Show MATANZAS AND VICINITY 0 i 1 Capital of the Cuban Republic Matatizaa do ThO Future I San Carlos y San Sevorlro A Visit to tro Ancient i Forts Which Our Guqa DojTol3hod Cuba May 6 1E93 jtatanzas The old city ° f MatanzaawlUi four 1 curio beblnd It and a yet mora JXr long been Bile h at r raiiarrid has I WTa wit of rebellion by Bpinlnh I rot a and the rthPlace of paJ J tflolal otbm bY the patriots TJmiaJ1ven01t lrllIn cond elty In 1 > 0luloUon I I II cubits th and commrcl1 Importance 1141111 III bauty and halthful r I < fh > f nd nut It IT destined to bcome of s Pa Ito I future 19 interest In the near arreare capital r 01 the Cuban public lie I Ibe of about 60000 In time of algfin populellon olls largely made up of the ds I p See hats of titled grandees from Old 1 sudden decline to half i vet Its Cttl was due to the fact that mures tbOl UTounJ of Its beet citizens Includ merchants and Ircressional men Bt I of mealthy families went to join n Insurgent army The vice resident the the smbrso republic and his secre of lateScnor Indo de Capote of and tat1 Moreno tie I a TOrrowere both utnnzas also the Oultera n In born Jose I 0100 Alberto Cortez brothers olh promInent revolution and 1 many 0 < the almnn lomi are already at 111 aomets of their new capital so to speak dor encamped within the province being landed arc rvPSi Soon as our troops headquarters here and establish to t from their seat of government transfer They might have done 80 long tJo1J1 for hold the tlmea ben ripe siro hd onqust Of cun Ilia hig the easy be more rejdlly taken than tarizaa can AM1111t la equallY to the linvena dllll 1111 be retained with less ru qWSO of any force which Spain spite entry In Habana will by land or sea way bring be the ultimate capital of the duhtless reconstructed country on account of r0uSrenatu ral advantages larger superior its I ndsomepubllobulIdngs harbor and handsome time A Ions to come er n1 tN I hilt m he handed neli habitable ac S la over ni arm ThInk Ideas of orafterthis the hun erul I died In Ks of thousands who have Souring the last three years of starvn It In the temlng from lIn anti diselolic hVSTS iX and Los FosooIo and prisons l t1rals of the numbers killed In nothing fflis S xrs and all these dad hurled In battle billow rented grave front which they art sedUy evicted to the charnel Jul Think ot the absence ot sewerage aed Jar other Sanitary snlatlon dn a pop u1u air amId all these horrors and wd of smallpox oternnl prcselasce the towonder ri 1M and you cease to fellow wshlng Its the broad by wa ng thy Impurities that reeks till Planes so no Uh can live In It It ever a thorough tourecleanlarg was required a fter 400 of neglect and no Scavengers hill years tie mrton birds It Is I 1Ianal Ieanhlle MatAnoa 60 miles to tile Mud on another broad and beau Ul hal will do 11 I for n tmlOrory I rltll as Ihl1dlphlo Bend us be fore uhlnglon < 8 rly III ohallow bub < r I hUd wltlln a n a mllhl 1 r of K And may elat p I toUHWf Uncle Samuel will furnish hJw the money At present It has ool1 the l old cnntle of San Peerlno and Star stonewalled tort of equally sicient date at tile entrance if the harbor eerlll miles fan the city and thL remains sI l the new orUlworks which Iir gun destroyed the other day ny the way the report of Captain Oner1 Blanco to big sormnnt concerning the bombardment of 1tanoR8 was I fair sample of Spanish bombast Both forts and the earthworks are so fir front the city flint the latter wall III no danger and not a sin gle shell struck within thrqp miles 01t Lat last M arch I Spent several days In I Meta a guest In the pit lace ot error Don tie rules the new Ilutono Past governor of the province Thin rave m a line Inlde I vlw ofthlns In the city whlch will presently figure In our nw columns as the eat of the Cuban republic The socalled palace ace on the I Ilaza dArmas In a very large two t orled II flatroofed casa of tone stucco and adobe faced by cov mJ flrchwasB or portal as they are called According to Spanish custom cus-tom the ground floor Is given up to > fflcc itororooms quarters for sol ifters and police stables kitchens etc uhlla 1 the upper story Is the official mid I nee of the rulers ot Cubas rich fat province A wide Might or stone J eial deh II ott steps worn Into deep hollows by the PAPsing It ot 300 years Id to enor mcmi rooms each like a townhall In the t echoing sales I with their nrnrble floors and long lines of crystal chandeliers I more fortunate governors than the present eneumbent have giv via splendid recHitlons to the beauty and chivalry of Mariana The state dining room where ceremonious ban Partaken quts Of Is I many so big courses that telephone service between host and