| Show OUR CUBAN havana feb 27 1898 carnival time has come again and the queen of the antilles Is enjoying herself in the same old way all bu t the suffering thousands in hospitals and prisons the naked and hungry in highways and byways byway I 1 mothers whose loved ones are am in the field or among the slain and the many in all grades of society and official position in whose hearts the secret love of cuba libre is burning with quenchless quench lew flame the gaiety for which havana has always been noted to is now more than even accentuated by the dark shades of bf the picture the unknown hand which threw the bomb into a crowded ballroom the other night killing a few and wounding many more was proba probably that of some half crazed Patri patriot eV who wished to discourage frivolity in ahem days of tragedy but all the satee masked balls theaters bull lights and nd parades are the order of the hour though with far less splendor uan than formerly because the people are am pom coocen one of the straws which show the way war of the wind is the fact that the pawn shops are packed with valuable aj articles put up by people to raise money for the seasons fec while the line of sec secondhand second 0 n d hand fans falls jewelry and ball gowns is wj usually low I 1 every afternoon from my balcony I 1 view the carnival parade which fora I 1 week takes place between the hours of 6 and 7 hundreds of carritt W are in the procession a few of toon with liveried coachmen and footmen and blooded horses glittering with WA flold and aad silver trappings but the large M ma bority are hired hacks in more or lose lea advanced stages of dilapidation nearly every horse however whether a high stepping steed or some poor r old rosenante Rosi nante designed to end his days day its in next sundays bullfight bull fight has ban gally gaily colored ribbons bound over his eyes and perked out at the ears in bows and 1 ettes of fluttering streamers alore E goes a splendid span gorgeous in g ma plated harness with yards upon yards of pink and yellow ribbon inte about their heads the coach meen JE white knee trouse rt rd and yellow jacket and huge bouten nere of pink roses the ladies in the open lan landeau deall disguised purposely not too well in pink 0 axe dominos with ith tall cone shaped hats 66 their heads beads surmounted by roses and aad ribbons dose close behind boggs an old idd lame white horse a really object under the lash drawing a dilapidated chaise filled with colored people too the dusky madams madame in gowns of yellow imn and white lace manilla are be bed decked ebbed with flowers like a paschal lamb aaa waves her fan with lanquin dignity while her lean husband has his bin handa full to keep the trib of ebony on an the front seat from staIn standing dlAg oa aft their heads under the car carriage rise wheels the driver of this turnout turn tum out who plain ly bears the earmarks ear marks ut of an ex tion hand from ole virginne Vir ginny despite his tall silk hat and white cotton gloves lashes the poor lame beast to keep its painful hobble up with the th procession nor is the only brute who plies piles the whip in this carnival of pleasure not by an overwhelming majority the sound found of blows blown is continually in the air everywhere I 1 aad d ot tall tins time in cuba whlor wt whip whether the wretched abeC beirl bt irl vow fast or slow no matter how dowds ds worked or ready to drop term huner and fatigue the driven it AL part of the their bust reubine teu Bine Wis to a apply tte the t sounding lash without e fatten 2 tto scene of barbarous cruelty to animals which one is continually obliged to witness I 1 makei makes ones heart ache and blight the fairest landscape the local ear is so ao accustomed to the sound of blows that it never jeems to hear them even gentle women omen give no heed to the spec dwle of some poor beast being lashed upon a raw and bloody back or having fallen from exhaustion under a too heavy load being kicked and pounded by brutes in human form oh for a society tor for the prevention of cruelty to ani animate malel it if cuba ever does come under the rules of uncle samuel and such a beneficent society is established here it will require years of fines and lm imprisonment and perhaps a few generations or so ao to effect much change for the better at present there is no ho drw af in protesting against any case of cruelty the law says that a man is absolute owner of his beast and may kill it by any prolonged torture if he so desires now days the better class of ha vantanus do not join in the carnival of the belles and beau tion ties are out including luding all ail the demimonde in de colette coYette toilettes toi lettes of white satin pink pale blue with uncovered arms a and heads and matrons matrona in badly fitting gowns and lace mantillas cantillas man tillas a comparatively small number wearing masks and dominoes dominges dom inoes there are many horsemen in the procession mostly the young bloods of the capital who excel as equestrians and one solitary senorita in the saddle in a surprising habit of sky blue satin the bullfight bull fight ers ere are out in full force and astonish edg away with the great Mazzan mazzantini tint said to be the best or rather the worst tor reador in the world SA at their head there are several