Pike County Democrat, Volume 30, Number 25, Petersburg, Pike County, 27 October 1899 — Page 6

Havana harbor, a group pie in abbreviated coi ds and feathers stood on an peasant of today, ith the Spaniard came the TEN PAGES. m. Met;. *ro«r*. iadvance , Id advance Mtt $1 Ml a> I at the poetofflcrf In Petersburg ftw through the mail* a* aeeondit Interesting Cub* Letter, following letter from Cuba was by James R. Williams, jusof the peace of Madison townfrom Prentice M. Shoaf, who is Ting in the army in Cuba, and who native of Pike county: Vj^dado, Cuba, Oct. 16,1899. four very welcome favor of recent te to hand. In reply to your reest, will try to give you a brief idea the Cuban character as I have rned. “principally by experience” the Cuban in Cuba. The foundation in the evolution of modern Cuban race was the Carib. ten the sailors of Columbus, so Cufolklore says, first landed on the omontory which forms the entrance of native j of shore preet them with that same simple pitality which characterizes the thrived in Cuba and inter-married th the whites. Although the Spanrd has regarded the negro as belongto a decided inferior race, but it

fact apparent to anyone who has it in Cuba any length of time, that trge percentage of the Cuban race e in their-yeins African blood, igh it is by no means certain that mingling of the two races is alther bad. Conditions in the ics are very different from those the Temperate zone. The two t examples of manhood that the fro ever produced, the D'Ouverture Maceo, both lived in the West In- . I dare say, Cuba has offered the ican race possibilities that the ted States never allowed, ite greater part of the island that habited today is divided into vast ,tes owned by families in whose ssession they have been for generams. Few of the present owners end but very little time on their rotations; some of them live in iris, London and Madrid. Scarcely y of them take the slightest interin the country from which they rive their wealth. The estates are ed on a kind of a tenement syshundreds of poor men. The ers all in debt to their landlords they came into the world, and fey leave a legacy of debt to their ildren when they go out of it. There ve never been any manufactories to amount to anything. The and warehouses in the cities always been filled with Spanfrom Spain, so that there was ithing left to the great mass of the ►pulatipn but to plod along in the pa their fathers trod before them, ding their lives in the cane fields a vague, indefinable shadow feuding the blue of Ahe Cuban sky, something wa£ wrong. They didn't teH what^out it was wrong, you ask what was wrong their only would be, “El gobierno”—the )verument. Generation after generation of Cunts planted and harvested the sugar and lived and died and were tried beneath the sod under this tgue indeterminate shadow, until

idea that something was wrong inbred into the moral fiber of the iple. It has developed into man’s tore in Cuba until the shadow has >adened into a universal cynicism it something is wrong, and the r/eis a universal mistrust. Mistrust of • the cardinal points of the character. I do not believe the Cubans will ever be able to themselves, they mistrust ryone, from Spaniard to one ter. They mistrust the man who their best interest at heart, and his life for them, as much as do a foreign tyrant or a discustom house official. The men whb cried “Down with tty” a year ago mistrusted liberator, Mabimo Gomez, a few ago so much that they wished expelled frqm the army. : is h;-trdly an exaggeration tfrsay the Cubans have no religion, illy the inhabitants of the tire Roman Catholics of the J "sort;-but in reality they beln almost pothing. The church has always been an arm of liraroent. It is looked upon as of the machinery of doing »wrong. The common idea of a : in Cuba is a man. who collects a performing-the marriage seri another forburying the dead. of the time he is to be treatectfnlly, because the governts it, but nothing more, of today has little more 1 than he has in his fellow ion” a Cuban soldier