guests would r an Improvement In the crewt llMHIng apartments the high posted ft ihth lease bedsteads with crowns atop Iroutht from Barcelona generations Jt all 1 canopied curtained I berlb baited anti wmnid In the gorgeous We of the mother counti set fh tacit In the center of the hire rx Pulse of marble flooring 1l 3r looks ra ell ly like an oasis in I the desertn I fk In the ocean In truth the most m UIn reactive part of this mediaeval nil 1 Is Outside or Itinmviews from Its onil I On one side of the came the halt lItf Incointarable picture of beautiful bay Ills its tile PkIes Ova It reaching out to the carcema knftf side overool the Cumbre SrSilv which f Insurgant l campfires are tightly SI Mn und th Mlorle old wwtscrrat ehapel Perched on a near ipur Those green heights enclose 1h6 I e warldftined Of Yumurl valley wadlsean emerald gorge IS5 a lately liver cramping Palms t F 1g ruined dotted Arm nil II Directly balow the Plaza d 10 surrounded I I d hy the several rtmnh of tire colonial lm govern ot club it and the IInt hops ealr and hou r Pro Ouss 01 an arltoerAUc and once prOlprou Z Ot cultole The IIAu 1 laid I ol 1 he 4 robust fashion of Spanish r b lined with flowers I gn Ulk Ittakeii u y rataiating like the A In lit tram a central poInt A r it In dt lli case I In a time statue of I mmrn XI In a n this I historic I square j In All patriots have rnet death bit 0Ilea I Paten to maintain I tier her ff oI upon thin remnant of 11 Iterritiory Among tile he a Id last 4 fit JI r I he df Valdz I here ilia we mulatto 6abrIel frc7J none 11 F nalillt a Cub a fame produced VIS r II i ICth accused of love am PlIcIll with I th it Insurrection I nf I 44 and con fieftmed Th to be shot I by soldiers ofc the If I I first Vol i felled to touch a trom Pot The brave mar bleeding I i on Intitir WOunds till Stood erect deented I ti t7hi h loart and Pointhig to his rl Ali h I aid In I a plear calm volce Anoth ret Another Valley alia II list Ofrti l tlm wilal added 10 the long In t IM 1 7if 111 11 r aelleat Inlan art i martyrs page t in hb history of call nevcr be accurate 6 1 free r Jr 11111riers 0 r lnth has made every t boom the record of tire a r Of Cited g brave men who of i1r havin A hand II In home i Plot to overthrow the Inlqul tou government air < of sympathy with one 01 the Illnulntable revolutionary movements have Wen publicly shot shIrt or privately dlspocd of or left to die by Inches In somenoisome dungeon A little more than four centuries ago tills delightful situation was occupied liv the populous Indian village Yucayo In 1631 Just 200 years after the discovers discov-ers of the Island bj Columbus Spanish hidalgo nnmeel llanianeda purchnscd front Carlos II a tow hectares hec-tares of land Including the then long deserted yueuso nnd settled Uiereoon 30 families I of Canary Islanders The colonists art lved on a Saturday In October Oc-tober The next day bclne Sunday Ulshop Compostello chanireel the heathen heath-en name of the place with mass and solemn ceremonies to Sn Carlos Y Ban Keverlno and on Monday the third day thecorner stones wore laid of the athednl Land the castle of SAn See rInD the mot remarkable Instance ot expedltioi on record InTtbls canolcalsol MananoJJmorrow Th colonlt afterwards 8luld conldErable more Space In the adjacent Yuniuil valley for a cattle range and devoted themselves them-selves to the raising Of beef for the Havana A market Hence the place h I < > came known an 11 Mtanoath Slaughter lien In thUd the nainem ot the Saint were left off altogether and not only the settlement but the bay the district and the whole province rejoiced under the name of the slaughter pn Straight tjlrongh the middle of the city runs the Ban Juan riverthe port por-t on the mouth sid of It hIM nov known as pueblo Nuevo I New Town and that on the north an Veraellles Several handsome tone bridges cress the liver among them the not a fare Iuent Helm The New Ton contains tile rAllwy depot and many been it fill villas It has one of the harlot moment streets In all Cuba the CAlzeda de Sn Estevall lined Cor to nines wlth Imposing residences all with pillared porticos In front Paved like the terraces with mosaic of black I and white marble or blue and yellow Venetian tiles These CAn of the old time grandees arc sit Hush with the pavements but each has Its beautiful gardens at the sides filled with palms and flowers surrounded by tall Iron railings und stone plllarg topped l with AIMS Matanras has experienced the Uclssl tudes common to West Indian towns of attacks by buccaneer and bombardments bom-bardments by naval forces Ungllsh French and HptnUh but the worst calamity that ever befell her was the great conllagratlon of 43 