Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-05

visitor who has Just landed and
goes for his first stroll along the
Prado, the leading Cuban indus
tries seem to be the purveying OF
smokes and drinks and the shining
of shoes.
The impression will be corrected
when he pushes up some OF the
narrow business streets lined with
retail stores of all kinds, but Of
the Prado and of the principal
squares it is certainly true. You
can turn in anywhere and buy the
best cigars in the world at amaz-
ingly low prices, and you can gen.
orally get food and drink at the
same place, while it is never more
than 80 or 40 feet to shine. Ha-
vana must support more boot
blacks per thousand Of population
than any other city in the world.
And they are all kept fairly busy,
too.
The term bootblack does not
seem to apply to these gentlemen
of comparative leisure, each Of
whom owns a chair for his Gus
toner and another for himself. Be-
tween shines he almost invariably
improves his mind with q newspa-
per or a book or by gracious and
polite conversation with any who
happen to be near. Besides being
a beautifier of shoes, he is an in
formation bureau and q language
teacher for the benefit Of visitors.
He knows his city. Ask q police
man how to get somewhere, and he
will almost invariably 60 and ask
the nearest bootblack. He will
then write the necessary infornfa
ton in Spanish on a sheet from a
little notebook which he carries for
the purpose. The visitor gives 1t to
jitney driver, and is promptly set
down at his destination for one
peseta, having received the assist
ance of three public functionaries.
The Cuban shoe sinner is an in
teresting contrast to the type who
practices the same calling in our
American midst. The shoe-shiner
in the United States is often a poor
foreigner who works for corpora
ton. The Cuban is an independ-
ent and dignified operator. He sits
down to the job, and having fin
ished one shoe he leisurely moves
his chair over to the vicinity Of the
other. Neither does he affect the
vigorous rubbings and slappings Of
the vulgar American bootblack. His
attitude toward shoe leather is con-
templative rather than aggressive.
He is more an artist than an ath-
lete. He takes long time and does
a pretty good job, though he does
not 60 in for a very high lustre. He
also foregoes the historic labor of
brushing your clothes. You 60
away with the impression that your
shoes have been shined by one who
is gentleman and a scholar, and
is saving his energy for some great
effort to be made in the future.
The policeman who cooperates
with the bootblack in sending you
where you want to 60 is also
worthy Of a word. He is a man
of ferocious appearance, who car
ries an enormous six-shooter
strapped on the outside Of his
clothes in addition to his club; but
his severe look is deceptive. He
never bothers anyone. He is not
hard telling people to move on or
to get back, nor does he prowl
around and peer into windows and
rattle doors. He discharges his
duty by selecting a shady spot with
congenial company and standing
there. You get the impression that
nothing less than murder or lar
ceny would galvanize him into &C
tivity, and to a man from a coun-
try where the carrying Of brief
case makes one an object Of sus-
picion, and where not only ones
conduct, but ones conversation and
reading are subject to censorship,
this unaggressive attitude on the
part of authority is welcome re-
lief. The fact of the matter is that
the vanishing boon Of personal lib
erty may still be enjoyed in. Cuba
to a surprising extent.
Next to the ubiquitous bootblack
the thing which most strikes the
eye of the visitor is the vast swarm
of jitneys which fills the streets.
There cannot be a more completely
jitnified city on the face Of the