The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-20
THEHASKINLETTER
WET BUT NOT WILD
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

HAVANA, Cuba. March 20.-The i'm
preston which has gone abroad that
| this city Is a crowded carnival OF rev.
elry, drunkenness and vice Is largely
mistaken. There are many visitors,
but not more than the city can accom-
modate. and much liquor, but not many
dfunks. The general effect is one OF
spacousness and quiet rather than of
| erowdedness and noise. The life of
the old city flows through its many
pillared portals, its narrow shaded
streets and brilliant tropical parks in
the leisurely fashion of its won't Fit-
| teen or twenty thousand Americans in
Latin city Of nearly half a million
| are not enough to jar 1t out OF It's I'M
| hurried Latin ways.
Cuba, It should be added, is undoubt-
| edly in the midst of a great boom.
| Sugar tobacco and prohibition have put
more money into island pockets than
| ever they contained before, To the
| Cuhans no doubt II seems that their
| city is roaring with life and prosperity,
| but it's roar Is a mere purr beside the
| voice Of almost any American city OF
| the Same size,
Liquor Is here in astonished album
| dance and variety, The exiled Ameri-
can WHISTLES combine with the native
| products and liberal importatonS from
| Europe to make this che Of the wet
test spots on the face Of the earth.
|
and other principal thoroughfares, lit
| orally every door leads to drink and
| the very air is polluted with the breath
| OF the banished demon, Yet drunks
| are surprisingly few, considering the
| thousands who are here from arid
| lands, and who have braved the ter
rors Of travel on southern railroads TO
| get here. The native does not get
! drunk at all and the visitor apparent
| ly 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.
Nohe the less, the presence OF UNI
limited alcohol has undoubtedly in
| fluenCed n considerable percentage OF
those who now visit Havana, and the
crowds in the hotels. bars and cafes
are an interesting collection OF me
| types who seek the fellowship of John
Barleycorn Here is the Cnap who
leans across the bar and stares like 4
| Cryrtal ga2er into glass after glass,
| silent. gloomy, enraptured, carcss!ng the
| brass rail with a well-aCCustomcd loot,
| Here Is that well known fellow who
| hauntS cafes the world over, who is
| persuaded that all the JOY OF life is
| where liquor and pretty women and
music meet under bright lights, Here
| is the man who seeks oblivion, and the
| one who wants merely something 10
! make MN lAuRn anu uItdln anu lOIEtt
| he'll and taxes. These and many 9TH
ers are here, n veritahle gathering OF
the followers of King John, come to
! his court Of exile Yet the loud and
rowdy drunk Is surprisingly scarce and
one cannot but feel that the soothing
air Is what holds him in check.
The abundance OF high percentage
refreshment is Crudely emphasized by
the cuban barkeepers who regularly
| spill about one thousand gallons OF
bonded goods a day. The native bar
man evidently thinks that he is not
discharging his duties with proper dash
and flourish unless he makes libation
to the gods OF waste every time he
| sniH = u jriGA, ASa soacoctIHg u dali
| quiri. ne begins hy shakine W. zoo MOs%
| liquor in the shaker; he then pourS It
all into the glass and let's II run over
on the bar and che panied customer
! is forced to loose little more in con-
| veying the drink to his lips. II a
waiter handles it, there is stll further
| leakage as he trots along with his tray
! gracefully balanced on two or three
| fingers, its decks a wash with @uff
| which Is worth more than its weight
! In gold Just ninety miles north, New
| corners from the United states RaVe
been known to break down and weep
at the spectacle OF this w0fte Of L
| precious substance, II has been teti-
| mated that ii every Cuban barkeeper
/ CouIu De sent 10 lnt u'itNlCE " SOftn
| America for six months, he would ac-
| qure an @,titude toward etNyl alcohol
which would ultimately save millions
| to his employer.
In the principal hotels Aere YOU can
| get almost any kind of a drsDk known
| to cfwali8ed man for relatively high
| price, resembling those raid in New
| York and other big cities while war
time prohibition was In force, but be-
| fore the amendment became effective.
BY going around the corner to a naa