CHAPTER XXVIII

PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST

TO the lover of romance or student of history, few spots in the western hemisphere, perhaps, have greater charm and interest than Morro Castle, high perched on the promontory that guards the eastern entrance of Havana Harbor. Seen at early dawn from the open port of an entering steamer, its great, rugged, picturesque bulk seems to assemble from the spectral mists of a legendary past, while all those intensely dramatic scenes of which El Morro has been the center, pass before one like the dreamy reality of a moving picture play.

Resurrected from the tales of centuries, gone and almost forgotten, one sees the lonely old watch tower that back in the early days of the 16th century stood guard on the hill top of Morro, so that the pirates and cruel rovers of the sea during those days of greed, lust and crime, could not take the little community of Havana unawares. Then come the later days, when the ever recurring wars of Europe cast their ugly shadows over even remote points on the western shore of the Atlantic, and corsairs of foreign nations were ever anxious to pounce on the Pearl of the Antilles, and seize within the harbor some of the rich Spanish galleons, laden with Aztec gold and loot.

Through this panorama of the past comes the picture of England’s fleet of 200 ships manned by 32,000 men under Albemarle and Pococke, lying in a semicircle off the entrance of the harbor, with old Morro now well equipped for battle. Its thick walls, rugged embattlements, fighting turrets, embrasures, emergency bridges, powder magazines, store rooms, ammunition dumps, secret passages and dark dungeons, and bristling guns, were Spain’s chief bulwark in the defense of Havana. Solid shot and shell from a thousand guns crisscrossed between sea and land, and in the center of the turmoil, defending the fort and the honor of Spain, stood one courageous young officer, Commander Luis Velasco, surrounded by a little group of volunteers, who had sworn to hold the fort or die in its defense.

Then, after a month of continuous fighting, came the note from the British, stating that El Morro was undermined and an offer of 24 hours in which to surrender, and Velasco’s reply, in which he informed his enemy that the match might be applied and the walls blown up, but within the breach he would be found still defending the castle.

The mine was exploded and the south wall torn asunder, while Velasco, fighting to the last, received the wound that sent him over the Great Divide and soon brought to an end Havana’s defense against the British. Imagination easily recalls the salute of cannon on the following day, announcing the death of one of Spain’s most courageous fighters, while every shot of the defending guns was echoed by one of the British ships, firing as a tribute to the courage of the young officer who had defied their entire fleet for nearly a month.

Morro was begun in 1589 by the Italian engineer, J. Bautista Antonelli, and completed in 1597. Little change has occurred during the last two centuries, and its rugged old walls will probably continue to resist the winter storms of the Gulf for centuries to come. Many of Cuba’s patriots and heroic figures have been confined in the dungeons of Morro, including the first President of the Republic, that kind hearted, genial old gentleman of letters, Don Tomas Estrada Palma, who died the victim of base ingratitude on the part of men for whose freedom and happiness he had devoted all of the best years of his life.

El Morro is still occupied, as in the olden days, by the coast artillery of Cuba, and is well worth a trip across the bay, where one may pass a pleasant afternoon in interesting introspection, and enjoy at the same time one of the most delightful views of land and sea from any point in the West Indies.

Just within the entrance, and on the shore at the foot of Morro, are located 12 huge, old-time muzzle loading cannon, known as the Twelve Apostles, that sweep the opposite shore and were supposed to render impossible the entrance of any hostile ship, or any effort to cut away the heavy iron cable that in earlier days stretched across the entrance to the harbor from El Morro to the fortress of La Punta on the other side. These curious old iron guns, dedicated to the saints, were cast by Don Juan Francisco de Guenes and installed by him in the form of a crescent, that boded destruction to all invaders from the sea.

Some 500 yards further east, along the coast, is installed a similar group of cannon, 12 in number, that forms a battery known as La Pastora. These guns were made by Francisco Cagigal de la Vega and were placed on the lower shelf of the outside coast at a point not easily seen from the sea where they were supposed to render a forced entrance to the bay practically impossible.

A little further within the narrow entrance to the harbor of Havana, and stretching for a half a mile along the eastern shore, lies the largest and most impressive ancient fort of the western hemisphere. This fortress is known as la Cabaña, owing to the fact that several cabins once stood along this ridge, some 200 feet in height, overlooking the City of Havana. La Cabaña is massive in its structure, built of stone and earth on the crest of the ridge, with a steep descent to the water’s edge. It is surrounded on all sides by a wide deep moat, across which no enemy, even in modern times, could possibly pass. The destruction of the fort with high explosives and long range guns would, of course, be easily accomplished, but as an example of 18th century military engineering and architecture, it has no rival in the western world. Some 50 acres are covered with the walls, patios, surface and underground dungeons, prisons, buildings, moats and outer defenses of this fortification.

The work was begun on November 4, 1763, shortly after the evacuation of Havana by the British, and was concluded in 1774. The cost of the work is said to have been $14,000,000, although much of it was probably done by slaves, for whose services little or nothing was paid, nor could the value of their labor be easily estimated. The same engineer Antonelli, of Italian origin, who built El Morro, displayed his military genius in the plans of La Cabaña.

The original approach of this fortress was over a cobbled path that wound up a steep incline, from a little landing opposite the foot of O’Reilly Street, terminating finally in the southern opening to the moat. This path was known during the long years of the Ten Years’ War, and the War of Independence, as “El Camino sin Esperanza” or the Road without Hope, since those who climbed its winding way as prisoners seldom descended to the plain below, unless in rude boxes on the way to their last resting place. Even this privilege was denied to the great majority of political prisoners who were executed under the laurels that shade the first part of the moat.

This wide deep moat, varying in width from sixty to a hundred feet, with a depth that will average fifty, extends from one end of the fortress to the other, paralleling the harbor on which it fronts, and separating the main body of the fortress from well planned and easily defended outer works. Stone stairways were built at different places against the walls of these outer ramparts to facilitate the movement of troops in defense of the citadel, but with wide gaps crossed by wooden bridges that once knocked away would render the stairways useless to the enemy.

A few hundred feet beyond the avenue of laurels, and close by an opening of the wall into the main fortress, a bronze placque, some six feet by twelve, marks one of the places where political prisoners were executed throughout the latter half of the 19th century. The bronze was cast in France and represents the execution of a group of insurgent soldiers. In the left half of the placque is represented a squad of Spanish soldiers in the act of firing. Above all floats the figure of an angel endeavoring to shield the martyrs who are giving up their lives for the cause of Cuban Liberty.

Passing through this great eastern wall of the citadel the visitor steps into an interior, grass covered court, several hundred feet in length by eighty or more in width. Along the southern end of the court may be seen the remnant of a painted line at about the height of a man’s breast. On this spot, it is said, over a thousand men were executed during the period of the Ten Years’ War and the three years’ War of Independence. Most of the old line has been dug away by knife points of visitors in search of bullets that were imbedded in the wall during the many executions that took place at its base. At the further, or northern end of this tranquil plot of ground, heavily barred iron gates cover a series of steps which formed an emergency entrance from the moat into the main body of the fortress.

