LIFE IN CUBA. Homes and harits or tub I'EOPLE. The Houses Have ni Barred Win dows Picturesque Dress of the Women Hospitable Country Folk, j QE races in Cuba are no mixed, I , says May B. Stacey in the JL New Yotk Recorder, that 6 one ie ever in doubt whether be is talking to a Metizo, or a Cuban, or a Spaniard ; but their manners and customs are very pleasing. On my arrival in Havana 1 was met by a very charming and cultivated man, one of Havana's leading lawyers, and most courteously entertained for somednys at his oasa, prior to my visit in the conntry, where I spent the winter among the sugar plantations. The hemes in Cuba are very com fortable, made of stone with plaster fronts and immense barred windows and solid wooden doors. The floors nre paved; sometimes there is a rug just where tho chairs are put, and that it in a square between twa opposite windows. Why the people are not all con sumptives I cannot toll, for they sit in this draught even in cold days. They do seem to suffer greatly with catarrh and asthma. One of the beauties of Cuban resi dences ia the open court in the centre " of the building, which is profusely decorate 1 with birds and flowers, and stou Diunu ireoB mo gruwu. jii tue richer ones there are marble floors, with fountains and statuary. Cane u ti v niuvn .uiukiuiQ la udcvi i.iuiu sively. In one room I saw eight large willow rooking chairs, and all the la dies were rocking rapidly as if to keep time with their talking. There is but one door to the outside world in those homes, and everything goes in and out of it. Marketing goes in, and gar bage goes out. At the door is kept constantly barred, I was prepared for tnything ; even dreams of brigands flitted through my brain, bnt nothing bnt friends and the most inoffensive of marketmen ever entered the house to my knowledge. The business men in Cuba take only a cup of coffee in the morning at home, and have their breakfast down- C L ' 1 LOVE MAKING AMONO THE CUBANS. town,' atjioon time, just 'as onr men lunch at their club or restaurant, and dine at home tfter business hours, I presume it it on aooount of the limate, but most of the people look tired, and there is none of the brisk ness of American!. The men lack the rigor our flue-looking Amerioan men have; there are many handsome faoes, but round shoulders, whioh ever mar the handsome head. The women of Cuba are very pio turesque, when they wear the iaoe mantilla, but they are adopting the Amerioan and Frenoh hat, and it is not becoming. Their kindness to trangers ia proverbial, and their quaint way of preaenting their house to yon, when you oall to toe them, ia very attractive. One lady, whose em broidery I muoh admired, for it was as beautiful and fine at a spider's web, presented me her handt, "They are yourt," the aaid, meaning she wonld embroider something for me, if I de aired. While taking a walk in the oountry one day, we passed a house where the doox was wide open they generally jt open and the family was at din Bet. The matter oried ont : "Good v?nlngr ms you not hungry t Won't cam Mid tat louwthiaf V The enstom is to say ! "Thank you bnt I am not hungry." When you oall upon a friend a cup of excellent black coffee' is made at onoe and served. If a husband and wife oall the husband is served first, and he drinks only half of the coffee, and hands the rest to his wife. This is also the custom at the table after dinner with the dessert, as well as the coffee. I must add, I am thankful it is not the enstom to in clude the guests. 1 presume it is the old loving cup, or, perhaps, a daily reminder to the weaker sex that Adam was made first. One thing I noticed particularly was that at uight the people hold a hand kerchief over their mouths and nos trils to prevent breathing the night air, and in Havana the ladies carry perfumes with them, as the odors about the houses are sometimes dread ful. Few people walk In Cuba. You take a cab for any distance, dismissing it when you enter a house and hail an other one when yon come out, bnt to call a cab you motion away from yon instead of to you, as we do in the States. The reason one does not walk is because the sidewalks are too nar row, and the streets very filthy J many sidewalks are only three feet wide, sev eral less than two. We felt sure after A COUXTItY HOME IN CUBA. trying to hold on with our toes, that our feet would toon resemble the monkeys, and wo looked with care, when removing our shoes, to see if such a catastrophy had occurred. I found myself frequently In the gut ters, whiah are very fllthy, at the drainage is poor. The milkman, instead of driving a wagon drives his herd of cows around town and milks at the door of his cus tomer. It has this advantage, the milk is pure. Thore is no cream in Cuba; they boil tho milk immediately it is received. The want of confidence in tho wo