3-086-439 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Spanish-American War: the rainy season in Cuba, 1898. '1. The Begging Friar and the Washerwoman do not mind it. 2. Sambo and his Friends take an extra dose of rest. 3. Two Ladies took a ride in the Volante, only to regret it. 4. Native Umbrella. People who live in the temperate zone have no idea what rain means in the tropics. It begins not with a gentle drizzle, that may change into a downpour for perhaps a few days. There the flood-gates of heaven are not merely opened, and left ajar more or less; they are taken off the hinges, and put away for good for the next four or five months. Rain falls in torrents incessantly...In the towns the half-breeds and black people take an extra dose of sleep during the hours of aquatic display. Spouts and gargoyles send torrents of water into the middle of the street; not a single soul ventures to stir abroad. The only exceptions are two: the begging friar and the washerwoman. At the slightest lull they will resume their business. In the beginning or towards the end of the rainy season, some inexperienced young ladies may venture to show their finery and take a ride in the "Volante," only to resolve never to try it again. This is the climate the Americans have to fight.' From "Illustrated London News", 1898.