Show 1 Scene on Plaza One Ito I-to Delight Tourists I Special Correspondence r All roads in Cuba lead to the plaza I public square and a town without t L plaza would be like an egg without Lit or beauty minus a mirror x But then no town Is without Its laza and most of them can boast a series Each of the larger towns town-s its municipal band and upon at ast one evening of each week It Iajs in the principal plaza Then tho ua is a gala sight worth going la ty I a mile to wltnons l It Is then that the houses so Joni h sly closed by day open wide their ors and from them atop senora and Be senoritas her daughters nil bend fp their steps In the one directionless direction-less Indeed they belong to the lealtli classes and own n carriage or Vhaps hire one for the promenade It Is called It Is gay then UM I aza with Its neat walks where ie I ethic lights twinkle a merry sect Tmio where tho fountains splash i hftl > and the royal palms toss their a rornful heads In the cool breece of n renlng I Tho picture Is a pretty one whether at he sees It from the slow and stately 0 rocessioli of opon carriages moving Lout the outside of the square or i fins the throng sitting on the nuiner i is benches or promenading up and bwn In gay knots upon tho walks here the lights cast wonderful wnv I C go shadows of huge graceful palm sr laves Be sure that tho plaza Is chaperon o by a church a graceful bulk now alnst tho dark blue velvet sky by t iyr a jjplendld pile of color for It Is ra bimlly old sometimes with a history L nturles long and bears traces of Ind and weather on Its soft hued I S falls Lzd Ill in Gala Attire mt Tile people reach tho plaza early cnor in his suit of Immaculate white Ib Itb his hair and boots shining beau fully and his cigarette alight Benin d a Ben-in the black which was until 0a pry recently tho uniform of the Cu td t an woman when she was afoot seno tail fro l ft ta Is a splendid splash of color hero her-o r Bry gown Is of vivid pink blue auvo or red with perhaps a general reference In any gathering for pink he color of girlish dreams She has DSO abandoned her mantilla save In irs fie country districts or perhaps for lurch wear but sho retains the rose carnation set high In her dusky i I i liti air above tho left ear That flower re I Indispensable and poor Indeed > dj otild be the girl who could not afford larj no at least for band night One ill I an only guess at the coquettish care trl I yen to the placo of the vivid bios om ere senorita is ready to leave her ah I thors house vittl Hi One thing Is strange hero to Amerl dl an eyes on these gala evenings and lei I hat Is tho Isolation of the sexes Ono ces the girls In brilliant groups each lr1 jno a symphony of color or walking ri emurely by the side of a duenna but I h dere arc no absorbed young couples au trolling together unchaperoned and cl Unnoticed And yet let no ono Im nJi glno that no winged shafts of Cupid OD Ire let loose tonight for the eye Is It jloquent In Cuba and the most demure dt If senoritas must sometimes lift her n Iwn from the ground laza In Daylight Nor Is the plaza neglected by day Jere sit or loiter many a picturesque on roupold men past their work gay fc clad nurses with children servants sr ailing to be hired each with a small u it Bundle of her working clothes that 11 he may bo ready to go at once to d he homo of senora her potential mis rcss and gracefully gesticulating I airs or knots of tho women of the ie Poorer classes on their way to or from 1 hurclt or market They are Indeed wonderfully lithe lid > graceful In our eyes these women e t the people with their slowfooted I jjinjestlc carriage tho carriage gained i y generations of carrying burdens one on-e he head and alas not to bo Imltat D tl Each ono is bareheaded as she mjoya her gossip yet about tho boulders dangles a scarf of lace or a Fen a long strip of some light cloth I erhaps by and by sho wilt take leaver leave-r t her Wends and saunter across tho o Plaza to the dim cool entrance of tho a hurch pausing at its portals to ad st tho scarf Into n head covering and pausing also on her exit to remove re-move It In the more pretentious plains a fountain softly tinkles and gay beds of scarlet and yellow blossoms make rich contrast to tho Insistent green of grass and palm and the almost unreal un-real blue of tho sky a blue so deep so rich that It reminds you ot the scenery of the opera on our northern stage and the picturesquely clad women wom-en and children might almost be tin happy villagers whose gayety Is tho direct result of climate which Is a spendthrift of sunshine The rural guard passing through the plaza Is not the least picturesque of Dures He Is trim and natty In his L 1 t f ear r Ct Fir 1 r = t w f t l y r1 7 r + gyp y a ° v GovernorGenerals Summer Palace khaki uniform and broad campaign hat a wellset up and soldierly young fellow Where Children Play If the plaza be situated In the districts dis-tricts where tho poorer classes predominate pre-dominate this lightly clad children dab ble laughing in the water of the fountain foun-tain from which by and by the policeman police-man will benignly move them on Old colored men and women doze lightly on the benches beneath the trees A stately nurse In blue waist white skirt and scarlet embroidered shawl passes with one or two charges on their way to school A bread puddler with his long flat loaves of the excellent ex-cellent Cuban bread piled high in his wide shallow basket and poised upon his head tho basket lined with a scarlet scar-let woolen cloth pauses to light a cigarette Across the dreamy stillness of tho plaza comes tho musical tinkle of tho bells on tho names of a team of mules or tho creaking of the heavy ox cart as the great velvetyeyed beasts draw their burden slowly as the snail draws his all unhurried by the perfunctory crackling of the drivers driv-ers whip Sunday Is a gala day In the plaza for then the men 1110 free to enjoy It as well Hero ono sees the bootblack Introduced by the Americans and heartily welcomed by the Cubans plyJ Ing his trade with deft brown fingers and flashing teeth Here flit members of various religious orders In quaintly curious garb while from the church ono catches echoes of rolling organ notes and perhaps tho flash of vestments vest-ments or a faint odor of Incense Gay colors and light laughter brilliant bril-liant sunshine or wonderful white 4 U is of s ° 1 i 9 lyik t r R1S + + a A n F r y If f 5 4 f 4 fr S s r RV I ti + l r etJ 4 t y w zNS w to n f t r 4 s y tr e s ys b Acosta Street with Old Arch m moonlight music and the fountains bells tinkle the melody of ancient the soft rush of breezefilled palms high above maw a series of memories memo-ries of the Cuban plaza which linger i In the mind of him who has known them for many a day of absence |