men hurt me very much. We are so repected and honored at home by our men that I got indignant when I taw wives, sisters and iweethearts watched liko childron. The monstrous barred windows, seen in all houses, gives them a prison like aspect, but Cupid though barred out finds many ways of slipping through. Xot Alraitl ot Tarantulas. The tarantula abonnds in all parts ot Nicaragua, but from the Atlantio to the Faoiflo you will not find a na tive who it afraid of one or who will admit that the bite ot the repulsive looking spider it poisonous. The Rambler saw tarantulas by the soore taken into the palm of the hand, and in many placet ohildren had them harnessed up with vegetable fibre, driving them abont like beasts of burden. They look exaotly like the tarantula of Mexioo. The only thing they axe dreaded for in Nicaragua is their habit ot attaoking the fetlooks of horses, cutting off the hair and in flioting a wonnd whioh cannot be healed, and eventually results in the pastern beooming affeoted and the hoof rotting off. This is not common or there wouliu't be a horse left in the oountry, beoause there are very few of them as it is and tens of thou sands of the hairy spiders. It only happens when the animal is left stand ing in the thiok "spider glass" for several hours at a time, and not care fully examined afterward. The taran tula then attacks all fonr legs, and in week the poor horse has to be killed. As the serawnfbst beasts cost from 1150 to 1250 gold, it may be surmised that a pretty close watch is kept upon the fetlock. Nw York Mail and Express. CniSESE FUNEIUL HOUSE. Taper Steed Which Celestials Conse crate to Service of the Dead. The most marked trait of the Chi nese is a profound veneration for their A CHINES FUHEHAL HOIiSK. ancestors, a characteristic which finds expression not only in a filial affection for and obedience to the living par ents, but also in a holy reverence for the dead, who are faithfully wor shiped in the most solemn religious rites. Th fm e aju4(vtion offered to the deceased is made up of the burning of candles, incense ond nilt paper, accompanied by numerous genuflections and prostrations. A necessarv factor in tlm ur.u.. t. ti. spreading of elaborate feasts, the in visible essence of which, it is bolioved, nscenus lor tne delectation and masti cation of the dear ilmmrto.l Tho rn. nese believe imnlioitly that the souls oi me aeaa continue in oonsoious ex istence and in such oontact with the scene ot their former ariatanna fi,n the location ot their graves, the con stancy oi toe worsnip they receive, with the richness and variety of the offerings made to them, are most im portant in determining tueir happi nest or misery. The vulgar belief is that the needs of the dead are substantially the same as me ueeus oi tne living, and that iney can oniy receive tnose necessi ties by the ministrations of the living. Food, clothing and money are there- lore ouereu 10 me spirits, being ren dered invisible and tmnumittixl tt. other world by means of fire. The lunerai ot any one is the occasion for a solemn bonfire, wherein are con sumed the Olotbins of the denenaAil. and enormous sums of . imitation money. In addition the funeral pyre often includes paper houses and fur nishings and servants that the defu-iot may enjoy distinguished immortality. If the mourned were a sea captain a tmner shin would be riven tn thn flames. It he were an officer of rank a horse would be provided, as was the oase in tho funeral whiobloffered an opportunity for the accompanying il lustration. Eggs Worth a Fortune. The egg . of the great auk is valued at 815,100. That was the price recently paid by a wealthy col lector of rare birds' euro's. Thau . only sixty-eight of this extinct bird's egg m existence, xwo onus eggs are in this country ; one is owned by the Acaaemy or natural Soience in Phila del phis, and the other is in the oollec tion of Vassar College. The former collection held for many years among its treasnres the rarest of all eggs an egg of the California condor but it mysteriously disappeared a few vears aro. and it is fmnnnAnd mnma scientiflo sneak thief thought it no sin THIS EOO IS WORTH $15,000. to transfer the treasure to his own collection, where he is holding it for a rise in price. It is quite a fad nowadays to oolleot rare and curious eggs'aud vast sums are paid ty wealthy collectors for the delicate little ovals. One of the largest private collections in the world is that of Mr. J. Parker Norris, a well-kuowu lawyer of Philadelphia. He has spent more than 920,000 for fine speoiuiens of egg shells. Switzerland, with a population of 3,000,000, averages 650 suicides annu ally. Only Denmark and Saxony make a more extensive use ot what u supposed to b tha right to die. NEW FASHION FAD. IIUGR BELTS RIGHT INCHES DEEP WOK BY WOMEN. Will Make Stout Women