ed
with long streamers of colored ribbon attached; jewelry in the shape
of bracelets and rings is conveyed over the footlights; in short,
these Spaniards are sometimes extraordinarily demonstrative. A furore
has sometimes cost these caballeros large sums of money. But we are
describing the past rather than the immediate present, for the
scarcity of pecuniary means has put an end to nearly all such
extravagances. The Havanese are peculiar in their tastes. While Miss
Adelaide Phillips was more than once the recipient of extravagant
favors on the Tacon Theatre stage, Jenny Lind did not pay her
professional expenses when she sang there.

The military are always in attendance in large numbers at the theatre,
as at all public gatherings in Cuba, their only perceptible use being
to stare the ladies out of countenance and to obstruct the
passageways. In front of the main entrance to the theatre is an open
area decorated with tropical plants and trees, where a group of the
crimson hibiscus was observed, presenting a gorgeous effect of color.
The other places of amusement in Havana, of a dramatic character, are
the Payret Theatre, very large, seating twenty-five hundred; the
Albisu Theatre, and the Circo, Teatro de Jane, this latter combining a
theatre with a circus.

As a place of amusement and instruction combined we should be remiss
not to mention the Casino of Havana. It is carried on by an organized
society formed on the basis of a club and has, we were told, over one
hundred members. The Casino occupies a fine building, fronting Obispo
Street, and close to the parks. It supports a free school for teaching
the English and French languages and drawing. After some fifteen years
of successful existence the society has become one of the institutions
of the metropolis. The halls and apartments are large, lofty, and very
finely furnished with all domestic conveniences except sleeping
accommodations. Here dramatic entertainments are frequently given,
mostly by amateurs, and generally for charitable purposes. The main
ball-room of the Casino is handsomely decorated and is the scene of
occasional masked balls, after the true Madrid style, where many an
intrigue is consummated which does not always end without bloodshed.
It is the favorite resort of all the high officials of Havana, who
have within their possible reach too few social entertainments not to
make the most of those presented at the Casino. During the carnival
season th