triots—never!” They are ignorant, and narrow, but they hare ideals. like most negroes of the South, they are not practical. The Cuban is romantic; he comes by it naturally. *‘Patria” is the shrine at which the C'uban' worship, even to the point of fanaticism. Its future is about the only thing he believes in. It is purely abstract faith. Politically, Cubans arc insanely conceited. Many of them sincerely believe that the war would have ended just as quickly without the slightest aid from the Americans. Although the fortunes of the insurgents were never in the entire cause of the war at so low an ebb as when the war was declared between Spain and the United States, it was almost impossible to make any Cuban chief admit that he needed any further American assistance than a few rifles and cartridges. Many Cubans actually think that they conferred a favor on the Americans as lovers of liberty in allowing them to fight in their behalf. This may sound like an extreme statement, but it is true nevertheless. They are even some times inclined to speak of “Las Yankees” as good-natured blunderers who mean well, but whose intelligence j is far below the Cuban standard. | Prom motives of policy and politeness Cuban assemblies and politicians often make a great show of publicly thank-, ing American officials for their work In their behalf, but every one who knows the Cuban people knows thatj down in the bottom of their hearts there is no real gratitude, only a hope that Americans will soon receive enough thanks to leave them forever. Another factor in the Cuban’s ingratitude is short memory. His past has been a kind of nightmare—broken

sleep. He forgets what happened yesterday. He has a tendency to judge men entirely by what they do. today, and never for a moment to think what they did yesterday. General Gomez once said “Spaniards are quixotic fools. They are just fools enough to believe they are always right.” . 5 The Cuban is^almost the reverse of this; he believes that just about everything that* anyone does in this country is wrong, and he strives against it. He is nervous and unsettled in all his political beliefs; he eulogizes one 'day and denounces the next. In matters where their prejudices are not called into play, Cubans are. as a rule, honest and truthful. But they are not at all shrewd bargainers by any means. If he makes a statement about anything he has tov^ell. he will dwell quke as much upon its defects as upon its advantages. In fact he is so indifferent that he is quite apt to Ifave you with the impression that you will have to go elsewhere before you can make your purchase. . Cubans are naturally generous to a fault and there is an ingeniousness about their generosity that is delightful. No matter how poor and wretched a Cuban countryman may be, he never seems to think he is doing anything in the slightest way creditable in sharing with a hungry stranger his last measure of coffee or last piece of bread. He does it as a matter of course, because he has yet to find one of his countrymen who wouldn’t do as much for him. I |iave never yet seen a single Cubap in the country, of any class, who would not offer you sQmething to eat if you happened to be in his house about meal time, or who would not feel grossly insulted if you offered him money for the last bit of food he had in the world. One day last spring I was on out-post guard, opt in the

country, ana early in the morning1 I went to a little old farm house to get a drink of water; when I entered the yard gate I noticed that the folks were having breakfast. I knew how to ask for water in Spanish, which was soon given me. That was the extent of my Spanish and they knew less English. They kept jabbering at me and making some peculiar signs with their hands, finally I learned that they wanted me to have breakfast with them. I didn’t know how to refuse so I took breakfast with them. I might have been able to have made them understand that I did not care for anything to eat, had I not marched five miles and done guard all night without a morsel. The breakfast con4sisted principally of sweet potatoes and coffee, although at that/particular time I relished it very much; and thanked them for their kindness in the best way I knew and bid them adieu. I will be glad when the time comes for me to say adieu to all of the ‘‘Dagoes,” and return to my native country. But tKe hour is growing late, 5tis far past the noon of night, and I must close. Your affectionate friend, V Prentice M. Shoaf, v Sergeant Battery M. 2nd Artillery. On account of the A. O. U, W. celebration at Evahsville October 27th, the E. & I. will sell round trip tickets to Evansville, limited to date of sale at one dollar. Train leaves Petersburg for Evansville at 6:45 a. m.; returning special-train will leave Evansville at 11:30 p. m.

Ladies’ Shoes, 48c up Children’s Shoes, 25c up Men’s and Boy’s Shoes, $1 up Pants,/rom 60c up Gents’ Underwear, 25c 5

Shirts, well made, for Ladies’ underwear, Blankets, fall size, Canton Flannel, Muslin, yard wide.

