Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-21

hour and perhaps longer. | -lt there and
blandly listened After while Sulzbcrger
arose from his seat and paced to and fro
behind me with his hands hidden in the
folds of his gown. Presently. unable to
control himself longer he came leaning
over me and whispered, you damned
hypocrte!"
A Trip to Cuba
In 1894 my daughter Josephine and I
made trip to Cuba on the fruit steamer
Braganza, built on the pattern of the Ala
bama, and on the way saw the island OF
san Salvador, or Cat Island, which was
the first land found IN America by Colum-
bus. 1t did not look as though he had
found very much of Importance. We land
ed at Baracoa Il very old town OH the
eastern end of the island \ low wall ran
around it, once intended FOR defense, but
now broken down, and on top of the wall
paced one solitary and forlorn- looking sem
try. Tho Spanards throw the oral from
tho cattle killed into the sea, ana conso-
quently the harbor was full of sharks. The
town was dirty and dilapidatcd Boys and
girls ten or twelve years of age ran
around stark naked. Women were uncov.
cred above the waist Cohntrymcn rodc
into town astrido of horses, mules asses
bulls. cows or anything mountabc that
they could find. a man would load his
mule with lumber. the ends Of the boards
dragging behind, then throw two hugo
bags of merchandise over the mules back
then get on top of the bags and ride To-
tho mountains Every step was attended
by flock of Duzzards, patiently awaiting
tho time when the man or the mule would
topple over. Everything was open
saw one man ride "A COW into a store and
stand up to the counter to make a pur-
chase, and the storekeeper treated it as a
fectly clear, few minutes later it would
rain i'll torrents, and few minutes later
still ii would be as clear as before. For
amusement the Spanards drank a sweet
native wine and fought game cocks. An
American named Matthew Craig had the
only industry in the town, u factory whcro
he employed Il number of mon and women
and made oil from the nut of the cocoanut
palm. lie had acquired small fortune
but when the war came along Il few years
later he lost it all and Inc died in KcnsinE-
ton, Philadelphia, in absolute poverty.
bananas and pineapplcs seemed to bc tho
only products to be sold. The United States
Government sent cultivated young South
Carolinan, recently married, to Baracoa
to act as consul. 1t was sad and solitary
place, and the consul and his wife seemed
glad enough to see an American face.
When the war came along they were
overlooked and forgotten and had a most
fort tnh ~.
teresting and novel sight to see the steamer
being loaded with bananas They were
brought in little rowboats to the side of
the vessel and the negroes formed in line
tossing tho punches from one To another
singing with rhythm and time "I-no, duo
trio, quadro, quinto." When the work was
over they had dance, playing on instrr.
ments made Of gourd with a Stick
through 1t and ornamented with carvings.
L prevailed on one of the performers to sell
me two Of the instruments.
Cuban Customs Odd
FROM Baracoa We went to Mata and
fumuri, two other little ports i'm eastern
CUBA to secure bananas. At the latter the
fumuri River flowing from the mountains
empt!es into the sea- We went up this
river for Il mile or two in a rowboat. The
Ilmbs or the palm trees We're covered with
vines and mosses, the forests were q com
piete tangle, impen ~trable, c:cept to ono
carrying machete, and in the crevice of
every rock left bare by the stream some
plant had started to grow. We saw women
"ashlhs clothing along the banks of the
river and using for soap the Juice of a
plant. The wife of the agent of the fruit
company at Yumuri invited us to l,real.
fast She could not talk a word of Eng.
iish. The dishes were all strange bnt
palatable. The pigs ran around the eoor
Dut 1t must be remembered that the rooms
We're all open to the air. On the bottom of
the cup from which had drunk the coffeo
iouild mar Il dozen drowned ants, but
then it must likewise be remembered tb,,
'uoa Is prolific of insects, and it is, / SUD.
pose impossible to be protected from them
Along the shore Of the sea there WAS n
refreshing sea breeze. but twenty feet in.
iahd 1t was so hot as to be Sitting. In.
sephine and gathered sea shells and soa
Deans along the sands and a naked neyro
boy came out of hut built Of palm and
rooied with palm leaves and brought nc
specimens which were beautiful. We lef,
cuba at midnight in the full of the moon
shouting "buena noche" to those who roved
TO the shore. On the way home the can.
tain was bitten by a tarantula and we on.
Joyed eating the little fig bananas those
on their way TO market being contemptu.
ously called plantains) and a species of
pineapple vastly better than any of tbo,o
offered for sale.
J.