WICKEDEST CITY ON EARTH.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 18 September 1912, Page 7

WICKEDEST CITY ON EARTH.

Several cities have been called the wickedest city—Reno, Nev., Port Said, and Irkutsk, Siberia, for instance. They ar e wicked cities, but their wickedness is of a sordid variety. Havana is wicked and gay.

In Paris the "night life," gay restaurants and dances are for the English and Am.eridan"tourist s . In Havana the "gay life" is for the natives. Its wickedness is part of its life.

Everything in Havana is wide open. And of its fifty-seven varieties of wickedness the mildest is gambling. Gambling houses in Havana are open to both men and women. AH that is necessary is a pocketful of bank notes. Roulette, faro, hazand, and poker are at hand.

• Craze for Lotteries.

Even as one sips his chocolate in the morning the daily round has its beginning. A half dozen peddlers of lottery tickets interrupt the meal. The lottery in Cuba is run by the Government, and there are drawings every three months for enormous prizes. The first prize is £20,000.

The tickets are hawked about the streets and sold at every corner store. But the fact that the Government conducts it does not guarantee its "being- on the level. 3' At a recent drawing the first prize was not awarded for the reason that that particular ticket had not been sold,. The public didn't like ii>, but they kept on buying tickets, for it is their instinct t o "take a chance."

If one sits around a cafe any length of time—and a large part of every day is spent in this way—one is certain to be invited to. witness a cock fight. Cock fighting is one of the commonest sports in Cuba, and while it is against the law, ii is rarely interfered with. Large sums change hands on these bloody exhibitions.

But it is not until' after dark that Havana takes on its air of .gaiety. Then the Prado and the Malacon and the various parks become a fairyland of lights. A band plays at the Malacon, as the boulevard along the ocean front is called. All Havana emerges from its cool and comfortable stone houses ready for a night of pleasure.

The cafes are crowded, there is a constant stream of automobiles and carriages up and down the boulevards. Tlie sidewalks are filled with people hurrying to the theatres. They are nearly all dressed in the height of fashion. Havana is one of the richest cities in the world. Its styles comes direct from Paris. The only cheap things are tobacco and matches.

At 8 o'clock performances begin in a slozen theatres. In the moving- picture and variety theatres one finds real wickedness. The "grizzly bear," "the bunny hug" are modest compared with the dances shown on the stages of the variety theatres, where the publicMs admitted for 25 and 50 cents. The little plays are beyond description, and the actresses wear very scanty attire. In the Gambling Palaces. At midnight Central Park, which is in the heart of the city, is as crowded and flllad with life as the Strand and Piccadilly before the theatres swallow up the crowds. The cafes are filled with people who eat ice cream and sip soft drinks. There is very little drinking of alcoholic liquors in Havana . Of course, all Havana does not go to the theatre. Many of the fashionable set seek the clubs, some seek the gambling palaces and others attend masque balls, which are given nightly. The gayest affairs are given on Sunday night s at the Theatre Nacional. They begin about midnight and last until S and 9 o'clock on Monday morning. The New Miramar is the Mecca of tourists. If one is well dresseS and looks prosperous he is asked if lie wishes to play.