AH kinds of Gloves for Men and Boys. Nice line just v Everything in the Grocery line kept in a firstclass store. Extra good bulk Coffee, worth 20c per pound, for 15c. Will compete in prices with any store in town. Produce of all kinds taken for goods. Butter and Eggs wanted. Come in and see for yourself. S. T.

Otwell Doings. Otwell is still on the boom. Our merchants are doing a go<jd business. ) ■ Thomas Willis is very ill at the present writing. Otwell needs a canning factory. Who will invest? Henry Mandel of Huntingburg, is in town on business. Fourteen new phones were put in last week in Otwell. Robert Cooper has moved -back to his farm in Dubois county. / Patton & Sullivan are running the East End blacksmith shops. Otwell has two saw mills in full blast and another one sprouting. Doc and Bert Broadwell of Yeipep, were in our town last Monday. Marshal Barnett of Cato, was in town on business last Tuesday. Kendall, the picture man, will sOon move to Haysville, Dubois county. Mrs. Tura Bartl is visiting at Salem, and expects to be away two weeks. The telephone company are extending the line from here fo Portersville. James Tracy of Daviess county, is visiting R. E. DeBruler, near Otwell. W. B. Thomas, the medicine man of Princeton, was in our town last Monday. Henry Sutton of Gibson county, is visiting relatives and friend^ht Ot- | well. Gray & Gray have moved their stock of dry goods into the Harris building. Deputy Sheriff T. N. Mount passed through Otwell last Monday enroute | to Jasper. Broadwell & Bryan have sold their stock of hardware to Jeff Teague and John Chaille. ^ . j Abe Simons was called to Hunting- j burg last Sunday to see his mother, who is very sick. > ^ William McCormick has returned from the city, where he has bought a full line of winter goods. B. T. Oldaker, represqptrtive of Oldaker boot & shoe company, Indianapolis, was in Otwell last Tuesday. Mrs. David Jones of Noxid, died last Saturday at her home and was hurried last Sunday at Flat Creek cemetery. John Baner of Dubois county, while out driving last Saturday, had his leg broken by his horse becoming frightened and kicking him on the leg. He is badly hurt. ^ Harris & Son have bought Garland’s stock of furniture, also the hearse. have full control of the under

expects to go into the hardware business soon. « Pearl, son of Elisha and M. J. Craig, died at Cato, Saturday, with consumption, and was hurried at the Craig cemetery last Sunday. Noxid Items. Hyatt Craig and wife Sundayed with relatives near Otwell. Dr. Gleason of Ireland, made a business call to our burg Friday. Joe Caldmeyer is home again after spending the summer a£ Evansville. Mrs. Caldmeyer and son of this place, Sundayed with relatives near Winslow. Johnie Rhoades and family of near Littles, were visiting in this community Sunday. Ike Clark and family of Arthur, visited friends and relatives at this place Saturday and Sunday. Pearl B. Craig, formerly of this place, died at his home in Cato Saturday night, October 21st. He was the youngest son of E. P. Craig. He was born October 19.1879, and was married November 20,1898, to Miss Lucy Whitman of this place. Mrs. David Jones died at her home near here Saturday, October 21st, of consumption. She leaves a- husband and family to mourn her death. Mrs! Jones was a devoted Christian, loved and respected by all who knew her. The bereaved family have the sympathy of the community. Sunday morning about two o’clock the barn on the farm of Roan Richardson burned, supposed to have been of incendiary origin. A horse and mule belonging to Mr. Richardson was burned until they will probably die. A quantity of hay and corn and some farming implements were also burned. HOPEFUL OF WINNING. The strikers In Southern' Indiana Sanguine of Speedy Sucress. “The miners are holding a winning hand in southern Indiana,” said State President Van Horn, to a newspaper reporter at Washington last Saturday. Pike county is in splendid shape, and they have now but one non-union mine, while in the other districts the organisation is growing stronger every day. . Our prospects were never better of .winning the strike.” When asked if the men would return to work at the State scale and work with the. imported negroes, Mr. Van Horn said: “We have just refused such a proposition. The negroes were imported, here from Kentucky to displace white men. Let them return to the place they came from.”

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