Show ffAVANKS TRANSITION Conditions During the Last Days of Spanish Rule 4 CITY LOOKS LONESOME 4 DEPARTURE OF SPANIARDS CREATES CRE-ATES A VACUUM t But the Influx of American Officers and Business Men Will Soon Enliven I En-liven the CityMany Spanish Residents Will RemainAmer ican Gambling Halls and Saloons t New York Dec liA dispatch to the Tribune from Havana says Havana is at the half way stage between the del i de-l arture of the Spaniards and the com i mg of the AmerIcans The city looks i lonesome It Is not desolate because hopefulness and desOlation dont go together to-gether and everybody is hopeful of the future Trade is not brisk because ox qt in breadstuffs there are no im lrUltions That will be changed as i an as the new tarU1 goes into effect I In the retail districts occupied fly flip i Inddle classes a fair amount or busiI 1 is done A wall throughout thoM I l ions shows more lJCtiylty than there jII < two months ago This is due to the I r urn of so many Cuban families In T hat would be called en shopping dis I trnt of the city such as ObIspo street hich is the Fifth avenue of Havana n thing is done Nevertheless the ip mish shopkeepers are complacent Tney prefer a period pf dullness for a El1lgle reason The families of the Spanish Span-ish officers and officials were good customers cus-tomers but were not good pay The tradesmen dreaded their patronage ands I and-s tight to evade it as much as possible NeIther were the Cubans good pay but en lit could be refused them without I fl ar of the consequences The AmerIcans AmerI-cans are coming they are at the same time good customers and good pay So the shopkeeper is content with the present pres-ent dullness in his trade I The city feels the departure of so many Spanish families in a way They heped to give It life A few weeks ago it was almost impossIble to rent a house In any respectable quarter of the city Cubans chiefly professional men rEturning from their exile in the United States and Europe had leased them Now In the suburbs the number of Is uses which are closed and barred gives theSe places the appearance of a deserted town They have been occu phd by both military and civil officials who are returning to Spain I IERICAS COMING The deserted appearance will not last long American officers whose duties Twill keep them in Havana for sometime some-time and who have been looking in vain for homes will take advantage p f the opportunities as will a number of business men from the United States Oho are likely to change a short stay Into a period of permanent residence Some of the Spanish officers are anx 1o1s to secure their discharges and re tarn to Cuba They have property X hich they do not want to sacrifice It would not do to inquire too closely htlw I they became possessed of It That wa under the system by whIch they 3011 profited As Spain will not have need I of a large army in the future It Is presumed that these officers will sue Geed In procuring their discharges Some of them have Carllst connection and this will be an additional reason for enabling them to return to Cuba Civilian classes who are gOing bacM I to Spain are takIng their property wIth them or are arranging to have it con vented into cash and forwarded to them They have plucked it to the last feather and all of them return wealthy weal-thy To assume otherwise would be to assume that they have not taken adVantage ad-Vantage of their opportunities No Spanish official whether he served under un-der the old regime or under the regime of autonomy cares to be placed In that category nether he was in the customs cus-toms house or in some other branch of the government service he would consider con-sider It a reflection on his ability AMERICAN SALOONS The effect of the departure of so many officers and army camp followers on the cafes of Havana was a few weeks ago the subject of interesting I speculation It was thought most of them would be compelled to close for lack of patronage This will happen in I Some parts of the city where the barracks bar-racks were located But In the section ohieh is the center of social life the neighborhood or the Parque Central the theatres and the clubs this will not be 50 The proprietors have met the new conditions by le3slng their places to Jerprising Americans who are con rrng the cafes Into barrooms withal with-al the gilded attractions which go with these Intitutions in the states The barrooms have annexes where guru = hung of all kinds can be Indulged in after the most approved American I methods The annexes are in fact the main concerns Their managers expect Ito I-to do a rushIng business One of tIle leading backers is understood to be the proprIetor of the game which is patronized pat-ronIzed by wealthy Nen Yorkers who go to Long Brandt or Saratoga in sum mer Jne pa11lsn proprIetors were at first in doubt about putting their places In the hands of the Americans They thought trouble must arise with the 4 mtlltary authorities after the flag Was t floating from 3orro castle They were assured that aU this had been arranged ar-ranged The first business of the American military commander of Havana ana will be to show that It had not been arranged SpANIARDS WIm REMAIN When the details of the Spanish evacuation were first arranged some anxiety was felt lest a large number or the Spanish commercial and Industrial Indus-trial classes should also repatriate themselves This fear has not been I realized Whatever doubts the Spanish businpss men may have had about the security of life anti property under the 1 new order were quickly dissipate They found the guarantee of the United 1 States sufficient and they discover that the transitIon period Is fraught with Jess disturbance than might have been naturally expected In a few places In I the interior of the Island where the J Spaniards were few in number they Jt dread to remaIn In the midst of Cu I bans who show an unfrIendly spirit I Some me coming to Havana Md others are going back to SpaIn At Ianzlln 1110 the greater part of the Spanish colony col-ony is said to be starting for Mexico But these art exceptional Instances 8 a rule wherever a Spanish commercial Ic I house Is closing up Its busIness hat business has been dependent on tIle offi clal system With the end of that sys 1 I tern no other course is open i That u vacuum exists in Havana is a t latent fact More pope are uning out than are likely to come In for many months The rottenness of the Spar I j Ish military methods cuutl b judged e I rIb i J durIng the insurrection by the great number of officers T + ho were always in Havana on staff duty The disproportion dispropor-tion to those who in any circumstances were seeing active service in the field was marked Since the officers have gone the void created by their departure depar-ture gives even a stronger impression of their numbers They were literally the only class of the population which was too numerous to be counted The void is one which will not be filled The American garrison will be kept out of Havana American officers will not be quartered In the city and spread over It like a cloud of locusts |