A quarter of a mile further north, along the main extension of the moat, is a wide wooden bridge that connects the outer ramparts with the citadel, the roadway passing through a massive and impressive gate or portal, over which a carved inscription gives the dates in which the work was begun and concluded, together with the name of its founders and the Spanish officers in command at the time of its construction.

The grounds within are ample for military drill and instruction and are well equipped for the care and maintenance of a defending force. When Spain’s army retired from Cuba in the last days of 1899, both Cabañas and Morro presented a very different appearance from that of today. Long lines of cells had been built into the stone walls, in which hundreds, if not thousands, of political prisoners had spent years of confinement. Each of these dreary, cheerless abodes was about 30 feet in width by 60 in length, with a low arched ceiling and massive barred doors, facing the west.

Each cell was supposed to accommodate fifty men, and some of them contained long parallel wooden bars, between which prisoners might swing hammocks if they were fortunate enough to possess them. Many men prominent in Cuban political and military life have occupied these cells of Cabañas and also those of its companion, El Morro. General Julio Sanguily, among others, passed three years in cell No. 57, until, through the urgent intercession of the American Government, he was finally set at liberty and permitted to enter the United States, of which he claimed citizenship.

Stretching along the western face of the fortress is a wide stone parapet overlooking the bay and the City of Havana opposite. Planted on its surface is a long line of interesting brass cannon, ornamented with Spanish coats of arms and bearing inscriptions that tell of their making in Seville, at various periods throughout the 18th century. These cannon are used today for saluting purposes when foreign men of war enter the harbor on friendly visits.

Near the center of the citadel stood a small stone chapel that would accommodate 50 or 100 men. Near one end was built a round pagoda-like altar before which the condemned could kneel in prayer during their last night on earth, since those who entered its tragic portals well knew that at sunrise the following morning they would face the firing squad that would pass them on to eternity. This historically tragic apartment has recently been converted into a moving picture hall for the benefit of Cuban soldiers who are at present stationed in Cabañas.

Visitors at Cabañas during normal times of peace will find soldier guides quite willing to carry one down into the subterranean depths of the fortress and along the narrow dark passageways that were tunneled into the earth, supposedly to detect possible mining operations of the enemy from the outside. During the War of Independence, however, extending from 1895 to 1899, these underground tunnels were occupied by prisoners, most of whom dying in the dismal depths were given burials so shallow by their companions, who must have dug the graves with their fingers, that in passing along by lantern light, shortly after American occupation, one frequently stumbled over skulls and bones that protruded from the earthen floor below.

The aspect of Cabañas today, with its well cleaned, whitewashed walls, with its comfortable officers’ quarters and shady grounds, is quite cheerful, and one can hardly believe that less than a quarter of a century ago Cabañas fortress was one of the modern horrors that cried out to the civilized world for the abolition of Spanish control in America.

Occupying the low rocky ledge immediately opposite Morro is the picturesque little fort known as the Castillo de Punta, or Fortress on the Point, begun in 1589, and intended to complete the protection to the entrance of the harbor. The style of architecture is identical with that of El Morro, but far less pretentious in size and plan. The fort is protected from the sea by several outlying shelves of coral rock, and was at one time surrounded by a moat as was La Fuerza, the first stone fortress constructed in the Western Hemisphere. The walls are not over 20 feet in height and over the main entrance a tablet gives the name of Governor-General Tejada, during whose period of office it was built, together with the date of its construction.

La Punta afforded efficient aid to its companion El Morro, on the opposite side of the bay, during the siege by the English in 1762, and in one corner of the reception room may be seen the fragment of an iron shell, fired from the British fleet during the siege of Havana.

La Punta is the headquarters of the Navy Department. Its presence at the angle of the Prado and the Gulf Avenue, that extends west along the sea shore, is a quiet but efficient reminder of the olden days when fortresses of this type formed the only protection enjoyed by the people who were then residents of the capital of Cuba.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Havana, like nearly all of the capitals built by Spanish conquerors in the Western Hemisphere, was a walled city. These walls were built of coral limestone quarried along the sea front, which with exposure to the atmosphere becomes quite hard. The same engineering ability demonstrated by the builders of El Morro, Cabanas and La Punta, was evident in the 17th century wall, that had the fortress of La Punta as its starting point and ran in practically a straight line south until it reached the shores of the Bay near its southwestern terminus.

These walls were about 12 feet through at the base and some 20 feet in height. Throughout the entire line was a series of salients, bastions, flanks and curtains that were dominant features in the military architecture of those times. At the top were parapets on which the garrison gathered for the defense of the City.

Work on the walls began with a body of 9,000 peons in 1633 and a contribution of $20,000 in gold that was exacted by order of the Spanish Crown from the rich treasuries of Mexico in order to hurry its completion. Only two gates were constructed at first, one of these at La Punta and the other at the head of Muralla Street, which latter formed the main or principal entrance for commercial purposes. A third was afterwards opened near the corner of the old Arsenal for the convenience of people engaged in ship building at that point.

Extending along the water front were gradually built continuations of this wall with coral ledges forming a solid base. These eventually closed the city on all sides. This stupendous work was not completed until 1740, and even after this date occasional additions were made for purposes of better defense. Although the Spanish treasury at that time was being filled with gold from Mexico and Peru, it would seem that the Crown was very loath to part with the money, and compelled the colonies of the Western Hemisphere to build their own defenses and to make whatever improvements they considered necessary, either from contributions levied on commerce, or with the use of slaves whose services their owners were compelled to furnish at their own expense.

Up to the departure of Spain’s army from Havana in 1899, sections of the old wall, several blocks in length, extending through the heart of the city, still remained intact. These, with their salients, bastions, flanks, etc., formed an interesting landmark of the olden days, when Spanish knights clad in hauberks and hose, donned their breastplates and plumed helmets to fight against the British who besieged the city in 1763. Today only one short section remains, a picturesque remnant of the past, with its little round, dome-covered watch tower still intact. This is located just north of the Presidential palace on the crest of the green lawn that slopes away towards La Punta, about a third of a mile distant.

Near the landing place at the foot of O’Reilly Street, used by visiting officials and officers of the Navy, stands La Fuerza. On this site was built the first permanent or stone defense of the city in 1538. The original walls and fortifications have seen many changes since that date but one cannot look at them without recalling the pathetic figure of Dona Isabel de Bobadilla, who in 1539, on the drawbridge of La Fuerza, where she and her husband, Hernando de Soto, had lived, said “Adios,” as with an army of 900 men and 350 horses, he set out for the conquest of Florida “and all the territory that might lie beyond.”

Day after day, for more than two years, it is said, this faithful wife walked the parapets of La Fuerza straining her eyes to see his flagship arise above the horizon of the Gulf, and when at last a storm beaten bark brought back a few survivors of the expedition, whose leader had hoped to rival if not surpass the deeds of Cortez in Mexico, or Pizarro in Peru, she learned that her lord and lover would return no more, that even his body would never be recovered from the yellow waters of the Mississippi. It was then that her soul, too, sank into the sea of despair and soon joined its companion on the shore beyond.