years ago After that the welltodo citizens built their residences on the heights abova the city where ocean breezes blow and the wide spreading bay forms delightful delight-ful picture Two railway lines connect con-nect Islamism with Hiivunm one of them running via Borneo and Carde nas the other coming from the southeast south-east through Villa Clara Begun and Clenfuegos Intersecting a rich sugar district and In peaceful times bringing a large amount ot freight to the coast for shipment Both Hues ore Amerl can built drawn by American engine quipped with American cars and will no doubt eon be run hy American ell Blneers Matanzas has n splendid new then t Or said to be the finest In the West Indies noL even excepting Th I I f h of ed deal n vuna I le e > Most of the public buildings however are vcrs old uncomfortable and dilapidated The musty cathedral cathe-dral whose cornerstone was laid a little lit-tle more than three centuries ago and which has two towers one much taller than the other Is I rather Imposing by reason of massiveness and rough architectural beauty The customhouse custom-house erected near the beginning ot the prenl centurylong and low with overhanging roof of red tiles be fore the war enjoyed the respectable Income of 2000000 a year There are several handsomely appointed clubhouses club-houses here for In Cuhan cities as In London Varls and Madrid club life nourishes at the expense of domestic institutions There Is also a big bullring bull-ring In the outskirts of the city and cockpits galore A few years ago MtAuas province wa the rIchest In Cuba rejoicing In the possession ot 48 sugar Hates In operation besides 5Z9 mind farms and soma 3000 other Plantations of various sorts Its raph decadence from n luxurious center of wealth nnd fashion as well ni of productive pro-ductive Industry and commerce renders Its present poverty the more pitiful Many of the finest plantations of the old aristocracy were scars ago confiscated confis-cated Others passed Into the hands of fJlanhh adenturr anti emigrants who kept up the exhausting struggle as long as they could against n system grounded upon violation of every economic eco-nomic law and the torch of war finished fin-ished the Past I took an early drive one morning out to Sin Sovorlno castle about a month before Its alleges bombardment The way Ifculs along the edge of the has through the Ban Carlos Parleo which Is I laid out with graveled walks and rows of trees And stone parapet on the water side and tall Iron Kates at either gate In Matanzass golden days this tameli to be the fashionable drive thronged every evening with the beauty and aristocracy of theplneo In elegant epulppagea attended by cavnllers on horseback To and fro they went from gate to gate until nt at 8 oclock the music of the retrata sounded In the Plaza dArmas when the brilliant Pageant page-ant dissolved as by magic Now the place li I deserted except by patiolllng soldiers and begging reconcentrados and we saw no mixed 1 but one decrepit mUlemaybe the Fame which Blanco reported the sole victim of our gum Beyond the Iaseo an excellent road extends ex-tends two mils farther out to the fort on runta OordaTnt Point On the hills nearest the bay are the uirracK of Fronts Isabella the military hospital and those dreadful sheds In which the dying reconcentradns are huddled where we saw uh aoulhArrowlng sights with the Thurstonaalllgher par ty some weeks IK fore Then up the elopes of the CumhHt we wound by trcp and ntony Acllvltl f to the um JOlt of the rldft The IAndcaM I 11 > r ll on O thrr aa 1 F nine apq to er I in h tlIIII J inII 1 Ill mr ors More th I a a of undulating shoreline are Included In the prol > < < t the long bay In Us am phltheatre of hills looking like a males tip river and the ocean hlrhvvay dotted with sails on one side of the ridge the level I I plain I Oll with the river running through and the city creeping up thr hillside em the other the lowly valley nt the Yumurl with tin counters pilms and burned rim llelds and ruined home cloned lln 1 a veil l of mist Like BagInss happy valley It Is I hemmed In by hlah precipices and seems rut oct from tire world and ought to be the abiding place ot pastoral ron tnt That tM hart Is I sold d on reo bazdaaorvllo viewing 118 hlotor frm the Arllt day of fpAnloh ccupanrY Fancy sketches the arches of carnage which mArked I Its Ionqnt In 1511 whn lfmar7 till of the peaceful Indiana wre erully maecred Th remnant drl 1 n IYIY bloodhollndo to the urrundln hlght wr tnrcrdln leapnlr to throw themselves down the precipIce Into the river Iwow Despairing they erled Yo MolrI die hence the name of the nlleyso Pays tradition FANNIE BRIGHAM WAnD |