizens having money to
-ansfer from one town to another, had
} pay for a military escort.
They appealed to a certain governor
bout this awful state of affairs, and his
sply to them was "Do as l do, never go
Ut at night" This state of affairs all
hanged with the coming Governor Tacon
ne Of the best Spanish governors ever
mt to Cuba, he had few Ofthe robbers
eads displayed on the streets in parrot
iges, as an example to all of their kinds,
nd soon he had chain-gang Of over two
lOusand such cOnvicts breaking stones,
nilding streets and public buildings.
he results were soon so il was perfectly
Ife to travel the roads by day or by
ght without an escort, and today Hav-
"a can thank Tacon for many of her
ne streets and public works. must here
so add that Havana has the cleanest
reefs and parks of any city in the world.
ANY of the streets are swept three or
ur times a day, and they are all
'rinkled every day. If all of the govern
S from Spain had given Cuba as good q
lie rs TacOn, very likely the standard
red and gold would still be floating in
e gentle breeze over Fl MorrO's ram.