avenue. Further
preparations were made for the red-letter day, and a baseball game added
to the program. I found in my trunk a baseball, which I had brought to
Cuba, I know not why, except, perhaps, with the American idea that a
baseball is always a good companion. Simultaneously, the indefatigable
J. L. Ratekin--one time a soldier in Col. William J. Bryan's Nebraska
regiment in the Spanish War--dragged out of his kit a good baseball bat.
Why Ratekin brought this bat to Cuba I cannot say, but I half suspect
that he thought he might have to use it in self-defence. I am glad to be
able to state, however, that it was put only to peaceful and legitimate
uses, and killed nothing save "in-shoots" and "drops."

Saturday, March 24, was a remarkably fine day even for sunny Cuba. A
cloudless sky of beautiful blue, a temperature of from 80 to 90 degrees,
and a soft, refreshing breeze combined to make it ideal weather for La
Gloria's initial holiday. I remember that several bicycles were brought
out and used on this day, one or two by young women. The muddy trails
had dried up in most places, so that wheels could be ridden for
considerable distances on the roads radiating from La Gloria. The dry
season was fairly on by March 1, and for some time thereafter mud was
practically eliminated from our list of annoyances.

At noon the several surveying parties tramped in from their distant work
in the woods, and soon after the colonists began to gather on Central
avenue from headquarters tent to Connell's store. The women proved that
they had not left all their finery in the States, while nearly every
child was in its best bib and tucker. The men appeared in a great
variety of costumes, but most of them had given more thought to comfort
than to elegance. It was at this time that the first large group picture
of the colonists was taken. The opportunity was too good to lose. We
were hastily grouped across Central avenue, and three amateur
photographers simultaneously took shots at us. The resulting photograph,
though on a small scale, is a faithful picture of about half the
colonists in La Gloria on March 24, 1900. One of the photographers was
Lieut. Evans of the Eighth U. S. Cavalry, who had arrived in La Gloria
the day before in command of a pack train consisting of about a dozen
men and twenty mules. The detachment came from the city of Puerto
Principe and was touring the country for practice and exercise. It may
easily be imagined that