The dark dungeons of La Fuerza have held hundreds of Cuban patriots until death or deportation to Africa brought relief. The old stone steps descending to the ground floor are worn into veritable pockets by the tramp of feet during a continual occupancy of almost 400 years. Every outer wall, parapet, alcove and dungeon, if able to speak, “could a tale unfold.” Now all is silent save the sound of an occasional bugle, the music of the artillery band, or the laughter of children playing on the green lawn that separates it from the Senate Chamber.

The first church built on the Puerto de Carenas, as the Harbor of Havana was called by the founders of the city, was of adobe, roofed with yagua from the guana palm. This was destroyed in 1538 by the pirates. Owing to the extreme poverty of the inhabitants, and to the fact that in spite of the wealth controlled by the churches of the mother country its representatives in the Western Hemisphere, especially in the City of Havana, were left to shift for themselves, and very few contributions for church building came across the seas to Cuba—it being assumed evidently that the people of a community deserved no better church than their financial means justified—it was not until well into the 17th century that churches were constructed that would at all compare with the beautiful ecclesiastical structures of Europe. Most of those of Havana, that were built during the 17th and 18th centuries, resemble, both in material and architecture, the rather heavy, ponderous and so called Gothic style that prevailed throughout the Latin American world.

Immediately back of the old Presidential Palace, former headquarters of the Captains General of Spain, stands the former convent and church of Santo Domingo, whose erection was due to the liberality of the Conde de Casa Bayamo, whose picture until recently hung in the sacristy. This building occupied the block of ground between O’Reilly and Obispo and Mercaderes and San Ignacio Streets. It was reconstructed in 1738 and became the Royal University of Havana. When the University was transferred to the beautiful site on the heights of Principe, overlooking Havana from the west, this old relic of bygone ages, with its ponderous walls and picturesque patio, became the Institute of Havana, where students still receive that which in English would be equivalent to a high school education. One portion of the square is today used as a police station, while the church itself, with its crude stone figures of saints standing in relief from the outer walls, is practically abandoned and will probably soon be removed, for the modest type of sky-scraper or office building that is becoming quite common throughout the city.

The cathedral, one of the largest and most imposing of the churches of Havana, was built by the Jesuits, on the north edge of the old basin or arm of the Bay that extended from the present shore along the line of the street now known as Empedrado, as far west as the little San Juan de Dios Park. This church is built of the tough coral limestone used in nearly all of the important buildings that stood within the walls of old Havana. The church, together with the convent and offices in the rear, is in the form of an irregular quadrangle, covering about a block of ground, the rear facing the bay itself. The architecture is of the so-called Gothic that prevails in all of the old-time churches and convents of the Island. Owing to the fact that, up to 1899, it contained the bones of Christopher Columbus, this building has always been one of the prominent places of interest in the city. A tablet in marble, over the entrance on San Ignacio Street, states that it was consecrated by his Excellency, Pedro Agustin Morel de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Havana, on September 8, 1755. This church was declared the Cathedral of Havana in 1789.

The former tomb of Columbus was located in a niche built for the purpose on the west side of the altar. When the Spanish forces departed from the Island in 1899, at the request of the Pope the remains of Columbus were removed from their long resting place in the Cathedral and carried to Seville, Spain, where they are at present interred. The interior of the edifice, although not as elaborately decorated as are some of the other churches, is nevertheless imposing and well worth a few moments pause to the passing visitor.

The San Francisco Convent, one of the oldest churches of Havana, was completed by Order of the Franciscans in 1591. A part of the hard coral shore that formed the western edge of the bay, a few blocks south of the Plaza de Armas, formed a solid foundation for the original building which, owing to faulty material and construction, lapsed into ruins in 1719. In 1738 the structure which now occupies the spot was built under the direction of Bishop Juan Lazo. The tower of the Church proper is considered one of the best samples of ecclesiastic architecture in Havana. This building fronts on Oficios Street and extends from the Plaza of San Francisco south for more than a block, parallel with the Bay front. The old San Francisco convent is the most massive structure of its kind in Havana. Its long lofty arched passages were well built and give promise of remaining intact through centuries yet to come. The large patio in the center is today filled with flowers and admits light to the many offices, once occupied by the palefaced, sad-eyed inmates of the convent, now resounding with the click of typewriters and the tread of feet bent on the ordinary affairs of life. In 1856 this building became the depository, or general archive, of the Spanish administration of affairs in the Island. The first American Government of Intervention used it as a Custom House, where Major General Bliss had his headquarters. Shortly after the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba this property together with that of the square now used by the Institute, was purchased from the Church and continued to be used as the custom house. In 1916 the old convent, thoroughly renovated, became the permanent headquarters for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, for which it is well adapted. The custom house was transferred to the San Francisco Wharf, a handsome structure that also shelters the administration of Trisconia. From 1608 the San Francisco Church was used as the starting point of the religious processions which annually passed the “Via de Cruces” or Way of the Cross, along Amargua Street terminating at the Church of El Cristo at the corner of Aguacate Street, which was built in 1640.

The San Agustin Convent was built by the order of San Agustin on Amergura Street at the corner of Aguiar Street. A tablet on the church itself states that it was completed in the year 1659. There is nothing of special interest connected with this church other than its antiquity and its general air of isolated depression.

La Merced, located at the corner of Cuba and Merced Streets, was the culmination of an effort to establish a Merced Convent for that part of the City of Havana. It was begun in 1746 but not completed until 1792. La Merced is today considered the most fashionable church in the Island of Cuba, and during times of religious festivals the decorations of flowers and illumination of candles are very imposing. This church, and the National Theatre, during the opera season, furnish perhaps the two most interesting places in which to study Havana’s élite society.

In 1689 the convent of Santa Catalina was built on the square facing O’Reilly Street, between Compostela and Aguacate Streets, the dedication of the church taking place in 1700. This convent has been famous for two centuries for its wealth, devotees vying with each other in the amount of money or property which they could contribute to the coffers of the church. It is said that $15,000 was the smallest contribution that could be accepted from any woman who chose to devote her life and fortune to the promotion of the Catholic faith and the prosperity of the Church. No limit was fixed to the amount of the individual contributions from novitiate nuns, and many of the wealthiest women of Havana society have disappeared from the social world, within its walls. The property was sold in 1917 for a million dollars and the inmates were removed to the new quarters located on the plateau in Vedado.

The picturesque church that stands on the crest of the hill in the district of Jesus del Monte was built in 1689. The view from the front of this church, looking over the city and bay beyond, is very pleasing.

