Young Peoples History of the War with Spain | Page 3

later times some of the islands
were bought from Spain, others were captured, others were gained by
treaty, by the nations to whom they now belong.
At the beginning of the war between the United States and Spain, in
1898, Cuba, as I have already said, belonged to Spain. Spain owned
another large island, Puerto Rico, which we call Porto Rico, a name
meaning "rich port." But I need not say anything more about Porto Rico
at present.
[Illustration: King Alfonso.]
Cuba is the largest and most valuable of the West India Islands. It was
discovered by Columbus about two weeks after his first landing at San
Salvador. According to his custom, he gave it a Spanish name, but
somehow the old name clung to it, and to-day the whole world knows
the island by its native Indian name, Cuba. On account of its position, it
is often called the "Key to the Gulf of Mexico;" and Havana, the capital,
has a key upon its coat of arms. Cuba looks very small upon our maps,
yet it contains nearly as much land as the State of Pennsylvania.

[Illustration: Queen Regent of Spain.]
Perhaps I should tell you just here that Spain is a kingdom. Its ruler,
King Alfonso XII., died in 1885. His widow, Queen Christina, has
ruled since then, but her son will be crowned king as soon as he is old
enough. The "little king," as he is often called, was twelve years old
when this war began. Christina is a good and noble woman, and it is
not her fault that the people in distant islands have been badly treated.
CHAPTER II.
THE "MAINE."
Before the United States joined in the war, the Cubans had succeeded
in driving the Spaniards out of many places in the eastern part of the
island, but could not get possession of the western part and the chief
harbors. We have seen that the war between the United States and
Spain began in April, 1898. But, two months before that time
something happened in the harbor of Havana, the capital of Cuba,
which caused terrible excitement in our country. You must understand
that many persons belonging to the United States have business in
Cuba, own property there, and even live there. Though these Americans
did not take part with the Cubans against Spain, yet it seemed
sometimes as if they were in danger on account of the disturbance in
the island. So our country decided to send one of our battleships--a
man-of-war--to stay awhile in the chief harbor of Cuba, so that the
Americans might feel safer by having such a ship to help them if they
should need help, as I have told you. Spain made no objections to this
plan, and said she would send a ship in return to visit New York. The
ship chosen from our navy was the Maine, commanded by Captain
Sigsbee. On January 25th, early in the morning of a bright warm day,
the Maine, with all her colors flying, and with all her men dressed in
their best clothes, drew near the harbor of Havana. A Spanish pilot
went out to meet her, took her carefully through the narrow entrance to
the fine harbor, and anchored her near some other ships. Though the
entrance is narrow, yet the harbor itself is large enough to
accommodate a thousand ships. The entrance is guarded by several

fortresses, one of which, called "Morro Castle," is nearly three hundred
years old. It stands on a high point of land, and for this reason is called
"Morro," a name that means in Spanish, headland, or promontory.
[Illustration: U.S. Battleship "Maine."]
[Illustration: Morro Castle, Havana.]
No doubt the place seemed very attractive to the men on board the
Maine that bright sunny morning. The new part of Havana is pretty, the
old part is quaint and interesting. There are a number of famous
buildings, one of which is the Cathedral, where the remains of
Columbus were treasured at that time, but they have since been
removed to Spain. All the buildings are low, for low buildings are the
fashion in countries that are subject to earthquakes; they are built of
stone, and generally adorned with bright colors. There are wide
avenues, and large parks and gardens.
If you should visit Havana, you would see many curious sights. All the
houses, hotels and stores have iron-barred windows, which gives one
the impression that the inmates are confined there. Many houses have
large gates which open into beautiful gardens and court yards. Some of
the streets have very funny names, such as "Ladies' Delight," and "Fat
Stick," when the Spanish names are translated into our language; and
they have bright-colored awnings stretched across, from side to side.
The fish market is one of the