Shorter and Slim Ones More Grace ful Latest Hints In Millinery. I HE belt of the autumn girl is I , a fashionable monstrosity. It 1 is the most conspicuous arti (t cle of her raiment, says the New York World. English women are prone to belts, and Americans are An glomaniaos by nature, therefore they are following the fashion with a vim set by their sisters across the water. The big stores' are exhibiting many new and very striking designs in belts. The Ingenuity and originality is surpris ing, and one wonders what next may seize the feminine fanoy and deplete the feminine purse. Some of the most elegant bolts in quality are made of firmly woven silk elastio, the surface being of satin fin ish. These vary in width from five to eight inches, aocordinely, as one's physique demands ourtailing or en largement to produce the desired ef fect. They can be had in colors and are fastened by elongated clasps and novel buckles conforming to the depth of the belt. These are worn with em pire gowns to produce the short-waist characteristic ot this style of dress. liy reason of its elasticity it permits of the free and graceful motion of the FALL FA8HION NOVELTY-THE body, whioh is an additional advan tage to women who affect the woariug of the belt. Belts are pretty, and, despite any controversy as to the advisability of wearing them from a hygenio stand point, are going to obtrude them eclves upon us wherever opportunity is offered. They are beooming to most women, and for that reason alone they will assume tho right ot way. No young woraon is in the swim un less she numbers three dozen bolt buokles in her collection. Bolts are more necessary now than ever before, for basques are an obsolete fashion, and all bodioea terminate at the waist line, whioh fact makes the introduc tion of girdles imperative. All women agree on the one point, that bolts tend to make a stout women less emphati cally to, and slender women like them because they realize the proportions between the tize of tho waist end hips. HINTS in uillinbry. The Napoleonic craze is about ended and the Dutch bonnet it a thing of the past. The majority will be glad of this, for it was only the small mi nority who could beoomingly wear either. The principal tendenoy of the new hats is toward higher orowns, and they vary in outline, to be desig nated as th "Pierrot," "jampot" and "pottle" orowns. The first is point ed, the teoond flares, and the third widens from the. crown to the brim. The low orown and flat brim of the summer shape will not be entirely abandoned either. Manyofthenew shapes show crowns of silk plush, with brims of braided effeots or of felt, and in the new im ported walking hats are seen "pottle" crjwns and wide, rolling brims made entirely of the silk plush, with a se vere trimming of a flat crown-band, with loops and quills at the left side. 1 Among bonuets, the shapes seem to be somewhat larger than of late, and many show open orowns of wired jets and beeds, or Oriental embroideries. There are also many beautiful toques, whioh never go out of fashion. But of all headgear the toque requires the . most careful handling, and only an artiste can give it that oertain touoh whioh keeps it above the common place. Flowers must find no resting dace on the toque, and feathers raro y. The trimming must be simple, with knots of ribbon or velvet, ropes ot grass and wisps of aigrettes, or ag gressive looking quills. I Fw flowers are. noticeable oa the fall models, bnt I what there are take the form of poppies and roses, whioh appear in velvet silk, and the prettiest ot all whioh . are made entirely of PARtHIAN HAT WITH BOW OF C'ARMtMB satin ninnoN and blaok AinnEmc. feathers. Then again, roses are close ly imitated with taffeta silk, cut on the bias with rolled edges. Lace is a secondary factor with new hats. In NEW HEVEN-IXt'H BELT. the way of ornaments the preference is given to cut stool, while jet comes in seoond. Fanoy feathers of all shapes and colors predominate, yet tho ostrich tin will ever hold its own. A BMABT AUTUMN C03TUME. Lincoln-green Amazon cloth, with a darkish plaid silk, with bright touches ot oolor, composes the smart autumn oostume here shown. The dress is re markably pretty and most stylish as an indoor toilet, and the effuot may bo heightened by an eight or tun inoh fttoiug of the plaid inside tho skirt or by a little balnyeuse of the plaid, piuked out at the edges and put in slightly full. The skirt ie out from a fluted pat tern, which is not exoessive in width, and yet gives a very full appearance, AN ACTUMN C0STCUC. and has no darts round the top, al though it fits perfeotty to the figure. The bodioe is made on a fitted lining. out in four parts only, viz., the two fronts, eaoh with two darts, and the two books, necessitating a seam down the oentre. This centre baok seam is seamed and boned, and the top faced to just below the bust line with the plaid, and the front darts are also sewn bud whalebone inserted, and they are tnz ''seed with plaid, ready for the plain material.