The Streets of Havana

THE STREETS OF HAVANA. BY DR. JOSEPH M. TANNER, SUPERINTENDENT OF CHURCH SCHOOLS. In the first place, it should be said that the streets of Havana are among the cleanest in the world. For years the government of the United States has been obliged to enforce the strictest quarantine regulations against the port of Havana, where yellow fever was so prevalent. As soon as the military department of our government took possession of the island, a general clean up was ordered, especially in the city of Havana. The rough cobblestone streets were macadamized and put in the most orderly condition. Street cleaners were employed regularly, and the whole city put on a Sunday appearance. Since then, the government of Havana has been ambitious to demonstrate its ability to carry out well what the Americans so effectually began. The grand promenade of the city is called the Prado. It is a spacious street, leading from Central Park to the La Punta, the old fort that stood opposite Morro Castle. Much of the fort still remains. At the foot of the street, which comes up to the pier on the Atlantic, a large band stand has been erected, and from it, during the winter months, the military band plays for the public three evenings a week. The Prado is about a mile and a half in length. On both sides of the street next to the residences, there are carriage drives. In the center is an elevated walk about twenty-five feet wide, for pedestrians. The walk is amply provided with seats on either side. At the outer edges on each side is a row of beautiful laurel trees. In the afternoon and evening, the Prado is quite generally frequented by the people of Havana. During holidays it is literally packed. All classes enjoy the famous highway.

188 IMPROVEMENT ERA. The houses that border the Prado are among the finest in the city. Their yellow and drab exteriors give but a scanty knowledge of the beauty that adorns the interior. These houses anywhere else than in a tropical climate would look quite odd and cheap, but they really give a picturesque appearance to the city. With two or three exceptions, the streets of Havana are inconveniently narrow. In many of them it would be impossible for carriages traveling in oppposite directions to pass each other. This condition has given rise to the necessity of carriages going up one street and down another. The sidewalks are even more inconvenient from their narrowness than the streets. When persons meet on the sidewalks, one is obliged to step down in the street in order to pass. In residence districts, the houses come close up to the street. The windows have before them iron gratings to protect against burglars that at one time infested the city. Through these gratings, when the windows are open, one may look into the front room, which is generally occupied by the family during the afternoon and evening. It is almost an outdoor life, and the people are not more conscious of the gaze of passers by than if they were in a German beer garden. For about four hours, in the middle of the day, in spring and summer, the heat in the streets is quite oppressive, though the Cubans tell you it is never warm in Havana, even when you stand in their presence mopping streams of sweat from your face. Sometimes they declare with indignant tones that it never gets warm in Havana. The next breath you may be solemnly warned not to go out in the middle of the day. Notwithstanding the fact that the streets are excessively narrow, Havana has an excellent electric street car service. In some places the sides of the cars cannot be more than two feet from the windows of the stores and the residences; yet the cars are rarely impeded, and the most perfect order prevails in the handling of passengers. It would not be easv to widen the streets, and it may not be desirable. As long as they are kept clean, they serve the people of a tropical land best as they are. Salt Lake City, Utah.

WIT AND HUMOR IN THE MISSIONFIELD. Rather Disconcerting. Elder Blank, while at home, had always been looked upon as a fine example of Utah's best crop; for, besides being well-proportioned, he rose six-foot three in his stockings, and was the owner ©f a handsome countenance. While he was away from home doing missionary work in England, people almost invariably turned their heads to look at him after he had passed them on the streets. It happened that he had been sent to Melchester alone. The third day after his arrival there being Sunday, and having nothing else to do, he stepped into a Methodist chapel for evening service. He had said nothing to anybody in the town about his faith; hence, no one knew who he was. Strangly enough, the subject of the sermon was "Mormonism." The preacher explained that since two "Mormon" missionaries had created no small stir in a neighboring town, and since it was rumored that they were coming to Melchester, he deemed it incumbent upon him, as the spiritual shepherd of the flock, to warn them on the approach of wolves. He thereupon plunged with great feeling into his subject, following the customary lines of anti-"Mormon" tirades. But for some inexplicable reason, he laid great stress on the physical shortcomings of the "Mormons," describing them as a scrawny pygmean race, utterly devoid of the common habits of decency and cleanliness. Probably he conceived dwarfishness of form as being more compatible with the mental and moral characteristics which these people were said to possess. At any rate he emphasized this as a great point, for he constantly recurred to it under various phases—now pathetic, now humorous, now ironical. The visiting elder had sat there like the rest, listening to this

190 IMPROVEMENT ERA. coarse caricature of his people, without manifesting any other signs of his agitated feelings than a paleness and a nervous twitching of the hands. But he determined to utter a word of explanation, if he could, without creating a disturbance. So, taking advantage of a pause, after one of these descriptions of a typical "Mormon," he arose and asked whether he might not put a question. This unusual interruption brought every eye upon him. Everyone immediately recognized him as "that tall, well-looking stranger" who had recently come to town, and concerning whom there had been no small amount of curiosity. The minister gave him the required permission. "I should like to know," continued the young man, "if you have ever been to Utah?" "No, sir," was the response, "I have been fortunate in that respect." "Upon what grounds, then, do you base your statements concerning the 'Mormons' in Utah?" "On the well-attested facts brought to light by those who have been there, and who have escaped to tell us their story." "Then," said the young man, bringing himself up to his full height, with pardonable pride, and casting his eyes over the congregation, "what do you think of me as a specimen of your pygmean 'Mormons?'" It is needless to add that the sermon did not progress with the same energy as before. Casting Out Devils. This same elder, on another occasion, was holding a meeting in the same town. It was some time after the circumstance we have just related, when a number of people had begun to investigate the gospel, and regular meetings were being held in a public hall. The services had been in progress some time when half a dozen men came down the main aisle, as noisily as possible, taking their seats near the front. The speaker waited till they were seated, and then resumed the discourse. But the men, especially the leader, had evidently come to