An attractive church from the viewpoint of its minarets and architecture, known as Santo Angel, is located on a small hill of that name near the junction of Cuarteles with Monserrate Street, overlooking the long stretch of green sward that extends from the new Presidential Palace to the Park of Luz Caballero. This church, in spite of its name, seems to have been selected by fate to suffer a number of serious reverses. In 1828 a stroke of lightning toppled over the tall spire on its eastern front, and again in 1846 a hurricane that did but little damage to the city tore down the cupola and brought with it the entire end of the building. In spite of this however the church has recently entered into a period of prosperity and is today the center of fashionable congregations who usually assemble there for twelve o’clock late mass.

Santa Teresa was founded in 1701 and is located at Compestela and Teniente Rey Streets.

The convent of Santa Clara was built in 1664 and began with a fund of $550. It extends from Cuba to Havana Streets and from Sol to Luz Streets, covering two solid blocks of ground, and is the largest convent in the Island of Cuba. Owing to the recent increase in the price of city property, the space covered by this convent is valued at $1,500,000.

In 1704 the convent of Belen was founded at the corner of Compostela and Luz Streets, covering an entire block of ground that had served previously as a recreation park for the Bishop of Compostela. Within this convent the Jesuit Order established what was known as the “Royal College of Havana,” whence were graduated some of the city’s famous lawyers and scholars. This order maintains an Observatory and weather bureau, whence reports in regard to storms in the Caribbean are contributed to the daily papers. Belen, among the devout Catholics of Cuba, is undoubtedly one of the most popular institutions of the West Indies.

Shortly after the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson as President of the United States, Mr. William E. Gonzalez was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary from that country to the Republic of Cuba, and took up his residence in the old colonial mansion built by the Echarte family, located on the corner of Santa Catalina and Dominguez Streets. This beautiful quinta occupies a block of ground in the old aristocratic residence district of Cerro, some three miles distant from Central Park. The building, although only one story in height, is quite imposing, built of stone with white marble floors throughout, inclosing a beautiful patio that forms one of the unique and charming attractions of old-time residences in Havana. A wide marble flagged gallery runs all around this patio from which a soft subdued light enters the many rooms facing upon it. A broad porch, whose heavy flat roof is supported by long rows of stone columns, faces the south, and above it flies the Stars and Stripes from sunrise to sunset. The garden or grounds occupying the eastern half of the block are filled with beautiful shade trees and sweet scented flowers that have been brought from many parts of the world, while in front a row of stately royal palms reach up some 80 feet or more toward the blue sky.

La Chorrera, the Fort of Almandares, is a picturesque little old fort, some fifty feet square and two stories in height, built of coral rock in the year 1646, which rests upon a little islet not much bigger than the fort itself, at the eastern entrance of the Rio Almandares. Slave labor undoubtedly entered into the construction of this fort, although it is said to have cost 20,000 ducats. A flight of stone steps has been built up to the second floor that communicates with the entrance to the fort. Over this is a tablet giving the date of construction and the name of its builders.

During the siege of Havana by the British in 1762, Lord Albemarle determined to land troops west of the City in order to take advantage of Principe Heights, overlooking the capital from the west. On June 10 a portion of the British fleet began bombarding La Chorrera. Its commanders, Captain Luis de Aguiar and Rafael de Cardenas, made a very stubborn resistance, yielding only when their ammunition had been completely exhausted. This fort is easily reached by the Vedado car line, from which a short walk of two blocks brings one to the mouth of the Almandares, on which the fort is located.

On the western point, guarding the entrance of the little ensenada or inlet of Cojimo, four miles east of El Morro is Fort Cojimar, almost the duplicate of La Chorrera, which was constructed at the same time. These quaint monuments of the past add considerable historic and picturesque beauty to the northern coast of Cuba. All of them may be reached by beautiful automobile drives and are well worth a few moments in passing.

The Torreon de la Playa, a small round watch tower, was erected on the eastern shores of La Playa, some three miles west of the Almandares River, where watchmen were kept both day and night to advise the authorities and inhabitants of the struggling young colony of the approach of pirates from the west, or any suspicious sails that might hove in sight. This structure was built by order of the Town Council, the “Cabilda,” on order issued on March 8, 1553, naming each individual who was to contribute either in money or men towards the work. The money contributed was exacted only from some half dozen of the inhabitants and amounted to a “real” or ten cents a day. The well-to-do inhabitants were called on each to furnish one negro with his tools, or lacking tools, a “batey” or boat in which to convey material.

A similar tower known as the Torreon de San Lazaro was built in 1556 upon the western edge of the little inlet, which until the inauguration of the Republic in 1902 occupied the space where the beautiful equestrian statue of General Antonio Maceo now stands.

The picturesque fort known as Atares, located on the hill that commands the extreme southwestern end of the bay, was begun in 1763, immediately after the departure of the British, and completed in 1767. It is occupied at the present time by a small detachment of Cuban artillery, and is sacred in the eyes of all Americans owing to the fact that General Crittenden of Kentucky, and his 50 companions who had joined the unfortunate band of Cuban liberators under the command of Narciso Lopez, were executed on the western slope of the hill in August, 1851. Atares is easily reached by the Jesus del Monte cars, and the view from the top of the hill is worth the climb.

The Castillo del Principe, the last fortification of the 18th century, was placed on the western edge of the Principe plateau, on the same spot where Lord Albemarle with his British troops looked down on the City of Havana during the siege of 1762. Fort Principe was begun in 1774 and completed in 1794. The general style of architecture is similar to that of all the military structures of this period, although Principe is larger and more commodious than Atares. A deep moat surrounds the fortification and an old style drawbridge connects the outer edge with the entrance to the citadel itself. Since the beginning of the Cuban Republic the fort has been used as a state penitentiary, and is a model of ideas and methods in the treatment of its convicts. The inmates are not only taught to read and write, but learn useful trades as well. Those of musical bent have formed a brass band, in which they have been encouraged under the intelligent direction of General Demetrio Castillo, who has had charge of the prisoners in Cuba almost since the beginning of the Republic.

The view from the top of the hill is one of the most attractive in the Province of Havana, and may be reached either by the Principe car line, which terminates at its base, or by an automobile drive which leads through a winding way up the hillside to the very entrance of the fortress.

The Botanical Gardens, Quinto de Molinos, are a beautiful property fronting on Carlos Tercero Street and extending along the north side of the drive from Infanta Street to the foot of Principe Hill. They belong to the Government. On the corner of Infanta Street is located the new City Hospital, the largest and most complete institute of its kind in the West Indies. Just beyond are the ground of the Botanical Gardens and the Quinto de Molinos, forming a long, beautiful well laid out, shaded park. Its graveled walks lined with many varieties of stately palms and tropical plants some indigenous and some brought from other parts of the world, render the ground a charming and interesting retreat, not far from the center of the City. The estate covers some 40 acres, and within its limits are held Agricultural and Live Stock fairs, that under normal conditions take place annually. These grounds, during Spanish colonial times, were used as a summer residence by the Captains-General of Cuba, and for that reason have a certain degree of historical interest, since here Generals Martinez Campos, Weyler and Blanco, with many of their predecessors, passed much of their time during the summer season.