carriage loads of them fresh from the gory spot of the bullying bull ting where every sunday and every afternoon during the carnival week twelve worn out horses and six wild bulls are butchered for the amusement of the rabble the pic picadores adores artt all swarthy fellows from the south of spain with their hack hair bile tightly braided over wire into a funny 1 little ittle queue which turns tip at the e end like a pa ps s tall wear the moot moat exaggerated costumes of their kind yellow satin and scarlet velvet lace ruffles and gold braid galore white silk hose gorgeously embroidered mantles of satin and velvet and numerous jewelled decorations the rewards of previous acts of cowardice in slaughtering defenseless animals in the ring just now the procession was broken by a regiment of spanish soldiers st straggling raffling through they are returning from an expedition into the interior crep dusty footsore and weary with wand faded and bedraggled uniforms of blue denim and swords rusty maty with nobody knows what innocent blood the rank and file of the royal army are not to be blamed whatever they do they are compelled to come and to obey orders the conscription laws of spain in her present extremity exempt no males between the ages of 16 15 and 50 60 they are treated like dogs by their superior officers sard hard worked and miser miserably ably fed beaten with whips and belabored with swords tor for any petty offense I 1 am M ant th fin anish heart is aflame with patriotism that boys barely out of petticoats petty coats are wild to come to cuba or to fight the united states tor for alleged interference and that mothers who have already lost sons on the battlefield and in the hospitals of this refractory island are ard eager to give all the rest in defense of the honor of spain but the soldiers themselves do not kotik it and their appearance is not calculated to strike terror to the hearts of at any foe on the contrary many of them aw are really pitiable ob jwta of the farnish old lers wnm a are now in the hospitals of cuba more than half are there from weakness and exhaustion the result of insufficient nourishment they have not been paid for months and it is impossible to find food for all in this overcrowded and impoverished island it is a common spectacle to see a beggar in the uniform of the royal army and often when the starving dos have received their weeks supply from the bounty to fo the united states it is taken from them by physically stronger but almost equally hungry soldiers yet new soldiers are expected to arrive this week from spain and preparations are now being made to receive them with the usual fuss and feather always when a new regiment comes the houses of havana are be decked with flags bands play men embrace and kiss one another after the effusive spanish fashion and shouts of viva espana fill the air the newly arrived officers are wined and dined and each private is presented with a silver dollar poor lads it is the last they will see for many a day and more of them will suc cumb to smallpox small pox yellow lever fever ana calentura calenture calen tura than will die on the field of battle far more than will ever see home again there is 18 always more or less lens yellow fever in havana but at this time of year it is not considered contagious in the hospital de san ambrosio where I 1 have gone every day for a week to visit the few wounded men of the maine who yet remain here there are at present only five cases of yellow fever in its wards much below the usual percentage it is said As to smallpox small pox there is today hardly a case of it in the city yet for the protection of the united states so says the extremely impolite outdoor in charge of that branch of uncle sams interest all persons leaving for that country must be vaccinated vaccina ted four days in advance of departure or exhibit satisfactory marks of recent vaccination Nob odys word for it will answer nor the certificate any clan each must go to the consulate and expose him or herself then and there then or remain in cuba if that sort of thing is insisted on the year around proper conveniences should be provided for the victims at least a private room to which ladies may retire while alle taking off their basques the office to Is a large public room on the ground floor with windows open to the street clerks sitting at desks and men constantly coming and going the only attempt at privacy being a little screen behind which one may partially hide yesterday I 1 went out on the bay in steam a yacht with a party of cuban ladles ladies and gentlemen to get a near view of the wreck of the maine such a melancholy heap of old iron as an is our once beautiful war vessel with a single spar standing upright on which a ragged american flag floats at half mast there are yet bodies underneath it probably fifty or more and the swarm of black vultures eb the scavenger birds of cuba which circle around it and perch upon every available point offer gruesome suggestions A diver was going down as we ap 1 preached after the two officers who are supposed to lie near the strong box and a nearby near by boat bore several coffins ready to receive any remains that might be brought up it to Is inconceivable cei vable how bow the big beautiful war vessel could be reduced in the