Excerpt from In the Sunshine at Havana: Record of a Trip in November, 1917

In the first place, Havana, in Spanish, Habana, is fortunate in its name - probably of Cuban Indian derivation - the land of the Abanas. Then it is so distinctively Spanish, so un-american in every way, so suggestive of Old World habits and Tropical lan gnor; and this, too, in spite of the fact that its stores are largely filled with very evidently American-made goods, and that one sees everywhere American electric cars and American automobiles.

The approach to the city from the sea is striking - even beauti ful. With the ancient castle on the high Morro (or height) on the left, and the low sweep of the crowded city on the right, across the very narrow entrance to the harbour within, the first sight of Havana interests one extremely. The narrow streets, barely wide enough between the curbs to let two vehicles pass, where the side walks are often but a foot wide, so that the street car crowds the pedestrians into single file, and an open umbrella cannot survive; these multitudinous, unending, crowded narrow streets of Havana appeal instantly to the lover of the picturesque. For there are lim itless vistas Opening every moment before you; on every side glimpses through open doorways far back into the patios, or inner open-to-the-air' court yards, that are inseparable from every resi dence in this land of sunshine; passing, fragmentary views of the sacred inner home life so carefully kept behind the forbidding front of the dwelling, as is usual among all the Latins, and particularly so in the warmer parts of Spanish America.

The first glance at a Havana building impresses the beholder, for one sees every window opening screened with iron, either with plain, straight, horizontal or upright bars, or with grille work in plain, or sometimes, fanciful designs of scroll and arabesque work, very solid and substantial. There are no windows of glass in Havana, they appear to be unnecessary. Only shutters of varying kinds fill the openings behind the iron bars or grille work. Thelover, talking with his inamorata through this lattice of unyielding and inexorable iron, is a common sight. The wistful faces of chil dren peer out through the bars, suggestive of prison discipline and control.

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