Several picturesque kiosks and artistic structures with seats have been built for the benefit of the public, and usually during the winter season open air concerts are given within the grounds once or twice a week by the Municipal Band. The Quinto is easily reached either by street car or automobile and there is probably no place within the city limits where one can pass a more restful and profitable hour, than within the shade of the Botanical Gardens of Havana.

CHAPTER XXIX

HAVANA

HAVANA is one of the most charming capitals in the New World. Its very name, Indian in its origin, conjures up a vivid panorama of four centuries, crowded with tragedy, pathos, adventure, bold deeds, cruel crimes and noble sacrifices; on whose rapidly moving film the hand of fate has pictured every phase of human emotion from the wild dreams of world conquerors, to the hopeless despair of hunted Cubenos, who preferred death to slavery. It was on the 25th day of July, 1515, that Diego Velasquez, while cruising along the south coast of the Island, stopped on the sandy beach near a native fishing village called Metabano. The Indians belonged to a tribe known as the Habanas; one of the thirty different divisions of the Cubenos. Grass-covered plains extending back from the beach seemed to impress Velasquez favorably, so he founded a city there and called it San Cristobal de la Habana.

Toward the close of the year 1519, however, the colonists evidently disapproved of Velasquez’s selection and moved their town across to the north coast of the Island at the mouth of the Almandares, where northeasterly winds made the summers more agreeable. This little stream, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, had a depth of twelve or fifteen feet at the mouth, sufficient for the caravels of those days. But some of the City Fathers, in their wanderings to the eastward, found the beautiful bay, then known as Carena. A prophetic glimpse into the future may have furnished the motive for another change; at any rate a year later they picked up their household fixtures, carrying with them the town records, and established the City where it now stands, on the eastern shores of one of the finest land locked harbors in the world. In 1556 Havana became the capital of Cuba, the rendezvous of all Spanish fleets in the Occident, as well as the key to the Gulf of Mexico.

Havana in the early days of the 16th century consisted of several groups or clusters of palm thatched huts, not far from the bay, with little that could suggest a city in embryo. As in all cities built by the Spaniards in the New World, the first permanent buildings were churches and monasteries erected for the benefit of the Catholic clergy and built, as a rule, of adobe or mamposteria, with walls two or three feet in thickness. The material used was a mixture of rock, earth and sand, inclosed in facings of plaster. Many of them were decorated with crude figures and images of saints popular in the community.

Later, quarries of soft limestone were found in abundance, and from these, blocks were easily cut which, after exposure to the atmosphere, formed a hard, durable building material. The coral rock of which both Morro and Cabañas were built was taken from old quarries scattered along the north shore from Morro eastward. From these quarries came also the stone that built the spacious San Francisco Convent, occupied today by the Central post office.

As in all Spanish towns, in the New World at least, a plaza or open square formed the center from which the principal streets radiated. On the eastern side of the plaza of Havana, in front of La Fuerza, was erected in after years El Templete, in honor of the first mass held by the inhabitants of Havana, which took place under a giant ceiba growing close to the shore of the harbor, in 1519.

Nearly all of the permanent structures in Havana, up to the middle of the 17th century, were located on or near the water front, some distance in from La Punta. Many of these, including La Fuerza, the San Francisco convent, the old cathedral and La Maestranza, were built of coral limestone cemented with a mixture the formula for which is said to have been lost, but which in these buildings has endured the wear of centuries. Excellent clay for making tile and brick was later found not far south of the City, so that the more pretentious buildings were covered with roofs of the criolla tiles that are still common throughout all Latin America.

Before the middle of the 15th century, the clearing in which Havana was located was extended out as far as the street now known as Monserrate, running from the Gulf front across to the southwestern extension of the bay. In 1663 a splendid wall was begun along this line and completed with the help of slaves in 1740. It ran almost north and south, inclosing the city on the west, and protected it from all attacks coming from the land side. This wall was twenty feet in height and twelve feet thick at the base, surmounted at frequent intervals by quaint round-topped turrets. It had its angles, bastions and points of vantage for defensive purposes, the work, according to experts, representing a very high degree of engineering ability on the part of those who planned it.

With the exception of one angle and its turret, which stands in front of the new Presidential Palace, the old walls were removed in 1902, thus depriving Havana of perhaps the most picturesque feature of the ancient city.

Just in front of this wall on the west, a wide clearing was made to prevent surprise attacks from the forests beyond. With the felling of the trees, grass soon grew along its entire length, hence the name Prado, which means meadow, became permanently attached to it, and so the green lawn in front of the old walls of the 17th century was transformed two hundred years later into Havana’s most aristocratic avenue.

The principal thoroughfare, leading from the southern side of the Plaza de Armas to the Prado, was called Obispo or Bishop Street, which name it still retains. It is said that the first Bishop of Havana was in the habit of taking his daily walk out along this road to the main gate of the City; hence the name.

Beginning at the water front and running from La Fuerza west, parallel to Obispo, is O’Reilly Street, named in honor of one of Cuba’s most energetic Governors-General, who controlled the affairs of Havana in 1763, and who was, as the name suggests, of Irish antecedents. Just north of O’Reilly and parallel to it we have Empedrado Street which won its distinction by being paved from the old Cathedral to San Juan de Dios Park in the time of Governor General Las Casas. South of Obispo came Obrapia Street, or the Lane of Pious Works. Beyond and parallel to it came Lamparilla Street, which earned this cognomen owing to the fact that some progressive citizen in the early days hung a lantern in front of his residence for the benefit of the public at large.

Next comes Amargua Street, or the Bitter Way. It is along Amargura that certain pious and penitent monks were said to practice flagellation. With shoulders bent, and on their knees, they invited the blows of whips while wending their way out towards the edge of the city. Incidentally they collected alms en route. On the southeast corner of Amargura and Mercaderes Streets a peculiar cross in stucco, painted green, is built into the wall of the house where, centuries ago, lived a high dignitary of the church, before which all passing religious processions paused for special prayers.

There is hardly a square within the old walled city that has not some story or legend whose origin goes back to the days of Velasquez, De Soto, Cortez of Mexico, and other celebrated conquerors of the New World.

The Havana of today is a strange mingling of modern, reinforced cement and stone structures, five or six stories high, with little one or two-story, thick-walled, tile roofed samples of architecture that prevailed three hundred years or more ago. City property, however, is increasing so rapidly in value that many old landmarks along the narrow streets of the wall inclosed section are being torn down and replaced with large, well equipped office buildings.

With the accumulation of sugar estates, coffee plantations, cattle ranches and resultant wealth, people of means began to seek summer homes beyond the walls of the old City. All men in those days went heavily armed for any danger that might threaten, while numerous slaves furnished protection from common thieves and highwaymen.

With the development of the outlying districts, trails and roads soon began to reach out both to the west and south, followed some years later by what were known as Caminos Reales or Royal Roads, connecting Havana with Matanzas, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Remedios, Camaguey and Santiago de Cuba.

