Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1911-03-30
CONTINUED from last week.
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Havana, Cuba, ninety miles to the
south. 1t was cloudy and dark with a
light breeze from the east, and as soon
as we cleared the harbor we went to
our staterooms.
The most essential thing in sea travel
for comfort and good appetite is
plenty of good fresh air The days we
were aboard ship we spent on the upper
deck where we took pleasure in the
varied marine scenery and watching the
gulls which followed the ship. The
large fish called porpoise, six to ten
feet in length, could often be seen. a
dozen or more at time, and they We're
constantly jumping two or three feet
out Of the water
That evening | opened the ports in
my stateroom so / could have plenty of
fresh air, and never had better
nights rest than that was. The first
thing i knew after retiring was at $50
in the morning when | looked out and
saw the electric lights in Havana few
miles away. A few minutes later We
passed Moro Castle at the entrance OF
the harbor and steamed southeast up
the channel. which is nearly forty rods
wide, TO the center of the bay where we
anchored within thirty rods Of the bat
tleship Maine. The sun was just rising
and gave US view of the famous
wreck, and all that can now be seen of
it is the mast and some of the frame
work. The IT, s. government had a
number of men at work putting a cais-
son around the wreck. They had con-
siderable of the work done, and esti-
mated it would take 100 days to com
plete the job.
The large steamers do not run to the
dock in Havana harbor All the freight
and passengers are taken to the land
ing in small steamers, We were on
the steamer am hour before the custom
officers came off to inspect our bag
gage. Then we were taken TO the land
ing. and walked nearly a half mile
through the crooked and winding street
to the Brooklyn hotel on the Prado
The Prado is the widest and most
beautiful street in Hava a, beginning
across the channel opposite Moro castle
and extends nearly mile south. In
the center of the street is "a row Of
lamp posts and curb feet wide filled
with roses and other flowers, and on
each side of that is a walk There is
also row of trees outside of the walk,
and then broad drive on each side.
The solid blocks of fine buildings on
each side of this street are built of
coral rock covered with white cement,
making it a street of beauty, while on
the south end of the Prado is one of
the most beautiful parks we have ever
seen. 1t covers two blocks, and seat
tered through it are many kinds of
palms and roses and other flowers Of
every hue and variety.
Practically all the buildings in Havana
are built Of coral rock soft stone
similar to lime rock. 1t is very soft
stone waen taken from the ground and
can be cut with an axe, but the longer
it is exposed to the air the harder il
becomes. Most Of the streets in Hav-
ana are very narrow-twenty TO thirty
feet in width-wit walk on each side
two or three feet wide. Most of the
buildings are two stories in height, and
sre built around the four sides of the
block, leaving space called the plaza"
in the center. The plaza is used for
flower garden or playground where
the children can amuse themselve and
the women visit with their neighbors.
The Cuban women are very rarely seen
on the streets.
The stores in Havana are very small
usually in one room, having ten to
twenty foot front and twenty to thirty
feet in length. The front is made like
large folding doors which may be folded
to each side leaving the front open to
the ceiling. The windows in the DWELL
ings are made in the form of doors with
blinds in them and extend from near
the floor to the ceiling. They are on
hinges, and on the outside they are
covered with iron CRATES.
The first place we visited was the
postoffice-a large building several
stories high, We went to the top in an
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