@Jose309
Has Cuba changed much over the last 120 or years from this desription of it?
Havana.
— CUBA'S CAPITAL CITY. THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE. Havana, or Habana, or, more fully, Ban Cristobal de la Habana, lies on norlh-west side of the island of Cuba, Florida Channel, on a level tongue of land stretching eastwards from" the bay, and' leaving open a. navigable entrance 4200 >feet long by 1000 feet in width. On a low hill to the left stand tbe forts of El Morro and Gabs-os, ereoted in 1589, in the reign of Phillip II.; and on the point of the tongue to the right is tbe battery of Da Ptmta. With its gaily-painted houses add numerous strangolyfaßh_>_ei^uroh'tbVers, the city presents an agreeable aspect, though somewhat detracted from by the enormous prison and place of execution, situated < right orithe (port* To the right of ' the ' magnificent bay, extending all the way from the castle - of La Fuerza, the oldest, fort in the place, to the "Maria", barracks, or Caballeria, are the • wharves, with their long lines of trading vessels lying right under shore. On the opposite side of the Bay stands La Casa Blanca, another fort, with white walls, and further on the village of Regla, with its immense sugar warehouses, imposing buildings, whose iron-plated roofs glitter a long way off in the sun. The Caballeria fronts the bay, and is. provided with an iron roof, supported by iron pillars running along its whole length. The commeroial world meets ef cry morning and transacts most of its business in. this place. Havana, with its 200,000 inhabitants, in many respects resembles A LARGE EUROPEAN CITY. . It . consists of the old town in tbe east, and the new town in the west, the excessively narrow and badly- j paved streets of the former being J . densely thronged, especially in the ; morning. Here the Opispo.and other leading thoroughfares are lined with very elegant 'shops, while the West End is pervaded by a profound aristocratic stillness. The new town is altogether more of a suburb, where are situated' the most .'frequented promenades, the finest private houses, warehouses, cafes, the theatre, and tbe Casino Espanol. Here also is the ■ Paseo De Isabel, the finest thoroughfare in Havana, like a boulevard, crossing the oity from end to end, flanked by grand residences, with a double row of spacious carriage-ways, and further embellished with magnificent fountains and statues. Beyond are the Parque de Isabel, some very sumptuous cafes, the Tacon theatre, and the railway, terminus. . The houses are very solidly built, with one, and very rarely two stories, and enormous windows, whioh instead of casements, are provided .with bright-painted iron gratings. The number of hackney ooacfies and; private equipages is very remarkable, the former being estimated at 6000, all doingwell. The Senoritas generally drive about in their " volantes," open carriages with wheels of great size but light construction, and immense shafts.; The driver sits like a postilion, on horseback, dressed in a fiery-red, gold-bespangled livery, the trappings and silver-mounted harness glistening gaily in the sun. The numerous churches are somewhat tastefully decorated, and visited regularly by the women only, who thus manage to fill up a good deal of their time during the day. In the cathedral of Havana repose the remains of Columbus. The Tacon theatre, one of the largest in the world, accomodates 8000 spectators, and is. open daily, Sundays "included, during the season. Besideß the churches and theatres, the bull-fights are also specially patronised by the; ladies. Mr A Gallenga gives an interesting description of the SOCIAL LIFE OP HAVANA, although he was not so much struck with the city and its attractions as the' inhabitants of the place always expect a new-comer to be. . In. . spite, he says, of the raptures into f which travellers new to tropical 'scenery are apt to fall, the country about Havana, on a first glance, presents itself as singularly flat and bare, and the town itself, after a few hours' evidence, suggests the definition of a city of smells ? and noises. : \He admits^ that th&*hla,r6or is tne finest in the world, but the scenery appeared to him to be rather pleasing than grandly impressive. What immediately strikes a stranger in the social aspect of Hay ana 'is that, like the Rome of Eomulus, it is a city without women. Hardly any other than negresses are to be seen about. Ladies, with any pretension to youth and beauty, would sooner die than venture