One road, known still as El Cerro, ran southwest along the crest of a ridge that led towards the western part of the Island and in after years connected Havana with the big coffee plantations in the mountains and foothills of Pinar del Rio. Along this road were built the first suburban residences and country homes of the aristocracy of Havana.

Many of these places were cut out of dense woods, and on one of them, until less than ten years ago, the original owner, the Conde de Fernandina, retained a full square of dense primeval forest, not a tree of which had been removed since the days of Columbus. This remnant of virgin wilderness, located on the corner of El Cerro and Consejero Arango Streets, was for some six years passed by the electric car line of El Cerro.

All of this section of the City, of course, was long ago built up with handsome residences that sheltered most of the old Cuban families, who had inherited the right to titles, coats of arms, and other paraphernalia pertaining to the monarchy of Spain. Tulipan Park marks the center of this aristocratic district, and still retains much of its old-time atmosphere of colonial prestige.

Further south ran another winding trail that gradually ascended a range of hills, forming the divide from which the undulating surface slopes towards the south coast, thirty miles away, where Velasquez located the original site of Havana. This thoroughfare is known as Jesus del Monte, or Jesus of the Mountain, and has become quite popular in recent years on account of reputed healthfulness due to its elevation above the sea.

When the last remnants of the Spanish army returned to Spain in 1899, that portion of the City called El Vedado, or The Forbidden, extending from the Beneficencia, or Orphan Asylum, out to the Almandares River, three miles distant, was nothing but a goat pasture, with a low sea front of sharp coral rocks. Its soil was thin and the district apparently had nothing to recommend it aside from its view of the ocean.

A little dummy engine pulled a shaky, shabby car out to the Almandares, making four trips a day. Just why it ran at all was a mystery to the inhabitants, since there was but little inducement to travel in that direction. The entire expanse of land from the Santa Clara Battery to the Almandares, and miles beyond, could have been purchased for a song, but no one wanted it.

Two years later some “fool American” erected an attractive bungalow on the line, about half way to the Almandares, and not long after, sign boards could be seen with the notice, “Lots for sale,” which invariably occasioned smiles, since there were no purchasers. But around the bungalow were laid out pretty grounds, and the suggestion took root. Two men of means erected beautiful places close by, and the building of homes in the cactus-covered flats became a fad.

The price of lots, which began at ten cents a square meter, soon rose to a dollar, then two dollars, five, ten, twenty-five, and today this entire section from Havana to the Almandares and beyond, from the dog teeth coral of the coast, up over the crest of the Principe Hill, is covered with beautiful modern mansions with splendid grounds, and forms the residential pride and show ground of the city.

This marvelous increase in development of suburban property, which seems to continue with leaps and bounds, has long since passed the Almandares River and reached out to the Playa and to the Country Club, while even further west land is sold by the square meter and not by the caballeria. All has taken place since Leonard Wood stepped into the Palace as Governor-General of Cuba in the year 1900.

Another well-known highway that played an important part in the early history of Havana was called La Reina. This wide, beautiful avenue begins at the Parque Colon and runs due west until at the crest of the first ridge the name changes to Carlos Tercero, passing between avenues of laurels until it reaches the Quinto de los Molinos and the Botanical Gardens. Passing on around the southern edge of the Principe Plateau, the avenue continues on to Colon Cemetery, a beautiful spot, commanding a view of the mouth of the Almandares, and that portion of Vedado lying between it and the Gulf. Since Havana has but one cemetery for a city of over 360,000 inhabitants, travel to the last resting place is somewhat constant over this really beautiful road.

The view from the western terminus of Principe Hill is one of the finest in Cuba’s capital. It was this crest that the English Colonel Howe, after landing his force of three thousand men in 1762 at the mouth of the Almandares River, ascended and from it saw for the first time the old walled city lying at his feet, in all its primitive glory.

This commanding position on the western edge of the Principe Plateau, with the City of Havana, the Botanical Gardens and the beautiful Quinto de los Molinos lying at its base, was chosen for the site of the University of Havana, and no more appropriate place for an institution of this kind could have been selected. In the near future it will undoubtedly become one of the most important seats of learning in Latin America.

Near the head of the western extension of Havana Harbor is the Loma of Atares, on whose summit rests a picturesque 18th century fortress of the same name. The hill rises abruptly several hundred feet above the level plain, and commands all approaches to the City both from the south and the west.

The prado or meadow, that extended along the western front of Havana’s embattled ramparts, is today changed into a wide esplanade, along which runs a double driveway for automobiles and carriages. Through the center, between double rows of laurels and flamboyans, are shaded walks, shrubs and rare plants of the tropics. On both sides of this fashionable street, sumptuous mansions, many of them homes of millionaires and distinguished men of this western Paris, have been built since the inauguration of the Republic. Attempts have been made at different times to change the name of this avenue, but the people of Havana, up to the present, have insisted on retaining the term first given it, the “Prado,” that always lay between the City gates and the western forests.

On the east lies the former walled city with its narrow streets and antique buildings and picturesque landmarks of bygone centuries. On the west we have the more modern City, that extends for miles both south and west, where beautiful residences have been erected, some of them palatial in size and appointments. Several of the more prominent hotels, too, are located on the Prado where it forms the western boundary of “Parque Central,” that delightful retreat in the City’s center. In front of the Park was the large gate that gave entrance and exit to the traffic of the old time thoroughfares of Obispo and O’Reilly. Many beautiful club buildings, whose cost ran into millions, are located along the Prado.

At the southwestern corner of the Park is the new National Theatre, a magnificent piece of architecture covering an entire block of ground, and costing some $3,000,000. This theatre is the largest and best equipped place of amusement in Havana, and at its entertainments may be found the elite of the Island republic. The season of grand opera continues for approximately six weeks every winter, during which the best artists of Italy, France, Spain and the Metropolitan Opera of New York furnish entertainment to a music-loving audience, whose taste is as refined and critical as any in the world.

The “Parque Central” covers an area equivalent to two city squares, in which many beautiful shade trees, including the evergreen laurel, the flamboyan, date and royal palms, and other plants and flowers peculiar to the tropics, add shade and beauty to the spot. In its center rises an imposing statue in marble of José Marti.

From this central point the Prado continues south until it terminates in the “Parque de los Indies.” Adjoining on the west is the “Parque de Colon,” with an area equivalent to four large city blocks. Stately royal palms, india rubber trees, flowering majaguas, cocoanuts and rare tropical plants, render this park one of the most interesting in the City.

Leading away from the head of the Parque de Colon we find a wide avenue known as La Reina, that extends westward and upward to the summit of Belascoain, where its width is more than doubled in the Avenue known as Carlos Tercero. This continues west between two long rows of shade trees, outside of which are two more drives running parallel to the main or central avenue.

This continues out beyond the Botanical Gardens, the Quinto de los Molinos, whence the main street curves around the crest of the Plateau of El Principe, and continues on two miles to Colon Cemetery near the further end of the Plateau, on the east bank of the Almandares.