- Balfour, the British Parliamentary leader, who is an enthusiastic golfer, says : "Care may sit behind the horse man; she never presumes to walk with tho caddie." (JBEATEHT I1ABE L1TISU. Unique Dally Life of the Infant Heir to Great Britain's Throne. The greatest baby in the world ia bow about one year old. The name of this baby is Edward. He is Hi Koysl Highness the Prince Edward of York, heir to the throne ot an empire on whioh the sun never sets, and he is now cutting his teeth. His Royal Hmhuess lives either at York House, St. James, London, or at White Lodge, seat of the Teoks. A description of his personal appearance " is now on file in the royal archives of the Tower of London, and he has been photographed 109 times. Thete de tails are not trifles. They are a part of the history of tho British Empire. The Prince has blue eyes. His hair it not soanty by any means, and be is rather fat, as will bo seen from the ac companying picture of him, whioh is the one hundred and ninth of His Royal Highness, and the very latest. He has a nursery of the most severely filaiu character, and, although his ittle life is ono long uninterrupted ceremony, etiquette requires that tho plainest of baby accessories shall sur round him. He is under the tutelage of one Mme. Bnika, whom all England knows ai the confidential companion of the Princess May before her mar riage. This Mile. Buikahas naturally an euormons responsibility. His Royal Highness is already a General, a Colonel, ft High Sheriff and a patron. He is a Keeper of the Heals and an Imperial Usher. Ho is already entitled to put O. C. M. J., C. O. L S. I. and ever so many other letters after bis name, and he is a member of the House of Lords. When the baby awakes in the morn ing he holds a levee. The royal oode ays so. His Highness will be attend- ' ed by the lady iu waiting, who takes his commands. This means that she will wash and dress him. He must never have anything on him that is red anything, that is, in the shape of clothing. His attire must be invaria bly white. This is because he is a Prince of York, and there is a royal rule conneoted with the Wars ot the Itoses that forbids his assumption of the red until he is five years old. Ha may not wear black shoes nntil he is three, and in publio a sash must in variably be around his waist. Under no circumstances isho to be addressed, even playfully, by anyone exoept his parents. Queen Viotoria herself is not at liberty to say "you" to him. It must always bo "His Highness seems well," or "His Highness sleeps." In fuct, it is His Highness this and His Highness that all the time. Only a blood relative may hold him In her arms, with the oxooption of Mile. Buika, who has received a royal patent for the purpose. Even the physician who attends him must re ceive a royal patent before beginning to physio this babe. Every artiole of attire he wears must bear the royal arms worked by hand iu silk, and he may not wear the same artiole twioe in succession. It mast be waahod be fore it goes on again. His Uigbness travels by speoial train. He has six equorries ami a gentleman usher of the blaok rod. He receives invitations to all royal and state f ano- riUNCE EDWARD OF TOIIK, AOED ONE TEAR, tions, and is always represented at them by one of these equerries. On ftate oooosions the Prince is ar rayed in oloth of gold. His head is covered by a crown of starched and gilded linen. He is then carried by a royal lady in waiting. That means that whoever carries this babe mast have royal blood in her veins. An other curious thing about the Prinoe is that no more than four per ions may ' be in his nursery at any one time. When he is attired in royal robes the peers must kneel to kiss his hand on entering his presence. Of course no hats may be worn ia his presenoe. In York House Mrs. Gladstone had to take her bonnet off before entoring his nursery. When H. R. II. is asleep a flag floats from his residence. When he is awake the flag is taken down. When he leaves his home the flag is hung oat of the window of his nursery. Another unexpected thing in the life of the Prinoe is the extreme pub licity of it. He is perpetually being photographed, and tne photographs are thrown broadoast all over Eng land. Whenever he goes the faot of bis coming is proclaimed. Lots of people oongregate about his two homes to get a glimpse of him and Made moiselle Buika oarries him out in her arms to the eoaoh in the most publio manner. This liberality and pub licity are in aooordanoe with the time honored ouatom ot the British royal family to be as free with the people as. possible.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers