New Britain herald., 1917-07-26
CAPITAL OF CUBA |
IS CITY OF CLUBS
More Than One third Of Residents
in Organization

One of the most striking features
of the general social life of the Cuban
capital, Habana. is the deVelopment
of it's clubs The city has popula-
ton of about $4,000, and accordirsX
to recent statistics at least l2o,O0O,
or over one-third of the entire NUNS
Der are members of some CLUB. Fur
thermore, there is one club that has
a mem bership of $4,000. In otncf
words practically every man IN the
city OF Habana is a member OF clus'
be he millionaire sugar baron or
bod carrier. This rather unusuall
state Of affairs is largely due to Ger
tain features hat are peculiar to =
number of these organizations, usu-
ANY Known as "centros." These were
or!gi.ai!N organized b. Spanish RES
idents Of the city for the purpose or
unitint ii social organizat atoms those
of their conlpatrots who came from
the same section of Spain. Thul, the
Centre Gallego was organized prlmar-
ily for the benefit Of the Galicians.
the Centre Asturiano for natives OF
Asturias, etc.
An interesting account of these
"centros'' appears in the current
numb Of the Bulletin of the Pau
American Union, Washington D. c.,
from which the following facts req
ative to these remarkable institu-
tons are taken. The three LEADING
clubs Of. this character are the
"Gallegos," the, "Asturiano, and tho
"Dependientes, or Clerks club, AL
| being organized along about the
same lines and having practically the
same features. Their mem berships,
in the order named, are $4,000, 81
| 900 and $4,000 They have all of the.
social and recreative features of thu
! great social clubs of other large
| cities; are housed in palatial CLUB
buildings which have very large res
! ception rooms, parlors, libraries, read
| ing rooms, bathrooms, dining rooms
| billiard halls, gymnasiums, swim
ming pools, ETC. In addition to these
social and recreative features, how
| ever, they have certain mutual bene 1T
| and aid departments that make them
unique and offer the greatest incentive.
for men Of limited means to become
members. Among these may be men
| toned the following:
Include Instructive Curricl1la.
| They maintain free night schools
| for their members, including course1
in shorthand, bookkeeping and other
commercial subjects; they maintain
kindergartens for the benefit OF tha|
members small children; grammafI
and high schools for the older chill
| dren; domestic science classes for tf1e|
| wives and daughters; they emplovI
| their own staff of physicians, stlr-I
geons, oculists and dentists, who att
tend to the wants OF members freeI
or any charge-except for material
used in filling teeth or the lenses pre-
scr1bed to correct and aid sight-and|
| they each maintain their own hos-|
| pitfalls, sanitariums and asylums forI
the insane. Especially notable areI
! their general hospitals, known az
| "quintas" which have their own med
! 1cal corps and are as thoroughly and
efficiently equipped as are the most
! modern of such institutions in any
| OF the great world cities. Each has
It's own pharmaceutical department.,
carrying full lines of medicines and
druggist sundries for the "quinta'
AS an instance of the work of these
hospitals may be cited the quinta be-
longing to the Centre Gallego.'..
which treats over $4,000 patients 4
year, not counting those who merely
visit the doctors offices, or receive
treatment at home. When treated at
the "quinta" the room, meals and
medicines prescribed are furnished
without extra charge, and in the
event of the death of the patient the
Cup PROVIDES for a suitable burial
IN cases where the family of the de-
= ceased Is unable to bear the expense
Inc club dues are not over $3.50 per
month for regular mem bers.
1t is these features that have made
the centres" of Habana so popular
and account for the tremendous
membership. Some Of these, like the
"Balear" and "Castellano," also ad- |
NIT women to mem bership. In adj
dltlon to the centres" there are g..
great number of social clubs Of tho
character usually found in large cities.
including fine country club, tennis
clubs, so that taken altogether.
Habana may justly claim 70 be the
greatest club city in the world"