Colon cemetery is one of the finest in Latin America. The monument dedicated to the seventeen firemen who perished beneath the falling wall of a burning house, consists of a single shaft some fifty feet in height, surmounted by the figure of an angel, supporting in her arms an exhausted fireman. Cameos in marble of the faces of the men who died in the performance of duty, are cut around the base of the monument. Another beautiful example of the sculptor’s art stands above the tomb of the “Inocentes,” where lie buried the bodies of the eight youths who were executed by the Spanish Volunteers, at the foot of the Prado on November 27, 1871. In this cemetery are buried also many of Cuba’s famous men and women whose graves are carefully kept, and on Decoration Day are visited by thousands of people, friends, relatives and admirers, who leave their tributes of flowers, kind thoughts and tears.

Music in all its varied forms, from grand opera to the rhythmic beat of the kettle drum, (which plays such an important part in the orchestras of native negroes) probably furnishes the chief source of pleasure and entertainment in the Republic of Cuba. The Havanese have always been a music loving people, and really excellent musicians are common in the Capital.

The Municipal Band of Havana, with some eighty artists, under the direction of Guillermo Tomas, furnishes music, either in Central Park or the Malecon, several evenings each week. It is in attendance also at nearly all official functions, and funerals of prominent men, soldiers, and officers of the Government.

This same band has won at different times the admiration and approval of many audiences in the United States, including that of critical Boston, where concerts were given in Symphony Hall in 1915. It was also heard at New York City’s Tercentenary Celebration during the fall of the same year. Director Tomas is very proud of the medal awarded to his band by the judges of the Buffalo Exposition in 1901.

Many other excellent bands belonging to the Navy, and to different branches of the Army, are noted for their music, and share with the Municipal in entertaining the public during different evenings of the week at the Malecon, and at various parks scattered throughout the City.

The Conservatory of Music located on Galiano Street near Concordia Street has turned out many brilliant artists during its career of half a century or more. Recitals of music are usually held in the National Theatre or in the Salons of the Academy of Arts and Sciences on Cuba Street. In these halls nearly all the celebrated artists of the world have given concerts, and hardly a week passes without entertainments by the best local talent.

Next to music, driving, either in automobiles or open carriages, over the beautiful “Careteras” radiating from the City, furnishes probably the most popular form of diversion in Cuba. Nearly every evening throughout the year, the view of the Malecon where the Prado and the beautiful Gulf Shore Drive meet is a scene of animation not soon to be forgotten.

The circular Glorieta, with its dome-shaped roof, supported on heavy stone columns, shelters some one of the famous National bands while hundreds of people in machines, in carriages, on stone benches and iron seats, enjoy the music and between selections chat about the various topics of the day. From eight until ten, under the shadow of the grim old fortress “la Punta,” and in the blaze of electric lights which line the Prado and the Malecon, this diversion holds the public, including all grades of society, from the highest officials to the humblest clerk, or girl worker in the tobacco factories, who enjoy the benefits of a true democracy, social and political and financial.

Some two miles west of the mouth of the Almandares, a little inlet known as La Playa, fairly well protected from the outer sea, furnishes the nearest bathing beach for the citizens of Havana and visitors from abroad. Since the temperature of the Gulf Stream which sweeps along this part of the northern coast is practically uniform throughout the year, bathing may be indulged in with pleasure both summer and winter. In the latter season, however, owing to cool winds that sometimes blow across the Gulf from the north, only visitors from the United States and tourists take advantage of this sport. The residents of Havana confine their bathing season largely to the strictly summer months from May until November.

The Havana Yacht Club stands just back from the beach, and from its front extends some two hundred feet out into the water a splendid concrete pier, shaded by canvas awnings, and patronized by members of the club and its guests. This club was established during the first Government of Intervention and counts among its members many of the best families of Havana. The interest in yachting has grown rapidly and every year brings with it interesting sloop yacht and motor boat races, held either at the Playa or at Varadero, near Cardenas.

During the bathing season the Marine Band furnishes music from five until seven in the afternoons. This is enjoyed not only by the members of the Yacht Club, but also by crowds who throng the beach for a mile or more on either side.

The finest beach of Cuba, however, is known as the Varadero, located on the sea side of Punta Icaca, a narrow strip of land that projects into the Bay of Cardenas. Here many of the regattas are held during the summer months, when visitors from the capital go to Cardenas to enjoy the twenty mile stretch of outside surf bathing. Bathing places cut out of the coral rocks along the beach of Vedado are also used, especially by the citizens of that locality.

Fishing is a sport that furnishes most enjoyable entertainment for those who are fond of it. Handsome specimens of the finny tribe are frequently brought in by men and boys, who drift in small boats along the coast, a mile or so out, and fish both for the table and for profit. Tourists often find amusement in going out in motor launches at night and fishing for shark off the mouth of the harbor. Since sharks are usually plentiful, and of sufficient size to give the angler a tussle before being brought up to the boat and dispatched, this form of amusement appeals as a novelty to many who come from the interior of the United States.

The markets of Havana are full of excellent fish that are caught all along the Gulf Stream, between Cuba and the coast of Florida. These are brought in sloops provided with the usual fish well, which keeps them fresh until thrown on the wharf just before daylight. The varieties most sought for, or prized, are the red snapper, known in Spanish as the “Pargo,” the sword fish, and the baracuta, which are splendid fish, from two to three feet in length and very game, when caught with hook and line.

Of the smaller fish, the Spanish mackerel, the mullet, the needle fish, and scores of other varieties are always found in abundance. The pompano, peculiar to the Gulf of Mexico, owing to its delicious flavor and its entire lack of small bones is probably the most prized of all, and commands a very high price when it reaches the table of fashionable hotels in the United States.

The game of Jai Alai was introduced here from the Basque Provinces of Spain, during the first Government of Intervention in 1900, and became very popular with both Cubans and visitors from the United States. General Leonard Wood and his aides soon acquired the habit of visiting the Fronton and spending an hour or so in practice every morning.

Jai Alai is played in a building erected for the purpose with a court some two hundred feet in length, inclosed on three sides by smooth stone walls, perhaps forty feet in height, and having a concrete floor. It is played with two opponents on each side known as the blues and the whites. The ball is similar to that of the tennis court, made in Spain with a high degree of resiliency and costing five dollars. It is thrown from a long narrow wicker basket, or scoop, slightly curved at the point, to retain the ball while swung to the head or end wall. The gloved part of the instrument is firmly strapped to the forearm of the player. The ball is caught in this sling-like scoop, and from its length of some thirty inches or more is driven with great force from the further end of the court to the opposite wall. On the rebound it must be caught by one of the two opponents, on either fly or first bound, otherwise a point is scored against the side that falls.

A three-inch band is painted around the end of the court, parallel with the floor and about four feet above it. The ball must strike the wall above this band, and the science of the play is to drive it into the corner at such an angle that your opponents will find it impossible to catch it as it caroms back.

