New-York tribune., 1920-11-07

baseball gamblers. He gives the fol-
lowing animated description of a ball
game at Havana:
The fanaticos bet on every swing
of the battcr's club, on every ball that
rose into the air, on whether or not
the runner would reach the next base,
on how many fouls the inning would
produce. Most of the wagers passed
so quickly that there was no time for
the actual exchange OF money. A flip
of the fingers or a nod of the head
Sufflced to arrange the deal. There
were no dividing lines either of color
or distance. Full fedged Africans ex-
changed wagers with men of pure
Spanish blood. Cabalistic signs passed
between the grandstand and the sort
of royal box high above Across the
held the crowded sol, as the Cuban
calls the unshadcd bIeachers, in the
vocabulary Of the bull ring, was en-
gagged in the same money-waving tur
moll. The curb market Of New York
is slow, noiseless and phlegmatic COM
pared with ball game in Havana"
From Cuba Mr.. Franck went TO
Hayti which has been governed for
several years by American troops.
Hayti is preernnentlv black mans
country The French, the original
possessors Of the island, were driven
out by slave insurrection, and the
white population was practically ex-
terminated. Except for the existence
OF small, educated class Havti NAV
almost be considered replica of
central Africa. The masses of the
people are totally uneducated and live
by the simplest methods Of agriculture.
Voodooism the peculiar, weird super
stition Of the African tribes. is widely
practiced. AS Mr.. Franck says:
Haytians Practice Noodooism
"Noodooism is form of religion, the
deity being an imaginary great green
serpent, with a high priest known as
Papa Loi and pricstess called Ma
man Loi- Chicken snakes and a harm
less python are kept as sacred beings
IN Hayti and fed by the faithful. In
theory the serpent deity demands sac
rlfce of a goat without horns; in
other words. child, preferably white
But there is no positive evidence to
prove that anything more than goats.
sheep or roostcrs are actually sacri-
need. These simpler rites arc carried
on almost openly and arc ACCOMPANIED
by all sorts of childish incantations
with such nonsensical fetishos as red
rags, dried snakes and lizards, human
bones or portions Of human organs.
stolen, perhaps. from eravcyards. The
most frequent form Of revenge anon.
the Haytian masses is the burvjng of
a bottle filled with charms of this ma
turR over which arc recited various
lncantations at certain phases of tho
moon, in the hope Of bringing destruc-
ton or lesser punishment on the OBJ
Ject of the enmity."
tlayti has experienced more than IFS
share of reyolutions and it was after
an especially bloody outbreak that
American marines landed and took pos
session Of the country. The American
occupation has not been altogether
peace full. Some Of the Havtians took
to revolt and banditry. and as inter
mittent guerrilla war has been ronr
on for some time. Apparently the
fighting has been rather one sided: Mr.
tranck estimates the casualties at four
marines as against 5000 Haytians.
The author tells an exciting story of
the killing Of Charlemagnc. the Hay
tian rebel leader, by an American of
ficcr.
Tho United States has also taken
over the administration of Santo Do
mngo, tho republic adjoining Hayti.
Here again there has been consid-
erable amount of resistance, intensi.
fed by the arbitrary, not to say brutal,
conduct Of some OF the American off.
GERS and soldiers. Mr.. Franck believes
that some form Of American super
vision is necessary in Hayti and Santo
Domingo, but he does not hesitate to
criticize certain aspects Of the policy
of occupation.
Gorgeous Scenery of Porto Rico
The author is enthusiastic over the
beauties Of our great sugar pro-
ducing island. Porto Rico.
More mountainous than even Hayti
and Santo Domingo, the island is such
an unbroken labyrinth of hills, ranges
and high peaks, of deep valleys, per
pendicular slopes and precipitous cam
yons. that its rugged beauty seems
never ending. The beauty, too, is en-
HANGED by the great amount of cultiva-
tlon, by the character it gains over the
often uninhabited island to the west
ward in being everywhere peopled, by
the great variety of colors that deco
rate it, especially in this tropical
springtime of February. Even along
the rolling coastal belt the highways
are lined with the green and red leaved
almendras, or false almond trees, which
here and there carpet the roads with
Turkish rugs of fallen leaves. Higher
UP comes the roble or lowering laurel,
with its masses of delicate pink bios
SONS, then the bucare trees, used as
coffee shade, daub the precipitous hill