The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1915-09-30


as you do in New York for their
best fruits; but this may be account
ed for by the high prices of their
commodities shipped from United
States to Cuba. For instance. or
binary gasolene used for automo-
biles that retails, in America, from
eighteen to twenty-five cents
gallon,is shipped there in five gallon
cans. Now, in the course of tran
sit there is evaporation of from of
one quarter to one-half gallon in
these cans. When the consumers
purchases it from retailer, he pays
from twenty-five to sixty cents a
gallon and he pays for the evapora-
tion. also, as he buys a FIVE gallon
can he gets probably four and one
half gallons. 1 was fortunate
enough to do considerable automo-
bile riding while in Cuba. hence my
knowledge of the price of gasolene.
Nowhere can one see real life ex-
cept in the rural sections of what
ever country he is in. There he
sees nature at it's best, and what can
be said of most countries surely an.
plies to Cuba.
The principal country roads are
very old, built long ago by the Spah-
ish. The trees have formed a nat
ural archway over those roads, and
the dense foliage of the trees sha-
dow the roads at all hours of the
day. l am not quite sure what trees
they are. but they have all the ap-
pearance of the magnolia.
l made several trips to nearby,
one to Matanzas, which is about
seventy miles from Havana, and the
latter is surely trip worth taking.
The town is situated on a hill and at
its base is one of the most pictur-
esque harbors | have ever seen.
There is the old Catholic Monas-
terry. there, with its history of The
past in old paintings done after the
Spanish style; and on the opposite
sides of the town, maybe five miles
distant, is a large cave called the
Giants Cove. An attendant takes
you down and it takes you fully half
an hour to go thru it. Here, again,
the Catholic church has left it's mark
as it was used as place of worship
and of internment during some per-
iod that the Catholics were perse-
cuted in that country. That seems
nearly an impossibility as Cuba has
nearly always been Catholic since
it's discovery. Nevertheless that is
one of the legends of the cave,
Another trip from Havana is to
Guines. about thirty miles from
Havana. Here you have an excel
lent road-all the way past large
palm groves and thru a perfectfuly
beautiful country. But the town
itself, offers nothing of interest.
One other place of note is Pinar
del Rey, about 10 miles from Ha-
vana. You have a good road all
the way and great change of seen
cry. You pass large sugar planta-
tions with their picturesque oxen
teams and large groves of tropical
fruit. The town, itself, has one
small hotel and offers nothing in
viting, so we return to Havana.
Places of interest in Havana are
many. l will try to give you only
a few. The Presidential Palace
with it's court is quite an imposing
aud the guards on duty
lend to its Spanish picturesqueness.
At the time ! was there, Senor
Gonslaves was President and Senior
De Qayas, vice President. De Ia.
vas is great admirer and quite an
authority on the life of President
Lincoln. Several days ago at a
banquet in New York, he gave
very interesting talk on the great
mans life.
The possibilities of money-mak.
ing in Cuba can be illustrated by