Once the game starts, the ball never stops its flight through the air, from the wicker scoop to the end of the wall and back, until an error is made which counts against the side that fails to catch it. And since the player cannot hold the ball in his wicker sling for an instant, the action is decidedly rapid and the excitement soon becomes intense.

A player may occasionally be seen to leap into the air, catch and fire the ball back to the end of the court, he himself falling flat on his back, leaving his partner to take care of the return. Thirty points constitute the usual game and about an hour is required in which to play it. Jai Alai was suspended during the latter part of President Estrada Palma’s term, on account of the heavy betting that accompanied it, but owing to insistent popular demand, it was again installed at the Fronton in the Spring of 1918.

The game of baseball, brought to Cuba in the year 1900, from the very start gained a popularity among the natives that has never ceased for a moment. It is today the national sport of Cuba, and quite a number of high-priced players from Cuba have occupied prominent places in the big league clubs of the United States. The local clubs of Havana play a splendid game, as several crack teams from the United States have discovered to their surprise and cost, many of them having been sent home badly beaten.

The king of sports, however, in Havana, is horse racing, first introduced from the United States in 1907. Such was its popularity that capitalists some four years ago, were encouraged to erect in the suburb of Marianao the finest racing pavilion in the West Indies. The mile track and the beautiful grounds which surround it are all that lovers of the sport could desire; while the view from the Grand Stand, across a tropical landscape whose hillsides are covered with royal palms, with dark green mountains silhouetting the distant horizon, gives us one of the most picturesque and attractive race tracks in the world.

Between the Plaza and Camp Columbia are located the golf links of Havana, which owing to the natural beauty of the grounds, and the charm of the surrounding country, with its view of the ocean and distant palm covered hills, render golfing a pleasure for at least three hundred and thirty days a year. These natural advantages have made the links of the Country Club of Havana celebrated in all places where golfing news reaches those who are devoted to the game.

In the various public buildings in Havana occupied by the Government of Cuba may be traced many styles of architecture that have followed each other from the beginning of the 16th century to well into the 20th. The old Fort of La Fuerza, that dates from 1538, is now occupied by the Secretary of War and Navy, and from it orders are issued directing the management of the two arms of the service, which in Cuba are combined under one directorate. Aside from modern windows, shutters and up-to-date office furniture, no changes have been made in the general outline or contour of this antiquated old fortress, whose entrance and drawbridge face the Templete close by on the spot where the residents of Cuba held their early Town Councils and listened to the singing of their first mass, four centuries ago.

Next in line of antiquity would come the old San Franciscan Convent, that in 1916 was converted into a spacious and artistic post-office, where the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs looks after that important branch of the Government Service.

Next in point of age comes the home of the Department of Public Works in the Maestranza, along the northeastern front of which runs a remnant of the old sea wall, extending along the west shore of the harbor from the Cathedral to the head of Cuba Street. This thick walled building, of only two stories, began as an iron and brass foundry, in which cannon were made several centuries ago and during later years of Spanish Colonial occupancy was used as a warehouse for rifles, sabres, pistols and small arms in general. Here were outfitted officers and men of the Spanish Volunteers, or loyalists of the Island, during Cuba’s century of revolutions. With the occupation of American troops in 1900, this building, covering over a block of ground, was converted into offices of the Sanitary Department and allied branches, who vouched for the city’s health and cleanliness during that period. It was here that Major Gorgas, now Major General, held sway and directed the campaign that exterminated the stegomyia mosquito, and thus put an end to the dreaded scourge of yellow fever in Cuba. It is at present occupied by the various branches of Public Works under the direction of Col. José R. Villalon, who has earned the reputation of being one of the most tireless and persistent workers in the Government. The National Library, whose entrance faces on Chacon Street at present, shares the accommodations of the Maestranza.

The Department of Sanitation, with all of its vast ramifications, whose jurisdiction covers the entire Island, is located in an old colonial building fronting on Belascoain near the corner of Carlos Tercero Street, and with its ample patio covers an entire block of ground. This Department is located more nearly at the center of modern Havana than any of the other Government offices.

One of the oldest public buildings, and the largest used for purposes of Government, known as La Hacienda, is located on the water front between Obrapia Street and the Plaza de Armas. During the many years of Spanish rule, not only the Custom House, but nearly all the more important branches of Government, were located within its walls. With the inauguration of the Republic, the National Treasury was installed in the southwest corner of the building, under the direction of Fernando Figuerdo, who has retained this position of trust during all changes of administration. The remainder of the ground floor is occupied by the National Lottery and offices connected with that Institution, which extend into the entresuelo, or half-story, just above. The second floor is occupied by the Hacienda, or Treasury Department, whose offices surround the central patio on all four sides. The third and fourth floors are devoted to the central offices of the Department of Agriculture, including the headquarters of its Secretary, General Sanchez Agramonte. The upper floor, or azotea, is used by the Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture. The Hacienda is rather an imposing building from the Bay, on which it faces, and plays a very important part in the Government work of the Island.

To the outside world the best known building is probably the old Governor-General’s palace, fronting on the Plaza de Armas and occupying the square of ground between Tacon and Mercaderes Streets and between Obispo and O’Reilly Streets. The palace is two stories in height and belongs to what may be termed the modern colonial style of Cuban architecture, with very high ceilings, enormous doors and tall iron-barred windows that descend to the floor. The interior of the Palace is occupied by a very pretty palm court with a statue of Christopher Columbus posing in the center, facing the wide deep entrance that opens from the Plaza. This building was erected in 1834, as a residence and headquarters for the Governors General sent out from Spain, many of whom have occupied the Palace between that date and the year 1899, when the last Governor General took his departure. It was here that General Martinez Campos, in the winter of 1896, penned his cablegram to the Spanish sovereign, stating that Generals Maximo Gomez and Antonio Maceo, with their insurgent forces, had crossed the Trocha into Pinar del Rio, for which reason he tendered his resignation, acknowledging his failure to arrest the tide of Cuba’s War of Independence. Within this same palace General Weyler planned his scheme of reconcentration, or herding of the pacificos, non-combatants, old men, women and children, into barbed wire stockades, where a quarter of a million of them died of exposure, disease and hunger. It is said that when informed of their condition and the fearful death rate, he remarked, “Excellent! Let these renegade mothers die. We will replace them with women who will bear children loyal to Spain.” It was here also that his more humane and civilized successor, General Blanco, who in the last days of 1897 had tried hard to save Spain’s one remaining colony in America, felt the shock of the explosion that sank the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in February, 1898, and exclaimed as he looked across the bay toward the wreck: “This will mark the saddest day of Spain’s history.” Within the same room too, Cuba’s first President, the beloved and revered Tomas Estrada Palma, with tears of humiliation in his eyes, handed his resignation as President to the American Secretary of War, William H. Taft, and left for his almost forgotten farm in the forests back of Manzanillo, where he passed his last days as a martyr to the greed and cruelty of his own people.