Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-01

precision which has gone abroad
that this city u . crowded carnival
Of reveary, drunkenness and vice, Is
largely mistaken. There are many
visitors but mot more than the city
csn accommodate, and much IL
auor but not many DRINKS. The
general effect II one Of spacious
ness and quiet rather than OF
crowdednees and noise. The LIE
Of the old city flows through its
many pillared portals, 10 narrow
shaded streets and brilliant trop-
ical parks in the leisurely fashion
Of its wont. Fifteen or twenty
thousand Americans in . Latin city
OF nearly half . million are not
enough to jar 1t out Of its unhur-
ried Latin ways.
Cuba, 1t should BE- added. is un-
doubtedly In the midst Of great
boom. Sugar, tobacco and prohihi-
ton have put moro money into
island pockets than ever they con-
tanned before. To the Cubans no
doubt, it seems that their city is
roaring with life and prosperity,
but it, roar Is = mere purr beside
the voice Of almost any American
city Of the same size.
Liquor Is here in astonishing
abundance and variety. The exiled
American WHISTLES combine with
the native products and liberal i'm
portatiops from Europe to make
this one Of the wetteet spots on the
face Of the earth. Along the Prado.
the central square, and other pfin-
cipal thoroughfares, literally every
door leads to a drink. and the very
air is polluted with the breath Of
the banished demon. Yet DRINKS
are surprisingly few considering
the thousands who are here from
arid lands, and who have hraved
the terrors of travel on southern
railroads to get here. The native
does not get drunk at all, and the
visitor apparently not very often
When he does, the tropical climate
lays a soothing hand upon his
heated brow, and he generally goes
to sleep In some quiet corner OF a
cafe,
None the less the presence Of I'M
limited alcohol has undoubtedly in
fluenced q considerable percentage
of those who now visit Havana, and
the crowds In the hotels, bars and
cafes, are an interesting collection
Of the types who seek the fellow
ship of John Barleycorn. Here is
the chap who leans across the bar
and stares like a crystal gazer into
glass after glass, silent, gloomy
enraptured, caressing the brass raj
with = we'll accustomed foot. Here
is that we'll known fellow who
haunts cafes the world over, who is
persuaded that all the Joy Of life is
where liquor and pretty womer
and music meet under bright
lights. Here is the man who seeks
oblivion, and the one who want:
merely something to make hin
laugh and dream and forget hel
and taxes. These and many other.
are here, a veritable gathering O.
1.-The followers of King John, come tt
his court Of exile. Yet the loud ant
lrowdy drunk is surprisingly scarce
and one cannot but feel that thu
soothing air is what holds him il
check
| The abundance Of high percent
iage refreshment is crudely empha
sized by the Cuban barkeepers, whit
Regularly spill about one thousand
igallons of bonded goods day. Thu
native barman evidently think
that he is not discharging his duties
with proper dash and flourish un
Hess he makes a libation to the god
of waste every time he mixes ;
drink. In connecting a daiquirf, h
begins by shaking up too mucl
liquor in the shaker; he then pour
it all into the glass and lets it ru,
lover on the bar; and the painet
customer is forced to lose littl
more in conveying the drink to hi
lips. II a waiter handles it, Their
is still further leakage as he trot
along with his tray gracefully bal
lanced on two or three fingers, it
decks awash with stuff which i
worth more than its weight in gol
just 80 miles north. Newcomer
from the United States have bee
known to break down and weep a
the spectacle Of this waste of
precious substance. It has bee
estimated that if every Cuban bar
keeper could be sent to the interio
Of North America for six months, h
would acquire an attitude towar
ethyl alcohol which would ultimate