Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 March 1887 — Before the Havana Cathedral. [ARTICLE]

Before the Havana Cathedral.

One short block from the Plaza di Armas finds us within the large open square in front of the grand cathedral of Havana. In all the streets through which we had heretofore passed, the sidewalks were so narrow that two people could not walk abreast, but here, before the church, they were wide and completely thronged with devotees seeking their shrine to worship. We paused to view the scene and the faces of the passers-by; old and young, rich and poor, all mingled in one company; carriage after carriage rolled up to the broad stone steps and deposited its freight; ladies richly dressed in the witching Spanish costume, short skirts, scarce long enough to conceal the arched instep and well-rounded ankle, the long sweeping veil of black lace, which forms the only head covering of ladies of quality, and the fan—the inseparable fan. Shoes and stockings would be dispensed with before the fan. All were hurrying through the open portals of this temple of worship.— Havana Cor. Boston Courier.