54 
THE STANDARD GUIDE. 
monument to her illustrious son, D. Francisco de Albear y Lara.” 
Havana is symbolized by a dignified female figure bearing on her breast 
the castles and the key of the city’s escutcheon. Royal palms contribute 
their peculiar grace to the setting. 
That part of the Prado which lies between Central Park and the 
Malecon was the original Calle del Prado—Street of the Meadow—which 
took its name from the famous Prado of Madrid, celebrated by Lcpe de 
Vega and other poets. It lay outside the city walls, and like its prototype 
was designed for a fashionable promenade and drive. The Prado was 
one of the public institutions Governor Tacon gave to Plavana, and like so 
many of the works constructed by him, it was built by convict labor. In 
the books of travelers who visited the town in those days, frequent men¬ 
tion is made of the Havana chain gangs. Many of the public buildings 
were built and the streets were paved to the clanking cf their chains. 
In Tacon’s time these workers in stone were called “Tacon’s lapidarians.” 
ITtere are streaks of a clear dawn; it is nearly 6 o’clock, the cocks are crowing, 
and the drums and trumpets sounding. We have been told of sea baths, cut in the 
rock, near the Punta, at the foot of our Paseo. I walk down, under the trees, toward 
the Presidio. What is this clanking sound? Can it be cavalry, marching on foot, 
their sabres rattling on the pavement? No, it comes from that crowd of poor looking 
creatures that are forming in files in front of the Presidio. It is the chain-gang! 
Poor wretches! I come nearer to them, and wait until they are formed and num¬ 
bered and marched off. Each man has an iron band riveted round his ankle, and 
another around his waist, and the chain is fastened, one end into each of these 
bands, and dangles between them, clanking with every movement. This leaves the ; 
wearers free to use their arms, and, indeed, their whole body, it being only a weight 
and a badge and a note for discovery, from which they cannot rid themselves. Jt 
is kept on them day and night, working, eating or sleeping. In some cases two arc 
chained together. They have passed their night in the Presidio (the great prison 
and garrison), and are marshalled for their day’s toil in the public streets and on 
the public works, in the heat of the sun. They look thoroughly wretched. Can 
any of these be political offenders? It is said that Carlists, from old Spain, worked 
in this gang. Sentence to the chain-gang in summer, in the case of a foreigner, must 
be nearly certain death.—R. H. Dana, 1859. 
J he Prado was largely remodeled by the Americans, who laid the fine 
concrete walks. I he avenue consists of a central double promenade lined 
with seats, and a drive on each side, the carriage course being up one side 
and down the other in a continuous round. I his is fashionable Havana’s 
parade ground on Sunday afternoon; the drive is filled with a concourse 
of smart equipages, the promenades are crowded, and from the windows 
and balconies of the houses people exchange greetings with their friends 
in the gay throng, d he Prado is a scene of unrestrained gaiety at the time 
of the Carnival festivities, d he walks and the drivewavs are thronged 
with maskers and merrymakers, the houses are crowded with spectators, 
and paper streamers and confetti fill the air. dhe residences which line the 
Prado are among the finest houses in Havana. I* routing on the east are 
the Spanish Casino and the new white marble club house of the Centro de 
la Asociacion de Dependientes, or Association of Clerks. 