out unprotected, and so common is the sight that foreign ladies, unacquainted with the custom and sauntering from shop to shop, become the' objects of a curiosity not unfrequently degenerating into impertinence. The scarcity is a real one and not merely apparent. Out of a population of 205,000 souls, there die annually, if offcial statistics may be relied upon, 3782 white males to 1204 white females \ while the deaths of the black or colored people -are, for males, 10_6 ; for the females, 1099. The causes of this disproportion between the males and females are not far to seek. Besides the priests, soldiers, and sailors, and the public functionaries, whose sojourn in the island is generally of the shortest, are here thousands" of Spanish immigrants, all males, attracted to the spot . by high wages, who look upon themselves as > . BIRDS OF PASSAGE, , and hardly dream: of sending for women from home. Regard for women, however, is by no means en- 1 hanced by their scarcity, and there ensues an exclusively male society. Even with married people, the difficulty of housekeeping, and the discomforts of domestic life, are so great that the Havana husband prefers, .the attractions of cafe or club, and" in no town of France or Italy are there to be seen so many or such sumptuous and constantly crowded cafes and restaurants. The Havana merchant is as eager to make money „as he, is .to 'squander ..it, but the. .^J^sup#j«s 'little ; besides gross ma'tenal " enjoyment for his money. A- box at his third-rate opera at the Tacon Theatre, and a drive on the dreary Prado, are all the ajapuse- ' ments he can have in common'' with his wife and daughter. For the rest, . the women are left alone to mope at home, playing bo peep with the passers"by ;froin . their window-gratings, or
I pacing the flatrroofs of. their houses like so many " Sis»"r Aunes," waiting for those who a., never coming. But TUE REAL BANE OF SOCIAL LIFE in Havana lies in the de<jp-seated and . hardly-smothei-d animosity of race, one and the same racp, yet irreconcilably divided against itself. There is no hatred in tbe world to be compared to that of Cuban for Spain and j all that belongs to it. The Creole ! longs for tho day in whiu'i he shall bo rid of everything Spanish, and of every other alien intruder coming to suck the very life-blood from his veins. The native Spaniard, on the other hand, calls Cuba " this emphatically Spanish island," and affects to ignore the Creole. But, to a strauger's eye • the split is nowhere apparent. Thus there is a vast amount of plot and intrigue, fatal to all loyal, social, and even domestic intercourse ; a depth of simulation and dissimulation of spoken and acted lies, not to be fathomed by a stranger on a mere superficial survey. The underground war is going on in eyery street, and in almost eVery .ity. ' Among the native Cubans education- _£is y - more widely spread than ; ainbng'*the Peninsula immigrants: But- " THE SPANISH SETTLERS ' own tho greater part of the landed property and the movable wealth of the country. They have the lion's share of the trade of Havana in their hands, partly in consequence of the superior thrift and activity, but in great measure owing to the privileges and monopolies awarded to them by an unscrupulous administration- ; but the fortune accumulated by the peninsular father not infrequently goes to wreck and ruin in the hands of his improvident Creole progeny. Bates says that the Creole thinks, not un- ' reasonably, that with the abolition of slave labor a new balance of fortune ' will come to be established, in which all the chances will be in his own favor. In that intricate problem of the slave system lies the whole politi- j tical and moral question, and the I Cuban is as anxious for its 'speedy! solution as the Spaniard is doggedly ' bent on its indefinite adjournment. ! With such a hopeless divergence of views and tendencies it is easy to ! imagine the constraint, the mistrust, ' the ill-will everywhere pervading ' society in Havana. None but the , mere trader is at rest here. " For some of the Spanish, and even German, English, and other foreign shopkeepers, there has been no spot in' the world where money could be more easily made. All imported goods, owing to protection and differential tariffs, pay enormously, heavy duties ; hence the merchant is entitled to sell dear. Fraud and smuggling are carried ' on to an outrageous extent ; hence he is enabled to buy cheap."
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ME18980602.2.14