twinkling of an eye to such a pile of rubbish the great catastrophe is still the talk of the hour in havana and has greatly intensified the bitter feeling between the races many declare with certainty that the cubans did it in order to force the TJ a 8 to make war upon spain slid and at so ald aid the c muse cause of cuba labre bilbre while others assert with quill equal that spaniards ards were responsible for the disaster with A the same end in view because since they cannot overcome the rebels they wish to lose the island 1 with less dishonor to spain through being conquered by a stronger foreign power officers of the maine say aay that it was not possible for a bomb to have been put beneath her large enough to have any effect upon the enormous mass of steel and iron as her keel lay athin two feet of the mud at the bottom of the harbor on that dreadful night of the explosion when the air was filled with the shrieks of the wounded and groans of the dylag some on the wharf raised the cry of death to the americana there are cranks everywhere you conw and a nation cannot be mad anad responsible for them but since thep then many spaniards have been heard to say exultantly that now the yankees have no more gunboats gun boats than spain the masses are too ignorant to comprehend the resources of the united states and it is an actual fact that the majority of spaniards in cuba serl seri bously contemplate going over to whip uncle samuel as soon as they can fiina mf time the absence of the stars and stripes from the grand official f funeral ha hb been remarked in many quarters one small inconspicuous american flag naffla ww all that appeared in the whole spec affair but the red and yell yellow loff banner of spain the ugliest on oaf earth fig figured ared largely surely there were weft enough american flags in havana ja in the consulate and in the houses ot american subjects resident here to have at least covered the coffins aaa if it is true as some believe that out our boys were the victims of sp spanish a nish beka to decorate their corpses with the reft and yellow was indeed a travesty on the sad evening of the funeral funer a party of young americans went to dine at a fashionable restaurant of the city cal calling ling for menus what was their horror and indignation to read am among ng other or of of faxe aye pollos britos fried chicken gl 9 14 maine int acetous reference to tho the burned and dying seamen it la is needless 1 ss to add that the americans COX collected an and destroyed all the menus and would have wiped the dirty floor with the proprietor had he not discreetly kept out of the way birthday did not pass pam altogether unobserved by our wounded boys in the san ambrosio though of their number died in the early morning their country women in out cb cartres them flowers and grapes and made them as comfortable and cheerful as possible an hour ago the doctor of the awne brought me the information that an other of the men ir dying today george holger of new yot york k alty when I 1 visited him yesterday he looked up brightly and talked for a moment of his sweetheart and brother to both of whom I 1 have twice written and inquired whether letters might not be expected to arrive that day then his mind wandered and he begged me to pick the green out of the foot of hw hla bed I 1 pretended to comply and with a satisfied smile he lapsed into unconsciousness toward evening on the of february I 1 drove out to the de dac christoval colon to lay a few flowers on the graves of our men in honor of birthday the place looks doubly bare and desolate in the midst of the splendid monuments of that beautiful cemetery merely a gret PRO of freshly turned gravel with a few half dug pits at one side for th reception of other bodies that may die in the hospital or be brought from thelsen the negro in charge pointed out aft exact dimensions of the eight elahi wide graves grave into which the first ft coffins were placed A si etea clara barton president of the Amne american rican red cross society has rent aft a a beautiful house in the suburb of havana called the cerro the hill and know KILOW III reading there with her secretary A in id ln an immense p place lace a typical cuban caarl of twenty rooms with marble floors fountain and statuary in its patio and beautiful garden full of roses and tall palms not least amlung its beauties to is a bathhouse bath house in the grounds a aft wort of grecian temple circular in built up over a pool of clear cool water with marble steps leading down into it it is the design I 1 believe to the place into a hospital or an orphan asylum for deserving since rince my first visit to haruco jaruco miss barton has been there and made 9 a sur ing change in that wretched place A A house has been hired in which to tore abe american food from which it la is to be regularly distributed and above it floats floate the stars and stripes have been organized among the citizens to carry on the good work systematically and stanger than Q M an actually clean hospital has been a perpetual astonishment to the people one of the woes boes of this part of cuba to Is the scarcity of water so many of the tella having been purposely dried by one army or the other there Is some excuse for the general filthiness of the poor r when water is not to |
