20 
THE STANDARD GUIDE. 
Maine was blown up on the night of February 15, 1898. Going ashore 
in the tender, we land at Machina Wharf. The wharf takes its name 
from La Machina de San Fernando, the tall sheers which stand on an 
adjacent dock and which formerly belonged to the Spanish Navy. The 
sheers consist of three tall spars fastened together at the top and spread 
below, which support a hoisting apparatus used for masting and dismast¬ 
ing ships and lifting heavy weights. On the wharf our baggage is in¬ 
spected by officials who know how to be at the same time customs ex¬ 
aminers and polite—courtesy is the rule in Havana. Taking cab for the 
hotel, we straightway find ourselves in the narrow streets characteristic 
of this old part of the city, and are amid surroundings where the un¬ 
familiar style of the houses, the vehicles, the street life, the strange ways 
and the Spanish tongue proclaim that we are in a foreign land. 
CALLE OBRAPIA. 
